There were sounds of birds chirping overhead, water winding down a river stream, and the crackling and chipping of clay cooking being handled around a flame, in a background of travellers' quiet chatting. The sounds of returning to nature, as heard under the tapered, tanned cloth of a tent.

Bomi stirred, her sleepy senses slowly waking her up. Her belly felt like lead, but she was warm. She was comfortable, lying on the textured bedspread feeling… free.

She wasn't exactly startled, though she slowly looked around with a faint insecurity. It relaxed once her eyes laid to her side.

"Rongie unnie, you're here," Bomi smiled sleepily.

Chorong was sitting on a bed next to Bomi's, holding a cup of a hot drink in her lap. Her eyes widened seeing Bomi awake and almost stumbled getting off the bed to come closer to her.

Bomi wanted to get up and so she rose to sit, but it put her stomach on fire.

"Bbom-ah! No, no, lie down. Wait."

At the slight sense of commotion, a lively healer suddenly appeared by their side. He might have startled her the most. "Oh, nuh-uh-uh. She's right, Bomi. No sudden movements, okay? It might open up again if you're not careful. We're using our fastest remedies on you, you know."

"Ah, s-sorry… I'll be careful."

"Good. Then stay right there, I'll get you some breakfast."

They watched as the healer cantered away and Bomi had collected the situation. "Well, um, that's some good morning."

Chorong laughed softly, brushing some of Bomi's hair. "Yeah… Good morning to you too."

"Have you eaten?"

"I did a little earlier. How are you feeling, Bbom-ah?"

Memories scrolled through her mind, but the puffy eyes on Chorong took up her attention. "I-I feel… like I should've been awake with you, taking care of you."

Chorong swallowed and looked down embarrassed, roughly trying to rub at her eyes. "Oh. I kind of just meant…"

"I'm okay, unnie. It didn't hurt until I tried to get up just then. When I'm lying down though, it feels like I can just relax and look at you… I was worried about you. I'm happy you're here."

After a terrifying night, they were sharing their morning moments together. Being with her, Bomi felt so relieved. Chorong held her hands warmly, and they played with their fingers that way. Her presence and touch calmed Bomi down once more from strange surroundings. Bomi's fears eased into curiosity, and she asked what happened after Gaia left them, as it was the last thing she remembered before passing out.

She also thought that Chorong would be more worried for her and clinging to her the moment she woke up, but Chorong's always been the more careful one.

It was just that Bomi had been asleep when the bulk of those feelings passed through Chorong last night.

~ ★ ~

Bomi didn't remember but she had been directed to drink a wine mix to help with the pain. She went to sleep after that.

The backup group of woodland protectors had apprehended the remaining cult members. The girls had been safe once they arrived and soon gathered with Chorong in the nature reserve. Their scratches and minor injuries were tended to by the healers there.

Officers from the Faery Order arrived a while later and talked with the Union protectors. The girls were also held back for their account of the events.

Bomi's condition had to be watched and the protectors proposed setting up a medic camp for them to stay the night. She overheard them suggest a standby place they had used to group up on the outskirts of Lowes and that they could move her back there.

"Let me go with you."

As soon as she said the words, they saw her with some surprise, but the healers who had been with them supported the decision. They allowed one companion with Bomi.

Reluctantly, she parted with her four housemates then, who reassured her they would be waiting at home. The four did put up a struggle between themselves, but in respect to the realm and Bomi's healing, they agreed to stay back, allowing just Chorong to go.

Chorong was prepared to walk through the humid night. They re-entered the hidden passage, with Bomi carried on a centaur's back.

Upon entering, the thicket to the right that initially blocked them had been wrecked in the destruction. The charms behind it were gone with vines loosened and paths clearer to them. They rounded a riverbend and were brought to the nearby camp, where they would rest.

A healer nymph, Jungah, accompanied her at the medic tent in the night, providing the bedding, cleaning up Bomi so she's comfortable, and checking the dressing after hours. Chorong stayed by Bomi's bedside and watched her work, also watching Bomi sleep for a while longer. Bomi lay asleep in her most natural state, only covered by a thin blanket up to her bosom, unbothered by the terrors of the world now. Her only pieces of clothing left, Chorong folded up on the side.

The storms had long cleared from the cult's activities, leaving their warm night by the river at peace.

"You could do with some rest too, after such a night. It will refresh your soul from bad spirits." When Chorong still didn't move from Bomi's side, the healer knelt beside her. "Bomi would want to see you rested when she wakes."

"I'm sure she would. But I don't know if I can close my eyes if she's not in front of me. I have to know, I just… can't take my eyes away. After what happened." Chorong breathed slowly, trying not to trigger the images in her mind of the moments before. "I can't lose her."

Chorong wiped the tears from her cheeks. Avoiding the idea of sleep, even though by now she was so exceptionally tired. Everything ached. Her heart, her body. If the girls were here, maybe their support could help her feel a little more at ease, but it was just herself…

She felt a caring squeeze on her shoulders from the healer. "It's warming to see Bomi has found someone who really cares for her. Hey… She's a strong one. She will be okay. And you will be okay as long as you take care of yourself too. I've set up some bedding here for you, so you can be near her."

Jungah patted the spot behind them and Chorong found the sheets set up just like Bomi's. She didn't even notice when it happened, with her attention absorbed by her sleeping girlfriend.

It was yet another act of kindness she couldn't express herself enough towards and give back to in a single night.

Jungah quickly waved the thought of that away from Chorong's weary eyes. "You must be exhausted. Please. Lie here and rest. You can thank me when you open your eyes in the morning."

~ ★ ~

Bomi relaxed a bit more, though she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed she wasn't awake to be aware of this. She would've liked to see the girls and reassure them all. She must have really worried everyone, but especially Chorong. 

And Chorong, though relieved, couldn't help feeling a little troubled to recall it. It seemed she was always being helped by the kindness of others and it was what saved them, but what if she couldn't protect Bomi? What if I can't rescue her again?

What? No, don't think of that!

"Unnie, we wouldn't have known this would happen. None of us knew. You just wanted the best for me," Bomi reminded her.

"I know. I know I did."

"And that really meant something to me then. I told you I wouldn't just leave you without saying something."

Chorong knew that was true, but it still hitched her breath at the mention of it.

"And you found me when I needed you," Bomi added, trying to follow her gaze. "That means to me more than anything."

Chorong managed to summarise most of what happened while Bomi ate a soft meal. They were done by the time the next healer returned to check on Bomi's dressing. This time when she observed, the balm had quickly been doing its work overnight, turning the dried swollen inflammation into a raised red scar on the skin of Bomi's belly.

She was honestly more than stunned. She knew it was different around here, but this skipped the healing process that might normally take several weeks. They applied another ointment and bandaged it up again, although it surely was not for reducing any bleeding, but to keep the balm pressed to her body until she was fully healed.

And that's good. This is good. Chorong was grateful for it.

Bomi had other visitors come by to the tent during the day; a few people Bomi knew, and those who seemed to hold some authority on what went on in this world. And as Bomi articulated for the first time what her own experience of the night was like to them, Chorong couldn't help the discomfort in reimagining such terror, greater than anything the girls saw or felt from the sidelines. She did her best to stay strong while hearing it. Bomi needed her here right now.

They eventually moved on to other discussions while Chorong sat quietly in the corner by her bed. She then heard Bomi thanking them for granting her leave. Bomi had requested to return and made it clear that her new home was going to be in the human world now. They would carry her message over to anyone she knew.

When the elders left and Bomi turned back with a sigh of relief, she met a hopeful expression from her girlfriend. Chorong knew but she still wanted to hear it from her.

"Does that mean…"

Bomi let out a cheesy smile. "We're going home after this."

"They said yes?"

"They said yes!"

Chorong beamed with her, and she might've jumped her into a hug if Bomi wasn't still bedridden. She stopped herself and went to hold her hands instead. This was a great thing for Bomi; it was practically a blessing.

Bomi got the okay to live in the human world, this time because she wanted to.

More timidly, Chorong found herself asking, "Are you sure about this? You wouldn't want to... try going to the relocation..."

Bomi's eyes just looked at her assuredly. "I'm sure. My home is here with you."

As long as it was Bomi's choice, she was okay with it. Chorong did her best to settle her joy and relief with that statement. After what had happened, she wouldn't know what to do with herself if they had to part again. They would have to pry her away.

And yet it still pushed something around her heart that Bomi would wait to meet her family another time. All the plans they had made for it were ripped away from them. All that progress…

Unfortunately, she was distracted before could open again, as next a familiar satyr hobbled over. "Bomi-ya! Oh, thank the Lord Pan, thank the gods!"

Bomi was in a brilliant shock, opening and closing . "H-Hyunsik oppa! You're okay! Oh my– how did you even get here like that?"

The human clothing rid from his body, Hyunsik's horns stuck up from his messy hair, a cast on his leg and a crutch to move him along, with a carer watching over him as he hurriedly limped to their bedside. "I heard the news and came over as fast as I could. How are you feeling? Physically, mentally?"

"I-I feel alright! Physically they keep telling me I shouldn't move, but they also tell me it's healing up fast!"

"That is greatly assuring to hear. It must have been so bad. You shouldn't have gone through any of this, if only I was a little more careful. I-I knew the risks of trying to bring you home so late in our relocation. I knew of the possibility that the rumours were real and yet I should've…"

Hyunsik looked at them guiltily and with regret, something frustrated built up in his shoulders. "Bomi, I'm terribly sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry to you too, Miss Chorong, for putting you in great stress. This all happened under what should've been my responsibility. I… I failed."

"Oh, no, please. You also got injured protecting me, oppa. I'm really sorry for that too, and I don't wish you to be hard on yourself. It's all over and I'm okay now, see?"

He only smiled weakly, and as he too finished up the conversation and left the room for her to rest, Bomi shifted to Chorong. "Do you see now as well?"

"See what?"

A subtle giggle escaped Bomi with a wince, holding her stomach. "Ah. I mean, there was a lot going on that we couldn't control, and a lot of people might feel guilty for my sake, right? I don't want you to feel like that either."

Right. It was already a miracle to be saved like this.

"W-What are you saying? I'm only relieved to be with you now," Chorong said quietly.

But what if–

Chorong huffed, unable to say what it was she really thought. She sniffed back her problems herself, and quipped, "That wound is going to open up again if you speak too much."

"Aw, unnie."

~ ★ ~

It was a discharge from the hospital, except it was done from the soft fabric walls of a tent. The gentle scents of nature and pine made this the freshest air Chorong had ever breathed. With Bomi's healing looked after in nature, Chorong found an appreciation for the sublime effects herself.

They had stayed for a second night, and by the morning, Bomi was allowed to move her body and could gradu