[The lighter comment gets her a softening of the lines of his eyes, too. Guilty!
No, she's not a good person. She's a hurt person, a person with priorities not many can relate to. She did terrible things for reasons that weren't good. But she wasn't the worst person at work. And, asking her to be a good person after everything she'd been through...
...feels mean. It feels like expecting a horse that's been neglected and beaten all its life to agreeably pull a cart. A miraculous animal might do it, but that's not to be expected. It's got to be fed and cared for, first, and even when it's healthy again, it'll never be the same -- it's impressive if it doesn't bite through your hand. But it's got a right to live and be happy nonetheless.
Like this, Atem isn't worried about humans she kills. Monster killing is a Fog-caused problem, and whose life she decides to take ain't his business. So, his strongest impression, from knowing what she does regret, is that...she's really doing well, isn't she? There's not only one important person in Mukuro's life anymore. She has people who wouldn't ask her to massacre a class of middle schoolers to prove her loyalty. Who don't ask her to prove it.
Junko was the only one who cared about Mukuro back then, but there's something in the way Mukuro says upset that Atem doesn't like. He frowns a moment...but decides not to press. Not today. She's already given more than enough answers to him, more than he deserves from how he behaved. So he doesn't say, she shouldn't have asked you to do that. He doesn't say, it was wrong. He says--]
You didn't deserve to have your loyalty tested that way.
[But that's all he has to say about it. He'll move on, his face smoothing out.]
I'm glad you're not where you came from anymore. I need to find a way back to my world, for Yugi and Ryou, but there are people this place is good for. I'd have to be a real idiot not to understand that! If what would be waiting for me if I left was a place like you described...I'd live here gratefully, too.
[He's not looking for a way back for himself. Not really. He knows Yugi sends him away at the end, and he's not certain of how the time-mechanics work, exactly; it's unclear whether or not that can be changed, and Atem's not going to worry about it until he's solved the bigger problem, the one at hand. He might have even had more time here already than he would have if he'd never left Domino...]
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No, she's not a good person. She's a hurt person, a person with priorities not many can relate to. She did terrible things for reasons that weren't good. But she wasn't the worst person at work. And, asking her to be a good person after everything she'd been through...
...feels mean. It feels like expecting a horse that's been neglected and beaten all its life to agreeably pull a cart. A miraculous animal might do it, but that's not to be expected. It's got to be fed and cared for, first, and even when it's healthy again, it'll never be the same -- it's impressive if it doesn't bite through your hand. But it's got a right to live and be happy nonetheless.
Like this, Atem isn't worried about humans she kills. Monster killing is a Fog-caused problem, and whose life she decides to take ain't his business. So, his strongest impression, from knowing what she does regret, is that...she's really doing well, isn't she? There's not only one important person in Mukuro's life anymore. She has people who wouldn't ask her to massacre a class of middle schoolers to prove her loyalty. Who don't ask her to prove it.
Junko was the only one who cared about Mukuro back then, but there's something in the way Mukuro says upset that Atem doesn't like. He frowns a moment...but decides not to press. Not today. She's already given more than enough answers to him, more than he deserves from how he behaved. So he doesn't say, she shouldn't have asked you to do that. He doesn't say, it was wrong. He says--]
You didn't deserve to have your loyalty tested that way.
[But that's all he has to say about it. He'll move on, his face smoothing out.]
I'm glad you're not where you came from anymore. I need to find a way back to my world, for Yugi and Ryou, but there are people this place is good for. I'd have to be a real idiot not to understand that! If what would be waiting for me if I left was a place like you described...I'd live here gratefully, too.
[He's not looking for a way back for himself. Not really. He knows Yugi sends him away at the end, and he's not certain of how the time-mechanics work, exactly; it's unclear whether or not that can be changed, and Atem's not going to worry about it until he's solved the bigger problem, the one at hand. He might have even had more time here already than he would have if he'd never left Domino...]