Lost Flame | Portgas D Ace

Chapter One

I stumble on the road, the coldest road
Where no one has walked before

Portgas D Ace didn't feel in pain when he died. He felt numb, empty, not quite there. His entire life flashed before his eyes and he had never felt so much regret than leaving Luffy alone in the world. Ace regretted not running, but he didn't regret fighting for Whitebeard's honor. Before he died in his brother's arms, Ace thanked Luffy for loving him. Luffy and Sabo were the first two people alive who genuinely loved him. Ace loved them back. Luffy had given Ace his will to live and see life differently, see life in a more positive note. Ace only prayed his death wouldn't break Luffy's spirit and determination to become the King of the Pirates. Ace died with a smile on his face, a smile for Luffy.

Portgas D. Ace was supposed to be dead. He was not supposed to wake up. Much less wake up in an infirmary with bright sunlight filtering in through the window. Ace groaned and fought the darkness, slowly forcing his eyes open. He saw wooden ceilings, cream colored walls, and an old woman with pink hair and red eyes. She wore a red cloak, the collar spiked. SHe wore a white blouse beneath the cloak and a floor-length skirt. She frowned at him, frown moving to a slight smile when she saw he was awake.

"About damn time, human," the woman scoffed, wrapping a new set of bandages around Ace's shoulders, torso, and arms. "Child, go tell the old man our patient is awake." Ace could see a young girl with long blue hair in pigtails, wearing a cute green and blue dress nod and run toward the door. Ace blinked in surprise at the flying white cat that flew out after the young girl.

"My name is Porlyusica," the old woman told Ace. "That girl is Wendy Marvell. You're at Fairy Tail." She finished wrapping his body with the bandages. "Mind telling me how you got so injured, human? Not even Natsu has gotten this injured before."

Ace opened his mouth to speak but ended up coughing. His mouth felt drier than the desert and his lips were chapped. He coughed again, pain flaring throughout his entire body. His chest and torso burned with each movement. Ace squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. Ace barely registered the door opening and a warmth spread throughout his battered body. Wendy was healing him with her sky magic. His eyes widened at the soft green glow.

"Does that feel better?" Wendy asked shyly. Ace nodded, wincing at the movement. The pain subsided to a dull soreness. "You were really injured, but Porlyusica managed to get you stable and I did my best to help." Ace tried to say something but he couldn't produce any sound. His eyes drooped and he couldn't keep them open any longer.

"ACE!" Ace could hear Luffy's screams in the darkness. The screams echoed around him, haunting him. Ace tried to cover his ears to block out the noise to no avail. Luffy's screams still rang out, loud as ever. Ace's heart broke into a million pieces, tears streaming down his face as he floated in the darkness. Luffy was hurting. Luffy lost a brother because of Ace's temper. Ace sobbed brokenly. He left Luffy alone. He let Luffy suffer alone. Because of him, Luffy's rescue attempt was for nothing. So many people died...for nothing. Ace screamed.

"Wah, calm down!" Wendy shrieked when Ace let out a blood curdling scream. Ace's eyes snapped open, wildly looking around. "Luffy!" he shouted in anguish. "I'm sorry," he cried, hiccuping and causing more pain. "I'm sorry," he breathed before passing out once more. This happened multiple more times. Ace would wake up for a few minutes screaming and crying for Luffy and apologizing each time Ace would stay awake a little longer than the last. The giant wound through his chest was healing steadily, but Ace's mental state was a different story.

Ace's dreams morphed from his childhood with Luffy and Sabo to his death. Each time he saw his death as clear as day and he screamed for Luffy. Sometimes he couldn't tell which scream belonged to him and which scream belonged to Luffy. The two screams eventually melded into one heart wrenching scream. The dreams would fade when he felt that warm feeling envelope him. The warm feeling brought a much needed break from the nightmares. Ace was grateful to whoever was taking the time to heal someone like him. A child of a monster, a child born to die.

"You weren't born to die," a female voice spoke and Ace looked around the dark void. "I'm sorry the world made you believe that. I'm sorry you had to die like that, but now, you don't have to worry. Just rest, now, Ace."

The dreams returned with full force, subjecting Ace to more emotional torment, but this time, each time he saw himself die, saw his body laying on the battlefield with a smile, Ace saw a young girl sitting next to his body. The girl had olive eyes full of compassion and kindness, brown hair in twin pigtails with red ribbon. She wore a short orange dress with a halter neck and lace over dark tights. Her arms had long sleeves that wrap just below her shoulders and flare into large embroidered cuffs. She wore long light brown boots with dark brown bows on them.

The girl had such sad eyes when she looked at Ace's body. Ace never remembered seeing her before. He didn't even know who she was. Each time the dream ended with her fading away into golden shimmers. He never got to the part where he saw his own body become golden shimmers. He was always pulled back to the waking world before that happened. Ace hated everything. Nothing was the same and it should have been comforting to wake up, but waking up in a place he did not recognize was not comforting.

"You're awake!" Ace's heart dropped, tears welling in his eyes as he heard Whitebeard's voice...but it wasn't Whitebeard talking. A short man with white hair and a white mustache smiled at Ace. "You've put us through quite the scare. I'm Makarov Dreyar, master of the Fairy Tail. You are?"

"Portgas D Ace," Ace croaked, voice raw and raspy from disuse. "What's a Fairy Tail?" 

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Comments and votes are appreciated! I love hearing from all of you! 

Have a wonderful day!

~Kat