[Alfredo is in a quiet corner, in a room not far from the Sick Ward.

Away from the tree, for all the good that's going to do them later.

But he does, eventually, speak:]

Where I'm from, I learned about two different kinds of liberty. There's the physical - not having to listen to those telling you to go one place or another, to do one kind of work or another. Having a choice in how you live your life.

Then there's the kind that's more about how people think. That if you think a certain way, or disagree about the best way to do things for yourself, then nothing should happen to you just because of that.

[Alfredo rests his hands in his lap, gazing at them.]

If my death, willing, was all I'd needed to give, I know I'd do it too. My friends-

[His breath hitches, pauses, but he continues,]

I know they'd do the same. They have brave hearts, all of them.

But if Romeo ended up here?

[Because he knows his friend would be behind helping people keep their spirits up, all the way. What they shared will live on forever, in its own way.]

I'd hate it. I wouldn't want for him to have to make that kind of choice. I know, it's selfish, but I can't change that the feeling is there.

And if it were my sister?

[A pause.]

We were on the run for a year, to keep our aunt and uncle from murdering us the same way they did our parents, all because of their greed. We know what it's like to be afraid of someone catching up to us.

I don't want her to have to look over her shoulder again, the rest of her life. Not when I don't have to make that choice in the same way.

[He closes both hands into fists, leaning his head down onto them.]