Maybe We Don't Deserve Perfect - Discontinued

Chapter 6 ~ It Just Gets Taken Away From Us

And Ella and Nichole, they were young too. How was it that all of them were so closed off? So... seemingly alone?

What had happened to them?

That seemed like kind of a dumb question now that Lila had thought about it. The Red Room had happened. She knew this.

The Red Room... it must have been so terrible for them. Some of the stories that Natasha and Yelena had mentioned.......

Lila knew that they had skimmed over some of the worst details. She was unsure if it was because they didn't want the others to know everything, or if they didn't want to, or even just couldn't talk about it.

But still... some of those stories....

Rima, Yelena, and Vaani were sitting together a few feet ahead, in the middle of a conversation. Not wanting to interrupt them quite yet, Lila slipped into the seats behind them.

"-Adira, Evelyn, and Vikki made it up. Want to try?" Rima asked the other two widows.

"We just tell you the one thing that we wished we could have changed in our life?" Vaani asked.

"Sort of? Just, if you could change one decision that you made. Just one. What would it be?" Rima replied.

"What's the point if we can't change anything anyway?" Yelena asked, "There's really no point in dwelling on the past, is there?"

Rima shrugged, "I know that's what the Red Room taught us, but Evelyn said she liked this game because it made her think of what she did in the past that she regretted, and how she could have handled it better. Then she can apply it to her life right now, and deal with similar situations in a better way."

"Oh," Yelena seemed to be thinking it over.

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Rima said, "I'll go first. The one thing I would change is that I would stop Vikki and the others from going on that mission."

"Why wouldn't you change something from the Red Room instead?" Yelena asked, "Wouldn't it change more for the better if you could change something from then?"

"Maybe, but then maybe I never would have met Adira. Maybe I never would have been able to stay safe with Vikki. Maybe I never would have met the others, and gotten closer to them.

"I'm happy with my life right now. All of it except for the fact that Vikki and the others are missing. So why should I change things that might ruin that?" Rima replied.

"I get that," Vaani said, "Adira might not be your sister by blood, but she is your sister, and you don't want to risk ruining that."

"Exactly. Well, you all are my sisters. That's just what it feels like now. A family. You know?" Rima said.

Yelena nodded, "Yeah, I think we both know what you're talking about."

"Good to know that people actually understand what I'm talking about!" Rima smiled, "Want to give it a try, Yelena?"

"...Sure. I guess... I would change things so that I had spent more time with Nat," Yelena told them, "Maybe if I had, I would have been more prepared for her death."

"There's no preparing for death. It catches everyone off guard. There's nothing you can do about that," Vaani said.

"...yeah. I guess you're right on that. But.... at least I would have had more good memories to look back on after her death," Yelena said.

Rima nodded, "Hey, at least you have another chance to spend more time with her."

Yelena smiled, though it seemed a bit off, "Yeah. I guess I'm pretty lucky when it comes to that."