Sharon grimaces at his words, the mirror of her own thoughts, and it hits too close because she knows exactly how much it hurts. There's nothing worse than realizing the people who were supposed to care, the ones who should have cared, chose to look away. It shattered her as a child, just as it's shattering him now.
Her chest aches as she reaches out, resting a hand on his shoulder. She knows what he's doing—trying to shut down, to give her an easy way out—but she sees straight through it. She's done the same damn thing herself.
"Sephiroth, it will always bother me. I wish—" she stops, biting her lower lip hard, "I wish I could've changed things for you. But just because we can't rewrite your past doesn't mean we can't build you a better future." Even if that future only exists within Folkmore. "You deserve good things. Happiness. Love. Family. I know you don't believe it, but you do."
There's a tangible twitch, some reflexive urge to jerk back or prepare for attack that is squashed before it can go any further. It's always an unpleasant dichotomy, between being okay with contact, even wanting it badly sometimes, and the lessons of a lifetime in a lab.
It would be easier if she were angry. If he could provoke her into hostility and accusation, which given the things he'd done, the things he'd been doing, would be right and deserved.
Being tired of hostility over things he hadn't done was very different. He'd earned this.
"It doesn't matter if I do or not. You can see that, don't you? Even if I rewrite the future, even if I don't burn down that stupid little town, it's not going to give me my mother back, or a father, or..." Any of it. The planet would still be the planet, with the same people doing the same things. "..Or all the other things. Even the man I'm supposed to become was alone in the end, and he'd had friends. They left him. What chance do I have?"
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-09-26 11:10 pm (UTC)Her chest aches as she reaches out, resting a hand on his shoulder. She knows what he's doing—trying to shut down, to give her an easy way out—but she sees straight through it. She's done the same damn thing herself.
"Sephiroth, it will always bother me. I wish—" she stops, biting her lower lip hard, "I wish I could've changed things for you. But just because we can't rewrite your past doesn't mean we can't build you a better future." Even if that future only exists within Folkmore. "You deserve good things. Happiness. Love. Family. I know you don't believe it, but you do."
lurches upright ok
Date: 2025-10-04 12:03 am (UTC)It would be easier if she were angry. If he could provoke her into hostility and accusation, which given the things he'd done, the things he'd been doing, would be right and deserved.
Being tired of hostility over things he hadn't done was very different. He'd earned this.
"It doesn't matter if I do or not. You can see that, don't you? Even if I rewrite the future, even if I don't burn down that stupid little town, it's not going to give me my mother back, or a father, or..." Any of it. The planet would still be the planet, with the same people doing the same things. "..Or all the other things. Even the man I'm supposed to become was alone in the end, and he'd had friends. They left him. What chance do I have?"