4. "Wish Me Luck" "No."
Madame Du Pompadour. There is a school of thought that says that the degree to which you love someone can be defined by the degree to which their needs matter more to you than your own. And while I think that it's actually a bit more complicated than that - and see the above entry re: Rory and Amy for a further discussion as to the lengths to which self sacrifice is healthy for a relationship- it's not entirely untrue. Case in point - The Girl in the Fireplace. It is undeniable that Madame Du Pompadour could have happily spent the rest of her life with the man she loved - and a man who had already accepted that that was what he was going to do and loved her back -
and all she had to do was keep her mouth shut. But she knew what mattered to him, and so she told him about the fireplace. And the rest of the scene is a slow dissolve of her trying to be happy for him while her heart breaks. And he does not even notice. Until he thoughtlessly throws out the 'Wish me luck!' and she struggles for several seconds to lie, to tell him what will make him happy. Before she says the painful truth. 'No.' I will help you to whatever you dream of, even if I can't go with you. But I can not celebrate the loss.