Disclaimer: I don't own Akatsuki no Yona.
Chapter 18
"I wonder when they'll come back," Yona said.
Lien looked up at her, watching the princess poke at their small campfire while she gazed out at the horizon. Hak, Shin-Ah, Yoon, and Kija had gone to spy on the village, leaving the others behind at their makeshift camp. Yesterday, they had found a small, out of the way place that they could use as a base while they figured out how to deal with the town's bandit problem.
"They'll be back before sunset," Jae-Ha said. He perched on one of the nearby rocks, his left leg drawn up to his chest while his right leg dangled. "Or maybe not. Shin-Ah can see in the dark, after all."
"They'll come back by then. They know the little miss will worry about them if they don't," Zeno said, giving Yona a big, warm smile. He was sitting on the other side of the fire, roasting one of the birds that Yona and Hak had shot for them earlier. Yoon had been very insistent about the fact that the food was supposed to be cooked before the rest of the team came back to camp, so Zeno had been forced to help out.
Lien was used to cooking for her family, so she was technically in charge of dinner. Once she had joined the group, Yoon had remembered that she knew how to cook, and so he often enlisted her for cooking duties while the others worked on different chores. While she was only a decent cook, she didn't mind the task. There was something soothing about cooking, and it helped keep her mind busy so she didn't get too homesick in the evenings.
She had a second bird speared on a stick, slowly turning it over the flames. She had rubbed both birds down with spices that Yoon had left behind, carefully choosing a couple types that would work well together. Hopefully the others would be back by the time the food was finished cooking. Otherwise, she would have to keep Zeno from eating it all. The yellow-haired young man was a ravenous, bottomless pit. Maybe she would just ask Jae-Ha to sit on him if he attempted to chow down on the meal too early.
"We need to go get some more water," Jae-Ha said. Nimbly, he jumped down from the rock, landing elegantly beside Yona and extending a hand to her. "Would you like to accompany me to the riverside, Yona dear?"
"So formal," Yona teased gently, but she took Jae-Ha's hand and let him pull her to her feet. She grabbed her bow and quiver before they both walked over and picked up some containers for the water. Lien reached over and handed Yona the pouch sitting between her and Zeno. "We'll be right back."
"Unless we get distracted," Jae-Ha said with a smirk. He took off while Yona followed right behind, asking him what he meant by that.
Yona seemed to have trouble realizing when guys were flirting with her. Maybe it was because she was young and had been sheltered for long, but she did seem rather oblivious to flirtations. Especially when they were from Hak. It had become very clear to Lien, even before she started traveling with the group, that Hak adored Yona and was devoted to her beyond the normal bodyguard-noblewoman dynamic. Somehow Yona didn't see it. Or maybe she was ignoring it?
Lien spun her stick slowly, and juices dripped down into the fire, sizzling against the coals. On the other side of the fire, Zeno licked his lips and his stomach growled, maybe her giggle. "It won't be long now, Zeno."
"Zeno doesn't know how much longer he can wait," the blond said, his stomach growling louder, "It smells so good." He leaned forward and his own stick nearly dropped into the fire, but he quickly pulled it back up.
Smiling, Lien leaned a little closer, enjoying the warmth of the campfire against her cheeks.
"Kirin," Zeno said, and she looked up to find him watching her with a curious expression, "Can you feel heat and get burned?"
Lien nodded. "Yes, if it's not my original fire." While she could control fire that she didn't create to an extent, she couldn't keep it from hurting her or others. Her own fire and heat that sprang up from the kirin's blood within her was hers to control without stipulations. "It takes a little longer for me to get burned than other people. I guess I'm fire resistant in that case."
Zeno nodded, seeming to be quietly amused at something she didn't understand. "I can relate."
For a moment, she looked at him carefully. Whenever he didn't call himself by name, he was being more serious than usual. She wondered what he meant by saying he could relate, and again, she thought about what it meant to have a strong body. There were so many mysteries revolving around the yellow dragon, but she wasn't going to pry. He was kind and gentle and warm-hearted, and she thought of him as a friend. If he needed to keep a few secrets, that was all right by her.
They were both quiet for a long time, simply enjoying each other's company, and then Zeno started to hum a tune that Lien recognized. It was an older song but a favorite of her mother's. She had sung it so many times during their travels that the words were seared onto Lien's heart, and it made her think of home and her family.
It couldn't have been Zeno's intention, it was a simple and popular song, but the homesickness that she had been fighting so hard against welled up in her, wrapping tightly around her chest. It was a deep, steady pain, one that she had been cheerfully ignoring since making up her mind to travel with Yona and her crew.
She missed her mother and father, her siblings, her aunt, her friends. She missed the evening dances and songs that swelled through her home, filling it with music. She even missed arguing with Kyung and the chores she did around their winter quarters. Everything was different now, and while she loved being with her new friends, she missed the comfort and familiarity of home with a sharp ache.
"Lien! Are you all right?"
Someone plucked the stick out of her hands and thin arms wrapped around her. Lien found herself pressed to Yona's shoulder, the other girl hugging her. She wasn't aware that she had been crying until she realized that she was staining Yona's outfit with her tears. Hastily, Lien pulled away and brushed at her eyes, blushing as Jae-Ha, Yona, and Zeno looked at her, all of them concerned.
"Are you hurt?" Yona asked, "Why were you crying?"
Lien shook her head. It wasn't fair to Yona. Lien didn't think it was right to admit that she was homesick when Yona didn't even have family to go home to. She could imagine that the princess was far more homesick than she was, and there was no remedy for her. There wouldn't be a reunion for her and her father like there would one day be for Lien and her own father.
"I think some ash got in my eyes," Lien said softly, wiping her sleeve across her face, "It just stung for a moment. I'll be all right."
None of them seemed to believe her, but they also didn't try and pry it out of her either. Instead, Jae-Ha handed her a pouch of water and ruffled her hair affectionately. "You should wash your eyes out, then," he said, "Your doe eyes are too pretty to get all puffy with tears."
That got a small half-laugh out of her, and she did wash her face with a small handful of water while Jae-Ha finished her part of the cooking. To his credit, he only burned the bird slightly on one side. Everything was finished and Lien was feeling somewhat better by the time the others walked back into camp, Kija ranting about the injustice going on in the village and Yoon making grumpy suggestions about how to fix it. Hak immediately went to Yona's side and started to fill her in about the situation while Shin-Ah plopped down between Lien and Zeno.
Ao scurried down Shin-Ah's arm and leaped over to Lien. The squirrel dashed over Lien's lap and then curled up on her knee, making herself at home. Lien smiled and scooped her up, pressing her to her face and then petting her back.
Gentle fingers touched her chin and Shin-Ah turned her face toward him with a careful touch. "You've been crying," he said, and he ran his thumb underneath her eyes as if wiping away the tears that were no longer there. "Why?"
"I'll tell you later," she whispered. She should have guessed that Shin-Ah would somehow be able to see the signs of tears.
"Promise."
"I will," she said.
Shin-Ah nodded then looped an arm around her waist. Silently, he slid her closer to him, so she was nestled against his side. He couldn't protect her from her own emotions, but he was doing the best he could. Lien leaned against him, letting him support her. "What'd you see in the village?"
"It's bad there," he said, "There's not enough food, and soldiers and bandits take what little people have. They're suffering."
And she was crying over missing her family. It made her feel guilty, and she wished she hadn't promised to tell him why she was crying. It felt trivial next to so much physical pain. "We'll help them." Yona would make sure of it. It's why their group had traveled so far anyways.
Shin-Ah nodded and leaned against her, too, so that they supported each other.
