Flashback
"Mom, look at the mountains. Isn't it beautiful?"
The mountain Denzel talked about was not what was in front of them but rather what was painted on his painting board. He painted the mountains just as he had seen them to impress his mother.
Denzel was a teenager by then and already a tough warrior, but being with his mother was always like being with Luna Fernanda. He didn't mind being childish and vulnerable to enjoy the security and love of his mother.
As expected, his mother was impressed by his painting. It was so well done that if not for the fact that it was on paper, one would have thought it was really what was in front of them. "Zel, you paint well."
Denzel was not satisfied with his level of creativity. It only came in items but not in personality. There were things he couldn't paint right, no matter how hard he tried.