They killed Zoro first.
One moment he stood there on the execution platform and the next there was just a body, lifeless, headless. They killed him and nothing, nothing could prepare them for so much blood, spilling and splattering in mosaic of wet, slippery shapes. The swordsman stood still and proud to the very end, and it hurt Luffy to see him like this, see how strong this man was, how big his dream was, who could he become if only…
And he wanted to scream at him to run, order him to live, but there was only so much power a pirate who couldn't become a king could have, and he knew there was nowhere to run to anyway. So he watched, because they made him and because he owed it to the swordsman who never got a chance to be the best.
.
Robin was next.
And he wondered who arranged the order of this execution and who will be next and how, how could Robin be so calm standing there in front of hundreds of silent onlookers below platform, cameras with bloodthirsty viewers in front of her, with crewmate's body on her one side and her useless, useless captain on the other…
"I never expected to live that long" she whispered to him in the darkness of the dungeon they were kept in, once they exhausted one and every way of escaping and the horrible, numbing thought began to dawn on them that they weren't invincible after all.
Robin was first to understand.
"I never expected to live so happily either" she said, soft smile barely noticeable yet so full of love it choked him even now. "You gave me everything. My freedom, my family, my life. That's why…"
He watched her head fall to the ground, her long black hair flowing…
" ...I don't regret a single thing"
.
Luffy clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. He could do nothing, nothing…
Nothing but watch as they brought Chopper forward.
His youngest crewmate tried so hard to keep his composure, to steady his breath and keep his tears from flowing, to appear indifferent just like Zoro and Robin did. Copying his idols even seconds from death. But the spot where he stood was slippery from blood and reeked of iron, and there were sneers and condemning looks from marines all around him and oppressive silence of the crowd below him, and how could anyone be expected not to shudder in the face of it all?
So Chopper shuddered. But the tears did not fall.
The only comfort he gave himself was closing his eyes just as axe swung down.
Luffy could hardly see through his own tears and when he blinked them away, his doctor was already gone.
.
Nami was pale, so pale, and went even paler upon entering the spot where Chopper stood a moment ago, where she could see three bodies thrown to the ground like trash the world thought they were. And suddenly he remembered a pinwheel and a promise so old yet so important and it wasn't supposed to be like this, not like this…
"Such a pretty face" one guard said with false pity "You could've done better that that"
Nami's gaze switched to him like an attacking cobra, venomous enough to once make men twice his size back down, and suddenly Luffy realized she wasn't pale because she was afraid but because she was furious.
"Fuck off" she said, her voice deadly calm, carrying through the crowd, quiet yet powerful like first breath of an upcoming storm, "you know nothing".
Fist collided with her face, hard enough to throw his navigator to the ground. And the man who once brought back rain to the kingdom of sand, who fought and won against god of thunder, who did and would always place himself against his friends and their demons, now could do nothing, nothing but lurch in his shackles and think how dare you how dare you how dare…
I was going to be a pirate king.
How dare you treat king's nakama like this.
But he wasn't and they weren't. The Strawhat crew were just punks who managed to make a bigger commotion than others, piss off more people than others, get more flashy execution then others.
This knowledge blunted the edge of his threats and cries as the blood spilled and spilled and spilled.
.
He didn't see them bring Sanji. He was on his knees, shaking, head touching ground and praying to the gods he didn't think he'd ever need, because it was not fair, just not fair. They could have gone so far with their dreams bigger than the world itself, so where did it go wrong, what did he do wrong.
It took him long, agonizingly long to look up again and when he did, Sanji, hands tied behind his back, was already there. Looking straight at him. And the shame all but exploded in his chest, because Sanji was standing at the death's door looking at him and he couldn't even keep himself together long enough to support his friend, his family.
So he met cook's eyes even as waves of guilt and anguish welled up inside of him, his eyes conveying just how sorry he was for pulling them along with him, first on this short-lived, crazy, impossible adventure, and now to the depths of hell itself…
Sanji smiled.
It was his iconic smile, all teeth and wrinkles around the eyes, like a warmth of the sun and scent of the sea. It was so surreal in a place like this, with them surrounded by death and blood and whole world's resentment, and Luffy remembered the smallest, calmest sea a lifetime ago and Sanji shouting what's so hard about it, just throw away your dreams…
"See you, captain" he said, smile not so radiant anymore but still firmly in place "See you soon"
One chance at achieving their dreams is all he could give them, Luffy understood as the axe went up. One chance.
He could just hope it had been worth it.
.
It was silent, silent, silent. Why wasn't anyone protesting, why wasn't sky falling, why was it silent when his world was brutally shred to pieces?
Usopp was the last one, and Luffy wondered if Yasopp was watching. He wondered if old pirate hated him.
"Any last words?" somebody asked and Luffy felt he could tear the man apart with his bare hands because he could see their amused smirks and knew what they were waiting for. Stutters and tears, pathetic boy shivering among his fallen crewmates, pointed fingers and see what these pirates are really like? Bandits and cowards.
Cameras watched silently.
Usopp drew a breath.
"Not last words" he said, his voice quiet and rough from crying in cell but trebling only a little bit. "You caught us, you caught our captain, and look how ridiculously proud you are. With how much fanfare you get rid of us." he scowled and stood straighter as his eyes filled with tears again and Luffy was reminded of a mask, now lost and forgotten, one that his friend did not need anymore it seemed.
"And we're just kids. Naïve, eager and impatient kidsand yet look how far we've come. And you know what? Kids like us are everywhere. They ask questions and sleep with clenched fists. They observe the world, they are watching now. And they are growing."
Tears were falling freely on Usopp's face but he made no move to wipe them off or cover them, looking straight at the cameras and not ashamed, not ever ashamed to stand where he stood, making Luffy wonder if maybe at least one of his crewmates had achieved their dream after all.
"There will be more archeologists and swordsmen and doctors" Usopp continued "And they will follow this path just like we followed Roger's, because One Piece was never an ultimate goal, and you know it and it scares you. It was a direction and it was a push that begun the worst generation, generation craving for freedom, and it doesn't end here. These are not our last words"
…
Silence, silence, silence…
Usopp knelt on his own as the executioner approached.
And only Luffy, who was a bit to the side, saw how badly his hands shook.
.
That was it. There was no one left.
They could hurt him no further and it was a comforting thought, somehow.
Somebody hastily pulled him to his feet, someone else shoved him forward but Luffy made no struggle. See you soon Sanji said and Luffy didn't plan on making them wait.
They thrust him to his knees, no time for talking, and Luffy almost smiled as he thought that after Usopp they didn't dare risk it.
He didn't look down on the hateful faces nor ahead at the cameras where on the other side, he had no doubt, the World Government was watching. He didn't care anymore, so he looked up.
The sky was blue and beautiful, sound of waves crashing faraway filled the air with a pleasant sound he'd came to love, warm sunshine made the world seem bright and perfect, and who knows, maybe it even was.
He certainly thought so, once.
They said the D's always died with a smile on their face and it was a lie. Those who got a chance to achieve something, to become someone, yes. Marines, revolutionaries, kings, those who shook the world to the core in the crazy race to their goals. Those who won, and those tried long enough to make it mean something. They were proud and grateful and content, knowing they've taken all they deserved and given all they could and it was damn well worth it.
Monkey D. Luffy didn't smile.
And as he bowed his head and bared his neck, he could only be grateful that soon he won't have to wear the hat that suddenly became so heavy.