Story Title: Laughter
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Words: 1,521
Summary: Ace will never hear the sound of his little brother's laughter again.
A/N: Why is it so much fun for me to take a happy, cheerful term and change it into something so dark and full of angst?

Laughter

A young man by the age of twenty two sits on the floor of an empty room. The room is dark and dreary; it's anything but the cheerful atmosphere Ace had wanted. The floor is wooden, and the walls are painted as if the room was a pirate ship; which included the sunset on one of the walls. There are various pirate costumes in the closet, and the dresser is full of clothing that would fit a five year old. The bed is also made specially to resemble a pirate ship; it has red sheets and white pillows.

There's a rug in the middle of the room and there window resembles a porthole.

It's as if the room ʜ̶̷̲̅ᴀ̶̲̅ᴅ̶̲̅ ̶̷̲̅ʙ̶̷̲̅ᴇ̶̲̅ᴇ̶̲̅ɴ̶̲̅ was designed for one specific person.

That much was true, because the person it had been designed for now sat directly across from Ace. The person was a mere child with gently tussled black hair, dull dark brown eyes, and tanned skin. Underneath his left eye was a crescent shaped scar that Ace doesn't remember him having, and the straw hat he loved so much was on the bed gathering dust.

It's not right.

There is a photo album in between the two.

Within it are various pictures of them smiling, laughing, and having fun together… Even when it was over the most common and normal things; Ace's little brother always had a way of finding enjoyment out o everything, (-not anymore), it was one of his favorite things about Luffy. How could it not be, his smile used to be an everyday thing- so of course Ace had come to love it.

"Do you…" Ace begins, trying to strike an awkward conversation with his little brother. "Still like pirates?"

"No sir, I do not." He replies without hesitation, and there's no spark or cheer in his eyes anymore. It's as if he's going through everything without actually being there…

It was as if he had been B̷̲̅R̷̲̅O̷̲̅K̷̲̅E̷̲̅N̷̲̅.

His little brother, Luffy, had only been five before everything changed. He, himself had been a mere sixteen years old when it happened.

Luffy used to absolutely love pirates, and now he's reached a point where simply talking about them is something that could never be done again.

"Is your favorite color still red?" Ace tries again, and for some reason it's as if his very being wants to find something that reminds him of the old Luffy.

His Luffy.

"I do not have a favorite color, sir."

Luffy is only eleven years old, yet he's so different from his five year old self. Ace can't help but wonder just what he was put through to become like this, yet at the same time he really didn't know what was horrifying enough to change his hardheaded personality

The feeling of abandonment may or may not have had something to do with it, but Ace doesn't really want to think about that either.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Ace decides to bring up an event in Luffy's past that always made his little brother laugh.

"Hey, remember when you bit that guy wearing the chicken costume?" Ace laughs forcibly, "It took three people to pry you off, some random stranger, me, and Shanks!"

…

There's silence

Luffy looks at him with an unchanging glance; "I was four years old, sir. I was without discipline."

"Ah, right…" Ace replies dully, but takes a moment to think of something.

Something hits him, a question to be more exact.

"Why won't you call me Ace? Why haven't you even addressed me as big brother either?"
The moment Ace picked Luffy up from Garp's house; he hadn't called Ace by his name or any nicknames. It bothers Ace.

Luffy doesn't even call Luffy big brother anymore, and because Ace realizes this, the pain in his chest gets even worse.

"To refer to an adult by his or her first name is considered rude, and punishment will always follow, sir." Luffy replies automatically, as if it's something he has been doing for years. "Also, before you left, you made it quite clear that I was not your brother. I am adopted; therefore I hold no relation to you whatsoever, sir."

Ace remembers all too clearly, the moment he told Luffy that he was adopted and that they hold no relation. It had been a fight over something incredibly silly, a small argument that had been caused when Luffy had acted like the child he was- like the child he still is, and had thrown various fits when Ace wouldn't spend time with him.

Garp had threatened to take them both to a high ranking military school when Luffy started breaking things and making messes, even going as far as to steal and accidentally break the necklace Ace's mother gave to him right before she fell into a coma.

That had pissed Ace off, it made him angry enough to yell at a five year old child.

"Mom made this for me, how could you take it?"

Luffy, at the time had only blinked, and stared guiltily down at the floor. "Mama didn't leave anything for me when she died, so I wanted to play with it."

"She's not dead! It was a lie so you wouldn't have to find out!" He had replied, his vision clouded in red.

"But… Why would you lie? She's just as much my mama as she is yours…!"

Looking back on this day, twenty two year old Ace wonders if he really had the right to say what he said afterward.

"She's not your mother, you're not even adopted! YOUR mother abandoned you on the street because you were a fucking mistake!"

Even to this day Ace can clearly remember Luffy's heartbroken face.

It's all his fault.

Ace clearly remembers for the first month after their argument, they didn't say a word to one another. And by the end of the month, Ace's mother was finally admitted out of the hospital so Ace had the choice to stay with Garp or go home with his mother and father. He chooses the later, but Luffy chooses the first option.

At the time, Ace doesn't try to stop him. Even though he knows that Garp is considered abusive, sending him to the hospital because of a broken limb or some other sort of wound he had inflicted on either Ace or sometimes even Luffy. The doctors and nurses were too afraid of the man with high authority to even ask questions anymore.

Yet sixteen year old Ace leaves Luffy without a second thought, fully knowing that without being there to protect Luffy, his little brother's life would become hell.

He walks out the door anyway, and doesn't look back.

Just look where it got him; guiltily staring at his little brother across the room knowing fully that it's his fault Luffy won't smile anymore, or laugh anymore, or even let out some indication that he's happy.

"I tried to go back for you, you know." Ace tries; and he's telling the truth. After the first year Ace realizes his mistake and constantly tries to call his grandfather, only to find out that he had moved to some unknown location and taken Luffy with him.

Ace regrets it.

"It doesn't matter." His brother replies, but this time without attatching 'sir' to the end of his sentence. For the first time that week, a small hint of emotion leaks through his big dull eyes; but it's not the kind of emotion Ace wants to see.

A̲̅ɴ̲̅ɢ̲̅ᴇ̷̲̅ʀ̲̅.̲̅
R̷̲̅ᴀ̲̅ɢ̲̅ᴇ̷̲̅.̲̅
F̷̲̅ᴜ̷̲̅ʀ̲̅ʏ̲̅.̲̅
P̲̅ᴀ̲ɪ̲̅ɴ̷̲̅.̲̅
B̷̲̅ᴇ̲̅ᴛ̲ʀ̲̅ᴀ̲̅ʏ̷̲̅ᴀ̲̅ʟ̷̲̅.̷̲̅

The doorbell rings and Ace throws his head back in agony because he knows he's out of time. He had one week with his brother before he had to return to Garp.

"Why won't you laugh anymore?" Ace asks as Luffy stands up.

Luffy walks towards the door, and Ace tries his best to ignore robotic way his brother moves.

"I can't."

Ace feels his heart shatter into a million pieces.

All hope leaves him as he closes his eyes and waits for his brother to leave.

"Bye, Ace."

The footsteps are gone and so is Luffy, just like his laughter. Ace knows he'll never hear his brother laugh again.

A picture of two brothers laughing together falls in silence.

－ＥＮＤ－

What makes you happy?