"Forgetting doesn't take away the pain," he said, with sudden conviction.

He'd seen how forgetting hurt his mother, as she drifted away in their cave. He remembered that pain even on his cheerful father's voice, when they found him in a cave, too changed even for his mother to recognize him.

But they had beautiful lives to miss, Kubo remembered, suddenly, regretting his conviction of a moment ago.

Maybe Roland only had moments like these, of watching a child about to fall, in his past.

"Forgetting here isn't going to spare you any pain," he insisted, though, not ready to give up on that thread. He'd hesitated, he'd inquired, he'd unraveled as much of the story as he could and now he might be at the end of Roland's patience. Now he might be at the end of the Gunslinger's humanity. But he'd found ground to stand on.

This was not the place. This was not the way to fall out of your own life.

"That's not foolish. That's just true. Even if your life was full of hard decisions, giving it up here isn't a good one."