Cracking your eyes open to find the harsh morning sunlight blinding you, you became aware that the shrill feminine voice belonged to your mother. Sitting up on your sleeping mat, you deduce from the shade of the bright yellow light of the sun, that it was far later than you had anticipated.

"I am awake Mother!" you called with your hoarse voice. It was the best course of action before you found yourself with a face full of ice cold water.

Though the matriarch of your family did not seem to be too pleased that it had taken you so long to respond to her, you still found yourself smiling to yourself as you changed into your day clothes.

That bit of your morning ritual always managed to absorb whatever joyous mood in which you had awoken. Your hanbok comprising of your favorite colors was beautiful, that much was obvious - even if it was slightly out of date by now. However after being worn so often, the colors were faded and the fabric had become torn at some of its edges. You sighed, there was not much you could do after all. The fighting that had been overtaking your village meant that everything from materials to food supplies were scarce, for almost everyone. 

Though your family had been of a decent social standing once upon a time, your home and its contents were proof of that, the war that had been ravaging your village had still left you all vulnerable. The truth was simply that unlike a few families you were acquainted with, your family was not rich enough to cope with the rising cost of everything.

"(F/n), if I have to call you one more time..." your mother trailed off and you mentally cringed at what she could possibly have in store if she was to follow through on her threat.

"Coming Mother!" you exclaimed. You supposed now was not the time for such depressing thoughts as you gently padded through on the wooden floors of your home to the common room to find your mother and younger brother at the table.

"Good morning." you greeted with a polite bow, in part an apology for your tardiness. You carefully kneel at the teal table before sitting cross legged adjacent to your mother and opposite your brother.

"I am pleased to finally have you grace us with your presence Princess." your mother scolded gently, even as she dished you a breakfast consisting of a bowl of rice and a simple soup from the two larger bowls sitting on the table.

It had been a while since the table had been filled with all sorts of side dishes, some exotic and others, local delicacies. Your mouth watered at the thought.

You smiled in spite of the comment. "I did not mean to oversleep." you slurped a spoon of soup hungrily. "Dohyun...is there a reason you have not gone to lessons yet? Are you ill?" you asked, finding it concerning that the younger boy, who despite the lack of luxurious food was still shooting up like a bean sprout, was still present.

Being at the age he was, Dohyun found it more important to completely clear his bowls of any edible contents before even thinking of replying to your comment.

He shook his head, his long hair following his movement. "No reason. Mother wanted to tell me something that is all." he replied, his cheeks puffing out with food.

Your mother flicked his ear. "How many times have I told you to finish the food in your mouth before speaking?" within one pout at his mother, the older woman sighed tiredly, unable to resist. "You have wasted too much time. Now go off to your lessons, you are late!" she exclaimed shooing the boy out of the door.

You chuckled as you ate silently, wondering what your mother wanted to talk to you about, she had that tense look on her face. Your mother, an older version of you, was still beautiful despite all of the hardships your family had faced in recent years. You wished more than once that there was a way to restore her to her former glory, with all the finery and jewels she once owned.

"(F/n)..." your mother softly said, turning to you and placed a hand atop your own. She looked pained at what she was about to say.

"Yes mother?" you urged her to speak, and abandoned the spoon that occupied the hand she now held.

"You know that you are my first born. A pride and joy to your father and I..." she carried on, avoiding your gaze.

"Of course I know that mother. And I thank you and Father for all you have done." you laughed lightly in reply.

"Also know that I would not be asking you this if I thought there was another way out." your mother now held your hand in both of hers.

"If there is a way to help our family, I will do it." you hoped you could ease some of her worry. You hated to see her so conflicted.

"The family I work for now, the Kims, your father and I have spoken to them. They are a kind family and friends of ours for many years, you are aware. We thought that if you were to marry their eldest son, Taejin, we would be able to restore our family name." your mother said, speaking slow as if you were still a child.

You swallowed, staring at the outdated and now dusty porcelain collection lining the shelves behind your mother. You knew that eventually your parents would considering marrying you off to a man in a higher social circle. You also knew that how awful you felt when your mother had announced she would be working as a housekeeper for her friends and you vowed you would do anything you could so she would not have to do that kind of work. Or even your father, who worked nearly day and night on a nearby farm.

Besides, it was not as if you would fall in love now. You knew every man of marrying age in your village and friendship was as close as you would get with any of them. You knew Taejin for years and if you were honest with yourself, you could do much worse. He was a respectable man. You could not ever remember seeing him act inappropriately with anyone of the female gender. He was kind, sensible, good looking and worked hard for his family.

"I will do it." you looked up at your mother with a smile. You knew she was becoming worried at the long stretch of silence. "Taejin is a good choice."

"Oh my daughter!" your mother exclaimed, hugging you to her. "I am so glad you think so. We will discuss it with your brother as soon as he is home. You know how protective he is of you, so we will break it to him gently." your mother prattles on about things that she could get done now that you have assented.

You smiled politely at all of her suggestions, not in the mood for such talk. You finished your meal as soon as you could and excused yourself by telling her you would look for supplies for dinner. After all, the wedding had not happened yet.

You walked as briskly as you could without running, attempting to clear your mind of the conversation you just had with your mother. Needing to do something and wanting to do it were two very different things.

Your home was not far from a clearing filled with trees, shrubbery, small animals and many other things one might need from nature. Surrounding yourself with the beauty of the natural world while occupying yourself with a hunt for food was just what you needed.

Filling a bag you kept nearby on a tree branch with berries and other fruit, you look for signs of nearby animal activity. Perhaps you could catch a small mammal for dinner or even lunch the next day. Hearing twitching in the grass, you use your keen eyes to swipe over the land closest to you. In the not too far distance, you spot a large rabbit. Perfect.

Backing up slowly, you moved quickly to collect your hunting things that consisted of a basket, a stick and string. Moving back to the tree where you had last seen the rabbit nearest to, you make quick work of attaching the string to the stick and balancing the basket over it. You add a few berries for good measure.

You wait in silence, the only noise emanating from you was your breathing. True to form, the grey rabbit sniffed in the direction of the ripened berries you left. Waiting patiently, the rabbit hopped into the perfect position for you to pull at the stick, which you wasted no time in doing.

Though you felt sad at the fact that the poor thing was struggling underneath the weight of the basket, you knew that feeding your family was far more important. In your over excitement in wanting to get to the object of your attention, you found yourself tripping over a thick tree branch. Not only that, but you had managed to allow for a gap of escape for the animal with the string you held.

Dusting yourself off, you limped, your right ankle feeling strange. Looks like you were going to have to take a boat for fishing, you did not feel brave enough to set up another trap today. And besides, the weather was nice enough.

With your ankle feeling as sore as it was, it took you longer than expected to get on the boat, but you were relieved to take the weight off of your leg.

As you rowed yourself down the calm river, you feel the pain begin to shoot up your leg and into your body with every twist and movement. Reaching down your full skirt, you lift it as high as you were willing to dare in day time to reveal your ankle swollen to almost twice its size underneath your dust covered white socks. That would explain why you were in pain.

What was for certain, was that you were going no where any time soon. The more you moved the more pain you caused yourself. Deciding to take it easy, you laid yourself down, using the bits of fabric in the boat as a pillow. 

Gritting your teeth, you distracted yourself by looking at the sky. It was a beautiful day out. The sun shone but not to the point where you felt as though your delicate skin would burn. And the wind blew but only enough to feel refreshed. You thought of everything and nothing while floating into oblivion.

Some time had passed before you smelled a wonderful scent radiating from both sides of the river. It reminded you of the expensive little perfumes your mother would let you use when she prepared herself for her gatherings. Smiling fondly, you crane your head to find your vision so utterly and totally assaulted by the most beautiful sight you have ever seen. Peach blossom trees lined both sides of the river and their blossoms covered the grass so totally you would have thought the ground itself were peach blossoms itself.

How far you had gone you could not be certain but you would not complain. As though reminding you why you were there in the first place, your ankle throbbed so wildly, you found your head knocking against the wood of the boat as you attempted to lay yourself back down.

This time, your leg did not calm down from the movement and while taking in the sweet, springtime scent, you found the splendid blues, pinks and yellows fade into black.

From the black abyss, you hear exclamations all around you. Was someone - no, someones calling for you? Why was it that no-one would allow you to rest today? Did everyone want to work you into an early grave?

"Miss! Miss can you hear us?" "Wake up!" "Someone call the healer!" the distinctly male voices all exclaimed, alarm and....was that concern you heard?

Forcing open your eyes that felt as though that have been stung repeatedly by bees, you almost wish you were in a position to pinch yourself. 

There, peering over you with expressions that ranged from puzzled to concerned, were six extremely handsome men who looked like those paintings your mother's friends loved to collect. Each of them were dressed as equally fine as the last. Their clothes were colored with the seasons most delicate springtime colors. If you could capture a season, these six men would be it.

You were dreaming or you were dead. That was the only explanation you could think of.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" a tanned man asked through the cotton stuffing your ears, reaching out his hand for you to take, his large, white, silky sleeve pristine.

The heat of the sun and the constant throb of your body made the handsome man blurry until the darkened corners of your vision took over.

A/N: I'm back! I apologize for taking so long to get the first chapter out but it's been hectic on the writing side. If you haven't noticed yet, my story is a spicier version (much spicier) of Tao Qian's Peach Blossom Paradise  written in 326-97AD. Apparently, this story was also the inspiration for Shangri-la, so what better source material than this? It is also the Forward for this story. Naturally, I don't have enough knowledge to make this take place in 326-97AD but it will be a basic historical Kdrama type setting. The quotes for each setting will most likely come from Shangri-la itself. Words: 2, 235. I hope you all enjoy this!<3