AN: Severely underestimated how much time full-time work and college would steal from my average day. As a result, this chapter is brought to you by... social distancing. Because sometimes, co-workers don't know they're sick and you gotsta do what you gotsta do. (stay safe all!)

"'Look in the room of requirement for lost things,' she says. 'It's a diadem, a crown,' she says. Well, Holly could have been more specific!" George yelled in utter frustration, "it isn't the war itself is hinging on this, no, not at all!"

"Well, she wasn't!" Ginny yelled back, frustrated herself, "this is her hint, so we're just going to have to deal!"

"She could have been more specific," Neville mumbled to himself. The entirety of the DA was slowly combing through a ridiculously large room looking for one single crown and the final tie to Voldemort's life. All the students formerly hidden in the room of requirement had moved out to shift the room in the room of lost things. All of them had entered and spread out looking for a diadem that had to be destroyed to kill Voldemort for real. Truthfully everyone had been quite excited about the mission that Fred and George brought to them, but that had been seven hours ago.

Fred heaved a sigh as he tossed aside one more empty box behind him. He should have expected more difficulty when they'd gotten Holly's Patronus message, especially with the expressions on Ron and Hermione's face when Holly had mentioned this 'Ace' person needing to be saved. But then Ron and Hermione were asking him and George to head to the school so they could head to Gringott's to backup Holly and Ace. Fred was also trying quite hard not to think about how long it had been without a sign of those four. "Any luck?" he called down toward Luna Lovegood, who was staring off into space nearby. As Fred looked at her, a slow smile grew across her face, and she mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'they made it,' to herself. But he could have been reading too far into it.

"I found… a bracelet?" offered Nigel from the side, "you want this, Ginny? It's pretty?"

"Hah! No. I'm good, not in the mood to be cursed again." Ginny flicked her head slightly, brushing her hair from her forehead where it was plastered. Truthfully, knowing that it was a crown they were looking for and after the diary… well, she would probably never wear jewelry again, out of sheer paranoia.

"Alright then," Nigel twisted the thing in his hands then, without further prompting, tossed it off to the side with a clang.

"These books are quite uncommon." said a voice from the left; apparently, one of the Ravenclaw's were distracted; Fred wasn't surprised. They'd brought almost the entirety of the DA to search for the bloody diadem, though only a couple actually knew what the crown really was. The rest knew to look and not to touch if they found it.

"How did someone lose this many pairs of underwear-"

"don't touch them!? Eww!"

"Hey, my missing camera! Lucky!" Colin's voice piped up from his immediate left behind an enormous mound of furniture. Hearing it, Fred sighed again, exchanging a long-suffering look with George, who was inspecting some still sealed potion curiously. Fred left his twin to it and turned back to the pile. One more three-legged chair was tossed out of the way so he could check underneath it for a sign of the crown. As he did, he spotted something shiny to the left and turned. There, sitting harmlessly in the chaos, was a box, expensive and evil feeling.

That was probably it.

Fred reached forward and grabbed the item with his gloved hands, aware of Ron and Hermione's warnings, and opened the box to reveal a sickly glowing diadem within.

Yup. "Got it!"

"Ruddy finally!"

"Nice!"

Fred relaxed slightly; now they could finish this deal with the school and find out what happened to Ron, Hermione, Holly, as well as this Ace person. Not to mention Voldemort would have his last tie to life thoroughly destroyed. George stopped beside him as Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand; he pointed it to the box and grinned. Together he and George spoke in a taunt: "say goodbye, Voldie-shorts." And Fred brought his wand down in a sharp arc as fiendfyre came to life, and the diadem gave a death screech.

The ship lazily swayed under him; the back and forth motion like being rocked was soothing and immediately reliving to his mind as Ace finally woke up. For weeks now that he was looking back on it, Ace had woken in Holly's world with the forest beneath him, or he'd woken up within Impel down freezing to his very soul. Now though, Ace had the sway of a ship under him, the scent of saltwater in the air, and was finally warm. It was more soothing than Ace would honestly care to admit because it made everything that happened real. He really had survived, Holly had really survived, and she was with him in his world.

They'd made it. They were alive.

Ace exhaled as he opened his eyes and glanced down at Holly's mess of curls. She had her face burrowed into the skin on his chest, her arms pressed between them, and her injured legs between his own. Holly, thankfully, seemed unbothered by his slight stirring. She slept soundly as Ace watched her, as he observed her taking in each breath effortlessly. Ace relaxed further despite the scratches running across her face, the bruises pressed into her skin, and the bandages scratching at his skin from their contact. She was alright, they were messed up, but they were fine.

Personally, Ace was of the mind that he could remain in that bed for ages. He could have spent hours just watching Holly sleep soundly in his arms. To see someone so positively comfortable being this close to him while they were vulnerable. However, Ace's stomach did not want to be denied. He hadn't eaten in… gods days? And he was desperately hungry now that he'd rested. So carefully, Ace started to extract himself from Holly. He took care, so he didn't pull her curls which had turned into that 'devil snare' of hers to tangle around his body. Then, once free, Ace stepped off the small hospital bed and pulled the blanket securely over Holly, ensuring she remained asleep. Absently she burrowed into the fabric as she did, inhaling deeply at the blanket that still smelled like him and settling.

Ace grinned, then frowned. Actually, where had that blanket even come from? He was sure they'd fallen asleep without one- ah, Sirius. Ace clicked his tongue unhappily as Holly's head vanished under the blanket, and she released a content sigh.

Sirius must have come back at one point and wrapped them up, which mean Luffy's surgery was probably done-

"Luffy!" Ace gasped, whirling on the spot. How had the surgery gone?! Sirius hadn't woken Ace up. Was Luffy alright?!

"He's fine, Ace."

Ace choked on his tongue and spun on the spot, in a mix of determination to stay quiet and the desire not to scream in surprise that he'd missed an entire person in the room with him. Ace released a bizarre noise as he located the person somehow in the room with him. And the world stilled to a stop.

Over the years, Ace had many, many questions about Gol D. Roger. He'd wandered from person to person demanding answers about the man; he'd asked thousands of people about the man and their opinion of him. He'd been obsessed, and he could admit it. When you learned your father- when the man who sired you was someone so huge. However, when it came down to it, Ace had only ever once asked about her; about Portgas D. Rouge.

It had been after before he'd met Sabo during one of Garp's visits. The thought occurred to him in a moment of quiet, so he'd turned toward Garp and blurted the words out.

"What was my mom like?"

He'd only asked once, only once, and Garp had been helpful. He'd spoke of Portgas D. Rouge, the woman with pink hair and Ace's freckles. The woman who died trying to save him, who had, without a single doubt, loved Ace more than the world itself. Who had loved Ace more than her very life, who had carried Ace far beyond the norm to ensure he lived.

Garp tried to instill respect and awe in Ace and tried to ensure Ace knew what his mother had done and honoured her sacrifice by becoming a marine. But it had the opposite effect… Ace had been horrified. Because his life resulted in his mother's death and the sheer guilt that had suffocated him in that understanding… he'd never gotten over it. Not when Sabo flew into his life, not as Luffy forced his way in, not even as Ace accepted a new father.

He'd never gotten over the knowledge that he had single-handedly killed his mother.

"You have her freckles." Garp had said.

Apparently, he also had her nose.

"Hello dearest." Rouge greeted as he reclaimed a breath in a thick whoosh. She was perched on a nearby table, her feet swinging lazily, and her eyes were entirely too fond. They were brimming with love. She wore the very same expression Ace had seen Lily, Sirius, and James point toward Holly. The same love pops would- pops had looked at his children with. The utter affection of a parent that Ace wasn't at all used to be directed at him. An expression he honestly hadn't expected to witness coming from his deceased mother.

But oh, he should have expected it. It made no sense for Lily, James, and Sirius to focus so firmly on him as well as Holly. No reason to connect them unless they had someone on Ace's side to make that connection. Unless his mother had also been involved, unless his mother had watched over Ace as much as Lily, James and Sirius had for Holly.

She'd- she'd really been there-

"Mom?" Ace dared to whisper, and that fond little smile grew.

Rouge pushed off the desk; she glided across the room, stopped directly in front of him and looked up. Up, because Rouge was shorter than him, Ace had inherited his father's height. Then, slowly she lifted her hands, and Ace felt his own shake with… anticipation? He didn't know- but he couldn't control it, not as she reached up and ghosted her finger's across the skin of his hands. But he didn't feel it- and he felt a rush of disappointment. "Sorry, sweetheart," she soothed at the drop in his expression, "I used all my energy during the battle… give me some time, and I will embrace you properly."

He smiled a bit wan accepting that; he felt honoured by the words. Because that meant she had been there, she had been involved as much as Holly's family… he really… she must not hate him-

"Oh, my baby boy," her hands moved along his face, "I'm so very glad."

She must actually love-

"I'm so glad." Rouge repeated, eyes swimming with tears, "so very glad you're alive."

His knees gave out. Ace hit the ground as he reached up instinctively to cover his mouth, to smother to broken sound from escaping his lips. His mother's words rang in his ears as he did. She was glad he was alive. She was glad he was alive. She was- his mother- she didn't-

"Y-you don't blame me?" he gasped out as he dropped his arms and curled his hands close to his body into some false version of an embrace. The only thing he'd gotten for years. "I killed you- you should be-"

"Oh, Ace." Rouge's dropped into she kneeling beside him, as her hands fluttered desperately to embrace him but being unable to. She didn't regret it, she'd used everything to save his and Holly's life, but oh, Rouge dearly wished she had something left. Anything left so she could hold her son, "I never blamed you, sweetheart, not for a single moment. You were- you are everything to me. I… I'd give you everything, Ace. I am so very happy you're alive, and in the gods' name, I love you more than I have loved anything else in life or death."

His hands flexed at his stomach, and he reached up to cover his mouth once more.

"Ace." Rouge stayed in his sight, "you are so so very loved, sometimes… sometimes I want to murder Garp for not ensuring you knew that. Everything he missed it, what you were feeling." She growled like a beast, and he released a laughing sob. She'd been watching him- she'd been watching- "you have no idea how treasured you are, to Luffy, to your family, to Holly." She gestured to the bed, "to me. We'd do anything to keep you safe, anything to see you happy, and you deserve every moment of it. You deserve it, Ace; we love you." The relief Rouge could feel that she could finally tell him this. She could finally tell her son, who was so scared to be alive, that he was a gift to the world. She'd never be able to thank Lily enough for this. This was all she'd wanted.

"Mom." He lowered his hand and smiled; it was a broken thing, but it was a smile, and he couldn't disguise that, nor did he want to.

"Thank you," Ace curled up before up, bowed his head and gripped his own body desperately tightly, "thank you for loving me!"

Focused on what was happening, neither Rouge nor Ace noticed as the door to the infirmary closed behind them. They didn't see the empty bed, or as Holly slid to the door closed and found herself in the hallway of Trafalgar's submarine. It was as she'd intended it, though Holly had cast several wandless charms to ensure she'd gone unnoticed, especially when she realized who Ace was speaking to. Ace deserved a moment to talk to his mother in private, so Holly had slipped out. Of course, Holly didn't know what she ought to do next.

Pressing against the nearby wall, Holly closed her eyes and took in her magic. She'd regained some with her well-needed rest, but she was still magically exhausted, so she was better off not casting too much else. Well, one more spell shouldn't hurt; Holly wasn't going to be able to walk around on her leg any longer, so she quickly conjured a set of crutches to help her move.

Settled, Holly ventured forth. She eventually discovered Luffy's room. Ace's brother was sound asleep, and a heart monitor was attached and beeping at a steady pace to Luffy's chest. Holly didn't disturb him; he probably needed the rest, so she moved on. Holly bypassed several infirmaries, an empty mess hall, several bathrooms allowing her to clean up and check the damage on her body. Her arms and leg were positively covered in bandages. Realistically Holly probably shouldn't be moving around on the former. Still, she always had a high pain tolerance. She was reasonably sure she was on some massively powerful painkillers because she didn't truly feel her leg or her burnt arm. The formerly frozen one that felt fine enough, but it was still bandaged.

After a bit more wandering Holly settled on a point-me that brought her to the submarine's surface. There she discovered the ship had made landfall at one point because they were docked next to a rather expansive forest. "Brilliant," Holly observed as she took in Law's crew stretched out across the grass; they were surrounding a small bond-fire where a full boar was being cooked. Jimbe was there as well; he was snoozing against a tree and- there was a blue film running across her body-

The world shifted instantly. It was nothing like an apparition; one moment Holly was on the deck, the next she was standing before a rather unhappy looking Trafalgar Law. "Let me guess," he drawled, "you, in your brilliant mind, decided to walk on the leg that was formerly showing bone with no regard to your doctors. I assume you didn't even check in with anyone before doing it either and… Portgas is doing the same."

"I… made crutches?" she offered, being firmly reminded of a sour-faced Pince.

Law clicked his tongue furiously, "You. Sit. Now."

"Okay." She knew better than to argue and flopped to the ground right away. At least Law wasn't making her go back to bed, though perhaps he'd already figured it was pointless.

Law instead thrust a plate of food in her face; "eat." He ordered before moving around her to check at her bandages, "lets see what you've done to yourself."

Starving, despite herself, Holly did, in fact, start to eat. As she did, Law unravelled the bandages at her leg. Holly averted her eyes from the mess, missing Law popping some replacements and an ointment of some kind into his hands. The latter he slathered across her skin - and Merlin it hurt - before he re-bandaged her. As he worked, he mumbled to herself, saying something about skin grafts and dead skin that Holly really didn't want to think about. Instead, she hoped she managed to find a potion to solve the problem because that did not sound at all pleasant.

"Arm." Holly shifted her plate around and gave Law her burnt one, causing him to start working again.

"So, how long were we out for?"

"Two days." Law answered curtly, "Straw Hat's surgery was a success, he's resting now, as you should be."

She grinned at him, and he tisked unhappily, "otherwise we are safe; this island is near Amazon Lily, it's secure. The Marines won't come looking. Swap arms." She swapped, feeling relief in Law's words and in the look of her formerly frozen arm. The skin looked mostly whole and hale, unlike the burnt half. "Good, this one is decent. Just take it easy with it."

"Can do." Holly would do her best at least; she knew she didn't have magical healing anymore, so she'd have to take greater care with her body.

Law stood back, deciding against bandaging it up, "And Portgas?"

"He'll come out soon, I expect,"

"Good enough, he wasn't as bad as you. Shame, you'll both live." Law settled back in his spot and returned to his food, seemingly unbothered by what her skin had looked like. An iron stomach that one, then again, he probably needed it to be a doctor.

"Thanks," Holly returned to her own meal, "for saving us."

Law just smirked at her words and said: "you owe me one."

Holly eyed him; those particular words were quite familiar to her and… ah, now she was following: "Understood, you're a Slytherin."

"What?" Law's gaze flicked to her eyes narrowed.

Holly ignored the look as she loosely continued on a topic only Ace would understand at that point, "Or maybe a Ravenclaw, but… Slytherin seems more likely." She settled more comfortably and dug in.

Law gave her an inscrutable look, looking to see if she was insulting him. Holly, however, just smiled and dug into her food; she gave nothing away. Really she didn't mind owing Law a favour, she'd have given the man quite a bit as long as it was within her power, and well, he was a Muggle. Holly wasn't overly worried about life-debts or contracts in this case. He'd probably ask something ridiculous of her at one point, and she'd do her best to fulfill it because he had saved them.

As the thought occurred to Holly, she turned her attention to the surrounding area. She memorized the small clearing as a potential safe area because, as unhappy as she was to admit her Holly's ability to travel had been several limited by travelling words. There was no knight bus, no floo, she had no broom, and didn't know how to craft a portkey - though the ghosts could probably teach her. So, as a result, safe locations expanded to where she could apparate to which was currently, Impel Down, Marineford, and this clearing. Holly would have to expand that list quickly in the future. Of course, finding more places to apparate was only the tip of the iceberg for Holly. This was a whole new world, and she had a heck of a lot of adjusting to do.

Merlin… a whole new world.

Holly stopped eating with a piece of meat held up to her lips and made a face. She'd kept pushing the thought back in the effort to save Ace, but now it was creeping up again. The choice she'd made without a lick of hesitation for a man she'd only know for a short time. Had she… made the right one? Holly would never, ever, regret saving Ace… but now she was trapped in a brand new world, never to see her family- living family again. She'd never seen Hermione or Ron again, never eat at the burrow, never see Hogwarts again-

A tear slid down her face uncontrolled as it became real to Holly. She'd given up… everything, absolutely everything- "Holly?"

She snapped her head up and hastily swiped a hand across her face as she realized Ace had finished his conversation with his mother. He had snuck up on her while she'd been distracted by morbid thoughts, and he had a sorrowful expression on his face, one of understanding- of course, he understood. He'd lost his father, countless siblings, his own privacy, and his home in the past few days as well. "Hey, did you check on Luffy?"

Ace stared at her a moment before he abruptly flopped to the ground at her side. Holly squeaked slightly, shockingly shy as Ace pressed himself against her, leg to leg, and arm to arm. The noise caused him to grin her way before he sobered slightly. "You know… if you want to go home, I'm sure we could figure that out? Magic got you here… I can get you back?"

Holly jerked slightly, blinking stupidly, because… she'd forgotten. Merlin, she was a moron; she was a witch who had forgotten what magic could do. "I can introduce you to Ron and Hermione!" Holly instantly perked up, and Ace nodded along like she was slow.

"Yes… you could also… go home?"

"Oh." Holly laughed and shook her head, "I wouldn't stay, not unless we broke up… well actually, we're not dating yet, are we?" She blinked. Once. Twice. Not noticing Jimbe groaning in the background at them, "are we dating now?" and turned to Ace gaze innocent and curious.

"Oh my god," mumbled one of Law's crew under their breath. But Ace could only smile as she said it.

"Yeah Holly… we're dating."

"Good." Holly flicked a hand at the nearby collection of food and summoned a large leg of meat. She floated it toward Ace, who accepted it eagerly, and while he bit down, he asked.

"Shouldn't you be... not using magic?" But Holly shook her head.

"It's fine; my magic replenishes quickly. The sleep helped, and this is simple enough magic… that and I'd rather not walk over there and get food."

"Lazy."

"Oh absolutely. And Luffy?"

"He's fine, should wake up soon," Ace confirmed as he wolfed down the piece, accepting a second as Holly summoned it over, "the nurse doesn't think so, but I know Luffy. I give it a few hours at worst. Oh." Ace twisted his hands as he tossed another bone behind him and pulled off the ring. Casually he passed it toward Holly, "this is yours."

"You don't want to keep it?" Holly held her hand out, accepting the ring, which she slid onto her middle finger. The magical piece of jewelry automatically resized itself to fit her as she did, and it settled comfortably on her skin. At the same time, Holly caught sight of Sirius and Rouge chatting off to the side. Rouge looked like she was positively glowing; Holly assumed that meant her and Ace's conversation had gone well. But she was confused by her own parents not being within sight.

"May ask to borrow it, but it's yours." Ace accepted another summoned piece of meat. "They haven't been around," Ace added to her furrowed brow.

"Huh?"

"Your parents, I haven't seen them."

"Wonder why…" Holly mused, causing Ace to shrug,

"My mom said they'd remained at the battle to make sure everyone got out, but that was a few days ago." He made an odd sound, "speaking of-" Ace fished a hand in his pants pocket, reminding her that he still wasn't wearing a shirt, and they were in the remains of clothing that had gone through quite a bit. Holly wondered if she could borrow something from one of the women in Law's crew to wear; she was in bare rags by that point. "-I borrowed this." And revealed a… snail.

"A… den-den mushi, right?" Holly clarified, recalling the one her dad had shown her during the earlier parts of the battle, "it's like a phone, right? You can call people on it?"

"Exactly," Ace set the thing on his knee; it had yellowed skin and a shell that was blue and black… it was also wearing a hat. Holly snorted when she realized it basically looked like a tiny, snail version of Law. "I'm going to call Marco; I wanted you to be here when I did." Ace shot her a side-glance. He definitely wanted Holly to be involved in this conversation. She was his family now, and his future was also hers. He wanted her involved in their next step, which he knew would be entirely separate from Luffy's. At this point, Ace knew he and Holly would be equally hunted across the world. The Marines knew she and he were dating at the very least, so they'd pursue Holly as fiercely as they'd hunted for Rouge to ensure the Gol line ended. It didn't matter that he and Holly weren't anywhere near 'having children,' the Marines wouldn't stop.

Ace was already thinking about his next few steps. He needed to greatly increase his and Holly's strength levels; to survive, he'd have to be on par with his father. However, there was also the crew to think about. Ace didn't know where they were and what they wanted to do, so he had to find that out as well. That was… if they had a plan, it had only been two days since their father had… had died.

"How do you call someone with this?" Holly asked, inspecting the snail, and Ace shook himself from his thoughts. He leaned forward and showed Holly how to make a call and ensured she had Marco's number memorized in case she needed it later. Then, the den-den mushi started to ring… and ring… and ring- and then its eyes changed to Marco's lazy ones. The shift made Holly make a curious sound, and no, he didn't understand how the snails did that either.

"Hello?"

Ace smothered a hiss as he winced; Marco sounded… wrecked. It was a single word, but Ace could instantly tell Marco was beyond exhausted and… broken. Ace's guilt tripled immediately as Holly exchanged a look with him; she'd heard it too, which made it worse. Marco hadn't been able to cover his exhaustion on the call… that wasn't good. "Hello?" Marco repeated when Ace failed to speak. Thankfully Holly actually had her voice and was able to answer.

"Hello!" Holly greeted warmly. She didn't remember Marco overly well, but he had been the one to fix her up after Akainu, and he was Ace's brother, so she greeted him as such, "Marco?"

"Ah, the little witch." Marco answered, his voice relaxing slightly as he finally realized who had called him, "are you well? Is Ace?"

Quickly regaining control of his tongue, Ace was the one to answer that: "I'm fine, Marco, we made it out alright. You?"

There was a shift over the call as if Marco was making himself comfortable before he answered, "We're… recovering, we have… many injured, only a few deaths." The eyes of the den-den mushi shifted and exhausted piled onto its expression. Ace grimaced at it; Marco would be taking those hard, especially since he was the crew's doctor. Every injury that occurred after the battle was one Marco would take heavily, "Do you have a plan moving forward, Ace? Holly?"

Holly noted his words were careful, and Ace was quick to explain to her why in a whisper. "Den-den mushi's can be tapped into; the marines will definitely want to listen in to this conversation, so we're keeping it neutral. We don't want to be too… concrete right now." Then louder, Ace explained, "Holly and I are waiting for others to heal up." Meaning Luffy.

"That's silly," Holly spoke up; she reached forward as she said it and brushed her hand along the snail's shell, "I'm a witch." she pulled Dumbledore's- well her wand now, up and tapped it firmly on the den-den mushi's head. A glow appeared over the creature, and then she leaned back, "there, perfectly safe, no one can listen in now."

"She did something, didn't she…" Marco spoke up, having seen the glow on his own side.

"Secured our conversation," Ace laughed nudged her with a shoulder in thanks, "Luffy is still healing; once he's awake… we'll have to figure out our next step."

"I see; my thanks, Holly." There was a noise over the connection, likely Marco shifting once more, "we will have to have funeral soon, we have… his body… we're almost at that island." Secure or not, he didn't speak the island by name; he never did.

Ace nodded along, thinking on how he could attend, perhaps… "Holly can you bring us to a location I've seen?"

Holly made a thoughtful expression, "I think Sirius knows how to make a portkey; if he teaches me, I could make one based on your memories. But it will take me some time, a few hours at least if I push it, and that's if I have the supplies for it and if he knows. But it should be possible."

Good enough for him, "Then we'll be there, Marco."

"The day after tomorrow then… it'll give the others time to wake and recover, then we'll… we'll bury him."

"The day after tomorrow," Ace agreed… and hesitated. He didn't quite want to have this conversation over a den-den mushi, but with the tone in Marco's voice… he had to at least ask. "Marco… are you alright?"

Dead silence echoed along the line. All Holly could really hear was Marco's breathing; it caused Ace to close his eyes as if pained and Holly's concern to grow. Ace's siblings, all of them had to be desperately hurting, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"No."

Holly bit her lip, and Ace felt a rush of guilt as he realized there wasn't anything he could really do. Holly couldn't bring him to Marco, not without a portkey or seeing that island in person. "Marco…" Ace exhaled sadly. His brother must be suffering. Marco was the first mate, he'd be carrying the crew as well as their father's death and the very lives of all their wounded family and yet there was no one to support him.

"I'll handle it," Marco spoke up tightly, "I'll see you in soon, Ace… I have to go."

"Marco, wait-" the line cut off, and Ace swore. He exchanged another look with Holly then heaved an exhausted sigh, "he's always doing too much, taking on too much… the idiot."

"I'll ask Sirius about the portkey as soon as possible. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult a spell to learn." Otherwise, Marco would be waiting much longer than just three days. Holly hoped not.

"Thank you, Holly," Ace could help soon. He'd take on the pressure once their father was buried, but- oh… he sighed, "Guess we know what the plan is, at least for a little while."

"We'll support your family," Holly figured, "I figured that would be the case. I could send him a Patronus? It may help a bit?" she twisted the wand in her hand, "I could send a message with it?"

"No," Ace decided after a short moment, "better save your magic for the portkey thing. Besides, you already mentioned you needed to take it easy, and I know that stag thing is draining."

"Ah… it's uh-" Holly blushed, "it's actually a tiger now."

"Wait, what? It… changes?" Ace looked at her in surprise.

"Well, technically no, but it can if…" her blush deepened, "nevermind."

"Woah, wait, no, tell me how it changes! Holly! Spill!"

"It's nothing!" She blushed deeper bringing more of his focus on her to the point that he started to poke her better arm in demand.

"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." He poked and poked and poked and-

"ACEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

There was a flash of red to the side, and Holly instantly pulled away from Ace. She was just in time too, as Luffy's rubberized forth plowed into Ace. Together they crashed into the ground with a yelp from Ace and full-on sobbing from an endlessly relieved Luffy.

"How is he awake?!" yelled one of the people nearby.

"Oh my god! Did he kill Portgas?!"

"Morons!" Trafalgar's yell followed as he immediately started to chastise the pair, both of which had nearly died dozens of times and one of which who had only just recovered from a coma and surgery. Holly giggled as she realized she was not actually the problematic patient in this case. It meant she'd been overlooked in favour of Ace and Luffy's chaos. "Sit your asses down! Or I'll take your legs and make you!" Law hollered as he stormed over. He went entirely ignored as Luffy blubbered all over his living brother; his relief was palpable.

"I win the bet!" Sirius yelled from the side.

"Damnit," Rouge swore, Holly didn't know it, but they'd been betting with one of the few things they actually could bet with. Namely, who got to hold the ring. "I underestimated how much he was like his damned grandfather."

"You're aliveeee!" Luffy clung fast to Ace, who pushed himself up slightly into Luffy was flopped out in his lap. At the angle, Holly alone could see the positively soft expression on Ace's face, as he mentally basked in Luffy, Holly, and himself all being alive and safe. For someone who'd been convinced they were going to die a few days previously, it was a shocking change.

"Please, I won't be dying any time soon. I promised, didn't I?"

"Y-yeah- but-" Luffy shot blubbery eyes toward Holly, "but if Holly wasn't there- you- you might have- we might not have made it!"

"Oh?" Ace arched a brow in question, not surprising; he didn't actually know what had happened in Impel Down.

"I may have made a ship fly," Holly told him, "to get over the gates. But Luffy was the one who brought all the prisoners together,"

"Made a ship fly…"

"It was so cool!" Luffy released Ace suddenly and swung on the spot, "Holly! Do more magic!"

"Luffy, careful!" Holly flinched as Luffy nearly bowled into her after releasing Ace; it was only Ace's quick grip that prevented her from becoming one with the ground. As such, she only got hugged by stretching arms instead of an entire body. "Holly is still healing!" Ace snapped before dropping Luffy on the spot.

"Oops!" Luffy allowed his body to relax quickly as he hung limply from his brother's hand, "don't worry, Ace, I'll be careful! She's my little sister!"

"Wait- no! She's your older sister!"

"No, she's my little sister!"

"She's older than you!"

"She is not!"

Holly rolled her eyes as the two screamed over her head before Law himself got involved yelling for them both to rest their bodies. As the argued Rouge popped up beside her and quietly mused: "Technically speaking, Luffy is correct. You are younger by several months."

"She travelled through worlds, that aged her up." Sirius argued that point as he absently brushed his hand over Holly's hair; though he didn't physically make contact Holly swore she could feel it anyway.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"ARE NOT!"

Holly heaved a sigh as the film of Law's strange power overtook them all: "I SAID. BE MORE CAREFUL!" Luffy gave a dramatic scream as his legs were abruptly, but not permanently as she'd later learn, separated from his body. Though, she did scream in sheer shock when it happened, causing Ace to turn on Law in revenge for freaking her out, which was a clusterfuck in general. It took some time for everyone to calm down, which required Luffy to be bribed with food, and Ace to also temporarily lose a limb, so he didn't mess up his injuries. Holly didn't waste time during this period either, she moved quickly to Sirius the moment she was finished eaten to ask him.

"A portkey?" Sirius asked as the boys ate, "yeah, I can teach you that; where do you want to go?"

"To some… island where they're going to bury Whitebeard,"

"Ah got it, then we'll need Ace to help so we can pull the location from his memories." Sirius cast his eyes over the area, "bet the kid won't mind… hey uh… who's that?"

"Huh?" Holly turned to look just in time for an older and obnoxiously buff man pulled himself from the ocean, and she blinked. "What?"

"Oh!" Rouge called, "it's Rayleigh! How in the Blue's did he find us here?!"

"Alright, Lily-flower"

"Not really."

Lily reached up and brushed her hand through her hair. The strands were floating in the air but were frozen to the touch. Like just about everything else about her, her hair seemed to freeze everything she came into contact with, dead or alive. And her voice… every time she spoke, things around her collapsed and James, without fail, cringed in pain. Still, there was progress. Several days after the battle, Lily had finally stopped dropping her husband at a single word and was no longer a mess of rage and death. No longer did she hunt the destroyed Marineford for threats to her children. Yes, children. She'd accepted it already, Ace may not have come from her, but she still treated the boy like he was her own. Though, she supposed that also meant the entirety of the Whitebeard pirates were hers. Something to think about, she concluded.

Then again, that had also been because James and several of Ace's crew members had physically dragged her from the battlefield, all so she stopped attacking Marines. They'd pulled her, inch by inch, into the ocean as one by one the reapers came to claim all of Ace's deceased siblings. Until it was just James and Lily left floating above the sea in the middle of nowhere. By that point, Lily focused her efforts on getting better control of what she had become.

"I wish I had taken care at this point," Lily told her husband as the ice beneath her spread out further and further. Lily tried to reign in it, but she wasn't having much luck, "at this rate, I'll never see our flower again."

"You will." James reassured her, "we both will."

For now, Lily didn't trust herself around the kids, not after she caused Ace's skin to be badly frozen. But James was confident that sooner or later Lily would get control of what she was and then… then they'd have to work on what it would mean for their future. Because, if she was a banshee, it meant she may not ever pass on like he, Rouge, and Sirius could. It may mean he and Lily stayed for the rest of eternity watching over Holly's lines.

So be it, if that was the case, he'd adapt. They'd be together, and they'd have their memories of Holly growing and a mission for their future. James could adapt to that even he'd never have to ability to alter the world as Lily now did.

"Besides," James said finally, "I doubt the banshee lessons were that accurate anyway; they're too rare."

"I suppose that's true." Lily deflated slightly as the ice spread out, and she huffed.

So far, they'd realized what Lily was though they'd been skeptical. Even in the magical world, Banshee's weren't common, not when most people passed on or became ghosts. Few, very few, stayed to watch over the living, and fewer still remained for as long as James and Lily had. As a result, James firmly believed that banshees were more common to Muggles since Muggle's didn't typically become ghosts. Then again, he was working with limited information. All they really knew was that Lily was a little more than 'dead' now, everything she touched froze, and her voice could drop the living and the dead.

"What if there isn't any getting control over this?" Lily asked as she pulled the ice back to her. Several pieces broke away like tiny icebergs and floated away.

"Come now, Lils, you're the brightest witch in an age. You designed the ritual that killed Voldemort; you found a way to connect Ace and Holly from beyond the grave! You can certainly get control over this." Though it may take… a bit of time.

"I… guess," Lily made a face, "again?"

"Again." He agreed, prepared for her scream now.

"Three. Two…. One."

An island away, as Lily counted down, so too Holly. She, Ace, Law, Jimbe, and Luffy were clutching the rope Holly had crafted into a portkey. Jimbe, Luffy, Ace, and Holly all knew they were be going to the funeral, but Law was determined to keep an eye on his patients. This meant it was the five of them heading to the island of Ace's memories, where Whitebeard and their deceased siblings would be buried. Rayleigh, who had shown up to speak to Luffy, was staying behind to wait for them. Rayleigh also had wanted to talk to Ace, but over the last few hours, Ace had been avoiding the man like the plague, unwilling to speak about Roger when his emotions were still raw from the death of his adoptive father.

"So remember," Holly said one final time, "Don't let go until I do, and move your legs, so you don't slam into the ground."

Building the portkey off Ace's memories had not been a simple endeavour. Sirius barely remembered how to craft a portkey, but he and Holly had been able to do it. Ace had been quite helpful, able to describe in detail the location they were travelling to. Then, he'd allowed Holly to access his memories with a quick legillimency so she could better anchor their site to the portkey. Following, Ace had observed Holly crafting the portkey while resting his body and planning for their trip.

Thankfully, Holly had managed to finish in time, and she'd even gotten a moment to bathe and change in a borrowed set of pure black clothing. Holly had only been to one funeral in her life, Dumbledore's, but she knew what was expected of them… which probably wasn't what she ought to be expecting from the ones in Ace's world. Ace hadn't bothered to change at all, he was still wearing the rags of his shorts, no shirt, and a borrowed set of boots to replace the Marine issue ones he had been forced into. Nor had he commented on Holly's choice, making her believe this funeral would be quite unlike the solemn affair Dumbledore's had been.

"Got it!" Luffy proclaimed, he seemed cheery and yet… not, at the same time. Holly supposed it fit the moment; they were going to a funeral after all. Law, Jimbe, and Ace nodded to her words as well. So Holly counted down and- felt her hand latch onto the rope in a relentless grip. Then, all at once, they were dragged forward by their navels, and the world twisted away.

The twirling only lasted a few moments, then Holly was thrown from the rope, and she stumbled. Ace, right at her side, grabbed her as she was thrown bodily into his chest, and he righted them both with surprising ease or preparation. Ace personally was well used to Holly falling on her ass after magical travel, so he'd expected it right from the get-go. "Good?" he asked when he returned them to a standing position; Holly nodded to his question and turned to the rest of the group.

Luffy and Law had dropped together; they were sprawled in the grass in a tangle of Luffy's limbs. Law was entirely trapped and was already struggling to get free and not further injury Luffy's wounded body. On the other hand, Jimbe was standing unperturbed by the event… though he was a bit paler than normal, so maybe he had been affected.

"I hate magical travel. Have I mentioned that?"

"broom non-withstanding, yes, you have."

"Is this the right place?" Holly asked Ace as she turned to the area; she followed his line of sight and spotted a great blue bird heading their direction.

"It is," Ace confirmed, spying his crew moving around the area. Though, he noted Shanks' crew was gone… he thought the man was going to attend? Eh, well, Shanks had made it clear he didn't want to see Luffy until Luffy was ready, so that may explain it. Especially if Marco told the man Luffy would be present. Shanks must have left to avoid meeting Luffy. With that in mind, Ace turned his eyes to the sky just in time to watch Marco transform on the spot. He landed hard with a stagger in front of them both. It was distinctively less graceful than usual, and Ace did not bother hiding his concerned expression from his brother.

"Ace." Marco straightened as parts of his body flicked with flames. "You made it."

"Your forehead is bandaged," Ace pointed out, "Marco…" Ace understood what that meant; his brother had been using too much of his flames on their crew. It meant Marco was barely fully healed himself and that Marco couldn't heal the head injury he'd suffered. It meant Marco was far more exhausted than Ace initially expected.

Marco shook his head subtly, unwilling to discuss it, especially in front of Jimbe, Law, and Luffy.

"Pineapple!" Luffy yelled from the side as he finally disentangled from Law. He bounced to his feet and rushed to join Holly and Ace while leaving Law sprawled unhappily on the ground, "you're alive!"

"Indeed…" Marco eyed Luffy before turning back to Ace, "we moved the timing up; the funeral is starting soon once we can finish preparations."

"Is there gonna be food?"

Law face-palmed behind Luffy even as Marco smiled kindly at the question, "it wouldn't be a pirate funeral without food… and alcohol… lots of alcohol."

"YES! Come on, Tarao! Let's go!" Luffy snatched Jimbe and Law's arms and dragged them away. He raced toward the Whitebeard pirates in the distance at full speed and nearly ripped Jimbe off his feet in his rush. Law and Jimbe didn't complain too loudly, though, so the other three left them to it. Though Law did heavily protest the sudden nickname he'd been granted. Holly had a feeling Law was probably regretting attending, too late now though; the only way out was Holly and the rope… she hoped they didn't get lost.

Speaking of ropes. Holly stooped down on careful feet to grab the small length of rope, which she coiled neatly and stuffed into her pocket. She'd need it to bring the lot of them back to the island, so she was better off not losing it-

"Marco!" Holly looked to the side in time to see Ace brace Marco before the man collapsed on the spot. She hissed sympathetically as Marco winced and grabbed Ace's shoulder to stay standing; he was careful with it too, catching where Ace wasn't bandaged despite the stagger.

"Sorry, Ace… just a bit dizzy." He moved to push away, but Ace grabbed his arm to stop him.

"It's fine, Marco, rest. I can handle the rest of the planning, I'm the second division commander after all." The title put Ace in charge directly between Marco and Jozu, who was one of the more injured members of the crew as far as Ace knew. Actually, Ace was reasonably sure he couldn't truly make out any of the division commanders in the crowd outside Marco, which was not a great sign. "Marco, who has been helping you?"

Marco rubbed his eyes as Holly joined their side, wondering if she had a spell that could work as a pepper-up until the funeral was over. She couldn't think of one… Holly may have to invest in recreating potions with ingredients from this world. Merlin that may be an undertaking. "Everyone…"

"You know what I mean."

Marco sighed and shook his head, "most of the commanders are injured, they're doing what they can but…" he sighed, "everyone is grieving or injured."

"So you've been awake for how many days then?"

"The depends… what day is it?"

Ace tisked at Marco, and Holly released a light laugh at the sarcasm, "alright, tell me what needs to be done and then you will go with Holly and sit. Holly…" Ace looked at her, and she gave him a thumbs-up; she'd make sure he rested.

Holly had the feeling she could help quite a bit, especially when it came to the semi-visible form to her right. But when she glanced at him, the man shook his head… she'd have to ask about that later.

Marco put up a small fight. There was too much to be done. As a doctor, he couldn't very well sleep with many of his patients still in and out of consciousness. But Ace was quick to cut him off, saying if Marco passed out, he'd be equally useless, and Law could help them and would likely be eager to do so. So, in the end, Marco agreed. Sagging, he gave Ace quite the list to accomplish; items which included someone to speak at the funeral, people to move to dirt, and… someone to carry their father to his final resting place. Ace took these notes quickly and then passed Marco to Holly before he rushed off to work. Marco, sagging slightly into her side, allowed Holly to escort him to a nearby tree so he could rest a moment. Not that the man did so.

No, instead, Marco observed her with a critical eye. He took note of the bandages across her formerly burned arms and the way she was sagging - Holly was personally still recovering from magical exhaustion. Still, she was far better off than Marco was. "His arm is bandaged, and yours. Are you two alright?" Marco asked.

He hadn't seen Holly in the aftermath of the sight; the last he'd seen her she'd only injured her leg. To Marco, the arm was new, and as a doctor and honorary older brother, he was worried.

"We're fine, it's just a bit of burnt tissue. Law's taking care of us," Holly explained.

Marco snorted, "a 'bit of burnt tissue' she says," he eyed her, "you had third-degree burns three days ago."

"We're fine." Holly repeated, "so… rest, okay? Just for a few moments. I'll wake you if someone needs you."

Marco closed his eyes and leaned against the tree behind him, "I give it five minutes," he grunted, but his breathing evened out. He was that exhausted. It took him seconds to pass out now that he'd been allowed to. Holly swore then that she'd solve any problem that actually came to Marco. The man needed to rest; that was clear to even her.

So Holly settled in the guard his sleep and turned her attention to the enormous figure of Edward Newgate. He was standing nearby, waiting for her. When he had her attention, he pressed his finger to his lips and smiled sadly, explaining in a soft voice: "They need time to mourn. They don't need to know I am here, not yet; it will only prevent them from recovering… I will tell them later."

Holly bit her lip and gave him a subtle nod. Then she glanced at Marco as the skin at his forehead flickered oddly with his flames. Newgate sighed, spotting it as well he explained, "he's pushed himself too far, his body is attempting to heal itself from an injury, but it can't… Marco keeps giving everything to his siblings… at this rate, he will become sick." He was worried, it was a rare thing for Marco to truly become ill, and when he did, it was extreme. Edward Newgate knew when Marco finally crashed, and he would, his eldest son would be out for a long time.

"I'll take care of him," Holly promised and was thanked quietly before Ace's father moved away to check on his other children.

Holly settled at Marco's side. She occasionally spotted Ace running around from the distance as he put his many siblings to work. Once or twice he checked on Holly and Marco before rushing off again. Once he asked her for a spell or two or if she could do something, then was gone again. All the while, Holly remained beside Marco as she caught a glimpse of the future.

Ace, she was fairly sure, was going to end up the captain of all these pirates. Marco, she secretly thought, didn't actually want the job and Ace… though he'd said he didn't want it, was shockingly good at it from what she could see. So, that meant she would become a pirate as well. Holly didn't mind, it wasn't the future she'd imagined for herself, but Holly hadn't expected to have a future either. So, being a pirate, living at Ace's side, that was something she could get used to.

She'd probably focus on spell crafting and potions, she'd keep Ace's siblings and crew alive and safe. She'd ask Marco later about herbs and medicines of this world and… she'd adapt. She'd always been good at that. She just wished… Holly wished she could have kept her family from her original world as well. But no, that was an impossibility.

Holly would instead make a new family here.

Holly spotted Ace in the distance heading toward her. His expression was sombre, just like Whitebeard's as he walked invisible behind his son. Holly exhaled slowly and reached over to tap Marco on the shoulder; as she did, his eyes snapped open, and he focused on her.

"It's time." She told him and tried her best not to bring attention to the way Marco's expression shuddered before it was masked over. Marco decided he couldn't show emotion, not until his siblings were alright.

Mournfully Holly stood with Marco at her side, and they moved to meet Ace halfway down the hill.

"She asked one thing from me," Hermione mumbled as she stared down at Holly's empty grave. "Just one thing. How could I not try?" Then, Hermione glanced to the side at Ron, who was curled up beside her grave where he'd been sitting motionless for most of the afternoon.

There had shockingly few casualties in the last battle, a battle started from Holly's sudden Patronus racing into the Burrow. The tiger had been a shock, especially when it had open its mouth and spoke in Holly's voice. Hermione had been stumped because as long as she'd known Holly, her best friend had a stag Patronus and the sudden change meant that- meant that she genuinely had fallen for that man. The person Hermione had spotted in the Malfoy Manor, the stranger who had stormed a death eater hideout and fought against Voldemort saving them. Hermione couldn't fathom the implications of that, on the idea that in the few short months that she and Ron had been gone, Holly had met someone and fallen in love that deeply.

Because- if that was true then that man was going to-

"Please, Hermione, save him… find him and save him for me."

Holly had sacrificed her life for that message; she'd given them the last locations of the finally Horcrux and told them Holly was heading to Gringott's to destroy the cup. In her final message, she had told them about Ace and what she needed them to do if she failed to make it out of Gringott's. She'd given them all the tools they needed to finish the war and had left them one selfish request.

Hermione and Ron had rushed into action as the tiger faded away. They'd bid Fred and George to the school to destroy the diadem then had raced full-speed toward Gringott's. They'd arrived in time to see the ancient bank collapse. Endless tunnels systems had caved in, and only magic built into the bank had prevented a vast majority of the surrounding area from falling into the enormous holes.

They'd panicked after that. Had thrown themselves at the building screaming Holly's name, they'd quickly discovered the goblins remains and sign of Voldemort's magic. Then- they'd started to dig. But in the end, there was no way to reach those that had been underground. Even the surviving goblins gave up and started to craft new tunnels. Holly and Voldemort's body were eternally lost; they would be forever trapped in the void of Gringott's endless levels.

Following that… well, the dark marks had vanished when Fred stabbed the diadem to end the war. The order had been able to reclaim the school and ministry, snatchers arrested, and the people falsely imprisoned had been released. Muggleborns from all over returned to the world while Hermione put her entire focus on a scrying spell to find Holly. A spell that revealed that Holly was no longer in their world.

A day after that, they'd been forced to bury an empty casket while Kingsley announced the war, officially, over. In one short day, Holly had become a martyr to the magical community, and the world mourned, but none so much as those who'd known her.

The coffin had been the final nail to Hermione's hope, and it put her onto Holly's last request.

"He'd probably already dead… she said four days," Ron grunted from the muddied ground. They couldn't even bury her body; they'd never see her again.

"Time works differently between his universe and ours; Holly also said that," Hermione argued the point while unable to pull her eyes from the grave-site. They'd buried the casket beside James and Lily, and the monument was four times as large… Holly would have hated it.

Ron didn't respond to her words either way; he just burrowed his head into his legs and kept silent. Hermione ignored this; she knew Ron was depressed. "Are you going to help me?" she prompted.

"To save some bloke?"

"Save the man Holly loved." Hermione countered furiously.

"Some guy from another world when ours is…" Ron gestured helplessly; because death eaters were still everywhere, Hogwarts was in serious need of repairs and overhauling. Several man-hunts were running, and dozens of people were still missing because of the Snatchers. They had years of work to do in their own world while Hermione was fixated on a dead man.

"Yes," Hermione snapped, "the order is already working on our world, but there's no one to save Ace!" No one but her and Ron, no one Holly had trusted enough except them.

Ron heaved a sigh and forced himself to his feet, away from the empty grave and Holly's name, "so… what do we do first then?"

Hermione beamed, even as tears poured down her face, "First… we need the library."

"Should'a expected that. Good luck, Pince isn't letting anyone near it right now."

"She'll open it for me." Even if Hermione had to force it, life was on the line after all.

Holly had given her one thing to do, one final request, and Hermione was going to fulfill it; she was going to save Portgas D. Ace even if it killed her.

Holly was completely sober and was very likely one of three people in the entire area that actually was.

From her spot at the table, she could see people sobbing; one was trying to drown in a barrel of beer, two were brawling out their grief. Ace was singing as loudly as he could with some of his siblings. Incidentally, it was a song from her world he'd caught on the radio, and he was teaching it to his siblings. He seemed fine, so she wasn't overly worried; Ace had his guilt much soothed by his mother and was currently focused on his siblings. He'd feel it later certainly, but at the moment, he was fine. Instead, Holly was more worried about a few other individuals, people like the badly wounded former Whitebeard pirates trying to drink despite their doctor's instructions, and the doctor himself who was still flickering with blue flames.

From what she had overheard, Marco's devil-fruit ensured he could not actually get drunk unless he wore sea-stone, and if Marco wore sea-stone, she was reasonably sure he'd drop unconscious on the spot. So Marco was technically drinking, but he was stone-cold sober, and he was not coping well. Worse then Ace, which had surprised his siblings quite a bit. From their obvious fretting, most people expected Ace to be positively drowning in guilt by that point. That he wasn't… well, it was a surprise no one could really explain.

Finally, the third sober member of the three was actually Luffy. Ace's little brother was sitting at Holly's side with his eyes on Whitebeard's grave, and he seemed quite deep in thought. He had been for most of the afternoon in that state; he was apparently bothered by the enormously strong figure being buried.

"I've decided." Luffy suddenly proclaimed.

Holly quickly shot a spell at a nearby pirate when the man started to choke on some meat. He spat it right back up, and she rolled her eyes. The men were worse than Gryffindor's with this party.

"Decided?"

"We're not strong enough." Holly shot Luffy a confused look, and the teen explained with a wry smile, "my crew were separated before all this, and… we weren't strong enough, not to face the marines and not to survive the new world." He'd seen the power of the New world just as Holly incidentally had, and they were both too weak for it. Holly could manage, but she needed Ace at her side to ensure it. While Luffy, he'd been nearly washed aside by the power of the New World and only by sheer luck had he even managed to save his brother. Luck, and a witch.

"I'm going to tell them to train, for… two years. We're going to train, and then go to the new world."

"A wise choice Luffy-kun," Jimbe spoke up from behind them; he was tipsy but not too bad, "but how will you tell you're crew? They are, as you said, separated."

"Uhm…"

"With that, I can help," Holly offered, "if that's what you want to do. I can send a Patronus message to them. Do you have a photograph of them?"

"I have their wanted posters!"

"That'll work," she said, "I'll conjure my Patronus, and you say your message, then I can send it to them."

"Thanks, Holly!"

"No problem."

Luffy quickly plotted out his message. Holly remained sitting idly, swung her legs as he did. She also continued to scan the area; she watched the commanders specifically as Ace had pointed them out to her. Marco, who was flutterer about the site helping his siblings as they broke down, reopened stitches, and caused a ruckus. Jozu who'd been stabbed straight through and who should definitely not be walking around. Izo drunk off his ass and sobbing. Namur, who was pretending he was flying. Then there was Ace, even drunk he moved to soothe broken hearts, prevented fights, and comforted his siblings that kept latching onto him to scream their relief that he was alive. Holly worried slightly about the latter when he looked somewhat overwhelmed by the attention. Still, he recovered quickly and continued on, so she let him be.

"Okay I'm ready!" Luffy yelled and dropped his upper body onto Holly's legs, "I want to say this…"

One by one, across the planet, eight individuals were visited one at a time by a glowing blue beast. The first was Nami, and she screamed as an enormous glowing tiger spawned through the clouds to stop at her side.

At the time, she had been reading the paper that had described the war and had released several new wanting pages. As Gol D. Ace, Straw hat Luffy, and the Witch Flower Holly received updated and original bounties. Nami had been relieved to see Ace's updated photograph, meaning he was alive, especially when it had him standing back to back with a black-haired woman, the very same that had been in the background of Luffy's new smiling picture.

Putting two and two together wasn't difficult, especially with the papers screaming about the woman who would bear the next line of Gol and how she needed to be annihilated. Nami rolled her eyes at that and took the information like a grain of salt. "Wonder where they met, he didn't mention her when we met him… but then Luffy hadn't mentioned Ace, so that's not a surprise." Nami mused as she observed the 'witch flower' Holly's bounty. According to the paper, she possessed a teleporting ability - an odd connection to her nickname - was vital in Ace's escape.

Of course, just as she read this, the damned tiger showed up talking in Luffy's voice with a loud: "not three days! Two years!" before the damned thing ran off again without another word.

Thankfully it didn't take Nami long to figure out what that meant in Luffy words. Even if it caused her great annoyance, he chose such an odd way of telling them that information.

Nor did it truly take any of the crew overly long to figure it out. They all understood after a short period, even Zoro who'd attempted to chop the tiger in half when it surprised him. Or Chopper who'd tried to communicate with it not realizing it wasn't a real tiger. Or even Usopp who'd fled it's presence and had been chased until it delivered it's message. Nor Robin, who had a little more background as she stood with a pair of revolutionaries.

"They're quoting Straw Hat Luffy with Gol's freedom."

"Portgas," Robin absently corrected; she highly doubted Ace appreciated the change to his name in the papers.

Then she flipped the page to read that the Marines believed Buggy the clown had been responsible for most of the oddities of the battle; she snorted at that. Robin highly doubted it was actually Buggy the clown who had dropped a half dozen marines from noise alone. She also frankly doubted Buggy was the reason for the theft of the earth-quake fruit or numerous other unexplainable events, like flying den-den mushi's that had recorded all of the war despite the Marines intentions. Robin was actually putting many of these events on the unknown in Luffy's new wanted poster on the woman Holly, who had stood at Luffy's side like an avenging angel to rescue Ace.

After all, it made the most sense; why else call her a 'witch flower' instead of a 'teleporter' as the paper claimed was her devil-fruit. The Marines likely had some clue she was a little bit more than teleporting to give her such an epithet.

"not three days! Two years!" screamed the tiger, and Robin gave it a fond pat.

"Aye aye, captain."

"Ace…"

His hand gripped the wanted page in sheer shock.

"Luffy…"

How- how had he forgotten!