Warning(s): Character death
The bleeding wouldn't stop.
Ace desperately pressed his hands, his shirt grasped between them, to the wound; tried to stop the bleeding, to soak up the blood, to do something. Anything.
The white fabric was immediately stained deep crimson, and Ace watched with growing horror as it showed no signs of stopping.
"Hey," Luffy's voice was a raspy whisper, yet even through clear pain there was the same cheerful little lilt that made it impossible to not smile when he was around. "My eyes are up here, Ace."
Ace squeezed his eyes shut, tried to block out the advancing red wetness against his fingers. "Don't joke at a time like this, Lu."
A tiny little laugh followed by a cough was Luffy's response, and Ace's stomach lurched at the fresh surge of blood that he could feel through the ruined fabric of his shirt. "But you're not happy. I don't want you to be sad Ace."
Happy?
How was he supposed to be happy at a time like this?
"I'll make it up to you, Luffy." He grit his teeth, tried to smile. "When you're okay again, I'll make it up to you. I'll take you wherever you want to go and we can do anything you want; no matter how dumb it is, alright?"
"You mean it?"
"Yeah," Ace's throat was so tight it was hard to speak, and hot tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "I mean it. You just have to name it."
"Then, will you sing me that song Makino use to sing sometimes? Now?"
"Song?" Ace opened his eyes, uncaring of the tears that beaded down his cheeks. "What song?"
Luffy grinned, his normal bright, beautiful grin and it hurt so much to see. "The sunshine song! You have to know which one I'm talking about."
Ace laughed, broken and hollow, and against better judgment he slid an arm under Luffy's shoulders and lifted him enough to press a kiss to his forehead.
"Yeah, I know what song you mean."
"Sing it? Please?"
Ace gave a shuddery sigh; he didn't want to. Yet he couldn't say no, not to Luffy.
"You are my sunshine," His throat protested the words, tight and sore against the motion of singing and swallowing only made it worse. "My only sunshine."
"You make me happy when skies are grey." His voice was cracking and breaking like puberty all over again and every breath was a gasp through a heavy sob that heaved his shoulders forward.
"You'll never know dear," Finally there was a shrill cry of sirens and the seizure flash of ambulance lights around them but Ace knew it was far, far too late. "How much I love you."
There were voices around him and hands were grasping him, pulling Luffy away from him and Ace's body felt like cold lead; he could not stop them, could not answer their questions. He stared at the ground, at his ruined shirt, his knees cold and aching as he sobbed and sang.
"Please don't take my sunshine away."