Tears From The Fire
Revived By Fire

XxXxX

The first thing Ace noticed was that he couldn't breathe. The second thing he noticed was that it was dark, unbelievably so. The third was that it was incredibly hard to move. It felt like several tons of pressure held his body down, and that lifting his hand was a hard task. Panic overtook him as he had no idea where he was and the lack of oxygen in his lungs was starting to get to him. Pushing with all his might, he dug his arm through what felt like compacted dirt and continued to dig through it. He silently prayed he was digging up towards the surface rather than down towards the earth's core as his lungs screamed for air. He felt the pressure ease up and digging had become easier, letting him know he was indeed heading upwards. Finally, a hand broke through the grassy surface and if there had been any onlookers, they would have thought it was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Trying to get a good grip, he pulled himself out of the ground gasping for air. His lungs happily filled themselves with oxygen and he plopped himself on the ground to recover from his near death experience. He took his hand ruffled out all the dirt stuck in his hair and rubbed his eyes, slowly opening them before squeezing them shut. His pupils seemed to scream that it was far too bright and too sudden to look at the bright sky so he rolled onto his stomach to face the ground. He opened his eyes very slowly and it took them a while- way longer than usual he noted- to adjust to the brightness of the day. He felt his muscles were all stiff and sore as if he hadn't moved them in quite a while, which brought his mind back to when he woke up.

Where the hell was he, and why the hell had he been buried in the ground?

Pulling himself into a sitting position, he looked at the hole he just crawled out of when he suddenly froze. He had to blink his eyes several times and pinch himself to make sure he wasn't still asleep. He flinched as the pain from the pinch shot up his arm. No, he wasn't dreaming. This was real. But he found that so hard to believe. He was alive, dammit! So… So…

So why the hell was his grave sitting right in front of him?

He looked to the side of his grave and spotted another, the sight of this one constricting his throat. The grave was labeled with an all too familiar name with an all too familiar coat hanging on the all too familiar halberd sunk into the headstone. 'Edward Newgate' it read. Ace's heart dropped.

"No," he whispered, breaking the silence. "Nononononononono… This cant' be true…" Yet the coat blew in the breeze as if telling him that this was reality, and that reality could be cruel. So hellishly cruel. Tears streamed down his cheeks that he hadn't even registered as he suddenly remembered all the events that occurred at Marine Ford. Everything up to his own death. But he didn't care about that now. All he could do was stare in horror and sorrow, feeling his heart break, and break, and break. His captain, his friend, his father was gone.

Deceased.

Departed.

Lifeless.

Gone.

Killed.

Dead.

"No!" he screamed out, slamming his head into the ground and repeatedly striking the dirt below him. "No, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! Not to him! Not to Oyaji…" He sobbed, covering his face with his dirt-covered hands. He had been prepared for his own death, but he certainly did not prepare for Whitebeard's death. Guilt wracked his brain as he knew that this was all his fault. It was all his fault. Letting out a pain filled cry tear through the air, all the birds and creatures on the island seemed to lower their heads in grief.

Ace sat alone in silence for hours, staring out at the ocean hugging his knees tightly. He finally came to terms with Whitebeard's death after two hours of crying in both rage and pain, and was now thinking about other important things. Like how long he had been dead, where he was, or more importantly: What happened to Luffy. A newspaper clipping had been pined on his grave, but the abuse from the wind and sun had tore it off, leaving only a piece of the item behind. He stood up, determined to find both his brother and the rest of Whitebeard pirates. But that led back to Ace's current question: Where the hell was he?

A few other question gnawed at his mind as well. Like 'How the hell am I going to get off this damn island?' or 'Even if I find Marco and the others, will they be willing to take me back?' and even '…Do I still have my Akuma no Mi abilities?' Deciding to cross out one of those questions, he lifted his hand up and felt the heat course through his arm. Little flames erupted on all this fingers and he gave a grin. "Well at least I still have that. Now, how do I get off this island? I could always built a boat, I've done it before." He gave a cough, finding his throat raw from all the shouting he had done, and noticed how hoarse his voice sounded. His mind wandered to his childhood days when Sabo, Luffy, and him helped Naguri rebuild his pirate ship, and knew it would be an easy task. After all, he only needed a small boat.

It took him a week to make the boat, making sure it was steady and ready to set sail across the sea. Stepping onto the boat, he looked back at the grave of his father and made a quiet promise to him. That he'd make sure to protect the rest of the Whitebeard pirates with his life, even if they did despise him. Fixing his knife back onto his shorts and adjusting his hat on top of his head that he took from his own grave, he pushed away from shore and set his sail. He'd find his brother and he'd find his best friend, Marco. He'd find them and this time, he would keep his promises.

XxXxX
Okay, there's the second chapter! The Naguri thing is from the anime alone. If you haven't watched it, it's basically someone who helped the three brothers train and get stronger. He's the one who helped Luffy throw straighter punches, and he's also the one who taught Ace that in order to be a captain, the crew has to respect you and sometimes it's good to ask for help. Naguri is the reason they beat the giant tiger. He's also one of the few people who knows who Ace's father is.

Thank you for all the reviews you guys left! *sniff* makes me so happy! :'D Anyway, should the next chapter be longer, or about the same length? Please review again! Please? :)

Take care!

~roo the psycho