[This ground is so tricky, and Garrus takes a breath before talking.]

No one should ever get to a place where they can handle cruelty. We have to kill. But they don't have to make us cruel, or cold, or callous. We don't have to change who we are.

[He can't blame anyone for not knowing how to balance this. Even Garrus is struggling. Today he broke his personal code, one he'd held to for years. No part of this is easy.]

Learn, but learn while staying you. By staying Roxas. Because if you lose who you are, then what's the point of living? It becomes existence. Tedium. One day, and then another day, and no worth in them.

[One of the telusa splashes its way out, weaving around their feet, and Garrus watches it for a moment before continuing.]

Not shutting off what you feel means it's gonna hurt more. But that's what makes us people, the pain as well as the joy.