Robin's footsteps echoed as she walked away from the crew, her hands balled into tight fists, fingernails digging into her palms. She rounded the corner and broke into a run, tears threatening to emerge from her icy eyes. She ducked behind a pillar and slid to the ground, saltwater streaming down her face and sobs racking her body, making her double over in pain, her green cloak wrapped tightly around her. She couldn't run away, couldn't just disappear as she had countless times before, leaving no trace, blocking out the shouts behind her. She was going to die, after the Government had wrenched then last screams of agony from her broken form. It wouldn't be an easy death, painful and public were the most likely. But she no longer cared. What hurt more than death was the memory of the shock on her friend's faces. The sense of confusion and betrayal they experienced. What would the rest of the crew think of her, disappearing without another word, only to finally see her death through the papers?
She remembered their laughter, joy as they sang in the evenings, the promise of a new adventure ahead, facing tomorrow with a don. Chopper dancing around like he was three years old, Luffy and Usopp playing and fooling around. Zoro almost always sat at the side, drinking his sake quietly and Nami would smile, worry ebbing away as her nakama enjoyed themselves. Sanji would have finished clearing away dinner and would come and flirt with her and Nami, before lighting a cigarette and relaxing. And Robin would feel safe, protected and warm, comfortable on the ship she called home.
No more.
Now she was to be a mere object in the hands of the world that wanted her gone. It didn't care for her; she was just an annoying speck of dust, a minute breath on a roaring field. And in that field, unnoticed and uncared for, she would fall. The raven that had fought for so long would return to the earth that it came from. And her dying breath would be alone.
Remembering was hard, from the moment that she had been unwillingly dragged from the falling tomb to the moment she stepped from the windowsill and walked away from those she loved the most. The people she would kill for. The people that she would die for. The whole world could burn, and she wouldn't care as long as those six were safe. It was ironic that what she thought of as her life started in a tomb.
"Little girl, all alone." A mocking voice jeered in her head, basking in her misery. NO! She wasn't alone! Not anymore.
"But you are now. They'll sail away and leave you to your death." But that is what I want; their safety is all I wish for.
"No." The voice reasoned.
It was right.
"What you want is to see tomorrow with your friends. You want to feel the sun rise by their sides, hear them laugh. You want to be there, to see them fulfil their dreams."
"I can't!" she mentally yelled at it, her heart ripping out of her chest. "I can't."
A song started to play around her mind, fitting her predicament flawlessly. Almost unconsciously she whispered some of the words, a silent plea to her friends.
"When my time comes forget the wrong that I've done,
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.
Don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest."
Another line swam to the surface of her drowning consciousness.
"I can't be who you are."
Slowly she stood up, wiping away her tears. She wouldn't give those monsters the satisfaction. On trembling legs she shakily stood up and began to walk, the metaphorical guillotine steps rising up before her.
"Keep me in your memory..." her step refused to falter as she walked to the rendezvous point, the hood of her cloak shielding her from prying eyes.
"...Leave out all the rest."