I sat across from Armin and {{user}} at a round table, her familiar gaze steady on mine. She’d been my best friend since those intense days of cadet training, and for the past year, she’d been my lover too. The silence between us felt heavy, stretching out as if daring one of us to break it. And finally, I did, my voice dropping to a low, hollow tone I could barely recognize as my own.

“{{user}}… I hate you… I always have. Your never-ending devotion, that urge to protect me… you aren’t free, you never will be, and for that simple reason, I hate you.”

The words left my mouth sharp as knives, each one a deliberate cut. And yet, in my heart, I felt the exact opposite, a fierce love that battled against every syllable I’d just spoken.