All you could hear was people yelling and slashing of swords. Guns and canons being fired. The yells from the throats of so many people, so many living bodies, calling out to only one person. Reassuring him that they will definitely get him out of here and out of those handcuffs. In the middle of the platform a petite body was running, running with all it's got. All of the men battling were screaming out to him and entrusting him the task of freeing the man that was right next to Sengoku the Buddha, Gol. D. Roger's only son, Portugas D. Ace.

I could see his face now. Almost deformed by fear. He was biting his lip. He was doing well to not scream out to everybody. He was looking at everyone who were fighting for him, for him- a useless existence. But he was focusing his attention mostly on one person. Me-his little brother. His eyes were full of fear, fear that he might lose me, fear that another one of his brothers will perish, fear that he would be left all alone if he escaped from here alive. His eyes were saying it all 'Turn around, stop! Don't come any closer! Once you get the chance run for it! Leave now!' But that can't stop me. I had come here with only one thing in mind. I was now the closest to him. I had passed gramps and was now fiddling with my pocket to find the key that Hancock had given me. I went right behind his beaten up body and tried to stop my shaking hands so that I could enter the key. Right the next moment the key was in two pieces. I got 3 to make me another one and just as a canon ball was shot at us I managed to open the handcuffs.

"You are as reckless as I remember you, Luffy!" he was free. He was able to talk. He was alive. The happiness that overcame me at that moment could not be described. Everyone gasped in awe as they saw their reason for battling in this suicide war free.

"Shi, shi, shi" I had unconsciously grinned my widest smile and had laughed. We were back to back- fighting anyone that dared came close to us. I could feel him. His back was there. He was there. He was not dead. Suddenly I did not feel his back there anymore. He had stopped in his tracks and had turned around to face the one that was spitting insults on his father's name. Why? We are so close, he should not bother himself with such an obvious trick. I stretched out my hand to reach for him, or better yet grab him and take him by force. Whitebeard was going to stay here, his era was going to end and he will pass on his will to his sons. He will not be there with them but he will watch them from above. Ace should leave before anything else gets out of hand. I felt my hat leave my head. I reached out to grab it but then the little burning piece of paper leaved the red ribbon. That precious paper that Ace had given me. Without it I wouldn't have been able to reach Ace in time. It was very precious. It fell on the ground and I suddenly see something.

The same thing that I saw when I was fighting Mihawk. I was seeing the future. Everything went by so fast I was barely able to see it, but I did. I saw Ace with a hole in his chest, Akainu smiling, me crying, paper burning, straw hat rolling on the ice, red beads bouncing, Whitebeard crew crying, flash of white, dark room, beeping noises, me going insane, breaking and hitting anything in sight, crying, blood, bandages, a familiar Whitebeard flag tattoo, Ace's arm tattoo, tears, blood, gone, nothing, alone, crying, tears, blood, gone, insane, useless, blood, gone, burning, rolling, Akainu, blood dripping, drip drop, beeping, voices, fist, blood, Ace, die, blood, gone. It flashed by so very fast and it forced its way to my mind. With one swift movement I turned around to see Ace running towards me and Akainu's face. It was all in a slow motion. I saw Akainu's arm sizzling to the cold air. I filled my lungs with air and let the power from underneath me go wild again. Just like the time that Ace was going to be early executed. But my eye sight was already blurry. My power was shutting off too fast, and I only managed to use a little bit of my power. I grabbed Ace by the arm and shoved him to the sight. Things from then on happened really fast. I used my Haki and stopped the fist's power and most of the magma leaking from it. But because my body system was shutting off way too fast I couldn't do much more. I just let myself be hit and thrown to the nearest icicle. But I was thrown. That means that there was some flesh that he had punched. Not like Ace's future. I groaned with the little power that I had left. I saw a flash of red beads that were right next to me.

"Luffy! Luffy do you hear me!?" Ace, it was Ace, he was alive and talking and able to move and without a hole in the chest.

"A-Ace….-pant-"I tried to reach out my hand but it just fell down after going up for a bit. I could not move. I could feel the burning pain on my chest. I could not feel anything the next moment. All went numb and unable to feel.

"Luffy! Don't move, we are going to get you to a doctor right in an instant! Just stay like this! You will be fine, you will be fine I tell you!" He was screaming with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He had bit his lip more than twice already to keep either a hitch or a sob in. The Whitebeard crew was gathering around us and they were screaming to each other things that I could not make out. My eye sight had started to get even more blurry. I looked over Ace's face scanning over every little detail of it. I wanted to remember my brother's face for the last time. I wanted to make sure that it was just like I had known it. That I had not missed a freckle while I had counted them millions of times, that I had not missed how long his bangs were the last time I measured, that I had counted each and every cut or fading scar on his body. It all seemed so important now. I needed to look over every little detail now or else I will never be able to. My lower lip had started to shake and I had to bite it to stop. I didn't feel the pain or the blood trailing down my mouth and chin.

"A-Ace –pant- Ace!" I managed to drag out of my throat while biting back a sob.

"I am here Luffy! I am right here! All will be –hick- all right okay? Don't worry about a thing! A doctor is coming! He will be here soon! So…-hick- stay with me Luffy!" The tears that were threatening were now free. I do not want to remember him last crying. I don't want to remember him with any other reaction by happy with a huge grin.

"A-ace –pant- smile…..okay? I w-want to -pant- see you sm-smile" My eyes were now only making out figures.

"I-I –pant- I love –pant- Ace" I was glad. I had managed to make my numb throat and lips speak out what I wanted. And I had finished off with a grin. The same one I usually do. I could only hear mumblings from here and there but mostly Ace's voice speaking out to me with worry and fear. If it was Ace's voice then I can do anything. If it was for Ace and for his smile then I will damn well take the whole world into a war against me. As long as Ace is happy.

It's quite sad actually. Every time that I tell Ace that I love him he says it back with a smile. He has no actual idea of how messed up those words are coming from my mouth. They don't describe brotherly love. They describe my deep desire for him. Since we were kids. But back then I had passed it off thinking that it was what Ace and Sabo felt towards each other and towards me. I had always felt that they didn't love me as much as I did them. I was younger and a newbie to their group. I had that feeling that I was a nuisance. But as time passed by and we had saved each others butts all the time I had began to believe that our feelings were mutual. And then-right then, Sabo was taken away from us. And we didn't see him since then. We had accepted that he might have died, but since there was no whatsoever leftovers we had decided that he had died, but we never built a tombstone. Maybe it was because we were still holding onto the hope of him somehow being alive or maybe it was the thought of him being bound to this world if he was dead, but it was not questioned neither meant to be. Since then Ace was all I had. And maybe this messed up feeling came from then. I had lost something irreplaceable and had pushed all of my feelings on to Ace so that I don't feel lonely. And since then those feelings gradually grew and grew. And it did not help that Ace was getting more manly and muscular by day. And then when he had met him again in Alabasta I was stunned. He grew and he had become more muscular and going around with an open shirt had become too mainstream now so he had taken off the shirt fully. I was attracted to that body. I see Zoro lifting tons every day but seeing just a flash of Ace's body had made me stare. The abs were obvious and his frame was not too big or too small like mine. And he had eaten the Fire fruit. How suiting, like he was not burning my heart enough already. I wanted to tell him how I felt. The more I waited the more my insides felt like rotting. So when I was waiving goodbye to him I had said it again, quietly of course because if Sanji or Nami were to hear me then it would have been disastrous. So I told him and then again he said it back with a smile. It was like a punch square in the face.

So I had decided that that was my que to leave things the way they were. I had though about it and saw that there was the possibility that our brother relationship might be completely ruined and not progressing further. Nami was right when she had told me millions of times that I don't think ahead. And I didn't plan to. But with Ace it seemed quite necessary to me. Yet I didn't want to leave things unsettled. I did not give up in the middle of things and that was my nature. But while thinking of the possibilities it was quite hard to do. So I had decided to take it the easy way and to say my feelings without actually giving away my true feelings. This way I was half satisfied but at least I was keeping my relationship with him as close as possible. But now, right now, the time that I am probably dieing I wanted to tell him. No not the brotherly feelings, my true feelings. Yet he probably still didn't know them. And that was the sad part. After having the courage to say my feelings they had been returned to me as brotherly feelings. I wonder maybe it is because I am hungry or because of the punches and kicks I took at my stomach, but it hurt right now. And so did my chest, but that was probably from the burn.

Yet I shouldn't feel any pain, right?

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Wheel! That was a very fun piece to write. Because there are so little pieces out there of my favourite pair I dedicate this piece to all of the lonely girls out there who are just squirming to see a new fanfic or a new chapter appears on this pair. Or you might have a boyfriend (lucky girl, I envies you!) which is fine too. So I will write the next chapter tomorrow or today –laugh- it's already 4:10 in the morning. You really lose track of time when writing something you love. Alright I am off to bed and I will post the next chapter as soon as I can alright? *Wink* Goodnight little kittens.

~Tsukineko-san