It was a quiet, peaceful night. The sky above glimmered with stars scattered across the horizon, blinking on and off as they watched a young group of sleeping travelers below. From a bird's view, one could clearly see the lush forest and the grassy fields covering the land. However, if one zoomed in closer – they could also see the different colors owned by various individuals: red, blue, yellow, green, white, and peach.

Of course, there was a color missing.

Black.

Off to the side, a young man with pitch black hair sat next to a nearby tree – his trusty halberd right in front of his lap. He gave a short sigh and looked towards the sky, wrapped his hands around the weapon, and stood up. With little effort, he drove the tip of the halberd into the ground – grass and dirt staining his shoes from the impact. The grip within his hand tightened and a pure look of hatred appeared on his face.

This night was completely perfect, except for one thing…

Him.

Not too long ago, Hak woke up from another nightmare. He didn't even want to think about him, yet his presence overwhelmed his mind when he sat up shaking in shock. Immediately, his first instinct was to peer over at Yona's body and see if she was still alive. Of course she was – her breathing indicated as much. Yet as much as he was relieved, he couldn't help but feel a seething rage burning inside him – especially after what happened in Sensui. Every day that he continued to exist was one more day that all of the dragons, Yoon, and Yona and himself had to be on the run – struggling to survive. Although he understood his motives all too well, the sacrifices that were made… the friendship the three of them shared, and the future that could have been….

He shook his head.

Indeed, these dark thoughts plagued Hak's mind, but they were never spoken aloud.

"…That's enough of that," he whispered, wary of the others who were sleeping. "Time to—"

Sleep…? It wasn't a loud sound, but Hak definitely heard it. His eyes flew to the source of the disturbance – a few bushes and a small tree not far from the tree he was standing at. He noticed the small scuttles within the offending target, and he proceeded to move quickly – holding his halberd close by. Who would be here at this hour?

He inched closer and closer – growing more apprehensive as the movement within the bush became more apparent, but with one swift strike of his weapon –

"Show yourself!"

"Eeep!" A gasp and a squeal joined in unison.

Hak's eyes widened in surprise and concern as a squirrel and a girl with red wavy hair huddled right underneath the halberd's cut, but that turned into nearly busting out with laughter. Ao was clinging to Yona's neck for dear life, and Yona's face looked like her life was drained away from her. Luckily, he caught himself in time – darted his eyes to the makeshift camp to make sure no one else heard that – and turned towards the princess with a disapproving look.

"I see you have nothing better to do than to stalk people at night, princess."

"W-Wha…?!" Yona breathed in sharply and stood up abruptly – poor Ao nearly fell out at the sudden motion. "You have the nerve to say that to me after you nearly kill me?!"

"Oh, don't look so shocked. At least I had a reason to do that. Unlike you, I don't sleep with people and decide to attack them while they're trying to sleep. What if you were an intruder, hmm?"

Yona's face burned a fiery crimson at this, almost as bright as her hair. Hak was having way too much fun at her expense, and trying to suppress his laughter was difficult.

"Pff…! Well, I was worried, okay? I woke up and noticed you were gone, so I went after you!" As soon as she said that, Ao jumped off her shoulder and landed right on top of Hak's head, nuzzling him. "…Even Ao was worried too."

"P~kyuuu!"

Hak appreciated the small squirrel's sentiment, lifting the creature from his head and returning her back to Yona. Ao then stood on her shoulder once more. He let out a sigh, set his fist under his chin, and cocked his head in amusement.

"Fine fine, you win. I apologize for frightening you, princess."

"Hmph, …apology accepted. I, um… I apologize for scaring you like that too…"

Scaring me? I could totally tease her more about how ugly her face was just now, but…

"…So…" She peered at him, shuffling her feet back and forth while doing so.

"Hmm?" Hak noticed how nervous she was, and laughed silently.

"Why are you awake?" Yona crossed her arms, and tilted her head to the side.

Right… A shiver went down his spine as he remembered why he was up in the first place."I couldn't sleep, that's all."

"Really…?" The princess's face turned into one of disappointment with a hint of sadness. "You looked so…"

Hak lifted an eyebrow, sending a glare toward her way. "Just how long were you in that bush?"

"Erm…" Yona murmured, turned her eyes to the grass and fiddled with her fingers. A brief moment of silence occurred before she continued. "Long enough to see you were angry at something… The reason you found me was because Ao saw an acorn on the ground, and she went to get it–"

"P~kyuuu!" Ao held a tiny acorn in between her paws, and displayed it proudly so both of them could see.

"Incredible." Hak didn't know whether to be impressed by Yona's skill at stealth or baffled by Ao's love for acorns. Either way, his fleeting anger vanished when he saw how worried Yona looked.

"Is something bothering you, Hak…?"

The answer was beyond obvious, and neither of them had to say anything more in regards to that. Thinking about the incident from Sensui made him tired, and staying up for so long was starting to take its toll on him. Naturally however, he refused to cause more worry to the princess than he already had.

"No, princess. Your concern is appreciated, but—"

"Hak." The soft, yet stern voice surprised the young man. He wasn't prepared to see a stream of tears flowing down the princess's face, full of rough edges and a bit of smeared dirt. A pang of guilt pierced his stomach, bubbling with an urge to run to her and hold her. He took a step forward –

"Don't." Hak stopped right in his tracks, hands balled up into clenched fists.

"Princess…" Seeing her in pain was awful, but knowing that he caused it made him feel even worse.

"Stay." But as her bodyguard, if she meant a command – he would follow it.

They stood still for a while, Hak unsure of what to do. The princess seemed frozen in time, not moving an inch of her body anywhere – was she even breathing? The tense atmosphere that developed with each passing minute continued to grow, becoming thick enough that even his own weapon could cut it. The only sounds Hak could hear were the sound of crickets chirping and leaves rustling – he wondered if the heavens above had silenced the earth for this very moment.

"Hak?" The sound of her voice pulled him out of his reverie, and immediately his attention was focused on her.

Yet for some reason, she turned around.

"Princess?" The longer this continued, the more he was taken off guard. What exactly was she thinking?

"…Just listen." A few sniffles were heard here and there, but she shook them off and cleared her throat. She took in a deep breath, and continued speaking.

"I… I'm sorry. I'm selfish. I've asked you to come with me, and you were more than willing to comply. Yet… all this time, I never noticed how much you were in pain until now. You're always so busy protecting me that you never have time to protect… or even think about yourself. I… just like you've done for me, I want to do the same for you. I know that you'll never let me put myself out there in the front lines, but at the very least – I want you to talk to me. He…" She inhaled and exhaled, trying to maintain her composure and prevent her voice from trembling. "Soo-Won has hurt me, and you know that… but he has hurt you too, and I've done… nothing…" Why is this so hard to explain?!

Yona grinded her teeth in frustration, and she couldn't stop herself from releasing more tears. Hak was in a lot of pain without a doubt, but how could she help him like he did? At the very least, she should be able to vocalize her concern and offer this amount of comfort, but she wasn't even doing that! Never had she been so embarrassed in her life and Hak wasn't even responding. He must think I'm an idiot…

After a few moments of hesitation, Yona finally turned around – only to see that…

Hak's not here!

"W-wha…" Her mouth was gaping wide open. Did he just leave? And in the middle of… argh!

She looked frantically around for him, moving her head as her bright crimson hair jumped wildly about – and then as soon as she started looking for Hak, she stopped.

He's sleeping.

He had moved from his spot to right beside the tree, sitting cross-legged with his hair spread all in front, hiding his face. Yona couldn't believe this development, but instead of being upset - she giggled. I'm silly – of course he would be too tired to listen… Taking off her cloak, she walked over to place the article of clothing around him…

"Ah!"

As soon as she was within arm's reach, one light pull of her wrist changed her view of the world from staring at Hak's hair to the sky above. A surge of warmth enveloped her as she lied next to Hak's chest, and his arms holding her close to him. Yona's breath was knocked out of her and when she came to terms with what just happened, her face burned with intensity as fierce as a dragon's fire breath.

"H-Hak?! I thought you were sleeping!" She shifted her body to where she could face him properly, but Hak's face was still not visible. Except for one tiny detail – a devilish grin on his lips.

"…u." His voice was barely audible and Yona had to move closer to him to hear what he said.

A flash of hot breath blew into her ear, and the princess drew back in surprise, but was held in place by the young man's arms. "H-Hak, what are you d-do—"

"…I heard everything."

"Eh?" Yona's eyes grew in size and it took a bit for her to process what that meant. He heard everything, then… then… "Then why didn't you say any—"

"…Thank you."

Both of them went silent for a long time. Yona's heartbeat was accelerating a mile per minute, considering how close they were at the moment. Normally, she didn't feel comfortable in this kind of situation and thought it weird, but this time… it felt nice. She wanted to respond to his answer, but no words would come out – not that Hak seemed to mind. All at the same time, she felt overwhelmed and at peace – what she did right now was little in comparison to what he had done for her in the past, but this was the first time she heard him say those words. The first time that she did something worth… helping him, making him smile a bit more. Maybe in time, she could do more of these things and he wouldn't feel so alone. They were in the same boat after all. The thought alone almost made her eyes brim with more tears, but…

"Princess?" His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she tilted her head towards him.

"Y-yes?"

"Your body is heavy. Get off of me."

"Excuse me?!" Yona hissed at him. The sudden wave of sadness was replaced by anger.

"I mean…" Hak shifted his head slightly, revealing a slight blush and… "If you want to. You seem a bit comfortable right now."

Yona's blush on her face hadn't gone away, and it only seemed like it would turn darker and darker. "Er… you're right! You make a good pillow."

"…You shouldn't say things like that so casually, princess."

"Huh, why?" Yona seemed a bit confused, then murmured to herself. "It's true though…"

"…Because people like Jae-ha…" Hak's voice was nearly inaudible.

"What about Jae-ha?" The young girl was even more confused now, and straining to hear his voice.

"N…never… min…" Hak's voice trailed off into a snore.

Wow… he really must've been tired. Yona couldn't help but smile at him though. His head was slowly leaning on hers, and his hair was brushing along her skin. The expression on his face looked so calm, and she could see the smile on his face. There was only one thing that bothered her though… with one hand, she brushed past the hair that was covering his right eye. As silently as she could, she pecked the tear that was hanging off his eyelash with a touch of her lips. She breathed a sigh of relief as he made no movement, and huddled closer to him.

For a little while, she listened to the sound of his heartbeat, but it didn't take long till she fell asleep to the lull of his snoring. The sky above turned into a beautiful dawn shining upon them – the colors of orange, purple, and pink surrounding them as they slept.

And like mirrors, they both reflected the same dawn and the smiles they gave each other that night.