"He's not from worlds like we are," Rikku said, loyally. "It was hard for him. I'd go off world-saving and he'd stress about it. So I tried not to, so much, any more, because he couldn't handle it. But I think that was just ... not ever going to be right, you know? That's what I mean. That I don't ever want you to feel like that."

She was going to stare at the water, again. "If the ugly ones were important ... I mean ... if you had to do awful things, but there was a good reason for it? That'd be different, I think. If you had to go ... take someone out, but there was a good reason for it that wasn't just, your boss wanted them dead. Not just, hey, he's a bad guy anyway. I don't know. I think I have a screwy moral center." She frowned, at that. "It's been wobbly lately. I think. I don't know if that's ..."

Rikku shook her head to clear it and looked over at him. "You mean that?"