...Is that one of the signs, then. That love grows from, among other things, a belief that someone else deserves the best that the world has to offer...
[And if he grows distant for a moment there, it's only because he's running down a mental checklist of sorts, applying that to every instance of love that he can think of to see if it fits.
He thinks of his mother, putting herself in danger to catch him when he'd fallen, putting her care and concern for his well-being above even her own.
He thinks of Kuwabara, agonized over the prospect that Yukina might now hate humans because of the torments she'd suffered at the hands of a few; Kuwabara, who'd been faced with an enemy standing ready to fight and looked past him to the real monster in their midst, the one who'd taken Yukina captive in the first place.
He thinks of Yusuke in his first fight with Hiei, determined to win and furious at the thought of Keiko being made a pawn and a plaything against her will.
He thinks of the night of the Forlorn Hope, and how Yusuke hadn't even hesitated an instant before demanding that the mirror take his own life instead of that of a demon-turned-human's he'd only just met a handful of hours before — all so that demon-turned-human could avoid making his mother sad with the news of his death for her sake.
And he thinks, of all things, of himself — how he'd clumsily sought to make that sacrifice for his mother's sake because he'd known it was right, even if he didn't necessarily get it right in the execution.
He thinks of how fond he is of Yusuke's laughter, just because Yusuke deserves to laugh in the first place.]
no subject
[And if he grows distant for a moment there, it's only because he's running down a mental checklist of sorts, applying that to every instance of love that he can think of to see if it fits.
He thinks of his mother, putting herself in danger to catch him when he'd fallen, putting her care and concern for his well-being above even her own.
He thinks of Kuwabara, agonized over the prospect that Yukina might now hate humans because of the torments she'd suffered at the hands of a few; Kuwabara, who'd been faced with an enemy standing ready to fight and looked past him to the real monster in their midst, the one who'd taken Yukina captive in the first place.
He thinks of Yusuke in his first fight with Hiei, determined to win and furious at the thought of Keiko being made a pawn and a plaything against her will.
He thinks of the night of the Forlorn Hope, and how Yusuke hadn't even hesitated an instant before demanding that the mirror take his own life instead of that of a demon-turned-human's he'd only just met a handful of hours before — all so that demon-turned-human could avoid making his mother sad with the news of his death for her sake.
And he thinks, of all things, of himself — how he'd clumsily sought to make that sacrifice for his mother's sake because he'd known it was right, even if he didn't necessarily get it right in the execution.
He thinks of how fond he is of Yusuke's laughter, just because Yusuke deserves to laugh in the first place.]
...Oh.
[Oh. Well. Well, then.]
...That's...illuminating.