6 years later…

A 13 year old Princess Yona watched from a distance as two figures continued to charge at each other; the sound of their wooden swords clashing furiously.

"Is that all you got, wind boy?"

"Speak for yourself; I'm not even breaking a sweat yet. Is that all YOU got, hime-sama?"

"I told you to stop calling me that"

As they continued to spar, King Il looked on worriedly with Mundok by his side. Eventually the king had relented, somewhat; the girl was even more stubborn than Yona! Since General Yu-Hon's death, Mundok had taken her under his wing and she had flourished under his tutelage. She had other teachers as well, generals from the other tribes who had taken an interest in her skills.

"Stop holding back you idiot, unless you wanna lose your head"

"I don't need to be at full strength to take you on so give it your best shot, hime-sama" he said, emphasizing the hime part on purpose.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Sora bellowed as she charged at Hak with rage. Momentarily taken aback by her intensity, he tripped over a rock and fell backwards causing Sora to crash on top of him as her momentum propelled her forwards.

Mundok held back a smile as he watched both faces flush with colour at being within such close proximity to each other. They jumped a mile apart and dusted themselves, both looking the other way as they struggled to hide their red faces.

They are growing up so fast, he thought to himself.


I inhaled deeply, savoring the feeling of cool tiles against my back, soft breeze against my face, teasing my long hair. I love coming up here on to the palace roof, where I could be away from everything and everyone and just lose myself in the vastness of the sky. For some unfathomable reason today my thoughts turned to Hak.

I recalled the practice this afternoon. Hak was my friend, as annoying as he was, but yea, we were friends. As much as he got under my skin, nothing annoyed me more than the strange sensation that would catch me off guard especially when I looked into those piercing blue eyes, very much like today. I recalled my outburst too – I hated being called hime-sama but even more so if it was him; he used to call me by name until recently. What changed? Was it because of Yona? He's been even closer to her than before lately… I thought with a twinge of envy. We practically grew up together; I had lost count of the number of times we had wrestled and tousled together on the ground like that when we were younger. So when did it start to feel different?, I wondered.

I pushed the thought aside; there were more pressing matters at hand to think about. After the training today, I had approached chichi-ue and gramps about my wishes to take on a more serious role, be it as a soldier or lieutenant but ultimately to be a general myself someday. No surprise that chichi-ue had not taken it well.

"I simply won't allow it, Sora. You're only 16 and you are a princess of Kouka. I will not see one of my daughters take up a weapon and fight on battlefields like a foot soldier"

What's wrong with being a soldier and serving the country? That's what my father did after all and he was proud of it. What's the point in practicing if I don't get to use any of my skills to help anyone? Hak is a year younger than I am and our skills are comparable, yet he is already Mundok's successor and official princess' bodyguard. And what have I achieved? Nothing!

I wanted to travel to the other villages, to see the life the people had outside the walls of this castle. I've lived on the streets and I knew there were many more like me out there. I only wished to help make the Kouka Kingdom a stronger and better nation. And there was nothing I could do from behind these walls.

Something hit me sharply on the forehead; I yelped in surprise and opened my eyes to see a small stone rolling down the tiles. I leaned and peered over the edge of the roof only to be hit squarely in the face by another small pebble.

"Finally hime-sama is awake. Hak's hand was getting tired of throwing stones. Hak was about to throw a bigger stone this time" he said, holding up a fist-sized rock for me to see.

"I wasn't sleeping! Couldn't you have just called me like a NORMAL person would instead of throwing stones! What kind of a bodyguard are you!?"

"I did! Anyway, Yona-hime asked me to find you for her. Why are you always up there anyway? It's not exactly very princess-like you know" Hak said, holding his arms out.

I sighed as I leapt down from the roof, falling into his arms.

"You're right, but I'm not a princess so you can stop calling me hime. You used to call me by name when we were younger… Anyway to answer your question, I like it up there because when I look up into the sky, I'm reminded of what a small person I am and what a big world it is out there; things I haven't seen and people I haven't met. And when I look at the stars, I wonder if my parents are somewhere up there amongst them watching over me" I said in a serious tone, my eyes shielded by my bangs falling in my face.


Hak was taken aback by her sudden change in mood. He couldn't see her eyes but her face in front of his suddenly seemed a little too close. He cleared his throat awkwardly and released her, pushing her in the direction of Yona-hime's quarters.

"You'd better get going or Yona-hime is gonna nag at me till my ears fall off"

Later that night, Hak lay with his back against the roof tiles as he looked up into the night sky. Sora-hime had said it with such conviction that he had felt compelled to try it, even if it was just once… not that he was gonna tell her that of course. Down below, he could hear Yona-hime ranting to her older sister about what to wear tomorrow; apparently Soo-Won was coming to visit.

Then there was a long pause before he heard Yona-hime say in a softer tone "Sora ne-sama, are you unhappy here? I heard from chichi-ue that you wanted to leave Hiryuu Castle and serve at the borders. By any chance is it…is it something I did? If it is, Yona is very sorry, please don't go!"

"No, Yona didn't do anything wrong. Ne-sama simply wishes to help make this kingdom stronger and better, to meet the needs of the village people as best I can; my father used to tell me that there are many poor villages near the borders. I wish to go there to see what I can do; there is nothing for me here behind these walls"

"Then I'll go with you!"

"No, your place is here, Yona. You are the one true princess and heir to this kingdom. I know you will make a fine queen one day, and I look forward to seeing you rule alongside Soo-Won one day"

"Ne-sama~~! Don't say that! What if someone overheard you! Besides, I'm too young to get married!"

Sora-hime's laughter rang out through the night as she continued to tease her younger sister; both princesses completely unaware of the dark mood that had come over the boy sitting on the roof above them.