Hi guys and happy New year! Just made a quick chapter about everyone's thoughts during New year since it's Ace's birthday!
Hope you like it and I see you next year! :D
Normal POV December 31
Sabo was NOT having a good day.
Ever since Ace's funeral Luffy had made it his duty to annoy Sabo as much as possible to keep his sorrow for their lost big brother away
It would never disappear completely, he had been such a part of their life, even if they didn't always live together, they both depended on him when they had problems, if they were sad, he was always there, he was a cliff for both of them.
Sabo sighed, he had just started go through Ace's things, it had been almost 2 months since he died now and it was time. It hurt a lot to do this, but since the house stood on Ace, they would be forced to move soon, so he had no choice but to pack Ace's things away.
Later they would go to Ace's grave, it was new year's eve, and tomorrow was Ace's birthday.
All of his friends had decided to go to the grave and celebrate the new year, it felt wrong to leave Ace out of it for some reason.
Sabo sighed as he lifted up a dark red wooden box hidden in his closet.
On top of it was a note saying 'In case of my death' on it.
Sabo's heart almost stopped, "What the hell is this"! He thought, almost angry.
Why would Ace even have one of these?
Sitting on Ace's bed he slowly opened it up, finding A bunch of letters and photos inside.
Sabo felt his eyes tear up, these was photos of when they were kids, one day Ace found a camera, and since then they often took photos of the two, and later, three of them on their adventures, like when they had defeated the tiger, there was also pictures of Ace in the hospital when he was 13 from an incident involving him, Luffy, and a bear.
"I thought these got lost in the fire a few days after Ace got out from the hospital" He thought to himself, with a small smile.
Flashback
Sabo had never been so scared as when he was Ace jump in front of Luffy, shielding him from the bears attack.
The bear took him in its mouth, it was so big it could fit half of Ace's 13 year old body into it's mouth, and Ace's blood freezing screams of pain as the bears teeth broke through his skin would haunt him forever.
Then as the bear shook him and threw him into a nearby tree, a loud crack was heard and Ace's body went limp, Sabo saw red.
How… DARED IT DO THAT TO HIS BROTHER!
After the bear was down, Sabo ran over to Ace and Luffy who was crying screaming for Ace to wake up.
Ace was scary pale, at first Sabo thought he was dead, but after a lot of looking he finally found a faint pulse.
He ripped his shirt into pieces to have something to stop the bleeding a little with, and then tried to lift him up.
Ace's body did NOT work the way it should have done, instead of sitting up, the upper part of his back bent in a VERY unnatural angel for a back to bend to, at first Sabo was confused, but soon he understood the horrible truth.
Ace's back was broken, the bone had snapped completely at the hard impact with the tree.
"Luffy"! Sabo said with a very stressed voice that actually made Luffy look at him instead of Ace.
"I can't carry Ace on my back like this, I need you to help me strap him against my chest". Sabo explained, making Luffy look confused through his tears.
"Wh-h-h y c-can' t y-y-you carry A-Ace"?Luffy sobbed out.
Sabo almost groaned, he didn't have time to explain this… but he had to.
"Look Luffy, look at Ace's back" Sabo said in a gentle voice, trying to make Luffy understand, Luffy frowned as he saw the deformed look on Ace's back and looking back at Sabo, his eyes demanding an answer.
"Do you remember when my arm was bent the wrong way and couldn't use it? And if I used it or even moved it, it hurt very much, and the doctor told me that is I moved it, it might get worse"? Sabo slowly said, making sure Luffy took all of it in. As Luffy nodded, he continued.
"That is what is wrong with Ace's back, when he was thrown into the tree, his back broke, and if his back is bent it might break more, and, if it does break more, Ace might never be able to walk again". I said without thinking.
I understood my mistake about 0,93762 seconds later as Luffy screamed his head of at the though that Ace might never walk again, it took a LOT of time, time that they didn't HAVE, to calm him down.
Now, with Ace strapped against my chest with a belt, my hand against his back across the broken bone, my other arm under ace's butt to keep him up, and Luffy on my back holding around Ace's head to keep it in place we were ready to go. It was extremely heavy to carry both Ace and Luffy, (Seriously Ace, how much do you WEIGHT) at the same time, but he would, HAD to make it. If Ace could, and he HAD, much more times than Sabo's pride would ever let him confess, carried both Sabo and Luffy though the woods when they got hurt.
Sabo ran through the forest, and finally he saw the house where the bandits lived.
15 minutes later he held back a sobbing and screaming Luffy, as the ambulance drove away with the sirens on.
Time skip 2 months
"Luffy! Stop climbing on Ace, he's still not well enough for that, and you know he'll get mad" Sabo schooled the little ball of sunshine who answered with a pout.
"But Saaabooooo" He whined, but Sabo would not bend on this one, not this time. When he talked to the doctor, he had said that Ace was lucky to be alive, the blood loss had been bad, and his back even worse. He would be able to walk again, but needed a lot of rest. He had also been in a coma for 3 weeks after the incident.
"No Luffy, when Ace get's well you can climb as much as you want, but not as long as he's in the wheelchair". I said with a stern voice, ignoring Ace's glare at the 'Climb as much as you want' part.
Luffy whined and started rolling around at the ground whining that he wanted to hug Ace, making Sabo's heart melt.
Ace, on the other hand didn't like the look of Luffy rolling around the ground in the dirt, he might get sick or hurt himself damn it!
"Oi! Luffy stop acting stupid"! Ace growled as he started to rise out of the wheelchair, out of habit to pick his brother up, or just hit him on the head.
At least Luffy listened for once and instead he sat on the ground, pouting and glaring out in thin air.
Ace sighed in relief, but yelped as he felt an intense pain in his back and fell face first onto the ground.
Sabo, who hadn't noticed that Ace had rose up, instantly looked over as he heard Ace yelp, and instantly got worried as he saw his brother on the ground.
"Ace"! he shouted, making Luffy look over and as he noticed his brother down, he ran over.
"Ace, are you okay"!? Sabo asked with panic in his voice at Ace's still form.
A mumble that Sabo didn't understand came from Ace and Sabo had to ask him to say it again. Ace just kept on talking though and Sabo could barely make out words as 'Stupid chair and invalid' making Sabo sigh.
"Luffy, give me a hand sitting him up will you"? Sabo said to his still worried little brother with a small smile as he realized Ace wasn't hurt, just stupid.
Luffy looked at him confused but nodded and together they rolled Ace over, then they sat him up.
As Ace's face was visible, a blush was shown, showing how embarrassed Ace was to not even be able to stand on his own.
Sabo felt a twitch of guilt as he realized how hard this must be for him, and he would make sure to make it as easy as possible in every way he could.
Suddenly, Ace frowned and his lips turned down, Sabo could see annoyance, sorrow, and a whole lot of shame in his eyes before he looked away. At first, Sabo was confused, but then he heard a giggle and looked over, what he saw made his blood boil.
"Luffy, help me get Ace onto my back" I said, Luffy obliged at once, and helped to hold Ace up as Sabo lifted him up and over to the cab waiting.
Luffy glared at the people who had gathered around them the whole time.
"Luffy, get into the cab with Ace". Sabo said, Luffy walked towards the cab but didn't stop glaring until he was inside, and Sabo closed the door before turning around.
The glare he sent the people would have killed every single one of them if looks were able to kill.
"Did you enjoy yourself"? He asked.
"Did you have fun watching him fall on his face!?"? Sabo growled as he glared at the people, who now started to look uncomfortable.
"Are you proud of the fact that you were just standing around filming and laughing at a 13 year old kid stuck in a wheelchair after saving his 8 year old brothers life, as he tried to stand to pick up said kid so he wouldn't hurt himself as he rolled around on the ground as his two little brothers are right there with him!? He know you were laughing at him you know, and Luffy might be small and an idiot but not even he is that stupid that he didn't understand what you were laughing at, he know EXACTLY what you were looking at, and he know EXACTLY why his brother is in that chair." Sabo screamed now, the hate for the people growing.
"We watched as our big brother jumped in front of a bear, shielding Lu from an attack, we had to watch as the bear took him in his mouth, and hear him SCREAM in pain as his skin broke, then we had to watch him get thrown into a tree with such power that his back bone broke, then I had to carry both of my brothers, one unconscious and the other crying for 3 kilometers through the woods". Sabo said glaring with such hate that a few of the people took a step back.
"so tell me, is it still fun? Don't you want to LAUGH A LITTLE? SEE HIM FALL ON HIS FACE AGAIN TRYING TO PICK UP HIS LITTLE BROTHER? Or is it that the same joke just isn't funny twice for you people".
Sabo almost whispered the last part.
"The bear broke his back, punctured his skin, gave him a concussion, bruises and 2 months in the hospital, 3 weeks in a coma, but what you guys did was worse." Sabo said as he walked to the cab before turning around with a glare so intense the people took another step back.
"You made him feel shame". Sabo said before entering the cab.
Time skip. The fire
The air was hot and filled with smoke, Sabo shielded his eyes as he ran through the house looking for his little brother.
"LUFFYYY" he shouted, running towards the kitchen.
Opening the door, he was met with a wave of flames and he screamed as they came in contact with his body.
Holding a hand over the left part of his face he crawled away from the door opening.
"SAAABOOOO" the voice of his little brother screamed and Sabo looked over to see Luffy running towards him, scared out of his mind.
Sabo hissed as Luffy came in contact with his burned skin, but was so grateful to find him alive and well that he didn't really care.
Then he remembered Ace.
"SHIT" He thought and picked up Luffy before running towards Ace's room.
"ACE WAKE UP" he screamed as he barged into his brother's room which was filled with smoke.
He franticly tried to wake the raven up, but to no vail. Sabo was on the break to tears.
"AACEEEE" Luffy shouted, and the scared scream finally seemed to work as Ace shot straight up in the bed, looking around him, noticing the smoke.
"ACE, FIRE, WE HAS TO GET OUT" Sabo screamed as he swung Ace's legs over the edge of the bed, taking his arm over his shoulders so Ace could get on his back.
Ace had a metal support while sleeping, making it so his back would get plenty of support, he still couldn't walk though, his back wasn't strong enough for that yet.
"WHAT!? THEN LEAVE ME HERE, GET OUT OF HERE" Ace screamed, horrified of the thought that Sabo would have to carry him through the fire.
"NO, ACE ARE COMING TO" Luffy shouted through tears, making Ace's terrified eyes switch to him instead. Seeing the distress in the boy, Ace nodded, getting up on his brothers back.
Sabo ran out of the room, only to see that the fire had spread to the stairs.
"We'll have to jump from the windows" Sabo said, running into his own room since it was the closest.
He let Ace down onto a chair, and ran to the window, looking down.
"Ace, I'm taking you on my back, Luffy you jump after us and I'll catch you".
Ace stiffened at this, there was no way in hell that he'd leave Luffy in the burning building on his own. Not even for a second!
Although, Sabo would never agree to taking Luffy first since Ace couldn't even walk.
Ace made a plan.
"Luffy, c'mere" he said and the boy ran over and up in his lap.
Ace hugged him hard for a second, before he with all of his might, stood up.
Ace could feel his back crack at the impact of standing up, and with Luffy's extra weight as he pushed Luffy into Sabo's arms, who automatically took the boy, before backing, losing his footing as Ace fell forward, not able to stand, and fell out the window.
It wasn't far to the ground, and Ace knew they would be fine.
He felt guilt as he heard his brothers scream his name, but the voices seemed further and further away as his vision started to blur because of the lack of oxygen due to the smoke.
The last thing he heard before blacking out was the sirens closing in.
End of flashback
Sabo smiled and shook his head at the memory, he had been so mad at Ace afterwards, Ace's back had taken way to much damage and the doctors had told him it was unlikely he would ever walk again.
Fortunately they were wrong, but Ace had spent almost 2 years in that wheelchair before being able to walk again.
Sabo sighed and took the letters, he almost cried again as he understood what it was.
It was goodbye letters. One for Luffy, Garp, Dadan, Makino Law and kidd who were 2 of Ace's best friends who were also with the force, One for Marco, and one for himself.
But one letter looked a little different, and was addressed as 'Important'.
Sabo opened the letter and started to read, His eyes with every word.
"Oh my god" he said, as he brought his hand to his mouth to suppress the happy sobs.
"Thank you Ace" He thought, smiling for the first time in 2 months.
Marco's POV
I sat in my room staring out of the window, tomorrow was Ace's birthday…
I still couldn't grip the fact that he was gone, it was so… wrong to think that way.
The first month, i had barley been eating, sleeping, and i hadn't talked to anyone.
My brothers had been worried sick, but at the moment, i for once hadn't cared.
It hurt, more than anything else ever had when i received the news about my boyfriends death.
I never want to feel that way ever again…
I released a shuddered sigh as a single tear made it's way down my face. I had barley cried at all since the funeral, it hurt too much, that no matter how much I tried I just couldn't cry, I was still too shocked. Still in denial.
"It's so strange" I thought as I took the ring I had found in the package from Ace between my fingers, looking at it. I had the ring in a chain around my neck as widow's use to have, it felt a little better that way, it felt right.
Like I was still having a piece of him with me, even though the real Ace is gone.
I didn't want to too go to the party, but I would go for Ace. In some way, this was for him as well. He would have turned 21 tomorrow and I wanted to be there for that. All of the people going was somehow connected to Ace, and if I didn't go it would be like saying I wasn't. That I didn't care as much as I do.
I sighed again as I looked at the watch, Almost time to go" I thought as I stood up and walked out to gather the family to go to Ace's party.
Time skip, the party.
The music was high and loud as people danced and laughed, it felt very weird doing this on a grave spot, but this is the kind of party Ace enjoyed so everyone just went with it.
Marco stood in a corner watching the party, stunned, but not surprised that Ace had so many friends.
A few of them were relatives though, Like Garp, Sabo, Luffy, and his foster mother that Marco still hadn't dared to approach. No offense but that woman didn't look right.
He sighed and took a sip at the drink in his hand.
"You're the Marco brat, right"? A husky voice said beside him, making Marco yelp and jump, before looking over at the person speaking, almost having a heart attack as he realized it was Dadan.
Dadan frowned as he didn't answer and tried again.
"Are you hard on hearing brat"!? She asked, sounding annoyed.
"THIS is Ace's forster mom"?! He thought.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Marco" He answered finally, looking like someone had told him they had seen him wear that dress that one time when he owed Izou a favor. (Kind of like zoro looked when Luffy saved him from the sickle guy)
Dadan sighed deeply and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Ace was like my son, and I know he'd never forgive me if I didn't tell you this". Dadan said, making a lump form in Marco's chest, thinking it had to be something bad.
"Ace really really loved you, he loved you so much he was sure you one day would be his husband, he drove me and his brothers crazy talking about it and how lucky he was about having found someone like you. Only that now I wish that I had listened better. I am so sorry for your loss". Dadan said, shocking Marco to no end.
"He wanted to marry me"? He whispered. They had only dated for a few months, how could Ace be so sure?
"He sure did. There was a lot of things Ace was good at, 1. Running his mouth 2. Drive me crazy 3. Protect his brothers, but he was also good at knowing people without actually knowing them, Luffy got that gift too, and when Ace made his mind up about someone barley anything can change that. He loved you just as much as he loves Sabo and Luffy." Dadan said. Marco felt the tears build up before starting to fall, Dadan seemed to notice and grumbled something about booze and left to give him some privacy.
Marco turned around and ran into the woods, as he was far enough away he stood in the shadows, crying.
"he really loved me, he really really loved me". He though as he cried loudly, almost screaming out his feelings into the dark night.
As he returned to the party, all of the people had gathered around in a circle starting and ending by Ace's grave telling stories and memories about Ace since it was past midnight already.
"Happy birthday Ace" Marco thought as he sat down in the circle with a big smile, joining in on the stories.
Ace's POV
I stood on the balcony, watching the fireworks over Los Angeles, thinking of everyone i had left behind.
I had begged Smoker to let him go to the funeral, hidden of course, he needed to see his family one last time. It took some time, but finally smoker agreed.
It had hurt to see his loved ones cry over him like that, but hopefully they would heal soon.
I brought a hand up to my face and flinched as I came in contact with my new face. I still wasn't used to it.
I had refused operations, but had agreed to other methods, like botox, they had only used a little to make my lips look different, I hated it. My mouth was good the way it was before. They had used a lot of silicone and latex as sort of a mask for me to wear, it made sense, my face was all over the news as the cop who had died, especially during the day of the funeral. The media had exploded with the news. It had just started to calm down a little.
I had just came back from a mission, it was just an information thing, but it was still weird working for this people, even if it was just for a while in order to shut them down.
I chuckled a little and looked down on the glass of whiskey in my hand.
"Oh, if Garp could see me now". I thought and laughed a little at the image of Gramps face of he actually could see me now. It was so amusing.
"Oi, spades get in here boss wants to see you" A man I recognized Belamin said behind me.
"You know what he wants"? I asked in a bored voice, continuing to stare out over the city.
"Something about another job for you". Belamin answered, annoyed at my bored tone.
"Alright, be right there". I said, still not looking away from the city.
As he walked away, I took the ring I had in a chain around my neck and kissed in gently before smiling sadly.
"Well, Happy birthday Ace" I thought as I swallowed up the whiskey before turning away from the view and walked back into the building.
x-x-x-x-x-x
WHAT DID YOU THINK!?
Also, not sure if I said it yet, But Sabo is 3 years younger than Ace, And Luffy is 5.
But seriously, loved it, hated it, nothing special?
Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR!3