Nice - several of my characters need a talking to...
Dear Drake,
Wake up! You really do seem to be walking around half-asleep - which might explain how you keep blundering into these things... Don't worry though. Soon you'll wake up. Adrenaline is very good at waking people up, and finding oneself under fire and surrounded by explosions tends to get the adrenaline pumping. Which reminds me: I'm really, truly sorry. It's the only way he'll ever really see. You'll get the chance you want - just remember what it cost him, and don't waste it.
Dear Lissa,
Please talk to me! I really need you, and if you're going to sit and give me that cold stare it's going to make things very difficult. I know you've learned to keep everything locked away, but some of those secrets will have to come out in time. You don't know it yet, but these people can help you, if you let them in. First, though, you have to let me in, or I won't be able to make it happen.
Red,
No "dear" for you - if I talk like a civilian, you'll ignore me. Not that you're paying much attention as it is - for a soldier, you're terrible at doing what you're told. I know it's not your fault. You're trained to act a certain way, and it would take a lot to make you deviate from that. The thing is, I really need you to do just that at some point, because it's hard to write about what happens when someone does a Thing if the person in question never actually does the Thing. I don't want to write the biography of one of the extras in the background of the actual story. Do something interesting already.