And with that, the room once again returned to a silent state. No one spoke for several seconds.

  After all, what could be said?

  None of the teens knew what to say. And as for Max's mother, she remained silent.

  For the most part, it was because seeing her son loved by other people had brought her close tears.

  And so, she remained silent, somewhat glad that none of the teens were looking at her at that moment.

  She knew she could act, but something like this was far above her own capabilities.

  As for the other four...

  The simple question remained... what could they say?

  "I'm glad you're over it?" No, too insensitive.

  "I'm sorry." No, they already said that.

  At that point, all their thoughts stopped to a screeching halt.

  So.... the million dollar question?

  What could they say to alleviate the situation without sounding insensitive or saying something they'd said before?

  No idea.

  Their minds kept shooting blanks.

  But that wasn't simply because they had nothing to say.

  It was rather, because something needed to be said... and that no one could say it.

  A good example would be seeing one lose one's parents.

  Perhaps to up the ante, let's have it that the parents were killed in a more emotionally gruesome manner.

  Say, for example, mother and father kill each other.

  Now, let's make it worse and have it be because they hate each other that much.

  And to make it even more horrifying, let's have it that a video of their last altercation be given to their children.

  What would someone say to the child after that?

  The simple answer is nothing.

  What can be said?

  Sorry?

  No. A simple "sorry" wouldn't begin to cut it.

  So.... what can you say?

  Another question may even be, is sorry even the right word?

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  The sentiment, yes. Empathetic sorrow is the right sentiment.

  But... is sorry, as a word, enough?

  For several seconds, no one in the team had the ability to say anything about what had happened.

  The moment was too heavy for all of them. All of them... except....

  But before that...

  Max: Hey....

  At that point, Max was starting to question what was going on.

  He really did mean it when he said it wasn't that big of a deal. After all, he didn't want them worrying about how he was feeling.

  That to him would have been a hige bother.

  Max: Uhh.... guys?

  But then, what could he say?

  Tell them to stop worrying? How could he?

  Max: I said I was.... (lowly) Mmmmm... (thinking: Aw maaaaaan.)

  And then even he had to be quiet.

  However, there was one person tough enough to open her mouth.

  Although, it wasn't as though she was having an easy time with this whole debacle.

  She herself gritted her teeth and clenched her fist before she started.

  Tiffany: Mrs Hunter? Maximillian Hunter?

  Max and Julianne: Hmm?

  Both Hunters as well as the other teens immediately turned to her.

  As for Tiffany, she took a quick deep breath before she continued.

  Tiffany: (thinking: Ok Tiff. This is gonna be completely impossible. But... let's just do it. Ok?)

  She stood up in the chair.

  Tiffany: On behalf of my own team, Luke Parks, Kenneth Stone and Rose Wright, I would like to offer my greatest condolences for the loss of your planet.

  Rose: Tiff....

  Max: (thinking: What the.... is she... really....?)

  And she did not stop there...

  Tiffany: Losing a home is one thing. But losing something that defines the very being of who you are, losing something that important... I can only imagine how much pain the two of you must be in.

  All the while as she spoke, a light reflection could be seen in her eyes, almost as though she herself was close to tears.

  Tiffany: To have everything you've ever known, taken away from you...

  However, all the while, her voice remained the same. Direct and straight forward.

  Tiffany: And so, ... as team leader... if you'll let me... In fact... if you'll let us...

  She was referring to the rest of the team.

  Tiffany: ... we would be delighted to help you both in any way we can. It would be our honour.

  And with that, Tiffany Chang bowed.

  The speech in and of itself was a massive shock to all of them.

  Julianne: (thinking: This child... Tiffany Chang....)

  After all she'd seen, Julianne Hunter could only come to a singular conclusion.

  Tiffany Chang was no normal teenage girl.

  And she was right.

  In times during which we see people suffering, we at times see ourselves stuck in a dilemma.

  After all, what is empathy, but feeling after what one is feeling.

  Someone lost a brother or a sister.

  What can one do?

  Can you bring the sibling back?

  Probably not.

  So, what can one do?

  To Tiffany Chang, the answer is obvious.

  Difficult, but obvious.

  She had to be there for them. After all, could she do any less?

  Max had saved them at least twice before, and Julianne Hunter had so far been a massive help to them.

  Was there anything less she could say she could do?

  Anything at all?

  No.

  But she knew deep down that offering her services to aid the struggles of the boy responsible for her still being alive as well as his mother was what she could do.

  Especially after having heard about their horrible past.

  And as for what she said, it goes without saying, she meant every single word down to the letter.

  After all, what is the greatest form of empathy, than lowering yourself to pick up a suffering one's hand. That was what Tiffany Chang was trying to do. Trying to help....

  Rose: (sobbing) Tiff....

  Luke: (thinking: Hmmm. Well said, Tiff. Well said....)

  Ken: (thinking: Well... I suppose that's why you're the leader.)

  And Ken couldn't help but smile to himself.

  Ken: (thinking: Not bad, Tiff. Not bad at all.)

  Julianne: (thinking: This girl... she really is something... Something special...)

  Even Julianne couldn't help but smile.

  And at that very point,.. Maximillian Hunter did what he did best...

  Max: Jeez Tiff, I said it was ok.