I've been reading some fics about Luffy and Ace and they made me sad, so I started to write this. It's just a little story I thought of. It takes place years after Luffy became the Pirate King. Hope ya like it! :D
Don't own One Piece. If I did, it would be terrible. :P
Luffy sat in silence before the two graves. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but the sobs threatening to burst from his throat prevented him from forming the words. His face and neck were already soaked with his tears. He grabbed one of the two bottles of sake next to him and shakily poured himself a cup. Some of the clear liquid splashed onto his leg as he raised his coup to his brother's gravestone.
"Ace…" was all he could choke out before draining his cup. He moved to pour himself another, but decided against it and took a swig from the bottle instead. He fingered the cork of the other bottle and poured its contents over the gravestone. He watched as it dripped down the stone, turning it dark. "It's just not fair," he moaned hoarsely. "We were so close, but then you…" A sob escaped and he quickly silenced it with another large swig from his bottle. By now, the bottle over the gravestone was empty. He set it aside. "Why'd you have to save me, Ace? You were supposed to be saved. You're such an idiot."
He pulled his bottle to his lips and chugged the rest. He set it down, wishing he had brought more. He wanted to drink away the memories. He didn't want to see his lifeless body every time he closed his eyes—didn't want to see the blood staining his hands red. He wanted to be able to move on. Every year on this day, he came back to this spot, and every time he'd end up drinking away his bitterness until he passed out.
He had no strength let to hold back the sobs in his throat anymore. He moaned and wailed in a way that made him sound like a baby. This only made him more distressed and he sobbed harder. He was just glad his nakama hat stayed on the ship. No one should see the Pirate King act like this, not even his nakama.
When his throat was raw and his eyes ran out of tears to cry, he reached out a shaking hand to feel the engraving on the stone.
After a while, he stood up, grabbing the empty bottles. He turned to the larger gravestone next to his brother's. "Thank you," he rasped. He said it every year, but it still didn't feel like enough. This was the man who gave Ace a place to belong. Whitebeard was a father to him. Luffy was extremely grateful to him and was sad that he couldn't have gotten to know him better.
He walked away from the graves, through the field of memorial swords, and headed back to his ship. He wiped his wet face with the sash around his waist. He knew his red eyes would give him away, but he couldn't let his nakama see the tears. He retied the sash around himself to hide the wetness and climbed up to the deck of the Sunny.
He went to the galley for more sake. His crewmates knew not to disturb him when he was like this, so they stayed out of his way. He grabbed as much sake as he could carry and went to sit on the lawn deck, leaning against the mast. As he drank, he tasted salty tears mix with the alcohol as it burned down his throat. He didn't even bother trying to wipe them away; he knew that no matter how much he wiped his face, the tears would not stop until he lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he could feel a warm blanket draped across him. He wondered absentmindedly who had put it there. He grimaced at the bright light of the sun and the pounding in his head. He stood up slowly, letting the blanket fall to the ground. He stretched his stiff limbs and searched around him. It seemed that whoever had given him the blanket had also cleared the empty bottles.
He could hear voices coming from the galley and shuffled towards them. They were sitting around the table, talking in hushed voices. He could tell that they were talking about him because as soon as he walked through the door, they stopped and stared at him. They were obviously very worried. Luffy frowned at this.
"Is breakfast over?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I'll whip something up for you," Sanji answered, standing up and heading over to the fridge. He nodded and took his usual seat at the table.
"How are you feeling, Luffy?" Nami asked gently.
"Fine," he grunted. This resulted in more worried glances between his crewmates. While he appreciated their concern, it was rather annoying.
Sanji set a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. "Drink that. It'll help with the headache," he instructed. Luffy grumbled to himself and took a sip. He didn't like coffee much—he'd much rather have meat.
He turned to the navigator. "When do we leave?" he asked.
"Tomorrow morning."
He nodded and took a big gulp from his mug. He stuck out his burnt tongue. "Hot," he whined.
That earned him a solid punch to the head from Nami. "Don't drink it all at once, dumbass!"
He rubbed his throbbing head. "No fair, Nami. I already have a headache and you just made it worse," he whined.
"Sorry," she said, not sounding at all apologetic.
He let it go when a big plate of food was placed before him. He wolfed it down quickly. After stuffing his face, he felt much better. His headache had subsided substantially and he regained his energy. His usual grin returned to his face as he ran outside.
He sat himself on his special seat and remained there for the majority of the day. He seemed to be contemplating something. When the sun began to sink below the horizon, he came to a decision. He hopped off the ship and walked back to the two graves. For the first time, he looked down at them with no tears in his eyes. He stood unmoving as the sky slowly darkened.
He reached up and grabbed his famous straw hat. He stared at it for a while, remembering the promise he made to Shanks all those years ago. Then he thought of when he'd finally met up with the Yonko after achieving his dream. He had given the hat back to him, fulfilling his promise. Shanks had stared at it for a moment before setting it back on Luffy's head. "It's yours now. You've earned it," he had said, grinning down at the newly-crowned Pirate King.
The hat had been with him through all of his adventures. It was his most prized possession, even after obtaining the One Piece. He never felt right without it. But he no longer needed the comfort it provided. He had nakama who stood by him no matter what.
Even so, he wanted it to be kept safe. And what better place was there to keep it than with his brother? Ace had always been there to protect him. It would be safe here. He tied his hat to the two sticks that crossed above his brother's gravestone so it wouldn't blow away.
He brushed his fingers over the tattered orange hat his brother used to wear and smiled. "See ya around, Ace," he whispered before running back to his ship.
His nakama noticed the missing hat, but didn't comment on it. They set sail the next morning, heading towards their next adventure. They would return every year, but Luffy no longer shed any tears.