Shock, confusion, fear, she felt paralyzed, blood so much blood, all she could see was red.The room swirled in varying shades of gray, her cousin, her father, all colorless except for the bright red.It was splattered on her cousin's clothes and face, it pooled beneath her father's limp and lifeless body, flowing…Red.Closer to her feet…Red.She couldn't breathe.Never fond of her unusual hair color, for the first time in her short life she hated it.

How could he kill her father?She thought he loved his uncle…Her feet needed to move but they were glued to the floor.He betrayed them, the man she loved, still held the sword dripping, his expression so cold, affect flat, she couldn't read it, no all she could see clearly was the red blood.Oh God was she next?Would he really kill her?She was a witness to treason.

She ran for her life, it's all she could do, blinded by tears, everything was a blurry mess.Soldiers pursed by order of her cousin, chasing her into the cold night…

He heard the light whimpers coming from her tent and went to investigate, why was his Princess crying? She had been quiet ever since their encounter with Soo-Won, unusually quiet and requested to sleep alone tonight. But now she was crying. Hak pulled back the flap to see Yona asleep, squirming, fidgeting through a nightmare; was she reliving that night again? It had been weeks since she had suffered that memory and that bastard brought it back! His fists ball up at his sides, just the mere sight of her in pain makes him see red.

That bastard. Soo-Won had hurt them both that night, betrayed them, not only by killing their King, but destroying their friendship forever, had his deception known no bounds? They were so close, a whole childhood shattered by one horrible act. He didn't see the king, but he saw her. Kneeling, swords pointed to her throat, her red hair glowing like the blood he was about to shed. Everything else was a blur of colorless gray shapes as he fought the soldiers. Red everywhere… It was a memory he longed to forget, and it killed him inside that she was still being haunted by it all.

With an exhale, Hak stoops down and brushes a few stray hairs away from her face. She was shivering despite the warm night air and thick blanket covering her. He strokes her cheek, gently…

… She tripped, no her ankles were lassoed, she screams.This is the end.Too afraid to fight anymore, on her knees she awaits her fate.And he just stares at her with those cold dead eyes as he orders her execution.Her body trembles, father, mother…Hak…

There's a blur, she blinks, more red littering the ground as soldier, after soldier falls around her, she looks up…Hak.More tears blind her vision but there he was standing before her.Never had she seen such fury in her childhood friend, but she wasn't scared, not of him.A stilling of the air…

…wishing away her tormented mind, praying to his king to give her soul peace. He loves her so much, trying to convey all those feelings through his hand as it caresses her cheek. Her trembling ceases under his tender touch, unconsciously pushing more firmly against it as if accepting it. His breathing slows, even though she is asleep, it makes his heart flutter wildly and then he hears the name, wispy, as delicate as strands of silk from her lips…

… Hak.He was protecting her as he always had, but it was different this time.Oh Hak…The scene shifts and suddenly she is staring at him from a short distance as he walks towards her.No longer was he just a childhood friend in her eyes but a man, and a handsome one at that.The skipping of her pulse, her cheeks are red now for sure.Hak.She had been raised from birth to think that her husband had to be of royal blood but maybe, was Hak the one her heart truly desired?

He reached out and pulled her to him and all she could do was stare up in wonderment as an overwhelming sense of tranquility fell over her, a peace that only being within his arms could bring.She was nervous, she felt weak as his gaze softened and lowered so close to her own.He was the first man she had ever trusted with her body, and now, maybe she could trust him with her heart? Oh God his lips were so close to hers…

… His name uttered from her lips, those dainty, beautiful little lips... A brief smile, and now her face was a light tinge of red, can you blush when you're asleep? Had his wish come true? Had her nightmare disappeared? But then why had she said his name, why was she blushing! Oh God, she said it again, his name so soft it was barely audible, but it was there. So spellbound was he, as she gently pulled his hand closer to those lush lips… She was asleep, but she… she kissed his hand! What the hell was she dreaming about!

Or hell, was he dreaming this whole thing up? Had his carnal desires spilled over and now manifested in this dream? She tugs on his hand again, hard, pulling him… Well if this was really his dream shouldn't he be lying down beside her? Obliging, facing her, scrutinizing her expressions that still held such an adorable reddish hue, he wanted so badly to replace the hands she held dearly with his lips, but he doesn't dare, instead watching, gazing with a flush to his own cheeks. His Yona had finally settled back down with such a contented look…

… She cupped his cheeks, ever so mildly tinged of red, and completed the gap between them.No big fireworks, just a filling of her heart to the brim, and a realization that all those times her father had smiled on them together, this is probably what he had wished for, that happy, blissful little girl that all fathers hope for their children, and a man that would treasure her beyond life itself, not just as a Princess or Queen, but as a woman, a wife, and a mother...

It felt heavenly, Hak's arms around her were perfect and the nightmare could become a distant memory…

Once she had relaxed back into a peaceful slumber, he too could find solace and drifted away into sleep with her hand still clutched tightly around his own… his sweet little Yona…

A twitching next to her face wakes Yona and she sees Hak, it was his hand, still held in her own that had moved. He was sleeping peacefully parallel to her body, his face soft, serene, handsome… like in her dreams. Had he come during her nightmare? Was he the source of tranquility that had washed over her, breaking her out the pain? She smiled as she gazed lovingly over this man who had always been beside her, reaching out to caress his cheek, followed by her lips…

Crystal blues pop open, met with sparkling violet. "Yona?" Though more like a murmur against her lips still pressed and humming against his own in response, the hand she has over his cheek moves to cup around his neck as his finger weave their way into her tresses. Is he still dreaming?