A/N: This is inspired by one of the most adorable fanfics I've ever read by akurosa, who I got the idea from. Please check their original fanfic since it is much better than I can ever write.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE!! THIS IS PURELY A CREATIVE RENDITION.
A is for Ace, fire in his soul, the greatest big brother Luffy could ever ask for.
"I promise you, I'll never die! Do you really think I could die and leave behind such a weakling of a little brother?"
A promise. Luffy knew. Yet, it had been broken. He broke his promise, and now luffy knew, even if he never wanted to admit it, he knew that ace would never come back, never scold him, never tease him, never again laugh with him.
Ever again.
But he will be stronger, become more and more powerful so that he never loses someone close to him ever again. And he never will. Ace's will lives on in him, and he will make ace proud.
He knew that ace would scold him more if he moped around and abandoned his dream.
He remembered the time Grandpa introduced him to ace... and sabo. They didn't get along at first, but slowly but surely, they formed a bond. A true bond between brothers.
He remembers the anger, the pain, the despair of losing sabo to the world government, an enemy leagues above him. He remembers how the presence of ace kept him going.
He remembers how ace would fix up his wounds while complaining about it the whole time, how he smirked and patted luffy's head after fixing him up.
Now that ace is gone, he will continue on to his journey. He needs to do this, for sabo, for ace, for ji-chan, for shirohige-ossan, and most importantly,
"I STILL HAVE MY NAKAMA!!!"
And he will go forward. To make ace and sabo proud.