He closes his eyes for a moment, and breathes through the sharp rush of pain at Jedao's reaction, at the sudden realization that... that this hurts him. Has hurt him.

"I think," he finally whispers, without opening his eyes. "... I think that maybe it needs to be about you, for me." He blinks his eyes open again, and they're damp with fresh tears. "That I need to remember that... I owe you this. No matter what my first instinct is, that-"

He frowns and bites his lip for a moment, waiting for his voice to steady again. "That I owe it to you to remember that it's... it's my damage, and it isn't fair to put it on you. That... you will never be one of the people who told us we mattered, then spent us like nothing more than ammunition."