Thinking about a fantasy time loop.
The Hero, faced with impossible odds but given all the time in the world to overcome them. All he has to do is learn. All he has to do is keep trying, and with a heart full of hope its the easiest thing in the world.
And he keeps trying and he keeps learning, and he gets stronger and faster and smarter and better. He learns his friends' dreams and secrets, and keeps to their ideals with a steadfast will that earns their loyalty.
And after a thousand loops his blade sings through his foes, and he laughs with the simple joy of knowing what he has to do.
And the first time his blade rests at the Villain's throat, he hesitates. People still died, he tells himself. And he lets time loop once more.
He gets faster and stronger and smarter and better. He saves them- all of them. The villains armies, turned aside with love and compassion and all the time in the world.
And yet, his heart clenches with fear as he levels his blade at the only one who has to die.
If he does this... if he finishes this... its all over.
He'll never live those days again. He'll never get more than one try at anything ever again, and he's afraid he's forgotten how to learn without dying.
There will be things he doesn't have the time to see, or do, or find.
His friends will go their separate ways, and change in ways he won't have time to understand.
And that, more than anything, fills his heart with dread.
So he turns his head and lets the Villain strike him down.
And the gears of time skip backwards once more. The Hero awakens with a smile gone a thousand years stale, rolls off his bed with a habit worn so deep its easier than breathing, and forgets the final moments of the last loop with practiced ease.
"I'll save them all, this time," he tells the morning sun.
And the worst part is, he always means it.