[jake's doing well, she is, as always, proud of him—and she listens closely, looking courteously thoughtful, still and quiet and calm.]
You have given this very much thought, I can tell. [There is a fondness in the way she says it, of course, and a contemplation in the soft hum she follows with. Maybe she needs more than the moment she takes to answer. How strange, to be observed like this, to be asked of in such a way. It must be a part of standing on the same ground—and that, too, remains strange for her.]
I do not think you are wrong to call sympathy and empathy thoughts. Perhaps even skills. Things which can be learned, nonetheless. Still, I would not say they are always without feeling, either. None of this is to disparage your efforts, of course; the feeling without the act is the same as neither to the people around you, so the latter is what matters most. If I may, I would say you are learning it very well.
[People who do what you and Zelda do don't get to have feelings. It strikes her, in a way she could not completely articulate if she wanted to, to have it laid out in front of her so plainly. And yet, here she is now with her heart always filled to the brim, but without the world's weight pressing a lid shut on the overflow. Maybe she is not safe to let it spill, but laughter and friendship and inklings of casual closeness would never have been allowed to bubble up like they have barely months ago.]
All this to say—of course there is a homesickness in me, and the pain I have seen in this world and its people and our own small group has brought grief. Even so, I am happy. I love Sinnoh and watching it awaken. I love our party and each traveler in it. For me, this is where those skills come from. Empathy, sympathy, diplomacy. There is an emotion to it all, even to the calm against the pressure, but it is that, despite everything, I truly am happy to be here.
[Here, whole and breathing. How strange it is. How wonderful it is.]
I do not wish for you to have to worry about me. I have faced my share of struggles outside this word, too, so I am not unequipped to handle what we have faced, and what will come next. Of course there have been trials along the way, but I am sincere in not being hindered by them.
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You have given this very much thought, I can tell. [There is a fondness in the way she says it, of course, and a contemplation in the soft hum she follows with. Maybe she needs more than the moment she takes to answer. How strange, to be observed like this, to be asked of in such a way. It must be a part of standing on the same ground—and that, too, remains strange for her.]
I do not think you are wrong to call sympathy and empathy thoughts. Perhaps even skills. Things which can be learned, nonetheless. Still, I would not say they are always without feeling, either. None of this is to disparage your efforts, of course; the feeling without the act is the same as neither to the people around you, so the latter is what matters most. If I may, I would say you are learning it very well.
[People who do what you and Zelda do don't get to have feelings. It strikes her, in a way she could not completely articulate if she wanted to, to have it laid out in front of her so plainly. And yet, here she is now with her heart always filled to the brim, but without the world's weight pressing a lid shut on the overflow. Maybe she is not safe to let it spill, but laughter and friendship and inklings of casual closeness would never have been allowed to bubble up like they have barely months ago.]
All this to say—of course there is a homesickness in me, and the pain I have seen in this world and its people and our own small group has brought grief. Even so, I am happy. I love Sinnoh and watching it awaken. I love our party and each traveler in it. For me, this is where those skills come from. Empathy, sympathy, diplomacy. There is an emotion to it all, even to the calm against the pressure, but it is that, despite everything, I truly am happy to be here.
[Here, whole and breathing. How strange it is. How wonderful it is.]
I do not wish for you to have to worry about me. I have faced my share of struggles outside this word, too, so I am not unequipped to handle what we have faced, and what will come next. Of course there have been trials along the way, but I am sincere in not being hindered by them.
Thank you, Jake. With all my heart, I mean that.