[Vaguely, it occurs to him that he's never actually expressed these thoughts out loud. They've always been there in the back of his mind, that worry that he may never actually reconnect with his sister, that his journey has been entirely futile, and that things would never go back to the way they were before they were separated. Maybe it was unrealistic to hope that they somehow could, but... would he really be able to carry on with his journey if he didn't believe they would someday reunite? He's not so sure...]

[But he's pulled out from those sad thoughts when Dohalim gently pulls him into an embrace. It wasn't a comfort he was expecting -- in truth, he wasn't expecting anything. Awkward moments and physical intimacy aside, Aether may as well be a stranger to him.]

[After Lumine disappeared and shattered their bond, after he broke down and wept from the pain of his fractured soul, and after telling the healer to simply fuse it together in an eternally fractured state-- after all that, Aether told himself he wouldn't cry anymore. He was tired of feeling so fragile all the time. Wasn't that the whole point of healing his soul in the first place?]

[And yet as he moves to lean against Dohalim in turn, he can feel his eyes beginning to sting with tears -- and quickly takes a deep breath, fighting to blink them back.]

...I don't think think there's anything anyone could say that would make me feel better about it.

But... I can't talk to a lot of people about this, so just this much, it-- it helps.