The Hit List: Justice for Asami

Getting better

"As you may have noticed, we have a newcomer today," the therapist lady said cheerfully, "Asami, do you wanna share with us how you're feeling today?"

Asami tore her eyes from the ceiling, only to blush when she realized everyone in the room was looking at her. "I'm fine," she muttered, leg tapping on the floor anxiously.

"Do you wanna share your experience with the others?" She asked sweetly.

Asami laughed nervously. "Same as everyone here y'know." She said, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Every person's experience is different,"  the lady said, "opening up is the first step at getting better."

Asami's breath came out in a shudder, and she stilled her leg with a sigh. She didn't want to share anything with anyone, but she promised Korra she would try, so she had to.

"Um," she started, "my name is Asami–"

"Wait, Asami, as in Asami Sato?" Someone interjected. "From the news?"

"Uh..." Asami started feeling nervous and uncomfortable, "yeah, that's –"

"Shit, you're the girl who just lost the case against her father," he continued, wide-eyed.

"Jackson, we don't cut people off," the therapist said.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"There, Asami, please continue," she smiled at her.

"I mean... if they all already know then what's the point?" Asami laughed nervously.

"We don't talk about our problems to inform other people," she calmly said, "we talk about them for ourselves."

Oh my God I hate her.

"So, like I said, I'm Asami," she said, eyes glued to the ground, "um, my dad was the..."

"Abuser?" Someone suggested.

Asami flinched slightly at the word, but nodded nevertheless. She took in a deep breath, and continued. 

"My mom died when I was six, and dad- I mean, Hiroshi, always blamed me for her death. And for the longest time, I believed him when he said that that was why he hit me, but I recently came to find out that he used to hit my mother too... so he probably was always this way."

"We shouldn't blame ourselves for our trauma," the therapist, Asami really should've remembered her name by now, said sweetly, "it's never our fault."

Wow. Genius. "I know," she said, still not lifting her gaze, "well now I know. I just can't believe I didn't see it before..."

"What do you mean?" Some curious girl asked.

Asami shrugged. "Before my mom died, we used to go eat pizza together a lot," she smiled at the memory, "what I remember best from those times, is how safe I felt, so I cherished thise memories for a long time, even now it's my favorite food. But... if I felt particularly safe, and if it was that exceptional, that means that..." she gulped. "That means that there was danger, how did I miss that?"

"It's not uncommon for people to forget traumatic experiences," the therapist said.

"Especially childhood trauma," the girl from before spoke again.

Asami shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She knew that, it was pretty obvious that she forgot that part of her 'trauma' given that she doesn't remember it. But all these people looking at her and listening to her started making her feel a little bit uncomfortable. She did feel lighter after sharing, but still, it was odd, and she didn't exactly like it.