While Ke Xin and Jae-Ha were enjoying eachother's company, they both became ignorant to the world around them, choosing to enjoy their own little bubble of pleasure instead.

So they didn't notice when Yona popped over, hoping to get a quick bath in after her first swordplay session with Hak. She thought it would just be Ke Xin here. She thought she might be able to talk to her about the lesson and how it went. She thought Jae-Ha was off with the dragons.

She was wrong. So very wrong.

She was also very curious about the scene she walked in on. Both Ke Xin and Jae-Ha were in the lake, panting, grinding, moaning, grunting. Yona felt her cheeks burn, she had obviously walked in on something private… but what? She had never seen any act so undignified, so… visceral. Yet she couldn't bring herself to look away as her two friends clawed at eachother in such a… messy manner. "What in the world are they doing?" Yona thought to herself, leaning in to get a closer look.

And then they kissed. It was the sloppiest kiss Yona had ever witness. Hardly the dignified sweet kisses she romanticized about as a child, but it was a kiss, nonetheless. And Yona came to understand that whatever she had walked in on was something that she really wasn't supposed to see, that whatever they were doing was something… intimate. She turned and ran off, so full of questions she found herself afraid to ask.

Hak spotted her when she got back to camp. She was red-faced and running. He asked her what was wrong, and for a moment, she considered telling him what she saw. And then the words caught in her throat. She blushed even harder at the thought of even telling Hak. So she told him instead that it was nothing and ran off to her sleeping place. Hak was worried, but he didn't press the issue with her. Instead, he walked off to the lake, to see what had flustered the princess so.

Hak didn't have to even get in sight of the lake to know what they were doing. He could hear it. He felt himself blush as he continued to approach, hoping that the noises he was hearing wasn't what he thought they were. Unfortunately, he was graced with a fairly similar sight to that of his princess. It took him less than a nanosecond to hightail his ass right out of there, about as red as Yona was.

When he got back to camp, he saw Yona in Ik-Soo's cabin, face down and buried in her pillow. The others asked if he knew what was wrong, he said that it was nothing, that it was just her dealing with her first sword lesson. She wasn't as good at it as she wanted to be. It was a half-truth, so everyone bought it, and offered her words of support. He sighed a breath of relief. He was going to strangle Ke Xin and Jae-Ha when he saw them. Well… maybe not Jae-Ha, pervert would enjoy it.

While Hak was put-out by the scene in the lake, Yona was confused. It was vulgar, yet it was beautiful. They sounded like they were in pain, yet they also sounded perfectly content. It was repulsive, yet she didn't want to look away. And for some reason, she had this throbbing sensation in her most private area that resurged everytime she recalled an image of that scene. She buried her face in her pillow even more, lost in her own thoughts.

She wasn't snapped out of it until she felt a gentle hand on her back.

"Highness? You okay?" Ke Xin asked in her thick accented voice, concerned over Yona's state. Hak, despite his exasperation, found himself too embarrassed to confront Ke Xin when she walked back into camp with Jae-Ha a few steps behind. He tried, to his credit, but just couldn't get the words out. He just ended up huffing at them before finding a corner to sleep in. They just shrugged at eachother.

Yona, however, found herself both too curious and too ignorant to not ask.

"I'm fine," she answered, turning her head to look at Ke Xin. She was still red as a cherry.

"You sure?" Ke Xin asked.

"Yeah… I'm just…" Yona didn't know exactly how she felt. She didn't like that. She didn't like that. And she only could think of one way to remedy it, no matter how embarrassed she felt. She took a deep breadth and summoned all of her courage. "What were you doing with Jae-Ha?" she asked.

Ke Xin froze. Her brain went haywire. Yona saw. She saw. She saw and she wasn't supposed to. She saw and … Ke Xin still hadn't had the talk with her yet.

"好了没有时间像现在." Ke Xin stated. (T/N Well no time like the present.)

"Huh?"

"Yona, why don't you come with me? I think it's time we had that talk I mentioned in Awa."

Yona got up and followed Ke Xin. She didn't know if she really felt like walking, or if she wanted to go with Ke Xin back to the lake, but Ke Xin called her by her name. She only ever does that when she's being serious. And obviously, this was… serious.

Ke Xin once again planted a torch in the ground by the lake, but this time, she also sat next to it, bidding Yona to do the same.

"Are you going to tell me what you and Jae-Ha were doing?" Yona asked.

"We were having sex, Yona."

"What?" Yona felt like she heard the word before, but wasn't sure where.

"Yona… sweet… have you ever examined yourself?" Ke Xin thought it best to start with the mechanics. The mechanics, at least, she could talk about.

"Like my health?"

"No, no, where your moon blood comes from." Yona felt herself blush again, but she didn't know why.

"Yes… after I started, I was curious."

"That's very normal. Do you know what the parts are called?" Ke Xin asked.

"Ahh… I know that my 'vagina' is down there, but I don't know which part."

"Well, that's as good a place to start as any. The hole, from which the blood actually flows, is the vagina. It is also, incidently where the baby comes out."

"That tiny hole?" Yona asked, horrified.

"It stretches dear, and yes. You see, the vagina leads to where babies are incubated. And it is the 'entrance', so to speak, from which a man can impregnate a woman, if that's what they choose."

"How?" Yona asked, remembering that Ke Xin did once promise to tell her how babies were made.

"Well, men stick their penises in the vagina- you do know what a penis is, do you?" Yona nodded, she had seen her father's when she was a child. "And then they release a substance, semen, and it may make the woman pregnant."

"And that is how babies are made?" Yona asked.

"Yes, that is how babies are made. It is an act that is known as 'sexual intercourse,' or 'sex' for short," Ke Xin chuckled softly. Last time she gave this talk she didn't know to add that last part in. She also wasn't planning to get as detailed as she was now.

"So you and Jae-Ha were trying to make a baby?" Yona asked, confused, and a little excited. A baby would be cute, but she couldn't imagine Ke Xin wanting a baby right now.

"Oh, god no. No. We were having sex because, well, it's fun. When done right it brings both parties large amounts of physical and mental pleasure. Remember how you were told that men enjoy making babies, and prostitutes like myself provide that service? Just having sex doesn't always result in a child." Ke Xin chided. She saw the blush rise in Yona's cheeks.

"Oh, right, sorry. I just… and then you also drink the moon tea, of course," Yona stammered. And then she took a breadth, letting her curiousity take over as much of her psyche as possible. "People do that with strangers? It seems so…" she couldn't find the words.

"Intimate?" Ke Xin offered. "Vulnerable? Embarrassing?"

"Yes," Yona huffed.

"It can be, though I'd say it's only embarrassing so long as you believe the act is the first two of the three. In essence, sex is an animal mating instinct. There is nothing special about it. We feel pleasure because we're supposed to try and try until we make a baby. If you look at it as simply a way to feel pleasure, then it's no different as playing a game with someone."

"So, you were only in it for the pleasure?"

"Yes and no. Keeping with the game analogy, let's say you were playing chess with a friend. You might have inside jokes and humor that made the experience feel personal. If you are playing with a stranger, while you still enjoy the game, it's hardly the same as when you played with your friend. If you were to play with a lover, then the game becomes sweet, or personal to the point that you can't imagine doing it with someone else ever again," Ke Xin watched as Yona nodded in understanding.

"Can it really be sweet? It seemed… aggressive," she cocked her head to the side.

"That was just what you saw. But just because something is aggressive, it doesn't make it any less sweet. Also what Jae-Ha and I were doing was hardly out of love. While I can't speak for him, I get a certain level of relief from being with someone that way."

"Relief?" Yona asked.

"Well, sex, the way humans have it, is so indescribably human. It reminds me that I'm alive," and human myself, "It's selfish and caring. It's devoid of emotion, but sucks them up like a sponge, allowing them to surface and be expressed," Ke Xin sighed, remembering her tryst. It really did recenter her.

"All this from pushing that into…" Yona trailed off in a blush. She really couldn't imagine forcing something inside her would actually be that… influential. Even if she did witness what she did. Ke Xin let out a bark of laughter, causing Yona to be startled out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked sheepishly.

"I'm not laughing at you, Highness. Really. You just managed to express the same setiment that many women feel who have had sex with their lovers for years. As well as more than a few prostitutes," Ke Xin stifled a giggle as she remembered many of her girls complaining. She couldn't remember who it was, but one of the girls had said it best. I swear, these fucking assholes think that sticking their oh so magical cock in my cunt and pumping twice will make me orgasm harder than ever and suddenly fall for their pasty ass. "No, Yona, while the basics of baby-making, as well as the traditional definition of sex is just that. There is a lot more than that. Kisses, touching, rubbing, licking, and generally feeling your partner. It all they are doing is sticking it in, then no one is enjoying themselves properly."

"L-licking?" Yona blushed even harder. Ke Xin found it amusing how her face managed to become the same color as her hair. If it was anyone else, Ke Xin might have felt herself flair up at that kind of blush. But this wasn't some other person, this was Yona. The babe she saw enter this world screaming. The little girl she watched over for ten years. This wasn't a person she could ever feel herself attracted to in such a manner. No this was her charge, and she had questions that no one else would answer. That no one else would take the time to explain without opting to demonstrate. And while first hand lessons might be a fun way to learn the information, Ke Xin felt more comfortable If Yona would know what the person whom eventually did those acts with her was doing. Hell, even Ke Xin was given that gift.

"Yes, Yona, licking," Ke Xin said with am even voice. "There are many places on the body that are sensitive to stimulation. And there are many ways of stimulating them. The more you stimulate your partner, the more enjoyable the end." Yona felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Her eyes went wide with curious want.

"Where?" she asked, a bit more emphatically than she had intended. Ke Xin smiled down at her. No doubt, when the time is right she will have a perfectly healthy sex life.

"Well, the mouth, for one. The ears, neck, back, chest, nipples, some parts of the stomache to a degree, the thighs, calves, and of course the vagina and it's surrounding areas, especially the clitoris," Ke Xin counted off on her fingers, "Oh! And the butt of course."

Yona felt another twinge of excitement. When she thought of being touched in the places Ke Xin listed, she felt the throbbing sensation from earlier once more. She instinctively crossed her legs and fidgeted. Ke Xin watched her calmly, keenly aware that Yona was feeling more than a little turned on.

"You ok, Yona?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah…" Yona said, not sure how to describe her current state. Maybe if she just ignored it and kept asking questions, it would subside. "What's a clitoris?" she asked. That was a word she had never heard of before.

"Ah, the bud, the love button, the clitoris. It has many names. Sufficed to say, it's the most sensitive part of a woman's body. It's located at the top of the labia. Ah, the inner "lips" that surround the vagina." Yona nodded in fake understanding. She hadn't really explored down there, it was "unladylike". "Anyway, stimulating the sensitive areas does more than just make the experience more pleasurable, it makes it easier. When a woman gets aroused, her vagina begins excreting fluids as well as loosening the muscles, allowing for entrance. Everyone likes something differenct, but, when done right, sex should be remarkably easy and comfortable." Ke Xin was careful in her word choice. She really didn't think she had the time to explain kinks that night, but she didn't want to leave Yona's head filled with anymore false ideas about sex than society would feed her.

"How do people figure this out?" Ke Xin raised an eyebrow, "I mean- before, before they, you know."

"Simple, Yona, most people masturbate."

"They what?" she asked.

"They feel themselves, privately. They explore their own bodies and figure out on their own what they like before they let someone else learn. It's probably the most important part, I'd guess. How can you let someone else know you if you don't know yourself?" Ke Xin asked of her.

"But isn't that- I don't know. I was told that ladies don't touch themselves," she tried to remember the explaination that her handmaidens had told her when she was caught looking at herself as a child. She wasn't trying to feel anything, she was just curious what was down there. And after the lashing she was given, she never thought to explore herself again. Especially not in the way that Ke Xin was implying.

"Ladies get told that a lot don't they? So do slaves," Ke Xin mused. "Yona, what you choose to do privately, with your own body is your own goddamn business, no one else's. Choosing to feel yourself like that doesn't make you any less of a lady, it just makes you more human." Ke Xin stood up. "And on that note, I'm going to head back to camp, because darling, it is clear as day that you need some time to yourself. Take you time, I'll keep the others away." Yona blushed when she realized what Ke Xin was all but instructing her to do.

"Ke Xin! Can we, can you, not tell the others, please?" Yona asked. As much as Yona felt grateful for Ke Xin's candidness about this topic, she still couldn't imagine herself being half as candid. It just didn't suit her.

"Of course, Yona. This is nobody's business but your own. Just because I am the type of person to tell anyone anything, doesn't mean you have to be. I'll just make sure that the boys don't come poking around looking for you. They, or anyone else, won't know a thing."

And with that, Ke Xin left. Yona sat there for a moment, staring at her hand, trying to decide if she was really going to go through with it.

NOTES:

There it is! There is the talk y'all have been waiting for! Nice, ain't it?

There will probably be more talks like this one, because you can literally write an entire book about sex and still not say it all. I know I didn't cover even half of what I want Ke Xin to say, but I feel like this is enough for now. After all, there are bound to be more questions once Yona has time to... process.

That being said, I'm not sorry about not divulging the outcome of Yona's privacy. It is, after all, her privacy. And I want you all to decide whether or not she decides to scratch her metaphorical itch. On the other side of things, we are using Ke Xin's vantage point to describe the characters (or at least how she views them) and she has stated that she doesn't see Yona in that way. So while she wants Yona to have a healthy sex life, she doesn't really want the details. Kind of like how an older sister feels about her sister. (Or a mother, if they are anything like mine).

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review, critique, argue with me over my (and Ke Xin's) view of sex. Oh, and this means nothing, but I find it funny. I wrote this chapter in a Christian bookstore/coffee shop. I can literally see the bible sitting on the table in front of me. hee hee. I uploaded it on AO3 first because they blocked FFN. I'm going to hell, aren't I?