I am not afraid of death, but I don't want to die.

Can I live forever?

Please, this is all I have. I can't go home anymore, and no one would- no one could be waiting for me there.

Can I live?

My answer came when I put my ear to a door.

"...Everyone….he's dying….Captain is dying….there's nothing I can do,"

A strangled sob, and continuation,

"….There's nothing I can do! I'm supposed be a doctor! I can't heal him then- then what am I?! Dammit!"

No, I suppose not. And that was that.

X-X-X-X-X-X

His crew said they would follow him anywhere, and if that included death, he would not allow that to happen.

A ship whose captain has died cannot keep sailing, not if there is still a crew riding atop her deck, and thus he had two options.

Let them die shortly after him, or break their ties to him completely.

He chose the latter; he couldn't die peacefully knowing they would surely come after him.

His crew…

"….is disbanded." He took a deep breath, and turned his back to them, and they turned away from each other, and like a starburst they went their own directions. He heard footsteps behind him through the fading, choked sobs of the others. He knew who it was following him.

"..didn't you hear me? You're not my partner anymore. Go, choose your own direction." He forced a smile on his face, turning towards the slightly older man behind him.

"I am still your partner, just not as a pirate." the scarred man responded, and there was sadness in his one good eye, showing that behind his stone face he felt the same as the ones who were heaving as they walked away. "Right now my ambition is to follow my partner. Are you planning on interfering?"

The younger man was silent, smiling genuinely as he shook his head.

Even that fell through when he went somewhere he would not allow him to follow.

The clinking of his handcuffs was heard as they were unhooked from the wall behind him. He walked down the street; he heard whispers, saw people he had once seen. He saw cloaked men and knew who they were, and despite the fact that he wanted them to move on he had no jurisdiction over them anymore. If they wanted to see the execution of the Pirate King, that wasn't his decision.

Was he giving up?

Ah, perhaps. He was going to die and that was that, either way.

He had planned to say nothing, to go out with a smile and maybe something witty, like a "See you later" or some sort of joke. Ah, he'd come up with something when he go there.

But he saw them.

They were everywhere.

Young men with dreams, with that twinkle in their eyes, he could tell they craved something. They craved the same thing he had, adventure, and they respected him. He could feel their admiration, their hopes and dreams on his shoulders as he walked up the steps to the platform.

He thought of his crew, his words echoed across the plaza, the swords came towards him and he smiled a large, face-splitting smile. The wide eyes across the plaza, the smirks and the cheers were the last thing that met his eyes and ears.

It's true, he closed his eyes.

I won't die.

X-X-X-X-X

Authors's note:

Was it Luffy, or was it Roger? That one's up to you... ;)

I almost cried while writing this, at the beginning with the doctor. xD