They walked in silence for several minutes. She wanted to ask what he had lied to her about, but couldn't come up with a good way to ask.
Finally, Jae-ha spoke up with an insignificant question. "How are you liking the new leg?"
She chuckled. "It is… strange at times, I am still getting used to walking on two feet again. It was nice of Yun to do this for me." She really was thankful to him, she appreciated that he had put in the time and effort to help her. All of them had.
"It was a surprise to us when he told us his plan. I think it's great though, Yun is very talented and really does care about people, despite his sarcastic nature." Jae-ha laughed a little too.
There was still an awkwardness between them. Rensa stopped walking. They were on the other side of town, entering into the orchard that was full of leafless trees. "You've been different lately. Something seems to be bothering you." She managed to finally speak her feelings. "I'm sorry if I'm someone you don't want to talk about your feelings with, but I would like to know if something is hurting you." She recalled the hurt in his eyes when she would talk sometimes. She was a little hurt too, if that really was the case.
Jae-ha's eyes flicked around her face and she watched as he was hesitant.
"What's wrong?" She asked again. She glanced away only for a second, when she was hesitating before taking his hand and entwining their fingers.
"Do you like living here?" He wondered softly.
Rensa was confused. Why did that matter? He already knew the answer. "I do. Things have gotten better…" She was about to ask why he had asked, when he posed another question.
"Would you like to leave if you had the chance?"
She did not understand why he was asking such questions. "I… I don't know. I would like to travel again, but I don't know how far I'd be able to get, even with a fake leg." She could feel the doubt creeping in again. She couldn't see herself leaving. Hoshu was her home, it was where she lived. Yet she also remembered the sights she had seen when she was travelling with her parents after every Harvest before the accident.
His deep eyes were tight and sad. "Is there something that is holding you here, keeping you from leaving?"
Her eyebrows were furrowed as she watched him, she shook her head ever so slightly. "There is nothing, other than this is my home. Jae-ha, you already know these things, why are you asking me? What is wrong with you? Won't you tell me?" She squeezed his hand, pleading with him. She was becoming upset.
His next question caused her to catch her breath and think for a moment. "Is there anything out in the world that you would leave your home for?"
There was one thing. One person. He already knew the answer to that question as well. She said as such. "You already know." Her voice was low. "I want you to stay with me."
He shook his head. "That wasn't what I asked."
Rensa had to think back on his question before she realized what she had said wrong. "I would want to be with you. I would leave for you."
He relaxed a little and the sparkle returned to his eyes. His mouth twitched into a smile. He was relieved, and yet the nervousness was still there.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?" She asked, perhaps a little sarcastically. "Something has been bothering you since you arrived. When I asked you about it, you weren't honest with me."
His hand finally squeezed hers back. "It was when you spoke of staying here in Hoshu with a finality. Like you never wanted to leave. On the way here I was thinking about a question I wanted to ask you. I was a little hurt when you said that, and I wasn't going to ask since you are free to do as you please… But then I wanted to ask you, because it is something I want, and I wanted you to know that."
Rensa was still confused. "What?"
"Come with us, Rensa." He breathed out, like he was breathlessly pleading.
His words shocked her. Warmed her. Bewildered her. Relieved her. He wanted to be with her, he wanted her to leave with him. On the other hand, she wanted him to stay with her. They were different circumstances, yet they both wanted to be together.
"Don't you want to?" He finally broke the silence with a whisper.
"Of course I want to. That's what had you worried? Jae-ha, you could have just asked me, we could have avoided this whole misunderstanding." Rensa grumbled, it annoyed her that he acted this way when they could have talked about it to begin with.
"That's all you have to say about my proposal?" Jae-ha asked in disbelief.
"Yes!" She exclaimed, withdrawing her hand from his, he allowed his to drop. "If you were honest with me from the beginning, when I asked what was wrong, you would have learned what you already know, that I want to be with you. Instead you acted like you were fine, and distanced yourself from me all so you could come up with this stupid plan to pepper me with questions!"
"I never know what you want! I don't even think you know what you want. You speak so carelessly sometimes it makes me wonder if you think before you speak." He was more calm than she was, but his words were still harsh.
"Of course I think before I speak and I mean what I say." Rensa snapped back, the anger was hot in her chest, though she desperately tried to control her tone. "At the time of that conversion, I only had one option, to stay here in Hoshu. You could have asked me when Yun gave me this wooden limb, or when you were so kindly helping me learn to walk. Instead you dragged me out here in the cold to be dramatic!"
"You say you want to be with me, why are you complaining about this?" Jae-ha demanded. "What are you even upset about?"
"I'm upset that you lied to me! That you had so many opportunities to tell me what you wanted and didn't! That you distanced yourself. It made me afraid and sad that you weren't honest. Like you don't trust me. I thought that was what we established first. Trust. Then you were out here acting all hurt when I was actually worried about you!" Rensa's composure slipped and she shouted at him. When she was done she took a step back and took a deep breath.
"I was hurt." Jae-ha stated. "I thought you wouldn't want to come with me."
Rensa took another breath before she spoke in an even tone. "You had no reason to doubt."
Another moment of silence. Rensa started to feel guilt about lashing out at him. She wasn't being entirely fair. She didn't bring up that something was bothering him and that her feelings were hurt either.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that your feelings were hurt." Jae-ha said and reached out his hand for her. "I'm sorry for saying such things to you, I was harsh. And, you're right, I was overly dramatic about all of this. I'm sorry, Rensa."
"I'm sorry too. I did not mean to yell at you when I didn't bring up my hurt feelings to begin with. Will you forgive me?" She asked and took his hand again.
He nodded and his eyes were shining. "I forgive you."
"I forgive you too, Jae-ha." Rensa said and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back. "I would love to go with you, as long as I won't be a burden."
"You won't be. I've discussed it with everyone, they all want you to come too." He explained. That's when she realized what he had been talking about with Yona, Hak, and Yun that morning.
"Okay." She sighed, holding him tighter.
"I'd say we handled our first argument pretty well, wouldn't you agree?" He asked playfully.
She laughed a little and nodded her agreement. "No more hurt feelings, agreed?" Her feelings were no longer hurt. He had handled the situation better than she had. It wasn't really something to fight about. Rensa just realized that sometimes, not communicating her feelings could lead to more hurt feelings, which could then lead to her lashing out. She knew it was better to talk about things before they festered into something angry and ugly. She hoped his feelings weren't hurt.
"Agreed." He pressed his forehead to hers, and she felt relieved at that. He had forgiven her for their small fight. They sat in the snow talking and establishing how they would communicate if feelings were hurt again in the future to make sure a fight didn't happen again. They talked about what they knew about each other, and learned new things they hadn't known before.
When the snow picked up, they walked back to Rensa's hut, hand in hand, both feeling free once again. Rensa and Jae-he told the Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch that she would be accompanying them. There was a lot cheering and hugs all around. Rensa felt loved and excited to go with them.
They spent the day gathering supplies and preparing to leave. Rensa told Ja-ri and Shion that she was leaving with Jae-ha. They wished her well, though Shion didn't want to let go from hugging her. A few tears sprang to her eyes. Then she packed her few belongings into a pack and set it with the others'
That night, Jae-ha and Rensa huddled together in a corner after dinner, talking about travelling and what it would be like.
They fell asleep at some point, and when they awoke in the morning, Yun made a quick breakfast and then they all got ready to leave. There was freshly fallen snow on the ground, and their fur-lined cloaks kept them warm against the cold.
As the group was preparing to leave, Rensa and Jae-ha hung back. Rensa had something she wanted to say to Jae-ha.
"You know, the other Dragons were talking to me about something…" She began.
"What were they talking about?" He questioned, a little teasingly.
"Love." She replied lightly. "And I realized I never told you that I love you." She tilted her head to gaze into his eyes again. They really were beautiful. "I love you, Jae-ha."
I smiled the most beautiful smile she had ever seen on his handsome face. "I love you too." He proclaimed genuinely and wrapped an arm around her waist, and pressed his other hand into the back of her head. She leaned up onto her tiptoes, and their lips met in the middle, the kiss was filled with more passion. Rensa tried to express just how much she loved him through the kiss. He seemed to understand, and she knew he felt the same.
They were pulled from the moment by Yun shouting at them to hurry up. They pulled away and laughed, though hot blushes stained their faces.
For the first time in three years, Rensa walked down the path leading out of Hoshu, the village she had called home all her life, on two feet, with a group of friends by her side, one of which being the man she decided to love. She did not know what she would encounter or where their journeying would take them. All she knew is that she would see the beautiful world, and learn amazing things.
Rensa and Jae-ha would become closer and learn to work well as a team. They would all help Rensa learn to fight with a staff, and she would rescue them several times, and would even save King Soo-won. She would help restore Princess Yona to the throne, after she achieved her goal to rescue the Kingdom from the depths it had fallen into. After everything was finished, and they had no more battles to fight for several years, Rensa and Jae-ha would settle down and start a family together, surrounded by their friends that they could call a family as well.
Final A/N: The Moral of the Story: You are in control of your life, your thoughts, and your feelings. Happiness is a decision. Find it in the little things in life, like flowers or stars, music, or your favorite things to do. Spend time with people you care about. Also, it's okay to accept help from other people, the world is not on your shoulders, you don't have to handle burdens alone. It's okay to talk about your feelings. It's okay to have down days and times when you're sad. Just remember to get back up on your feet, work hard, and decide to be happy. You are free.
I tried to portray this throughout the story, and I wanted to portray a healthy relationship. I hope I did well. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I had fun writing. Thank you for reading "Chained". I wish you all well, and remember, Smile and Be Happy!
~AwesomeBex2000
