Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Story Title: Off By A Centimeter
Genres: Angst/Tragedy
Main Character(s): Luffy/Ace
Summary: Hesitation is something that should be avoided completely; especially on the battlefield where lives are on the line. Character death, Dark Fic, Angst!
Words: 1,325

Off By a Centimeter.

Don't hesitate on the battlefield; it will lead to dire consequences.

Ace had hesitated; he had hesitated for a brief second on the battle field; it wasn't like him to make such a mistake an error, even. But even though it was only for a minute; no, not even that. It had been a mere ten seconds and he regretted it. Especially at such a crucial moment, hesitation was unforgiveable to him; he remembered yelling at Luffy for it when he was a child, and now he was doing the same exact thing as he watched Luffy; his idiotic younger brother who was literally only a few feet away from him.

It was thanks to Luffy he was making his escape right now; his stupid brother had saved him; it was supposed to be the other way around. But he was glad nonetheless, people cared about him; he had family- and not just Luffy. Though when Luffy reached down to pick up a- no, his vivre card that was even singed on the edges; Ace mentally kicked him.

'Pay attention, it's just a card; leave it you idiot!' He mentally screamed; fighting off a random marine who had launched himself at Ace. Though he suddenly stopped; stopped everything and it was like he was having an out of body experience for a split ten seconds as he watched his brother; if Luffy didn't stand up soon and pay attention to the battle field that held more than a hundred strong enemies; then he'd be killed.

He instinctively turned to face his old man, who was luckily far enough away for them to not worry about right now; unknowingly, he was making a mistake that was so similar to what he had just gotten angry at Luffy for. It was a hypocritical mistake he regretted literally seconds later when he saw Akainu a few feet away from Luffy; with a glint in his eye, he planned on killing his little brother, planned on shoving his magma formed fist right through his brother's chest.

Realization hit him, and it was painful.

Oh god, not Luffy

Not Luffy!

Not his little brother!
A breath he didn't know he had been holding in escaped through his dry lips, and finally; without an inch of hesitation, he ran forward; sprinting towards his precious little brother. He could make it! He could save Luffy! Luffy wouldn't die, Luffy wouldn't die, Luffy wouldn't die…!

His vision went black; and a few beads of sweat silently dropped off his face as the whole battlefield seemed to have become silent to him as he waited for the inevitable pain that…. Never came.

Time stopped moving forward

And then he realized.

He hadn't touched anything but the ground.

Not his brother, not Akainu.

Nothing; absolutely nothing at all,

He swallowed dryly, feeling something warm hit his skin; blood, no doubt.

But was it his?

Was he so far done in that he couldn't feel anything at all?

Why couldn't he open his eyes?

He took a deep breath; wondering why he couldn't taste the usual metallic taste in his mouth.

He wondered why he could smell burning rubber in the air that had previously smelled like sweat, dirt, blood, and other things he didn't have the time to describe right now.
Burning rubber,
Burning rubber,

BURNING RUBBER!

It wasn't until he opened his eye, forcing them open no matter how much he had wanted to keep them closed. Then, he realized it, and the realization hurt. Ithurtsomuchmakeitstop.

NONONONONONONO

It wasn't physical pain, no; it was much; much worse; so much worse than he had thought it would be—not that he thought this would ever happen; not that he thought this would ever become a possibility.

It was something he should've been able to prevent; so who could blame him when the sounds of battle muted out and he allowed all of the emotions to run through his head; he couldn't hold them back.

Hell, he didn't even try to.
Regret, guilt, horror, fear, anger, pain, misery, regret, blame…
He wanted to scream because he hadn't been fast enough, and he had missed Luffy by just a centimeter. One god damn fucking centimeter…
If only he hadn't redirected his attention from the battlefield to check on someone who was obviously okay, someone who should have been unimportant to him at the time.

A bloody, pained smile was what brought him out of his thoughts completely; and he had entered the harshly painful reality he never wanted to be in again.

That smile… It was a smile that would plague his mind for the rest of his hellish, god forsaken life.

And just like that; he-, no; Luffy; his little brother dropped to the ground, and it wasn't until that very moment that he realized just how horrible that injury was.

The words he really wanted to say died on his tongue; he wanted to say them, he really did. But they were obvious lies and he couldn't force them out. He couldn't say 'everything's gonna be okay' or 'You'll be fine' but he couldn't, because there was a fucking hole that went right through his goddamned brother's chest.

He opened his mouth to try and force his voice out again, but yet again no words came out; he slowly and shakily reached over to cup his brother's cheek at most; "Luffy," he had managed to say; in turn his brother had said something that shocked him completely. He wanted to hug his brother, but before he could; he was grabbed, he didn't have the chance to say anything, he didn't have the chance to do anything, and he couldn't even reach out to his brother when he was grabbed by a shipmate he couldn't force his mind to remember right now.

Before he knew it, everyone had retreated; and they had left Luffy's body in the midst of it all, abandoned completely in favor of escaping. Leaving his little brother all alone; his last dying moments would be spent alone.

Luffy hated being alone,
'Cause being alone hurts more than physical pain!"

"Shishishi! Ace's the strongest!"
He hadn't been strong enough; he had failed Sabo, his last brother was gone, forever.
"Protect our little brother, Ace"

The brother who he'd tried to kill in the beginning, the little brother he'd avoided to the point where it reached ridiculous levels. The little brother who had always cried and allowed his older brothers to protect him, the little brother who seemed to attract bad luck, the little brother who had always been there for him, the little brother who had given him a fucking reason to live, the little brother who was so reckless he would be stupid enough attempt to conquer Impel Down alone, the idiotic little brother was everything and anything to him.

Childish laughter ran through his head as he remembered when they had been children; the three of them, sharing all sorts of happy times together.

Those times had ended today, because he had been distracted; because of a fucking distraction he had taught himself to avoid. It was something he yelled at others for, for god's sake!

This was the last time he'd see that reckless smile, those innocent eyes, and hear that childish laughter.

It was gone forever and there was no way for him to get it back.

"Ace, Ace! I love Ace!"

It was then he began to wonder what would have happened if he had not hesitated; if he had paid attention to the battle just like he had supposed to.

He had been off by one freaking centimeter.

Damn it all.