Hugh nodded along with everything Sana said, uncertain how to respond, but letting her know constantly that he was listening. He was hard focusing his mind on everything she said, so much so that when she finally was finished he was slightly tongue tied. He couldn't help but grin at when she told him she loved him, as he was hoping to say the words first. The pleasure had been swiftly taken from him, but he was by no means angry. On the contrary, he felt pride.

However, at her other words, pertaining to her fears his facial expressions sunk to be more sullen. It was a roller coaster of facial expressions for him. 

It's never easy to move on from a love of the past, like a wife one raised children with, but Hugh had done it long ago. However, there was something people never truly understood if they hadn't someone like that of their own before. Hugh would always love his former wife, but it was hard to explain to someone that took it as them being a second love. He had grown at peace with the fact that he had lost her and didn't wish her back in his arms again, choosing instead to live and move forward. 

What could it be said of a man whom did not love their wife after she passed on? Only ill things could be presumed from a man such as that, and Hugh was not that man. Hugh had always loved his former wife, but love was not a finite resource. There was no limit to how much Hugh could love. It might be said that he still loved his wife but let her go and allowed her memory to be at rest. He wasn't holding on to her, only leaving it be, better having lost and loved than to have never loved at all.

He had never sought out a [i]replacement[/i] or a new [i]flavor[/i], nor did he ever expect to find a girl like Sana. All he sought was to live, to heal, and even preserve by his very existence those he had lost. He was the memory of another time and he was what kept them all alive.

"I love you." He finally said, breaking his silence. "You're not a replacement. I'm not holding you to any standard." With a smile coming across his face, he finally said, "I love you for you, as you are. Not for what someone else was or someone else means to me. I love you for you." 

Finally a more serious look came across his face as he put his hand to the back of his own head and scratched it, looking downward. "No one can replace my wife, no one ever will." He looked into her eyes, "I'm never going to ask that of you. I've never, and never will ask that of anyone to replace her." Giving a sigh, Hugh said "You're irreplaceable. You could never be a replacement. You're so beautifully unique."

"We don't need to get a family and settle down to a peaceful existence. We might even die adventuring. Maybe Ariana will grow up dropping bodies and kicking ass." He sighed, a small sheepish smile appearing across his face. "I'm glad I'm here with you. I wouldn't have it any other way." He didn't know what else to say. He couldn't respond to her every concern, he could just hope that showing his love and affection for her everyday was enough.