Chapter 25: Of craftsmanship and confusion - Or: Omg, Yona you suck so bad at anything even remotely related to handy work that not even Yoon can fix it. Hak was right, you really do need a husband that can cook, clean and do your laundry. Fourth instalment in Yona's 'firsts': Yona tries her hands at leather crafting.

Happy birthday Hak!

Zepuka, my friend, my hero, has once again helped me by beta reading this chapter. She's awesome.

Also: I just wanted so say a huge thank you to my guest reviewers! Even though I can't thank you personally, I love it when you leave a note letting me know what you think.

Hak couldn't figure out what was up with the princess. She had been acting really peculiar for a couple of weeks now, ever since they visited that last village actually…

As soon as they stopped their travels for the day and the usual chores were over and done with, she would walk away from the group so that she would be out of sight, but still within earshot. Sometimes she asked Yoon to follow and he could hear them titter between themselves and often with his voice taking on a very exasperated scolding tone while Yona's quickly adopted an un-mistakenly frustrated tinge. Though whenever Hak would go looking for her, she would jump and quickly turn around, blushing furiously and telling him off for not giving her the privacy she wanted.

What was even worse was that everybody else seemed to know exactly what was going on and, for some ungodly reason, purposely left him in the dark. They simply smiled innocently and refused to give any clues whenever he got frustrated enough to openly ask about it. Hak was growing weary of Droopy eye's self-satisfied smirk, Zeno's innocent beaming, Shinah's blank stare and White snake's knowing grin. Having been certain he could get the damned snake to spill -he wasn't exactly famous for being able to keep his mouth shut- the blatant refusal had been the last straw. Tonight this ridiculousness was going to end.

Swallowing his confusion, he irritatedly told the others to mind their own business - resolutely ignoring Jae-Ha's mocking comment pointing out that it was Hak that had initiated the conversation - and headed in the direction the princess and Yoon had disappeared to only moments ago.

"Princess, while I know it can't be helped whenever you're around, don't you think this is getting a bit too silly, even for you? What are you hiding?" He asked as he approached her and the self-proclaimed pretty boy, purposely adding the jab for good measure. She deserved it for going behind his back for so long, but for naught; he should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. Hearing him getting closer, she quickly hid something behind her back and spun around to glare at him.

"None of your business, go away," she huffed back.

"Seriously, can you cut it out? It isn't funny anymore; the idiots are laughing behind my back. If this is about getting back at me for those pranks I pulled… well, you sure got a lousy way of doing it."

"Don't be silly. It isn't about that, and they aren't laughing at you."

"Sure seems like it…" he grumbled, before continuing. "What's it about then?"

"Told you, it's none-"

"Eh, I seriously doubt we can make this any better, Yona. I think it's as finished as it'll ever be," Yoon interjected, drawing the attention of both the thunder beast and the princess in an effort to settle the escalating argument before it got completely out of hand.

"Huh? Finished? What's finished? Seriously, what's all this about?"

"Hm… Do you really think so, Yoon?" The princess asked, completely ignoring the irritated man standing next to her who looked more and more ticked off by each passing second at being so utterly snubbed.

"Yeah I do… I'll leave the both of you alone then…" Yoon replied and left before he could get dragged even further into their ridiculous quarrel.

Once the sandy-blond teenager had left them, Hak returned his attention to the princess, crossed his arms and raised a questioning eyebrow: "Well?"

"Oh, fine. I don't have any more leather to try to make a new one for you, and I've kind of run out of time… I wanted to at least try to make it a bit better and then give it to you during dinner, but you win," Yona muttered in reply before pulling out what she had held behind her back.

"Happy birthday, Hak."

Happy birth-?

Oh, that's right, today was his birthday. Or, well… at least the day the old geezer had officially assigned as that. In reality it was the day Mundok had found him, one of the many orphaned kids in the Kai war. Gramps had always made sure the day he received a grandson was a joyful celebration. Later on gramps had told him he could walk, albeit a bit unsteady, but not talk, when the general had taken him in, so the general and the other adults at the clan had guessed his age to be around one, which would make him roughly 19 today, give or take a few months or so.

At some point after Hak arrived to live in the capitol, Yona had found out, probably by asking the old geezer, and she would always find a way to mark the day each year. It was probably silly but it hadn't even occurred to him that she might try to do something similar still. Frankly, the day had completely slipped his mind. They were always travelling; their days filled with much more important issues at hand than some arbitrary celebration that probably wasn't even the correct day.

That's what all this had been about?

She had been planning something for his birthday?

In-between the indignation, he couldn't help but feel a swell of happiness at the thought of her going through all that trouble for him. He looked at the parcel she was holding out for him and reached out to accept it, mumbling out a quick 'thank you' and making sure to lower his gaze so that his hair hid his eyes, hoping that by doing so, the heat he could feel on his cheeks would go by unnoticed. Then he soon forgot about the annoying blushing as he studied the bundle of leather in his hands. It was fairly big, almost a foot wide and at least the double in length. The leather was thick but smooth. It was, however, not the quality of the leather that astounded him, but rather the quality, or lack thereof, of the craftsmanship that had gone into making… whatever this was.

It looked like some sort of a square, stiff pouch, he thought… but the seams were terribly uneven and the stitches varied greatly in size. There was even a hole in one of the corners, so big that he could easily fit a knuckle through it. Furthermore, not only did the sewing leave a lot to wish for, the cut of whole thing was incredibly crooked… Subconsciously chewing on his bottom lip in contemplation, he flipped it over once, trying to make out the structure of the gift before giving up and looking up at the princess.

"Eh… Princess… Now, don't take this the wrong way… but… What is it?"

"Haaaak," Yona groaned. Really, he was going to tease her about it? She already knew it didn't look even remotely like she had imagined it in her head and she was more than a little embarrassed. The fact remained though, they didn't have any more leather to try again from scratch, and frankly, they didn't have the money to spend on buying more. Even though it hadn't turned out like she had imagined, she still wanted to give him something for his birthday. He wasn't easy to find something for though. They really didn't have the money to buy a good quality knife or something similar and anything bulky would only be a hindrance in their travels. The idea had hit her one day when she noticed Shinah putting his sword away; perhaps she shouldn't give him a weapon per se, but rather something for his weapon?

"No, seriously, what is it? I can't tell…"

"Hak! You're a meanie; it's a cover for your lance sword."

Hak blinked.

He wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to be offended or amused, 'lance sword?'

"Well, I know you always cover it up so that it doesn't draw so much attention whenever we go somewhere, and it looks a bit awkward, so I thought I would make a cover for it. Think of it as a hilt," she explained, hesitantly smiling and inwardly praying that he would like the gift, she had worked so hard on it.

He blinked again.

There were so many flaws in her explanation that he wasn't even sure where to start.

"A hilt?... For my… 'lance sword,' did you call it? and you thought this… thing?... would make it look less awkward?"

He laughed.

He couldn't help it; she was so cute rambling on like that without having even the slightest clue of what she was talking about. Why Yoon or one of the dragons hadn't talked any sense into her, he would never understand - and while they were at it, perhaps they should have explained the difference between a hilt and a sheath, and that a weapon called a 'lance sword' didn't exist…

However, despite everything, it was still something she had done, for him. He knew he should push her away with a mocking comment or two. It was safer, it was always the safest choice… but as much as he tried to avoid the notion, he kept coming back to the point that she had worked so hard just to make him happy. Ridicule was not an alternative, not this time. Yet being honest in his gratitude opened up for vulnerability, and the mere thought made his mouth dry out and his insides squirm. He knew well that the princess had no hidden agenda behind the gift; she simply wanted to make him happy, because that was the kind of person she was, generous and kind to a fault. If he started overthinking the gesture, he set himself up for nothing but heartache. There was no secret message behind it, and still, the simple notion that she had remembered, and had, by herself, made something with her hands as a gift for him, struck him hard. He swallowed, mentally cursing his own mind for always messing with him, and berated his treacherous, rapidly pounding heart, forcing it to slow down, to remain calm, and not let her see how she affected him.

"Hak?"

Crap, had he been spacing out? Seemed like it, if he were to judge by the princess' expression, a cross between looking insulted at his previous laughter, and a growing concern for how he suddenly zoned out on her.

"Um… are you okay? If you don't like it, you don't have to-" she started, but was cut off by his stumbling reassurance that he was fine and that he loved the gift. Letting his heart lead, for once, he settled for honesty, and skipped the standard part of their carefully choreographed routine in which he would make fun of her by pointing out the many flaws with her present, and plan.

The way her excited beam made his chest swell told him that he had made exactly the right choice, bitter sweetness and all.