"You see, Torrance here doesn't like royalty very much," Samael said, suppressed laughter in his voice. "When he was young, his rather nasty landlord decided to force his family off the land because of some unpaid rent. The rent was, of course, impossible to pay for a poor family such as his. Sad isn't it?

"So, ever since, poor little Torrance has decided to take his revenge on any and all royalty he comes by, and what better place to start than here? Well, Torrance. Here's your chance. Do it."

Torrance moved forward, advancing upon Derek, intense anger and hatred smoldering in his eyes. However, they were completely not full of rage. As there had been since his arrival, there was a certain hesitation in his eyes.

"Wait," Odette said in protest, seeing the waver in Torrance's eyes and stepping forth. If there was a chance that she could stop the violence, if only for a few moments, she was going to take it. "Leave them alone. They've done nothing to you. If you want my father's kingdom so badly, then you can have it. Just please leave my family alone."

Her mind flashed back to when she'd said something similar to Rothbart. He had declined, saying that he'd have to spend his whole life trying to keep the kingdom if he stole it. Instead, he planned to marry Odette, thereby getting his hands on the crown and making Odette suffer at the same time.

She hoped Samael wasn't of the same mindset, but somewhere in her heart, she knew he was.

"Odette…" she heard Uberta start.

"It's fine," Odette assured confidently. "I just want my family. I don't care about anything else."

"Do you really think that I would be stupid enough to believe it would be that easy?" Samael asked, belittling Odette's offer for peace. "You just hand everything over, no questions asked? And then what? A few years down the road, you find an army of supporters and come back to take everything back? I can't let that happen. Torrance?"

Torrance, who seemed to be stalling for time, only moved forward. His presence was only imposing, not outright threatening. Odette wondered what he would do. Because he detested fighting so much, regardless of the situation, Derek would do his best to never make the first move in a fight, not if he didn't have to. He would wait to see what Torrance would do.

This made for some intense moments of observation as Torrance moved himself around the room.

Robin listened to everything that was going around her. She felt that she could do nothing to stop the fighting that would surely erupt at any moment, but there was one person who wouldn't allow her to be passive and silent.

"No time to lay about, Songbird," Robin heard her mother say. "Stand, Robin. You can't just let things happen around you without your input. Take action. Stand, and take action."

"Right," Robin agreed, her voice a rough and pained whisper. "I've got to get up."

Slowly and with great difficulty, Robin rose from the ground, praying for strength and courage the entire time. Loud enough for everyone to hear, she spoke up.

"Enough."

The second she spoke, the attention was immediately on her.

"If you came here to kill me, do it already."

Samael was, surprisingly enough to everyone in the room, in amazement. His corrupt, sick brain could not fathom what was going through the minds of his foes, who were so willing to sacrifice themselves for one another.

"Why are you all jockeying to die for one another?"

"That's love," Robin said. "It's something that you wouldn't understand. You're so blinded by your hatred for everyone else that you've never even seen what love can do, what people who love can do. Why do you think my mother told me to hide, knowing she was going to die? The answer is simple: she loved me enough to want to shield me from you. She loved me enough to have hope for me, even when she had none for herself."

"What a shame that she's not here to do that again."

"Don't be so sure."

In truth, her mother's voice was the one thing that would bring Robin through that day, and for that she was grateful, even as she stared death in the face.

"I've heard enough of this senseless prattling. Torrance, let's give them their wish. We'll kill them all, starting with the girl. I'll even let you do the honors."

There was not a movement in the room. No one there seemed to be afraid to die. Even the talkative and easily excitable Uberta was silent and solemn.

Once again, Torrance made no movement that was unexpected.

Odette, wanting to be close to those she loved and also wanting to test Torrance, who she was sure would do nothing to stop her, walked over to Robin and put her hand on her niece's shoulder. Robin, in turn, placed her hand over Odette's and smiled up at her aunt.

Seeing this, Derek went to them and wrapped one arm around Odette and put his hand on Robin's shoulder, as Odette had. He kissed Odette on the cheek.

Following suit were Uberta and Rogers. Uberta stood at Derek's side, filled with pride for her son. Rogers took his place by Uberta, his queen and close friend, and took her hand.

There, all together, was Robin's family, something she'd thought died with her mother. She was, happily, wrong, and seeing their brave faces made her feel courageous. She had nothing to fear from dying.

Seeing this, Torrance, who'd had his hand raised and forming a fireball, stepped back. He was crying.

He put his arm down and hung his head in sorrow.

"What are you doing?" Samael demanded. "Come on, you can get them all in one shot and have everything you've ever wanted."

Torrance shook his head. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?!"

"I mean 'no'. I will not kill these people. It would be a disgrace to my family. They didn't ask me to avenge their loss, and they certainly wouldn't want me to kill these people."

Samael glared angrily at him for a moment, his mind, once again, too corrupt and hate filled to understand Torrance's point. "If you can't kill them, then I will."

Grinning with psychotic glee, Samael rushed forward, close to Robin, a fireball aimed right at her.

"I'll start with you," he growled, clearly enjoying what he was about to do.

"Do it, then," Robin replied defiantly.

Samael raised his hand to her.

"Goodbye, little girl."

"No!" Torrance yelled. Without thinking, he flung a fireball from his hand and into Samael's back. Immediately, Samael dropped to the ground. Although he wasn't immediately killed, everyone in the room knew that in a few moments, Samael would be no more.

"You killed me! Why?!" he roared at Torrance. "You could have had it all!"

"Are you blind even in death?" Torrance asked, astounded. "The girl is innocent. They all were, and I'm only sorry that I didn't realize it sooner."

"You'll regret this," Samael swore. "There are always others like me. Just wait. They'll come and you'll wish you had taken the chance that you'd been given."

Torrance shook his head, pitying Samael, who didn't have time to realize what he'd done to himself over the years. He didn't realize that he had wasted his life hating everyone for virtually no reason.

There, still corrupt in the mind and cold in the heart, Samael died, ignorant, unloved, and alone.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Robin too felt sorry for him. She was thankful for the family that still stood behind her. She was thankful that she had known love.

"Let's go," Derek suggested to his family. He looked at Torrance. "I am grateful to you, for saving my niece, but you still have explaining to do. Come with us."

Torrance nodded and followed Derek, Odette, Uberta, and Rogers as they walked toward the door. For a moment, everyone had their back turned to Robin, thinking that she was following behind.

But she wasn't. She was staring at… well, nothing in particular when, suddenly, she felt very weak. It was like what she felt the moment before she fainted, but this time it was different.

This time it was worse.

She'd been able to suppress the excitement and fear for the entire ordeal, but now she was overcome with those emotions.

Then, before she could warn the others, her knees went weak and she fell to the ground.

Odette's face immediately went white the moment she heard the thud behind her.

Turning on her heel, her eyes widened and filled with tears of panic. She had a strange sense of foreboding for the moment – which felt like a lifetime – that it took for her to cross the room and drop to her knees as Robin's side.

Derek and the others immediately joined her, thinking, hoping that Robin had only fainted.

However, she hadn't.

Odette looked for the rise and fall of Robin's chest and listened for some sign of inhalations and exhalations from Robin's mouth.

There was none.

"Odette?" Derek asked when Odette had said nothing for a moment.

"Derek, she's not breathing!"

xXx

Robin's eyes opened to a world that she had never, not even in her wildest dreams, seen before. However, she knew where she was.

She stood up and found herself surrounded by clouds and drenched in sunlight. She was happy; unexplainably, perfectly happy.

She felt safe, truly safe, for the first time in her life.

"Robin," someone called to her.

When she turned around to address the familiar voice, Robin couldn't help but smile, even as a few tears made their way down her cheeks.

There she was: Robin's mother in all her glory, standing beside a handsome man who could be none other than Allen, Robin's father.

Gwen took a few steps forward. Allen remained close behind.

"Robin, there isn't much time," Gwen said. "And you have a decision to make. If you want, you can stay here with your father and me, or you can go back and live with Odette and Derek. You must make the choice quickly, though, or it will be made for you."

It was an easy decision for Robin. Of course she wanted to stay with her parents. Or so she thought. Her decision wasn't as concrete when she heard something behind her. When she listened close, she realized that someone was crying.

"Who's crying?" Robin asked, confused. Who could cry in such a beautiful place? Who could be anything but happy here?

"It's Odette," Gwen replied solemnly. "She's scared of losing you."

"Please don't go," Odette begged. Her voice sounded far away to Robin, but that didn't take the pain out of it. "Please don't die. I don't want to lose you too."

"This certainly complicates things," Robin said quietly. She didn't want Odette to be sad. It hurt almost as badly as when her own mother was upset. So, as hard as it was, she made her decision.

"I have to go back. I'll be back here one day, I'll see you again, but I'll never get another chance at life, and I can't just leave Odette. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Gwen said, hugging her daughter for a moment. "I love you."

"I'm proud of you," Allen said, speaking for the first time, with Robin hearing for the first time. "I always have been."

Robin smiled at him. "Thank you, Father. I'm glad I got to see you."

"I'm always with you," he promised. "I always have been."

"Robin, there is one thing I want you to do for me," Gwen said.

"Anything," Robin replied.

"Thank Odette for me. Tell her how grateful I am and how much I am sorry for not being there for her. One of my biggest regrets was not going back to help her. Let her know that I love her and so did Mother and Father."

Robin nodded. "I will. I promise I will."

"Good. Now all you need to do is wake up."

A little sad, but knowing that she would some day see her family again, Robin closed her eyes.

"Goodbye for now," Gwen whispered, kissing Robin on the forehead, just as she had done when Robin was being tucked in for the night when she was little.

XxX

Odette could not contain her tears when she thought she had lost her niece. She was so numbed by her grief that she didn't realize it when Robin began to stir in her arms.

"Odette, look!" Derek said in surprise. He was truly witnessing a miracle.

Odette could hear the smile in his voice. She wondered what on Earth he could be happy about at a time like this.

"Don't cry," someone whispered faintly. "Please don't cry anymore."

Odette looked at Robin, whose face was no longer pale with death. Immediately, Odette backed off to give Robin some air.

"Are you alright?" she asked, surprised and overjoyed.

"I'm fine," Robin assured, smiling a little, her voice coming back to its usual strength. "I'm okay."

"You really had me scared."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I'm so glad you're back. I'm so glad you're alive."

Odette hugged Robin as she cried again, this time with tears of joy.

Well, as my best friend's girlfriend told me, I can't end on an unlucky number. So, I'll have one last chapter for you soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing and putting up with me.

-The Phantom