I'm back! Rejoice! In the end I didn't write anything while I was in Germany; I barely had the time to write to my family to let them know I was alive and well! I'm still posting this, two weeks late, but I guess at least it's there now, isn't? And this theme is not a light one, now you're warned.

Personally, I'm not sure what I think of it. Perhaps I could have done better...

Just read and I hope you enjoy!

20 - Pain

How could he have been so full of himself? Fighting alongside his brother after such a long time had been exhilarating, so much it had been impossible to keep the smirk off his face. Yet, now that he stood in front of his enemy – no, scratch that – now that he lay in front of his enemy, his skin burnt from the magma, all he could feel was the exhaustion coming back at him. Why did he had to act like he always told everyone not to act like? Why did he had to be reckless and jump right into the trap because of stupid insults to his crew?

Now as he lay on the ground, his body barely responding to his will anymore and skin flaring with the heat of his injuries, he wondered why he hadn't listen to his own advices: keep your cool anytime. And then his enemy spoke, this horrid man, monster, spoke words he didn't register in his tired state. He could almost fall asleep right where he was... However, Akainu mentioned brothers, and with the tone he was using, he could easily guess the atrocities the evil man was planning.

He acted before his mind even registered what was really happening. He had seen the admiral's eyes flick somewhere to his right, and Ace's body had gone into overdrive.

And then there was pain. He could see the enormous lava fist that had gone through his torso; he could smell the disgusting scent of charred flesh; he could see his own blood, that had dripped on the ground, boil with the heat of the attack; he could feel the arm still lodged in his body, burning his insides. Yet, the pain he could feel was not his own. No, it really wasn't, because his body was already numb from the abuse.

The pain he felt was deep withing him, deeper than any attack could ever reach, because it wasn't substantial. It wasn't something you could really touch, unless you knew how... Or unless it broke by your own hands.

Ace looked down, where his little brother knelt before him. The owlish orbs were staring back into his own, and the pain increased tenfold. Because Luffy was looking at him, frozen from the shock, and Ace could see the understanding settling on the younger's face. Time seemed to slow down as the fist removed itself from him and he fell into Luffy's arms. He could feel the teen shaking, only making the pain worse.

Maybe he passed out. He wasn't so sure anymore, since everything was so fuzzy. He thought he said something, but he really didn't know what exactly. He remembered people saying that, when dying, one would see his whole life pass before their eyes. It's not what happened with him. Images flashed in his mind, images of people he knew, people he would leave behind very soon. And knowing that increased the pain in his chest. He remembered Sabo, whom he hadn't seen since childhood, and then he painfully, very painfully, remembered his promise to Luffy. The one in which he clearly said he wouldn't die. At that moment, his pain peaked, because he knew he had broken it, and he knew he had hurt his brother in an irreparable way. The pain was so unbearable that Ace thought that maybe he was in Hell already.

But then his vision cleared a little, just enough to see his little brother's face. He was crying, and listening to his every word. Ones he didn't know he was letting out of his parched lips. He somehow felt tears slide down his cheeks, because he was really grateful to everyone, and the words he had uttered were so very true, that the pain in his chest stabbed furiously at his heart, and keeping his emotions inside was just impossible.

Then, a simple sentence made its way to his ears. He didn't know if it was his brother who had murmured it to him, but it changed something deep within himself.

'Yes, it's good you've been born; it couldn't have been better.'

It changed something deep within him, and he understood as he felt his body fall from Luffy's arms. He understood that it was spoken by none of other than his heart's last beat.

And as soon as the last thump had finished echoing in his body, he could feel no more pain.

Not such an easy read, I guess... I still hope you enjoyed, and please, PLEASE REVIEW! You know how I love reviews? I LIVE on reviews! I only have one more theme completely written for now, so I'm not as many steps forward as I would like to... And frankly, reviews always help to motivate me. Some themes are really hard, too, so if any one of you have any ideas for any of the themes in the list, please share them with me, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for reading! Don't forget to fill the small little white box beneath x3

MemoriesOfVoxei