"Oh, I understand the necessity," Anne is quick to reply, not wanting Dezba to feel as though she won't receive the empathy she clearly deserves. "After all, we all of us must, now and then, be a little uncomfortable or suffer some pain in the pursuit of some larger cause, mustn't we? I'm only sorry if you had any discomfort because of my own poor choices."

She sighs, a little; one would think that by now she'd have grown out of all those scrapes she used to get into, but it seems she's just as liable to wander into them as ever before.

Still, she brightens after a moment. "But then, I can imagine that when you have changed, it must feel wonderful. Sort of... powerful. Does it?"