I got this idea pretty late one evening and had to write it, it will only be a short story (5 chapters I think), so enjoy!
Ace felt very, very weird right now. It had all started with that traitorous bastard, Teach. Thatch had found the Akuma no Mi that Teach wanted and by the rules of the Shirohige crew; finder's keepers. Thatch had waited, not eating the fruit because he wanted one last swim in the sea.
God, how he wished he had talked Thatch into eating it immediately. If he had, they wouldn't be here, fighting and losing precious nakama over his filthy existence. Why hadn't Oyaji just left him to his fate and that way saved his crew and allies.
Why, why, why!?
It really didn't make any sense to Ace. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why they were willing to wager a war for him. He was just the son of a demon; he shouldn't even have been born! Sure, he knew that Oyaji had accepted him for being the son of his enemy but even some of his allies would be after his head if they knew about his demon of a father.
But he hadn't talked Thatch into to eating the fruit; he hadn't been able to save Thatch, just like he hadn't been able to save Sabo.
And then he set after Teach, ignoring any and all arguments from his brothers; even Oyaji's words went unheard. But he had been so enraged over the fact that someone, his nakama, had killed another nakama, something he wasn't able to comprehend. The only thing that occupied his thoughts was that of avenging Thatch, nothing else.
The first place he had searched for Teach had been on one of the first islands in the Grand Line. The sight that had met him was gruesome. Bodies had been lying around in various states of decaying, the buildings were just mountains upon mountains of rubble. He hadn't lingered, simply turned around and continued to the next island.
He had eventually met Luffy in Alabasta. He had been ecstatic to see how much his empty headed little brother had grown, yeah he had seen the wanted poster, heck, he had one nailed to a wall on the Moby Dick! But nothing could compare to seeing him happy and full of life right in front of him. And all too soon he had to say goodbye to him again.
It wasn't to long after that, that he had found the traitor, on an island just a couple of islands before Sabaody. The fight had been quick, with him being thoroughly pounded into oblivion and then afterwards waking up on a marine ship heading for Impel Down.
The time he had spent there was something he had rather forget. It really was hell on earth, hearing the screams of the other inmates, their begging for death or release. He was grateful that he shared a cell with Jinbe, he didn't talk much, and when he did, it was not meaningless use of air.
He had used most of his time in Impel Down to think about Luffy and the Shirohige crew; he had even sunk so far into the madness that he started to imagine what life would have been for him and Luffy had they followed Gramps. He hastily let that thought disappear from his mind again.
Then came the day of his execution. It was eerie; his whole life he had wondered if he deserved to live, if anybody was happy that he was alive, and now he was transported off to his death, because some people didn't think he deserved to live; either for his choice of career or for his father's sins he did not know. All he knew was that he was supposed to die today.
On the way to the transport ship the warden had let it slip that someone had broken into Impel Down. Ace had not really listened to him until the name 'Mugiwara no Luffy' crossed is lips. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. His little brother, his last brother, had attempted to rescue him. That was not supposed to happen! Luffy should be with his crew, far away from here.
He had made a mad dash for the elevator, trying to get back so he could see Luffy; make him sail away so he could be safe. It had failed just like the rest of everything he tried to do as of late. There were to many marines supervising the transfer and he was caught within 10 seconds of trying to run.
After that he had been bound and gagged for the trip to Marineford. It had gone faster than he had thought and suddenly he was being led up the stairs to the scaffold.
Then the war had started and the pain. He had to sit there and watch his nakama being injured or brutally killed, while he couldn't do anything! And then as he had been prepared to meet his fate, his Luffy had turned up (and teamed up with Oyaji!) to save him.
And he had succeeded; he had been free for all of ten minutes when things had turned bad; Oyaji had been hit too many time to survive and Luffy had been too exhausted to be aware of his surroundings, and hadn't seen that bastard admiral taking a shot at him. It had only taken Ace a split second to decide what to do; Luffy would live at the cost of his own life.
When the hand of magma had forced it way into his back and out through his chest, it had hurt like hell. Then came the sweet smell of burnt human flesh, it made him want to throw up; then came the numbness.
''Thank you for loving someone like me, who is a good for nothing… with such bad blood in my veins. Up to today… Thank you!''
Then the darkness at the edges of his consciousness overcame him, the last thing he was aware of was Luffy's arms sneaking around him in a tightening grip.
I feel soooooo bad for not finishing my other story, His Wife, but this have been stuck in my head for a while and my life went a bit south, I dropped out of school, so there was somethings I had to do and then fanfiction moved down on my list a bit. Sorry!