[color=#b97703]“Things can’t go back to the way they were before. That’s true,”[/color] Cas agreed, being logical. He wasn’t going to make her any false promises that everything would be perfectly fine again, because that would just cause more problems later on. [color=#b97703]“But you still stopped your dad from killing me, and you’re helping me get home. You don’t have to undo the past to fix a mistake, Iris. Just the fact that you’re trying is enough.”[/color] And he meant it. No matter what had happened before, he was sincere in his appreciation of everything she was doing for him now. At first, he hadn’t believed that she was actually helping him, then he’d been confused when he’d realized she was really sneaking him out of Tongsen. Today, he’d come to the conclusion that she genuinely regretted bringing him here in the first place and was doing her best to make up for what she’d done.

Seeing the tears form in her eyes, he gently squeezed her arm in a comforting gesture. The part of him that still longed to rekindle what they’d had in the capital tempted him to gather her up in an embrace, but he restrained himself. To hug her right now would be like offering a false promise without words, and he couldn’t do that to her. They were never going to be able to be as close as they once were, so he didn’t move, trying to sooth her in a more platonic manner than he wanted to on the inside. He had to remember that it was for the best that he maintained some boundaries between them, so they could eventually part ways without painfully breaking another bond.

His resolve wavered at her following question though. [color=#b97703]“I can say it because it’s true,”[/color] he said stubbornly, holding her gaze until she looked away. [color=#b97703]“If you were a bad person, you wouldn’t be feeling like this right now. A bad person wouldn’t care who they hurt, but you obviously do. Like I said, nobody’s perfect. Good people make mistakes too. Sometimes you think you’re doing the right thing, and you find out later on that it wasn’t the right choice. That doesn’t make you horrible, it makes you… well, human.”[/color] As he spoke, he absentmindedly stroked her arm without realizing what he was doing. The gesture was so natural with her that it was almost a reflex.

Pausing briefly, he reflected on how ironic it was that he was saying some of these things to her. It was advice he knew to be true but often found difficult to believe, himself. Of all people, he knew what it was like to beat himself up over minor mistakes. It didn’t help that his father only perpetuated the habit by accepting nothing less than perfection from him when he helped out with kingly duties. He understood in his head that mistakes were a normal part of life, but in his heart, he always regretted it whenever they happened. He also knew that meant that a few honest words probably weren’t going to make Iris feel much better. It was hard to argue with emotions.

[color=#b97703]“You may not believe me, but that’s what I think,”[/color] he finished firmly.