Chapter Text
Ace
He had never really thought about where he'd go when he died. It just didn't matter to him - if he died, he died, and that was it. The end. Along with his two brothers, he grew up with the idea to live in the moment and have no regrets. He was a pirate and had the freedom to indulge in that lifestyle.
"Thank you...for loving me...."
Ace cracked his eyes open and shielded his eyes from the bright glare. Though he felt emotionally drained, physically he felt fine. In fact, better than fine - all of the wounds he had obtained were miraculously gone.
He was not in Marineford. Akainu was not standing over him. Marines weren't surrounding him with the sole intent to kill him. His crew wasn't dying over him, not there. Marco, Pops....they who had given him a place to call home, were not there. And Luffy. Ace gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. What kind of big brother was he, to leave Luffy in that hellscape?
Ace shook his head, forcefully shaking those thoughts away. "No, Luffy....Luffy will be fine," he murmured. "Jinbei will take care of him. Luffy will get out alive."
He had to focus on his own situation - though it was nigh impossible to not worry about his little brother. Blinking, he looked past the glare, and his eyes widened. Even in the Grand Line, a place such as this one shouldn't be possible.
There was no building in sight. No people, no grass, no trees, no sky, no ground. Nothing. It was as in he stood on nothing, like a clear platform. The sky around him - or, more accurately area around him since there was no sky - was for the most part clear. However, he saw glints of rainbow colored light, as if he was looking into a glass cube that refracted light.
Ace had expected hell to be all fire and flames as the drunkard's tales went, but this was a billion times worse. No people. No nothing. He couldn't even see Sabo again, or Thatch. And if he stayed, he would never be able to properly thank his mother. And that would not do - Makino had taught him better than that.
So he looked. He even tried to use his observation Haki. However, he had not really dedicated that much time to honing his skills on it, since he could turn the area around him into a blistering oven, so there was no need to sense attackers. He was painfully aware that if he had learned how to use his Haki better, he may have survived another day.
Finally, he rocked back on his heels and ran a hand through his hair, desperately wishing for his hat. "This is it," he sighed, tired. "This is hell."
"Oh, hell no!" someone behind him exclaimed. "Someone as nice as your mother would never go to hell! I can not believe you'd say something like that Ace."
That voice....Ace whirled around, meeting the eyes of a friend months dead. Two other people stood behind him, but Ace could only wrap his mind around Thatch's presence. Thatch, who had died stabbed in the back. "...Thatch?"
Thatch grinned. "Yeah, it's me. I'd say I'm glad you're here, Ace, but..." Thatch sobered up. "I really wish you weren't."
Ace enveloped Thatch - who stiffened in surprise - in a hug. "I'm just glad that with all the things that have gone wrong, I get to see you again."
Ace could hear Thatch huff in forced annoyance. "How you survived all those months without me is anyone's guess."
He pulled back from Thatch, rubbing the back of his neck, grinning. "I just got a bit excited. It's been a while since I got some good news."
Thatch cracked his knuckles. "Well, you'd better buckle up, because there's some people who've been dy-" Thatch cut himself off with a chuckle. "Who've been waiting to meet you."
Ace looked from Thatch to the blond woman behind him. Then he looked back at Thatch. "Earlier - you said - my mother, didn't you?"
Thatch nodded sagely, a smirk on his face. "May I introduce Portgas D. Rouge and Gol D. Roger."
Not giving Roger the time of day, Ace studied his mother's face. She matched every detail of the Wanted poster he had managed to posses, though the photographers hadn't managed to capture that kind and knowing look.
He bowed to her, clenching his fists and squeezing his eyes shut. He never thought he'd have such an opportunity, so he hadn't been able to rehearse in his head what he would say as it was with Shanks. "Thank you, so much. I owe you everything, the life I've lived - it's all thanks to you. And I'm sorry that your own life was cut short for my own -"
Her cool hand lifted his chin, and she looked down at him. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, yet she still smiled at him. "You don't need to thank me, Ace. And you do not owe me either. Giving my life for you was the singular best decision in my life, and I would do it again in a heartbeat."
Ace stayed bowed for a moment longer, but feeling the stern pressure of her gaze he hesitantly stood back up. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out.
Finally: "Why?"
Rouge smoothed some of his hair back behind his ear, and she smiled at him. "Because I'm your mother and I love you, that's why. Do I need any other reason?"
Ace had an unspoken rule that he had only broken enough times to count on one hand; tears were forbidden. They meant weakness, and no one could open any crack in the armor that he put up. If that happened, it could mean certain death. It was why he had made fun of Luffy so much when they were younger, but now he found himself desperately blinking away water from his eyes. "Thank you...I think I spent the time you gave me well," he said, wiping away the tears before they could leak down his cheeks.
She pulled him in a hug,, and though he couldn't see it he could feel her smile. "I know, my dear. And I am so very proud of you."
Ace breathed out shakily, then pulled himself away from his mother. Looking around - still ignoring Roger - Ace frowned. "There's someone missing here."
"What?" Thatch questioned with an arched eyebrow. "What are you on? It's just us that came to see you - if there was anyone else, believe me, we would've known."
Ace shook his head. "No, that's not right. My brother- he should be here....." his hands went limp at a dawning realization. "Did...he not want to see me?"
"Who, Ace?" Thatch asked, exasperatedly. "Don't leave me hanging here."
Ace crossed his arms and frowned. "My brother, Sabo. He died ten years ago after getting blown up by a Celestial Dragon."
Roger cleared his throat. "There's simple reason why your brother is not here with us today."
Ace glared at the King of the Pirates. "What."
"Son-" Roger began, and Ace cut him off.
"You're not my father, so can it. Pops is my only old man, got it?" he growled.
Roger raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, my apologies....Ace. What I mean is, your brother is still alive."
Ace stared at the old man. "What?"
"Since we could not look out for you while alive, we made sure to at least watch our son grow up from the afterlife," Rouge explained for Roger. "We saw everything." Rouge's expression darkened. "Garp wasn't the worst option, but he definitely wasn't the best...."
Ace snorted. "You got that right, stupid Gramps."
Rouge nodded sagely. "Anyhow, that day the Celestial Dragon came, your brother survived the blasts. He seemed to be rescued by Garp's son - your brother Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon."
Ace's eyes widened. "You mean, the revolutionary army's commander?" So he wasn't the only one with famous blood ties.
"Yes," Rouge confirmed. "The revolutionary army had come because they had heard about the determined fire in Gray Terminal, and got to recruiting the survivors. They had apparently stayed in the area after that, allowing them to find Sabo, gravely injured after the Celestial Dragon's attack."
"But," Ace asked. "Why were you keeping an eye on Sabo? And why didn't he come back?"
Rouge smiled at Ace. "Because he is important to you, and you are important to us. Of course, we couldn't go too far from you since you are the one Roger and I had ties to, but we were able to figure out what had generally happened. Sabo most likely would've made his way back to you, if he could."
Ace tensed. Had Dragon done the unforgivable and hurt Sabo? "What do you mean?"
"Sabo, because of the Celestial Dragon's barrage of attacks, lost his memory of all his time spent on Dawn Island. He didn't remember you, or Luffy, or any of it." Rouge grabbed Ace's hand. "I'm sure he would've come back to the two of you if he had only known to."
Thatch held up a hand. "Woah there, hold on a second. How were you able to keep an eye on Ace from here?"
Rouge shrugged and adjusted the flower in her hair. "It's rather simple. If you have a strong connection with someone from the land of the living, it allows some spirits able to go and haunt the one with the connection."
Ace frowned and pointed at Roger. "Yeah, but we definitely do not have a strong connection."
Rouge shook her head. "You may resent Roger for his legacy, Ace, but you two still have a connection, albeit a one-sided love and a one-sided hatred. Adding the fact that the two of you are related by blood, Roger was able to accompany me to watch over you, though his connection was not as strong as mine.
Another way to haunt someone would be if they obtained the same Devil Fruit, which is in theory, stronger than blood ties or emotional ties as it would be like they posses your soul through the Fruit."
Ace thought it all through. "So I can check in on how Luffy is doing?"
"Considering how close the two of you are, I would say for the most part, yes. The connection wouldn't be as strong because the two of you don't posses blood ties, but your emotional connection is very strong. So in terms of strength you'd be able to go and see him from time to time, but you wouldn't be able to do much else.
With Sabo, you'd be able to go to him even less because you've both grown into different people since you were ten. That doesn't mean the connection is diminished necessarily, just that it complicates things a bit more."
"So I could've visited my crew?" Thatch asked incredulously. "I could've totally messed with Haruta! What a wasted opportunity."
Ace grinned. "I'm sure you'll have more chances. Haruta won't go down easy."
"You're thinking of a poltergeist, or something along those lines," Rouge guessed.
Thatch nodded eagerly. "You think I can do it?"
She sighed. "Though your emotional connection is strong with your crew, you don't have the blood ties to give it that extra strength. You'd only be able to be a specter, not able to move items around."
Thatch shrugged, grinning. "That's alright. Finally, I can get some blackmail on Haruta. He won't know what hit him when he comes up here in another sixty years!"
"I hate to interrupt," Roger said, interrupting. "Unfortunately, we have another we need to meet." Roger met Ace's eyes. "An old friend to me....and a father to you."
Ace turned towards Roger sharply. "Pops?"
Roger nodded mournfully. "A good man, to have gained the unwavering respect of so many. I respected him, even as we were rivals. I'm glad that he of all the people took you in."
So was he. Ace turned away from Roger back to his mother. "How do we get to Pops?"
Rouge tapped the side of her head. "The power of thought. All you must do is think of the one in this realm you want to see and you will appear in their realm of space."
Ace instantly thought of Pops. How the man accepted him, despite all the murder attempts. How he, and the rest of the crew, became family.
It happened quickly. He just blinked, and he was alone again. Well, alone except for the man Ace owed everything to. Mouth dry, he rasped, "Pops?"
Whitebeard turned and faced him. Like Ace, Pops looked completely healed of injuries. He hesitated in face of his father, looking down in shame. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize, my idiot son," Whitebeard said, looking down on him. However, what shocked Ace was the trail of tears on his father's cheeks. "None of that was your fault. The decision to go to war was mine, not yours, so stop blaming yourself, son."
Such forgiveness from people who died because of him, they continued to love him. A miracle, it had to be. Yet, Ace smiled at the man who he called his father. "Thank you, Pops."
Pops smiled back at him. "Well, how about we go and round up the rest of my idiot sons. I bet they're rather confused as to their whereabouts."
"We'll help too, old friend." Roger said from behind Ace.
Whitebeard looked from Roger to Ace. "I assume you have met?"
Ace huffed. "Eh, I suppose."
Whitebeard looked back to the three behind him, and the man's face softened. "Thatch, my son...."
Thatch strolled forward. "Hey, Pops, don't worry about it. Like you told Ace, it's not your fault. It was Teach's choice to commit a taboo, not yours, so let's not even think about it until that bastard makes his way here."
Whitebeard was still for a moment, then let out a bellowing laugh. "You're right, my son. Let's gather the family together, and when Teach gets up here, we'll show him not to mess with family."
"If he even comes up," Ace muttered. "He's likely going down."
Whitebeard grinned. "Hear, hear!"
Rouge explained to Pops the schematics of travel in the dimension, and they began their hunt for the Whitebeard pirates. Of course, it was Rouge who rounded up most of them, considering she had the most talent for traveling their afterlife. Pops found the second most through sheer determination, and Ace and Thatch came in third. Roger traveled with Rouge.
Once his crew got over the excitement of being in spectacular health (besides being dead) they unsurprisingly went into party mode. Except for the fact that they were in the equivalent of a glass cube of an afterlife.
A grin spread across Rouge's face. "Don't worry, boys, I can fix this place right up for you."
The Whitebeard pirates stared at her. "But how?" one exclaimed.
Rouge held up a hand to silence the outbursts, and miraculously the crew listened. "This afterlife takes power of thought. It can be anything we want it to be here - we just have to think it. It's the same as how we transport ourselves to find each other, and it's the same as how we can hide ourselves from each other if we do not wish to have company. Observe."
One single blink transformed the glass cube. The rainbow lights had morphed into a cloudless blue sky, and suddenly Ace found himself standing in sand. The warm sun beat down on them, and cool wind blew past. Water lapped up against the shore, and an open bar was set up underneath lush trees.
The men and women gasped and practically paraded to the bar - they deserved it, after all. They had fought in a war that was inevitable, yet should never have happened.
However, they still waited until Pops, Ace, and Thatch all had a drink before they began the festivities.
Ace leaned back in the sand, listening to his comrades talk, laugh, and joke. This was better than he deserved, but the ultimate height of his dreams. And though he couldn't contact Sabo yet, he would wait as long as it took. Something told him that soon, Ace would be able to speak with his brother after the long ten year gap.