He had narrowly escaped him far too often, sailing away with the Flying Lamb and the Sunny.
The death.
His constant companion.
He had finally caught up with him at Marineford.
There was a moment of silence, broken by a bloodcurdling scream.
The dark sky was not a good omen, it heralded the disaster even before it happened. The battle claimed victims in both ranks, both in the navy and in the pirates. Small sacrifices, great sacrifices - and lives. The smell of blood mingled with the salty sea air of the Grandline.
Slowly and heavily, Ace took his eyes off the magmar fist that had pierced Luffy and withdrew.
A second scream got stuck in his throat and it felt like he was choking on it.
"I saved you ..." he whispered softly.
pride.
Luffy smiled at him.
His brother.
Who had always[/I]protected him.
Who was always there for him.
Who had proven to him that blood was not always thicker than water.
It was that one moment when Ace 'Vivre-Card fell out of his pocket and suddenly began to glow, which made him realize that it was up to him to prove how thick water could be.
And he had that -with his blood.
He couldn't fight anymore, but Luffy jumped between Ace and the red dog to fend off his attack with his body.
Luffy would protect him - this one time.
To be there forhim.
So that his fire could keep burning.
"DAMN - WHY DID YOU DO THIS?"
Ace yelled at him. Something he rarely did. Was he mad?
“Are you angry?” Luffy coughed blood, pulled a face, breathed heavily and shallowly.
Ace looked at him helplessly.
"I -" He wanted to scream yes - no. But. Not. But. He did not know. Ace couldn't think clearly. He felt like he was standing next to him and watching the scene through a glass wall, like in a dream. His limbs were numb and heavy - just like Luffy's.
Luffy, who was holding himself over him with the last of his strength, looked him straight in the eyes.
In his chest there was a hole the size of a fist.
Like[I]AkainusFaust.
"You were the best big brother I ever had," Luffy whispered softly.
"I - I ..." he wanted to say that he was still his big brother. Make a joke: he is also his only brother.
Anything.
But not a syllable came out of his lips.
Not a sound.
And why?
Because he knew he was losing a brother.Another.
Instead, Ace felt the tears streaming down his face. The ones he could no longer hold back. He felt the lump in his chest. The lump in his throat, as if someone were trying to blow his breath away.
As if he were going to die.
He smelled the stench that hit him with unexpected force. It spread out like an impenetrable wall. A smell that accompanied him all these years as a matter of course, so that at some point he no longer even noticed it. The smell of charred human flesh. Something that wasn't new to Ace with the fire fist - but this time the smell was mixed with something else, something that was far worse. That he could see too clearly.
Despair.
"Luffy." His shaky voice sounded strange to him and was barely recognizable.
"I'm fine Ace," he replied with a cough. He was still smiling.
Liar.
You knew better. Both. He was not doing well and no one could save him. Ace had sworn he would protect him.
Always-
it was his goal, his task. The reason why he lived.Ace felt something warm spread over his body like small flames trying to tickle him. It seeped deeper and deeper. The feeling was so familiar, so warm.
But it wasn't his fire, even if it was just as red.
It was blood.
His blood.
Luffy's blood.
Ace awoke from his shock and caught him when he was finished and could no longer hold himself alone.
Luffy was getting weak, weaker.
"No!"
His gaze was still fixed, shocked.
Just like Monkey D. Garp's. And anyone else who could see how he'd sacrificed himself for Ace.
Without thinking.
Just Luffy.
That's why he had to die now, because he wasn't thinking.
No -
He would die for protecting him.
Because he wanted to give him something back. Something Ace would never make up for.
There was blood on his hands.
Not just literally.
"You're not ready to die yet," Ace whispered. His fingers clung to Luffy's arm, desperately trying to hold on to him so that death wouldn't take him.
"No," said Luffy quietly, "I'm not."
He closed his eyes and the smile disappeared.
He didn't have to either.
Death also took those who were not ready.