[She just nods, eyes still locked on the ground. It occurs to her now just how little she's really told Rin about herself. About her world. About the experiences she's lived, and the pain she's gone through. About everything that happened to her, in the final years of her short life.]

[About just how much Ion meant to her.]

Ion... the Ion I knew, he-- his body was really weak. He got sick all the time, so... I-I wanted to become someone strong. So I could protect him forever. I was always by his side...

[The ghost of a smile appears on her face, briefly recalling those happier times. The juxtaposition of a smile with eyes that look near tears is probably a bit strange.]

But then-- maybe two years before I came here... he got really sick. I wasn't even allowed see him for over a week... and then I wasn't allowed to see him at all.

[Her hands tighten into fists at her side, and she moves to cross them over her chest. Her next words are spoken slowly, carefully.]

Because... because he wasn't just sick. And the Ion who I saw after that, who wouldn't even look me in the eye... that was the replica they made to take his place. So no one would know he was... gone. [...] Not even me.