(a/n: jk here's the real 250 subscriber celebration chapter)

Min Yunho stared at the portrait of his mother in the hall. It was his brother's twentieth birthday the following day and the country would celebrate his life and mourn his mother's death. After spending weeks in the library scouring through shelves and searching through books, Yunho had exhausted every effort to try and find some sort of spell or incantation to connect to his mother. He knew that Jiwoo wanted more than anything to meet their mother, but he had failed.

"What am I supposed to do now?" he asked, looking up at his beautiful mother who was his own age in the painting.

She sat on the throne gracefully, back straight and in the most formal robes they had. She looked very different from his father, who stood beside her. She was covered in golden jewelry. Her elbow rested on the arm of the chair, palm turned upwards to grasp the King's. His father looked very much like him in his youth, their childhood photos were uncanny when set side by side. But his father insisted every day on referring to him as his mother's son.

"Your mother's guard kneels before you."

Yunho whipped around to see a stranger on his knee, head bent. Some middle aged man. Had the other guards not seen him enter? How did he find him?

"How did you get in here? Who are you?" Yunho demanded.

"My name is Zhang Yixing. I was a Royal Guard and your mother Queen Kim Jisoo's personal guard. Please do not be alarmed, your Highness."

Yunho raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Your father King Min Yoongi knows I am here. We met this morning, your Highness."

"Stand." Yunho said, not turning his back lest the man be crazy.

"I came back for the twentieth anniversary." he explained. "I was by your mother's side for a very long time. She probably didn't know much about me, but I knew her very well. I left this palace to return to my hometown soon after she founded the nation, your Highness."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed, your Highness." Yixing replied. "How are you?"

"Why haven't we met before?" Yunho asked, ignoring the man's question.

"We have met before, your Highness. I attend every year the memorial for your mother. I do not like to make a show of myself, so I keep to myself. I greeted you on her tenth anniversary and of course, on the day she unfortunately departed this world. You were so young then, your Highness."

"And what do you want with me?"

"Your father said you were trying to figure out a way to contact your mother for your brother's birthday. When your mother dearly missed someone, we made the journey together during the war to Mount Mamazet. There is a place hidden up high on the mountain called Mamazet Tarn. She went there in order to feel closer to the people she loved and missed dearly. Unfortunately, there is no way to contact anyone there. However, there does exist an ancient astrological temple, though it is more of a ruin, I suppose, your Highness."

"What of it?" Yunho asked, now intrigued, but trying not to show it.

"It is not well known, however, I have heard that if one has the true will, the true desire to see someone who has left this world, there is a chance that you may meet them there."

"How is that even possible? Nothing happens after we die!"

"Your Highness, if I understand correctly, you were looking for methods. The ability to raise dead does not do any good here, for those people are merely shells and totally devoid of personality or anything that made them who they were. Have you studied sciences extensively, your Highness?"

"Why?"

"Well, you will know that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. When we die, our energy is still forever present in this world. We simply go back to the universe. Your mother's energy is still here with us and if you truly have the will to see her again, you may be able to meet her for a short while. The stars and the universe know your pain very well, your Highness. They can bring her spirit back to you for a moment, but it will just be a moment."

"Is that true?" a third voice chimed in.

Jiwoo stood in the hallway, the King behind him who sent Yunho a warm smile. Immediately he and Yixing dropped to their knees and greeted him.

"Is it true, father?" Yunho asked after being told to be at ease.

Yoongi clasped his hands behind his back.

"I believe so."

"Did you ever go there?" Jiwoo asked.

"I have considered it many times over the last quarter century. However, I don't trust that my heart could take it. Sometimes, things like this can do more harm than good. You must remember that your mother is always with us regardless of whether we can see her or speak with her, and that this method is not something that can be done when one wishes. We must let our loved ones rest. We ought not to disturb the energy of the universe."

The boys were silent.

"If you can accept this, that it may very well be your only opportunity to see your mother, and you know that you can walk away without despair in your heart - especially you, Yunho - then you may go. Take the time to seriously consider it, and do not take lightly your decision should you choose to go ahead."

One month later, the two Princes stood in plains with waist-high grass. The afternoon was ending, the dim yellow glow of the sun beginning to set cast a lovely warmth over them. They had travelled far to the south eastern edge of the country where there was a vast expanse of plains for as far as the eye could see. Neither of the brothers had ever visited that part of the country before and it didn't seem like anyone was resident there.

"This is a protected area, your Highnesses. People may not construct buildings or live here."

"Where is this ruin?" Jiwoo asked, looking to Yixing.

"We need walk farther for a short while. We will arrive in a few more minutes. Mechanical modes of transportation are forbidden here."

"How anybody had the patience to go anywhere before my mother founded this nation and de