Never 'as much as'. No matter how restricted our lives sometimes were in the core of the Empire, we were still safer and more comfortable than those in the provinces.
[But that's not to say they didn't suffer. And if Takame is willing to hear him out...]
It was because we knew that, that my parents worked so hard to change Imperial policy. They believed in a Garlemald that was capable of truly uplifting others instead of oppressing them, of living in peace and providing a better life and a path toward citizenship for all the peoples within our borders. They believed integrating this way, allowing the provinces to flourish, would make the Empire stronger.
They taught me these things and took their ideals to their graves. ...I still don't really know what happened to them, and with the capital's destruction it's doubtful I ever will. The official paperwork is...vague, at best. Deliberately so. They were inconvenient to the regime, and thus removed.
I always thought it was merely because those in power were unable to see that they could do better by us all. It wasn't until the incident with the prisoner exchange, almost too late, that I finally was able to start to learn that we were never meant to be better at all. That we had always been meant to be a force for chaos and destruction.
I'll spend the rest of my life fixing the wrongs done by and to our people. I suppose I always intended to, anyway, but... [It's really so much worse than he could have known.]
[Takame thought endlessly about how his actions have caused further suffering on both ends. On the occupied side in suppressing rebellions and on the Garlean side by becoming what was essentially their worst nightmare made manifest.
Perhaps he's gotten too comfortable with the weight of that sin. He needed to remember that it was still on his back and that it was still heavy.
It conflicted him, hearing Maxima speak of his family. How many communication lines from the Populares did Takame sever in his younger days? But at the same time, to be reminded that people within the country despised their homeland's actions made him glad for their empathy even amidst their suffering.]
It isn't easy to witness one's world view shatter no matter where they hailed from. Less so when one has scarcely begun to comprehend it then finds themselves in on an entirely new shard.
I never knew of the Populares until I defected. I never began to appreciate them until you and my sister spoke of them in earnest. If it was not for your actions and the actions of those who came before you far more suffering would have occurred. I'm grateful for those like you.
If Garlemald is to become a better nation it is from being steered by open minds, even if we may never be forgiven.
[A bit of a delay.]
Forgive me if my words feel like a cold comfort. I have tried to be better but it is an uphill battle.
[At least a little bit more like Hina. He's unsure if he'll ever get there, but his sister was near Camp Broken Glass after the initial battle into Garlemald proper. Maxima would surely notice that she is a ray of sunshine among dark clouds where Takame was the cloud covered rainy sky with the sun desperately trying to pierce it.]
Ah, but what other sort of comfort is there to be found, in Ilsabard? ...It means something, maybe more than you know, that our efforts weren't in vain. It's been a long road, and the freedom earned at the end of it bittersweet. But we are free now, even with all that we had to lose in the process. I try to let that be enough.
In any event, none of it would have been possible if you were not the right man, in the right place, at the right time. I hope you don't forget that.
[If the incident in Doma hadn't happened the way it did, he wouldn't have defected to Ala Mhigo, learned the ways of the Eorzeans and the true history of the Empire. Even if he'd survived on the front lines of the civil war and everything that came after it, he wouldn't be anywhere near as capable of rebuilding it into a better place, had their paths never crossed.]
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no subject
[But that's not to say they didn't suffer. And if Takame is willing to hear him out...]
It was because we knew that, that my parents worked so hard to change Imperial policy. They believed in a Garlemald that was capable of truly uplifting others instead of oppressing them, of living in peace and providing a better life and a path toward citizenship for all the peoples within our borders. They believed integrating this way, allowing the provinces to flourish, would make the Empire stronger.
They taught me these things and took their ideals to their graves. ...I still don't really know what happened to them, and with the capital's destruction it's doubtful I ever will. The official paperwork is...vague, at best. Deliberately so. They were inconvenient to the regime, and thus removed.
I always thought it was merely because those in power were unable to see that they could do better by us all. It wasn't until the incident with the prisoner exchange, almost too late, that I finally was able to start to learn that we were never meant to be better at all. That we had always been meant to be a force for chaos and destruction.
I'll spend the rest of my life fixing the wrongs done by and to our people. I suppose I always intended to, anyway, but... [It's really so much worse than he could have known.]
no subject
Perhaps he's gotten too comfortable with the weight of that sin. He needed to remember that it was still on his back and that it was still heavy.
It conflicted him, hearing Maxima speak of his family. How many communication lines from the Populares did Takame sever in his younger days? But at the same time, to be reminded that people within the country despised their homeland's actions made him glad for their empathy even amidst their suffering.]
It isn't easy to witness one's world view shatter no matter where they hailed from. Less so when one has scarcely begun to comprehend it then finds themselves in on an entirely new shard.
I never knew of the Populares until I defected. I never began to appreciate them until you and my sister spoke of them in earnest. If it was not for your actions and the actions of those who came before you far more suffering would have occurred. I'm grateful for those like you.
If Garlemald is to become a better nation it is from being steered by open minds, even if we may never be forgiven.
[A bit of a delay.]
Forgive me if my words feel like a cold comfort. I have tried to be better but it is an uphill battle.
[At least a little bit more like Hina. He's unsure if he'll ever get there, but his sister was near Camp Broken Glass after the initial battle into Garlemald proper. Maxima would surely notice that she is a ray of sunshine among dark clouds where Takame was the cloud covered rainy sky with the sun desperately trying to pierce it.]
no subject
In any event, none of it would have been possible if you were not the right man, in the right place, at the right time. I hope you don't forget that.
[If the incident in Doma hadn't happened the way it did, he wouldn't have defected to Ala Mhigo, learned the ways of the Eorzeans and the true history of the Empire. Even if he'd survived on the front lines of the civil war and everything that came after it, he wouldn't be anywhere near as capable of rebuilding it into a better place, had their paths never crossed.]
no subject
[Did he do a funny without realizing it? Is this a pun? Imagine having a sense of intentional humor. Couldn't be Takame.
He hoped that his words helped in some way regardless. It seemed that Maxima was the one helping him.]
Mm. So we are. And the road we walk now is free to be built as we wish even if the path behind us will not change.
I will remember that. I am glad to have met someone like you, that a road to peace might be built. It would not be the same without your hand in it.