Oluo rubbed his eyes as he headed back to his room.

Despite the rest of the scouts, he was one of the few who felt that the raid on Libero was a failure. He had lost 3 people that served under him.

"Evening Captain Bozard", a solider said passing him by in the hall.

Oluo nodded in reply.

Levi was right. Talking to the families of the dead were hard, especially when they hadn't suffered losses for almost 4 years.

When he reached his room, he took of his formal uniform that he wore to the funerals. He changed into a shirt and a pair of slacks, and went to the chest he kept in his room.

He grabbed what he was lookin for and headed down the hall.

Oluo could hear the sniffling from the closed door, it made his chest hurt.

"Poor kid" he thought to himself.

He gently knocked on the door. "Connie, its Oluo, can I come in."

After a moment, he heard the door unlock and was met with a teary eyed Connie.

"Thought you could use someone to talk to" Oluo said holding up a bottle of whiskey and 2 glasses.

The two sat on the floor under the window, several lamps illuminated the room.

"I can't believe she's gone....just like that" Connie said weakly.

"Death is a cruel b*tch" Oluo said taking a sip of the burning liquid.

"Ya know, we were gonna get married, once the war was over, have a house in the woods build up a farm, she was gonna teach me to hunt...." Connie started crying again.

Oluo put his glass down and put his arm around the grieving Connie.

"I know how bad it hurts, it's like a piece of your heart is missing, a big piece"

"And what would you know" Connie said in between sobs.

"5 years ago, in the forest of giant trees, your first expedition as a scout....I lost my lover"

Connie turned to look at Oluo. "I-I didn't know"

"Not a lot of people did. Only Levi did"

"Who was she?" Connie sniffled.

"Remember the short, solider, with reddish hair, one of the fiercest scouts, yet one of the sweetest, along with your Sasha." Oluo let out a sigh. "Her name was Petra Ral, Annie crushed her body into a tree, along with killing the rest of my friends"

It took Connie a minute, but then her face appeared in her mind.

"Weren't you too always bickering?"

"Yeah but we were soulmates, like you and Blaus, met during cadet training, chose the Corps together, we had a lot of plans for the future..."

"It's scary how fast those plans can change" Connie croaked out. He downed his drink.

"And then Niccolo had to show up" Connie said.

Oluo grimaced, he didn't really like nor trust Niccolo. He felt like he was hiding something.

"Like I get it he liked Sasha and wanted to mourn her, but he he didn't know her like I did, and he has the audacity to ask what Sasha was to me, like the idiot hadn't figured it out" the anger in Connie's voice was rising. "Like I always came with her to the restaurant or when he brought her food to headquarters. He has to ask what she was to me??"

"What did you tell him?"

Connie half laughed half sobbed. "I said we were like twins. Despite him being mad at us for her death, like it was our fault, I decided to spare his feelings."

"So you didn't tell him then, that you and Sasha were in love"

"Hell no, cause why does it matter now. Sasha was oblivious, but Jean and I both knew how he felt. It would just annoy me when he would just stare at her, and for him to act like he was the only one who Sasha was special too...but none of that matters now...now that she's gone" he began to son again.

"You're a good man Connie" Oluo said squeezing his shoulder.

"Why her? Why my Sasha?, the last thing I said to her was that her and Jean were special to me...I just felt so helpless as she just laid their dying"

Oluo's heart was breaking. It was like looking in a mirror. How broken and said he had been, had empty he felt now. He hated that was what Connie's future had become.

Despite catching her stealing snacks from the kitchen, he really liked Sasha. She has a bit of Petra in her, kind yet skilled, big hearted and loved kids. She treated the girl she saved a few years back as a sister.

"I felt hopeless too. All I could do was scream at Petra to get higher, but Annie was faster, all I could do was watch...I still have nightmares about it"

"Will I have nightmares too?" Connie asked.

Oluo didn't want to answer that question, he knew he would, losing the love of his life would permanently change him. Oluo poured him another drink.

Connie took a sip, his sobbing come down to a silent cry.

"And that b*stard, he just laughed"

Oluo had remembered Eren's slightly unhinged reaction.

"We were only there because of him."

Oluo nodded in agreement. "Petra died because we had to protect Eren, she convinced him to trust us"

"I wanna kill him...with my own two hands"

Oluo understood his anger. For 5 years taking revenge on Annie clouded his mind. He wanted her to suffer like his friends had.

"First my family, and now Sasha. I'm losing everyone around me" Connie said tearfully.

"I know how painful this is, but I promise slowly, it doesn't get better"

The two sat there drinking until Connie finally passed out due to a mix of exhaustion and alcohol.

**********************************************

Oluo was pulling the covers around Connie when Jean came in from the bathroom that connected their rooms.

"Is he ok?" Jean asked. His eyes were red and puffy.

"For now yes, but he won't be ok for a while"

As Oluo was walking about the door, he turned around to look at Jean.

"I'm so sorry about Sasha"

Jean tearfully nodded.

***********************************************

Oluo made his way back towards his room. He paused a bit in front of Levi's room. He thought about stopping by, but stopped when he heard Hange's voice. They both sounded exhausted and sad.

Oluo kept walking.

**************************************************

Finally in bed. Oluo turned out his lamp. He reached under his pillow, pulling out one of Petra's corps jackets.

He pulled the jacket close, and cried himself to sleep.