Title: Of Dreams and Desires
Pairings: Smoker x Ace, Sanji x Zoro, and other side pairings
Ratings: T - NC-17
Chapter: 24 of ?
Summary: His story is never really told, yet his death impacted so many people and altered everyone's course in life. This is Portgas D. Ace's story. All the love, pain, and tears will be shown. Understand his story and learn just why he was meant to live. Char Death, Res, Slash, Yuri, Het, Yaoi, Nudity, Language, Strong Violence and Sexual Content. You have been warned. Read and Review.
Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this story; all props go to Eiichiro Oda.
Author Note: Thank you to everyone who has viewed my story! I am happy you guys are liking the madness that goes on inside my head!
Shout Outs: Thanks to Kathi1225 for adding my story to your favorites and alerts. Thanks tuckwoo for adding my story to your alerts. Thank you ThePoliceLlama for the review! It means the world to me. I won't stop writing any time soon. :3
Beta Reader: descriptionsalive21, thank you so much!

Roronoa Zoro

Zoro laid there on the floor looking at the broken pieces of glass near his face. He didn't move as another bottle was chunked his way, shattering upon impact with the hardwood, causing its contents to splash on his face. He blinked away the blood and rum from his eyes, fighting with everything in him to stay down and follow his captain's orders.

Three hours earlier

The crew had docked at the Mock Town harbor to find answers on how they were to get their ship to the sky island. After some debating on who should stay or go, Luffy and Zoro jumped off the ship and started their way into town.

Luffy looked at the men around them fighting and arguing, "There are a lot of different people around here."

Zoro watched an individual get knocked through a wall, "Seems like fun."

The pair grinned at each other before stepping over a passed out drunkard and continuing into town. They faintly heard their names being called so they stopped and watched Nami run to catch up to them, "Wait! Someone has to go with you two to make sure you don't get us kicked out of the city before we get any information."

The swordsman raised an eyebrow at the navigator as he took in the surroundings before his eyes landed on her again, "Have you seen this town?"

Nami walked ahead, flinching when someone bumped into her, "That's not the point. I know how you two are."

Luffy shrugged and pulled Zoro along to catch up to the orange haired woman. The trio walked through the town, dodging the fighting and drunken men with every step. Seeing all the scrimmages around her, Nami faced her crewmates with hard eyes, "I need you to repeat after me: While in this town I promise not to fight."

The green haired man felt his eye twitch, "I'm not agreeing to that."

"You have to, or I'll raise your debt you owe to me."

The glare aimed at the former thief would have made a grown man run and hide. Instead, she returned a glare of her own, daring him to challenge her.

Sighing in defeat, he agreed. "While in this town I promise not to fight."

"Excellent!" She turned to her captain who was flicking boogers out his nose, "Luffy…"

Said man groaned, "While in this town I promise to get away–"

Nami pulled his cheek, his elasticity causing it to stretch further than normal skin would've, "You promise not to fight."

She let go of his cheek, letting it snap back with a slap. He rubbed the side of his face before repeating, "While in this town I promise not to fight."

Nami nodded her head, "Good. Now is that the truth you two?"

The captain and his first mate waved their hands in dismissal, "Yeah… yeah."

"What's with the unenthusiastic answers?"

Before they could respond, an ill looking man with a fur coat fell off his horse in front of them, hitting the ground with a thud. The trio looked behind the man and took notice of his equally sick looking horse, barely standing on its shaky legs.

Nami took a step back, "What's wrong?"

"He fell off." Luffy crossed his arms, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, he fell straight off." Zoro echoed.

Nami glared at her nakama before she walked over to the fallen man. He grunted quietly in pain as he tried to rise, only to fail and fall back on his stomach.

"He looks like he's in pain."

Zoro seconded his captain, "Yeah, in pain."

Fed up, Nami slapped the two on the backs of their heads as the older gentleman asked, "Pardon me, folks," he extended his hand to Zoro, "Would you mind helping me?"

The swordsman cringed at the deathly pale man, "You just don't feel like getting up yourself." He turned to Luffy, pointing at the elder's feet, "Get that side."

With Luffy at his feet and Zoro holding his arms, they threw the man back on his horse. Now draped on his ride, the curly gray haired man coughed, "Oh, sorry about that. I'm back on." He coughed again, "I was born with a weak body." He patted the neck of his horse, "Now, let's go, Stronger."

The horse let out a whine before it fell over. Zoro and Luffy gapped at the scene, "The horse too?!"

Zoro sighed, "You're just being a moocher."

He nodded to Luffy and the pair helped the horse back to his hooves.

The queer man apologized, "Forgive me for being such a bother. Please take this as repayment." He held out a basket of red crisp looking apples to the trio.

"It's too damn suspicious, we don't want it." Was Zoro's decline to the offer; Luffy, however snatched an apple out of the basket and bit into it with haste, ignoring the warning coming from his crewmates. As soon as he bit the fruit, an explosion happened behind the group, prompting Nami to spin around in surprise.

Zoro raised an eyebrow before eyeing the apple in Luffy's hand. They were quiet as they listened to the civilians on the street.

"What the hell just happened?" A man asked as he ran past the group towards the building that was now on fire.

"I don't know man. The guy on the horse offered the kid an apple and when he took a bite, five people over there just… exploded."

Nami's eyes widened in horror as she spun to Luffy who was still chewing on the apple, "Luffy, spit that out!" She wrapped her hands around his throat, shaking him, hoping to force the chewed apple to come up. "Cough up that apple right now!"

Luffy struggled a little before pulling out of Nami's hold, "I already swallowed it."

Zoro clutched the hilt of Wado, "Bastard, what are you trying to pull?"

The hatted man laughed, "Oh he'll be fine. He picked a dud; otherwise, he would have been dead on the first bite. You're–" he coughed into his hand, "A lucky man."

With those words, he tapped the reigns on the horse and Stronger shuffled away from the group. As he did, a man fell out of a window and landed in front of them. Frustrated, Nami threw her hands up in the air and stomped away, "What the hell is up with this town?"

Luffy followed her with his arms folded behind his head, "Come on, don't be mad, Nami."

She glared back at the naïve boy, "Don't you understand? You could have been killed for no reason."

The captain shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it happens."

Agitated she heatedly responded, "So, that means it's fine for–"

A bulky man standing on the roof of one of the establishments yelled at the top of his lungs to the sky, laughing occasionally. Her face read "The fuck?" but she said nothing; instead she huffed and continued to walk down the street, hoping to make it to a bar before she lost her mind.

A man passing by shook his head at the antics of the other, "It's best to stay away from that wrestling champion if ya know what's good for ya."

Upon hearing the word "champion", Luffy and Zoro both stopped and turned around to look at the broad chested man. "Champion?" They asked as challenging grins spread on their faces.

Nami threw some pebbles at them to gain their attention, "Keep walking! Why do you have to be so competitive?" Seeing them catch up to her, the orange haired woman mumbled under her breath, "I'm starting to wonder if it's possible to find any information in this town."

The trio continued until they came across a hotel. They walked into the tropical style auberge and quickly found that it was empty, "This is nice, but… where is everyone?"

Nami started to look around when a short man with a fu-manchu moustache approached them, "Hey, you can't be here. The entire hotel is being rented out by the Bellamy Pirates and due to that we must respectfully decline all other guest. If Bellamy-sama saw you here, things would be terrible."

Luffy tried to walk past the owner, "Can't we take a look inside?"

Nami raised an eyebrow, "Who's this Bellamy?"

The owner's answer was interrupted by a voice, "Who are these kids?"

The short man jumped into a bow, "Ah, welcome back, Sarkies-sama."

"Kick them out. You know how much we paid to rent out this place?" The blond hanging on the arm of the blue haired man shouted.

Sarkies cocked his head at Luffy and peered at him, "Go home you little shit."

Luffy turned to Nami, pointing his thumb at the man wearing the fur coat, "Oi, is it ok if I kick his ass?"

Nami and the owner turned pale, simultaneously yelling, "No!"

Sarkies laughed at the cocky boy, "Kick my ass? We have a comedian over here. You kids look pretty shabby." He reached into his pockets, pulling out some beli and tossing it on the ground at their feet, "Here, you kids have fun."

The blond threw her head back in laughter, "Oh, Sarkies, you're wasting your money on them."

He laughed and kissed the top of her head, "Maybe it'll do them some good if I throw it in a ditch."

At hearing his words, Zoro's eyes narrowed and his face turned murderous. Nami's face flushed red while Luffy looked at the money with a smile, "Hey, can we have it?"

Instead of answering, Nami pulled Luffy away from the hotel with Zoro following after them, but not before brushing past the arrogant man. Fuming, the trio entered a nearby establishment by the simple name of Pub. Sitting at the bar, the Straw Hats ordered their drinks and waited in silence. It wasn't until they got their orders and began drinking that Nami spoke, "I'm so pissed off."

The bartender, whose name they were told was Terry, shook his head, "Sorry about that. Mock Town has become a place for pirates to unload their riches." He fixed Nami another drink and set it before her, "It's on the house. Because so many people come to this town, brawls and murders happen often."

Terry disappeared to the back room only to come out with two cherry pies. He placed them in front of Luffy and the man next to him before turning back to Nami when she spoke, "I just don't like this town."

The balding man nodded his head, "I understand how you feel. Unfortunately, it takes four days for the log pose to set."

Zoro's eyes shifted over to his captain as he and the big man sitting next to him slammed their hands down on the counter, both speaking at the same time, "This cherry pie is so nasty–"

"Good!" The black haired man said.

"I could just die!" They stated together.

The two men glared at each other before taking a swigs of their drinks, "This drink is so delicious–" Luffy said.

"Disgusting!" Once again the curly black haired man interjected.

The man with the round body and skinny limbs stared Luffy down, "Jerk, you got something wrong with your tongue?"

Luffy huffed, "You got something wrong with your head?"

Terry shrugged nonchalantly at the arguing men, "I'm not the cook, so I don't give a shit what you think."

Luffy pushed his pie away and smiled at the bartender, "Old Man, fifty meats to go!"

Not wanting to be outdone by a scrawny boy, the man next to him placed an order as well, "Fifty-one cherry pies to go!"

"I mean fifty-two meats!"

"Gimme fifty-three pies!"

Nami glared down the end of the bar at her captain as he competed with the man on the amount of food to be ordered. Zoro rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer as Luffy and the man growled at each other.

"You wanna fight?!"

Zoro choked on his drink, "What the hell are you even wanting to fight over?"

Nami threw an ice cube at the rubber boy, "Luffy, didn't you promise me not to fight? Besides, we don't have that kind of money, we aren't shopping."

The man smiled revealing his missing teeth, "You a pirate?"

Luffy's nostrils flared, "Yeah, that's right."

"What's your bounty?"

"Thirty million!"

The bigger man's jaw dropped in surprise, "Huh?! Thirty million? How's that so?!" He clenched his fist, "You're a liar."

Luffy balled his fist in return, "It's not a lie."

Before a fight could break out, Terry placed a package in front of the older man, "Come now, I'll thank you for not fighting in my pub. Just take this and leave, your fifty cherry pies."

The man loomed over Luffy before taking his pies and leaving the bar. Luffy watched him leave before returning to his seat looking dejectedly at Zoro, "He didn't believe me."

Zoro patted his captain's back, "It's ok, Luffy."

The trio sat in silence when the saloon doors suddenly opened with a slam, pulling everyone's attention to the unkempt yellow haired man, "Is there a pirate wearing a straw hat in here?" He looked around until he spotted the boy, "You're the one with a thirty million beli bounty."

Luffy turned around the face the man and cocked his head to the side in confusion, "What?"

Zoro sipped his beer, "He's calling you out."

Hearing the other occupants of the bar call him by name, Nami leaned over to Zoro, "Bellamy is the name of the guy who rented out the hotel."

Bellamy strolled down to the bar next to Luffy.

"I'm meeting a lot of big guys today."

Bellamy chuckled at the younger boy's words, "Gimme the most expensive liquor you got and give the shrimp whatever he likes."

Terry nodded his head and distracted himself by making the drinks. Bellamy sat sideways to look out at the rest of the people in the establishment, "Pub's full today."

At that moment, a group of people wearing the same tattoo as Bellamy entered the bar. Nami tapped Zoro's shoulder, "That must be his crew."

Zoro hummed as he watched the man they met earlier, Sarkies, slash at a man, blood spurting in the air as he demanded his chair, "Everyone clear out some seats." He flicked the dripping liquid from his giant kukri, painting crimson drops on a nearby woman's face.

There was a moment of chaos as some of the civilians of Mock Town rushed out the door, leaving more than enough open chairs for the crew. Distracted by the scene, Luffy was taken by surprise when Terry placed a beer in front of him, then rum in front of Bellamy.

Bellamy watched Luffy out of the corner of his eye, "Drink up."

Luffy smiled at the man in gratitude, "Thanks, you're a nice guy."

The moment Luffy's lips touch the glass, Bellamy grabbed him by the back of his head, slamming him into the bar causing pieces of wood to fly everywhere. Nami gasped as the pirates laughed.

Bellamy joined in the laughter but stopped when he felt the cool steel of Zoro's blade pressed under his throat, "What are you doing, underling?"

Zoro pressed the blade closer to his neck, "That's a question you should be answering."

Nami slammed her hand on the counter, "Stop it, we haven't gotten any information yet!"

"Shut up! This guy is asking for a fight, so I'm giving it to him."

It was at this time that Luffy rose from the broken bar, pulling a sliver of wood from his cheek. He wiped the blood off his face and glared at Bellamy.

Seeing the squirt back to his feet, the crazy-eyed man laughed, "Oh, so you can still stand."

Luffy balled his hand into a fist, squeezing so tightly that his nails cut into his skin, "Ok then," he nodded his head, "I hope you have prepared yourself."

Hewitt threw his head back, laughing in amusement, "Oi, look Cap, the boy wants to take you on!"

The pirates laughed and Bellamy raised his voice to talk over them, "It won't be a fight, it'll be a test."

Seeing Luffy preparing to attack, Nami swirled to face Terry, "Old man, we're looking for information on the sky island, what can you tell me about it?"

Hearing her words, the entire bar went silent, "What the hell did she say?"

Ross shook his head, "You've gotta be kiddin' me, right?"

Zoro and Luffy shared a questioning look as Nami continued, "'Cuz if you know how to reach the sky island–"

The roaring of laughter interrupted her question. Nami turned red in the face and she slammed her hands on the bar in frustration, "But the log pose is pointing directly towards the sky!"

Everyone settled down and the silence was deafening before the laughter started again, this time mocking her words. "But," Sarkies started then broke off into a fit of giggles before continuing in a high pitched voice, "But the log pose is pointing directly towards the sky!"

The thud of Bellamy sitting back on the bar stool wiping the tears from his eyes pulled the attention of the Straw Hats to him, "Come on now! You guys believe that old cock-and-bull story about there being islands in the sky? Man, what era are you living in?" He laughed again, "There are many unique oceans and currents on the grand line. One of them is called the Knock-Up Stream." He eyed the trio to make sure they were listening and when they gave him a confused look he chuckled, "Guess you've never heard of it. Ships that fall victim to that current are blasted high into the sky, only to fall straight back down into the ocean." He paused to sip his drink, "A bunch of ignorant sailors from long ago saw ships falling down from it, and imagined an island in the sky, 'there must be another world up there in the sky'!" He laughed so hard he needed to lean forward to rest his hand on his knee so he could catch his breath, "What a load!"

Bellamy looked at Nami, "Even crazy stuff like that has explanations. All dreams can be explained." He shook his head in disappointment, "What shock, I was going to let you into my crew if you past the test for the New Era, but you're just a lost cause." He turned to address the bar, "Listen up! The age of the Pirate Dream is over! The City of Gold? The Emerald City? The great treasure One Piece? Fools with their eyes on dream treasures don't notice real treasures all around them. In this era of the sea, the very men who are able to cross it all die chasing after illusions like those. And what do they say about those men?"

He leaned closer to Luffy, almost as if his answer were for his ears only, "'He always lived happily for the sake of his dream.' What a world of losers!"

The Bellamy Pirates laughed at their captain's words and Luffy's fist fell lax at his side. Bellamy eyed him, "Looking at dream chasing idiots like you make my stomach turn." He rushed to punch Luffy, who relaxed his body, giving into the hit.

The punch knocked Luffy to the ground and Zoro sighed, knowing what was coming next, mentally preparing himself.

Bellamy spat at the fallen boy, "It's because of weaklings like you that the rest of us real pirates get a bad reputation."

Zoro looked on as his captain laid there on the floor, flinching when a glass of beer was thrown at his head. The shattering of the mug pulled cheers from the crew.

"Hey boss, looks like they want a show."

Bellamy grinned, "That's an easy request."

Not liking where the situation was headed, Nami fanatically yelled at Zoro, "Forget about the promise, beat these guys up!"

Luffy sat up and stared at the broken bar, "Zoro."

Zoro closed his eyes, "Hm?"

"We aren't going to fight."

Nami's jaw dropped when Zoro didn't argue, "Understood."

Bellamy blew out the candles, shrouding the room in darkness. The only the light came from the sun through the windows as he took a chair in the corner and sat, observing his men, "Go crazy."

His crew took this as the cue to attack the two teens. A chair was thrown, hitting Zoro square in the head, forcing him to fall to the ground. Nami shrieked when a broken bottled sailed past her and swiped Luffy across the face. She could do nothing but watch in horror as her nakama were beaten to the ground.

Lilly walked over to the fallen Zoro and kicked him in in the ribs with the heel of her shoe, "That's what you punks get!"

Eddy broke off the leg of a chair and started to bash Luffy over the head with it, laughing, "Piss poor pirates like you should go back home."

When Lily and Eddy were satisfied, Rivers took a swig of his rum before he broke the glass, throwing the individual pieces at the boys on the ground, piercing their skin with the shards.

Despite everything happening to them, neither man uttered a noise. They stood and stared straight ahead, waiting for the next blow to come. Unable to watch any longer, Nami exploded, "What are you doing?! You can take these guys, so why aren't you fighting back?! Just beat their asses so we can go!"

Sarkies chuckled, "It's no use babe, they're up against someone they can't beat. They won't fight anyone stronger than themselves; it's pretty pathetic."

Rivers threw the empty rum bottle at their feet, "Guess your captain doesn't have an ounce of self-worth. The Marines are becoming a charity handing out a bounty of thirty million beli to trash like him."

Nami bent down to pick up the straw hat at her feet, clutching it to her chest.

Watching the girl, Bellamy sipped his drink, "Pacifism must sound nice to you. On top of being weak you have no pride. You won't accept any fights and your head is filled with dreams. Just like worms."

His crew cackled and he held up his hand, "Enough… enough, the kid looks so weak but he has a bounty of thirty million on his head. I'd wondered what he did to get it, but then he turned out to be a disappointment that's not worth my time."

Bellamy rose from his seat, "I've never seen two bigger cowards." Filling his mouth with sake, he spat it on Zoro and Luffy. When they did nothing but cough, he clicked his tongue, "Oi, get these guys out of here, they're an eyesore."

Ross nodded and kneed Zoro in the face, sending the swordsman sliding across the floor; only stopping when his head hit the wall. River grabbed Luffy by the head and rushed him towards the window, putting his head through it. Shards of the window's glass stuck into his face and neck as he went through.

Gasping, Nami ran over to her fallen nakama, checking their wounds. Sarkies snickered, "You won't be able to survive in the New Era staying with these two. I'll buy you off of them. How much do you go for?"

Nami's head shot up at the insult, "Now that you've said it… you'll buy me?"

He nodded his head and held out his hand, "Yeah, come over here. It'll be fun."

The watching crew chortled and Nami scoffed, "Unfortunately, I'm much too good for a team of pansies like you."

The occupants of the Pub burst into laughter at her words, "Oooo, she thinks she's expensive. They've got an entire crew of idiots there, there's no hope for any of them."

Bellamy shook his head, "Take those two and get out of my sight while you still have your life, weaklings."

Nami glared at him before picking up Luffy and Zoro by the collars of their shirts, dragging them out the bar. She stormed down the stairs and into the streets, passing the guy in the white shirt who was arguing with Luffy at the bar before.

She could see their ship when his voice stopped her, "Sky Island does exist."

She dropped Zoro and Luffy, their bodies landing with a thud, before turning to address the man, "You're the guy from before."

He nodded and cocked his head to the side, "Why the long face nee-chan? Those two won that fight and that tongue lashing you gave them was pretty impressive too. You've got some guts, woman."

Luffy and Zoro stood, dusting themselves off. The younger held out his hand, requesting his hat from Nami. When she gave it to him, he fixed it on his head before turning to the large man.

He nodded in respect to the young captain, "The New Era they were talking about is shit. The age where pirates' dreams are over, eh?" He slammed his bottle of rum on the ground, grabbing the attention of the surrounding citizens, "People's dreams never end! Am I right?!"

Some people called him a nutcase as he barked out a laugh, "It ain't easy to surpass a person. Let them laugh. If you seek the Summit, you'll find fights your fist alone could never take you to, follow it."

Zoro gave the man an once-over before turning to walk back to the ship, "Let's go."

Nami followed him but their captain stayed behind, staring at the man, "Oh, it looks like I've held you up. I see you're in a hurry, I hope you make it there." He raised his bottle and took a swig before standing, "To Sky Island." He left laughing and it wasn't until he was out of sight did Luffy spin on his heels to catch up with Nami and Zoro.

The trio walked back to the ship and Nami broke the silence, "Who was that guy."

"Don't know, but it's not 'that guy'." Luffy said.

Zoro nodded in agreement, "It's probably 'those guys'."

Nami looked at the pair in confusion, "You mean that guy had nakama with him?" She looked around, "Where are they?"

Neither man graced her question with an answer as they continued on to the ship.

When they arrived at the Going Merry, Usopp gave a startled scream, "How the hell you guys get messed up?"

Sanji rushed to the rail and looked Zoro over before addressing Nami, "Nami-swan, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Sanji, but I don't know about them."

Zoro, Luffy, and Nami make it to the deck of the ship before they collapsed. Chopper screamed at seeing the condition of Zoro and Luffy, "Ah! What happened?! Quick, we need a doctor!"

Usopp rolled his eyes and slapped Chopper on the back of the head, "That's you."

"Oh, that's right." Chopper chuckled and told them to wait as he ran to his hammock to get some gauze. He came back out with his supplies and began to work on Luffy, shooting worried looks over to his other patient, "How bad is it, Zoro?"

Said man sighed and stood to go to the galley, "Not bad, I just need a drink."

He slowly walked to the galley then opened the fridge to pull out some sake, then carefully taking a seat on the bench. He took a large swallow before he rested his head on the table, occasionally putting the cold bottle to his forehead.

He heard the door open and instantly knew who it was by the smell of cigarettes assaulting his nose. He listened as the cook made his way over to the sink, running the water for a moment before turning it off and sitting on the bench next to him. Zoro sighed and looked at Sanji, "I'm fine."

"Mmhm." Sanji ignored him as he took to dabbing at a cut on Zoro's face. They sat in quietude as the curly browed man cleaned the swordsman.

Once done, he turned Zoro's head by his chin, "Why didn't you fight back?"

Zoro licked his chapped, busted lips, "Captain's orders. Besides, they weren't worth it."

Taking a chance, Sanji leaned forward and pressed his lips against Zoro's for a moment, pulling away before Zoro could take the kiss any further, "Understandable, but in the future, try to protect your mug. We can't have you getting any uglier than you already are."

Zoro blinked a few times before he snorted, "You don't seem to have a problem with my face."

Sanji stood and threw the rag in the wash bucket, "Come on, Marimo. Chopper needs to fix your kisser."

He heard an "Oi!" as he walked out of the galley to his crew.

A little Zoro x Sanji action for ya. I wonder how Luffy would have reacted to Blackbeard had he of known to the future of what would happen to Ace? *Dun Dun* Thank you all for reading. Please stay tune for next chapter: Tensa Smoker - Huredhiel. :3