"Oh, Pepper..." he began. How could she not know what she, what they all had done? He sat up in order to catch her eye.

"It meant everythin'. It still does. Look..." and this was hard to talk about because they never did, but he forced himself to say it for her sake. "When I was born, I was 'posed to live with some ol' American ambassador an' have nannies and tutors an' learn all 'bout evil and takin' over the world. That didn't happen. I grew up a normal boy with you an' Brian an' Wensley. An' us playin' war or pirates or witches or ninjas or anythin' helped me learn 'bout good and evil together. 'Bout balance. 'Bout how you could be good one day an' bad the next. Or how the bad guys sometimes weren't if you looked at 'em diff'rent an' the good guys weren't always so good. You 'member how we felt when we found out 'bout the cowboys killin' all them indians by givin' 'em blankets with small pox in? You said that wasn't on and you were right. I learned what's right by playin' with you three. By havin' you in my life. An' I was able to make the right choice when the time came. So how isn't that the most important thing? If you c'n keep doin' that for me, keep me centered, keep me knowin' not just who I am, but what I want to be, mebbe you c'n save the world a second time."

At some point during the monologue, his arms had ended up around her and when it was done, he didn't let go.