Hello everyone, here is an alternative ending!
This has a suicide warning!
In this, Ace chooses to commit suicide as he got the pills and how that goes, this starts just after Azuruko leaves the room after giving the pills
Hope you enjoy this alternative ending
Read and relax
Azuruko sat on his bed and read a book he had, just relaxing. As the clock was nearing 3am, his door carefully opened and he looked up to see Ace there. Azuruko offered a small smile as he motioned him over, and Ace came over and sat down next to him on the bed. Azuruko didn't speak, words weren't needed right now. Ace didn't speak either, and after maybe 10 minutes, he noticed Ace's head going a bit up and down, as if fighting to keep awake, which had him give a small breath. "Close your eyes and let the darkness come, Ace." Ace nodded, before he closed his eyes, and then it wasn't long before his shape started leaning on him, and Azuruko carefully moved so Ace had his head in his lap, and Azuruko moved a hand to stroke his hair.
Then after a bit, he moved a hand to be in front of Ace's open mouth, no breathing. Before he moved it to his neck, no pulse. Ace was gone. Azuruko sighed. Ace was so young. He stood up and lifted Ace's dead body as he walked to the infirmary, where it was a bit colder, put Ace in a bed and dragged the curtains around it. They would burn him tomorrow, a dignified death. Ace deserved that. The hat he had taken off and he would deliver it to Ace's younger brother as he had promised.
When morning came, he notified everyone of Ace's decision, and they all got it. Then they gave Ace the funeral he deserved. Then they set course towards where Ace had said Luffy was, and when he saw a kid that looked to be Luffy, he approached him. "Are you Luffy?" The kid blinked and looked at him as he nodded, which made Azuruko speak again. "I have a message from Ace." Luffy blinked, before he smiled. "You do! I haven't heard from him in a while! How is he?! Is being a pirate awes-" Azuruko held up his hand to silence Luffy, which it did, before Azuruko moved to hand the small bag he had to Luffy, who blinked but took it and opened it and looked horrified to find Ace's hat. Luffy got tears in his eyes. "...no."
Luffy looked at him with sorrow filled eyes and Azuruko spoke. "He said he was very sorry." Luffy shook his head a bit. "H… How?" Azuruko sighed. "I can't tell you." Luffy blinked. "Why not!? How did he die?!" Azuruko sighed. "If I tell, many innocent people may die." Luffy blinked, looking shocked and horrified. Azuruko then moved and got out the newspaper about Ace's supposed betrayal and handed it to Luffy, before Azuruko left. He didn't need to linger, it wouldn't help. Azuruko would probably soon have a new destination as another victim would be made. Azuruko hoped this would stop.
-x-
Luffy couldn't believe his eyes as he read the newspaper, before he shook his head. No, Ace didn't do this. He wouldn't. This was made up. But he knew Ace's hat so well. And this was his hat, it had all repairs it should have, it had the very small extra thread from when Luffy fixed it, where he had sown in a L with thread, and that was there. Luffy was unsure if even Ace knew about it. Ace was… dead.
Luffy read the news again, and again, and again. Trying to find any clues. And if this had happened, if Ace was framed, if Ace was sure everyone hated him, especially those he called family, Ace would have no reason to live. Ace hated it when people hated him, and now they called him a traitor and betrayer.
Then Luffy started to find a way to help and fix this. To clear Ace's name, so it was no longer a name to a traitor, since Ace wasn't a traitor. Not to family. But Luffy could only do so much, he wasn't known, he didn't have a boat yet, he was a no one right now. But after a week, he was trying to find a way, when he saw someone looking around, and before Luffy knew it himself, he had shot off as he knew this person, and even if it wasn't the right one, Luffy would pretend this was Sabo so he could hug him one last time. And to his shock, it wasn't a look-a-like, it was Sabo.
Sabo told what had happened, how he had been found in the sea by The Revolutionary Army with no memory, then how he had read about Ace, and was looking for him. That had Luffy sad as he showed the hat and told what that meant, and it had Sabo sad as well and they spent some time comforting each other. When Luffy felt a bit better, he asked why Ace would do this to him, leave him alone like this. That was when Sabo said something he hadn't thought of, which was that if Ace was dead, if this was a lie, no one could connect Ace to him now, so Luffy was also safe. And that was true. Ace killed himself so Luffy could live. And that made him so upset.
Then they both sat out, with the help from each other and The Revolutionary Army, to find out the truth and tell the world. Luffy knew how the pink haired man looked and Sabo was good at tracking, and then they found them. They found the Grinning Rats. After a lot of convincing, they got them to see they were here to help, and they had only met two so far, Azuruko and Daisuke, and they managed it. They got all the collateral to safety, without notifying everyone of the Grinning Rats, which was done that way since Dragon, Sabo's boss, said there might be a mole, which there was. Then it was done, they would be cleared as the one behind this, Lilith, was taken down. Now the Revolutionary Army would handle the rest.
Luffy did have one request. Which was when The Revolutionary Army had their broadcast, Luffy got a minute to tell about Ace, who helped reveal this, who committed suicide to keep him safe. Luffy had gotten more info from Auzurko about how it had gone and Luffy felt so bad he hadn't been there for Ace, but now he felt more empty. He had Sabo, thankfully. But he didn't have Ace anymore. And that hurt so bad. So now, he would prepare himself to speak on the broadcast.
-x-
Whitebeard moved to the communication room, being told there was something he needed to see now. And when he got there and a broadcast was on, a marine one, Whitebeard felt shocked to hear what the person said. It was all lies. The Grinning Rats didn't exist. It wasn't a crew, it wasn't a real mark, it was a bunch of victims of horrible people who liked to torture others and just cause pain. He wasn't sure if this was real or not, but as it was over, another broadcast was put on, forced on, this one by The Revolutionary Army, and it said the same and added more than what the marines had said. This proved it. The marines and Revolutionary Army would never agree on something unless needed. Ace hadn't betrayed them.
They needed to find Ace. But as the thought entered his mind, the one who helped reveal the truth came on screen and he felt horror fill him. Based on his appearance, this looked to be Luffy, Ace's younger brother. But that wasn't what filled him with horror, it was the hat he held. It was Ace's hat. Then Luffy spoke and said Ace took his life so Luffy could live. Ace had committed suicide.
It made him close his eyes and feel horrible. Not only had Ace been framed and watched his family members die, but they all had turned their back on him. Then Marco slowly confessed of having run into Ace and what he had said, the first commander looking very guilty. They had made Ace commit suicide. They couldn't go ask Ace for forgiveness as he was dead, they had abandoned him and Ace had killed himself based on that. But there was one thing they could do. He knew which island Ace grew up on and where Luffy would be, so they headed there. And they got there two weeks later.
They then prepared themselves to go and decided on who would go, before they moved onto the island and they soon found Luffy. As they found him, he started by giving his condolences, but before he could finish, Luffy spoke in a dead voice, an emotionless voice. "When I set out to be a pirate. If I run into you, one of us will die. Leave and never approach me again." Ace had spoken a lot about Luffy while he was with them, and this was nowhere near how Ace described him. Luffy was full of life and always smiled. Now he looked dead and hollow, but had determination in his eyes. Luffy was serious. Whitebeard nodded and left without a word. He had failed Ace horribly. Ace had committed suicide. And Whitebeard was to blame. He had caused Ace, his son, to commit suicide, and he could never forgive himself. He had abandoned Ace in his greatest need. From that day, the atmosphere was off, as they all regretted what they had done. Whitebeard wished he would be able to go back in time and fix his mistake. But he couldn't, and now he needed to live with that.
-x-
Garp couldn't believe his eyes or ears as he heard the broadcast to Sengoku, who said The Grinning Rats were a lie, they weren't traitors, they were victims, all of them, targeted by someone sick and twisted, which meant Ace could be saved. So Garp went back to his room, on his way to do all he could to find Ace, when his Den Den rang and he answered it, going to say to leave him alone, when it was Dragon. It had Garp confused, Dragon never rang him, he had only a few times, and that was when things were so bad. When Garp asked if he knew about the Grinning Rats, Dragon had given a breath, before he said "We will have a broadcast after Sengoku, you should watch it." Garp blinked, asking why, what was it he couldn't tell now? But Dragon didn't say, so when Dragon hung up, Garp turned on his screen and watched the broadcast to Sengoku finish, before Dragon started his own, force sharing it.
Garp was glad Dragon had been able to help, and as Dragon spoke, he said who had managed to help him fix this and solve this, and Luffy was shown, who looked sad but determined, but not only that, Luffy held Ace's hat. Luffy then spoke. "My brother, Portgas D Ace, was targeted and said to be a traitor, but he was not. I was his collateral. If he ever spoke, I would die, so he ensured I would be safe. My brother Ace, who was abandoned by everyone in his darkest time, is dead by his own hand as he saw no other way. My brother committed suicide so I could live in peace. So please, remember my brother was not a traitor, but a hero." Then the broadcast went back to Dragon.
As Dragon spoke, Garp realized he was crying. Ace was dead, Ace had committed suicide to keep the one he loved safe, to keep Luffy safe. Ace was gone forever. Garp leaned his head down, he had not only failed Roger and Rouge, he had failed Ace. Everyone had failed Ace, beside Luffy and the Revolutionary Army. So Garp made a decision. He took out a piece of paper and wrote his resignation, before he just walked out, heading to the boat he had, told his crew his plan, and while some left for the island, many also joined him, took off their marine clothing, before Garp did the thing he should have long ago. He went to join his son, Garp went to join the Revolutionary Army. He remembers what Sengoku had said, how he tried to cover up it was someone in their ranks who had done this, a marine, they didn't care. And Garp needed to make amends somehow and make up for his failure so far.
When he got to the Revolutionary Army, Dragon seemed to expect him somewhat, and took him in with open arms. Then Garp got another surprise. Sabo was here and alive, and Garp knew he just made the right choice. He didn't want to be with the marines anymore, not after they tried to cover up this, to not say it was a marine behind it. Garp needed to do his best to make amends, and it was here he also met Azuruko, who had been there in Ace's last moments, who took Ace in and did all he could to help, but also didn't stop him from dying, and Garp got it. Ace chose this. Garp was glad Ace met Azuruko, or Azuruko found Ace and took him in. So he didn't spend his last moments alone, he had someone, and gave him a dignified funeral and death. Azuruko was a good man.
The next week, more marines also joined them, as they didn't want to be affiliated with someone who tried to cover up it was a marine who was behind the one who did this. Azuruko also set out on his own with a boat, using the Grinning Rat as his flag and mark, going to stop this from happening again, help those who have lost it all, and Garp joined them, needing to help keep this from happening again. They had Ace's hat with them on the boat, same with some other things from others who had also committed suicide. They would make sure this never happened again.
This was how the story could have gone, but I wanted it to have a sort of happy ending without Ace committing suicide, so it made it into it's own part
If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!
I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!
If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter