A Ghost of the Past

Chapter One:

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."