[ oh. oh, no. something painful twists in her chest. there is a burning sensation behind her eyes, but no tears fall. she closes her eyes before the sheen becomes too obvious.

his care hurts as much as it heals her. it shines on where she's been hollow. ]

I am trapped in my duty. I will not hide that fact. I do not want to abandon the people I have come to care about there, or here.

[ she has no true patriotic feelings for a country that has abandoned and imprisoned her, but she has too soft a heart to abandon people who have been good to her. ]

There are other worries I have, beyond my duty. [ she looks at their connected hands, and she coughs out petals that color her fear and resignation. ] I do not know if I... can live for long outside of my country.