"I'm going to end your 'dream', personally."
"Guh! Ragna the Bloodedge! I knew I couldn't trust you!"
"Hah, you never trusted me in the first place, right? And did you forget?"
Tsubaki couldn't believe what is happening right now. Sure she did not trust the Grim Reaper one bit, but she can trust the people that are with her throughout life: Jin, Noel, Makoto, and even Hakumen. They all trusted Ragna to do the right thing, trusted him to do what is necessary to save the world they live in.
Now that trust is broken for her, and she has to fight the Grim Reaper to keep her 'dream'. With one quick breath, she charges at him with her Izayoi. They clashed and clashed, but there is something not right about Ragna during their fight. Just then, she found an opening and she attempted to strike him there, but before she could, he grabbed her wrist and...
He wraps his arms around her. It's as if he's hugging her.
"Ragna the Bloodedge?! What are you doing?! Let me go!" Tsubaki attempted to break free, but Ragna has the strong grip on this one.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me for what made you so angry with me in the first place. Whether it was your work with the NOL or a personal matter against me. What I'm going to tell you right now is the whole truth of my intentions. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. Just listen and understand," Ragna said in a quieter tone.
"Ragna..." Jubei couldn't believe what he is seeing at this very moment.
"Wh... What are you saying?" Tsubaki asked with her face going red from the hugging that he is doing right now.
"Let it go. There is a time for war, but there is also a time for peace," Ragna said soothingly.
In a matter of seconds, she released Izayoi from her grip to let it fall to the ground as if she had calmed down.
"I'll take your word for it, Ragna the Bloodedge," Tsubaki said as Ragna let go of the hug. "Why do you want to destroy everyone's 'dreams'?"
"Because it's the only way to save the world we live in," he replied solemnly. "The girl in the Master Unit... only wants me."
"What?" she is surprised by his explanation, and Jubei shared her reaction.
"I'm going to wake her up from her 'dream', calm her down, and take her place as the new Master Unit," Ragna continued. "It wouldn't matter anyway if I told you this right now. Once everything is done, you will all come back, not remembering anything about me."
"It's as if you never existed in our lives," Tsubaki realized the truth, and Jubei is baffled by it. She tries to deny it. "There's gotta be some other way! You don't have to give up your own life for us!"
"I wish there's another way, Tsubaki Yayoi, but there isn't. I thought about what I'm going to do and there's no turning back from it."
"Please, you don't have to do this! You don't have to be alone watching over us from the Boundary. You can still be with us and you can have a life for yourself. Heck, when we get through this, we'll erase your criminal record so that you can live with the peace that you deserved. Think of the people you'll leave behind like Jubei, Noel, and... Jin. So please, don't erase yourself from our lives!"
There's no denying what Ragna is seeing from Tsubaki from her speech. She is crying with tears, crying to see the man that she branded a criminal leave her life as if he never existed in the first place. He took a deep breath before comforting her the best way he could.
"You know I haven't cried since the tragedies I suffered from my whole life. It's good to cry because it makes us human," he said with a comforting smile while wiping her tears away. He turned to Jubei, his mentor and the person that he had closest to a father figure. This is going to be a goodbye between, and the cat knows it. What he didn't expect next is Tsubaki hugging him.
"If what you claim about yourself is true that you're Jin and Noel's... sibling, then I'm glad to call you 'brother'. I just wished you could have a better life than the one you had now," she said as he returns the hug.
"Ragna... it's time," Jubei said in a tone which describing him accepting his fate.
"Here goes nothing, master," Ragna said as he used his power to erase Jubei's memories of him before going to sleep. He turns to Tsubaki next. "When you wake up, you will know nothing about me as if I never existed in your life."
"I know," Tsubaki looked calm on what is going to happen to her.
"Take care of them for me, would you, Tsubaki?" Ragna asked for his last request, and she knows whom is he talking about. Jin... Noel...
"Yes, I will... Ragna."
To think that's the only time they called each other by only their first names, especially Tsubaki as she let go of her hatred for the man that she branded as a criminal. This is the only moment she showed kindness for him, but it is really worth it. As he used his power to erase himself from her memories, she closed her eyes as she drifted into sleep, awakening when the whole mess is over.
Author's Note: What do you think? I made the hugging part based on that scene from Metal Gear Solid 4 between Solid Snake and Big Boss. You know the old saying, a time of war, and a time of peace.