"What? And you expected me to come to you like a paranoid puppy? Yeah, no, that wasn't happenin' any time soon," Crow huffed, the undercurrent of a laugh in his voice. "I figured you were here to actually attend class, study, and broaden your horizons like the rest of the good ol' students here... Didn't wanna hang over you like a shadow. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you weren't doing too well."

Oh, he knew Rean's game, exactly what he wanted down to a t. But, Crow was excellent at talking his way out of extra responsibility and old burdens. He put the Imperial Liberation Front behind him with drafts with plans all over them for a few years after he left; he didn't leave them bereft, but certainly he did leave. There was no arguing that.

He wanted them all to scatter. He wanted to protect what was his.

"Speaking of your name: have you gone back to see your family the last few years?"