There's something to be said about the sting of a sword, Robin thinks. It's unmistakable. A pain unique to the weapon itself and its clean, unforgiving bite. She presses a hand against the wound, but the damage is done.

It's difficult to focus here: too quiet and empty. The air is blazing and her mind can't make sense of anything.

Light flickers outside; it reflects off of Sanji's pots and pans and provides a lick of light in the dark room. Robin doesn't remember being brought to the galley, but here she is, lying between the couch and the table.

Fear is winning out against pain and her thoughts take her to dark places.

It's hard to get up, but she can't stay here, alone in this room. Bending her waist is agony and when the bleeding comes faster it feels like she's losing the very last of it. The only way is to get on her hands and knees and pull herself up on the ladder. The crawl brings tears to her eyes that are quickly blinked away.

The floor is slippery, but the door is just a step away and she makes it. Her hands press against the wood and metal and there's a pause. A pause and a prayer because blood is about the only thing she can handle losing anymore. She takes a shaky breath and steps outside.

There's smoke, drifting in heavy clouds toward the night sky. The fires are small but many, and Robin's mind races to Franky. What will he think when he sees Sunny burning this way? She remembers the smell of burning books and the way it stuck to her for days after. She doesn't want to smell Sunny burn.

The walk is slow and the smoke is stinging at Robin's eyes, making it difficult to see and even harder to breathe. Halfway across the deck her foot hits something soft and heavy and she gasps.

She's on her knees in an instant, pain be damned. One hand feels for a pulse as the other cradles Nami's face. Robin cries out, her head shaking in disbelief and a raw grief that she hasn't felt since Ohara.

It's not fair for Robin's heart to rattle so frantically in her chest while Nami's is so still. The fire warms everything, and when Robin hugs Nami close, she can almost pretend she's still there with her.

In the end it's panic that forces Robin to pull herself away. She knows they're probably gone, but the desperation to find just one, just one single heartbeat is the only thing that drives her through her pain.

Each person she finds is a knife in her heart. She's numb and confused and half certain she's trapped in a lucid nightmare.

Surely fate can't be so cruel as to take everything away from a person twice in one lifetime.

When she finds Chopper, she loses the will to go on. His fur catches her tears and muffles her cries. She doesn't want to see anymore. She wants it to end. She leans against the wall and holds him tight. It's her fault, she thinks. She escaped death years ago and now it's come collecting interest.

The fire terrifies her, but being alone is worse, and she doesn't think she'll still be awake by the time the Adams wood finishes its slow burn.

Her eyes are closed and her mind is half gone when she hears the cough. It's weak and some distance away, but it shakes her from her stupor.

There's always the chance it's her mind trying to save itself, fabricating one last thread of hope to anchor her to this world.

She doesn't want to let Chopper go. He's so small and she can't imagine leaving him all alone. The closest person is Brook. Robin doesn't know what happened to send the musician's soul back to the underworld. Maybe he left himself, when the last of them fell.

Maybe he didn't know he wasn't alone. He's hard to look at now, but Chopper wouldn't mind. Robin places the small doctor down beside the musician.

She climbs to her feet using the foremast for support and stops to catch her breath. Crossing her arms, she sprouts ears and eyes and hands. It's draining, even something so simple, but she doesn't have the energy to wander blindly.

When she finds Zoro, she doesn't need to check his pulse to know he's gone. Two swords are forgotten by his feet; one is clenched tightly in his right hand. Robin remembers it's precious and important and sprouts a hand to carefully move it closer to the swordsman's chest.

She's not surprised to find Luffy close by. She can piece the scenes together in her mind, almost imagine everything playing out around her, and Zoro is exactly where he promised he'd always be.

Another cough sounds, and Robin feels her eyes swell again and cool her cheeks. Luffy's chest is moving, heaving with effort to breath. Robin allows her hands to pop out of existence as she drags herself forward. Her hands follow the deck rail, desperately pulling herself ahead.

It's much darker where Luffy is, in the corner of the deck by the swing. There's no glowing flames and the thick smoke swallows what little light is cast.

Robin checks again, with her own hands, to make sure she wasn't mistaken. The pulse is weak and slow, but for now it's steady and Robin isn't sure how to feel.

Checking her captain over, Robin realizes there's something lodged in his chest. Her hands fumble around him and find the tail of an arrow. Luffy must have broken it off in an attempt to continue fighting. The way he's breathing makes her wonder if it pierced a lung. His stomach is wet and it looks as though she wasn't the only one who met the end of a sword.

"Robin?"

The whisper catches Robin off guard. She feels a hand wrap around her wrist, strangely firm for someone so hurt.

"Luffy! I'm here," she assures him, her hand brushing gently through his hair.

"Is everyone ok?" The question is hopeful and honest. Luffy doesn't know. Never saw it all happen, or just doesn't remember it, and Robin is just so thankful for that small mercy.

She smiles, finding the strength that he gave her. Strength born of compassion and love rather than desperation and fear.

"Everyone is going to be fine very soon," She assures him. "We're almost at the end."

"At Raftel?"

"No, someplace much better, I think."

"Mmmm" Luffy hums, seemingly appeased by the answer.

"Robin?" Luffy asks again, craning his neck back to try and see her.

"Yes, Luffy?"

"It's cold."

It isn't. The air is warm, stifling. Robin pulls Luffy with her so her back is against Sunny's interior wall and they're facing the rail and the sea. She doesn't want Luffy to see. She doesn't want him to know.

He rests his head in her lap and stares up at the sky. He holds her hand tightly, as if in pain, or fear. Either breaks her heart and she holds back just as firmly. She knows his pain; she feels his fear.

For a while they just stay that way. Offering each other silent comfort. Luffy has a moment of clarity and tries to look behind them. He see the fire and smoke and his eyes widen in fear.

His gaze looks far away, somewhere else for a moment, before his eyes meet hers and he releases a shaky breath.

"Robin, I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna sleep."

She offers a small smile and a nod. "Of course, I'll stay right here, so you rest."

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Mhmm, I think I have the perfect one."

Luffy is fading away, and Robin doesn't have much time left herself. She rests a hand on Sunny's rail and looks down to the sea.

It lurches, reaching up longingly, hungry to pull her in and drag her down.

The fire is spreading and the heat leaves beads dripping down her face. She must choose, the flames or the sea, and it's an easy choice really. She hopes Luffy will forgive her for making it for him.

She won't leave him to burn, not when there's even a chance he might wake up alone and in pain and surrounded by flames. And it's selfishness too, because she's afraid and she doesn't want to be alone. She's terrified to die alone.

She's thankful Luffy's so light. Pulling him into her arms is the last thing she'll do, so she manages the feat with the last of her strength.

Something explodes behind them. The sails are burning and the world is bright. The water shines a beautiful orange and it looks more welcoming than the cold, black abyss it really is.

It's a step and they're falling. She doesn't want to let go, but the water is heavy around her and she doesn't last a minute. The last thing she knows is Luffy being pulled from her arms. The last thing she sees is a hat, a shared treasure, drifting up and away.

Robin wakes to the cries of seagulls and a warm breeze kissing her skin. Water washes over her ankles with a soothing, gentle rumble.

She shields her eyes as she sits up. The ocean stretches out in front of her, the sun high in the sky and not a cloud in sight.

Robin stands, inspecting her body and realizes that, not only is her wound completely gone, but she feels so refreshed. She feels so new.

There's a jungle behind her, colorful and welcoming. Fruit grows plentiful and Robin is hungry. She shouldn't be, she thinks, because she remembers dying.

Something pulls her to the left. A feeling -no, a need- sends her walking down the shore. It's beautiful and warm; a true paradise.

Luffy's splashing and laughing when she finds him. He looks younger, Robin notes. His eyes are bright and his scars are gone. He looks strange without them, more like a child than a pirate, and Robin's heart swells.

When he notices her, Luffy's eyes light up even brighter than before. He looks relieved, and excited, and if he knows he's dead, he doesn't seem to care yet.

"ROBIN! COME ON, THIS IS THE BEST!"

Robin smiles and waves back. She finds herself running in to join him. Her heart feels lighter than it ever has, and when he splashes her with a mischievous smile, she finds herself splashing right back.

Their laughter is short lived because Luffy's eyes grow wide, his focus is on the sea behind her.

Shouts can be heard, carried across the sea. Familiar voices that Robin wasn't sure she'd ever hear again. Luffy is jumping up and down, laughing and calling back to them.

When Robin finally turns around- hesitant, because what if she's wrong?- the Sunny is in sight. Figures are waving, too far away to see clearly, but unmistakable all the same.

Robin's smile reaches her eyes as she waves back.

"Can you tell me a story?" Luffy asks.

"Mmm, I think I have the perfect one."

Robin takes a shaky breath and begins. There's a story she's been saving, but now time is short.

"There's a legend, thousands of years old, lost to time and only passed by word of mouth.

They say that once there was a star more important than any of the rest. While the others moved as they liked in the sky, this star knew it could help the people who lived under it."

"The star was alive?" Luffy asked, his voice soft with fatigue.

"That's right," Robin answered. Luffy seemed to accept her response, so she continued.

"It always came back to the same spot in the sky, night after night, so travelers could follow it home. It was bright and strong, and for the entirety of its life it chose to save those who went astray."

"What... happened to it?"

"It died." Robin whispered, looking up to the smoke choked sky.

"Every star burns out, but it takes a very long time for anyone to notice. The light stays in the sky for some time after, and it's remembered even after its passing. The star died, but its light continued to guide people home long after its death, because it cared so much."

"I think Nami would like a star like that," Luffy muses, his eyes half lidded.

"I'm sure you're right," Robin agrees, running a hand over his head.

"But, we have something much, much better than a star to guide us."

It comes out as a whisper, and Luffy doesn't reply. He's rasping, and his lips are blue. It won't be long now, Robin knows.

What beautiful, cursed lives we have lived.