[She nods as he speaks-- she knows it's true. Even if she'll probably never be able to extinguish that tiny pilot-light of guilt (the only time, lately, that she can forget it's there is when it's next to the white-hot fire of rage and therefore indistinguishable), she knows it's true.]
[Alessa had tried... she had done everything in her power, and no one could blame a frightened, dying, mutilated fourteen-year-old for throwing herself at a last-minute bid for freedom and just trying to make it as far away as possible.]
[It had been self-preservation.]
[There had been nothing else she could possibly do.]
[... But that last bit makes her chest grow tight and the corners of her eyes begin to sting.]
... You're the strongest and bravest person I know.
[Just for that. Just for accepting her in every incarnation, however paradoxical-- for looking past her dangerous roots and learning to love her anyway. All of her.]
Action
[Alessa had tried... she had done everything in her power, and no one could blame a frightened, dying, mutilated fourteen-year-old for throwing herself at a last-minute bid for freedom and just trying to make it as far away as possible.]
[It had been self-preservation.]
[There had been nothing else she could possibly do.]
[... But that last bit makes her chest grow tight and the corners of her eyes begin to sting.]
... You're the strongest and bravest person I know.
[Just for that. Just for accepting her in every incarnation, however paradoxical-- for looking past her dangerous roots and learning to love her anyway. All of her.]