Hakyona prompt Entwined (day 2)

A Long-Forgotten Dream

Hak could barely remember the last time he'd had time to just sit and relax with some drink in the company of those he cared most about. They'd been fighting for so long that it was difficult to ease away the tension still coursing through his muscles. He was always on the alert. But Mundok had cornered him tonight, ready to celebrate and properly congratulate his adoptive grandson on his impending nuptials.

"You know," old Mundok began with a sip from his saucer, "I had a feeling this would happen one day."

"Oh," Hak retorts with a smirk, "clairvoyance, or is that the drink talking?"

"Tch. Call it the foretelling of a two-year-old."

Hak rolls his eyes, "uh-huh, now there's an excellent source to believe."

The old man sighs, finishes and re-fills his cup. Truth be told, he once believed the young child's dreams had been nothing more than fantasy. Everyone has dreams, some more lively than others, and most never amounting to more than just glimpses of past or current stressors. Imagination gone wild during slumber. But now, he believed it. "You were probably too young to remember the night of the Princess' birth, how the sky lit up in a reddish hue. We were still in the midst of the Xing war." His eyes close as the memories flood back. So many casualties on both sides… those were not pleasant to think about. But at least there was one happier ending to latch onto, Hak. "We'd all heard the ancient tales, the heralding of the red dragon and when the Princess was born with the old King's likeness I knew, that girl would be special. What I didn't know," he turns back to his grandson, "was that you would become so much more than just another orphan of a war."

With a tilt of his head, Hak prepares himself for the sentimental old fool to start going on like he often would about family and all those mushy things he cared little to drown his emotions in. "Pray-tell old man, exactly what did that two-year-old envision?"

"If I remember correctly, for a good several months after I took you in, you would wake up at least once a week from a dream. The same dream in fact. You couldn't explain it well, but what I could decipher, it was about dragons, or big lizards you called them. Yeah…" Mundok sips away, "dragons and the color red haunted your dreams for months. Never seemed to scare you either, so I assumed it was just the crazy imagination of a small boy trying to make sense of the war he'd just lived through. You do realize what it all means, don't cha my boy?"

"Not really."

"As sad as it was, your parent's deaths put you on a course destined to bring you to this very moment."

"Pfft, old man, I think you've gone crazy. I've met the Oracle remember, and even he never said such things."

Mundok simply shrugs and continues drinking. For the rest of the evening the topic never comes up again to Hak's delight. Some light teasing, threats of bodily harm if he ever hurt the Princess, just standard operation protective chats from Mundok. All in all, the old man was pleased with how things had turned out, and proud of the man Hak has become. Surely, the old man was growing a bit senile. He was convinced Mundok confused the ancient tales with bedtime stories he may have told him as a child.

The hazy outline of a person walks towards Hak asking a question. "Why do you fear the truth young man? It was I that you saw as a child, in dreams meant to give you clues about your future."

Hak squints, studying what little features he could ascertain. It was a male based on the voice with a reddish fringe around his head, maybe hair. Shorter than he was, but not by much. "Who are you?" He asks the specter. "What do you want from me?!"

"You have done as I had hoped you would, so there is nothing more I request."

"Damn it, what are you talking about!"

"Her birth would have left her vulnerable until she was ready, and so we sent someone to protect her until such time. You did wonderfully Son Hak, just as we had envisioned you would." The man begins to fade away. "I wish you both happiness for the rest of your lives…"

Hak reaches out to keep the man from leaving, "come back here!" but only catches the last traces of swirling air.

He bolts up right frantically in the bed with his arm extended as if trying to grab hold of someone. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong?" a concerned Yona sits up, her eyes frantic. "Did something happen?!"

When he turns to look at the girl beside him, in the cover of darkness with only scant moonlight to see by, Hak pauses for a moment. It was just like in his dream, she was like the hazy image in the dream. Her red hair the main clue to know who she was. Red hair. He runs his hand down his face. "It was just a dream Yona, everything is okay."

"A nightmare?" she presses, placing a gentle hand upon his arm. "Shall I have the servants bring you tea to calm your nerves?"

Hak shakes his head. "I guess I was still thinking about what gramps said to me earlier."

Yona stares up with a look of curiosity, beckoning for him to continue. He sighs. "Gramps said when he'd found me, I was having dreams about dragons and the color red was a part of it. I don't remember any of it because I was too young. Now tonight, it was as if King Hiryuu himself came to me."

"What did he say?"

"I'd been sent to protect you. Since the moment you were born it had all been planned."

The room grows silent for a few minutes. Finally, Yona responds. "I believe it happened." She shifts over to rest her head on his shoulder. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here, so I think they chose the right person. But I also didn't fall in love with you because of some preordained destiny. My heart figured it out all on its own."

"You don't know that."

"Like Ik-Soo once told me, some things are meant to happen, but most are like leaves landing wherever the wind has taken them. No matter where they go, they are still leaves. We are who we are Hak, and I know you were chosen because they saw something special in you because… I see something special in you." She yawns, "regardless, I'm happy where we ended up."

Hak kisses her forehead, "me too." She was right. Whether their fates had been entwined from the beginning, it didn't matter because he'd never give this up. "We should get some sleep, there's a lot to do in the coming days."

Yona nods, already drifting. "I'm happy this day is finally here."

He settles her back down, taking a position curled against her.

"Do you think my father would be happy if he were here, Hak?"

"I'm sure he would be," Hak kisses her cheek, "now go to sleep."

"Mmm," she snuggles to the warmth of his body, "I think he had it planned from the beginning too, when he asked you to be my bodyguard."

Hak chuckles and closes his eyes. He'd never really thought of it before but thinking about it now. "I wouldn't be surprised…"