I groaned as I trained my Devil Fruit. It was tiring, even more so now. I sighed as I pulled away from the chair I had pushed towards me. My mouth was dry, and I grabbed a water bottle. I drank greedily, using my powers had really worn me out. I wiped the sweat off my head using the back of my hand, and walked back into the street. I had set up a little tent in the Lawless area, and inside it had a few things I needed to help me practice. Over the time, I had developed my Devil Fruit powers more, and could use more of the elements from my cuffs. I trained hard everyday, all day. If I was going to pull this off, I needed something big. I needed the Marines to be distracted with something. With something like...the Whitebeard Pirates? In the streets where everyone had their everyday lives, there was a little rumor that one of the Whitebeard Pirates had been taken by the Marines. It might be worth looking into, as long as the rumors were true. Of course, I would have to time everything perfectly, and then be able to….I stopped where I was and tried to think things through. What did I want?

'You want your dad back.' My heart whispered to me.

'No you don't.' My brain argued. 'He abandoned us, why would we want him back?'

'He's family. Don't you think he deserves a second chance?' My heart asked carefully. I shook my head, and cleared it of voices. I didn't need a mini discussion going on in my head right now. I just needed to be focused on how to get there, and I could decide what to do after. I sighed again. I needed to plan this out. First, I needed to know that the Whitebeard Pirates were there. Most likely, they would be. Suddenly, newspapers dropped down. I caught one, and looked at the front page.

"FIRE FIST ACE TO BE EXECUTED" The headlines said. I quickly scanned the article. It mostly just talked about how the Marines wanted to laugh in the Whitebeard Pirates' faces by publicly executing Ace, but it confirmed something. They wrote this news article to prove to the people that pirates don't scare them, and to let the Whitebeard Pirates know about this. So they could get rid of two birds with one stone. People around me were looking at the new article, shocked.

"Will the Whitebeard Pirates actually come?" People whispered. I grinned. They would come. They would most definitely come. I glanced at the newspaper again. When was Ace going to be executed?

**Timeskip (Day of Ace's Execution)***

Today was the day. I noticed that many pirates were here to watch, the Kid Pirates, the Heart Pirates, many others. I winched as I dodged out of the Heart Pirates way. Law was probably still pissed at me. Whitebeard would probably hold back, but I wanted to talk to the Admirals, and they would come out when Whitebeard did. I needed to go at least an hour before the Admirals fight, and that could be hard. I crossed my arms and leaned on one of the trees and waited for the battle to begin.

***Line Break****

"I should really be resting." I mused to myself. "Well, can't help it now. At least I just needed to watch." I pushed down my hat farther down on my head and pulled my gloves farther up my hands. I couldn't risk someone finding me out now. As the snails started the live webcast, I noticed that like I predicted, Whitebeard was staying back. But there was another person. Monkey D. Luffy. The person who punched a Celestial Dragon. I smirked. This changed everything. I should go now then. Before the Admirals come. Because they would come. I ran towards the docks. There wasn't anyone around, they all went to watch the webcast. Perfect. I closed my eyes, and imagined I was the wind. Blowing with it, sweeping up spare leaves-I snapped out of it. I had gotten better at traveling, and I focused on where Marineford was. I imagined the white walls, with the word "Marines" written on it. I imagined the harbors that surrounded it-WAIT HARBOR?! As if sensing my distress, the wind flew faster. "NO!" I panicked. "THERE WAS A HARBOR THERE? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. I WAS SO DEAD." The more panicked I became, the faster I flew, and that made me more distressed, until I had formed a hurricane. I looked down, and realized that I was probably freaking out so many aquatic animals right now. I calmed myself down, and lost much of the water. "Calm down, Cuffs." I told myself. "You'll be fine. You can land inside of the walls or something. You'll figure something out.". I sighed, and focused on the ocean. It was beautiful. The blue shimmered in the sunlight, and I smiled at the sight. If only I could swim in the ocean. It was so beautiful, yet so cruel. As I daydreamed, I grew closer and closer to Marineford. I snapped out of my daydream and started to plan. Navigating there wasn't so hard, but what part of the battle would I be in? Would it be towards the end? Towards the beginning? After the end? Finally, I arrived. It was chaos. There was ice blocking the way to the harbor, and huge iron walls surrounding the Marine Headquarter. Many pirates were on the ice, just standing around, as all the marines had fled into their fortress. I landed on the ice, sliding as my feet tried to find traction.

"What's happening?" I asked a random pirate. He looked at me strangely.

"You haven't been here before?" I shook my head.

"Just got here." The pirate looked at me in awe.

"You went here? Even after all that happened?" He asked in amazement. I shrugged.

"Guess so. So why do the marines have a huge wall separating us and them?" I asked him. The pirate grimaced at the wall.

"Well, they're hiding now. I think they have a plan though. Old man tried to break through the wall, but it didn't budge. I think the Navy's trying for something though." I nodded and thanked him. I ran off to find Straw Hat Luffy. He must not have taken the Admirals yet if the walls were up. Suddenly, I stopped, clutching my chest. Flying from Sabaody to here was a workout, even for me. But I could rest later. Now, I just needed to get back at the marines. Suddenly, huge red fireball lit up the sky. I looked up curiously as they flew into the clouds. I furrowed my eyes. Was this his…? Then the fireballs came down. My eyes widened. It was. It was his power. They hit the ice, and the ice started to melt. Drowning pirates yelled in pain as the water was boiled by the lava. I glanced around quickly. Where was Straw Hat? Then I saw him, staring at the fireballs raining down on people. He stared as the pirates jumped out of the way, as the pirates fell into the boiling water, as the lava melted more ice. I leaped and pushed him out of the way as a huge meteor hit where we were standing. Straw Hat yelled as there was sea water below him, but I generated wind and pushed us safely to another patch of ice. He looked at me, confused.

"Who..who are you?" He asked me. I shushed him.

"No time to explain. I can help get you over the wall. Just promise one thing for me." I said hurriedly. Straw Hat nodded.

"If you can help me save my brother, then I'll do anything for you." My eyes glinted as he spoke.

"Leave the Admiral with the lava powers to me." I said dangerously. "Let me handle him." Straw Hat nodded.

"Can you get me over the wall?" I looked around, and saw more and more fireballs shooting into the water. This was bad. We almost didn't have a place to stand, and I didn't want to waste my power by holding us up. We would just have to start from here. I nodded.

"Get on my back." I told him. Straw Hat nodded, and wrapped his hands around my neck, carrying a piece of wood as he did so. I grabbed his legs, straightened up. I thought about the wall, the wind, the other side. I felt my body gradually disperse, along with Staw Hat's body. I imagined us flying over the wall, past Little Oars...Oars. I hardened my heart, and looked away. The three Admirals were standing out in front, and I tried to sneak past them. But they noticed me. The First Admiral sent icicles at me, the Second Admiral sent a beam of light, and the Third Admiral sent a glob of lava. I had to stop. I quickly manifested, and absorbed all three of the attacks. I pulled my hat down so it would cover more of my face. There was no need to release my identity now. Straw Hat was in a fighting position, looking at the ground.

"Lu-Luffy!" Ace shouted out. I smirked, and stepped back. Straw Hat deserved this. Straw Hat stood shaking, breathing heavily. Suddenly, he looked up, and in his eyes, was just complete and utter rage.

"Oh no. You finally made it." The Admiral with a sleep mask said monotonously

"You're standing tall, Dragon's son." I sneered at who said that. Of course it'd be him.

"It scares me! His youthfulness!" The Admiral with sunglasses noted, not really caring. Straw Hat still stood there, breathing heavily.

"I praise you just for your tenacity." I grimaced as he talked. Of course. Of course. He just had to believe in justice that much…

"But you're not good enough to reach this stage yet." The Admiral with the sleep mask said indifferently.

"What makes you think you can beat us?" The Admiral with sunglasses asked curiously. Straw Hat stood there panting, and his gaze slowly traveled over the Admirals and up onto the execution platform.

"GIVE ACE...BACK!" Straw Hat yells, and launches the piece of wood towards the Admirals. I smirked. It seemed I was right when Straw Hat would do things no other would do. Yet, the Admiral with a face mask froze the piece of wood, and launched it back at Straw Hat. "GOMU GOMU NO...STAMP GATLING!" Straw Hat furiously broke the piece of wood, and the shrapnel hits the Admirals, but with no effect. I sighed, walked forward, and froze him in place.

"What did I say about the Admirals?" I asked Straw Hat, sneering as I did so. He thought for a moment, then realization dawned on him.

"Oh.." He said obliviously. "Well, you can at least let me hit them once?" I facepalmed.

"I SAID I WOULD HANDLE THEM!" I yelled at Straw Hat, causing him to recoil back.

"Well, then what do I do?" Straw Hat asked curiously.

"Just wait for an opening, then save Ace." Straw Hat nodded, and immediately ran forward to face some of the surrounding marines.. I turned to face the Admirals. I sneered as my gaze fell on him. I shook my head. No. He wasn't he anymore. He shouldn't have a place in my heart. He was just Akainu.

"I don't know why you think you can beat an Admiral." Akainu said, clearly doubting my ability. "But move aside. We need to take care of Dragon's son." I sneered at him again.

"You really don't know who I am?" He looked at me curiously.

"Am I supposed to know you?" I felt tears building up in my eyes. Of course he didn't remember me. Why would he? I was just bring my hopes up, and he brought them down...just like...I shook my head and furiously wiped my eyes.

"Yes." I replied softly. "Yes, you should." He shook his head, annoyed now.

"I don't know you. Stop trying to fool me." A sudden spurt of anger enveloped me, and I tore off my hat. He finally had a clear view of my face, and I watched in satisfaction as his eyes widened. He did remember me then. But then he clenched his fists, and grit his teeth. I felt the tears coming back. Did he really even remember me? I turned away, back towards Straw Hat. I clutched my hat furiously, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes again. Akainu let out a sigh, releasing all his anger at once.

"J-Jade." He finally said softly. I turned back towards him, wiping off the last tears on my face, and plastered on a scowl. "Y-You're...alive."