[Henry laces his arm back around Ryou when he comes over, gently petting his hair again as he listens. He says nothing, just letting it all spill out. When he's finished, Henry looks down at him again.]

If he's so intent on putting you to sleep, it must be that he's afraid of you. You don't shackle the meek pup; you shackle the rebellious bitch. If he's going to that much trouble, you must be bothersome for him somehow.

[He shifts his hand down, doing a check for the Ring. Nada. Good.]

And that's partly why I bargained for your time -- and especially why I bargained for no Ring. I want to help you with that. Because of my position, I was given training to shield my mind against various attacks or digs within in, just in case an enemy's monster tried to use me against my own kingdom. I want to pass that onto you, to give you that strength back.

You may feel that there's nothing you can do... but you're here, aren't you? As long as you make even one person smile when they see you... as long as even one person is willing to listen or comes to you to be listened to... you're doing something.

A single pebble, even the smallest of them, will start the ripples all the way through the river. All it needs is the force to be thrown in.