Though I do have the ability to experience emotion, I still struggle to understand more... conflicted or uncertain emotional states. I have never faced any emotional situation so complex, nor am I certain how one would approach a resolution.
[ He does pause, here, trying to tie her statements to experiences he might better understand. ]
However... the first emotions which I truly experienced were the result of manipulation, an effort to control my actions which was, for a time, successful. For the nineteen months following that incident, that comprised the entirety of my firsthand experience with emotion. My actions while under the effect of that manipulation were such that for that nineteen months, I often believed that I did not wish to experience emotion at all, concerned for what I might do under such an influence, for who I might become.
Though clearly it is not quite the same, I believe that I can understand the difficulty which you are facing when attempting to discern whether what you have felt is an indication of something which you have always had within you, or whether it is entirely due to an external influence.
[ It's a very long-winded way of expressing his concern, of attempting to display a level of understanding and some degree of empathy, but gosh is he trying. ]
I must confess, however, that I remain uncertain of what advice or comfort I can offer; it is my understanding that situations of such a nature are often challenging to navigate, even if they are not affected by temporal discrepancies and alternate dimensions. Perhaps it would be wisest to allow yourself time, after such an overwhelming confluence of events, to fully absorb and adapt to these new memories, as well as to reexamine your own emotions towards this individual.