A/N: This is my little piece based on Chp 574. My tribute to Ace.
It was over. Everything was over. All his worries, all his fears, everything and anything he'd ever been through, were over. So many hours of thinking, of wondering, of needing. But it was finished now. This was definitely the end.
It kind of hurt to think of it like that, hurt to think that he was leaving them all behind, leaving them like this. But they wouldn't need to protect him anymore. They wouldn't need to put their lives at stake to look out for him. He was going somewhere where none of them could follow, and he was glad. Glad he wouldn't be burdening them anymore, glad they would never have to worry about him again.
He could hear them all around him, still trying to save him even though he knew they couldn't. He could feel his brother's arms wound tightly around him, and he felt so at peace with himself in that rubbery embrace. It felt so indescribably comforting to know that they were all nearby, all caring for him and loving him.
He'd finally found it. The thing he had been searching for since the day he'd understood just who, and what, he was. Years of self-accusation and hatred, desperate to find answers. Should he have been born? It was the question that plagued him day and night, always torturing him with its infinity, never ceasing. Always in his head, never, ever letting him escape. Even when he was on the high seas with his own crew. Even when he was trying to take Whitebeard's head. His eternal punishment for existing.
But now the answer was so clear, so glaringly obvious, so evident in everything and so palpable even when he hadn't known why he was walking this earth. Even though he'd been good for nothing, even though he had the blood of a demon in him, that they still loved him. And there were no words to say how much he had to thank them for it.
Thank you for always being there. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for loving me. But most of all, thank you for freeing me.
Promise me we'll live life without regrets.
And he had.
A/N: This is definitely the saddest thing I've ever read in One Piece. I think I'm in a minor sort of depression. However I thought that because of Ace actually dying we missed the whole point of his death, which is that he finally found the answer to whether or not he should have been born. That was the most important thing in this whole saga, so I really needed to point it out. Sorry for any sloppiness or gramatical errors or general mistakes, I wrote this in 15 minutes because I really really needed to get it out of my head and onto the computer screen. This is unedited because I quite like it the way it is. Please comment and remember that Ace will live on forever in the hearts of all One Piece Fans!
THe Azn One. =]