Story Title: Denial
Genres: Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Words: 1,096
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the anime, or the manga. I only own this story and its idea.
Summary: Eventually you must come to accept the reality set in front of you.
Denial
Ace sits with his hands folded in front of him, in an uncomfortable wooden chair. His form is poor, his hair is disheveled and messy, bags are underneath his eyes, and his skin is terribly pale. However, he takes no notice. His face is expressionless, his lips are spread in a thin line and his eyes only blink dully every few seconds. Who knows how long he's been sitting there; he doesn't care to check the small round clock above the bed his brother lies in.
Perhaps it's been minutes, maybe hours- but it feels like days.
All he knows is that he arrived at noon.
Ace's eyes scan his brother's figure for the thousandth time that day.
His brother's unbelievably thin figure covered in a thin sheet of red that seemed to make him seem so much healthier than he was. An almost nonexistent smile lights up his face, red is his brother's favorite color. The calm and slow breaths he can't hear leaving his brother's mouth- and the childish action of sleeping with his thumb in his mouth made it seem as if the world was hiding the truth, the reality of what was really wrong…
What Ace was denying.
Ace shakes his head and frowns when he feels a cold breeze blow through his hair, he reaches over and silently closes the window; it would be bad if his brother came down with a cold. Then again, everything would be okay; because Ace would take care of him... Like always.
Ace gingerly reaches over and fluffs his brother's pillow before standing up and pulling another blanket over him. The blanket seems to completely flatten out across the bed but Ace takes no notice. His jaw tightens when he sees the black haired child open his eyes hesitantly and rub them with the back of his fists, as if trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?" He asks; his tone is apologetic.
The boy only turns his head to Ace and blinks before sitting up.
"Are you hungry? There's dinner on the table if you'd like."
A small, barely registered nod.
The boy get's out of bed, and his footsteps are so light that Ace can't hear them. Ace doesn't even hear the sound of the sheets rustling or the bed creaking as his brother gets out of bed.
Ace leads his brother into the kitchen, where there are already two plates of food set out. One of the two plates is empty, proving Ace had already eaten before Luffy.
Ace doesn't hear the sound of the chair moving across the wooden floor. Ace ignores it and takes the time to wash the dishes that have been already used. Ace never hears the sound of chopsticks in a bowl, or the sound of his brother's usually messy eating.
It's probably because he had the water running.
He turns off the water and looks at his brother, who's standing right in front of him. His little brother reaches and puts a completely white plate in the sink. Ace doesn't hear the sound of the plate touching the ground, or the sound of his brother footsteps as he runs off.
Ace doesn't dare look at the table where his brother was sitting.
He follows his brother into the living room, and sees the child sitting down in front of the television set.
"What are you doing?" He asks, and once again, his brother doesn't reply.
His brother never replies.
"Are you watching tv?"
"Do you want me to turn on the television set for you?"
"…"
"I'll give you the remote…" He finishes, picking up the remote and placing it down by his brother's side. His brother smiles lightly at him, and he can only smile back before leaving the room.
-
An hour passes and Ace comes back.
The television is still off.
The remote is untouched.
"Ready for bed, Luffy?" He asks, ignoring the fact that his brother only recently woke up. His brother nods towards him, and a tired yawn that Ace can't hear leaves his mouth. He watches his brother rush off to change and brush his teeth, and he can only smile and pick up the remote.
The door opens just as he turns in the direction his brother ran off in, and he turns back to the door with a welcoming smile. His mother is home. "Welcome home, mom."
His mother smiles back at him, the weariness showing easily in her eyes.
"I'm home." She pauses, the smile fading off of her face as she does. "Did you eat?"
"Yeah."
"Is there a third plate on the table?" She asks, and it's as if she's too used to this routine.
"Yeah. Luffy ate everything again after he woke up." He says. "He's getting ready for bed now... He can't stay up for long periods of time"
The aforementioned child runs up to Ace and stands next to him, smiling excitedly at the sight of his mother.
"He's here right now," Ace says with a smile, looking down at Luffy. "Ready for bed?"
Rouge sighs, putting a hand at her temple and closing her eyes briefly. "Ace, honey, you've got to accept that Luffy's not here anymore."
His eyebrows furrow. "But Mom, he's right here!"
"It's been five months, sweetie. I'm sorry, I didn't want to say this because I didn't think it would last this long. Seeing you like this... it's heartbreaking."
"But…"
The child next to Ace looks up, and he seems so real that Ace doesn't want to accept it.
"Luffy died five months ago, Ace. He's not coming back."
Ace lets out a sigh, and it's painful. "You're not real, are you?" He looks down at the child by his side, who shakes his head.
The child smiles at him and gives a small wave as he disappears, and Ace can only bite his inner cheek as his eyes furrow and the truth seethes in.
Luffy's dead.