Robin couldn't move. The chair she was chained to felt so far away, her mind in a different world.
Spandam. She didn't know the name. She didn't know his face.
She had always remembered that day like some horrid massacre. Which it was, she didn't doubt that. Her family was dead.
But Spandam's father was too. He had been killed at Ohara.
Something he had said played over and over again in her head. "Do you think you're the only one who lost someone?"
Because yes, she had thought that. Her memories seemed so skewed now. The images of dark, hulking soldiers shooting down her brothers and sisters was so blurred.
They were people. They had been people too. People with families. Mothers, and fathers, and children.
And she didn't know what to think about that.
Did they know? Did they know they were killing innocent people?
Innocent.
The word itself seemed to shatter in front of her. Her family had killed a man.
How many others? How many others had been murdered? In self defense, or aggression, or something else? How many families had been broken apart? How many daughters? How many sons? How many wives? How many husbands? And sisters? And brothers? And cousins? And friends? How many? How many? How many! How many, how many, how many, how many!
Her eyes stung, tears blurring her vision.
Just how many lives had Ohara taken?
She wanted to scream. All her life, she had been so bitter. So hurt, thinking she was the only one who had suffered. Thinking she was the only one the world had treated so harshly.
Do you think you're the only one who lost someone?
She clenched her fists and bit her lip.
The people she had cherished so much. The teachers she remembered smiling, and laughing in the study room, surrounded by dusty old books. They had killed a man.
That changed so much. What she thought of all the people who had been after her. What she thought of her own family.
And what she thought of herself.
And she didn't know what to do with that.
Zoro felt like the interrogation room was his second home now. He had been here so much in the last few days. And here he sat again, not saying a word.
Sengoku sat across, his gaze boring into him. Zoro couldn't tell if he was angry, or just disappointed. He didn't dare look him in the eye. As much as he didn't trust the man, he was still a little intimidated.
Sengoku had asked him a few questions; but after he hadn't answered any of them, they sat in a heavy silence. Zoro knew his job was gone. He had thrown that away when he chose Robin.
But that had been with the intention to help her escape.
And the only thing he had done to help her so far was to get her caught.
He was so angry at Spandam. That greasy little weasel had been tracking him. If it weren't for him, Zoro's plans would have gone along easily, and Robin would be safe. He wanted to take the little snake, and choke the life out of him.
And he was even more angry with himself. How had he underestimated Spandam so badly? How had he not noticed he was being followed? Tracked? He didn't even know how it had happened, and that's what infuriated him the most.
But the only thing he could focus on right now was how to fix this. How to get Robin out of here. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. Because nothing was coming to him. Not a single plan, or anything even remotely close. She was in trouble.
He glanced at Sengoku.
They both were.
Robin shuffled down the hall, guards holding onto both her arms. Her head felt so empty. Thoughts faded in and out, and she didn't even have the energy to be scared. Even though she knew she should be terrified.
They pushed her down into a chair, locking handcuffs around her wrists; and she sat, staring at the table in front of her. They left the room, leaving her alone with the buzzing lights.
A door opened, and the footsteps echoed in her head as a black suit came into her field of vision.
He didn't say anything, and she didn't look at him. She couldn't really make herself care.
"I never thought I'd get to see the day." He finally broke the silence. "20 damn years."
He slid into the chair across from her, and her eyes only barely flicked up at him.
"I won't lie, I'm impressed with you. Or what you've done. I wish we could have met under different circumstances." He offered her his hand, which she stared at wordlessly.
Was he really trying to play nice with her? After everything they had put her through?
"Who do you think you are?" She whispered, her eyes slowly crawling to his face. "Do you really think you can come here, and play the good cop? After all you've done to me? What you've done to my friends?"
The man's face changed as she blinked. "Your friends." He spit the word, all traces of friendliness evaporating. "Your little band of thieves, killers, and criminals?" He got back to his feet, and she glared at him.
"Your friends were doomed the minute they met you. You broke the law, and you're being punished for it." His eyes bore into her.
"If you want to blame someone for your misfortune, blame yourself. Blame the people around you. You've lived a life of tragedy. Your own family is the knife in your back. As you are to your friends."
She looked away.
"This is your fault, and I think you know that."
She clenched her jaw as he turned to leave.
"You know about Ohara." She whispered, "You know the truth."
He paused.
"Don't you have a conscience?" Her question hung in the air.
He didn't move. "We can't all be saints. Some of us have to get our hands dirty. That's inescapable when you have something you want to protect. Sometimes blood has to be spilled. Whether it's your own. Or someone else's. And that's the choice we all have to make."
He turned back toward her, and she met his gaze. "There's always a sacrifice. You chose yourself. I didn't. Who's to say which one of us is wrong?"
She lunged out at him, struggling against her restraints. "I did it to save them! How can you compare us when your choice was selfish! You chose yourself over others, how can you pretend what you did was right?"
She strained against the chains, tears brimming in her eyes. "I did it to protect them."
He didn't say a word, and she reached up to hide her tears, her lip quivering.
"You wanted so bad to stop them from being hurt, so here you are, in pain." He only shrugged, "Someone's always going to be hurt. Do you really think you can save anyone when you're hurting so much yourself?"
And he left her, without saying another word.
The door clicked shut, and she sank back into her chair, too many emotions boiling inside her. She closed her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek.
The world was so dark. So hopeless.
The light that she had always been running towards was starting to dim, getting and further and further away. Unreachable now.
Do you really think you can save anyone when you're hurting so much yourself? His words played over and over again, pulling her further into a despair she had never felt.
She leaned her head back and screamed, panic starting to set in. She had jumped into the monster's claws, willingly. On the slim hope that her friends -no- her family, would be safe. But what could she do about it? When she, herself, felt like she was drowning?
Where was her hope now?
Zoro's stopped as Sengoku shut the door behind him. He barely caught a glimpse of Robin behind it, her face twisted in pain, tears in her eyes. His heart hurt.
Sengoku gave him a stern look. "You should feel lucky I didn't throw you behind bars already. Lucky I let you off with house arrest while I decide what to do with you." He strode down the hall, but not before calling back over his shoulder, "If you open that door, I'll put you away in an instant."
He only stared at the door handle, wishing he could see her again. He could only imagine what was going through her head. He had heard from Spandam that she had "turned herself right over". He didn't believe it, it didn't sound like the Robin he knew at all. She would only do that if she felt she had to. So what had Spandam said to her? What knowledge did he have that could torture her like this?
He flinched, hearing her scream on the other side.
Tears blurred his vision, and he couldn't move.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, clenching his jaw.
I'm sorry.
His stomach turned at the thought that he had done this to her. As much as he wanted to hold her again, he didn't deserve it. He didn't even deserve to miss her. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and turned away from the door, leaving her behind him.