I'm so late catching up! Please forgive me.

What an exquisite poem. For me, this sums up why we are all here and why fic is written.

Finally
swapping
bitterness and hate
for care and love,
self-destruction and self-distrust
for self-assurance and self-respect,
inaccessibility
for closeness.

Perfect. It's like a manifesto of love. Only more. It could also be about the changes taking place inside a person regarding himself, as well as between two people. I think you understand very deeply about how self-respect is the foundation of a relationship.

Thank you, Julchen! Words to think on, and to live by.