Repeating Tragedy
Chapter One: Why?

Summary: Luffy is about to die when a stranger named Ace saves him, nearly dying in the process. Later Shanks explains that the two are reincarnated from famous pirates and every time they're reborn, Ace always dies in order to save Luffy. Will this pattern continue, or will Shanks and Whitebeard be able to finally stop this repeating pattern of tragedy?
Warnings: AU, ooc.
Pairings: None! O.O
Disclaimer: If I say I own One Piece, will Oda kill me off too? Oh well, I don't own One Piece. If I did… Ace wouldn't have died, Shuraiya would make random appearances, Whitebeard would also be alive, Akainu would have died by Whitebeard's powers, Blackbeard would have been killed by Ace, Thatch might be alive, Kuina would make a random appearance and scare the hell out of Zoro, Robin's mom is really alive somewhere, AND (this is a guess) I think Dragon and Gol D. Roger are brothers, making Ace and Luffy cousins by blood (why they look alike!) and brothers by a bond and sake. :D

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The wind died, the whole world ceased to move. Now so quiet, her beating heart became a boom. We locked eyes for just a moment or two, she asked why. I said, "I don't know, I just know."
-Rise Against (This Is Letting Go)
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Luffy didn't understand, everything had moved so fast. Blood dripped onto his face as he stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. He didn't understand… One minute, he was walking down the street when some guy started waving a sword at him. And he tripped and fell to the ground, the sword was plunging towards him, leaving him no time to dodge. So why didn't he feel any pain, and why wasn't he bleeding? He looked up and saw the tip of the sword literally inches from his face with blood dripping down it. He looked past the tip of the sword and saw it protruding through the back of some muscular guy who wasn't wearing a shirt. Then it suddenly dawned on Luffy what happened. As the sword came rushing towards him, he remembered seeing some guy jump in front of him and allowed the sword to past through his chest. But why? Luffy didn't know this man, did he? No, but why did he look so familiar? He attacker jerked the sword free from the stranger before taking off down the street and out of sight. The man coughed and put a hand to his wound before falling back into Luffy's arms. The teen held his savior close with confused eyes. The man had familiar freckled cheeks and lost gray eyes. The tattoo and elbow-pad on his left arm almost sparked something in Luffy's mind but he couldn't quite grasp it. He man looked up at the teen he saved and they just stared for a few seconds. The world became quiet around them, and finally Luffy's eyes teared up.

"Why…?" The man coughed painfully but managed a soft smile nonetheless.

"I don't know why… I just know I had to." Luffy began to panic when he saw the man's eyes start to close and searched his mind to find a way to keep him awake until help arrived.

"W-What's your name?" His eyes opened a little more as he tried hard to focus on the teen above him.

"A…Ace. Portgas D. Ace." Luffy gave a quivering smile.

"Ace, my name is Monkey D. Luffy. Now don't worry, help will be here soon, okay? You're gonna be fine. You're gonna live!" The words teared the man's eyes a little, but tears never fell.

"Thank… you…" And he closed his eyes, his breathing growing short and shallow. Luffy panicked, and shook the man's shoulders.

"Oi… Oi! Ace, wake up! Ace! Somebody, help!" Luffy screamed. "Help us!" A red-haired man ran around corner at the shouts, his body tense and eyes full of dread. He stopped dead in his tracks at the scene before him and he felt his heart drop. He wasn't in time again, he couldn't stop it. Luffy spotted him, his eyes calling for help. "Shanks!" The red-haired man made his way to Luffy's side and checked the man he held for a pulse. His heart nearly stopped when he felt one, though it was very weak.

"Give him to me, Luffy." The teen wasted no time with questions and place the stranger in Shanks' arms who immediately took off for the hospital. "Follow me, Luffy!" Several minutes later Shanks and Luffy burst through the hospital doors and called for doctors to help the wounded man. The doctors wasted no time in tending the young man's wounds.

An hour passed and Shanks was growing anxious, pacing back and forth in the waiting room as Luffy stared at the floor. He looked down at his now clean hands, catching the attention of Shanks. The boy had been staring at his hands for a while now and Shanks understood why. After the stranger was taken by the doctors, Luffy's hands had been covered in blood. The redhead's gaze softened and he stopped in front of the quiet teen.

"Luffy?" He called his name quietly and said boy slowly gazed at his friend.

"It all seems so familiar. Like… this has happened before." Luffy furrowed his brows before giving a frustrated sigh. "But I just can't place it. It's driving me crazy!" Shanks gave a quiet chuckle and ruffled the teen's hair.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Ace will be just fine." Luffy gazed at the man with an inspecting eyes.

"How did you know his name was Ace? I only told the doctors that when you went to the bathroom." Shanks suddenly realized the mistake he made but before anything could be said, a doctor entered the room with a clipboard.

"Ace?" Luffy stood up.

"That's for us." The doctor nodded and went through the papers on the board before giving an approved nod.

"Well everything went fine. Ace should be able to leave the hospital in a few days. He won't be awake until morning so no visitors for now, please." Shanks gave a nod and said his thanks, leaving the room with Luffy following close by.

"You have some explaining to do, Shanks," Luffy said as they got into the man's car.

"I know, Luffy. I'll tell you everything when we get back to my place. The ride to the house was quiet and a little uneasy for Luffy, but he refused to break the silence as he thought hard about the man who saved him.

"Why?" "I don't know why… I just know I had to."

Why did this man feel like he had to save him? He really didn't understand and hoped Shanks would help clear some things up. They pulled into the driveway and Luffy exited the car, entering the quiet house and plopping himself on his favorite comfy green chair. Shanks entered a minute later, throwing the keys onto the table in the center of the room. He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"You want something to snack on or drink?" Luffy gave a quick thought about it.

"A soda and sandwich please." Shanks tossed the items to the teen who caught them with ease, opening the sandwich and immediately started snacking on it. Shanks took a seat on a couch next to the chair Luffy sat in and opened a can of soda. "So how do you know Ace?" Shanks gave a sigh.

"I guess I better start from the beginning. Luffy, do you know much about the beginning of the pirate age?" Luffy gave this some thought. He always was interested in pirates and tended to study them when he could.

"Well, kind of. I just started researching them last month. But I do know that it was Gol D. Roger who started the pirate age."

"Yes, the first pirate king. But have you heard about the second and last pirate king?" Luffy tilted his head slightly, taking a bite of his sandwich. "I'll take that as a no. After Roger, pirates from all over the world searched for the treasure One Piece. And one of those pirates was named Monkey D. Luffy, who later became known as the last pirate king in the world."

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And so it begins… And yes, Shanks can drive with one arm! Just thought of this and asked Ivy if she'd help me. And she said yes! :D Thank you Ivy for the ideas and help! So tell us what you think of this so far! And we're still taking requests! Want a crack pairing? Want Luffy as seme? Want a certain pairing in a certain genre? Let us know! We're more than happy to try and please you!

The cold ice I liveth and the darkness I love
~roo the ice elemental

The itchiest thing you'll ever meet
~Ivy the Vine