He stood listening to the Nazi doctor, the man who had haunted his whole life, and the world was turning upside down. We were only children! How often had he thought that accusation? But now he stood and saw not a Nazi but himself. He sat there tied to that chair making excuses for the lives he stole. They were only children! For so long he had never seen it, that what he had done to Jarod was what this man had done to him.

            Sydney had feared and hated the monster all his life. Now he was the monster.

            “You’re not a monster, Sydney.”

            The memories flashed through Jarod’s mind. The time Sydney comforted him. The time he taught him to tie a tie. The way he touched him kindly when telling him about the concentration camp. The way he spoke to him, which was so much different than Mr. Raines’ way of speaking. Sydney had pushed him…Sydney had tried to be impersonal, but his human warmth had always shone through. It was what had always given Jarod the courage to keep trying, to push back, to offer. To be the family they both needed.