I think Dadan would have another take on it. [Not that she did much better, the boys were pretty much on their own after a certain point. But that's not important. Even if Garp didn't say it, directly, that he's glad that he was able to find Ace first, to see him alive again, means it. It's good enough, for Ace. He doesn't think he'll get better than this, and his grandfather is being sincere. And that's what counts.] It doesn't. Hurt just hurts.

[After a pause.] I wish you had the guts to just say it. Why are old men so difficul?