Jade watched in silence as his fellow Heroes volunteered to die -- Minato, Sephiroth (and Jade's chest stung quite hard at that one), that girl Sayaka. As much as he wanted to stop them, there was no other recourse they could take. Not if they wanted to see this through to the very end.
See it through to the very end... He had promised himself as much, after understanding the sacrifice Professor Nebilim had made for them.
It would be logical for him to volunteer. Those from Auldrant had become intimately familiar with death. Jade had been slow to truly comprehend the significance of it but in the end, even he had come to see the value in living... just as he was forced to watch someone dear to him choose to die for the greater good. If Luke could summon the courage to make that choice, wasn't following his example the least Jade could do? His life would be a small price to pay, all things considered.
He very nearly spoke up right then.
Fool. Jade's words became stuck in his throat. He could practically hear the disappointment in Rukia's voice upon learning he had been so terribly quick to throw his life away like it had no value at all. That alone might not have stopped him, only...
There was still Peony, waiting back in Auldrant. The idiot would be beside himself if Jade never returned. And there were the replicas, thousands of them, who still needed help -- the kind that only Jade was in position to give. To say nothing of his little ragtag group of a family...
He didn't want to die. The realization came as a shock.
The hesitation kept him silent just a moment too long. Before he was able to sort out the sudden turmoil inside his head, someone else came forward before he could.
"Tear..."
This time, Jade couldn't quite keep the pain out of his voice. He met Tear's gaze, his thoughts clear even when he didn't say them out loud. You're about to put me through that all over again, aren't you? Another part of the family was about to walk to her death. And just like back home, he was powerless to stop it.
Damn kids.
"Very well." He took the pendant without protest. Despite everything, he managed a small smile. "I suppose this means I'll have to keep living for a little while longer."
no subject
See it through to the very end... He had promised himself as much, after understanding the sacrifice Professor Nebilim had made for them.
It would be logical for him to volunteer. Those from Auldrant had become intimately familiar with death. Jade had been slow to truly comprehend the significance of it but in the end, even he had come to see the value in living... just as he was forced to watch someone dear to him choose to die for the greater good. If Luke could summon the courage to make that choice, wasn't following his example the least Jade could do? His life would be a small price to pay, all things considered.
He very nearly spoke up right then.
Fool. Jade's words became stuck in his throat. He could practically hear the disappointment in Rukia's voice upon learning he had been so terribly quick to throw his life away like it had no value at all. That alone might not have stopped him, only...
There was still Peony, waiting back in Auldrant. The idiot would be beside himself if Jade never returned. And there were the replicas, thousands of them, who still needed help -- the kind that only Jade was in position to give. To say nothing of his little ragtag group of a family...
He didn't want to die. The realization came as a shock.
The hesitation kept him silent just a moment too long. Before he was able to sort out the sudden turmoil inside his head, someone else came forward before he could.
"Tear..."
This time, Jade couldn't quite keep the pain out of his voice. He met Tear's gaze, his thoughts clear even when he didn't say them out loud. You're about to put me through that all over again, aren't you? Another part of the family was about to walk to her death. And just like back home, he was powerless to stop it.
Damn kids.
"Very well." He took the pendant without protest. Despite everything, he managed a small smile. "I suppose this means I'll have to keep living for a little while longer."