[A dream, a remnant of a future that had been changed and the hornless kirin of a doomed kingdom. This was the trio that sat curled around each other this night. Taiki held onto them both as tight as he could, as if it could all be over in seconds, as if they could both disappear.

They could. That was the way of the train, people just left. Walked away. But even before... Taiki was used to things changing suddenly. All the hope in the world wouldn't stop them from vanishing. Wishing would not change Tidus' fate, or make Inigo's kinder.

It's enough to make him cry more, enough to make his hands curl where they touched the two of them, clinging tightly too them.

But wishes never changed things. The only thing that could change things was the will of those who fought for things to be better. He's seen people striving in impossibly terrible circumstances, he's seen people beaten, starving, freezing, still going on because they would not let their kingdom die without a fight.

He's seen people risking their very lives to stay loyal to a king who might have been dead. He's seen a frigid, broken kingdom rise up with hope and defiance against those that would destroy it.

He's also seen all of that crumble beneath the cruelty of one man in power but he tries to cling onto that hope, that will.

After all he is the embodiment of an entire kingdom's hope in a peaceful land. If he can hold the dreams of the people of Tai on his shoulders, then he can hold the hope of his two friends as well.]

Inigo is right. Friends are there to help each other. This is not a burden you need to bear alone. You are not alone.

[Tears have made his vision hazy, but he makes sure he is looking Tidus in the eyes.] You are normal. As normal as me and Inigo are.