<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e327/steusloffa/Junk/9b4c67d7-5e06-4750-8d35-191de0acc40c_zpsagryk5tp.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 200%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #BF0000">I Z U</span></span></span></div><br/><br/><br/>Izu took a bite from his salad, chewing slowly as he rolled the current situation around in his head. His eyes, however, never once left Alida. There wasn't much emotion in his gaze, it was as if he were dissecting her with his eyes though. He had only asked her why she wanted to know, he didn't expect the question to bring forth such a reaction. Her hand hovered with her fork for a moment in front of her, then she put it down. She blinked rapidly for a moment as she tried to keep her emotions in check. “Ah…Um…” she seemed to have a hard time finding the words. Eventually, though, they came to her. “Alida…doesn't think Alida’s family is alive. Alida gets sad about it sometimes and misses them very much. Alida was thinking about them and…just wondered if Izu had family because Izu never talks about Izu’s family.” She admitted.<br/><br/>After finishing his current bite of salad, Izu continued to observe Alida in an intense manner. While she had become fairly good at hiding her emotions from him, Izu had also become accustomed to the sudden alien feeling he got whenever he felt her inside his head. While he wouldn't say it was a comforting feeling, he could certainly see the benefit of being able to tell what she was feeling.<br/><br/>Suddenly, Alida didn't seem to be as hungry as she had. Still, she brought the fork back up to take a bite of her food, chewing slowly. The young man continued to watch her, observing her figure and body language. It was quiet for a moment, but Alida seemed unable to keep it. “Alida not understand why Zoltan send Alida here. Alida could have helped! But Zoltan not let Alida!” she said, angrily as she slammed a palm down on the table. It was uncharacteristic of her to display her anger so openly. Her eyes shimmered, tears getting ready to come out.<br/><br/>“Alida sorry. Alida not mean to get angry…” she said, forcing a smile. “Alida not angry at Izu,” she clarified. “Why Izu not see family?” Alida asked, trying to put the subject back on Izu. Izu set his fork down, then leaned back in his chair and locked eye's with Alida. He held her gaze for a long time before speaking, "You think you could have helped?" He asked, ignoring her attempt to shift the subject. Izu crossed his arms, "What do you think you could have done? Could you have hurt the people who attacked you? Hurt them like I hurt the men who attacked you when we first met?" Izu asked bluntly, but gave her no room to answer.<br/><br/>"I won't pretend to know what war is like, but I know what violence is. It changes people Alida, brings out their worst but disguises it as something that needs to be done." Izu said before grabbing his plate, tossing what was left into the trash. After setting the plate in the sink, Izu walked back to the table and sat down. "Let me ask you again, could you have killed to protect yourself?" he asked, locking eyes with the girl.