"Maybe it would have changed something," She acknowledged. "But what really hurts is knowing that even if something had changed even slightly, the ending probably would have been the same. Or it might have been infinitely worse." But there wasn't any better and that was the worst part of the grief. Still, she spoke very gently, having absolutely no desire to turn his emotions from grief to anger.

"Gilead was never going to be your ending. You said it as many times, believed it, and probably still know it in your heart. That it's gone this way doesn't meant you didn't spend years defending it, and years fighting every form of resistance, you aren't invalidated and neither is the line of Eld. You're still here, and the three of your are still parts of Gilead." She dared to wrap her arm around his shoulders and squeeze gently. "... Granted, none of it feels that way. Throwing up nails would hurt less."

Or maybe that was just how she felt about her family.

"But you still deserve to hear it even if you won't believe it."