Even without his anger showing on the surface, the question itself was enough to prompt Naminé to shake her head quickly, as if to try to dispel any notion of wrongdoing.

"No one had to convince me of that. Because-- it was true." Goodness, this really had ventured into territory she was cautious of treading. But they were there now; the only way forward seemed to be to explain in the hopes that Iroh might understand. "Even if the things I did while I was captured weren't what I wanted, I still chose to do them. I still... hurt a lot of people, just because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn't. It was only right for me to do what I could to make it better afterwards, once I was free."

Sitting back slightly, she folded her hands on her lap, teacup remaining carefully held between them. With her expression so pinched, she looked contrite even now when she was only talking about the past, rather than living it. "And the truth is, the problems I caused couldn't have been resolved by anyone other than me. If I hadn't made the effort, even more innocent people would have suffered because I was selfish."