Here we go again! New story time!

It was their last heist before they left for the Grand Line, which meant that it needed to be big. It needed to be huge and the pay off had to be massive so they could get their foothold in the world. It needed to have gold and silver and more danger than anything they had ever done before.

It needed to be nobles, and it just so happened that the ones in this city were hosting a family of dragons.

"This is a bad idea," Deuce told him bluntly, staring up at the massive palace. It towered over them, lit in the dim light of dusk by burning torches and lamps along the turrets. The white stone glowed gold, and even from down here he could see the guards walking atop the walls. The nobles moved in the windows, a party lighting up the entirety of one wing in more lights than the whole of the city that the palace looked over. How much money was just sitting up there, wasted on people who didn't appreciate a thing they had?

"I know," Ace promised, clapping his first mate's shoulder. He tossed him a blithe smile and jogged towards the back gate. Mihar was supposed to have already secured it for them, and true to the plan when they got there he was standing on one side, with Ducky on the other. The pair waved him through.

Ace took the path that wound through rose gardens at a brisk jog. The actual path was lit with lamps and patrolled by palace guards, so he hopped the prickly bushes and ducked under the flowering orange blossoms. The April air was damp, but not cold this close to the equator.

It was only a few minutes to the servants door, shut against the wall. If he didn't know what he was looking for he would have missed the outline of a latch in the stone wall. Thank the Sea's for Leonaro's inexplicable collection of blue prints.

Ace brushed his fingers along the rock before he pushed against a brick. There the sound of a spring warbling before the door swung open before him. Ace jumped in, moving to knock out whoever was inside the tunnel.

He found it empty. Well lit, but void of anyone inside.

He took a left, like Leonaro said to, up a long flight of stairs. The steps curve into darkness ahead, but that was no problem for someone who could light his own hand on fire. Which was, coincidentally, what he did.

He passed one landing, then two, then three before he came to a stop at the fourth. Or was he supposed to go in at the fifth? Or, was it the third floor? Crap. Saber, Barry and Kukai were waiting for him on one of those!

Ace hit his head against the door, groaning loudly. Son of a bitch.

The door opened with the force of his skull. Ace took it as a sign and walked into pitch black.

He lifted his flaming hand and added power, lighting up the room steadily. Satin chairs surrounded a table with a pink silk cloth, oil paintings hung on the walls depicting a family of red haired, green eyed nobles in high collared clothes. Ace couldn't help wondering if the frames were real gold or just painted.

They were too bulky for him to take with him, so he moved on, out of the room and into a hallway.

How many people did this family have for all these portraits? And marble busts!

A smell wafted through the air, roasting boar, drawing him down the hallways. His stomach growled loudly, all but forcing him to push open the door. Light spilled out of a kitchen that was almost entirely deserted. There was only one person inside, a girl.

She looked up when he opened the door, her mouth stuffed like a squirrel. Sauce took the place of lipstick. Actually, she didn't look like a party goer at all. Her dress was bland yellow and her hair was stuffed inside a bandana.

She swallowed, made a face, and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Um," she said.

"Hello," he nodded at her. "Sorry to interrupt."

"It's okay. I haven't seen you here before. Are you, visiting or crashing?" While she spoke she grabbed rolls and lathered them in butter.

"Crashing," he didn't see a reason to lie. "I'm a pirate."

She laughed. "Yeah, and I'm a Celestial Dragon," she drawled, and shoved a roll into her mouth.

"I am," he pouted at her before he jabbed his chest with his thumb. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates!"

"Spade… pirates. Ace. Oh my god, that's amazing," a grin spread broadly over her face. "Like an Ace of Spades! I love that!"

Ace puffed up, warming with pride. "We're going to the Grand Line," he told her.

"Then you're going to need food, right? Here," she chucked a roll at his face. He caught it in his mouth and she laughed again. "And money, I bet. I can show you where the good stuff is."

"I'm a pirate, but what are you?" he asked, instead of accepting right off. Most people didn't just offer to help pirates steal from world nobles.

"I told you I'm a Celestial Dragon," she huffed at him. "Or are you calling me a liar?"

"I would never," he waved his hands as if to placate her. "Sorry, Miss, what was your name?"

"Sylph, hi," she waved. "So. Mr. Pirate. Want some treasure?"

Ace tipped his hat to her, grinning. "Lead the way, Miss Sylph."

She abandoned the food and raced to the door, passing him with enough speed to ruffle his bangs. He grabbed his hat, watching her go with surprise. She probably wasn't supposed to be here either, if she was moving that fast.

He chased down the hall on her heels, taking a right so hard he almost hit the wall when she vanished around the corner. Behind him he heard a couple of palace guards muttering, just a few seconds after he left their sights. Sylph knew what she was doing.

She lead him into a bedroom with silk sheets and a mirror the size of a door. The room was bigger than his ship, with a ceiling to high up even trees would fall short. The wallpaper had gold flowers on it. Real gold.

"Here," Sylph pulled a drawer open, revealing gleaming jewels and shimmering metals. Ace picked up one with a hair thin chain, looking at the ruby that gleamed in the light. There was a stone smaller than his pinky nail in this drawer, and when he opened another one he found a gem the size of his fist. Ace pulled out the bag he'd brought with him and started shoving in as much as he could manage.

"Why are you helping me?" Ace asked, though he didn't stop collecting the loot. Sylph was even trying on a few rings. She glanced at him, blue eyes clear as the sea.

"Because I want to. Because I'm a liar and I think this is fun."

"You sound like a pirate!" Ace claimed, flashing her a smile.

Sylph laughed.

"Do I? I'd be a terrible pirate. I can't do anything I'd need to!"

"You have to be able to do something!"

She shrugged, careless. "Maybe. I can't fight to save my life, I don't know the first thing about sailing, and I get tired if I run for more than a few minutes at a time."

"You found all this," he pointed out, slinging the bag over his bag.

"Yeah, but anyone could have," she shrugged. She didn't seem to actually care that she had said she would be a useless pirate. Well she wasn't a pirate, so it didn't' matter.

Ace looked around, checking the windows and the door before he pulled out his tiny den den mushi. Sylph leaned in when she saw it, her eyes growing wide.

"It's so little!" she breathed. "I want to die."

"You- what?" he stared at her, bewildered.

"It's so little, it makes me want to die from how cute it is," she elaborated. "I love it."

That was weird. Ace brought the sail back up to his face and told his crew, "It's time to go. Grab anything you can carry and meet up at the Card Shark."

"The Card Shark," Sylph repeated. "Is that your ship?"

Ace puffed with pride.

"Best ship in the East Blue!" he declared.

Sylph laughed at him. "Well, wish the best ship in the East Blue my best. And her crew."

"Where are you going now?" Ace asked. He was curious. She was a curious person.

"Me? Oh, I don't know. Wherever Father has us travel next. We've been island hopping since September," she confided. "I think he's looking to find me a noble stepmother."

"Sounds fancy."

"Sounds terrible."

Ace snickered at her expense, even if it was a bit rude.

"I'll see you around," he said, and turned to leave Sylph alone. She seemed to have everything handled here.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "Maybe you will."