Always (a Deryck Whibley Fanfic) RMS Titanic / WWI AU

XII: Returning to the Ridge

Wednesday 9th April 1919
Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Vimy Ridge

Today is the two year anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge where Deryck, Dave, Jay, Tom and Frank were fighting alongside Britain in the Canadian Corps to defeat the German Sixth Army. It is of course where I discovered that Deryck had been injured in battle by the Germans infantry warfare, as I was informed by Dave and Jay, obviously not physically wounded but psychologically with the shell shock and the permanent hearing loss. It may be perceived as odd as to why we're all going back to where a traumatic event occurred, with of course detriment effects on the infantry soldiers who fought for King and country out there. On second thought, what would even be the point of going back to France? Because all that is going to do is let harrowing memories resurface, and it will be two years this Friday that Deryck and I have been dealing with the trauma he has faced after fighting in the Battle of Vimy Ridge; so it would seem quite pointless and egotistical of me if I was to bring him back to the place where the event took place, because it will probably trigger memories like I have aforementioned and I don't want to be going back to square one again with all that we've achieved so far in the past two years since then, and I don't think he would want to go back to square one again either so the trip back to Nord-Pas-de-Calais is out of the window then. Next year's the start of the Roaring 20s which as I've previously mentioned I'm looking forward to because I hope that women gain more independence than what we've been left out on, because last year due to women's suffrage thanks to The Suffragists (not so much The Suffragettes who were more on the wild side of the movement) us women in the UK, US and Canada have finally gained the right to vote after years of battling the cause and trying to get the respective government and its officials onboard with the whole ordeal, and because of their fight for enfranchisement we finally gained the vote here in Ontario on Friday 24th May 1918, which is quite a relief to be honest. So, now that that's over I am quite excited to be moving away from the 1910s and move onto a new era. My initial idea for going back to the Ridge was to find out more information on Deryck's shell shock, hearing loss and the impact of the bomb, like was there any shrapnel? And things like that. But why do I need to go to another country when I can just ask him the questions? But, as I have previously mentioned my questioning may trigger the flashbacks of the Ridge so I'm not quite sure what to do now. Why do I have to be so inquisitive and impertinent?. After what seemed like a police interrogation, I've discovered that it was Dave and Jay who had alerted their superior officer that Deryck had narrowly missed enemy infantry fire and needed to get him to the medical tent in case there was any shrapnel from the bomb that the doctors had to worry about removing, thankfully there wasn't which was a relief. And now two years later, I think it's fair to say that we've become accustomed to the injuries that he's been afflicted with because of the Ridge. Next year is supposed to be a lot better for all of us, because we'll be heading into an era of consumerism and the growing age for jazz music. Prohibition is still going on which I'm glad for, because unlike the majority of people I'm voting Dry so I'm all for Prohibition, much like the minority groups like the WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union). Hopefully this will solve society's problems, and start to show people the negative affects of alcohol and how it negatively stimulates your day-to-day life, so I and along with many others hope that Prohibition will show that you don't have to be so dependent on alcohol to get by, I mean you just have to walk out onto the streets and see the state that people put themselves in, men primarily, some women and youths too - all because they can't seem to find an alternative to alcohol or simply don't care what they do to themselves or don't care what people think of their alcoholic lifestyle. So, I hope that Prohibition will help solve the issues of drunkenness, fighting, domestic abuse, and household impoverishment. And show everyone that a life without alcohol isn't the end of the world.

Oh, in your eyes I see everything in black and white
And the pictures of our perfect life
Here by your side you make me feel so young again
And I wanna live forever