[She lifts her head, watching him closely. And her face is serious, for once, without its normal girlishness - the child hidden behind the warrior, and the person behind the leader.]
I'm not stupid. I try to think the best of you, because I want to, and because I... care about you. And, I guess, because I understand struggling with... dark things that... sometimes are more appealing than standing in the light. Because every time I use my power, I feel it pulling me in, and every time I feel it, I want to go. A little more than I did the last time. It gets really...
...well. My point is, I guess I could relate. A little. But I'm still not stupid.
And... I was thinking. All this time, every time you've said you wanted to change, or wanted... redemption. You never said it was for you, or for principle. Just for me. You never even denied it when I asked.
[Her face remains calm. Instead, the tension in her body finds its way to her hands, which clench a little, tightening into fists.]
Then I thought... even if you were starving, it probably couldn't bring out something that isn't in you. It probably only made it harder to avoid... the things you wanted to do anyway. And then I thought... maybe the only reason you haven't been doing these things this entire time is because you didn't want me to go away.
Is that right?
[...]
You may as well tell me. It won't change what I say... or do, or offer you.
>.< Sorry for the inbox spam; I started nitpicking the phrasing and something had to give.
[She lifts her head, watching him closely. And her face is serious, for once, without its normal girlishness - the child hidden behind the warrior, and the person behind the leader.]
I'm not stupid. I try to think the best of you, because I want to, and because I... care about you. And, I guess, because I understand struggling with... dark things that... sometimes are more appealing than standing in the light. Because every time I use my power, I feel it pulling me in, and every time I feel it, I want to go. A little more than I did the last time. It gets really...
...well. My point is, I guess I could relate. A little. But I'm still not stupid.
And... I was thinking. All this time, every time you've said you wanted to change, or wanted... redemption. You never said it was for you, or for principle. Just for me. You never even denied it when I asked.
[Her face remains calm. Instead, the tension in her body finds its way to her hands, which clench a little, tightening into fists.]
Then I thought... even if you were starving, it probably couldn't bring out something that isn't in you. It probably only made it harder to avoid... the things you wanted to do anyway. And then I thought... maybe the only reason you haven't been doing these things this entire time is because you didn't want me to go away.
Is that right?
[...]
You may as well tell me. It won't change what I say... or do, or offer you.
[...probably.]