There are sobering words there. Reality's not that pretty. Rinoa knows he's right, but saying that is hard. Of course she wants to believe things are and were better than the truth of the situation. Is that adamant optimism or just plain foolishness? Quite possibly a bit of both, actually. She won't be admitting it aloud anytime soon, but... She can at least concede on the inside that Squall's brutal way of looking at the world isn't necessarily an inaccurate one. It just seems so much worse to perceive it that way.

She nods slowly, turning his words over in his head. And when he makes mention of his own reckless demeanour, she can't help but smile. That's true. He's definitely done some dangerous things. To get to her. To help her. To save her. A lot of things that have been less about logic and reasoning, and more about feelings. Rinoa eyes him with a quiet and transparent appreciation. Maybe it's never really dawned on her how much he's done for her. Maybe she should be more thankful for that.

"That's not untrue. Might be a bad habit to pick up, though," she jokes gently. "The world can barely handle one Rinoa. What do you think they'd do with two?"