Yona and Hak see each other.
A heavy breath of relief escapes both, suddenly all the air in the world feels lighter.
Hak slides off his horse. As he advances toward Yona, there are tears in his eyes.
Yona is stuck in place staring as though he were a mirage. That mess of black hair stuck to his face and the emotion behind. Hak? ...Hak! She starts running-
-falls to her knees when she reaches him, not wanting to risk throwing herself into him and hurting her gallant warrior any further. He meets her there - falling to his knees and reaching out to touch her, pull her to him, thank the gods and never let her go.
"Princess…" he tries not to hold her too tight but of course he is - as he nuzzles his face into her hair, sure they're both dust-covered and bloodied, but this is her and any scent of her stirs his heart, "Are you hurt?"
"You idiot!" she's smiling and clinging onto him unyieldingly despite her language, "Your leg! You're injured, we need to get you to-"
"I'm gonna be fine," he lifts her face up toward him so he can look into her eyes, "Did he hurt you? Is he gone?"
Looking into those comforting, piercing blue eyes after all that just happened… Yona nods 'yes' to both questions and then loses it sobbing into him.
He holds her against his broad chest, caressing her back lovingly, "It's OK. I'm here now. Everything's gonna be OK."
The comfort of his voice and strength of his arms around her, Yona can hardly believe they found their way back to each other, "Hak," his name on her lips has become synonymous with 'I love you.'
Zeno and Kija have just gotten there and stand next to the reunited couple.
As Yona and Hak turn to their friends, she gasps achingly, "Jae-Ha! We have to find him, he just… he flew off but he-"
"We found him," Kija offers.
Yona's heart stops, "Found him? ...is he… is he..."
Zeno shakes his head oh, no no-"We were lucky we brought the other Little Miss with. She has him now. Shin-Ah lead them back to camp to treat his wound."
"Lili… was here?" it's all too much of a miracle, but Yona has seen a lot of those today, "Jae-Ha might be OK?"
The dragons nod.
"We need to go to them," Yona rises, unsteady. When she sees Hak's worry, "I was hit in the head, but I'll be fine. Jae-Ha might not be, so…" she looks toward his horse, "Let me ride with you?"
"Of course," he's still staring at her with those concerned eyes as he rises.
"I'll let you inspect it when we get to the medic tent. Just trust me… I'm not going to die in your arms between here and there."
"You better not," he cups her chin and runs a gentle finger along her petite jawline, "I'd never forgive you."
Yona smiles tearfully at his meaning, "It's nice I'm not hanging off a cliff though, huh?"
"I appreciate that," he tenderly kisses her forehead, then takes her hand to lead her.
"Wait - just one moment," Yona slips her hand back out of his grasp, "I need to tell Zeno and Kija something. I'll be right up."
Hak nods. He's comfortable giving her privacy. Even now.
When Yona reaches Zeno and Kija at their horse, the yellow-haired dragon is waiting as though he knew this moment was next. Kija is at the ready for whatever she needs.
"It's about Soo-Won…" she begins.
She had a life-changing decision to make when she faced off with Soo-Won back there. The favor she asks now is her choice. And in so many ways now, she hopes she's fast enough...
Yun slips into the main medic tent to the sight of hundreds of warriors being treated. He looks around in worry… will they have enough supplies? Then he hears it-
"And you! Bring me another needle right away. This wound isn't gonna close itself!"
Yun hardly recognizes the command emanating from this child. She'd been a blubbering mess in the tent with Min-Soo the last time he saw her… but damn, this girl's got some passion.
"We need to give the best possible care to this man! He's kin to the royal family!" Lili is focused, determined, as she gently wipes sweat from Jae-Ha's fevered forehead, then she whispers, 'You too, you know. You have to do your best. She needs you."
Yona is nauseous and dizzy during the ride back to camp, so when the finally arrive, she between Hak's arms on their shared steed, she's not ready for what they witness-
The crowd of Koukan fighters along the pathway before them parts. As the warriors realize who they are - Her Highness and the Thunder Beast - they kneel with their heads down to honor them.
"This is…" suddenly Yona realizes the outcome of this battle may have changed things in a very real way.
Also… she turns because she has to see it - Hak is so embarrassed he's downright annoyed and red in the face from irritation. This is not his thing. Yona giggles as he runs a hand through his hair to obscure his face.
"What? They're all looking at you," Hak corrects with his face down.
"Oh right, of course," Yona totally doesn't believe that. They saw him out there. He's amazing. And she agrees with them.
"Your Majesty," Joo-Doh stands before them, knowing exactly what he's looking at - he left a duel on that battlefield. If Hak is here, then… "Am I correct to… believe the king has fallen?"
Yona stares forward for a long moment. Honestly, I'm not even sure exactly… but I know what my answer has to be: "Back there… Soo-Won was taken down."
Yona feels Hak's arms and chest stiffen. She moves a hand from the mane to his on the rein and gives it a squeeze.
"Then, Your Majesty-"
"-I apologize, we're in a hurry to tend the wounded. There's nothing that can be down about what I just said. So let's leave the details of those matters to be dealt with when our people are in stable condition."
Yona gently kicks their horse's flank and continues past Joo-Doh and the bowing warriors, toward her friends and family, and all the sacrifices that allowed her to survive to this moment.
When Jae-Ha opens his eyes, a grumpy black-haired beast is next to him.
"Deja vu, I'm afraid," his body hurts like hell.
The corner of Hak's mouth rises, relieved, "Well if you'd quit getting yourself into these situations…"
"Can't help myself," Jae-Ha smiles as best he can, "You're here… so she must be OK."
"Dying to see you, but alive," Hak confirms.
Jae-Ha closes his eyes in relief for a moment - all the pain well worth it - then opens them to continue his favorite pastime - hassling this guy, "You know, now you're not the only one with a scar for her."
Hak raises an eyebrow, "If you think I won't hit you just because you're dying, you're wrong."
"Hak!" Yona rushes over from talking with Lili off to the side and smacks Hak's arm, "You have no boundaries!" Then turns to smile down at Jae-Ha.
"That guy has no boundaries…" Hak mutters, making room for Yona at Jae-Ha's side.
"What you did back there…" Yona starts but then stops herself, "No, we're going to have plenty of time to talk about that later. Because you're going to get better, OK?"
"Of course, Dear," Jae-Ha comforts, "Did I mention just being near you heals me?"
Hak rolls his eyes and turns to see Lili giving him the stink eye.
"I see that foot - no kicking patients' beds or I'll kick your ass! Also, a certain someone told me you have a leg that needs tending to…"
Hak looks around the room, "Focus on those guys. I can dress this," then he gets up and heads to get wrappings and such to deal with his leg.
Lili looks back over at Jae-Ha, then moves closer and reveals, "He really is going to be fine, I think. This is the second wound like that I've treated in the past couple days. Perfectly missed the vital organs."
Yona turns to Lili, the meaning of this washing over her… "The same man caused both cuts. It was Soo-Won."
Lili's eyes widen, "Do you think he… on purpose tried not to mortally wound them?"
"I did the same to him," Jae-Ha interjects, "A certain captain made me very good at non-fatal damage."
"Then he…" as Yona realizes, she glances across the room at her husband with his wounded leg propped up as he chats with Shin-Ah, "Lili, Jae-Ha… please don't say anything to Hak. Something like this, I need to tell him myself. At the right time."
The camp is being packed up everywhere save for the medic tent area. After spending ample time with Jae-Ha, treating Hak's leg and Yona's head, and sending Yun to bring Min-Soo in with everyone else now that he's in safe company - Yona and Hak were requested to the generals' tent by Joo-Doh.
When they arrive, Joo-Doh, Kyo-Ga, Geun-Tae, and Tae-Woo are there around the table. Tae-Woo beams up at Hak and Yona.
"We heard…" Kyo-Ga begins, "About Soo-Won."
"No one's been able to recover his body. But at this point…" Joo-Doh sighs, "Can you tell us what exactly happened out there?"
"He was with me," Yona clarifies.
Joo-Doh raises his eyebrows. That's odd... last he saw, he was with Hak…
"I saw him go down. I was quite preoccupied myself, so I don't have any more clear details to provide. If you haven't found a body, then I think we can presume someone took it."
"In which case…" Geun-Tae shakes his head at what happens to leaders when taken by the opposing side in war.
"Leave it to us, Your Highness, we'll keep searching," Joo-Doh commits.
"However," Kyo-Ga interjects, "If His Majesty is not recovered within the month, then given what we know, we should move forward in the assumption that the king is gone. This country needs a ruler. In which case, we should proceed with the ceremony to install Princess Yona as Queen. And with tradition, the man she chooses to wed will become the king."
Yona takes a deep breath - they don't know. Well, some of them don't. Tae-Woo is going through some sort of shock at the end of the table. Geun-Tae's checking out his fingernails like he's bored. Joo-Doh looks like he's about to say something…
Yona looks up at Hak who looks back down at her like he always has - whatever she wants, he's fully behind her.
So Yona moves her hands behind her neck, undoes the tie of her necklace, pulls it off to remove the ring, and hands it to Hak.
Now all the generals are watching with serious fascination.
Yona nods up at Hak. Carefully, he undoes the necklace around his neck, removes the ring, and hands it to her.
Hak takes Yona's left hand in both of his and slips the symbol of his love onto her ring finger.
Yona takes Hak's great left hand in both of her small hands, and slips her promise onto his ring finger.
Hand in hand, they turn to the stunned audience.
Yona confirms, "I've already chosen."
As Hak holds her hand, he can feel her wedding ring against his skin… and hearing her announce their relationship before the leaders of this country… this is a future he never even dreamed of.
Yona looks forward with confidence - out of every decision in her life, she's never been so sure about anything as choosing Hak.
Joo-Doh sits there the least shocked, since he already knew, and having known these two since they were very small, he's even a little touched, "Very well, then as Kyo-Ga said, it's a short matter of time before this country is in your hands. You'll need to take residence in the palace. Let's begin your journey back to Kuuto."
::-:: Some time later ::-::
Soo-Won wakes in a large, fine room with no idea where he is. It's peaceful - quiet, still. And he feels peaceful. The terrible pain in his side and in his heart have both significantly subsided.
He looks down to see he's in white robes. He sits up with a bit of pain, but he's eventually able to stand. He walks toward a great window at the end of the room to look out.
Forest. Trees and blue sky as far as he can see. Then down below… a village. With people walking around, also in white with blue details and all white hair. All ages. They look happy. Well.
What culture is this? He turns to investigate the room, but-
"He's awake!" Three girls in white gowns rush to him and begin offering water, medicine, food, massage, a change of clothes, and even… a girl he could marry? What is this place…?!
As they rush off to get him things, he notices a man in a chair at the end of the room. He has wavy, messy blonde hair that comes down over his eyes.
"Where am I?" Soo-Won asks.
"None of us are supposed to know where this is," the man responds.
What an unsatisfactory answer… "Who are you?"
"My name is Ik-Soo. I'm here to help you."