It is a commonly held view that, as your perfect complement, your dual will take everything you struggle with on their own shoulders, making your life as difficulty-free as possible. Of course, this view is especially prominent in relation to the vulnerable function - the idea of never having to deal with such a weakness on your own is understandably attractive, and who is best suited for handling it instead if not the dual, the one who has the same element as one of their two strongest ones? This idea of duality implies that it is desirable to have someone else constantly protect you from the difficulties you would otherwise face, so that you can safely live as if the worrysome information does not exist to begin with.
But let us suppose duality is exactly that, and you did manage to find a perfect dual - how would it actually work? The only way the dual could always solve your problems would require them to be involved in every single area of your life, which hardly seems possible. Moreover, if your dual left you for one reason or another, you would end up even more helpless than before, since the time you spent dualized would have you sheltered and not gaining any experience. The only solution, then, would be to find another dual as quickly as possible, and it is not hard to see why this is suboptimal. Indeed, if this was the case, duality would not be different from financial dependency in its essence, and would need to be approached and considered with the same level of caution. The fact that it is mutual makes it worse and not better - instead of dependency it turns into codependency.
However, I would argue that real duality is much more intricate than that, and that codependency has little to do with the idea of it. While the vulnerable and the suggestive functions are weak, the commonly overlooked fact is that they can be improved. The way to do that is through gaining experience, and this is where the dual comes in. Due to their own function stack the dual is able to present information you need in the most optimal form, greatly accelerating this process of improvement. I see it as filling an empty vessel with water - on your own you are still able to find a couple drops here and there, but the dual can pour water into the vessel at a much more steady pace, while making sure nothing splashes out.
This means that duality is not about forever staying in your respective comfort zones - on the contrary, duality makes it easier to get out of the comfort zone. The direction and the safety net the dual provides allows you to be more confident in knowing that no harm will come to you, and that you will be protected if something goes wrong. By virtue of being 4D in your vulnerable element, the dual is someone whose very existence forces you to reconcile with the fact that this information also exists, while making it feel as understandable and not anxiety-inducing as possible. Duality is not about sheltering - it is about constantly teaching each other, and this is exactly what makes this relationship beneficial; the information and experience you gain can be used throughout your entire life, even after you and the dual have parted ways.
