Hello!

I return again with another chapter. The final chapter will be the next one. There is a spoiler in this chapter if you have not read the manga. I will not point it out here. I myself admit that I have not read the manga in full, I have just watched the anime. So I'm one to talk...but it's okay.

Once again - I do not own Yona of the Dawn characters.


Darkness had fallen, and the group was moving steadily through Kouka Kingdom. A small candle lamp was in the back of the cart between Zeno and Kija. Since their departure, Hak had remembered the medicines that Yoon prepared, and they were thankfully using the right ones on Jae-ha, for he finally stopped sweating and he was resting. His head was still lying on Yona's lap.

Shin-Ah was willing to stay up through the night to guide Hak through the darkness. But Hak advised him to stay up as long as he could. Rounds could be made as needed, and they all needed sleep. Zeno and Kija were already in dreamland in the cart and Hak assumed Yona was also.

He handed the reins to Shin-Ah who nodded, taking his cue to drive the horses for awhile. Hak stretched in the seat and yawned. He looked back to see how Yona was doing, hoping she was sleeping.

Much to his surprise, she wasn't. She was awake, and looking around in the darkness. He was going to speak up and ask why she was still awake, but she then looked down at Jae-ha. Her hand reached his face, moving his hair from his eyes and lightly stroking his cheek. There was sadness in her expression.

This came as a surprise to Hak. Had she ever acted this way with Jae-ha before? Certainly not when he was around them. In fact, Yona never acted this way towards the other Dragons. Except maybe Shin-Ah, whose interpersonal skills had been greatly lacking due to his seclusion and abandonment of his village.

Jae-ha was a pervert, a womanizer. He was different.

Could something have happened between them while he rescued her?

It could have been a possibility, right? They were gone for so long. And Jae-ha alone with a young, beautiful girl like Yona, something easily could have happened. He shook his head. Hak tried not to let his emotions get the best of him now. They were all tired and it was in the middle of the night. It wasn't worth it getting all worked up now. What matters is that the Princess was safe and they were bringing her home.

He turned around and tried to relax and get a few moments of sleep.


Sometime during the night Shin-Ah was able to rest and Hak took a hold of the reins again. Gradually the sky became lighter and Hak had less fear of hitting anything in their path or encountering any strangers on the side of the trail. The morning came and the gang was still traveling. The sun began to peak over the trees. They did not want to waste time, so their breaks to get out and stretch were short.

Yona did not want to leave Jae-ha's side. Although her legs were getting numb and were hurting from being in the same position for so long, she refused to move. Jae-ha had been sleeping peacefully and she did not want to disturb him.

It took a lot of convincing, but finally Kija was able to take her place for a few minutes while she got off the cart and stretched her legs. It felt really good to move and get the blood flowing to her legs once again.

Hak kept a good close eye on Yona. She would not venture too far this time. If she needed to relieve herself, that's a different story. He just advised her to try to stay close by. Yona smiled and respected his words. After she finished her business, she and Hak were walking around to see if they could find some berries or any additional leaves or flowers for Yoon to use for medicine.

Yona seemed normal to him. Maybe he was overthinking things too much. But at this point, anything was possible. He thought maybe this would be a good time to ask Yona if anything happened between the two of them.

He walked over to her, who was stretching by a small pond where they stopped.

"Princess, I need to ask you something." He would be straight with her - no games.

"Hmm? Yes, Hak?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, I will just be to the point. Did anything happen between you and Jae-ha while he rescued you?"

She froze. She feared that he would ask her if anything had happened, and here he did. There was no way she could say that they bathed together or were close to each other when they were sleeping. Hak would be furious. She had to act quick.

"No, nothing happened. Why do you ask?" Her expression looked pretty blank. Hak raised an eyebrow.

"You're a terrible liar, princess."

He glared at her. He knew she couldn't lie that well. He has known her for so long that her lies never worked.

He was seeing through her initial lie. She forced out a somewhat normal laugh.

"No, it's true. Nothing happened. Jae-ha found me; he offered me the food and medicine that Yoon packed. He gave me the blanket, which I used when I slept that night. The next morning I freshened up and he bought me this new dress. And we left."

Which wasn't a lie, it all happened. But still…she left some details out. She looked straight into his eyes when she told him.

Hak raised an eyebrow again. Her story seemed too perfect. Something had to have happened.

He was going to continue with the questions, but he looked past Yona to see Shin-Ah emerging from the bushes. He nodded to Hak. They were ready to leave. Now was not the time to question her further. The gang had to get going. Hak sighed.

"Okay, no problem. Well, it looks like we're going. I'll help you get back into the cart." He started walking to Shin-Ah who would lead them back to the cart.

Yona was dumbstruck. That was it? He believed her? Or didn't he? Yona was so confused. She couldn't tell Hak's reactions. Hopefully she was convincing enough…but how long would she have to keep doing this?

She followed him and Shin-Ah back to the cart.


Yona returned to her seated position with Jae-ha's head on her lap. Shin-Ah and Hak were trying to make it possible to keep to a path that did not make the cart jerk too much. That's the last thing they needed – everyone getting sick from motion sickness.

The sun was still high in the sky. But hadn't it been that way a few hours ago? She was unsure how far they had left before they would be at Ik-Soo's house. The journey would have been certainly faster with Jae-ha's leg. Jae-ha

Yona looked down at his sleeping face again. She was happy that he had been relaxed. How he could for so long, she didn't know. She was getting anxious, though, for him to wake up. Her hand went to his cheek again and caressed it.

She stared at Hak's back that faced her and remembered his burning question from earlier. She would somehow have to get better at telling lies. Even if that wasn't the right thing to do. But in these circumstances…

"Yo...na...dear."

She looked down at Jae-ha. His eyes were slowly blinking.

"Jae-ha!" She couldn't keep her excitement. He was finally awake!

Her calling prompted the other Dragons to look towards them, happy that their Brother was awake. There was great joy in the cart.

"Green Dragon! You're okay!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Kija was once again close to tears.

Jae-ha was trying to blink and focus his eyes, for the sun was still ahead and far too bright. That was until Yona situated herself to allow her shadow to hide the sun instead.

"Where are we?" Jae-ha tried to move, for he felt very stiff, but Yona lightly touched him and prompted him to not move at this moment.

"We're a half day journey until we reach home. You've been out for a long time, Droopy Eyes." Hak briefly turned around as he was at the reins. "It's about time you woke up. We were worried about you."

Jae-ha smirked. We? Including him? That was unusual.

"We didn't know what was wrong! We worried so much." Kija was lightly patting Jae-ha's hand to assure him that everything was okay.

"No, White Dragon. I know why the Green Dragon was so sickly."

Zeno's quiet remark was heard by Hak, who promptly stopped the cart from moving. Everyone turned to Zeno with confused expressions. The birds chirping were the only noises for a few seconds.

"What do you mean you know why Jae-ha has been so sick?" Yona's shocked voice finally spoke up.

Zeno, whose head was slouched downward at his folded hands, now looked up at her. His expression was very serious.

"Hiryuu Castle is the source of our energy. The Dragon's energy. The castle was a safe haven for King Hiryuu and his guardians, the Original Dragons. When we are around it, there is a feeling of peace and protection. Green Dragon was away from Kouka Kingdom and the Castle for too long, his body was just growing really weak. If the three of us were away for the same amount of time, we would experience the same."

Blank stares encircled the gang. Ao, seated on Shin-Ah's shoulder, even had a tilted head. Was all this really true?

Zeno suddenly threw his arms up and smiled brightly. "But thankfully we are close to home, so we are fine!"

Blank stares still were facing him.

Kija was a bit frustrated figuring this out now. "And you did not tell us all this before because….? This is important information!" His face grew hot from anger and quite possibly steam was shooting from his ears. Really, Zeno?!

"Zeno had no reason to explain this before, so yeah." he added, still with a big smile.

A trail of sighs now echoed throughout the cart. Oh well.

"Did you hear that, Jae-ha? You were just too far from Hiryuu Castle for too long. You should be feeling better in no time, then!" Yona smiled as she looked down at him. He nodded slowly.

"How do you feel?"

"Better." He reached for her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "A little better."

She smiled again and returned the squeeze happily.

Later that day, Yona helped Jae-ha sit up in the cart. He did have another bout of dizziness, but after a few minutes it subsided. He was given a bit of food and drink and he no longer was sweating. It appeared what Zeno said was true - the closer the Dragons were to Hiryuu Castle, the stronger they were.

It felt like forever, but finally the views around them became very familiar. The gang had returned to Ik-Soo's home.

Hak and Kija went to return the cart and horse to town while the others began walking to the house. Shin-Ah and Yona were able to help Jae-ha stand up and once he was used to his legs, Shin-Ah was there to let Jae-ha lean on him for support.

"Yona!" Yoon's voice almost echoed through the valley when he finally saw her and the gang return. He ran to her and hugged her.

"Idiot! Don't let this happen again, okay? I was really worried about you!" The boy genius was trying to be tough, but his emotions got the best of him. Yona returned the hug and smiled.

"Yoon, it's okay, I'm fine! Really! You're...hugging too tight…"

"You're really back! Oh, I'm so happy!"

Yoon backed away from her. She looked towards the house and Ik-Soo emerged from within. He walked over to Yona and Yoon and placed both of her hands in his. Tears were streaming down his face. "I've prayed so much that you would be safe. Thank goodness that you are!"

"Thank you, Ik-Soo! I'm fine. But Jae-ha is the one who is actually recovering, not me. He has been through a lot." She pointed in his direction, where Shin-Ah was helping him sit down by the fire pit. Both Ik-Soo and Yoon changed direction and looked at Jae-ha.

"What happened to you?"

"Ha. What a heartfelt concern, Yoon. Well, if you must know, I traveled for a long time and I had to battle not just bad weather, but the rest of the soldiers from the group that the pathetic prisoner was from. Then, coming back, I was weak and dizzy and thankfully the rest of them found us. Imagine what could have happened if this gorgeous person was a goner!" He pointed to himself and smiled a toothy grin.

"I'd say you're back to your normal self, then." Yoon frowned.

"But, we also learned from Zeno that the Dragons' energy drains when they are too far from Hiryuu Castle and Kouka Kingdom. Which, he was." Yona added the rest of the details to Yoon. "The fatigue and sweating he experienced is what would have happened to the other three if they had strayed for too long." She smiled at Jae-ha. "So yes, it was great that Hak and the others found us before anymore of them suffered, too." Jae-ha smiled back at her.

"Well, once Hak and Kija get back, how about we celebrate your return?" Yoon was of course happy that both of them returned safely. They probably needed a good freshening up and a decent meal.

"Yay, cook something spectacular and tasty, Yoon! We're hungry!" Zeno was excited once again for a huge meal cooked by Yoon.

"The celebration isn't for you! Geez!"


I feel that some parts of this chapter are written in a weird way. I apologize for that. But as I said above, the next chapter is the last one. It has been a pleasure sharing this story with you all and I hope to continue writing other stories. Rate, review, and favorite if you like it!