[It would be impossible to say that his words didn't affect her. Hearing him weigh the balance of her time in Luceti was tense and trying, because the whole time she'd so, so wanted him to be there with her, and he hadn't been, so he was speaking of things as he saw them, of things that he didn't truly understand. But then... hearing that he felt her heart was still the same. That was a comfort. A balm. And she wanted more than anything to believe that he was right, that he saw her.

But no matter what he said, she... well... she remembered.]

I didn't say anything about us not understanding each other. There's still that. There's always that. We've been through a lot together here as well, and we couldn't have done it if we were completely out of sync.

I hope my heart's still the same... in the parts of me that care. But you're right, too. There are parts of my heart where I've loved and I've been hurt in places that you haven't seen. That doesn't mean you can't get to know them, or that we don't understand each other. I hold you so close in my heart...

[She trailed off and bit her lip, holding up a hand to get through this, because if she doesn't do this now, doesn't say this now then she never will.]

...but I think it does mean that when you think about the girl you love, you're not really thinking about me. I know it's not fair, and I know you can't help it, but... You're thinking about the girl you won the war with, you're thinking about... [she was crying without sobbing, tears leaving shiny tracks down her cheeks] someone who got to hear your confession the first time when you said it the first time, not because she had to catch up. You're thinking about someone who got to fall in love with you.

[Not someone who was just told that she had. Not me.]