( the grief is still a jagged, grasping thing. the only good he's ever taken away from the timing of his grandmother's passing is that she didn't have to hear that he was missing in action. that alone might have killed her.

instead: )

No, she'd — passed on by then. I learned from my older sister. She was always more into that whole cultural preservation thing than me. She's the one I'm learning Lakota from, too.

( plus, she's nearly fifteen years older than he is. she just... had more time with their grandparents. )