The Girl From Last Night

All In The Past

It was one of the most beautiful places in the south pole, beautifully tragic. The monument itself wasn’t very big, but the whole sight turned into a memorial. This was due to the fact that the monument was placed on a mountain that the southern forces were pushed back to and held until the end of the war. From the monument you could see abandoned tanks and crashed air-carriers from the war. You could see children, too young to have known war, playing around in the rubble, hanging down from the barrel of the tanks or pretending to be soldiers. The place always gave Korra anxiety, because the memories of camping there were all too vivid. Canping, patroling, shooting enemies... The memories were nice, and though she did her best to process those, mostly she preffered to ignore them. But, visiting this place meant a lot to her, so, she ignored the flashes. Right next to the monument itself, was a recorded lecture about the place and its significance, and Asami immediately went to listen to it. She stood there, looking at the view, hearing all of the horrifying details of the battles that took place in that very spot, knowing her girlfriend had to endure it all. It must have been one of the worst feelings in the world, maybe even harder than having to live through it. In fact, Korra was pretty sure it was much more horrifying. There was nothing worse than seeing a loved one in pain and knowing that you can never take away their hurt.

Welp, it is what it is.

Korra took a deep breath and placed her bag on the floor to pull out a picnic blanket out of it. She placed it on the ground and started to take out all of the drink cans and bottles she had bought. Per usual, she placed them next to the monument itself, which consisted of large tomb-like rocks, with the names of all of the fallen soldiers engraved to it. Thankfully, it was divided by units and departments, so it was fairly easy for her to sit right next to her lost friends.

“What are you doing?” A curious voice came from behind her, it was Asami’s voice and even considering the circumstances, Korra couldn’t help but smile.

“Coke.” Korra took out a can from the numerous drinks she set up, and opened it. “Riley was a huge addict.”

Asami sat on the blanket, right next to it. “Riley? She asked.

“Yes.” Korra said, pouring the contents of the drink next to the tomb. “One time when we were on a sail, she asked if we could get her two cans of  coke from the mess room at nine AM, since she had the morning shift and couldn't go herself.” Korra smiled at the memory as she sat aside the empty coke can. “Me and Suro thought it was a bit ridiculous to have coke this early in the morning, but we got it nevertheless, only to see that by this time in the morning she had already had five empty cans of coke on her stand.”

Asami smiled at her. “No kidding.” She said, amused.

Korra smiled back, picking up the next drink “And Dakku?” She showed her the beer. “He always had a way of sneaking in alcohol to our bases. Nobody knew how, but he managed to get past security, commendors and annoying suck-up soldiers.” She started pouring it out as well. “He never got a punishment, ever.”

“Impressive.” Asami nodded.

“And this girl…” Korra picked up the next drink, which was just fuzzy water. “Well, Yuemo. She needed money for college, that’s it. Everyone was drafted at the end, but I used to hear her every night, crying about how she shouldn’t be there.” 

“Oh, Korra…” Asami pursed her lips together, worried.

“And every time we went home, she returned with enough fuzzy water to last her a week. Suro and I used to steal it just to freak her out and watch her look for it everywhere.” She laughed slightly. “Good times, good times…”

She went through all of the drinks, all of the names that time forgot. Asami listened to her carefully, through all of the dozen drinks she brought. It was a tradition for her to bring her lost friend’s favorite drinks. Her therapist recommended her to do something to help her feel close to her loved ones, and that was her way of doing just that. She knew those people for a year, but it felt like they were her closest’s friends. Yet at the same time, she didn’t know them outside of the army. She never met their families, until the funerals, and she didn’t know what their hobbies were. But, she knew their favorite drinks, so she brought it over to them.