[It is lonely. It's always been lonely, no matter what, across years and years. He's just learning what it means to not be by himself, but in a different way from Ren's. He thinks himself extremely capable, so-- why need others? He's being trusted to handle himself. He's being depended on. So he must, he must, he can't just not, when lives are on the line.

But he closes his eyes, and tries to believe her. Just this once, if he can really feel what she says, he can just... try.]

Thank you. I'll do my best to keep that in mind.

[At least he feels like he's breathing again. That's a start. An amount of time to just recover, even if new memories will be coming soon, and he only has so much time.]

I'm sorry to have burdened you with this. I'll do my best to protect you from now on.