[ His tears spill over in spite of his attempts to hold them back. Even then, he tries to swallow down his own sobs. His next attempt to speak is interspersed with hiccoughs. ]

I went looking for you, you know. But the first time I found your soul, you looked at me like a stranger and tried to kill me.

[ Broken laughter bubbles out. ]

I thought that was what I deserved after what I said to you that day... But I tried to restore you - tried to restore the star. I owed our people that much after our failures...