[It is soothing, he'd admit that if asked. It reminds him of much earlier days, during their moult, when so many of his truths were still secrets, when he could still bury it deep and pretend everything was okay. It helps him remember how far they've come since, and how impossible it feels now to hide or fake it the way he used to. He can share this. He doesn't need stitch himself back together for the war, for the family, for convenience. He can feel this, all of it.

He takes a deep breath.]

I feel... better, but worse, too. It's weird. It hurts. I could feel him... his reaction to it all... I know it's everything he wanted for me. He was... happy.

[He pauses, then, briefly, and one hand shifts to clasp over his chest. His heart is beating so fast. Why? They're just talking. It all happened last night, it's over now. He's fine. He's fine.]

...He had to leave again. I knew- I knew he was going to. It's good that I... got to say goodbye. [He shudders, eyes clenching.] I said goodbye, and... he's gone...

[The parting this time was better. It was so, so much better. The trauma of being tossed alone through a portal, watching him disappear in a blaze of deadly energy, now has a layer of softness and love blanketing the pain, the feeling of ghostly arms around him and the sensation of good and happy and pride. Sensei was proud of him. Sensei loved him. Sensei accepted him, all of him, the changes and the growth and all the ways he's gone soft. The loss had been so kind, compared to that day.

But it's a loss all the same.]