Although he had physically seen her approaching, Videl had still managed to find himself surprised by the action that Sylvari had taken. Whilst the two had shown displays of affection to one another from time to time, anytime that a hug was involved, Videl would find himself overwhelmed with emotion. It would take just about everything in him to uphold the dam that was forming within his eyes. Fear would overtake him as he had attempted to hold the tears back, knowing that years of emotion would come stumbling forth if he had allowed for them to.

The lack of words had made things even harder for the young T'saya but he had continued to try and push those emotions all the way down. Rather than focus on the words that could be said, Videl would simply enjoy the embrace of his companion. As she had held him, a sense of warmth like never before would overtake him. One that even the hot spring couldn't mimic. One that he would opt to reciprocate by wrapping his own arms around her in return.

After a time though, words would surface from the man and break the silence between the two. "Thank you.. This is really nice. I er.. Really hope that that clears up anything that you might want to know. If there's anything else though," he would say whilst slightly pulling back from the hug, his nose brushing against her cheek as he had done so, "then please feel free to ask anything else. For you, Syl, I'll never hold anything back. Not even you."

He would find himself leaning in once more, tightening his grasp upon her for a ghost of a moment, before ultimately pulling out of her embrace entirely. It was something that he had enjoyed immensely, that he would have loved to capture the moment of, but something that he knew wasn't the best at the moment. With his confused feelings and his emotions kind of in turmoil at the moment, if he had allowed for the embrace to continue any longer, he was certain that he would fall into these feelings for her. For now, it was best to allow that to rest. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to cope if she ever had to depart.

Sylvari retreated from the embrace slowly and methodically, hoping not to draw attention to the rosy hue of her cheeks. It seemed silly to say, but she had not thought about their current situation, so caught up in the emotion of their discussion. Given Sylvari's chaste upbringing and holy persona, it was the closest she had ever been to another.

As her thoughts swirled with embarrassment, Sylvari laid her head back, trying to formulate what to say. Unfortunately, with the flustered state of her mind, Romarii's lessons of polite conversation seemed a million miles away. Sylvari's words came out blunt and edged, far harsher than she wished to convey them, and standing in stark contrast to the intimate closeness the pair had shared just moments ago.

"I'm leaving soon. Perhaps not today or tomorrow, but soon. I don't know how long it will be until I return." Sylvari raged against herself internally, begging her tongue to speak words of comfort, to explain, to offer anything, but it remained stubbornly motionless. The more melancholic portions of the justiciar hoped her words would hurt Videl, not so much as to wound him permanently, but enough to create a rift between them that would make forgetting her easier. Her mind told her that small pain now would spare larger hurt in the future, but her heart could only weep.

'For you, Syl, I'll never hold anything back. Not even you.' Those were the words that he had just shared with the vampiress, only to have her immediately take him up on those words. After pulling away from the hug, Sylvari would say the most soul crushing thing that Videl had heard in a very long time. That she was going to be leaving soon. And from the way that she had said as much, it was evident to the man that she had no intention of bringing him along this time. As though she had something that she had to do. Likely pertaining to this mission of hers.

Even knowing that she had things that she had to do, the hurt had only magnified from the way in which she had come clean about this fact. And if she had intended on departing without him than just why was it that she had just gone out of her way to hug him? To ask about his past and offer him a sense of solace? It very likely wasn't intentional but it almost felt as though everything that she had just done was done to maximize the effect that it had on him. Or that she had fallen to her whims, putting off this mission for him, and was now finally having to return to it. Either option was a possibility and neither option had set his heart at ease.

The thought of being left behind, after having found someone that he could be himself around, had shattered his heart. An immense aching would overtake his chest, Videl keeling over in the water whilst clutching at this pain to try and rip it from his body. The hole that was being filled over the past couple of months was suddenly cleaned right out, only crumbles of that happiness having remained behind in this moment. And then came the cold. An emotional frost that had overtaken him, leaving him feeling as though he had been buried beneath the snow whilst completely free of his clothing. A feeling akin to a void that now took root in his heart. And alongside the emotional cold.. had accompanied a physical one.

Much like any other time he had found himself unable to make any real decisions, his raw and untapped instinct would take over. Subconsciously, the man would find himself calling upon the mana within himself, altering the temperature of the area to the point that even the hot springs had begun to cool. "Oh.." As this emptiness had overtaken him, Videl would physically turn his back on Sylvari. He couldn't bear to look at her at the moment and quite frankly didn't want her to see what was about to occur. "I understand. Thank you for telling me." That was all that he could manage to say aloud as the tears had finally broke free of their dam, pouring over his eyelids in an instant and drifting down his cheeks. The next words to escape from his lips were but a whisper. Quiet enough to the point that she might not even hear him. "..but please don't abandon me too.."

Years ago and miles away, a justiciar held his daughter's hand looking over a burning village. The girl was too small to understand the intricacies of the situation, or the profound pain in her father's heart. She was likewise seemingly too preoccupied with a new toy sword he had carved for her to see the great droplets of water that fell from his eyes: only the second opportunity she had to witness such an outburst from her even-keeled parent. Using the hand opposite from the one he used to hold his daughter, the justiciar dried his tears. He had a lesson to teach, wisdom to impart.

The man knelt down to be eye-level with his daughter, his piercing gaze forcing her to acknowledge him. As flames flickered in the valley below, he posed a question to the young girl, "Little one. What does it mean to be a justiciar?" The girl brought a tiny hand to her face to think, the same as she saw her father do. "It means to be big and strong, just like you, daddy!" Her answer pierced his heart, in light of current circumstances, but it was not the response he sought. "Strength is a part of it, but there is more. Continue." The girl thought again. "It means, punishing bad guys?" "Yes, punishment is a portion. More." The girl scratched her head, nearly stumped. "Um, making good people happy?" 

The justiciar smiled, despite himself. She was a sharp child, and she had zeroed in on just the wrong answer he was looking for. "No, Sylvari. You will find that our oath causes you to bring pain to a great many good people, particularly the ones closest to you."

Sylvari never understood what her father meant until this moment. Doing what was right, did not mean doing what was kind. Her mission was a holy one, predicated on serving a higher ideal, but it was a cause, and thus it had dire costs to follow faithfully. Justice did not require anything; it required everything.

As Videl turned away from her and the world got just a bit colder, the springs losing any of the pleasant warmth they once held, Sylvari understood the tears she saw in her father's eyes those years ago, never letting him know. They were tears mirrored in her own eyes. She could do nothing but sit still as a statue and witness the calamity she wrought.

Remove the emptiness that had currently resided within him. Remove the rage that he had felt welling up inside of him. And remove the tears that were now clashing down into the waters below. Remove all of that and what do you find remaining within the one known as Videl? It's quite simple really. Two things: The desperation to be loved, acknowledged, and to have someone alongside him being the first. And the love that he had felt for Sylvari being the second. Even with everything that the pair had been currently experiencing, and the trials they had endured up to this point, that love would remain. It was this remaining spark of love that would lead to Videl's following actions. 

Knowing that he was now left without the option of choice, Videl was forced to accept that she was going to leave. He could try and force her to stay here but that simply wasn't the kind of person that he was. If this was the kind of thing that she had truly been aiming for than he was going to support her. Even if it tore his heart apart relentlessly. Because, at the end of the day, all that Videl wants is to see her happy.

After taking a moment to wipe away the tears that had been cascading down his cheeks, Videl would turn towards Sylvari for one final time. The fact that he had initially been crying was rather evident considering how red his eyes had been, and how the streaks of the tears had still remained. "Even if it means losing you, I'm willing to accept that this is what you want. You're just that important to me. So go. Do what you have to. I won't stand in your way." Allowing for the frozen nature of his magic to finally cast itself over his heart, Videl would seal away the emotions that had resided within him.

Even though he had been telling her to go, to depart from these lands and to continue on her mission, Videl was the one to rise from the hot springs in his entirety and to start walking towards the edge in which Sylvari would have to escape from the springs. Just as he was about to pass by the vampiress, he would stop for a moment and lean towards her, planting a supple kiss upon her cheek. The final affection that he would allow himself. "Offer Mercy and Noe my goodbye." And with that, he would climb from out of the spring before heading inside to collect his personal effects. His towel would be dropped, his armaments would be adorned, Lumi would be mounted, and then he was gone.

Sylvari felt Videl's movement and subsequent kiss only faintly, as if a spectator within her own body. Before she processed what had transpired, he was gone.

She struggled to come up with an apt comparison to her emotional state, sitting empty, save for feelings she couldn't describe. Finally, her mind leapt, unbidden to a village she had seen months ago. It was situated on the coast, and completely abandoned for a massive hurricane that had swept the area. Luckily, the worst of the storm had passed over the small collection of structures, leaving the buildings mostly intact, but the townsfolk had failed to return yet. The experience was surreal, seeing a place that would otherwise be full of life, devoid of any signs that people had ever resided there.

That was the closest Sylvari was able to come to her feelings: empty, devoid, snuffed out.

He had said that he accepted this was what she wanted. Sylvari laughed bitterly, her echoing voice disturbing the gentle tranquility of the springs, for she could summon no more tears. She never wanted this. Not this. But her life hadn't been about her desires. Since her curse, since before that, she had been following a path set before her by others. She had devoted herself to justice and honor. Such lofty ideals never advertised the abiding loneliness they demanded from their adherents.

With nothing left to anchor herself to this place, the justiciar wordlessly donned her armor, saddled her horse, and rode to be anywhere but here.