Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh—" Caedus reached out to accept the crystal gratefully. While he pocketed the one Celsus had used, he withdrew three crystals of the same size, uncharged. "Only if you want to give energy. It does not need to be tonight. I would trust you with these, if you would have them. But I cannot ask for anything from you. You see like you need your energy, and I would hate to take from you what you need. But if you find the desire to offer any more, any one of those should work. I will be here—or, around—if you wish to return with them, but I do not want you to make yourself sick by pushing yourself too hard in one night."

But he wanted to get home, and there was no concealing that; not when he'd made it so apparent. He spoke with a little more hope, a little more optimism, though; he did not sound so incredibly tired.

Small steps were still steps, and he was one step closer to his goal.

Caedus did not immediately reply. Instead, he lowered his gaze and focused on a patch of grass a few yards away. Shadows covered his face, but he laced his fingers together and then moved to rest his hands in his lap.

"Sometimes it is not such a simple answer, for me. I want to go home. I need to. I want to find my homeworld flourishing. I want to know that they survived, without me, without difficulty. But I want to return, and I want to be needed again. I want to sleep in my bed. I want to see my friends. I want to do what I was meant to do. I have faith that my planet has survived. But if they haven't, then…"

His voice trailed off for a moment and he shrugged weakly. "Then I need closure. I need to know what happened to them. I would need to avenge them. But until then, I will have faith. I want, and need, to go home. All other wants and needs are second to that."

For a short time, Caedus considered the words, and then he released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His head bowed, and the softest, faintest chuckle fell from him.

"Then I am in good hands, my friend. Thank you."