He gave his wife a small, tender smile, before kissing her forehead. "But that was just my first life, and the ones where Barid and I slammed into each other. I know all I have ever known. And I wasn't always a researcher, inventor, or mage. Sometimes I was a sword and shield wielder, other times I wielded a rifle and charged enemy lines. There is little this soul hasn't done, and I know all of it. And all the failures and mistakes I ever made."<br/><br/>He paused on the trail, about a quarter of the way, lost in his memories, before speaking. "You and Inari are unique. Everyone else has danced around my soul for countless lives. Every one of them I either accidentally betrayed, failed, or abandoned when I didn't come home from a battle. Inari was my first wife and love, in the first life I remember. You are this life's love, though you share me with the others, you are the closest."<br/><br/>He turned to her, and kissed her forehead, his hands on her waist. "You are my Queen, and I have no interest in living without you. I would be devastated by the other's deaths, but yours would shatter me. I am yours, first and foremost, and Inari my second. The others get what is left over, which is more than all of them would have gotten otherwise. Fate may be a whimsical, fickle, amoral bitch, but she does reward her champions well, when they serve her loyally. I am unusual in that I know I am her champion, and that I don't mind being used. It is not a harsh use, all things considered."