"I'm sorry," she repeated. "It's just...that's what people do, for people they care about. I don't know how to express that, well. Caring for people."

And most people were lenient with her, because of that. She'd gotten a bit too reliant on that fact.

"It's easy to pretend I know exactly what I'm doing, but that's all it is. It's just pretending because I'm so damned confused and frightened so often. I didn't mean for this to be about you, I just...thought of something as we were walking, and... I want to be something that helps people and does good. I've done so many awful things..." She shook her head and took a deep breath. The words wouldn't seem to stop once they'd started.

"I'm sorry, this wasn't what I had in mind at all."