Title: Unlucky Number 7
Genre: Hurt/comfort/Family
Characters: Ace, Luffy, Zoro etc
Summary:At just 25 years old, Ace decides that whoever came up with the fact that cats had nine lives and that seven is a lucky number is wrong. His little brother Luffy is constant living/dying proof of this, even though Ace doesn't want him to be.
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Count: 2,836
It's no one's fault the first time.
Luffy was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and strangled himself throughout the birthing process. The doctors had announced him stillborn and Ace had cried because this meant that he had lost his mother, and his newborn baby brother whom he would never get to formally meet.
He was devastated.
Life is cruel, but it's amazing at the same time.
The moment the doctors gave up on him completely; a loud wail comes from the tiny infant lying on his dying mother's chest. It's ear piercing but it's a cry of victory; he's survived when no one else thought he could do it, and that was just the beginning of little Luffy proving everyone wrong.
Ace lost his mother that day, but he gained a brother.
The amount of unconditional love that constantly radiated off of his baby brother was almost suffocating; it was impossible for Ace to be depressed when the kid was around. All Ace had to do was blink for Luffy to be amazed. He would smile and giggle and hold Ace's hand with all his might every time it was offered to him.
Just like that, Ace is in love.
Luffy is too.
Ace swears that he'll protect Luffy from everything and anything that might be out there; trying to hurt him or change him in attempt to force him to become something he isn't. He's kind of a hover-parent, but Luffy doesn't mind. He would much rather throw his toys aside and run from his friends the moment he even thought Ace was in the room.
The second time it happens is on the way home from school.
The window was open and three-year-old Luffy jumped out of it; a big, bright smile on his face despite the way the teachers yelled after him angrily. He couldn't care less what kind of trouble he got into later; right now, all he wanted to do was see Ace.
Ace doesn't see it coming until Luffy is running across the street with a big grin on his face; waving his arms back and forth in the air to get the bigger boy's attention. The freckle faced boy takes one look at the big smile on his brother's face and the life in his eyes, and he smiles.
He smiles even bigger at the sight of the teachers running desperately after him.
The choice to drop his back and open his arms up for Luffy to jump into isn't a hard one; the kid's already halfway across the street, just a couple more feet and he'll be there.
Then out of nowhere a car rams into the tiny three-year old's body and sends him crashing into the ground; he's soaked in blood and for a moment Ace is still. His eyes are wide, and his skin is pale in absolute disgust in what had just taken place in front of if very own eyes; it was sickening, because this was a school zone and that car had to at least be running fifty miles per hour.
It was sickening, because it shouldn't have been Luffy.
It shouldn't have happened.
"Luffy," His voice cracks; his little brother is lying in a pool of his own blood and for a moment it feels as though he's about to lose the only thing that's kept him living for the past three years. The small body convulses; he's barley breathing, there's blood tricking out of his mouth and tears from his eyes, but there's a good chance that he can't even feel the pain anymore.
He's shaking; his scraped-up hand raises in attempt to reach out for his brother.
His other arm is broken; twisted around in a direction that it shouldn't be pointing. Ace doesn't want to look at it, but he takes his brother's bloody hand and holds it tight. He holds it so tight that he's sure it would hurt if Luffy was able to feel it.
"Ace," He starts; his voice is raspy, and his eyes are slowly glazing over from either the pain or the fact that right here right now he's bleeding out. Right now, Ace is losing his little brother. Nonetheless, Luffy smiles. It's strained. "You came,"
Ace shakes his head. "Of course I did, Lu, just stop talking for now. It hurts, doesn't it? Just… Just save your energy for later; they're gonna save you. You're not going to die today, okay? We're gonna go home and eat whatever you want today, so just, keep breathing. I… I can't lose you."
He's choking up; the tears won't stop but there's nothing else that he can do besides cry.
Luffy's head lulls to the side.
He's not breathing anymore.
He's dead.
It's only his first day of preschool and he's dead.
Ace isn't exactly how to put what happens next into proper words. He watches as the teachers that had been so concerned before, turn away and walk back to the classroom as though nothing ever happened. The man driving the car that had slammed into his little brother, has his head down on the steering wheel as though he'd fallen asleep.
And Luffy?
Luffy was looking up at him.
He jumps back; eyes wide in shock at the sight of the child that had just died in his arms. "Luffy?"
He looks just as lost and confused as Ace is; his shirt is caked in warm blood and dirt and he smells a bit like gasoline. "Ace," He sniffles; the tears freely flowing down his blood stained cheeks.
He reaches his arms out for his older brother; the hiccups have just started and he's shaking, but it's not because of the pain he felt earlier. Ace sees the fear in his eyes because he has the same expression on his face; swallowing thickly, he bends down and brings his bloody little brother into his arms and holds him tight.
"Does anything hurt, Luffy?"
The child shakes his head into Aces shoulder: he's not shaking as hard as he was originally, but he's still upset. "Let's go home."
Ace isn't sure what happened.
He's not sure what deity took pity on him and decided to give him his little brother back, nor is he sure which deity decided to mess with him by trying to take away Luffy in the first place. Right now; with Luffy passed out in his arms, Ace is just happy to be on his way home instead of to the graveyard to burry his brother beside his deceased mother.
Earlier that same morning; Luffy rolled out of bed smelling like burnt rubber and oil.
Ace decides not to think about it.
He tries not to think about it.
He honestly tries.
He tried.
It's somewhere in-between shoving everything aside to keep watch over his little brother and overthinking every possible situation that occurs; he thinks about it. He thinks about it more than he would like because one day when Luffy is five years old, he wakes up smelling like chlorine on a day that they were supposed to go swimming.
Maybe Ace is just a bit crazy, but he decides not to take Luffy to the pool that day.
Luffy looks up at him with eyebrows knitted together in confusion; the complete and utter disappointment in his eyes comes because he's been looking forward to going to the pool for weeks now. He wanted to go swimming with his friends and jump off the diving board and slide down the water slide, but now Ace was changing his mind.
He was damn near close to crying, but he held it together. "Why can't we go to the pool? Zoro and Usopp are gonna be there."
It's hard for Ace to say no and he almost gives in.
The only reason he doesn't is because Ace remembers how his brother died in his arms two years ago after smelling like burnt rubber and gasoline.
"Just this time, let's go do something else today."
They don't go swimming.
Luffy doesn't die that day, but the smell lingers.
A week passes by; Ace takes the matter into his own hands. "Luffy, why do you smell like pool water all the time?"
The child shrugs; he doesn't look up from the cartoon playing on the television screen as he responds. "Usopp's got a pool at his house," He kicks his feet back and forth against the couch; Ace patiently waits for him to continue. "We've been using it to refill the water guns since it's faster than the buckets."
Ace curses himself for being so stupid.
If Luffy's been around the pool all week and he hasn't died yet, then maybe Ace is just worrying over nothing. The only reason Luffy smelled like chlorine was because he's been playing with pool water; it wasn't some bad omen like he thought it was.
He can't remember the last time he felt this relieved.
"Let's go to the pool this weekend."
Luffy's eyes light up like he's been promised the world and everything in it. "Really?!"
"Really."
Things don't go that smoothly.
The next day Usopp shows up in front of his house in tears.
His hands clench tightly at the hem of his own shorts, and he can't even make proper eye contact with the man standing in front of him.
"Luffy… He, he, he, he…. He fell into the pool and, and…" He sniffles; Ace doesn't even let the child finish his sentence before running off.
Usopp's house is right across the street; it doesn't take Ace long to get there. He hops the fence with ease and doesn't even bother opening the gate; it would've taken too long.
When he finally gets there, he's greeted with the sight of a familiar green haired boy pulling his little brother's lifeless body out of the swimming pool. Zoro is in tears as well but they're easily masked by the pool water that drips down his face.
He manages to pull Luffy out of the pool and lays his body down just as Ace approaches; his brother's lips are purple, and his face is blue. His head's been underneath the water for far too long; cpr isn't going to work, but Ace tries.
God, he tries.
Usopp is crying in the background,
Zoro looks absolutely shell shocked.
It doesn't work.
Luffy stays dead for all of five minutes.
When he wakes up in tears; Ace has a lot to explain.
By the end of the day Zoro's upset and Usopp won't stop crying; but hey, his little brother is alive and that's all that matters. He carries his younger brother off in his arms and doesn't let go for the rest of the day.
The next day Luffy doesn't smell like chlorine anymore.
He smells like normal; the cinnamon and vanilla body wash that Ace uses and that Luffy uses because Ace uses it. It's a bit relieving; but the fact that his little brother had died three times already was something that couldn't be ignored.
Even Luffy is more aware than what Ace would've like him to be.
He talks about the pain from the car crash two years ago and brings up the burning sensation in his lungs that he felt when he couldn't breathe anymore. Both topics end with him in tears; he holds his older brother's shirt tightly to calm himself down, Ace does his best to listen and ignore the painful clenching in his chest.
Despite his memory of dying and the pain he felt in doing so, nothing stops him from living his life. He's still a happy bouncing little boy throughout the day; oblivious to the potential dangerous around him and a bit to airheaded to realize them. He doesn't walk across the street alone anymore and refuses to go anywhere near a pool unless Ace or Zoro are around him.
Zoro's changed a lot after the pool incident.
Whenever Luffy wants to go out, Zoro is always right there at the door to pick him up. He's always got a watchful eye on Luffy; almost as though he's paranoid that something might happen again, afraid that he might lose his best friend.
The other day Zoro appeared at the front door and swore that as long as Luffy was underneath his watch, Ace had nothing to worry about.
Had it been anyone else, Ace wouldn't have believed them.
But Zoro had been the one the one to drag Luffy out of the pool, after all.
Right now, Usopp is the only normal one of the group; because he cries whenever he sees Luffy and has taken to avoiding them completely. Ace doesn't want to blame him; but he can't help it on the days that Luffy comes home crying because Usopp refuses to play with him anymore.
Other than that, things are relatively relaxed.
Then Luffy wakes up smelling like dirt.
It's not a surprise because he was digging in the ground with Zoro the other day; he came back home covered in dirt and mud and he even had a worm in his hair. Ace thinks that he would smell a bit earthy, even after being hosed down and showered before bed.
He tells Zoro not to think anything about it, but there's a spark in the child's eye anyway. "We'll play inside today." It's going to rain anyway; it's probably not the best idea to play outside just to risk getting sick. Ace agrees with Zoro's decision, but only because he would've made the same one.
Luffy looks up from his breakfast at the mention on staying inside for the day. Unlike most kids who would much rather prefer staying inside to play with their toys and video games around the house, he would much rather be outside. Rain or shine, Luffy's an outdoor child.
"Do we really have to stay inside all day?" He whines.
Zoro and Luffy have only been best friends for about a year or so but somehow, he already understands how the younger boy's mind works. Ace doesn't even have to say anything as the green haired boy takes over. "If you get sick you'd probably have to stay inside for a whole week."
"That's right!" Luffy slaps the sides of his face in horror. "I don't want to stay inside for a week! Let's just play inside today, since it's raining."
"Good idea." Zoro agrees.
Ace just smiles.
A little boy named Sanji comes over later that day; with him he carries a large dish that his father had prepared for him to deliver upon their arrival. The mentioned man stands behind his adopted son with a vast number of other dishes that practically sparkle in their containers. It's a hundred times better than the fast food Ae had planned on buying for dinner and sharing a meal with friends is always better than eating alone.
So that's what they do.
Luffy's got a big stomach for such a small child; he tries a little bit of everything and even has seconds and thirds of his favorite dishes. He sniffles, scratches his arm, and almost manages to choke on a small sip of water. It's not an abnormal occurrence for him to choke on his food; most of the time he's too focused on shoving more food in his mouth rather than chewing it.
Ace thinks nothing of it.
The small child dismisses himself from the meal and wanders off; an almost half an hour later Ace hears him crying as he stumbles down the steps. His face is red and puffy, and he scratches his neck in a desperate attempt to breathe; his airways are closed off and his chest is tight.
He's crying because it burns and the swelling hurts; he's dizzy and sick and his heart is beating harder than what he would like it to. Ace takes one glance at the plate he was eating from previously; the stains of his favorite food of the night remained clear against the white plate, and inside that dish…
Mushrooms.
His mother was allergic to mushrooms too.
They had a strangely earthly smell to them as well.
Fuck.
Ace curses; he rushes towards his brother who stumbles and cries and shakes because god it hurts, and he wants it to stop. All he wants it to do is stop; if dying is what it took, then they should just let it happen.
Zoro is by Luffy's side in an instant; he's confused and upset with himself for not catching this sooner. Sanji's confused and lost and stuck by the side of the other little boys because he doesn't know what to do and he doesn't know what's going on, but he wants to help as best as he can.
Sanji's father Zeff quickly moves to call 911 but then Luffy stops breathing.
His head limply hits the ground and the swelling stops and his heart stops beating because he's dead. Zeff returns to his seat and glues his eyes to a text message on his phone as though nothing has happened; Zoro and Sanji don't take their eyes off of the dead child in Ace's arms for a second, and Ace just cries.
Zoro and Sanji do too.
Then Luffy wakes up.
Sanji leaves with his father and Ace decides that he needs to buy a couple epi-pens.
The next day there are two little boys stubbornly glaring at each other while waiting for Luffy to come to the front door; they both have bags underneath their eyes from the event of the previous night, but they're standing strong anyway. They're standing strong for Luffy.
The green haired boy tugs Ace's shirt until he leans down to allow the younger boy to whisper in his ear without letting the blond know. "I explained the situation last night ahead of time."
"Thank you, Zoro."
Ace turns to Sanji. "Thanks for coming, Sanji."
"The dish I helped my father make last night killed him." The blond grits out; his fists tighten to the point that his knuckles have turned white. Ace swallows; these kids are growing up way too fast and for the wrong reasons, and it's his fault. "It's the least that I can do."
His fault because Luffy's died three times under his watch.
Four times total.
Four times too many.
Luffy makes his way to the door; he's still half asleep and wearing his big brother's shirt as a nightgown. He holds a hand to his mouth as he yawns; it's still early, not even time for him to eat breakfast yet but both of his friends are already friends.
He wakes up a bit more; eyes bright and excited as he scoots past his brother's side and peeks out the door. "I'll be out in a couple of minutes! Let's ride bikes today!"
Luffy runs off to go change after his friends take off; Ace does nothing more than remind him to brush his teeth and make his bed before he even thinks about walking out the door. It doesn't take him any longer than five minutes to inhale breakfast afterwards and hug his brother goodbye.
"Just, just be careful okay?"
Luffy nods.
He doesn't want to die again.
"I will."
A/N:
Thoughts or recommendations? I'm trying to get better, but it's failing in the same way my happiness is. :)
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! I'd honestly like to know.
~Crimsy