[OP] Of the Good and Bad / AceLu One shots and Drabbles

Pure

Pairing: AceLu
Level: Soulmates
Category: Angst/Symbolism
Type: One shot 
Rating: T

I dug a little through my notepad and found like what, 5 stories that were actually complete? SO for the sake of posting, I'll put 'em up.

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Ace would take in all the evil of the world to keep Luffy's radiance. Take all the hits, for Luffy to remain pure. And all the hate, so Luffy would be loved.

Ace cared so deeply about his little brother, there was nothing that could describe the feeling. But Ace was scared. He feared of the emotion. Love. Ace felt he didn't deserve to even hear of such a word.

And his own love. His feelings. Twisted. Awful. Worthless.

Such things would only taint Luffy's brightness. Ace didn't want that, he would never want that. But being a human means developing bonds with others. Because Ace could ignore all of it when he saw Luffy's smile.

Selfish.

Disgusting.

Ace realized his newly developed feelings toward his little brother. And to him, that's exactly how they would be described.

Luffy felt so far, even when he was snuggled against him, which always made Ace feel like a piece of shit for being near him. And even more shitty when his insides would go all funky to any physical contact with his little brother.

Ace was so tainted, from willingly being a shield for him. There were just too many bad things existing. The entire world was wrong. And Ace knew only one person that will make it right. Yes. It was Luffy.

Luffy was hope. Luffy was justice. Luffy was the future.

Ace was the complete opposite. But he made it his life to aid the little sprout until it blossomed and bloomed, with nothing being able to stop its everlasting growth. He didn't decide on this because he wanted to correct the world. That was Luffy's job. Not his. Ace lived because Luffy was Luffy. Through the storms and rain, he swore to be his older brother. And he needed, and wanted to protect him. Until he could, himself.

Ace was the devil. It made him want to do awful things.

Ace wanted to love Luffy. That was already bad. But the love, it was.. something ungracefully more than brothers had.

Yes. Ace wanted Luffy. He wanted him so bad it was burning him up from the inside. No matter how hard he tried to push it down, ignore it, throw it away.

Ace was too aware of these emotions. But his responsibility still won over, despite the struggle that was definitely killing him. He decided to wait until Luffy was older.. and not confess his dumb feelings, but rather sort everything out (and try to get rid of them).

Time flew by too slow for Ace's liking, but it flew all right. Soon Ace was 17 and ready to get his ass out to sea.

Which also meant he could distract himself from Luffy.

Wrong.

The boy was all he could think of.

But he knew he'd figure it out sooner or later, he still had some time to do so, after all.Ace went on adventures as a captain, then he became the SDC of the Whitebeard Pirates on the Moby Dick, where he felt had been like a second home.

Being referred to as a brother on the ship only made Ace realize how much he missed his own little brother.

Luffy was still on his mind.

Always had been.

Even though he didn't want to.

The world wasn't as big as it is said to be if Ace could just bump into his brother at an island.

And if he could be found, captured, and right now standing barefoot on the top of an execution platform.

Ace was tainted, he deserved death. He himself allowed it to happen. But there were thousands that didn't.

The warm memories of the past, present, and even future, came flooding toward him.

And his pure angel, who had been most of the cause for Ace's darkness, was the one to lead the crowd.

Ace realized that he had succeeded in keeping Luffy the lovable and adorable one he was. And he also realized that he still had so many people that cared about him, that wanted him alive, and would even put their lives on the line to keep HIM alive. It was a indescribable feeling. Of guilt, happiness, and beyond.

Finally, the word love made sense.

He didn't have to be loved by the world.

Because he was loved by so many friends and family.

And he was loved by Luffy.


But he shouldn't have waited. Nor should he have hesitated.

Ace's love, no matter how tainted he himself was, or thought he was; had been pure, and ethereal, much like Luffy's nature.

And sadly, it wasn't until after death that he realized how clean and true his feelings were.

And regretfully, he was never able to even give such an infinitely powerful gift to Luffy.

Which meant that no matter how pure Luffy was going to remain, there would always be a missing piece.

Love.