"Adopted, of course," Marco grinned. "Imagine an even younger Ace without any of the snarky rage or fire and you've got Toby. He lived in the wild, in basically a cave, and he just had animal friends. He was cursed so he had to be careful what he touched too. He was Espio's roommate and love, and he was the only reason Grell stopped wanting to kill everyone. He drew a picture of you for me. And one of Pops. Just from the descriptions of you! I still have them in my wallet."

Marco leaned against the wall and let out another sigh. "He was like like our glue. None of us have recovered losing him again. It's the fourth time, eh? His world is terrible to him too. He's so soft-hearted, he didn't want to learn to fight to even defend himself so we kept trying to show him how, to give him reason. I don't know how to get to his world to save him though." A sadder sigh and Marco bit his bottom lip. "Fuck. I wished you were here a thousand times. I still can't believe it, eh? Every time he'd come back, I'd do everything I could to try to figure out how to keep him here, keep him safe, keep him happy. Espio's universe was destroyed by a psycho and he couldn't stop it, Grell is a shinigami, so she can find her way back, but the one who needs it most, we can't rescue, eh?"

Marco shook a hand through his hair. "I wish I was as strong as you. I know what Pops says is true. That it's better this way. Still making new family even when we lose some, but fuck. Sometimes I don't know the point of it all. The people who mean the most to me are the ones I can't save at all, and I'm still such a coward, I only get close to the people I think will stay."