I've had plans to write a fanfic for Rouge for Mother's Day and I guess it's finally happening now. This was initially going to be very different but after I kept hitting too many blocks, I deleted the whole thing and re-wrote it lol There are a few stories which already exist involving Ace in the afterlife and meeting Rouge but I guess I needed more closure, in addition to closure with Thatch...Eh. Enjoy~

It was dark.

And then it was bright.

Ace looked around. He was standing in a grassy field. It was a sunny day, but it was hard to tell; everything seemed so cloudy. There seemed to be blue skies, but mostly just a lot of bright, white clouds everywhere. There was noise up ahead of him. It sounded close, but he wasn't sure if he actually heard the noise or he had simply known that there was the sound of activity in front of him.

He stumbled forward as he squinted, straining to see if he could make out anything. A few steps forward and the clouds dispersed, revealing a large lake. At the center of the lake, was a massive dock. There was no walkway to get from the bank to the docks. Ace was able to make out some boats shuttling passengers back and forth but it was strange; some of those passengers were animals, not people. And some of those boats were floating. He looked up higher. There was a second level of docks in the air?

"Hey Pops, take a look at-" Ace froze. He felt cold. The memories came back. All of it. To the very last second. He fell to his knees, pounding the ground in rage. In sorrow. Over and over, but the ground remained unperturbed, frustrating the young man further. So he continued to slam his fists down, with as much strength as he could muster. How could he? How could he? How could he?

He gave up after he depleted all of his energy, sitting cross-legged on the grass he couldn't hope to destroy. Breathing heavily, his jaw sore from gritting his teeth so hard, he didn't hear someone approaching until the person coughed lightly to alert him. Ace spun around. It was a woman. She had long, wavy, blonde hair with a red flower tucked by her ear. She wore a long, blue dress. Perhaps she was a native of this island?

Remembering his manners, he stood up and bowed. "I am Portgas D. Ace. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The woman chuckled. "Ace, you have such good manners. I'm so proud of you."

Ace straightened back up and looked at her, eyes wide. The way she spoke. It couldn't be.

"…Mo…Mother?"

She smiled. Slowly, tears began to trickle down Rouge's cheeks. "My little boy. You've grown so much."

"Mom!" This time, he shouted it, running towards her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. Tears still flowing, Rouge returned the embrace, the first hug she has ever received from her son.

"Mom! I-I have so much I want to tell you!" Ace grinned, still gripping his mother firmly. "I don't even know where, or how, to start but I want to tell you everything!"

Rouge gently broke away from the hug. "How about at dinnertime? Right now, I think you need to say hello to someone else." She turned him around. Ace stood still, frozen in shock, once more.

"Ah, sorry, Ace. Bad time? Should I come back later?"

Thatch," Ace whispered. He sprinted up to Thatch as fast as he could.

"Thatch! Thatch!" Ace repeated as he gripped his friend's shoulders. "I-I tried to avenge you! But… I couldn't-He beat me! I couldn't-"

Thatch chuckled, "It's okay, Ace."

"But Thatch!"

"Hey," Thatch said in a firm yet gentle tone, "Ace, it's okay. You hear me? It's okay. You did great."

"Rrgh…"

Thatch smiled, gesturing for a hug. "Come on, bring it in, Ace. Just like good times, eh?"

Ace wanted to protest more, but relented and leaned forward to hug his old friend when he was suddenly lifted up into the air and thrown onto his back.

"Pssssyyyyyyych!" Thatch laughed as he leaned down to look at Ace's surprised face. "Just like good times! Hahaha! You should see your face!"

Ace quickly sprung back up to land a punch into Thatch's stomach. "Agh Thatch, you haven't changed at all!"

Thatch winced in pain. "Hurgh! And you seem to have gotten stronger. Man, we got some catching up to do, huh? Come on, I'll show you around."

"Sure! By the way, you have any idea what's up with the floating boats?"

"Oh, that's the Docks of Rebirth. This is where you go to be reborn. But let me warn you right now, the paperwork to apply to be reborn as a human is Hell."

"Paperwork?"

"Yeah, it's terrible. I've actually thought about just hijacking one of those boats the good ol' pirate way. You in?"

"Hmm sounds interesting. Tell me more."

"Cool, let's talk at my place. I got a pretty sweet hideout not too far from here."

"Ok. Ah, wait just a sec," Ace turned back towards Rouge.

"Mother! I'll be back in time for dinner! Thank you for everything!" Ace bowed. Rouge smiled and waved farewell at the two men who were now walking away from the docks.

"Taking all the credit?" a voice behind her said. She smiled.

"Roger, have you been secretly watching this whole time?"

Gol D. Roger walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Of course; I wanted to see him, too, even if he isn't fond of me."

The two quietly watched their son and his friend until they were dots on the horizon. Rouge leaned against Roger and heard him lightly chuckling.

"Something funny?" Rouge asked him.

His face beamed. "I still can't get over the fact that he's got your cute little freckles."

The Docks of Rebirth was based off of a funky dream I had when I was a little kid. I was being reincarnated as a rabbit or a hare. Not sure. That's another story, though, which isn't fanfiction, so I'll spare you the details lol~