Game Date 08.03.2001

Letter to Mariah

Mariah,

Please set this aside until you are ready and willing to read this over objectively.

I didn't tell Juan that he should go, I told him that he needed to follow his heart. He has never had a chance to discover who he is. He has never had a chance to make his own decisions. He was created to be a solder, he has been trained to be a warrior. His only chance to be him was when you and John sent him to school, and then he came back to the Wardens, to become a hero. All as planned for him by others.

Now he is a young man who's "God has died." His words my friend, not mine. But I can understand them. He has lost a father, almost lost his mother to grief when his brother was taken, and for a while, lost his own sanity. He has lost his faith, and needs time to regain it. He can not do that when he is surrounded by everything that causes him to question who he is. Not while living a life that he is no longer sure is "worth it."

I'm sure that Juan knows the risks that he faces, and will be on guard. If you can not trust his instincts, trust the training that you and John gave him. Trust in the values the two of you have instilled in him. Also trust in his love for you, he will return.

You can not put a chick back in it's shell. You can not change a butterfly back into a caterpillar. Just the same, you can not turn a man back into a boy. Let him have his time to discover what sort of man he can be.

Your friend,

Eve