The Need for Vengeance
Chapter One: The News

Summary: Luffy couldn't believe his eyes. Ace was standing right in front of him. But didn't Ace die in an accidental fire three years ago? How is he controlling fire? And why is he talking about revenge? AcexLuffy
Warning: Rape, character death, ooc
Pairings: Ace x Luffy, Zoro x Sanji, one sided Teach x Ace, slight one sided Shanks x Luffy, one sided Marco x Ace and Smoker x Ace. Cuz everyone loves our hot, smexy Ace ;D

x x x
I couldn't believe my ears, it brought out my worst fears
And because of that it caused all these tears
To be by your side, it's been such a nice ride
But I guess every turn has a tide
So please don't be dead…
Please, don't.
Please
x x x

I remembered the exact moment I first heard the news. I had been at Zoro's house with Robin, Sanji, and Usopp. We had been playing video games all day, mostly racing and action though. I had been in the lead for once, winning almost every single game I participated in. Not only that, but Sanji had decided to cook up a feast for the day, so it also almost like an all-you-can-eat buffet during game day. I even received a present that day from Ace. It was necklace of a skull wearing a straw hat, just like the one Shanks gave me. The one I always wore. Ace had it custom made just for his me and even had his own necklace made, a skull wearing an orange hat with flames on it. I had my suspicions that Ace had a crush on me, but so far, my freckled brother wouldn't give in and tell me the truth. But it was obvious to me. We were secretly in love.

I had just won another game and to celebrate, Sanji decided to cook even more food. I guess he had just been in a good mood that day, seeing as he and Zoro were celebrating their six month anniversary. It was a big thing, really, seeing as some of us didn't think it would work out between them. But it did. Robin had to run home to finish an exam, so me, Usopp, and Zoro sat around the kitchen table chatting as Sanji made us more food. I can still remember the smell of the meat frying on the stove and the sweet scent of carrots in the air. I can still remember how Sanji and Zoro were practically glowing with happiness and how Sanji bent over from the stove to give Zoro a kiss. I remember how Usopp made a cute remark about them and they blushed and how Usopp burst into laughter. I remember when my phone rang, it played that song 'Do You Like Waffles'. And most of all, I remember answering the phone.

"Monkey D. Luffy?" I had recognized the voice immediately. It was Captain Smoker, the police officer who was constantly after Ace when he was caused trouble. When I had answered the phone, I didn't know why Smoker had called. 'Did Ace get in trouble and finally get caught?'

"Yeah?"

"You might want to sit down." I could something was wrong not only because of those words, but also because Smoker's voice was shaky. "Luffy…" I remember he used my name, something he never did. Everyone on the police force usually called me Strawhat. "There's been an accident."

"What do you mean?" At that time, I was concerned and confused.

"You're house caught fire and burnt to the ground…" I had given a sigh of relief. I thought there was nothing devastating in that. A house was just a house.

"That's not too bad," I laughed. "It's just a house, we can find another one."

"Luffy…" There had been a silence and I waited for him to continue. "We found Ace's remains in the debris." At first, the news hadn't registered yet.

"Eh?"

"Luffy, Ace died in that fire."

And then it hit me.

The phone had fallen from my hand and onto the floor, catching the attention of Usopp who right beside me, Zoro who was sitting across from me, and Sanji who was standing behind Zoro at the stove. Concerned, they started to ask me what was wrong, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anything, not even my own breathing. Not even my own breaking heart. The only thing I could hear was Ace's voice and laughter echo through my mind. Tears had started to pour from my eyes and I felt myself starting to panic. My breath quickened, I began to shake. Panic was setting in, and it was setting in fast. I got fidgety as I went to get out of my seat, but fell to my knees. Zoro quickly grabbed me by the shoulders and my friends surrounded me, all looking at me as I slowly fell apart.

"Luffy! Luffy, what the happened?"

"Who was on the phone?"

"Is everything alright?" More tears fell from my eyes.

"H-Home. I-I-I need to see A-Ace." Just saying his name made me break down even more. I don't really remember my friends driving me back to my house, all I did was space out and try to stop crying. I tried to convince myself it was just a joke, a sick prank someone was pulling. But saw we pulled up to my burn house, all hope vanished.

"My god…" I heard one of them say. "There's nothing left." It was true, our two story house was reduced to ash and wood. The police had already taped the scene off and the firefighters were picking through the ashes for any evidence. I heard a car pull up behind us and later I found out it was Marco, Thatch, and Whitebeard. I saw Smoker standing there as he harshly wiped away a few tears before going back to business. Before anything else could be said or done, I saw a body bag and ran for it. Nothing stopped me, not the tape, the police, smoker, the firefighters, my friends. And I zipped open the bag. My once big, strong, wonderful brother was nothing but burn skin and bone. Sometimes at night, when I closed my eyes, I could see the image again and again, and I could smell the burnt flesh. It was embedded into my mind, and nothing would ever make me forget it. His tattoo was gone, his elbow pad melted away, his freckled cheeks gone. All that remained in tact was the silver necklace he had made.

The next three months I spent alone in the darkest corner of my new house Garp bought after Ace's death. Smoker had stopped by not long afterwards and dropped off the only thing that survived the fire, Ace's orange hat. Along with a few photos, it was the only thing that managed to survive the intense fire. But it only made me sadder. I wanted Ace, I missed him. At the funeral, a lot of people showed up. Makino, Garp, Dadan, my friends, Ace's friends, Whitebeard, Shanks… Even some of his enemies stopped by to pay their respects. I remember glancing at the man Ace insisted was his father, Whitebeard, and noticed he was crying. I guess he really did care about all the people he called his 'sons'. Three months without Ace was hard, but sometimes my friends made it harder, so I kept my distance from them for a while. It wasn't until month five did I finally accept what had happened and continued on with my life. I knew would have wanted that. I could almost imagine him whacking me over the head and yelling at me, calling me a crybaby. Well, what could you expect? I was a fourteen year old boy who had just lost a brother I loved more than I should have. But now that I'm older, I don't let that get me down too much. After all, I'm seventeen now, nearly a man. I keep my brother's hat on my drawer beside my bed and look at it every time I go to bed. It helps me relax, knowing that I have a guardian angel looking over me. I also wear his necklace along with mine now, keeping a part of him close to my heart.

I was positive that Ace's death would be the shock of my life. And it was.

Until a few days ago.

x x x
Hahaha! I hope you liked it, yes? Yes? Sorry if the poem in the begging sucked, I had to come up with it in five minutes and it was the best I could come up with, seeing as I wasn't really trying. And sorry if Luffy was a little OOC. Please review! Oh, and the next chapter might be in Luffy's POV. Should it be? Review and tell me if I should put it in his POV or the readers. Thank you!

The cold ice is where I liveth and cold darkness I love,
~roo the ice vampire