"you're enough." (maybe lanselot for robin because i miss them 🥹)
from: meme.
context: robin is in recovery after kuzan's attack on her. they are nearing water 7 and she confides in lanselot about how she feels about her position with the crew.
how long did she think she could outrun the past? robin had allowed herself to hope, to reach beyond what she deserved, and now, just like every time before then, danger has befallen her. and this time, it nearly brought to ruin the crew she’s come to care about.
she is not a person worth saving.
“i’ve decided.” her smile is kind, but a sadness makes it wilts at the edges, bright blue gaze holding theirs. “this voyage will be my last with the crew. putting them in danger— putting you in danger like that once is enough. i’m not so foolish to think it won’t happen again, but i can ensure it’s not on my account.”
whatever protests they have, robin shakes her head and holds up her hand, indicating she’s not finished speaking.
“aokiji was right, you know. you’ve seen me in action, lanselot. you know what i’m capable of. all i have done was to survive, but maybe somewhere along the line …” she stares down at her hands, imagining them stained red with all the blood that soaks them. “it's just who i am, and i can never go back to being good."
if she was ever good. she had been, hadn't she? robin was just a child when she was deemed a devil. the only sin she committed was existing. there were night she laid awake and thought that aokiji shouldn't have spared her if this was the life that hounded after her. maybe she should have died on ohara. her mother's final plea echoed quieter and quieter in her mind.
the brief silence after her words affords @willofd time to interject a soft yet convinced admission.
her gaze darts up to lanselot, chin trembling.
it's not 'you aren't a bad person'. it's not 'you're still good'. it's not 'yes, you can go back'. it's more meaningful than any insistence that, frankly, would not have completely landed. what it feels like to her is, acceptance. it acknowledges not the past or what might become of her tomorrow, but what she is now. it almost makes her hopeful that maybe there's something to redeem in her yet.
a watery smile lifts her lips, arms hugging around herself, clutching at her elbows. "i wish i had met everyone a long time ago. i always wanted friends like you all."