Last chapter. May be sad for some people, so prepare yourself. I had a lot of fun writing this because I'm sort of a sadist when writing. I mean, a lot of my One Piece fanfics have a main character die. May be brought back to life but you'll just have to read it if you want to know the details LOL. Enjoy~

Zoro made to get up and go inside, but Chopper warned him. "I don't think you want to see him like this Zoro," he sniffled. Zoro paused at his words for a few seconds, but marched in anyway. Sanji followed suit. Brook left to get his violin and then entered the room as well. The others stayed out of the room, waiting for their captain to wake up and too terrified to see what had happened while he was sleeping.

Zoro's mouth gaped as he saw Luffy. His face was bruised red, and when he pulled the blanket down and opened the robe, the rest of his body was like that as well. Sanji gasped and then clenched his teeth. He said nothing as Zoro grabbed Luffy's limp and numb hand and apologized. From the bottom of his heart he apologized for letting this happen. He started breathing heavily and his heavy breaths turned into gasps then turning into hyperventilation. It was very out of character. Both Sanji and Brook put their hands on Zoro's shoulder. He said nothing, and they only had their hands on his shoulder for a moment, but it caused Zoro to calm himself.

Brook began to play Bink's Sake, Luffy's favorite song, slowly and softly. The three pirates watched their captain sleep peacefully, waiting for him to wake up, maybe for the last time. It was over an hour of Brook playing Bink's Sake repeatedly before Luffy woke up. The other's in the Monster Trio didn't complain about the music. They both had their heads in their hands as they sat on the floor.

"I can't die like this," they heard a hoarse whisper. "Such a stupid way to go. I'd rather have been defeated by stupid Arlong. Not a damn mushroom," Luffy said breathlessly, like breathing was becoming difficult. He got his breathing under control and continued to speak. "Brook… I'm sorry you have to see me like this," Luffy said sadly. More forcefully, he said, "I can't die here."

Both Sanji and Zoro stood up quickly and grabbed onto his arm, though he couldn't feel it. Brook continued to play as he told Luffy he had had a fun second life with him, even if it was relatively short.

Luffy smiled at that and then said, "Zoro, it's not your fault. I'll get better. Tell Chopper not to sedate me anymore. Please." He started to feel himself begin to fade. "GET OUT. I don't want you seeing me like this. Tell Chopper I'm thankful and it's not his fault," he said hurriedly, before shouting once again for them to get out. They followed their captain's order and left, closing the door as he started to talk to Ace again.

"Ace, I don't want to die," he thought, though he said something else.

"I know. Ignore what you think is me. Focus on getting better. I don't want to see you yet. You have to grow older and become the pirate king," what he thought was the real Ace said in his mind. "I didn't save you so you could die like this." He could feel Ace's hand grip his as he cried through the maniacal laughter and shaking.

Through his laughter, he began to chant "I can do this" over and over again and, for a moment, wondered if he just needed meat. He had heard Chopper say his odds were half of a percent and said he'd die. But he'd survived worse. He'd survived Impel Down and Marineford. He'd survived everything that had happened to him as a kid. He'd survived Crocodile, Arlong, Lucci, Eneru, Moria, Aokiji, Ceasar, Akainu, Hordy and more. He'd survived Ace and Sabo's deaths. He could do this. He had survived those twenty hours of pain by eating and moving nutrients around his body. So why can't he control his body now?

It was half an hour later that Chopper came back in, watching as Luffy scrunched his eyes and breathed heavily. It finally looked like Luffy was feeling the pain. Was that good or bad? His body seized but still he had that pained and determined look on his face. Chopper stayed silent as he watched Luffy desperately fight death. Luffy began to scream like a battle cry, not a scream of pain. Luffy imagined himself moving his finger. Just his finger. He could do this! He felt his finger twitch, but didn't stop his battle cry. It was another two hours of Luffy's voice crying out that he could move his whole finger. He panted, smiling and laughing. It wasn't a maniacal laugh, it was a true laugh as he seized. He was making progress! To Chopper, he must have looked crazy again. But Chopper had been told not to sedate him, so he didn't. Luffy wanted Chopper to leave. It was hard to focus when he heard Chopper sniffling.

"Chop - per," he laughed, back to his maniacal laughter. "Leave," he commanded weakly in between individual laughs. "I'll be fine. Don- don't worry. Next... time… you come in, I'll be better." Chopper cried loudly as he was told to leave and hearing the heartbreaking false hope Luffy had felt like a stab in his heart.

Luffy couldn't worry about hurting Chopper's feelings at the moment. He had to focus on himself. Only himself. He'd make it up to Chopper later.

Chopper went running out and jumped into Robin's lap. "He told me to go away!" he sobbed.

"He said next time I come in, he'll be better." Sanji, Brook and Zoro looked at each other. Luffy was fighting. It was the most serious battle he'd ever fought as far as they knew. Usopp, Franky and Nami said things like "Luffy can beat this" or "Trust him, he'll be fine". The other five knew it was almost over. Their captain hadn't wanted anyone to see him as he was now. He wanted them to remember him as lively and fun, with a grin on his face almost everywhere he went.

Luffy was starving by the time he could use two fingers. This was exhausting, and he was fighting sleep. He couldn't sleep, he had to keep fighting. Every time he took a deep breath, he could feel the insanity approaching. It was also exhausting to try and stay sane. Stay who he was. Finally, over an hour after that, he could use his left hand. But suddenly his hand started to tingle again.

"No, no, no… No, not yet. I'm making progress… no, don't sleep. I can't sleep. No!" he shouted as he began to seize again. He had gotten so far! He widened his eyes as he watched Ace appear once again. "Ace, go away you're not really here!" he felt true panic set in as he began to laugh.

"I'm sorry little brother."

Luffy began to cry as he lost control of his hand again. His chest was for some reason hurting from the laughter and his vision was going dark.

"Ace help me! I can't die!" he cried between the painful noises he wished would stop. He knew that Zoro and Sanji could tell what was happening to him with their observation haki, but loyal as they were, they stayed out and willed him to win this fight. But he was losing terribly. After all that boasting about getting better, he lost anyway. Empty boasts. Isn't that what he'd always been?

"I can't help little brother. Relax."

Luffy could hear the heart monitor screeching loudly with his cries until he lost all vision and became blind and deaf. He could feel the warmth of his brother's hand still. Then there was a smaller hand as well. Sabo… The warmth was getting hotter and felt realer as everything else faded.

"Though I didn't want to see you this soon, I missed you," Sabo's young voice said kindly in his mind. The sounds of his brothers grew louder. Their breathing became louder as he felt his mind slow. He finally gave in and felt his body relax and he felt lighter and better than he had in awhile. His body felt healthy again and he was with his two brothers. None of the three had fulfilled their dreams except Ace, who had lived with no regrets.

And so Monkey D Luffy lost his final battle, alone in the infirmary while his crew believed he was fighting to get better.

Zoro and Sanji knew what had happened and both started to shake in despair. Robin noticed their demeanors and put her face in her hands and began to truly cry. Chopper noticed her reaction and ran out of the door and to the infirmary. The rest of the crew heard him screaming in despair and stumbled out the door after them. Zoro, Sanji and Robin were last to go.

The crew saw Luffy wearing a small smile with still wet tears on his cheeks as his eyes were open and glazed. Robin walked in and closed his big brown eyes. He looked truly terrible, with red blotches and the visible veins stretched across his pale skin.

They all broke out into tears. And Sanji cursed the idiot for dying in such a stupid way. It was embarrassing for him to die like this. Zoro clenched his hands and teeth in anger. No matter what Luffy had said, it was still his fault. He'd have to live with this burden the rest of his life.

Luffy watched from the corner as his second family cried. How he wished he could apologize. But he couldn't and painfully looked away from the scene. He followed his brothers, wherever they were leading him, leaving the sounds of his crying friends behind him.

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