It was the hardest thing for him to do... to hear her pleading with him to come to, to know she wanted the comfort he gave her with his presence through their special connection. Ever since she was little, he had loved to watch her sleeping and knowing that he kept her from having those horrid dreams. He had not had them either, granted, but keeping such images from the mind of someone so young. Such visions had terrified her far more than they had him. And he had not enjoyed them at all... he had felt many of the attacks even though they were just a dream. His fear had been very real, though.

Taeyeon hated himself right now. He knew she wanted him near. He knew she would have that dream again after so long without him being there. But he could not bring himself to go to her, not tonight... not this soon. His heart still ached from what she had told him that afternoon. Her words still echoed in his head. He had not felt this way for a very, very long time.

For the entire evening, he had tried to reason out why she would not believe anything. How could she not believe that her life would be good and not filled with the disappointments she told him she expected? She did not believe that Yul loved her or that his intentions to court her were true. She did not believe that her dreams could come true... Although, he hoped some did not come true. That was beside the point, though.

Still... she had hurt him deeply. She might not have realized it, but she had. He wanted her to realize just how she had made him feel, though. This was the only way he could think of doing that... It was not like she was still a little girl anymore.

A deep sigh escaped his lips. He had curled up on his perch in his true form, looking down at the house near the southern end of town that Sooyeon lived in. He could feel when her dream has started. He could still remember it for himself, the dream from his perspective, even though it had been so very long since he had last had it. He could see every detail of the fight. He could even smell the blue dragons – that loathsome reek they emitted was enough to make him nauseous just from the thought. He would prefer an entire clan of black dragons, the mortal enemies of cloud dragons, than to even face one blue dragon. But three of them... And then other things about the dream that bothered him. The biggest one of those was why he had not gone instantly to save the town sooner – as soon as he had felt the dragons come into the valley he protected. It was as though something were holding him back. He never knew what it was that delayed him, though, the dream had been a black void of panicked voices and overwhelming fear before he was able to rush to try to save Sooyeon.

Then he felt the dream stop for her. He could hear her crying. He could hear her calling out for him. He dug his claws into the stone beneath him. He hated not answering her. He could not stand knowing he was hurting her.

He was... hurting her. His heart felt like it died. He actually stopped breathing when he realized that. Here he was only thinking of himself. She had probably not really meant what she said, or said it without thinking. And now he was punishing her for her rashness. He hung his head. He was pitiful... denying her comfort. He was giving her nightmares instead of helping reassure her that her dreams of a wonderful life could come true.

Suddenly, though, he heard Sooyeon's voice calling to him again, but there was something different about her voice this time. She was not pleading with him to come to her. She was just calling his name out over and over. It almost sounded like she was trying to get his attention. She also sounded so much happier than before. He quickly realized why.

Though it was dark and he could not see individual people at that distance, he could still sense her feet when they touched the edge of town nearest his mountain. He could follow her quick steps, in fact, as they hurried and stumbled a little in the dark towards the stream. He turned his eyes to the field of flowers. He could see those clearly enough even on this nearly moonless night. Then her form came into view. She stopped at the flowers to catch her breath.

"Sooyeon," he said aloud to himself, half in awe that she would come to him and half in disapproval of her being there. If her parents were to discover her missing they would panic.

Taeyeon made no move to intercept her, however. He simply allowed her to come to him. Granted, if she fell in her uphill run to his ledge, he would certainly go to her side. She did not falter, though. She knew his mountain so well. She amazingly even skirted a rocky part as though she could see it perfectly well. He could not help but smile warmly at her.

Soon, she was at the edge of the rock outcropping that he was on. She looked up at him with sad eyes. Her breathing was rapid because of her run through town and then her climbing the mountain slope. She said nothing to him. Once she had recovered a bit, she scrambled up the rocks and threw her arms around his long neck as soon as she reached him. She began to cry again, her face buried into his soft feathers.

"It's alright, Sooyeon." He closed his eyes, bowing his head some, ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry I didn't come to you."

"It was my fault." She continued to cry, though she looked up at him. "I'm so sorry, my lord, for everything I said. I didn't mean for such things to come out. I just..."

"I forgive you, Sooyeon." He looked at her with a gentle expression, the one that he only ever used with her. He felt like she was the only one that deserved it. "Now... you really must return home."

"No!" She tightened her hold around his neck and buried her face back into his feathers, muffling her voice. "I want to stay with you tonight! I don't want to go back to my house. I came all the way up here to be with you. Please! Please let me stay!"

"Sooyeon," he shook his head, "you cannot stay with me."

"I don't want to go back." She was crying into his feathers more. "Not tonight. Please let me stay. Please..."

Taeyeon close his eyes and gave a shuddering sigh. He then looked up to the stars. "If you stay with me tonight, you might not be leaving my side in the morning..."

The young woman looked up at him with a shocked expression. "What? You..."

"Yes, I want to keep you with me." He looked down at her. "But I cannot..." He looked to the south and stared that way for a while before turning back to her. "You have Yul waiting for your next birthday so he can court you. I can't take you from him, can I?"

"I don't care!" She was still looking up at him, her eyes still wet. "Let me stay with you!"

Though her words made his heart leap with joy, he was also saddened again. "Sooyeon.