A Drink To Remember

Prologue

"Obi, I don't think you ever told me about your past before." Master Zen says while we share a bottle of wine in his room.

"You know what I used to do Master. Nothing else for me to really say. I don't like to think of how life was back then." I say before finishing my glass.

Master pours me another one. "Oh it couldn't have all been bad."

I smile sadly to myself. "No, I guess it wasn't. It's just hard to think about sometimes."

"How so?" He asks, taking a drink from his own glass.

I shake my head. "I don't really like to talk about it."

He watches me carefully for a bit. I finish my glass once again and fill it back up. "You sure drink a lot Obi." He remarks.

A soft chuckle leaves my lips. "Yeah, I do. I love alcohol."

I start to take a drink again. "Have you ever been in love?" I spit at his question.

*cough* "That came out of..." *cough* "nowhere Master."

He smiles to himself. "Sorry, I was just curious."

I think back to the one time I was content with my life before now. "Yeah... I was in love once."

"What happened?"

I frown into my glass. "It ties into the past I don't like talking about."

Zen watches me carefully again. "You've known me for how long now Obi? Hell, you were a part of mine and Shirayuki's wedding party. What makes you think you can't talk to me about it?"

I sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you Master, it's just... it brings up painful memories. I try not to dwell on it."

Master and the Miss got married a little over a year ago and already have a child on the way. I was able to get over my feelings for her pretty quickly after their engagement, simply because I couldn't act on my feelings anyway. Not just because of Master, but because the universe doesn't think I deserve love. I learned that the hard way.

"You should tell me about it sometime Obi. When you're ready of course. You're important to me, and I want you to be happy. Hard to be happy when you're stuck in the past." Master says softly. He really does care, and he's my closest friend, but I don't know if I can tell him. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't think I can get the words out. I guess it doesn't hurt to try.

I let out a long sigh before downing my drink again. "Alright, you win Master. It happened a long time ago..."