Uijeongbu, Zhu Li thinks, is exactly like any other place in the Earth Kingdom—dusty, dirty, and six thousand miles away from home. She's been assigned here despite all of those hours telling her commander that she should be in Ba Sing Se as an aide d'camp rather than stuck in an army hospital. She's got degrees, for Raava's sake. Maybe her complaining had got her stuck here.
Either way, nothing she can do about it now.
The rest of the enlisted men and women step off the bus, chattering and exchanging names and stories from home. Zhu Li exits last, carrying a suitcase, and takes a good look at the sixty-one fifty-second. It's nothing more than a muddy field with several tents strung up. The only real building is the hospital, which has a tin roof with a big red cross on top. Attached to the hospital is the postoperative ward, and Zhu Li knows that the CO's office is near there. She's got half a mind to walk in there and tell him that she doesn't belong here, but that'd be redundant. She's got to prove it.
A whistle blows, making everyone jump and stand at attention. Zhu Li abandons her suitcase and cranes her neck, trying to get a glimpse of the people up front. Behind the whistle blow are two officers. One has spiky black hair that's not regulation, amber eyes and an expression that she thinks is his imitation of a threatening glare. The other's got dark skin, blue eyes, her hair up in a ponytail, and a grin on her face. She's the one holding the whistle.
"At ease," she says, and the enlisted men and women relax slightly. "Welcome to the 6152nd. My name is Major Korra Iluak. I'm the Head Nurse here. My counterpart here is Major Mako Lieng. He's one of the doctors."
One of, Zhu Li notes. Not the head surgeon then. Where is the head surgeon?
Major Iluak is speaking again. Zhu Li tunes in just in time to hear her start talking about the rules and regulations. "There are no assignments yet," she says after discussing rules about postop. "Some of you may be assigned to KP, guard duty, postop duty, latrine duty, and so on and so forth. Assignments will be posted in a week. In the meantime, you'll rotate jobs every day." Major Iluak purses her lips. "Major Lieng, anything else to add?"
It's clear they've rehearsed this. "Stay away from the helicopter landing pad unless specifically ordered to assist the nurses and doctors," he says flatly, like he's reading the words off a large billboard. "R&R passes won't be issued often, but when they are, they will only be for a weekend up in Gaoling. Do not harass the medical staff or the villagers nearby. Is that clear?"
A few people mumble assent.
"Is that clear?" Major Iluak shouts in a clear, commanding voice.
Everyone snaps to attention at once and shouts, "Yes ma'am!"
"Good," she says. Major Lieng looks rather put out. Zhu Li picks up her suitcase from the ground, ready to head over to her tent. "Colonel Varrick, anything to say?"
Startled, Zhu Li looks up again to see Major Iluak and Major Lieng looking over to the side, where a tall man looks like he's been caught in the act of running away. He looks to be in his forties, so about ten years older than her, and definitely is from one of the Water Tribes, but she can't think of which one. This must be Colonel Varrick, the commanding officer of the 6152nd. She can't help but feel rather disappointed at his lack of poise.
"What—oh! Nothing more to add, Major," he says, rubbing his eyes. He looks tired too. Zhu Li wonders when he'd last slept through the night, and then curses herself for that line of thinking because running an army hospital has to be difficult.
Major Iluak shoots him a look just as he turns to slink away again, and he continues rather reluctantly. "My name's Colonel Varrick, I'm the CO. If there's anything you need or anything I can do for you…please don't hesitate to ask." His tone makes it clear that he wants them to hesitate permanently, and with that, he walks back off to his office.
Zhu Li dislikes him instantly.
Major Iluak dismisses them, and Major Lieng directs people to whichever tent is theirs. Zhu Li waits and watches and after Corporal Igoru, Corporal Nilak, and Corporal Kuji get sorted into the final tent, she's the last one left. Major Lieng folds his list in half and puts it in his pocket, turning back to Major Iluak as he does so.
Zhu Li walks over to him, head up high. "Excuse me, Major?" she says, addressing Iluak, but both of them turn around. "Where am I to be placed?"
Major Lieng blinks. "What's your name, soldier?"
"Moon, sir. Corporal Zhu Li Moon."
"Oh, of course." Major Iluak laughs, which doesn't exactly put Zhu Li at ease. Has she been assigned to the wrong place or something? "Sorry, Corporal Moon. I completely forgot to tell you. Colonel Varrick's requested you in his office."
Great.
Colonel Varrick's office is the largest room she's been in since flying off from the base in Ba Sing Se. It's decorated rather lavishly, with nice rugs and a mahogany desk and a stuffed gazelle-deer head on the wall, but there's still plenty of boxes just lying around that suggest he either hasn't been here long or he hasn't gotten around to unpacking yet. He stands up when she enters the room and begins speaking before she's even sat down. "Corporal Moon, would you like something to drink? I've got beer, some scotch…"
"No thank you, sir," she says politely. "I don't like to drink."
"Oh." Like that's so hard to believe. "Well anyway, I understand that you're probably wondering why I've asked you to come to my office within an hour of your arrival, but the explanation's simple. General Osina—"
"General Osina talked to you about my request to transfer."
"—talked to me about…" Colonel Varrick blinks. "Yes. Uh. Right." He busies himself by shuffling papers on his desk. "Well, Corporal Moon, I've thought about it and while your record is impressive, I'm going to have to deny your request." He sounds somewhat apologetic, like this has taken him a lot of thought. "We need you here more, after all."
Anger flares up inside of her. "Why?" she snaps. "Are you running out of kitchen attendants?"
"Hey—"
"Logically I would be better off at the Ba Sing Se base working as an aide d'camp, sir, I'm educated, I have college degrees, I am above—"
"Hey," Varrick says sharply. "I understand that you're not happy with my decision but in case you've forgotten, I outrank you." He leans forward over the desk like he's going to yell at her more, but at the last second repents and sits back down. "You won't be working in the kitchen anyway," he says, almost as an afterthought. "I told Major Iluak to put you down for postop duty. Unless you think you're above that as well?"
She bites back a cruel retort and instead mutters, "No, sir."
"Good," he says. Asshole. "Thank you for coming by, Corporal Moon."
She exits the office without looking back.
As Colonel Varrick had said, Zhu Li is placed on postop duty with several other enlisted men and women. The medical staff works with them too, and slowly she gets to know everyone. There's Major Iluak and Major Lieng, of course. Beside the latter and Colonel Varrick, there's three other doctors: Captain Skoochy Nakamura, chest surgeon and flirt extraordinaire; Major Kuzon Meng, a grizzled army doctor who's served in the last two wars; and Captain Isamu Chouko, a young orthopedic surgeon fresh out of residency. There's six nurses not counting Major Iluak: Lieutenant Opal Beifong, Major Iluak's second in command; Lieutenant Sora Tsen, a fast-talking gossiper; Captain Laika Hyo, a former radio star turned nurse; Lieutenant Zin Yamato, the only nurse practitioner who technically should outrank everyone; Lieutenant Rizza Fang, who's a trained midwife and ordained Raavanist monk, and Lieutenant Kiyi Nakahara, a quiet Fire Nation girl from Republic City.
While the doctors and nurses examine patients, Zhu Li and the others empty bedpans and run to inventory for extra penicillin. It's tedious but useful, and she can't help but be grateful to Colonel Varrick. She could have been doing KP, after all.
"There'll be choppers soon," says Zhu Li one day to the others that are scrubbing bedpans. "Should probably clear the room."
Corporal Nilak looks at her like she's insane. "What the hell are you talking about?"
She flushes. "Can't you hear them?" It's a stupid question because of course they can't. She's always had a knack for predicting the future. Not huge events, of course. That's crazy. But for some reason she's always known what someone will say before they say it, and she supposes that now her ability has extended to figuring out when the wounded will fly in.
Turns out she's right, and Major Lieng gives them hell for not cleaning up postop enough in advance.
And with her new reputation for predicting things before they happen comes isolation. It's exactly what she'd expected would happen, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt.
"Hey, Radar?"
She nearly jumps out of her skin at the sudden voice behind her and whirls around. Colonel Varrick is standing in the empty postop looking rather awkward and for good reason—this is the first time they've spoken to each other in two months other than hello and sorry for stepping on your toes. Words bubble in her throat but the first ones to leave her mouth are, "Did you just call me Radar?"
"Um. Yes. Everyone's been calling you that. They say you can tell when the choppers are coming just before they do." Colonel Varrick shrugs somewhat bashfully. "Also, I've somewhat forgotten your first name."
"Zhu Li," she says slowly.
"Zhu Li," he repeats, like he's filing away the information forever. Her stomach flutters and Spirits, what's wrong with her today? It's got to be dinner that's doing this to her. "Right. Uh. So I'm here with a sort of…proposal."
"Seems a little soon for that, sir," she mutters, and her cheeks flush when he bends over laughing like she's just told the funniest joke in the world. Looking at him chuckle, she has to remind herself that she dislikes him.
"That's funny," he finally adds unnecessarily. "But anyway. Proposal. As you know, we don't exactly run like a lot of normal mobile army hospitals." That's an understatement. "But that's mostly due to my lack of understanding on how this works. I mean, I'm just a doctor. But what I'm hearing from the others—Korra mostly—is that we need a company clerk."
"A company clerk," she repeats.
"Yes." He seems relieved that she's grasped the answer so quickly. "It'd pay a little more than what you normally get, but that comes with the longer hours. You'd have to move into the office, set up bunk there." Zhu Li thinks of the tent that she shares with three other girls, neither of whom have been too welcoming in the last couple months. "But, uh, that'd be it."
"That'd be it." Spirits, she sounds like a broken record. "Yes," she finally says after a few moments hesitation. At least it will be more interesting than scrubbing bedpans in silence. "I'll do it."
Colonel Varrick lets out a whoop of joy, startling her again, and then he pulls her into a tight hug, causing her to stiffen. She does not like hugs from strangers. "Sorry," he says, awkwardly pulling away. "But. Um. That's great news! I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early." He finishes the sentence with a quicksilver grin—she finds it much nicer than the polite smiles he gives everyone else—and exits the room.
She returns to her tent ten minutes later and begins packing.
Working for Colonel Varrick is different. Well, not necessarily—filing paperwork and delivering mail and occasionally doing the announcements is no different than the jobs she'd had to do to get through grad school. But she can say with absolute certainty that she's never worked for someone like the colonel before.
He takes his coffee at nine in the morning with two lumps of sugar and a dash of milk, and he takes his whiskey at one in the afternoon. He can only handle so much paperwork at once before abandoning it for Zhu Li to do so he can go to his postop shift. He spends hours on the telephone at a time ordering strange foods and movers for the unit to eat and watch. He takes two naps a day and Raava help her on the days that he doesn't get his ten hours of sleep.
He's not as much of a jerk as she's originally thought him to be, though. That had come as the biggest surprise. He insists upon no ranks in the camp, telling everyone to just call him Varrick, but she can tell that that won't end up happening. He helps out Captain Chouko quite a bit in the OR because the captain has a habit of freaking out during bowel repairs. He jokes around with the doctors and nurses alike, and he never curbs his language around the latter.
(In fact, if she thinks about it, he's sort of handsome. Which is why she tries not to think about it.)
Despite all that, she still doesn't like him. He overworks her quite a bit and although he'd warned her that the pay was only a little higher for company clerks, it still comes as a disappointment when she gets a dismal check when she should've earned twice that for her work. Not only does she file paperwork and make phone calls and do announcements on occasion, she's been ordered to get him food and deal with the complaining enlisted men and women and at one point, scrub his feet. That had been disgusting beyond repair but she'd done it. She hadn't exactly wanted to go back to scrubbing bedpans.
Her temper rises just a little with every passing day. She's quicker to snap and her jaw starts hurting every time she grits her teeth in Colonel Varrick's presence. Major Iluak's prescribed a teeth guard for Zhu Li to wear at night.
And then one day, three months after she takes the position of company clerk, she snaps.
Colonel Varrick comes sauntering in at six o'clock with General Osina on his heels. The general's gotten a bit taller since the last time she's seen him, but otherwise looks quite the same. He and the colonel talk trade and war over whiskey while she finishes paperwork and answers the phone, and then Colonel Varrick leaves the room briefly to talk to Major Iluak.
"So, Corporal Moon," he says with a hiccup. "How do you like it here?"
"Fine, sir," she answers automatically.
General Osina laughs. "Oh, come on. We've known each other long enough that you don't have to lie to me, Moony."
Spirits Almighty she hates that nickname and for a moment she hates the man behind it. Maybe that's why she spills everything that's been welling up inside of her for the last five and a bit months. "The food is awful and the people are awful and they're always in your business and don't give a shit about rules and regulations and it's driving me absolutely crazy! The doctors are constantly womanizing and the nurses always go places in cliques and nobody here respects me no matter what I do! And Varrick—Raava, he's the worst of them all. He's lazy and asks me to do things that are above my pay grade and is such a stubborn bastard that sometimes I want to just go AWOL and get back to Ba Sing Se base!"
"Well," says Colonel Varrick, causing Zhu Li to jump nearly a foot in the air, "um. General Osina, I believe you wanted to see postop."
General Osina nods and stands up, his joints and chair creaking as he does so. Zhu Li's face is red enough to rival the flags of the Fire Nation, and she feels close to tears. "Sir—"
"Don't," he says to her. "Just…don't. You're dismissed, Corporal Moon. Have a nice evening."
Zhu Li exits the office with her blood pounding in her ears. She's never felt so awful in her life, and vows to make it up to him. No matter what she thinks of her eccentric, socially awkward boss, no one deserves to hear that.
She returns that evening, after General Osina's car has left the 6152nd. Major Lieng and Major Iluak read off tomorrow's daily assignments while she walks into Colonel Varrick's office with her head held up high.
His head is in his hands but when he notices her presence he sits up so quickly that he almost falls out of his chair. "Corporal," he says.
"Colonel," she returns.
"I…" For some reason he looks embarrassed. Why on earth does he look embarrassed for? She should be looking embarrassed. "I didn't know that I was—that I was doing this to you. That I was such a bad boss. I'm sorry."
Out of everything she'd been expecting him to say that hadn't been one of them. "You're not that bad," she lies.
Colonel Varrick actually chuckles. "Don't lie to me, Corporal. I know I can be a bit of an asshole. I just didn't—I thought that everyone—" He pauses. "Okay look. I have no idea what I'm doing here, remember? So I thought that because Osina treated you like that then I had to do the same."
Zhu Li is poleaxed. "You were acting like an asshole because you thought I wanted you to?"
"Not…exactly. I mean, you were doing great and we were doing great but then I kept getting called up by Osina and Raiko and they were giving me shit for treating everyone with respect. Said I wasn't acting proper. So…I acted their version of proper."
"Oh."
Colonel Varrick sighs, as if that in itself is an answer.
"I'm sorry for what I said," Zhu Li blurts. "You may be annoying but you didn't deserve to hear that. I really am sorry if I hurt you in any way."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," he says, and dear Raava he's coming around the desk and is heading closer to her, close enough so that they're barely a foot apart. His hand is reaching for her face and oh shit is he going to kiss her? Here and now? But no, he just claps her on the shoulder and says cheerfully, "Apology accepted!" She's not sure why she's disappointed but she is. "Now be a good assistant and get me the Section 8 paperwork, please."
Anger wells up, quenching the disappointment instantly, and she grabs him by the shoulder and whirls him around to face her. "No! I am not your assistant, I am the company clerk and I do a damn good job at my job. And if you want to keep me around, then you need to start treating me like an equal."
Colonel Varrick looks taken aback slightly but there's a smile in his eyes. He'd been messing with her. "I'm all for that, Corporal."
Spirits she's so embarrassed but at the same time she actually finds it a little funny. It has been one hell of a day. "Thank you, Colonel," she says awkwardly. "Um. Sorry for snapping at you. Again."
"Both times were well deserved, Corporal," he answers with a quick grin. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes," she replies, glad that the air between them has been cleared. "You will."
It gets better from there. Colonel Varrick starts treating her much better and she actually starts to like her new job. Predicting when the choppers are coming gets her a lot of respect from the medical staff—enough respect that she can finally shrug off the nickname Radar, which she's been wearing for the last few months like an itchy sweater. It's easier to deal with the other enlisted men and women now too.
Soon, it's been six months since her arrival, and she doesn't know where the time's gone. The war's been going on for only a little longer and shows no sign of stopping. General Raiko in particular gets two Indigo Cruxes, which earns him a lot of favor from the current president. Raiko also has a strong amount of dislike for Varrick, which doesn't earn him a lot of favor from Zhu Li.
Life goes on, and it's all relatively peaceful up until Captain Chouko ends up getting his throat slit by a mentally-disturbed sergeant who just wants to go home and thinks that murder will get him sent there.
Zhu Li's not sure who reacts first when it happens in postop, but the stories will later say that Captain Nakamura had thrown a scalpel at the sergeant like a knife, causing him to release Captain Chouko's body and sending him flying back into Colonel Varrick and Major Lieng's arms—both of whom had tied him up, thrown him in the nearby town's jail cell and let him die from sepsis.
That night, everything is quiet. Major Lieng and Major Iluak talk to their staff. Captain Nakamura is speechless for once and Major Meng tries to console him. Corporal Nilak leads a posse into the nearby town to tell the military police what had happened. Zhu Li sits at her desk and fills out paperwork for a new doctor and, after the thought occurs to her, a camp psychologist. She's got a feeling that people will need them after this.
When she brings the paperwork to Colonel Varrick to sign, she can smell the beer on his breath from ten feet away. "Sir," she says gently.
"Zhu Li!" He's a happy drunk, it would seem. She's long since stopped reminding him about calling her by her rank. "Ssssorry for the drinking, I know y'don't like it."
She's surprised he even remembered. "It's okay, sir." She sets down the paperwork on the file cabinet and approaches him, helping him to his feet. The papers can wait until later. "You should get some rest."
"I can't, I can't, Zhu Li, I can't because if I do…" He gulps, a few tears leaking down his cheeks. "I keep seein' Isamu fall, Zhu Li. He was too young to die."
"I know, sir, he was." She slings one of his arms over her shoulders and walks him across the room to the door, and then out of the office and across the fields. No drinking is going on tonight, not even from the guards on duty. "Here's your tent, sir."
Zhu Li turns to face him and notices how close they are together. So close that she can see how he's looking at her like she's hung the moon and stars. So close that she starts to notice when he moves closer. "Colonel," she says, her breath catching, "you're drunk."
"Only a little," he confesses.
Her knees go weak when his lips slide over hers clumsily, and she doesn't have the spirit to push him away. She only kisses back, hoping that the moment won't end.
He's drunk, the nagging voice in her head whispers. He doesn't mean it.
With more effort than she'd imagined it would take, she pulls away from him. "You're drunk," she finally says, hot tears welling up in her eyes. Varrick stares at her uncomprehendingly. "I'll see you tomorrow, sir."
She manages to get back to the office before the tears start to fall.
Following that evening, they're nothing but cordial to each other. Zhu Li avoids talking about it at all costs, and he does the same. She finally takes to calling him just Varrick in her mind like he'd been insisting for the last six months, because after something like that he's not just a rank and a boss anymore.
The new camp psychiatrist arrives three weeks later. He's a guy in his midthirties named Captain Bolin Lieng. He's also Major Lieng's younger brother. They get into a screaming match in the middle of the camp on his first day because the major hadn't been told that the captain was enlisting, but once the captain informs the major that it's his business and his business alone whether or not he chooses to enlist, everything works itself out. He does two sessions a day with everyone personally affected by the death of Captain Chouko. Zhu Li thinks he's a bit exuberant but likes him all the same.
The new doctor file isn't urgent as they can still get along with just four, thankfully, so she puts it on hold for a month or two. Eventually Major Meng gets all of his points and is sent home, but when Zhu Li makes to file a request for two doctors Varrick stops her. "We're only going to open the one position," he says quietly. "Chouko's position is going to be a memorial to him, okay?"
She agrees.
They get a new doctor named Captain Kai Wen about eleven months into Zhu Li's stay in Uijeongbu. He's thirty years old, hails from a northern Earth Kingdom town called Yu Dao, and can perform surgery like nobody's business. He'd also been Captain Nakamura's foster brother about twenty years prior, and the two become fast friends. When Varrick decides that they need a head of surgery, Captain Wen wins forty-five points to fifteen over Major Lieng, who doesn't seem too bothered anyway.
They get a visit from a Lieutenant Colonel Quilak, a man who says that he works for some intelligence unit Zhu Li's never heard of. He inspects the entire place because he's under the impression that they're harboring terrorists, but doesn't find anything to pin on them—besides that he thinks Varrick is a sissy and Kai's things could be used to build a bomb. Varrick thinks that Quilak is crazy, and Zhu Li privately agrees with him.
Despite that night, she and Varrick forge a strange sort of friendship. It's nothing like what's going on between Captain Wen and Captain Nakamura, but it's still something. They joke with each other and help each other with paperwork and he even gives her some of the best food when it arrives fresh from the Quartermaster Corps, food that's not surplus from the last war. He even opens up the Officer's Club for everyone, which curries him a lot of favor with the enlisted men and women. She likes him alright now, but she can't understand why he's being so nice to her half the time.
Zhu Li goes to Major Iluak with her issues, but doesn't expect her to bust out laughing once she finishes talking. "What's so funny?"
"Zhu Li, he's sweet on you," she says with the air of someone explaining that one and one make two. Like the answer's obvious.
She can't help but stare, rather stunned. Major Iluak breaks into laughter again. "The hell you say," she says firmly. "He's not sweet on me."
The major just sighs. "Look, Zhu Li. I mean no disrespect but I've seen my fair share of lovestruck guys. Even been on the receiving end of their affections a few times. I know the look. He's head over heels for you."
"Major, all due respect, but just because you and Major Lieng are together doesn't mean you can recognize lovestruck looks all the time."
Major Iluak looks at Zhu Li like she's gone crazy. "Mako and I aren't together. I'm not…I like boys but I'm more of a fan of my own team, if you catch my drift."
"What do you—oh. Oh!" She covers her mouth with her hands. Well, that makes sense at least. "Does—who knows?"
"Most of camp. Not everyone takes it quite so well." She suddenly thinks of Captain Hyo and Lieutenant Fang, who'd been giving the major the cold shoulder for the last few weeks. Varrick had written up the transfer paperwork himself. Lieutenants Xióng Yali and Mai Chenguanxi get along much better with the others than Fang and Hyo ever did. "I'm happy the way I am." The way she's looking at Zhu Li makes her think that the major's implying something. Implying that she could be happy too if she takes a leap of faith.
"Well. This has been enlightening, but…um. Thanks. For the advice." She's aware that she's stammering but doesn't particularly care. "Thank you, Major."
"Korra," the major corrects with a smile. "My friends call me Korra."
Zhu Li nods, filing that away. Korra's words have caused a little warm feeling to blossom in her gut. A friend. Her second one in a year. She's on a roll.
"But seriously, Zhu Li," Korra says, "think about what I said. About what you're going to do about it."
She stays up thinking late that night. What is she going to do about it? Will she do anything about it? Does she even want to?
If someone had told her a year ago that she would be up at night thinking about her eccentric, socially-awkward boss, she would've laughed until her stomach hurt. But now she's really gotten to know him. Gotten to know him and respect him, and even if he is a little weird, he's still nicer to her than anyone else she's ever liked.
So it's true, then. She likes him. She likes Varrick, all of Varrick from his drinking habit to his skills in the operating room to his stupid jokes and inability to fill out paperwork. Spirits help her, this is the man that's keeping her up past midnight.
There're worse people to fall for, after all.
She likes him, and apparently he likes her too. But until there's solid proof of the latter, she finally decides, she won't do anything about it.
"Zhu Li," Varrick says one day out of the blue, "I've been thinking."
Without even looking up from her paperwork, she replies, "You're always thinking, sir."
"Yes, but lately I've been thinking about you." Her heart skips a beat and she looks up so suddenly that she gets a pain in her neck. Oh my Spirits. "I know we might not keep in touch after the war is over, and I feel like there are some things I should tell you."
"There are?" she asks, hoping that her smile isn't too hopeful.
"I remember when I was a boy, I had an ostrich-horse. Named her Mrs. Beaks." Her smile drops. "I grew up on a farm. Did I ever tell you that, Zhu Li? This was before the circus people took me away." A small pause. She's somewhat taken aback. "Anyway, uh, I loved Mrs. Beaks. But I took her for granted—"
Major Lieng sticks his head into Varrick's office. "Sir, there's a situation with General Raiko. He's heading this way."
Varrick buries his head in his hands. Zhu Li wants to throw something at the major for ruining the moment. "Any chance that that's not true?"
"No, Colonel. He's really on his way."
Varrick swears under his breath and finally looks up. "Alright, let's get going. Zhu Li—"
"I'll tell everyone to get their tents cleaned up—"
"Tell everyone to get their tents cleaned up and—"
"And I'll tell Captain Wen and Captain Nakamura to not mouth off in front of him this time."
"And tell—Spirits, Zhu Li, you're good." He grins at her and her heart leaps. "Right. Um. Zhu Li, do the thing. Mako, I'll be right out."
Zhu Li goes off, does what she says and arrives back by Varrick's side just in time to see General Raiko step out of the jeep, accompanied by a military policeman wearing the rank of lieutenant. "I see it's still as much of a disgrace as usual, Iknik," says the general, clapping Varrick on the back.
"Thank you, sir," Varrick answers, because there's nothing else he can say. Zhu Li clenches her fists. "We cleaned the tents up in your honor."
"I left mine dirty in your honor," Captain Nakamura mutters, and Captain Wen kicks him in the shin.
"Well, Colonel, rest assured that the next time I come by I want this entire field to be spotless. Every inch of it. Think of me while you're doing so."
Zhu Li is about to tell General Raiko exactly what he thinks of that statement but then she gets a look at Varrick. For once he doesn't look five seconds away from groveling at the general's feet. His lips are twitching. He's got a plan.
That plan is implemented about two weeks later, when she wakes up to a lot of commotion between Varrick and General Raiko. "We've cleaned everything up in your honor, General," he says with a grin. He'd recruited Kai and Skoochy to pin up posters of the general everywhere in the camp, and apparently had kidnapped the general so he could take a look. All of the medical staff is watching this confrontation—Captains Wen and Nakamura in particular are laughing their heads off. "Any thoughts?"
General Raiko lets him know exactly what he thinks of the joke by punching Varrick in the face.
Zhu Li screams as Varrick staggers backward, hand over his nose, which is dripping blood on his shoes. Captain Wen and Captain Nakamura exchange horrified looks with the nurses. Korra and Major Lieng look seconds away from intervening. Raiko shakes out his hand, looking rather pleased with himself.
Varrick takes his hand away from his nose, and in the brief second that his eyes meet hers, he winks. He winks at her.
And then he punches Raiko back.
When it's all over, Varrick has a black eye and a broken nose and Raiko has bruises all over his face. Someone had called the MPs and they'd placed Varrick under arrest and had given Raiko a three hundred yuan fine. Varrick's bail is set at a hundred yuans, and Zhu Li, Korra, Captain Wen, Captain Nakamura and Major Lieng pool together their savings to get him out that very evening.
"There'll probably be a hearing," says Major Lieng to a still-bleeding Varrick. They've all gathered in the office, and Zhu Li sits awkwardly on a chair beside the colonel. "You'll be lucky if you don't get sent home with a dishonorable discharge, Colonel. That was a stupid thing to do."
"It was hilarious," Captain Wen counters with a snicker. "I wish I could've taken a picture of you punching Raiko in the face. I would've had that put in a frame and hung it up in the Swamp."
"It was pretty great," says Skoochy, looking like he's barely concealing a laugh himself. "Didn't know you had it in you, Varrick."
"Oh, you know me," Varrick says, waving his hand dismissively. "Always standing up for myself and the unit…and stuff." He sticks out his tongue at Korra after she rolls her eyes at him. "Go on, go to bed you guys. I promise that I can handle myself here—I do have a medical degree."
"Let us know if you need anything, sir," Major Lieng says politely, exiting the room with Korra on his heels. Captain Wen and Captain Nakamura wave at him on their way out.
Zhu Li realizes that they're alone at around the same time that Varrick does, and when their eyes meet she stands up quickly. "I can go if you want me to, sir—"
"No, Zhu Li, it's—it's fine." Varrick hesitates. "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier today."
She's not exactly a shrinking violet but appreciates his concern. "You didn't, sir. Raiko may have unnerved me a little but it had nothing to do with you."
"That's good," Varrick says. They're getting closer to each other. "That's good." Just when their lips are about to touch, he seems to realize what he's doing and pulls back. He pauses and inhales quickly. "I'm sorry. I—I shouldn't have done that."
Zhu Li's brows furrow. "What're you talking about?"
"I'm not going to play this game with you, Zhu Li." He sounds irritated and when he looks at her, he just looks tired. The blood from his broken nose is still dripping on his mustache. "You're smart enough to realize that I've got feelings for you."
"Really?" Seconds after she says it, she wants to take it back. It hadn't exactly come out the way she'd wanted it to.
"Yes, really," he snaps. Now he's pissed. "I don't know how long it's been going on but I have feelings for you, Zhu Li, and I know you don't feel the same way about me but—"
"I do."
That gives him pause. "What?"
Zhu Li swallows. To think, all this time she's been waiting for him to make the first move but she'd never thought of how to make the second one. "I like you," she finally says. "It took me a little while to realize but I do. I-I've been waiting to see if maybe you felt the same and then I would tell you but…now that you have, there's nothing stopping me from saying that I like you, Varrick. So I do. I like you."
Varrick snorts. "Well in that case," he finally says, cupping her face in his hands, "screw it."
And then they're kissing. Kissing for real, not like that quick clumsy thing months ago that had been tinged with sorrow and whiskey but for real. He kisses like he operates, all precision, and she returns the favor, deepening the kiss as it turns breathy and open-mouthed and wonderful.
When they finally pull apart for air, her cheeks are tinged pink and Varrick's breathing heavily. "I've wanted to do that for a while," he admits with a breathy laugh.
She doesn't even hesitate. "Spirits, me too," she answers, and they go back together like they'd never been separated. Over and over again they kiss, with passion and patience, each willing to learn the other's style.
And Spirits, she thinks, everything is perfect.
They don't tell anyone but somehow the entire camp finds out. Korra giggles with her nurses about the situation. Lieutenants Yali, Chenguanxi and Tsen ask her how he is in bed. Captain Wen and Captain Nakamura bring her and Varrick panda lilies and a pack of condoms, which she throws at their heads. Major Lieng just flushes awkwardly when he hears about it, like the idea of his commanding officer having a love affair with the company clerk is too much to think about. Captain Lieng is the last to find out, and he finds out in a way that's downright awful—he walks in on them making out half naked on Varrick's desk and Varrick tells the captain that he's giving her a lecture on the importance of clean underwear.
(Lieutenant Beifong manages to explain it to Captain Lieng at any rate.)
At first they just stick to kissing, but in the aftermath of Varrick's hearing (he just has to pay a hefty fine, seeing as the general threw the first punch and the colonel hadn't done him any harm in the kidnapping) sex comes up naturally. He fumbles a little in the beginning but he's actually quite considerate, asking her what she wants instead of just going on without her say-so—and Spirits help her but she finds that more attractive than the easy charm and charismatic guys she's been with before.
Life around them isn't always so sweet. Captain Nakamura is shot by a New Freedom Fighter and dies on Captain Wen's operating table. The war increases with such intensity that the unit has to deal with a large influx of casualties at least four times a week. Food and medical supplies are low in stock and it just keeps getting hotter and hotter to the point that Major Lieng and Captain Wen pass out from heat stroke twice during operating. When the Promotion Board hearing comes around, she gets promoted to sergeant, which means higher pay and a higher workload. Lieutenant Colonel Quilak visits them three more times: one time he loses a game of poker to Captain Wen and accuses him of being a communist.
But she has Varrick, he has her, and they have each other. As long as that's still going on, they can handle anything.
Two years into Zhu Li's stay in Uijeongbu, they receive a new chest surgeon named Captain Jinora Gyatso, fresh from residency in Republic City, and she somehow manages to bring Captain Wen out of his shell. She's engaged to some Republic City steel tycoon but judging from the way that she and the captain look at each other the engagement won't last.
Captain Gyatso's just what they all need to get themselves out of the slump they're in. Captain Lieng proposes to Lieutenant Beifong. They all participate in a hair-brained scheme and somehow break a world record. She gets a new pair of glasses and twelve yuans from Captain Wen in exchange for kicking out a stiff named Captain Riku. She finally gets to meet Korra's mysterious girlfriend, a lieutenant from the 4077th. Everyone's happier, at least somewhat.
But her happiness comes crashing down when she receives the news that Varrick is going home.
Going home is what they've all dreamed of. Major Meng got sent home. So have at least four others that work here. But of all the people to get sent back, she hadn't expected him to be one of them. He's got all of his points, sure, but…
She doesn't want him to go.
After she tells him the news, they all reconvene in his office once surgery's over and they've had a few hours of sleep. Varrick's a bit drunk on alcohol and euphoria but he's grinning and prattling on about everything he's going to do once he gets home.
"Sir," she finally says, and everyone's heads turn to her. "Ah, well…" She rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, not used to dealing with this much attention at once. "I'm, ah, we're all certainly going to miss you around here."
Varrick blinks down at her, eyes a bit bloodshot. "Oh," he says. "Well, ah, I'm going to miss you too, Zhu Li. A-all of you. You've all really made this shithole—sorry ladies—hellhole bearable this last year."
There's a brief pause. Zhu Li looks at him, he looks at her. Heat prickles down her spine, and just when she's about to say something again Captain Wen speaks up. "Colonel, if you and Zhu Li want to take a moment to say goodbye privately, then by all means." He smirks, raising his glass of bourbon and exchanges looks with the others. She flushes down to the roots of her hair. "We all know how to make ourselves scarce."
Zhu Li's about to thank him but Varrick says, "No, I'm fine," and waves Captain Wen off before he takes another sip of his drink, face scrunching up. She tries her best not to let her disappointment show in her expression. She'd thought he'd wanted to get a chance to say a private goodbye, but apparently not. Is he worried about his reputation or something?"
Captain Wen invites Varrick for a night on the town with him and the Lieng brothers. It'll be a send-off of sorts at Luoxi's Bar and Grill, and Varrick's eyes brighten when he hears that part. "I have to admit I've missed going to Luoxi's. They serve a really good sake bomb." He side-eyes Zhu Li, grinning. "Remember Zhu Li? When you and I had beer and same and decided to combine them together to make a sake bomb and now—"
"And now they always serve it," she finishes with a smile. That had been on their first date. "I remember, sir."
Varrick coughs and turns away from her quickly. She's taken slightly aback by the turnaround, but she doesn't have too much time to think about it because after Varrick accepts Captain Wen's offer, Captain Gyatso invites Zhu Li to join in on their girl's night.
"It won't be anything fancy," says Lieutenant Beifong.
"Just some tea, gossip and good company," Korra finishes. "But we'd love to have you and I guarantee it'll be much more fun than sitting here and doing paperwork all the livelong day."
Zhu Li almost declines the invitation but then she gets a chance to think about it. Maybe this is what she needs, talking with a friend about her boy troubles—juvenile as it sounds. So she agrees.
She meets them in the nurses tent at eight o'clock sharp, thankfully empty of the gossipers. Lieutenant Yamato is reading in there but the second he sees Zhu Li he takes his book and leaves. Korra, Captain Gyatso and Lieutenant Beifong all sit on pillows with their legs crossed, surrounded by blankets and a steaming tea kettle. "Thanks for joining us, Zhu Li," says Captain Gyatso, and moves over a bit so she can sit down.
"Thank you for the invitation, Captain." Too stilted. Too polite. Spirits, it's already awkward and she's only been here for two minutes.
"Please," Captain Gyatso says, "call me Jinora."
"Thank you for the invitation, Jinora," Zhu Li replies. Still too polite but at least it's easier.
The conversation flows smoothly. Korra talks about Lieutenant Sato and her work with the 4077th and how Korra might propose at the end of the war. Lieutenant Beifong—Opal talks about her upcoming marriage to Captain Lieng and asks Zhu Li if she could possibly officiate. She says yes. Jinora doesn't talk much about her fiancé back home but is full of good things to say about Kai, which again proves her point that she and Kai will most likely end up together by the end of the war.
"I still can't believe Varrick's leaving," Korra says, finally steering the conversation away from the topic of Opal's bridesmaids. "I mean, I always thought that if anything, he'd be the last of us to go being the CO and all."
"He seems happy to be going back," Zhu Li says, some of her irritation with the man leaking into her tone. Everyone looks over at her and she shuts up. This isn't the right time.
"Zhu Li," Jinora says gently, "you know that he didn't mean to offend you today in the office, right? He's just distracted."
"Of course I know that," Zhu Li snaps. Her throat is tight. "I'd be distracted too. It's just—oh, never mind."
"Just what?" Opal asks. The three ladies move in closer, their cups of tea forgotten. "You can tell us, Zhu Li, it's okay."
"I—" Is she really going to do this? Really? She gets her courage up and finally just blurts it all out. "He's never told me that he loves me, okay? And now he's leaving and I just want him to say it at least once before he goes because otherwise maybe he's just in it for the sex and I don't want to think about that." It's the most she's ever said in front of any of them at once, and they all look rather surprised: not by the contents of her speech but by the fact that she'd said more than seven words at once. "I just…" She looks down at her lap, embarrassed. "I just don't want him to leave."
Jinora pats her on the shoulder, looking rather torn. "It's okay," she says. "You know Varrick—he's probably planning something extravagant to win you back as we speak."
Zhu Li highly doubts it at the time, but when she wakes up at one in the morning to find Varrick singing outside her tent, she's never been happier to have been proven wrong.
"Varrick," she says, inching closer. She still can't help but think that she's dreaming and will wake up any minute. "Varrick, not that I'm complaining, but why are you serenading me at one in the morning?"
He looks almost embarrassed to have been caught. "Because, well." He sets down his guitar on the ground and steps closer to her. "Because I've been an idiot, Zhu Li. In all our time we spent together I never told you how much you mean to me, and even though I'm going home now and you're still here, I'll never forget you or stop loving you. Zhu Li Moon, I have and will always love you." He traces her face with one hand. Her heart is so full of love that she could explode from the weight of it. "I miss you when I'm gone more than anyone else, you know. I don't care that you can make my coffee right or file papers perfectly or any of that—you're smart and funny and beautiful, Zhu Li." Losing momentum, he pauses for a moment. She waits with bated breath. "What I'm trying to say is, when this hellish war ends and you get to go home, there'll always be a place at my practice and home for you and—Zhu Li, are you crying?" She hadn't even noticed that until he'd spoken up. "Shit—I didn't mean—well, I did, I meant everything, but I didn't mean to make you cry…"
She interrupts his stammering by throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. Raava, she loves this man. She's going to miss him so much. "I love you, Varrick," she whispers, her voice muffled by his shoulder.
"I love you too, Zhu Li," he replies, pulling her closer and pressing his lips to hers. It's nothing special, it's just a kiss—rather short even by their standards. But somehow this one feels more special than any other one that they've ever had.
When Varrick's chopper arrives the next morning to take him to Gaoling, Zhu Li thanks several deities for the fact that the pilot wants to grab a quick cup of coffee from the mess tent before they leave. After everyone gathers around to give him last hugs and wish him well, Varrick leaps into the seat next to the pilot, the helicopter's blades whirring so loudly that Zhu Li can't even hear herself think. She and Varrick had always exchanged goodbyes that morning while going through last-minute paperwork, so she just watches him in the chopper and tries not to cry.
The next thing she knows Varrick is leaving the helicopter, running across the field, and his arms are around her and they're kissing, kissing so passionately that stars explode behind her eyes and her knees turn to jelly. When they do break apart she's breathless and rather star-struck.
"I love you, Zhu Li," he shouts, barely making himself heard over the chopper blades. "I'll see you back stateside, alright?"
She nods. "Call me when you land," she says, phrasing it like an order. Varrick grins at her, and when the pilot yells at him he goes back to the helicopter, buckling himself up. The helicopter lifts off the ground and slowly turns around in midair, flying off toward the horizon and getting smaller and smaller with each passing second.
She feels someone put their hand on her shoulder and she looks up to see Jinora. "Hey," the captain says gently, "you'll see him again before you know it."
Zhu Li takes in a shaky breath. "Yes, you're right," she answers, squaring her shoulders and holding her chin up. She'll see him again. She knows it.
They spend a few more minutes watching the horizon together before they all walk back down the hill to the 6152nd together.
"Good morning, ma'am. Are you Sergeant Zhu Li Moon, company clerk for the 6152nd?"
"Yes, sir." Zhu Li straightens, sighing inwardly. She's been waiting for a day and a half to hear from Varrick but every time she thinks it's him she's proven wrong. He'll get through eventually. "This is Sergeant Moon speaking. How can I help you?"
"Sergeant Moon, my name is Major General Jiang and I work with the Quartermaster Corps." The QC? Why on earth is the QC calling the 6152nd? They've already requisitioned food and supplies for this month and all they care for other than that are bodies and—
Bodies.
Oh no.
"It's with my deepest apologies—"
"No," she whispers. As though telling the major general to stop would somehow delay the news and make it false. This can't be happening.
"—that I regret to inform you—"
"Stop. Please, please stop."
"—that Colonel Iknik Blackstone Varrick is a casualty of war."
Zhu Li chokes on the sob welling up in her throat. The phone is shaking so badly in her hand that the major general's voice is vibrating. Her thoughts are everywhere at once because she can't afford to have them stay in her mind for long, otherwise she's going to lose it. "How?" she finally asks, because the enormity of everything else that she wants to say is tearing her apart.
"Colonel Varrick's plane was shot down, ma'am. Over the Si Wong Desert." He'd probably died on impact. Spirits, she hopes that he hadn't been in pain. "It spun in, and there were no survivors."
"H-has anyone else been notified yet?"
"Just the next of kin, ma'am. We'll send a copy of his will down to the 6152nd tomorrow, if that's alright. There's just a lot of paperwork to process up here."
"Of course." She has to stay calm and professional. Distance herself from the situation. "Thank you for the call, sir."
"You're welcome, Sergeant. Have a nice day."
The dial tone rings in her ear for approximately ten seconds before she can muster the strength to hang up. She stares at the phone on her desk, palms sweating. Knees knocking into each other like two trains on the same stretch of track.
(Eventually, she will get up and go to the operating room and tell the others, bursting into tears and rushing out of the room just at the tail end of her speech. Captain Lieng will come after her and he'll try his best to calm her down. It'll take about a week for her to do so, a week to get her head back on straight and mourn Varrick privately.)
But for now, she just sits at her desk, puts her head in her hands and cries.