Disclaimer: I don't own Akatsuki no Yona and the characters. Writing for fun!
"Princess…"
No answer. She continued walking forward without looking back, her fists clenched, sheer determination written on her face.
"Pri-incess!"
No answer again.
"Princess! Is there any specific reason we're passing this place for the third time?"
Yona stopped so abruptly that had Hak been walking a bit faster he would have bumped into her.
"What are you talking about?"
"I have a suspicion that we might be lost. Unless there is a reason we're walking in circles that I'm not aware of," Hak said, pointing out the crooked tree they had seen a few times already.
"We are not walking in circles. I memorized Yoon's directions very well!" Yona retorted, although with slight hesitation.
Hak sighed heavily. "This might be a problem…" He covered his face with his hand as he was about to burst into laughter, but to the princess it looked as if he was incredibly frustrated.
"Now you look exactly like Yoon!" she said suddenly with a childish giggle. Her face brightened.
"Oh? Did you just call me a genius pretty boy?"
"Not a chance!"
"Ouch, that hurts…"
"Serves you right!" she pouted. But then added, "Just please, Hak, believe in me. I memorized the route. We'll get there."
"You lead, I shall follow," he shrugged in resignation, but his eyes were smiling. He found the whole situation highly amusing, although Yona didn't seem to be aware of his reaction.
The redhead nodded and went ahead. She kept mumbling something, probably trying to remember instructions Yoon provided before they had headed out.
The task was simple: get to the village and buy some supplies, as Yoon was complaining that they were running out of salt and rice. It couldn't have been simpler than that. To everyone's surprise, Yona volunteered to go, and even more so, wished to do it alone.
"I can do this much", she said, ruling out any objections.
"What a pain…" Yoon uttered, but explained very thoroughly how to get to the village, how much she should buy, and provided her with enough money. Then repeated the instructions three more times. Yona was nodding eagerly, but when he took a pause from talking to catch a breath, she quickly grabbed her cape and hurried to leave before the boy started repeating the whole thing. Yoon rolled his eyes in despair when Hak rose from his place and followed the princess into the forest.
"Just don't you get lost on the way there, Thunder Beast," Yoon sighed in exasperation.
It didn't take long for Hak to catch up with the girl. She stopped and cast an angry glance at him.
"You don't need to follow me!"
"I'm not following you, princess. You know, that village is famous for its lush vegetation and rose gardens. I'd like to go sightseeing. It has nothing to do with my duties as someone's bodyguard."
"Sightseeing?" Yona tilted her head. Even though she was still unaware of many things in Kouka, she had already realized that the Fire Tribe territory was quite barren and there was no way for a remote little village to have beautiful gardens, or much greenery at all.
"Sightseeing," Hak nodded.
It was such a blatant lie, and Hak said it with such a serious expression, that Yona the right words to comment on it and conceded.
"Fine," she said through clenched teeth. "Do as you wish."
They continued walking in silence.
"Everyone is always looking out for me," Yona said after a long pause, her voice trembling a little. "I just want to do something as well. I don't want to be a burden. Even if it's this little, I want to…" She bit her lip.
Hak understood her struggle perfectly well. Looking back at past events, Yona had already displayed her desire to change, and Hak willingly accepted her metamorphosis. Not much time had passed since their escape from the castle, but she was already no longer the ignorant princess he knew there, it was unsettling, and yet exciting.
"Let's hurry up, princess, or the Ouryuu might end up eating Droopy-eyes, you know how much that guy always eats."
Yona gave a little smile. Annoying as he was, Hak always knew how to cheer her up ever since they were kids. She didn't want to admit it, but she was happy that he decided to join her. She still felt very insecure on her own; ever since that fateful night when she lost her father, the fear of being all alone in the world with no allies to turn to was planted in her heart, causing surges of panic when she would look around frantically, trying to fix her gaze on Hak, or Yoon, or one of the Dragon warriors – on someone who she knew would be there to pull her out of that agony. She hated herself for being so weak, but just like she found resolve to master a bow, she kept pushing her limits, hoping that one day she would become strong enough to not depend on others.
But now, as she stared at the tree trunk that Hak just pointed at moments ago, she started to seriously doubt herself. She tried hard to remember what Yoon had said, but it felt like she was going exactly according to his directions. And Hak wasn't helping! Well, he hadn't really listened to Yoon, or so it seemed, and maybe he didn't know where to go himself, or maybe he was playing some trick on her again, she wouldn't put it past him.
Yona closed her eyes and stood still for a moment, trying to concentrate. Was there something she was missing? She could hear birds chirping, gentle wind rustling the leaves, the roaming insects buzzing, the relaxing sound of stream in the distance – a medley of forest noises around her. Small patches of warm sunlight caressed her skin making her feel warm and serene. Had she not been so stressed about losing her way, she would have been thoroughly enjoying her walk. Suddenly something flashed on the brink of her mind. Hadn't Yoon mentioned a stream? That was it! That was where they had to go. With a newfound resolve she headed towards the sound of the water.
Hak immediately noticed the change in Yona's mood. He had been trying hard not to point out where she kept taking the wrong path. Knowing what she was trying to achieve with this trip, he didn't want to ruin her confidence. The sun was still high and he didn't really mind spending some time alone with the princess, even if it meant "getting lost" for a while. But it looked like she finally had remembered the way. Good.
Soon they reached the water. The stream, or rather little river, wasn't very wide, but the current was fast, splashing around the shiny polished stones, as it was moving downhill through the forest. Rays of light were piercing through the foliage above, sprinkling the surface with diamond-like sparkles and making the pebbles glow like gemstones under water. Yona got a handful of chilly liquid and washed her face. It felt incredibly refreshing. With a silly grin she took another handful, turned briskly and threw the water in Hak's direction, shaking the drops off her fingers violently. He evaded most of it, of course.
"Is that a declaration of war, princess?" he asked as he closed in.
"It is!" Yona laughed, reaching out for more water to throw, but suddenly got a downpour on her head.
"Not fair! You're taller than me!" she screamed, her hair completely wet, and water in her eyes. "I can't do the same to you!"
"It's a war, princess, as you have just proclaimed. I'm simply using tactical advantage."
"Just you wait! I'm not defeated yet!" She ran along the riverbank to put some distance between them and tried throwing handfuls of water as fast as she could without much aim, taking advantage of the sheer volumes she used. But how could she rival the Thunder Beast of Kouka in speed?
"We need to cross it, I think," Yona said pensively after they finished fooling around. She was panting heavily, the water was still dripping from her hair, her dress was wet, but she knew she had had fun. The feeling of playing a silly game without a care in the world was – not new to her – but something she hadn't experienced for a very long time. She was truly happy at that moment, but with a hint of sadness, as she remembered playing with Hak and Soo-Won as kids. But she shook those memories away. It was not the right time for reminiscing. Right here it was only she, and Hak, and they both enjoyed this brief respite, it was the only thing that mattered.
"I'm not so sure…" Hak tried to object, because he knew that they did not have to cross it, but rather follow it upwards to the source, which would lead them directly to the village.
However Yona had already jumped on one of the bigger rocks.
"Come on!" she beckoned and hopped on the next one.
"Careful, princess, the rocks are…" she heard Hak saying, as her made a wrong step and felt a sudden pain in her ankle. It was enough to make her lose balance and she found herself falling. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact with the water.
"…Slippery," Hak finished the sentence, his voice seemed so close, as if he was talking right into her ear. And there was no water, aside from her dress still being wet from playing earlier. Yona opened her eyes. Hak's face was so close; she could feel his breath on her cheek, could see every line, every texture familiar to her since their childhood days, but right now he seemed so different, so attractive, that she couldn't stop looking at him. She had to close her eyes, unsure where these weird thoughts came from. Her whole body was feeling hot and she found it hard to breathe. It was because she got scared, right, she thought she was going to fall, and Hak saved her yet again.
"Th-thank you," she said, as Hak carried her to the bank. "You can put me down now, I think," she added because even though there were no unsteady rocks under their feet, Hak still wasn't letting go of her, and she had to admit to herself that she didn't really want him to put her down. It was strangely comfortable with his strong arms supporting her, to feel his body heat through her wet dress. Yona had an urge to touch his face, and it was weird – it was just Hak, a man she had known for most of her life, and yet she had never felt this way around him before. But it was probably still effects of the fright, she just wanted to feel something steady after nearly falling into the river, and Hak was a perfect candidate. However, she was a bit disappointed when he carefully put her down.
"What a clumsy princess you are!" Hak's voice brought an end to her reverie.
Yona wanted to come up with some witty answer, but the pain in her ankle sprung up again the moment she stepped with that leg, and she nearly tumbled with a gasp.
"Looks like I am," she said looking down.
"Shall we head back?" Hak looked concerned.
"No! I promised Yoon I'd get the supplies. And then, what about your sightseeing…" Yona tried to smile.
"I think I got plenty of sightseeing for today."
"I'm sorry…"
"We've still got plenty of time. Let's go!" he said cheerfully, surprising her.
Hak lifted her again and headed uphill. Yona knew it was her fault that he had to carry her while still holding his large glaive; she could only imagine how uncomfortable it must have been.
"Wait, how do you know we need to go this way? Hak?"
The mischievous grin on his face was enough of an answer.
"So you knew! You knew the whole time? Why didn't you tell…?" She paused, struck by a sudden realization. "Oh," she said then. "Oh…"
He saw right through her, her desire to do something on her own, to be useful. Hak saw it and played along with it so that she wouldn't feel bad for him taking the control of her hands, while still being there in case she needed help.
"Thank you," she said. How many times had she said it today? It felt like it wasn't enough. It was never enough to thank him, given how much Hak was doing for her.
"For what?" he raised an eyebrow looking confused.
"For today… For everything…"
She stretched out her hand to put it around his neck and made him lean down a bit, so that she could shift a little upward and place a little kiss on his cheek. His skin was so hot, as if he was having fever.
"Princess?!"
Come to think of it, she'd never actually seen Hak blushing; sometimes she even wondered if he could be embarrassed at all. It seemed like he could. What a weird day!
"What took you so long?"
"What have you done to the princess?"
Yoon and Kija shouted at the same time the moment Hak appeared in the camp, carrying Yona who was holding a bag of supplies.
"It was my fault," Yona said apologetically. "But we got everything you asked for, Yoon!"
"Welcome back, miss and mister!" Zeno waved to them, taking the bag out of Yona's hands.
"More importantly, what's wrong with your foot?" Yoon eyed her hastily bandaged ankle.
"Nothing serious, just twisted it."
Yoon sighed. "Come on, let me have a look!"
Going into her tent after Yoon, Yona threw a quick glance at the camp. Hak was already engaged in some bickering with Jae-Ha and Kija, they surely wouldn't let him go so easily, given that he brought Yona back with an injury. Zeno was trying to play with Shin-Ah, although Seiryuu didn't seem to respond too well, trying to pull Ao away from the food. She smiled. They were her family now. She didn't need to prove anything to them. They accepted her as she was. But she still had to get stronger to be able to protect this happiness.