"ACE!" a voice shattered Ace from his sleep. He shot out of his bed, sweating and breathing heavily.

"ACE, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Ace clenched his head as he curled up in his bed, trying to ignore the phantom voice crying out to him. The voice wouldn't leave him alone. No matter how many times he said he was sorry and apologized, the amount of tears, his voice still haunted him.

Luffy's voice. His precious baby brother's happy voice that was now all but shrieks and terrible cries for Ace. Asking where he was. No matter how much he tried to cope with Luffy's death, the nightmares and the cries kept him up. That caused a lack of sleep at night which in turn caused Ace to have more of his narcolepsy fits during the day. Ace had managed to get the hang of hiding it since he stayed on the ship mostly now.

Ace shed the sheets off of him and sat up, feet planted on the floor. No use to trying to go back to sleep now. He needed some fresh air. He slipped his feet in his boots and grabbed a shirt hanging from his chair. Quietly as he could, he headed on out. He left a crack open on his door so he wouldn't have to deal with the loud click it made. Being used to growing up in the wilderness, he made his way up to the deck without making a single noise.

He had been sitting there for a while, not exactly sure what time it was but the sun didn't look like it was about to come up any time soon. Ace sat there, wind gently blowing in his face. He had been with Whitebeard for about a year and a half, finally feeling at peace for once. He felt accepted. For once, he could shed all his worries and live happily.

Until Whitebeard had called to Ace. He wanted to speak to him in private.

At first, he thought it was just a mission, but as soon as he stepped into the room, he could feel the gloom in the air, Marco was off to the side, his poker face on but the pain was clear in his eyes. He nodded to Pops, and passed Ace. The door clicked shut. Ace walked around to see Whitebeard.

"You wanted to speak to me, Oyaji?" Ace asked.

"Not me, although I will always be here for you, my son," he said as he handed Ace the den den mushi. Ace was confused, but accepted it anyways.

"Hello?" Ace asked, not forgetting his manners.

"Ace." The voice alone made him freeze.

"Shitty gramps, I'm not joining the Marines." Ace automatically spat out.

"Ha! Wouldn't want you to now." The line went quiet, "Not anymore." Ace's heart beated fast.

"D-did they found out?" he asked, knowing his Grandpa would know what he was referring to.

"…Sengoku had been rather adamant on finding you ever since your first bounty. You being with Whitebeard and at the Grand line should keep you safe for now. Though, he traveled to Fuusha village under my nose."

"Wait, what? Why?" Ace clenched his fist, trying not to flare up as he realized something horrible. "Luffy! Is Luffy—" he gripped the den den mushi.

"Akainu had tailed him, and appeared after Sengoku left after visiting for some time. I don't know why, been trying to find out."

"Gramps, is Luffy—" Ace asked again, only to be cut off by Garp again.

He could hear his grandpa's voice crack. "Akainu had gathered Intel from some of the villagers, and connected that Luffy was Dragon's son." There was a pause, and a deep, slow inhale and exhale. "Luffy tried to fight as much as possible, but with Akainu, not even Dadan and the other bandits could help."

"…You're not saying—" Ace swallowed harshly. Dread quickly filled his stomach.

"Dadan and the other bandits are gone…Luffy as well." Ace could barely hear his gramps crying. "I'm so sorry, Ace."

"Lu…why…why?!" he exclaimed. "No! You're lying! Luffy can't be dead!" Ace hollered, unbeknownst of the gathering crowd from the now open door. Marco had rushed in for some reason. "Dammit grandpa, tell me you're lying!"

"Monkey D. Dragon, is my son. He is the most wanted man, a revolutionary and as well as Luffy's father. Just by being his son was enough reason for them to take Luffy down. Same for you, which is why you need to stay low for a while. There's something that's not right." There was a muffle on the other side. "I need to go. Keep a low profile. Whitebeard, keep my grandson safe." A click on the other side was heard and the den den mushi was off.

"Lu…Luffy…Luffy…" the tears trickled out of Ace's eyes as he chanted his name. His precious baby brother, the only light he had left of his dark world.

Ace could barely remember what happened after, but apparently he had started bawling and his flames went out of control. He had almost burned the entire room before Marco rushed to try and calm him down. Pops knew that words couldn't get to him at the state he was in, so he had muttered 'please forgive me son' and threw him into the water. He was sure Thatch was the one to fish him out.

It had been a year and a half since he had joined, but nearly a year since his precious little brother had been taken away from him. The news was all over the papers, and praises for the admirals and the army were shouted. Ace couldn't stand being near a lot of people because it was all they ever talked about for quite a while. He had stuck with missions that didn't require going to public, finding people that were causing trouble on pop's territory. For once, he had listened to his gramps advice to lay low for a while. Even after four months of keep a very low profile, they had assured him it was fine to go out now.

Ace had felt like a walking shell.

"Sitting here wallowing isn't going to bring them back, yoi." The voice startled Ace. It was Marco. He turned and noticed Izo, Thatch and Haruta off in the back.

"C'mon, you barely ate. Thatch is going to drag you down to the gallery and force feed you, yoi," Marco said. Ace groaned. Since then, he had been given plenty of space, but now the others started being persistent. Especially Thatch, the man had obviously noticed Ace's lack of appetite, and the nurses' concern about his psychological health. He heard the man sigh. "You hadn't even noticed where we're at, do you?"

Ace looked at the phoenix confusingly before looking around. "We're in East Blue. It should be about a day until we get to Dawn Island, yoi," Marco told Ace. "You need closure. You haven't even asked Oyaji to visit Dawn Island since."

"I don't—"

"We're going, whether you want to or not." Ace glanced to see Izo walk up to the two. "You need this Ace." The crossdresser looked determined. From behind Izo, Ace noticed Thatch and Haruta and a few others, looking worriedly.

Ace sighed, getting up. There was no room for argument. "Fine."

Hey guys! So, this is my first in One Piece. Kinda feel bad that I keep losing interest in my other stories in the past. Eh, but my main interest right now is One Piece. Anyways, this is gonna hurt now.

This story was inspired by Icon for Hire's song "Hope of Morning."

Note: This is an AU, so a lot of things will be different! I'll try not to be OOC. I hate that so much, and I hope Ace isn't at all too much.

Also, I suck at grammar, so bear with me on that.