This is the second and last chapter. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I really wish I owned One Piece but I don't.
Marco knocked on a door, holding a tray of food. "Hey, you have to eat sometime." He received no answer. Marco shook his head before he placed the tray at the door. "He wouldn't want you to starve." As he walked away, he wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.
Luffy heard Marco's footsteps as he walked away. He was lying in a bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was no happiness, anger, or any other emotion one would typically see on Luffy. He just looked…broken. His stomach grumbled loudly but he ignored it. Food wasn't going to cheer him up this time.
Luffy looked at his hands and, though they were clean, he could still see it. He could still see his brother's blood on his hands.
Flashbacks of his journey came to Luffy's mind. From entering the great prison and suffering a horrible defeat at the Poison Man Magellan to entering the 'holy land' of the Marines and losing his beloved brother, Ace. Luffy held his hands together, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.
"How could you?" he whispered. "How could you lie to me?"
It was all a lie. Ace swore he wouldn't die. He swore he wouldn't leave Luffy alone. He swore he would live.
Luffy buried his head into the pillow, biting harder and harder on his lip. He refused. He refused to shed tears. Ace would laugh at him. He always laughed at Luffy when he cried.
It was all a lie. It had to be. Ace couldn't have died. How could Luffy live and Ace die? It didn't make sense. Luffy was the weaker one. He should have been killed by Akainu. It should have been him.
Luffy turned his head so the side of his head was resting on the pillow. Blood from his lip was dripping down on his pillow, seeping into it.
"It was all my fault. I shouldn't have come. If I had I stayed away…Ace wouldn't have needn't to protect me. He always had to protect me."
Luffy grabbed his pillow. He begged for this to be a dream. He begged for it to be a lie. How could he have…killed his own brother?
"I want you to live."
A smile broke out on Luffy's face before he chuckled. How ironic. The first person to tell Ace that he wanted him to live and he was the reason for his death. He was truly a despicable person.
"Big brother…I didn't deserve to live."
"You shouldn't say that." Luffy gasped before he shot up. Marco looked at him from the shadows, carrying the same tray he had from before. "Ace would hate it…if I let you talk like that."
Luffy just looked at him through blank eyes then buried his face into the pillow again. Marco pulled up a chair beside the bed, placing the tray on a nightstand. He gently removed the straw hat from Luffy's head and placed it on his back. The fact that Straw Hat Luffy had allowed someone to touch his hat without so much as a shout let Marco know Luffy was truly hurt.
He placed a hand on Luffy's head, thinking of what to say. He decided on, "Ace would always talk about you. You should have seen his face when he found out you had a bounty. He always bragged about his little brother." Luffy gripped tightly onto the pillow, mumbling something into it. Marco assumed he asked if what he was saying was supposed to make him feel better. "I tell you this because…Ace wouldn't want you to be sad. He'd hate himself if you were to stay sad like this."
Luffy lifted his head so his chin was resting on the pillow. "I'm not sad. I'm angry." Marco raised an eyebrow and Luffy looked at him. "I hate him."
Marco sighed, "Look, kid. I understand you being angry at Ace but to say you hate him—" Luffy cut him off by sitting up.
"I don't hate Ace!" Luffy shouted. That was the first time he had shown true emotion since leaving the war. He lowered his voice as he said, "I could never hate Ace." Luffy grabbed his pillow before throwing at the door with a roar. "I hate that bastard Akainu! He killed my big brother!" Luffy banged on the wall beside him as he screamed. "He should die! He should be killed! I want him dead!"
Marco grabbed Luffy's wrists and pulled them down. "Calm down. What do you—"
Luffy made Marco release his wrists. "Not just him! I want that Blackbeard dead!" Marco froze when he heard that name. Luffy hopped onto the floor and began to stomp around the room. "This is all his fault! He turned my brother in!" Luffy kicked a trunk and began to punch holes through the walls. "I want to kill him! I want to make him suffer a death ten times more painful than my brother's!"
Marco gasped as he thought back to Ace's fury at Blackbeard. He couldn't let Luffy go down that road. That was how they lost Ace. He was ready to explain to Luffy why that was wrong but he stopped when he saw Luffy calm down. Luffy took in a deep breath as that blank expression reclaimed his visage. Luffy dragged himself back to the bed and sat down.
"I want to kill him…but I can't." Luffy lied down on the bed and curled up into a ball. "He deserves to die but I couldn't do it. Because I'm…" Luffy shed a tear. "…I'm Ace's weak little brother."
Marco just stared at Luffy then said, "If you are the weak one, then it's okay for you to cry."
Luffy didn't change at first. Soon, though, another tear fell and it was followed by many more. Luffy's expression finally changed again. This time, it was one of pure anguish.
"Big brother…Ace..." he cried. He cried harder and harder. "Ace! Ace! Ace!"
Luffy kept calling out his brother's name, silently hoping that it would be the same as when they were younger. Ace would hear Luffy crying then smack him and call him weak little brother. Luffy would cry more then Ace would comfort him, telling him it would all be okay.
He suddenly felt something. It felt like a really warm hand but it felt weird too. It was like it wasn't even there. That was when Luffy was sure he heard something that he thought he'd never hear again:
"It's okay, Luffy. It'll all be okay."
Luffy shook his head slowly and responded, "No, it's not. It will never be okay."
I am depressed. I just lost one of my favorite characters of all time. This was the first time in all the years I've read manga and seen my characters die that I actually cried. Of all the characters to die, why Ace? I hate Akainu but I hate Blackbeard more. I love Oda...but he just did one of the stupidest things ever. Oh, well...can't be helped. I'll just cry myself to sleep later. Thank you for reading. Carry on and stay strong. For Ace! RIP.