For family.

For glory.

For love.

For things to be different.

For his brother to be a good man again.

For his soldiers to last the night.

For the power to protect his people and his nation.

For Acatl to look at him and see him, to view him as a man and not a pathetic child.

For—

“You said things as one man to another. That won’t change, Acatl.”

“No. I guess not.”

For a smile, soft and uncertain and entirely transformative.

For a city bathed in golden light, and a heart so full of rapture he could barely find words to speak.

When he looked back, Acatl was still smiling.