There's so much that's good in both of you.'
Sylviana sighed deeply, again fighting off the urge to embrace him and
pour out her heart. 'I'll try. Why, then?'
'She still has too much resentment against the west.'
She moved to stand beside him, her look intent. 'From what?'
.. 'A large number of Japanese, including her grandparents, died a
slow and terrible death from the radiation left behind by the bombing of
Hiroshima. And here, now, losing everything to a War in which her
country played no part, but was decimated nonetheless, killing her
husband. And to lose the baby the way she did---not even knowing she
was pregnant, then coming out of suspension to immediate miscarriage,
hormonal crash, and the end of the world as she knew it. . .sweet
Savior. It would have killed almost anyone else. You HAVE to forgive
her, Sylviana. It's not her fault.'
She pulled up another stool and sat beside him, silent and thoughtful.
Finally she said. 'It's not my fault, either.'
Stenmark sighed. 'She knows that, on an intellectual level. But to
lose so much.' His expression became faraway, recalling perhaps some
bitter pain of his own. 'So much suffering.'
Sylviana looked full into his face, deeply stirred by the physical and
emotional closeness to this wise and noble man, who had seen and known
so much of life.
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