Author's Notes: I've been meaning to do this one for a little while, this one shot takes place after 'The Secret's Out' and for once isn't an AU of a particular chapter, as this will take place well after the Xing Arc (Chapter 150 came out around the time I was writing this) so I am making up this part as I go to lead into 'When a Dragon is Born' This fanfic also introduces my OC Valerie Nightmare, an old OC I've used in Slayers and Megaman Battle Network Fanfictions before, my other OC Xellious Noon's sister. She also is a main character in 'Love and War in the Dragon Family' I wanted to write this to introduce her before she shows up in 'When a Dragon is Born' so it's not as confusing. Also special thanks to shadowelfwarrior for some of the ideas here and the suggestion of how Yoon handles Yona getting sick ^^
And yes I am referencing the tournament in Chapter 76 where Hak got his title of Thunder Beast/Lightning Beast
It was about a month since Yona and her group had left Xing, things were in order now that negotiations had finished between King Soo-won and Princess Kouren. Yona felt she had overstayed her welcome there, even though Princess Tao insisted they could remain as long as they liked. After her discreet marriage with Jae-ha, Yona decided that she still wanted to travel, despite the protests of both Hak and Yoon, who insisted that her pregnancy would make things more difficult. Currently she was five months pregnant by Yoon's best guess and still wasn't slowing down one bit. She already had a bump in her abdomen, but nothing that couldn't be passed off as some weight gain. Still, it was another reason why she felt the need to return to the road, at least this way the news that she was pregnant wouldn't spread around Xing and possibly reach Soo-won. Even though he didn't seem to want to cause her harm at the moment, her child could easily be a threat to his claim on the throne, since she was the legitimate heir. It also helped that Princess Tao made it clear she didn't want harm to come to Yona since she helped bring the countries together and avoid war.
"I still say we need to find somewhere to settle down for when it does get closer to the baby being born." Yoon spoke as they were walking down the road. "Yona listen to reason, if you keep pushing yourself like you do it's just going to cause both you and your baby harm. To be honest, I'm surprised you haven't miscarried with everything that's happened."
Yona took in a sharp gasp at that thought, recalling that Yoon was right she was through both emotional and physical stress lately. "… I-I'm fine, really Yoon. And if we have to settle down the last week before I give birth that's fine."
"Princess that's cutting it WAY too close." Hak interjected. "While I don't doubt Yoon's judgement, we're still guessing here. It wouldn't be good if you went into labor in the middle of a battle or something?"
"You make it sound like the princess will be causing trouble within that time." Kija huffed, crossing his arms. "But I do agree with Yoon that we shouldn't press too much."
"Trouble finds her no matter where she goes." Hak snapped.
"Isn't Ryokuryuu going to protest the little miss pushing herself?" Zeno nudged Jae-ha's shoulder.
The Green Dragon shrugged. "We all know how hard it is to convince my lovely wife when her stubborn mind is set on something. I said before back in Sensui I gave up trying to convince her, but…" he smiled softly. "I still say the moment she looks worn out or in over her head I'll still sweep her away despite the protests. And now I have even more reason to be the one to steal her away, being her husband and all." He chuckled.
Yona flushed at that, even after a month and a half of being married she still found herself blushing whenever Jae-ha called her his wife. "I-I'll be careful, I promise."
"Yona at the very least can we agree to find a place to stay a month before my estimate on your due time?" Yoon pleaded. "That way if you do give birth sooner than I expected I can be completely ready."
Yona twisted her mouth. "It will have to be somewhere safe since we usually can't stay in one place too long without being discovered, especially now that we're back in Kouka."
"We could return to my village." Kija suggested. "The princess would be protected by all of them, in fact they would be honored to witness the birth of the child of the Crimson Dragon."
"Yeah I'd rather not get stuck in a cage again, those guys might jump us if you're not up front Kija…" Yoon grumbled. "Not to mention the fuss they'll make that one of the dragons is the father."
"Well…." Hak looked thoughtful. "… Gramps did say if we ever needed shelter…"
Yona blinked for a moment, then smiled. "You mean return to Fuuga? Then we can see everyone of the Wind Clan again."
"That's where you grew up wasn't it Hak?" Jae-ha asked with a grin, rubbing his chin. "I do recall you saying there were lovely ladies there…" and that's when both Hak's glaive and Kija's claws were drawn right in front of his face. "…. Seriously guys?" the Green Dragon sweatdropped.
"A married man shouldn't be talking about going to a village just to gawk at females…" Hak growled. "I warned you before if you EVER think about cheating on the princess I'll…."
"A DRAGON THAT CANNOT HONOR HIS VOWS TO HIS MASTER SHOULD DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS!" Kija hissed, basically finishing for the Thunder Beast.
Jae-ha held up his hands defensively. "Oh come on you two! All I said was-"
"Was how much you want to see what Hak was talking about? Well if looking is all that you mean to do, then I suppose it's not too bad, husband." Yona huffed, walking ahead of them with a displeased pout, her jealousy showing.
'Aw damn now I'm screwed… She usually freezes up when calling me her husband, except when she's mad at me…' Jae-ha groaned that Hak and Kija just had to blow his comment out of context and get his wife's jealousy going, which was especially easy these days due to her pregnancy causing mood swings. He quickly jumped to dodge the two men threatening him to land in front of the redhead, smiling at her. "Now Yona darling, we've had this conversation before. I just appreciate beauty that's all, after all no one can compare to you my love." He took her hand and brought it up to his lips where he placed a kiss.
Yona blushed and looked away. "J-Jae-ha not here everyone's watching and…" She stammered, ever since their secret came out the Green Dragon wasted no time showing his affection in public, and since the princess was still very shy it always embarrassed her.
"Let them, after all I have to make it clear I'm honoring my vows don't I?" Jae-ha chuckled, catching a look at Kija who huffed at him taking those words a different way. The Ryokuryuu leaned in and kissed his wife briefly, brushing his fingers on her chin.
"Pukkyyuu!" Ao cried on Shin-ah's shoulder, as if cheering for them.
Yoon, Kija and Hak all looked away as the couple kissed, Zeno just smiled and watched while Shin-ah just smiled and pet his squirrel.
"Ugh I'd say get a room but obviously they already have." Yoon grumbled.
Jae-ha then moved his hand to feel Yona's cheek and that's when he paused during the kiss. He quickly broke the kiss and placed his forehead against hers. "… Yoon, you better get over here now. She has a fever." He then twisted his mouth. "Yona dear are you feeling ok?"
"I'm fine." Yona pursed her lips, stubborn as ever. She had her hood up the whole time so it was hard to see that her cheeks were badly flushed besides the blush on her face.
Yoon strolled over and lifted her hood, feeling her forehead. "Yona I told you to let me know if you're feeling bad, not everything is just a side effect of your pregnancy."
"But you said before my temperature can go up…" Yona protested, she hated when they all made a fuss over her like this. "And it's not that much further to get to town, I can make it."
"It'll be nightfall by the time we get to town..." Shin-ah spoke up, of course he could see how far away it was.
"There's a good spot over there we can set up camp." Zeno pointed towards an open area just past a few trees. "That way the little miss can take a rest and recover."
"What else are you feeling? Are you dizzy?" Yoon asked, currently checking Yona's wrist to feel her pulse.
"A little but that happens from time to time, really you guys are making too big of a deal about this." Yona waved a hand carelessly. She then swayed a bit from standing still, obviously it didn't hit her until she stopped walking.
Jae-ha quickly caught her and lifted the princess into his arms. "That does it, no more being on your feet for the day."
"Jae-ha!" Yona protested, blushing a bit as she glared at him. "I told you I'm fine!"
"Then allow your husband to carry his pretty little wife for a while." The Green Dragon teased. "After all I've said before I'll be your legs." He then kissed her to silence her protests.
"Ehhh Jae-ha be careful about that, you don't want to catch whatever she might have." Yoon brought up, then sighed as the Ryokuryuu just kept walking while carrying the redhead and smooching still. "Of course he's not going to listen to me either…. Luckily we're not extremely far away from Crimson Dragon Palace or else we know how easily you guys get sick…"
"As if the threat of being sick will keep Droopy Eyes off her." Hak rolled his eyes. "Let's just get camp set up then."
Once they got the tents up and ready Jae-ha placed Yona into her tent and helped her into her bedroll, as Yoon got to work right away going through his bag and making her take some medicine for her fever.
"Really you two, you don't have to fuss over me so much." Yona pouted as she was drinking her tea which was bitter with the medicine inside.
"Yona, I keep warning you that you can't push yourself like this." Yoon scolded. "If you won't slow down for your health, do it for your child. Getting sick like this isn't good for your pregnancy. Fortunately, it does seem like it's just a cold. The worst is going to be breaking that fever."
"Listen to our Mother Yoon, Yona dear." Jae-ha chuckled as he was sitting next to Yona and cradling her head against his chest. His hand slowly stroked her crimson hair. "He's just worried about becoming a grandmother with the little one the way."
"What have I told you about calling me that?" Yoon grumbled, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. "And I'm the youngest one here dammit, there's no way I could give birth to any of you troublesome idiots so I am not a mother nor a grandmother!"
Yona giggled slightly at that as she closed her eyes while resting against her husband. "I just didn't want to worry you all after everything that's happened recently. Besides it didn't really hit me until I stopped walking then everything was spinning…"
"Well take a rest then and I'll give you something else to help…" Yoon was digging into his pack and grumbled as he pulled out an empty bottle that seemed to carry his homemade remedy. "Great, I'm running a bit low on supplies after treating everyone's wounds back at Xing… I don't have what I need here to make some more…" he sighed and shook his head, turning to the princess. "Well take a rest then, and I'll make more to go with dinner after I get what I need to put together a batch."
"I could take you into town Yoon if you need to get supplies for the medicine." Jae-ha offered, obviously concerned for his wife. "Or if there's some plants you need to harvest we can search around for them."
"I can ask Shin-ah to look out for a few herbs when he goes with Hak to hunt for dinner, as far as going into town that might be a good idea." Yoon said, slowly standing up. "Let me make sure what other supplies we need before going then, and I'll tell Shin-ah what to look for since with his eyes he can spot it from far away." The boy genius then left the tent.
"I'm sure it's not that bad Jae-ha I'll probably be fine after I rest a bit." Yona said as she opened her eyes but tried to relax, not wanting to let them know how exhausted she was feeling at the moment.
Jae-ha just smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yona darling, you always push yourself far too much. Just like when you were worried about us when we got ill, we're going to be worried about you as well. Don't concern yourself about hindering us like Yoon said, you have more than just yourself to worry about." He chuckled and poked her nose cutely while rubbing her belly with his other hand.
The princess blushed a bit at that. "Alright, alright… I'll try to slow down a bit… For the baby of course." She was still being stubborn though. "Like Hak said we can go to the Wind Tribe where we should be safe. In a way I wish I could have gotten a chance to talk to Lily when she arrived in Xing with Soo-won and the rest, I wanted to let her know that I'm… You know going to be a… Well…." She flushed again, unable to finish that sentence that she was going to be a mother.
"You didn't dare tell her with Soo-won's soldiers around or even tell the Wind Tribe right then as rumors would have gotten back to him." Jae-ha sighed. "The only reason they left us alone back there was because Princess Tao insisted on it and they were in her country. We might not be so lucky next time, and while I know the people of Hak's tribe will be on our side it could still turn into a blood bath… Not to mention start an inner war between the tribes and that's the last thing Kouka needs."
Yona giggled slightly at his train of thought. "And you told me you're not fit to be a king." She kissed his cheek which actually made the Ryokuryuu blush a bit. "First you do everything to avoid war with Xing by telling Kija and the others not to fight back and now you're expressing worry about causing a rift between the tribes. For a former pirate you sure do seem to know how to handle some diplomatic situations." She teased.
"Hey even pirates have to know when to fight and when not to, I learned that from Captain Gigan… You choose your battles wisely and those that strategize have a higher chance of success." Jae-ha chuckled lightly. "I still agree with the others though that if the time does come that you return to the palace to take back your rightful place, it's you that should rule this country Yona dear." He lifted her hand to place a kiss on her delicate skin.
If Yona's face wasn't already beet red from her fever she swore it would be with how his words made her heart flutter. "I still want you by my side always, no matter where this path takes me." She said, taking his hand into hers.
The Green Dragon smiled at that, kissing her cheek as he did mind Yoon's warning to try and keep contact to a minimum but he still wanted to comfort her while she was ill. "Of course, it's where I belong after all, princess of my heart." He stroked her cheek with his free hand while looking into her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too." Yona responded, smiling at him warmly.
"You know maybe you could write Lily a letter." Jae-ha suggested. "Explaining what's happened so that she doesn't panic if she doesn't see you for a while until the little one is born. With my leg I could travel out to her and deliver it myself after Yoon's done in town if you want."
"Really?" the princess perked up at that. "B-but Jae-ha I really hate to trouble you like that…"
"It's no trouble, just your husband wants to ease your mind a bit." The Ryokuryuu chuckled, kissing her hair this time. "And you know how fast I can travel, I'll be able to get back here before you all even reach town tomorrow."
"But won't I have to worry if Lily isn't the only one that reads it?" Yona asked, pursing her lips.
"I could write it in code for you, Captain Gigan used to use coded messages back in the day as ways we could communicate when teams would split up, often I got used as messenger and notes were easy and quick to distribute long distance commands and changes in plans while in the middle of battle." Jae-ha explained. "And since I'll bring it to her, I can decode it for Lily right then and there."
"That's a great idea." Yona smiled wide, hugging her husband tightly. "Thank you so much Jae-ha!"
"Anything to put a lovely smile on my wife's face." The Green Dragon responded, petting her head softly. "So let's put this together before Yoon is ready for me to take him to town, shall we?"
After Jae-ha got the letter ready, he took Yoon with him on the way to town, the youth riding on his back while it would only take a few jumps to get to the town.
"Jae-ha I hope you don't mind but I think I might have to sedate your wife at this rate." Yoon spoke after a moment, making a face. "She's being so damn stubborn when she really needs to take a rest, and she really needs to get over this sickness."
The Ryokuryuu raised an eyebrow at that. "Yoon just what exactly are you planning to do to Yona dear?"
"What? We both know she's far too stubborn for her own good and will keep on insisting we travel and not take it easy!" Yoon protested. "You can live a night or two without… Doing… That…" he blushed and looked away. "In fact maybe we'll be able to get some sleep for a change with it." He grumbled slightly.
Jae-ha started laughing at that one. "Why Yoon! I had no idea you liked to listen to the sounds that come from our tent when we-"
The boy genius' face turned completely red at that statement, he interrupted the Green Dragon right away. "I DON'T BUT SOMETIMES YOU TWO ARE SO DAMN LOUD WE ALL CAN HEAR YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE SLEEPING NEXT TO A BROODING THUNDER BEAST?!"
Jae-ha found himself chuckling at that, as he was picturing Yona's reaction had she heard this just now, she'd get so self-conscious about the noises she'd make. They had spent so much time being quiet and hiding before everyone found out that now they simply weren't holding back anymore. Not to mention the fact that, thanks to her pregnancy, Yona's mood was all over the place. One minute she craved his contact like no tomorrow and other times she'd get angry at him for the littlest of things and swat him away if he did something perverted. "Hak really needs to let go and stop being ready to kill me any minute. We need to find a nice girl for him to loosen up with, or else I guess if he can't move on from Yona maybe he can finally make a proper move on her when I'm gone."
Yoon swallowed hard when the Green Dragon brought that up. "…. You're pretty sure your kid is the next dragon, aren't you?"
"Well, I can't deny what Zeno said back there in Xing." Jae-ha replied as he landed from his last jump and took one more into the sky. "Something was pulling us towards Yona more than usual, and Yona-chan herself felt something inside her. All I knew was how desperate I was to protect her, but it would make sense if that power was brought on by the child if it's another Dragon Warrior, calling on its brother's powers to protect the Crimson Dragon."
"When are you going to… Tell her?" Yoon asked, lowering his head a bit. He dreaded the thought of how this was going to affect the princess.
"After the baby is born, obviously." Jae-ha said, looking at the boy genius like the answer was obvious. "No point in stressing her out until we know for sure if our kid is my death sentence. Besides like you said, with all the stress Yona dear's been under it's a wonder she hasn't miscarried by now. I do plan on telling Hak too, when the right time comes up." He smiled at that end there. "Might as well let him know that he might only have to deal with me for a few more years before my time is up." He then winked when he saw Yoon's sorrowful expression. "But I meant what I said before Yoon, I plan on beating my predecessor's record at the very least. Especially if Yona-chan has a little girl, I just have to see my beautiful daughter grow up, don't I?"
Yoon sweatdropped. "…. Must you always be a pervert?"
Jae-ha laughed at that response, and then landed right in front of town, placing Yoon down. "My time might be limited Yoon but I still have to live life to the fullest. I don't regret any of it though, even getting married, which is something I thought I'd never do."
"Obviously with how you still can't help but gawk at females much to Yona's dislike." Yoon grumbled. "Anyway let's find a medical shop so we can-"
"… Jae-ha?" a voice came from behind which made them both turn around and see it was a tall female with long strawberry blonde hair. The woman was just an inch shorter than Jae-ha with bright blue eyes. She had a blue and purple kimono dress with an orange sash.
The Ryokuryuu's violet eyes widened at the sight of the woman. "… Val? What in the world are you doing here?"
"Valerie!" Yoon's face brightened at the sight of the woman. "You have PERFECT timing! Please tell me you're in town selling your medical supplies I need a few things from you!"
The woman, Valerie, smiled at them both. She chose to answer the boy genius first. "Of course, you know me I'm always traveling on business. But it's weird to see you all the way out here kid, usually you're with that deadbeat priest."
"Ik-su's back at home just I've been traveling with some friends." Yoon chuckled, then suddenly realized she had called the Green Dragon by name. "… Wait a second, you two know each other? Oh I guess that figures you must have run into Valerie in Awa since it's a port town and all with her being a healer that also sells her medicine…"
"Well I'd say we more than just know each other." Jae-ha smirked slightly. "Isn't that right, sister dear?"
"EEEHHHH?!" Yoon's eyes widened. "WHHHHAAATTTT? What do you mean by-"
"Brother dear you're going to give your friend a heart attack." Valerie laughed and shook her head. "It's just a game the two of us like to play since we kind of grew up together."
"Meet Captain Gigan's Daughter, Valerie Nightmare." Jae-ha chuckled as he extended his hand out towards the woman, he then answered Yoon's next burning question right away. "Adopted of course, the captain took her in at a young age before I joined the pirates. Since we were both still kids when I came along, we used to joke that we both were kind of adopted by the captain, so we considered ourselves siblings."
"So what happened Jae-ha? You piss off the captain and she finally threw your flirting ass out?" Valerie teased, smirking slightly at him. "I heard that the captain finally took down Kumji."
"Let's just say an opportunity came along I couldn't resist, a bit of a protection job you might call it." Jae-ha smiled back at her. "And since the captain was disbanding the pirates anyway, I had nothing else better to do."
"Babysitting usually isn't to your liking." Valerie chuckled. "But Yoon here is a sweetie and I hope you're taking care of him."
"I'm not the one he came along to protect…" Yoon grumbled.
"It's a long story Val, maybe we can catch up sometime." Jae-ha said, smirking at her. "For now Yoon really could use those medical supplies. Glad to hear your business has bloomed so much since you left Awa to go take part in that Martial Arts Tournament almost seven years ago. The captain will never admit it when you come visit but she misses you."
"Hey it was a chance to show off my skills and make a killing selling supplies patching up those with injuries." Valerie smirked in return and then winked. "Well why don't we have a drink then like old times and catch up that way? After all this town's Red Light is full of ladies that are just your type."
Yoon cleared his throat as if to remind the Green Dragon they were in a bit of a hurry and that his wife was waiting.
"Hmmm, I'll have to pass this time Val." Jae-ha chuckled.
'He never passes up a chance with the ladies or a drink…' Valerie raised an eyebrow at that. "Anyway what do you need Yoon?"
"I need some medicine for fever, nausea and something that will put someone to sleep for a few hours, but won't harm a baby." The boy genius listed off.
Valerie blinked a few times at that. "What? Why would a kid like you need something like that?"
Yoon grumbled slightly. "Because I have a stupidly stubborn pregnant woman to look after, who really needs to rest, and who doesn't know the meaning of TAKE IT EASY DAMNIT!"
Jae-ha laughed at that one. "He's telling the truth Val, we really need to get this back to her because she's coming down with something but keeps insisting on still traveling."
"Ooohhh so you have a cute girl with your group?" Valerie grinned slightly. "Oh but if she's pregnant then she's already taken, that's too bad. So is that the job you're on Jae-ha? Did her husband hire you to protect her or something?"
"… Actually, I'm her husband." Jae-ha chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Valerie's jaw dropped at that one. "… Wait…. YOU?! You of ALL PEOPLE actually got hitched?! Who pulled out the chain and the canons to force you to get tied down?" she was giggling now. "Or was it totally a shotgun wedding because you knocked her up?"
"Well he did get her pregnant behind our backs…" Yoon grumbled slightly.
"And here I thought you were a master of controlling yourself…" Valerie teased and shook her head, but then looked at the Ryokuryuu concerned. "Wait… Jae-ha if she's pregnant with your child then that means…"
Jae-ha just smiled and pat her on the shoulder. "It's fine, and besides Yona's special… Let's just say that master I was avoiding back then was far from what I expected."
The healer seemed to catch onto his meaning. "… Wait are you trying to tell me that she's…."
"Oh that's right, if she was with Captain Gigan's Crew she knows you're the Ryokuryuu." Yoon pieced together the unspoken words between the two.
"Well I sure would like to meet her someday, perhaps when we see each other again. I'm actually on my way to the Water Tribe." Valerie said, smiling at the two.
"The Water Tribe? Hey Val…" Jae-ha then pulled out the letter that Yona had written. "Think you could do me a favor and deliver this? It's for the general's daughter, Lily. It's written in the captain's old code so you should be able to decipher it for her easily. And I know I can trust you with this."
"Oh that's gonna cost you, brother dear." Valerie snickered, winking at him. "When I see you next, you owe me at least an introduction to your pretty wife. She's got to be gorgeous to be able to tie you down."
Jae-ha just smiled warmly at that. "She is…. Like no other. And knowing you, you'll find us." After all he knew in the letter Yona wrote out to Lily that they would be in the Wind Tribe in three months so he figured Valerie would try and meet up with them then.
Valerie smiled at that, gathering up some herbs and a bottle of some kind of liquid from her bag and handing it to Yoon. "Try these, they should work for a pregnant woman. She might need some more for pain…" she handed him another bottle. "Also if you're in need of a midwife, I've helped birth a few kids myself."
"That could really help, even though we are going to find a place to stay for when she's closer to giving birth. She's five months already." Yoon explained. "Anyway that should do, we should hurry back before Yona starts to worry. Thanks a lot Valerie you're always a big help."
"Anytime." Valerie smiled. "And I'll be sure to deliver this letter, you can count on it."
"Alright then Yoon let's go." Jae-ha said, hoisting the boy genius onto his back and taking off into the air with a mighty leap. "Who knew that you had already met Valerie? Talk about your small world…"
"…. So are you going to tell me the story with you two?" Yoon spoke after a moment.
Jae-ha looked at him confused. "Huh? We just told you Yoon, we met back when I fled my village 13 years ago and found the captain. She left Awa nearly seven years ago though because she wanted to try out that tournament and travel the world with her business. She'd come and visit now and again but then head right back out."
"Yeah you're not fooling anyone Jae-ha, you two clearly have a history." Yoon looked at him dead serious. "Especially that little invite of hers to…"
"It's not what you think." Jae-ha chuckled, shaking his head. "We really are more like brother and sister, you could say we had… Tried a few things when we were younger, after all we were young adolescents when we met after all and I had just gotten my freedom so I wanted to try everything I could but… It didn't work out between us." He smiled at the boy slightly. "After that we kept things causal between us, it never stopped us from having a good time together though. But that was before Yona dear and I met so don't worry about me cheating on her or anything like that."
Yoon processed that for a few moments before he spoke again. "… You liked her."
Jae-ha snorted a laugh at that. "Let's just say Val helped me learn what a one-sided love's signs are and why I could spot Hak's feelings for Yona so easily. It never escalated too far between us, since we were young and at least gave it a try but we didn't let it ruin our friendship. But it's why I believe Yona-chan when she says she only loves Hak like a brother, it's that same kind of expression Val gave me when she said similar."
Yoon twisted his mouth though as he hesitated at first asking his next question. "One more thing, about her asking about Yona I couldn't help but notice is she-?"
"Valerie actually prefers girls but she enjoys a good man when she can find one." Jae-ha answered, chuckling at the young boy's expression.
"I see… Well I know she helped me save several people in the Fire Tribe and even helped me save Ik-su once when he got really sick… I know I could trust her." Yoon said with a smile. "And if she's part of Captain Gigan's crew I can see why you trusted her with Yona's letter. Not to mention no one will suspect her."
"Exactly, I was already trying to figure out how to sneak over there and get the message to Lily dear and here Val shows up and solves the problem for me." Jae-ha chuckled. "I know once she reads that she'll know we'll be in Fuuga by Yona's last month of pregnancy and meet us there."
"Wait until Thunder Beast finds out there's a female version of you out there, she seems just as perverted…" Yoon rolled his eyes. "You two are going to give him double the headache, I just know it."
Once they returned Yoon put the medicine and the sedative into Yona's portion of dinner to sneak it past her. She kept on insisting she was fine even though she was still light headed and had a bad fever. From there Jae-ha explained how they ran into a member of Captain Gigan's crew and that he had passed the letter onto her. Yoon even spoke up how this person helped him before so he agreed with the Green Dragon's decision, besides nobody could deny that the medicine surely was helping Yona as she perked up a bit and seemed to be recovering. Of course she was exhausted for the night since Yoon made sure of that with the sedative to make sure she'd get a good night's rest to recover completely especially when she was still insisting on trying to travel by morning. Yoon reminded Jae-ha once again to watch himself to not catch Yona's sickness but the Green Dragon was concerned for his wife so he still carried her back to their tent they shared and stayed close, since she was fighting the urge to sleep.
"I told you I'm not that tired…" the princess protested once again. "I just got a little drowsy back there."
"Yona dear you don't have to hide it from any of us, especially me." The Ryokuryuu chuckled, kissing her forehead as he placed her into the bedroll.
"If only I hadn't gotten sick, I would have loved to meet more of your former crew mates." Yona said, smiling at her husband. "I hope I get to meet her next time, you said she basically was Captain Gigan's Daughter, right?"
"Adopted, but yes." Jae-ha chuckled. "From what I was told the captain rescued her from a slave trader when she was five, her name's Valerie Nightmare by the way. I'm sure the two of you would get along well. Val has a wide range of skills and refuses to let the fact that she's a girl be held against her as reason she can't be strong, like you she was always looking to become stronger and not be helpless. I think getting kidnapped at such a young age had to do with it."
"So she was taken? What about her real parents then?" Yona inquired.
Jae-ha stiffened for a moment. "… She never really liked to talk about it, but odds are they weren't alive anymore when she was taken. Many bastards work this way, they kill the parents to sell their children on the black market. Val always swore to hunt down the ones that did that to her, but to my knowledge, she never did find them. The captain would always keep a lookout if they ended up working with Kumji, that bastard dealt in human trafficking after all."
"What kind of people would sell a child…? That's just… Terrible." Yona shivered at the thought. But she'd seen some pretty terrible things people would do overtime in their journey. She herself was nearly taken away to be sold when she was a kid, just that Hak and Soo-won saved her that day. She wrapped her arms around her stomach. "… It makes me worry what kind of people would want to cause our child harm if they knew who I am." She whimpered.
Jae-ha placed his hands over hers as he hugged his wife from behind. "If they ever think about hurting you or our child, they're forfeiting their lives as far as I'm concerned." He said with a rather dark tone. "I'll protect both of you, I promise that my darling wife." He kissed her cheek. "And besides I'm not alone there, Hak and Kija would gladly rip into pieces anyone that dare lay a finger on you, I'm sure they'll feel the same for our child. Especially if you have a little girl that melts their hearts as much as you do." He teased.
"Jae-ha!" Yona blushed at that. "…. Speaking of which, we really should think of a few names… You know to be ready." She turned her head to smile at him. "I really do hope it's a girl, but it could be a boy too. I have a few ideas, if you don't mind…"
And so the couple spent part of the night discussing the possible name for their child, until Yona did eventually pass out in her lover's arms to sleep for the night. Jae-ha stayed by her side the whole time to give her comfort during the night. By the morning she did awaken mostly recovered… Only for her husband to awaken with a fever nearly as bad as hers was… And his ears ringing from Yoon's constant yelling that he warned him this could happen…