"Isn't it burdensome?"

Lay couldn't recall who had asked him that question, but he could still clearly remember his answer.

"Of course."

However, healing the sick, caring for the injured and being able to bring something back from the brink of death, was not the burden. It was the fact that he was the only one that could do so. And he wouldn't articulate it to anyone, but being separated from the ones he cared for most, caused him immense anxiety.

During his days and nights alone, Lay had to constantly keep his mind clear; less his own horrific thoughts slowly eat away at him. It was only by retaining complete clarity that he was able to keep going the way he did.     

But now tasked with healing and saving a subject he was completely unfamiliar with, Lay's calm demeanor finally began to crack. 

"Tao," Lay called out, keeping his eyes on the girl in front of him. "I need you to slow the blood down."

Alert and ready, Tao moved quickly at Lay's call and did as he was directed. Like Daniel, Tao wanted to ask the healer a multitude questions about the situation, but he held his tongue so as to not distract Lay. That however, did not stop the boy just a few feet away.

"I asked a question! Will she be okay?"

"Calm down Daniel," Kyungsoo answered in a stern tone, turning towards the human. 

Meeting the strong gaze of the earthshaker, Daniel bit down on his lip and turned away from the scene. His eyes then fell upon Mina in Kris's arms.   

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Chanyeol replied. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. The chaser only attacked Lyn, and then Mina... she," looking back at the unconscious girl, Daniel's expression became confused. "She destroyed it... and ran off."

"You saw her in that state then?" Chanyeol asked.

"What was that?" 

"No idea," Chanyeol said in a sigh. 

"The Red Force..." Daniel began in a sullen voice, "It's going to keep following us, isn't it?"

"Until we get rid of it," Kyungsoo replied. "It will follow us until it gets what it desires."

"The heart of the tree?"

"Exactly." 

Hearing a heavy exhale from behind them, Daniel and the others looked back towards the healer. It was then that the boy finally heard the words he had been waiting for.

"She is going to be fine," Lay said aloud, placing his hands down by his sides and standing up. Walking over to Daniel, Lay's demeanor was once again calm. "It was a good thing that you reacted as fast as you did. You kept her alive."

No longer feeling the stress of not knowing, Daniel let out his own relieved sigh "I only did what I could..." Looking to meet Lay's lucid brown eyes, a bright sparkle lit up behind Daniel's. "But you! You saved her! Healing with a single touch. How exactly did you do it?"

"Ah..." Lay muttered, blindsided by Daniel's sudden questioning.   

"Fanboy mode," Tao said, looking up from Lyn to the pair. "That's Daniel, he's the other human that's been helping us."

"Oh yeah! I'm Daniel," the boy said, smiling and placing his hand out. "You're Lay, the healer, right?"

Nodding silently, Lay was then subjected to more questioning, resulting in more blank stares.   

Walking over to Lyn and Tao, Chanyeol smiled. "Do you want to wake her?"

"I think it'd be best if we let her rest more. We should also let Mina change her. Her clothing is still stained."

"Should I wake Mina then?" Kris asked, holding the girl and walking closer to the others. 

"Wait!" Kyungsoo yelled at Kris. 

"Why?" The dragon replied.

"I'm now sure Mina is able to absorb our powers and abilities. You saw her darting across us didn't you? She moved like us."

"I think Kyungsoo is right about that." 

"See?" D.O. confidently said, hearing Chanyeol agree with him. "So, if she has the ability to absorb our powers, shouldn't we decide which of our powers would be most advantageous to her?"

"So we decide who wakes her then?" Kris inquired.

"Right."

"Just let Kris do it. He's done it before."

"So have you Chanyeol," Tao added.

"I think it should be Tao, Lay or myself," Kyungsoo commented.

"Lay. Let Lay wake her," Kris said abruptly.

"What about me?" The healer questioned, pointing at himself, slightly grateful for the distraction from Daniel's questioning. 

Walking over to Lay, Kris continued to hold Mina in his arms. "Transfer your energy to her."

"Transfer?"

"Just do it already."  

Blinking a moment before staring at Kris, Lay shrugged his shoulders and moved closer.

"Wait," Kris said, stopping Lay. "Do it lightly, and don't close your eyes. It only takes a second as well, so don't linger. Okay? I'll countdown, on the count of three."

Nodding, Lay leaned over the girl, waiting for Kris's lead.

"One... two... wait!"

"What is it?" 

"Don't have that look in your eyes. Maybe you should close them... Okay, eyes closed but still, don't linger."

"Okay." Closing his eyes and leaning in again, Lay waited for Kris once more.

"One... two... ... ... ..." 

Sighing, Lay leaned in and lightly met Mina's lips as Kris continued to postpone the countdown.

"Hey! I didn't say three yet!" 

"You took too long," Lay replied, standing straight up again.    

Looking down to the girl, the two watched as her eyes flickered open. With the sun almost completely gone, Mina's eyes easily adjusted and getting her bearings, the first word that escaped her lips was "Lyn." Fidgeting around and being let down by Kris, the girl urgently looked around for her friend. Eyes landing on Tao, Mina also saw the girl laying beside him and rushed over. Lyn's shirt was torn and the edges were stained in her blood, but looking at her exposed abdomen, there was no apparent break in the skin. She looked fine, and placing her ear next to Lyn's mouth she could hear the faint sound of breathing. 

"She's going to be fine," Tao said, smiling softly. 

Turning to Tao, Mina threw her arms around him, allowing her eyes to fill with relieved tears. "Thank you."

"Thank Yixing, he's the one that saved her," Tao replied, patting Mina's back. 

"You found him?"

"Thanks to you." Chanyeol replied. 

Nodding, Mina stood back up and wiped her eyes. Looking for the new face amongst the group, Mina quickly saw the Legend known as Lay standing beside Kris. Not hesitating, the girl ran over to him and embraced him, catching him by surprise. Feeling the tears in her eyes build up once more, Mina cried softly, she didn't care about first impressions, she was just thankful to the man in her arms. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Daniel helped as well," Kyungsoo said, seeing Lay's still surprised face, as the girl clung to him.

Repeating the same actions, Mina let go of Lay and subjected Daniel to the same treatment. Hugging the boy, Mina's tears stop flowing and she caught her breath.

Eyes also wide, but not because of the sudden hug, Daniel began talking slowly. "They woke you up- with a kiss... he kissed you- like you were a princess or something."

"What?" Mina replied, letting go of Daniel.

"Mina... are you a princess?" 

"Wha-" Turning to face the others, Mina looked back to Kris. "Was it you again?"

"It was me," Lay answered.

"Ah..." Mina replied, her face warming.

Seeing the girl try and hide her face, Lay spoke again. "Yi Fan told me to." 

Her head snapping back up, Mina chirped in reply, "What! Why?"

Now the object of Mina's sudden intense glare, Kris could only redirect it towards another. "Kyungsoo."

Eyes now on the earthshaker, D.O. sighed and began explaining things to Mina. 

- - -

With the help of Daniel and Chanyeol explaining what they saw Mina do, Kyungsoo rationalized things to the girl, but she just stared at them, dumbfounded. 

"You don't remember anything?" Chanyeol questioned. 

"The last thing I remember is being beside Lyn."

"Hmmmm. Do you remember my theory?" D.O. asked.

"Which one?"

"The one about absorbing our powers... I don't think it's just a theory anymore. I think, after hearing what happened, it's fact."  

"So, you think I flew and created my own fire because both Kris and Chanyeol transferred energy to me?"

"That's exactly what I think."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Grabbing her head with both hands, Mina shut her eyes and yelled. "Why can't I remember? This is so unfair! I flew and created my own fire..."

"It was scary," Daniel said recalling the sight. "Your eyes were hollow." 

"I thought it was amazing," Chanyeol countered. "You used some of the same moves as myself." Smiling, Chanyeol leaned against Mina and placed his palm straight up in front of her. Creating a dancing flame from his palm, he continued. "It was like you handled the flame all your life."

Watching the flame change shape before her eyes, she looked past it and at Chanyeol's smiling face. Seeing the light reflect in his eyes, something clicked.

"You caught me!" 

Closing his palm, Chanyeol tilted his head. "You remember?" 

"I remember falling and you."

Smiling, Chanyeol nodded his head. 

Watching the two, Kyungsoo smirked and crossed his arms. "My theories are usually right, and that's why Lay woke you."

"Duizhang decided Yixing was best," Tao added. "I would have made the same decision."

"Okay, I understand that now," Mina said, nodding her head. "I'm just not used to it..."

"So, should we wake Lyn?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Will you kiss her too?" Daniel inquired, looking at Tao. 

"It's not kissing!" Mina defensively said. "It's more like mouth to mouth resuscitation." Saying it more for herself than for the benefit of Daniel, Mina just didn't want to think that now three different guys had kissed her without her consent. It was and felt so wrong. But the fact remained that it wasn't done with the intent to invade her personal space as it was done to specifically help her. Still she didn't have to like it. 

"So should we?"

"I think we should wait until morning," Mina replied to Kyungsoo. "Plus, I still need to change her out of those clothes." 

"Alright," Kyungsoo replied. "That sounds good." 

"Well, I think we're done for the night," Daniel said quietly. "I don't think we're in any state to keep going, at least for right now."

"Is it camping time now?" Chanyeol asked brightly, looking at the boy.

"Yeah, time to set up camp," Daniel replied, smiling back at Chanyeol.

"We're camping?" Mina questioned.

"Of course we are," Daniel replied. "Plus, Chanyeol loves the idea of sleeping below the stars. He told me it reminds him of home. "   

- - -

As the Legends set up camp, Mina remained close to Lyn. Almost losing her most precious person, Mina was remind of just how much having Lyn at her side meant to her. It was a hard lesson to learn, but now the group knew better, no longer would they be left alone. With six of them now, one Legend would always be with the three, no matter the situation. But even with that mentality, there were still lingering feelings of doubt, and Mina knew Daniel felt them strongly. 

Approaching the two, Daniel crouched down beside Mina. "Can I have a moment?"

"Of course."

"We need to talk about Lyn," Daniel said seriously.

Expecting this very conversation, Mina quickly skipped over the useless chatter, "I know what you're about to say, and I still want her here. I'm sorry, I'm greedy for her being here. I need her here. I can't do it without her."

"Mina... it's been less than a day and she almost died."

"I know but-."

"It'd be for the best."

"I know, but I don't want her to leave."

"Well," Daniel began, looking over to the girl laying down on the floor. "At the very least, you should let her decide when we wake her."

Mina sighed and nodded in reply. 

Standing back up, the boy frowned slightly. "Things may only get more dangerous from here on out. And I never want to see what I had to see today... ever again." 

Being left alone once more, Mina kept her eyes on her friend. She felt guilty. Had Lyn not been there, no harm would have ever come to her. It was only because of her that Lyn had gotten hurt at all.

"Don't worry. She's fine," an approaching voice called out, seeing the girl watch over her friend.  

Looking towards the new voice, Mina saw Lay walking towards her. Already changed out of the robe he too had been wearing, the unicorn now wore the same casual clothing that the others did. Still approaching her, Mina finally got a good look at the man. She then couldn't help but smile remembering Lyn's prediction of what the Legend would look like. Lyn had been right. Lay was 'hot.'

With short dark brown hair naturally falling off to the side of his face and calm lucid brown eyes, the Legend was nothing short of 'hot'.  And perhaps it was because of his calm manner, but he also seemed less 'real' and more statuesque of the Legends she had met so far. Looking at his clear skin, she nodded to herself. He was a walking statue.

"Thank you again," Mina managed to say, as the Legend leaned over Lyn and checked up on her.

"You really do speak our language," Lay commented, turning his head towards the girl. "That's interesting."

"Am I?"

"Now you're not. But you can still understand me can't you?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you for finding me," Lay said, giving the girl a small smile that slightly revealed the dimple in his cheek.

"No way," Mina uttered, staring at the Legend. 

"What?" Lay questioned, suddenly confused. 

"You have a dimple..."

"Is that bad?"

"No! It's just... really unfair. I mean, you all really already stand out so much, but then there is always something more."  

"...ah..."

"Oh!" Mina exclaimed suddenly. "I was wondering if you were alright. I know you used your powers and then also woke me. You must be tired."

"Me? I'm fine. I didn't linger. Yi Fan wouldn't let me."

"Linger? Wait, you call him Yi Fan too?" Mina asked smiling. Watching the Legend nod in reply, an idea hit the girl at that moment. "He lost his memory... Would you be able to help with that?"  

Sighing slightly, Lay shook his head. "Tao told me about his memory, but there is nothing I can do. It's not brain damage. It's something else."

Deflated, Mina replied with a faint 'oh'. 

"There is another though," Lay said, watching the girl lower her head.

"There is?"

"Yes, Luhan. He may be able t-" Stopping in the middle of his sentence, Lay's eyes widened as he watched Mina clasp her hands over her ears and shut her eyes tightly.

Bitting her tongue, Mina fought back the urge to scream.

- - -