He quietly listens. As he does, his expression gets a bit further away from crying again, though it's still pretty emotional. How could it not be while listening to Tidus say these kinds of things? He's being so sweet and encouraging, and even moreso--
"You really.. are so strong."
Despite getting put down by his dad of all people, despite having everyone out there compare Tidus to him, Tidus still is able to not listen to that. To still believe in himself. Inigo feels like he went through less, and yet he still feels totally incapable of doing the same. It just has to be a difference in their mental strength.
Inigo lets out a dry laugh, his smile having a hint of wryness in it as he glances over at Tidus.
"Really. I mean it. You have no idea just how impressive it sounds to me that you can say all of that and mean it. I just.." His voice trails off. He's not sure if he can explain this without sounding pathetic, but Inigo remembers the way Tidus treated him after seeing his scars. Maybe he'll be kind on him over dumb emotional issues as well.
"My father.. He actually died. When I was really young. Even before that, he was never around much.. He was the king, after all." Inigo casts his gaze out towards the water. "He was constantly busy, and-- really, I understood that. Of course I'm not as important as a whole country. But then.. he died. I was only 10."
Inigo at least makes sure to leave out the apocalypse deal. He doesn't want to dump everything on Tidus all at once, and he feels like the story still relatively makes sense even without it.
"The time after that was pretty rough. I had to fight.. a lot. Practically constantly. There were days where I wasn't sure why I was even doing it anymore, since I just felt so miserable. But I still kept going as long as there were people out there who needed protection. So for years, and years, and years.. I just forced myself to keep going."
He sucks in a breath. While his voice is still pretty stable, the breath itself is shakey.
"Then we got the chance to travel with Naga. And we got the chance to go to the past. We could prevent everything, even keep my father from having to die. So of course I took it, you know..? Mostly for selfless reasons, since I really wanted to protect people from having to suffer in my future, but.. I can't deny that a selfish part of me really wanted to see my father again. I just thought-- We never had much of a chance to talk before he died, so I thought I could finally talk to him. I thought that once he'd see me, he'd be proud of me. That he would just.." Now Inigo's voice starts growing tighter, choking up. ".. just tell me that all the fighting had been worth it, all those years. That I did a good job in not giving up, even though it was so hard."
He bends his head.
".. but when I met him in the past, he just said he was disappointed in me."
this tag is like freaking fanfic length i'm so sorry
"You really.. are so strong."
Despite getting put down by his dad of all people, despite having everyone out there compare Tidus to him, Tidus still is able to not listen to that. To still believe in himself. Inigo feels like he went through less, and yet he still feels totally incapable of doing the same. It just has to be a difference in their mental strength.
Inigo lets out a dry laugh, his smile having a hint of wryness in it as he glances over at Tidus.
"Really. I mean it. You have no idea just how impressive it sounds to me that you can say all of that and mean it. I just.." His voice trails off. He's not sure if he can explain this without sounding pathetic, but Inigo remembers the way Tidus treated him after seeing his scars. Maybe he'll be kind on him over dumb emotional issues as well.
"My father.. He actually died. When I was really young. Even before that, he was never around much.. He was the king, after all." Inigo casts his gaze out towards the water. "He was constantly busy, and-- really, I understood that. Of course I'm not as important as a whole country. But then.. he died. I was only 10."
Inigo at least makes sure to leave out the apocalypse deal. He doesn't want to dump everything on Tidus all at once, and he feels like the story still relatively makes sense even without it.
"The time after that was pretty rough. I had to fight.. a lot. Practically constantly. There were days where I wasn't sure why I was even doing it anymore, since I just felt so miserable. But I still kept going as long as there were people out there who needed protection. So for years, and years, and years.. I just forced myself to keep going."
He sucks in a breath. While his voice is still pretty stable, the breath itself is shakey.
"Then we got the chance to travel with Naga. And we got the chance to go to the past. We could prevent everything, even keep my father from having to die. So of course I took it, you know..? Mostly for selfless reasons, since I really wanted to protect people from having to suffer in my future, but.. I can't deny that a selfish part of me really wanted to see my father again. I just thought-- We never had much of a chance to talk before he died, so I thought I could finally talk to him. I thought that once he'd see me, he'd be proud of me. That he would just.." Now Inigo's voice starts growing tighter, choking up. ".. just tell me that all the fighting had been worth it, all those years. That I did a good job in not giving up, even though it was so hard."
He bends his head.
".. but when I met him in the past, he just said he was disappointed in me."