Oneshot

A battlefield ravaged by the greatest battle since the Age of Pirates began stood frozen.

Marines scarred and traumatized by the fighting fell to their knees or passed out, while those still standing merely watched with grim, worn expressions as Red-Haired Shanks took away the bodies of Whitebeard and Ace; the most fearsome pirate on the recent seas and the brother with a bleeding heart were unnaturally still, unmoving. Gone.

None dared disrupt the odd peace as the Yonko left the battlefield, taking his crew and the two bodies with him. As one, the remaining pirates withdrew like the tide, taking the surviving wounded with them as Marine doctors rushed to save any injured soldiers.

The battle was over.

Forged Anew

"CAPTAIN!"

Shanks glanced up from his seat, bringing his bottle of sake away from his mouth when he saw his first mate running toward him. "Eh? What is it, Benn?"

The tall, gray haired man stopped, panting, in front of his captain, his usual relaxed demeanor gone without a trace. There was a strange light in his eyes, one that Shanks had never seen before. Immediately upon noticing it, Shanks stood up, his jovial expression becoming serious.

"Benn?"

"It's Ace . . ." The man swallowed, his partially shadowed eyes finally meeting his captain's. There was complete, utter disbelief in his expression. "He's alive!"

Shanks looked as though he had been punched while the rest of his crew physically stepped back at the news, their expressions filling with shock. They had only just left Marineford but even then Ace's death had been a certainty. It was simply impossible that he had survived.

"His Devil Fruit must've saved him," a crew member muttered.

"Yeah," another agreed. "He's a Logia, right? If he got near fire, he'd probably be fine."

The Yonko composed himself, looking every bit the captain he was as the whispers silenced immediately. "Get him medical attention. Do not let that boy die!" As his crewmembers rushed to follow his orders, Shanks lowered his head, feeling a great weight settle over his shoulders. For Ace to have survived such an attack, he had to have an incredible will to live. And there was only one person that Shanks could think of capable of inspiring a person in that way.

Red-Haired Shanks, fearsome pirate and acknowledged as one of the most powerful men in the world by the World Government, tipped his head back and smiled even as waves rocked his ship. "Well, Luffy," he said quietly. "When we next meet, I believe things will be interesting."

Forged Anew

Two and a half years passed with incredible speed, hours and days ticking by so quickly they blurred together. The Straw Hat Pirates reunited at Sabaody Archipelago, once more throwing the Marines into disarray and doing so almost immediately.

For Luffy, he rode each new day as he always did, grinning with his crew and getting into newer and even more ridiculous adventures. Despite his smile, beneath his skin lurked an incurable sadness, a persistent ache that would never go away. The events at Marineford were set in stone, and though Luffy could remember very little of them, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates would always think of them with a bitterness unrivaled on the seas. Had it not been for the Shichibukai Jinbe, Luffy could very well have never recovered from the trauma he experienced.

He lost his second brother on that day; he failed in every possible way, and he witnessed his brother breaking a promise that had become impossible to keep.

It was painful for Luffy to think about, so he chose not to. He tried not to think about how Ace had broken his promise so that Luffy would not break his. It hurt too much.

But he would become King of the Pirates. He would make Ace proud.

Waves crashed against the Thousand Sunny, peppering Luffy with salty ocean spray, but he met the new day with a smile.

As he always did.

Forged Anew

Shanks, in the middle of a completely serious discussion of what the actual color of water was with one of his newer crewmembers (in which he was most definitely correct), abruptly froze, his head whipping to face the direction of the medical bay. A presence that had remained nearly constant for the past two and a half years had abruptly changed, spiking in energy.

"Cap—" Shanks ran off, leaving the crewmember hanging—"tain?"

The door opened right as Shanks reached it, the doctor behind it red-faced and bruised. Shanks barely even stopped to hear his words: "He's awake!"

Splinters flew through the air in the narrow hallway, followed closely by a blast of fire that charred the floor. The Yonko could hear voices and shouting from inside and he stepped over the unconscious form of one of his cabin boys who had barely avoided being burned, reminding himself to apologize about the unexpected situation later.

When Shanks arrived in the medical bay, he was not surprised in the least at the scene he discovered.

Portgas D. Ace, former Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and the man with a bounty of over 500 million beli on his head, stood panting in the middle of the room, his eyes wild and feral as he attacked anyone that came too close to him. He was wrapped in bandages but Shanks saw smoke rising from them, though both factors did little to hide how pale and emaciated Ace was. Licks of flame danced along Ace's body, though nothing on the ship had been ignited, which Shanks supposed was a good thing.

"Where the hell is Luffy?" Ace growled, his entire fist burning as he held it up with the clear intention of burning everything to the ground if he didn't get his answer soon. His body was shaking, but Ace clearly didn't care. "Tell me where Luffy is!"

"Ace," Shanks said conversationally from the doorway, his voice mild and his posture relaxing as a the weight on his shoulders eased slightly. "You're awake."

The son of the King of the Pirates looked at Shanks, for a moment not appearing to recognize him. Then he stilled, calming slightly as the fire swirling around him slowly vanished. The fevered cloud over his eyes slowly receded. Ace then looked around, taking in the damage he had caused in his first frantic moments of consciousness. He swallowed and looked back at Shanks before slowly lowering his head in polite apology.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I hope I can help to fix it."

Shanks smiled, though mentally he was calculating just how much in damages Ace had caused. "You're just as polite as I remember, Ace. Don't worry about this; we'll fix it. You should get more rest before you hurt yourself."

Really, Shanks didn't know if Ace needed more rest. The boy had been unconscious for over two years and though they had never said it, many of the Red Hair Pirates had been unsure that he would ever wake up. The past few months had been especially trying, since Ace's condition had appeared to be deteriorating; the ship's doctor simply didn't know what to do with the boy who had been comatose for so long. They said he was going to die, though not outright. Shanks had merely said that it was up to Ace's own will to live.

If the current situation was anything to go by, Ace's will to live was very strong indeed.

"Wait," Ace said, making eye contact with Shanks. There was a bond forged in fire and blood burning in his eyes. "Luffy. Is he—"

"Luffy is fine," Shanks interrupted, sparing Ace the pain of even finishing such a question. "He has made quite a name for himself, in fact. " Shanks hesitated, mentally debating whether he should tell Ace about the reality of the situation or not. After a few seconds' silence, he made a decision. "He doesn't know that you survived. And your captain; Whitebeard fell in the Battle of Marineford."

The room's atmosphere became stuffy almost instantly.

"What?" Ace had that wild look about him again. "I have to—"

"You cannot leave this room, much less search for your brother," Shanks cut in, his expression becoming stern. "You are lucky to have survived. Mourn your captain, but do not do anything rash. You're already bleeding through your bandages. Do you really want to die before you see your brother again?"

Ace looked down at the bloody bandages covering his body, bringing one hand up to his chest and holding it there, not even wincing as he pressed down on the area of his body where there had been nothing but a hole before. He closed his eyes, mouth twisting into a grimace of pain. After a moment, however, he lowered his head, shadowing his face.

"You saved my life when I was ready to die," he whispered. "You . . . you let me keep my promise to my brother."

Shanks blinked as something splashed against the wooden floorboards beneath Ace. More drops quickly followed and Shanks realized that Ace was crying. The famed pirate boy fell to his knees and bowed.

"Thank you!" His voice was cracked and shaking but painfully genuine. "Thank you for saving my life!"

Shanks waited, sensing that there was something more coming. When nothing did, the pirate captain frowned out of confusion. He could have sworn he heard something coming from Ace—

"Captain," a crewmember said, gently checking Ace over, "I think—I think he's asleep."

Forged Anew

More time passed. Luffy and his crew escaped the Marines and other enemies time and time again while causing unprecedented havoc in the areas they visited. What baffled the Marines was not the damage; rather, it was the way the people often looked at the blue-and-white-clad figures with something approaching resentment even as the Marines chased the horrible pirates away.

It confused them to no end.

Forged Anew

When Luffy finally met Shanks as the great pirate he had set out to be, the reunion was nothing like he expected. It was on a largely unknown island in the Grand Line, one that Shanks visited when he wanted to be alone—or when he wanted to meet with someone somewhere safe.

Shanks was happy to see Luffy. That much was obvious, and Luffy was more than willing to talk with his childhood mentor and hero. They shared their adventures, partied, ate more than they should, drank far more than they should, and had such a good time that not once did either of them stop smiling. The Straw Hats were unable to stop smiling as well, save Zoro, who drank so much alcohol that even Shanks, known for his affinity for partying with alcohol, was impressed.

The two infamous pirate crews' celebrations lasted the entire afternoon and the rest of the night and only stopped when most of the partygoers were passed out. The rest had simply fallen asleep.

Forged Anew

Ace staggered across the unnamed island, for the first time in years without any bandages on his body. He was still weaker than he would like, would be for a while yet, but he was able to move under his own power. Remnants of his near-death experience still haunted him; the scar stretching over his chest and back was horrific, but Ace made no attempt to hide it. He had broken down time and time again upon seeing the destroyed tattoo on his back—long having been the symbol of his pride of the Whitebeard Pirates—but that wound, much like the one in his abdomen, had slowly been healing over the past few years. He had been offered the opportunity to fix the tattoo more than once and he'd finally done it some months ago, just so he could recall his memories of the Whitebeard Pirates with pride.

He was indebted to Shanks. Ace acknowledged that freely, and when Shanks had gone so far as to return Ace's hat and dagger, recovered from who-knew-where, Ace had known immediately why Luffy looked up to the man so much.

Ace's chest still ached every now and then. Using his Devil Fruit abilities had brought nothing but emotional pain at first—fire brought memories of burning and those made his chest hurt enough to take his breath away—but with encouragement from the Red Hair Pirates and his own courage, Ace had managed to recover most of his old strength.

The Red Hair Pirates and their captain, Shanks, had never really told Ace about the details of the ending of the Battle of Marineford, and Ace had never asked.

Some things were better left untouched.

"Dammit," Ace muttered, tilting up the brim of his hat to peer at the top of the hill he was climbing. "I could hear Shanks' party from the ship . . . what's going on?"

He braced himself against a tree, staring up at the morning sky for a moment. Oddly, it was brighter than normal, the sun shining with enough light to blind Ace. He blinked, looking down at the ground while he waited for his vision to clear. It had been raining the past few days, so Ace assumed that the sun was shining so brightly to make up for the lost daylight.

The forest was far more quiet now that the party seemed to have died down, which Ace appreciated. He liked a party as much as the next guy—especially if there was food involved—but not so much when he wasn't invited. Had Shanks intentionally let him sleep?

Though, now that Ace thought about it, he could vaguely remember some crewmembers telling him that there was going to be a party he would never forget that night. After that . . .

"Ah, shit," Ace cursed, drawing his hat over his eyes. "I fell asleep!"

Vowing to try to avoid doing that in the future—which Ace knew was pointless, but he did it anyway—Ace kept walking, his footsteps muffled against the carpet of grass on the forest floor. He looked around, reminded of the forest he grew up in with the Dadan and her mountain bandits. The memories brought a grin to his face and he picked up the pace, ready to see if there was anyone left conscious. Knowing Shanks' method of partying, Ace wasn't overly hopeful.

Sure enough, when he arrived, everyone was in various states of unconsciousness. Sighing in irritation, Ace took a step, only to pause when something about the scene struck him as odd.

"Since when were there so many crewmembers?" Ace asked aloud, looking around with mounting confusion. His eyes picked over the new arrivals, noting a splotch of green hair, a robot (the hell?), what looked like a skeleton (they didn't party that hard, did they?), a fishman (Jinbe?), and a shock of long orange hair before he finally found Shanks' distinctive red hair.

Shrugging, Ace began to pick his way towards the captain, careful not to accidentally step on anyone. He was still getting used to how much his body had grown while he was in that two-year coma. The Red Hair Pirates certainly hadn't let him go underfed, but there was only so much they could do. Those first few months had been absolute hell while his body recovered.

Ace was mere steps away from Shanks when he finally noticed the hat lying on the ground next to the Yonko. His eyes slowly widened with rising disbelief when he realized that it was a straw hat with a red strip over the brim.

There was only one person that had a hat like that.

Instantly, Ace was thrown back to Marineford, back to a time when his strength had been fading and he could feel his life draining away. He'd been collapsed against Luffy, one hand resting on that hat while his lifeblood spilled onto the ground in a crimson stream.

While he hovered in the place in-between life and death, Ace had heard Luffy's scream, and the sound had pierced his soul. While recovering in the care of Shanks, Ace could still hear echoes of that haunting, mourning cry.

He'd never wanted to hear a sound like that from Luffy.

He'd never wanted to be the cause of a sound like that.

Ace's gaze travelled from the innocent straw hat on the ground, to the hand lying beside it, all the way to the face of a peacefully sleeping pirate captain.

"Luffy," Ace whispered, his throat burning and tears threatening to spill out of his eyes as he gazed at his younger brother that looked so much older now. How long had he been waiting to see his brother again? Shanks had always said not now, it's not the right time and Ace had been this close to going out to look for Luffy on his own only to have Shanks warn him against it ("you're still not fully recovered, Ace, you shouldn't risk it yet. You'll see your brother soon enough").

A familiar voice interrupted Ace's thoughts. "You're a little late, Ace." Shanks, now conscious and wincing with an apologetic grin at what Ace guessed was an incredible hangover, slowly got into a sitting position. "We tried to wake you up yesterday, but nothing worked."

"You knew Luffy was coming." The words held no trace of accusation. They were merely a statement of fact.

Shanks grinned. "I did. I made a promise to him that we would meet again someday as great pirates."

"So that's why he didn't come for so long," Ace muttered, looking down at his little brother. "I thought for sure he would visit you before now."

"No, Luffy understands this world," Shanks said, letting out a short bark of laughter. "It's incredible, really. I had him pegged as an upstart brat the first time I met him, and now look at what he's become!" Shanks sobered, becoming far more serious in an instant. "Ace, go back to the ship."

"What? But—"

"I know you want to speak with Luffy," Shanks said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But do you really want to do it in front of all these people, any of whom could wake up during your conversation? What you're going to talk about is surely private and while I know my crew would never intentionally intrude on that conversation, it would be possible for them to do so on accident. The same goes for your brother's crew." Seeing the defiant look on Ace's face, Shanks sighed. "I'm not going to keep you from your brother, Ace. Go back to the ship, and I'll send Luffy your way when he's conscious. He's almost as bad as you are once he's sleeping, so there's no point in waiting here."

Ace hesitated for a minute longer before finally giving in. He left, his stride strong and sure and completely hiding how anxious he was at leaving his brother when Luffy was so close. Shanks watched him go, a thoughtful look on his face as he reached down, searching for a full bottle of alcohol in the sizable pile of empty ones lying at his feet.

Forged Anew

The footsteps carried throughout the ship, reaching Ace's room easily. Shanks had given him a small storage room to recover in, since using the crew's main room would likely have ended with Ace being unintentionally injured by a sleeping Red Hair pirate.

Ace could hear the footsteps: one set, with a peculiar gait that Ace knew well.

The door burst open, nearly blinding the seated Ace with the sudden rush of sunlight.

"Oi, is anyone here? Shanks sent me here to look around. Hello?"

Luffy's silhouette filled the doorway and it took Ace's eyes a minute to adjust to the point where he could make out Luffy's features. When the brothers made eye contact, Ace smiled and waved from his position, a grin appearing on his face while warmth blossomed in his chest upon seeing his brother conscious and looking well.

The Straw Hat pirate captain, on the other hand, looked as though he had been shot. He opened his mouth, unable to even form words for a second. When he did, his voice sounded painfully small, not at all matching the confident, boisterous attitude he had demonstrated a second ago. "A—Ace?"

"The one and only," Ace replied. His grin faltered when he realized that Luffy was shaking. "Luffy? Oi, is something wrong?"

Ace nearly fell backwards as Luffy launched himself at him. For a moment, Ace thought Luffy was going to attack, but the younger boy merely wrapped his arms around Ace and buried his head in Ace's shoulder. He was crying, Ace realized with shock, and holding Ace so tightly that the Logia user had to concentrate on not bursting into flames to stop the pain.

After a minute, Luffy pulled back, messily wiping his face and doing absolutely nothing to hide the emotion. His lips were trembling and he looked completely vulnerable. "Ace!" He repeated, his voice cracking with emotion. He then said Ace's name again, as though repeating it would ensure that Ace wouldn't disappear.

"Luffy, I'm right here," Ace said, his words freezing his brother in place. "I'm not going anywhere. Look—I'm right in front of you."

"I—I heard what happened with Whitebeard," Luffy stammered after a minute. Ace stilled. Not even Shanks had told him the details, which at the time had been fine, but now that Luffy was bringing it up—

"Jinbe . . . Jinbe said he died standing," Luffy whispered, his eyes shadowed by his straw hat and his shoulders trembling with raw emotion. "He—he didn't—" Luffy swallowed, bowing his head even more. "He died without . . . without a scar on his back." Luffy looked up at his shocked brother, eyes brimming with tears and looking so much like the little boy Ace had first come to know that Ace immediately pulled him into a hug, heedless of his scar. "He was a great captain," Luffy continued, his voice shaking and muffled by Ace's shoulder. "Ace . . . I . . . I want to be a captain like that! I vowed to become King of the Pirates! And . . ." He looked at Ace, sniffling and taking a second to pull himself together. "I think I get it now. Why you wanted me to join your crew, I mean." Luffy grinned widely, the expression offset by the tears still leaking from his eyes.

Luffy's desperate words echoed throughout the room and reverberated through Ace, emphasized by the calmer ones following them. The older boy could feel his own emotions welling up, tears building in his eyes. He held his brother tighter as his breathing became erratic, not even caring that his vision was blurring and his voice wouldn't stay level. In his mind, Ace already firmly believed that Luffy was a great captain. He could see it in the way that, even unconscious from the drinking and the partying the night before, his crew had automatically arranged themselves around Luffy, ready to defend him at a moment's notice.

Ace smiled, even now unable to fully comprehend that his little brother cared about him so much. It was strange how so many people valued him even though Ace was the son of the King of the Pirates. Luffy had known that for years and still gone through hell and back to keep Ace alive.

The older boy gently rubbed his brother's back.

So, he had a reason to keep living after all. Ace didn't find the thought unappealing in the slightest.

"Luffy . . . you're my little brother. And I'm sorry . . . I ever thought of breaking my promise to you. I swear I'll see you become King of the Pirates." Ace could feel and hear Luffy's sobs as the boy who was going to be the King of the Pirates bawled in the grip of his older brother. "I swear it."

Luffy clung to Ace like a lifeline and cried, his tears streaming down his face while he wrapped his whole body around Ace, shielding him from the world without even realizing what he was doing.

Ace, for the first time in months, didn't feel the least bit sad or angry as he clutched his younger brother, his old promise rekindling in his core and building up to a roaring flame.

This time, he would keep his promise.

Fire Fist Ace would see Straw Hat Luffy become King of the Pirates no matter what.

A/N Pardon me while I go cry in a corner over One Piece. Ace's death . . . man, that was one of the most heart-wrenching deaths I've seen in an anime/manga so far. I couldn't sit idly by and take it, so I decided to write this. It's my first time writing anything for One Piece, so I apologize if anything is wrong or the characters seem off.

Edit 4/whenever/15: Fixed some stuff, made stuff more accurate, etc. All-around improvement, really.

Edit 5/whenever/15: Fixed more stuff, made some grammar fixes, some spelling fixes, etc.

-RoR

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