[ A relationship. What she'd shared with James couldn't even really be called that, they'd only just started, and who knows what it might have become, but... Deep down, she knows she was in love with him. Still is. Another tragic note in her life's story: she's in love with a man who never should have existed.

Her throat tightens with emotions at Chris's words and a fresh wave of tears threatens to break loose; she only just manages to hold them back. It's a beautiful sentiment that she doesn't have the slightest idea how to respond to, so she skirts around his kind words about her until she knows what to do with them. ]

He's one of the only people I've ever met who didn't recognize my name and judge me for my family's legacy. When he looked at me, he just saw me. Not a victim of the Gorn or an augmented monster, just... me. The real me. [ She looks down at her lap, at the cooling mug of coffee she hasn't yet touched. ] I'll never be able to thank him for that. For showing me the person I had the potential to become.

[ Taking a deep breath, she tilts her head back to look up at the ceiling, her eyes growing red and puffy from her crying. ] I suppose by your accounting, we should feel sorry for this James Kirk for never being able to know that version of me.