Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! The mere mention of a tall, dark and strong General who is utterly devoted to his beautiful and brave Princess would inevitably make one think of Hak and Yona. But in this story, I am featuring another general, no less strong, and another princess, no less brave. After reading the Xing Kingdom arc, I refuse to accept any ending for these two other than a happily ever after one. Enjoy :)
Warnings: Fluff and spoilers for the Xing Kingdom arc (manga chapters 126-150). Possible OOC-ness.
Rating: 'T'
Disclaimer: Akatsuki No Yona belongs to Mizuho Kusanagi.
- Story Start -
Neguro gained consciousness little by little, rising from a deep and heavy sleep to a body he could barely feel and eyelids he could hardly lift.
When he finally gathered enough strength to open his eyes the tiniest bit, the resultant brightness made him squeeze them shut again. He couldn't sense any immediate danger so he lay still - not that he could do otherwise - and gave himself time to recall what had happened.
Starting with Princess Kouren, of course. She was the first person he thought of when he woke up, and the last person he thought of before sleeping. And if the latter sometimes made him dream of things that could never be, then they were his guilty pleasure that no one needed to know, least of all her.
The sudden flood of memories pouring into his mind made him stiffen, limbs going rigid and senses clanging in alarm. That sudden attack of arrows raining down upon them out of the dark!
Shielding Princess Kouren with his body, head up and arms outstretched with neither thought nor hesitation.
Feeling adrenaline pump through him, numbing him from the sharp bite of multiple arrows driving deep into his flesh.
Knowing he would die, but steeling his body to remain upright and strong so that even in death, it would continue to shield his beloved princess.
Taking a deep breath which was both difficult and excruciatingly painful, Neguro opened his eyes again. The bright light still hurt, but he persevered, squinting a bit. There was nothing to see but plain white all around... until slowly, things came into focus. He was in a room with plain walls, curtains at the windows and soft sheets under and over him.
All of it a clean, pristine white.
Had he gained entry into Heaven?
But more importantly, had Princess Kouren gotten away, and was she safe?
What had happened to Xing Kingdom?
Were the other stars alright?
The sound of a door opening brought his thoughts to a halt. A figure came in, clad in a simple white robe, and glided to the side of the bed. His heart lurched in his chest as Princess Kouren smiled down at him.
"Neguro. At long last."
Oh Gods, how long had it been since he had heard her voice this soft, this relieved?
"Your Highness," he croaked, throat dry with thirst and and tight with sorrow. "I failed to protect you. Forgive me."
He tried to sit up and failed in that as well. His body, once muscled and strong, felt like a lump of lead. He could barely move his arms.
Unforgivable!
"No. Don't move." Kouren sat down beside him, one hand reaching out to grab his shoulder.
Neguro stilled at once, obedient to both her voice and touch. He stared at her as she poured water from a jug on the nightstand into a glass, the trickling sound making him realise just how parched he was.
Then she leaned forward and slid a hand behind his head, raising it with ease as her other hand held the glass to his lips.
"Drink slowly."
He obeyed, feasting his eyes on her face just inches away while he gulped down the cool water. Swallowing, like breathing, proved painful. When the glass was finally empty, she lowered his head and returned the glass to the table. Then she smiled at him.
"You didn't fail me, Neguro, so there is no need to apologise. In fact, you were magnificent!"
"But you're here too." Neguro's throat tightened even more. "Don't waste words of comfort, Your Highness. Not when I failed."
Kouren stared at him in surprise, eyebrows going up, and then she gave a little laugh. Despite his sorrow and guilt, Neguro stared at her.
Bemused.
Entranced.
Enchanted.
"No, I'm not dead, Neguro. And neither are you, although you came so, so close to it."
Her smile vanished as her blue eyes darkened with some remembered pain.
"I'm... alive?"
"Yes."
"And you are too?"
"Yes!"
"But I was struck with so many arrows!"
Her stricken look made him regret his words immediately.
"I know. We pulled no less than twenty from your body that night."
"That many?" Neguro frowned. "Then how did I survive?"
"Thanks to your iron constitution and the superior skill of the Wind Tribe healers."
Neguro digested that for a moment.
"What about Mizari and Yotaka? Algira and Vold?"
Kouren smiled again, eyes bright.
"Mizari was injured when he found you, yet he fought like a demon against Gobi's assassins before collapsing. The Wind Tribe treated his wounds and Yotaka's. I am greatly, greatly in their debt."
"Then Gobi and his men...?"
Kouren's smile disappeared at once and her eyes hardened.
"They are still at large, but we will find them and make them pay."
Neguro nodded. They had threatened his princess and undermined Xing Kingdom. Bringing them to justice was something he would take great satisfaction in.
"Vold and Algira?"
"They are both unharmed. In fact, they protected me from Gobi after we... you..."
"I'm glad," Neguro said and he meant it. Despite their differences, Vold and Algira, together with Yotaka and Mizari were the closest he had to brothers, to family.
"It was..." Kouren looked down for a moment, "it was Mizari who first made me realise what I was leading my people into, but it only hit me fully when I was faced with the fact that I could lose all my Five Stars."
"But you didn't," Neguro pointed out.
Kouren looked at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
"I very, very nearly did. Especially the brightest and most beautiful one of all. You, Neguro."
Neguro felt unaccountably like blushing. He was neither bright nor beautiful, but he also knew it was because his loyalty to her had never wavered for the past seventeen years.
"Too much credit, Your Highness. I am neither, but thank you."
Smiling through her tears, Kouren grasped his nearest hand with her smaller, capable ones. Her very touch seemed to burn his bare skin.
"No. Thank you, Neguro. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."
Neguro stared at her, feeling like he was drowning in waters of deepest blue. Her eyes seemed to draw the very breath from his lungs, and he had to force his gaze away to clear his head.
"So what has happened so far? How long have I been unconscious?" He looked down at the large bandage covering his chest, feeling the dull throb of wounds not yet fully healed.
"Ten days."
"Ten days?!"
She sighed and pushed a hand against his shoulder again.
"Stay still," she ordered. "and I will explain."
As he sank back, she started speaking.
Neguro didn't know which was he more stunned at - Xing now being a vassal state of Kouka Kingdom or Kouren's matter of fact acceptance of it. He alone knew how hard it must have been for her to swallow her pride and admit defeat. A princess who had tried her hardest to protect her people. A princess who had had her innocence and childhood torn from her at the tender age of ten.
"Princess Tao and I will be co-rulers of Xing, and we will manage our internal affairs. I am... satisfied with the outcome." Kouren's voice shook. "I was so blinded by hatred, I didn't realise how my own people had come to fear me."
"Your Highness, whatever you have said or done or decided, has always been for the people of Xing. You have done no wrong," Neguro stated.
In his eyes, she could do no wrong.
"You are truly the most faithful of my five stars," Kouren said and smiled. "But don't tell Yotaka or the others I said that."
Neguro shook his head, heart bursting with pride.
"Not a word," he promised. Up close, he could see the shadows under her beautiful eyes, accentuated by her pallor. Her face seemed thinner as well.
"You look like you haven't been sleeping," he stated bluntly.
"Well, who do you think has been cleaning and dressing your wounds for you?"
"What?!" Neguro's heart lurched again. "Your Highness, such a menial, bothersome task shouldn't be-"
"And giving you sponge baths?"
"Your Highness!" Neguro sputtered, feeling heat surging up into his face.
"I am not a cloistered princess," she reminded him with an amused little smirk.
"Yes, but still- "
"And truly, you have nothing to be ashamed of."
The way she said that, with half lidded eyes, had Neguro squirming, filled with equal parts mortification and pride. Kouren's smile widened before she sighed.
"I have finally let go of my hatred. Too many years wasted nursing revenge in my heart and forgetting how to live."
When she tipped her chin up with her gaze both shy and defiant, Neguro felt his heartbeat quicken. Somehow, he knew what she was alluding to - the silent wishes and unvoiced longing over the years, expressed only in brief stolen glances and half smiles.
"But now that the Heavens has granted me a second chance..." Kouren trailed off, soft colour staining her cheeks. "I would like to have love fill my heart instead of hatred."
"Your Highness, what-"
"I would like to marry," Kouren continued, speaking quickly as the bedridden, besotted general hung onto her every word, "but I fear my reputation as a cynical, war hardened princess has severely limited my options."
He nodded, tongue now stuck to the roof of his mouth and brain empty of words, unconscious of everything save this woman whom he had sworn to dedicate his life to seventeen years ago.
"So, Neguro, would you know where I might find myself a tall, strong and stalwart man? One who knows all my strengths and flaws, one who isn't afraid of me, one who would willingly stay by my side for the rest of my life?"
Why was she telling him this?
Did she think he would know of a suitable suitor to introduce to her?
Or did she think that perhaps, he would offer himself?
Dear Gods, there was nothing in this world that he desired more!
"I do," he rasped. "He is lying before you right now, too weak to even kneel at your feet, but has been completely yours to do as you please for the past seventeen years."
Kouren's eyes shimmered and Neguro gulped, not even feeling the pain in his throat.
"I beg you," he continued, voice shaking, suddenly fearful that perhaps she wanted his assistance and not himself. "Take me as your husband even though I am not of royal blood, even though I am already thirty five, even though I have nothing but scars and my skill with a sword to recommend me."
When two small tears ran down Kouren's flushed cheeks, hope surged in Neguro's racing heart, wild and ecstatic. If he weren't already in love with her, he would be right now, a thousand times over.
"You know there is no one more qualified than you, Neguro. So your wish... is my command," Kouren replied, her low voice now holding a playful quality he had never heard before. Not even in his heated dreams.
As he stared at her, barely able to believe his ears, she bent down and touched her lips to his. But when he would have raised his head to deepen the contact, she drew back.
"Kouren!"
That naughty twinkle in her eyes was definitely one he had never seen before.
"I will give my new fiance a proper kiss tomorrow," she said, "if he is able to sit up in in bed."
Flushed with wild triumph and a startling joy, Neguro grinned at her; the fiercest, most joyful grin he had ever felt stretch his lips.
"Your Highness, I will claim that kiss tomorrow," he vowed and had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen in surprise before she laughed again, low and husky, sending shivers right down to his toes.
"I look forward to it," she told him and got up gracefully. "But for now, you have a few impatient visitors."
Going to the door, she opened it and a crowd of people almost fell in - Princess Tao, Yotaka, Mizari, Algira and Vold - before rushing to him with wide smiles on their faces.
"Neguro old man!"
"Mizari, I'm not that old."
"Neguro-nyan!"
"What?!"
Despite Tao's cautioning words, Mizari and Algira leaped on the bed, half falling on top of Neguro and painfully knocking the breath from his lungs.
"Hooligans!" Yotaka growled, pulling Mizari off Neguro while Vold dealt with Algira. "You're both going to kill him after all Her Highness' hard work and care!"
Ignoring their protests, he looked at Neguro.
"I'm very glad you made it," he said.
"So am I," Vold added.
"Thank you for your care," Neguro replied.
"Now that Princess Kouren and Princess Tao are co-rulers, we can be their Five Stars again," Algira said happily.
"We will still be the strongest warriors in Xing!" Mizari declared.
Taking in their determined faces, Neguro nodded. As brave and skilled as Kouren was, he still wanted nothing more than to remain at her side for the rest of her life. As one of the Five Stars and her soon to be husband, it would be his right and his privilege.
- Story End -
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, would love to hear from you!