This is dedicated to Lavi-4, who requested this fanfic. I hope that you like it! :D It is the first completely (well, more or less) non-AU fanfic that I write in a very long time XD. Well, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Oda does.
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I awoke suddenly, sweating. I shook my head as the nightmare that I had just had started to reply in my head over and over again. Ace had died. Ace had died. I looked around, desperately trying to find signals that showed me that this wasn't a dream, that Ace hadn't died, that we were still on our way to Impel Down. I sighed with relief as I noted that I was still in that marine boat with Hancock. Nothing had happened yet, Ace was in Impel Down and he hadn't died. It had all been a dream. It had all been a dream. There was nothing to worry about. I looked around again, this time more calmed. It was night time, and surprisingly enough I didn't feel particularly hungry. In fact, I highly doubted that I would be hungry during the following hours. I felt as if my stomach was tied into a knot.
I shook my head again as I remembered the nightmare. I had been there, I had almost managed to rescue Ace, but I had been too late. I hadn't managed to reach him in time, and due to my failure he had died. It had been entirely my fault.
"It was only a dream" I silently told myself as I started staring at the ceiling.
I could feel my heart beating fast, as if I had just been running a lot. I was covered in cold sweat, due to the dream, and my stomach was still tied into a knot, making me feel as if I was going to vomit any moment. I knew that I was incredibly worried, and the dream that I just had had didn't help at all, and it only worsened it. I shook my head again for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, and I closed my eyes, remembering the times when we had been growing up in the forest, the times with Sabo, when we had met in Arabasta… There were so many special moments that we had lived together, we were brothers after all, in the purest sense of the word, even if it wasn't by blood. Ace was one of the people that I cared for the most, and I knew that I wouldn't stand it if I failed to rescue him. My heart wouldn't stand it, and I knew that this was true. My heart, which had beaten so many times just for him wouldn't stand it. It wouldn't stand it at all.
I grinned as a pleasant feeling washed all over me as I continued remembering all of those times that we had been together, all of those years that felt like pure bliss right now. I couldn't help but grin even more as I realised that the feeling that had made me grin wasn't brotherly like at all. In fact, it was quite opposite to that. It didn't matter though. It didn't matter at all. All that mattered right now was that I would manage to rescue Ace, that I would manage to rescue my brother. I was nervous, of course, but I knew that I would manage to do it. I wouldn't let anyone stop me, no matter what. We would have more memories together, and he would see me becoming the pirate king. All of this would happen, and no one would stop me. This feeling inside would never die, and I wouldn't lose my brother.
I smiled, finally having managed to make the nightmare go away. I closed my eyes and went into a deep sleep, determined to save Ace and calm.