The sun was hanging low down in the horizon, half of it still visible above the tall castle turrets of the kingdom. It cast a beautiful, soft looking orangey glow across the whole sky, under which Taeyeon and Tiffany were sitting next to a bright flickering fire. A makeshift skewer was responsible for holding and roasting the small critters Amber and Krystal caught, though where those two had disappeared to, Taeyeon had no idea.

To her relief, there seemed to be little awkwardness between her and the Princess, and for that, she was grateful after the events that had transpired earlier. The two of them had been enjoying their cooked food after the other pair wolfed down their food and left to the forest, probably enjoying some kind of romantic stroll, Taeyeon thought to herself smugly; how Amber had actually gotten on the youngest girl’s good side was a mystery to her, but she shrugged it aside.

She cast a glance towards the Princess, who was eating with all the elegance and grace a Princess seemed to naturally have, even if she was chewing on something resembling a rat. Tiffany felt the gaze on her and smiled back at Taeyeon when she saw her looking.

“Er, how is it, Fany?”

“Actually very delicious, thank you TaeTae.” And they lapsed back into a polite silence. To be perfectly honest, Taeyeon thought it had gotten a little awkward between them ever since the other two left for their romantic evening; there was a miniscule amount, but it was still there. She thought back to what had happened in that little building earlier on – they had definitely been about to kiss, now that she thought about it. Definitely a kiss. Or was about to be one, anyway. Just thinking about her lips touching Tiffany’s in such an intimate manner resulted in her face heating up uncomfortably, though the cause for it seemed pleasant enough.

The attraction was definitely there, but exactly how much she had no clue. In all her years of living, she had never felt so comfortable or happy around anyone, nor did she treat the seconds together with that certain other person with such reverence either. She did believe that she knew enough to understand the depth and meaning of her feelings, but truth be told, she was scared to let them develop; the level they had grown to without her knowledge scared her enough, and she certainly did not want to get any more attached when Tiffany was sure to get married with the soon-to-be King anyway. However, she did not want to distance herself from the Princess when all both of them clearly wanted to do was enjoy what seemed to be only a few hours left. She could afford to be selfish and take the delight in simply being with the Princess for now, couldn’t she?

A nervous but steady voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see the Princess setting down the remains of her dinner on the grass. “I want to talk, TaeTae.”

“Um, sure, Fany-ah. What exactly do you want to talk about?” Taeyeon responded as normally as she could. She wasn’t sure if the topic was about her very recent musings.

“I… I want to talk about what happened before.” And now Taeyeon looked at Tiffany to see the latter staring strongly into her own eyes; the intense gaze was enough to make her flinch a little. She deflated slightly, unsure of where the conversation would go.

“Yes…?”

The rather obvious question came at her hard and fast. “Do you like me, TaeTae?”

Unknowingly, she flinched again as the question pierced deep into her mind; beads of sweat formed upon her brow, though whether it was because of Tiffany or the fire or a combination of the two, she didn’t know. She scooted a few inches away from the fire just in case, but it also brought her closer to Tiffany. She inhaled as much air as she could before facing the other girl.

“I… I don’t know, Tiffany. Maybe I do like you,” she mumbled; she directed her gaze onto her upturned palms lying in her lap, which she found intensely interesting all of a sudden.

A pale hand entered her vision and slid itself into her hands. A nervous smile was present on the Princess’ expression as she answered slowly but confidently. “I think I like you too, TaeTae.”

A surprised expression made its way onto Taeyeon’s visage as Tiffany’s sudden confession seemed to sink into her brain. She knew there was a mutual attraction there somewhere because Tiffany was the one who moved first right before their nonexistent kiss, but hearing the girl actually saying it out loud gave her mixed feelings. There was the obvious warmth bubbling up inside her from the knowledge that Tiffany liked her for sure, and then there was the slight discomfort when she realised that openly confessing their feelings like this would only make the parting that much harder.

She clasped Tiffany’s hand tightly with her trembling fingers before whispering the dreaded words, “I can’t accept your feelings, Tiffany…” She did not want to see the hurt in the other girl’s expression because she was sure that it would be plain and evident.

“W-Why not, Tae?”

Taeyeon sighed. “I cannot because you will be returning to the kingdom tomorrow and I cannot afford to fall in love with you. You cannot do that to me either, for we both know that it’ll be that much harder to leave each other.”

There was silence between them, hanging heavily in the air as Taeyeon continued to observe her hands; she had started to Tiffany’s hand with the pad of her thumb, for it seemed like such a natural action to her. Minutes passed before the hand she held exited her grasp smoothly. She turned her gaze upwards to see Tiffany looking to the side.

“If that’s the case… then can I request a last hug from you?”

Taeyeon weighed the words over in her mind. Surely there was nothing wrong with a teensy bit of physical contact which both knew they needed? She quickly stamped out the doubt in her mind and stood up before reaching out to Tiffany with both arms, the latter responding to her movements by getting up and enveloping her smaller body in a gentle hug. Taeyeon hid her face in Tiffany’s luscious, sweet-smelling hair and steadily breathed in the Princess’ intoxicating scent, enjoying the sensation of the Princess’ body right against her own. Neither of them moved even an inch from their position, for this was perfection. After what seemed like too short an eternity, Taeyeon felt Tiffany moving back, a sad smile on her beautiful face.

“I have to go now, TaeTae.”

Taeyeon nodded mutely, unable to speak for fear of breaking out in tears. She was in shock when she felt something warm on her cheek; Tiffany had swooped in to place a tender kiss on that very spot before she backed away, sad smile still present. How Taeyeon wished she had the power to replace it with the stunning eyesmile she had grown accustomed to, but alas, she did not have the right to use it even if she had it.

“Goodnight, Tae…”

“G-Goodnight, Fany-ah…”

Taeyeon watched silently as Tiffany stepped into the spacious cabin, watched on as the wooden door closed quietly, concealing the person who she now considered to be the most perfect woman on the planet ever. She couldn’t feel, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak; she dropped back onto her log, legs sprawled out messily onto the dirt ground, yet she didn’t care. She stared blankly into the fire, unable to comprehend the dull pain that seemed to be taking up residence in her heart.

What was this hurtful feeling? Why did it feel as though Tiffany had taken away her heart and her emotions as she disappeared into the cabin? Why did it hurt so much even after she had denied Tiffany’s feelings? Why was it as if she was the one who had been denied? Her thoughts raced each other endlessly around her mind and she could not form any other coherent thoughts, but she had no desire to do so. She stared and stared at the fire, so intensely that she wouldn’t have been surprised if a laser beam suddenly shot out from her eyes. She stared for an answer, stared for a while, but no solutions provided itself from the flickering light.

Darkness soon came down upon her and Taeyeon’s relentless focus upon the fire was finally broken by the sound of faint laughing; she tore her glare away from the fire to see two figures in the distance heading her way. She was mildly surprised to see that their hands were connected, but the hurt in her heart dulled out anything before it could manifest within her. Within minutes, Amber and Krystal finally reached their little camp, though their giddy giggles died away soon enough after they caught a glimpse of Taeyeon’s subdued expression.

“Hey noona, what’s wrong?” Amber questioned her worriedly; she pulled Krystal with her to the short blonde and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

Taeyeon, who had resumed her somewhat remorseful feeling glare at the fire, merely shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong,” she whispered thickly. She could feel the confusion and anxiety emanating from both Amber and Krystal, and not wishing to be the cause of it, she stood up. “Stay here and watch over the camp, please. I need… I need to go for a bit.”

Amber and Krystal exchanged a quick glance before Amber asked, “Are you sure? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Taeyeon muttered; she kept her voice low so the other two couldn’t detect her hidden emotions, though she was sure they knew something was up. “I’ll come back… soon.”

Amber and Krystal could do naught but watch as Taeyeon left the scene hurriedly, almost jogging into the forest, eager to be alone with her thoughts. “I’m sure she’ll come back,” Amber murmured. “I wonder what happened…? And where’s Tiffany noona, by the way?”

“I think unnie would be asleep by now,” Krystal replied softly. Both were still feeling anxious for the short girl, but Amber comforted the other girl with a few words and a smile.

“I think she’ll be okay. How about you sleep now and if she doesn’t come back within half an hour, I’ll go look for her?”

Krystal nodded, relieved. “Yeah, you do that. You should sleep early too, because I think Tiffany-unnie will definitely be at the castle by tomorrow, so I’m not sure how the day’s going to turn out…”

“You worry too much, Krys” – a glare was thrown her way – “but I’ll try to sleep early, Princess.”

“Good,” Krystal smiled before she sank down onto the grassy area beside the low fire. Amber watched as the youngest girl carefully moved into a horizontal position, managing to look as graceful as ever while pressing herself into the green grass. She deliberated to herself for a few seconds before setting herself in a pose identical to Krystal’s. A few moments passed before she decided to scoot closer to the younger girl.

“Er, are you cold?”

“Amber, we’re right next to a fire and you’ve forgotten that I’ve lived my whole life in that castle filled with those ice cubes. You need to work on your flirting skills,” came the smug reply. Amber pouted to herself. No one had ever criticised her flirting skills before! But then again, it wasn’t like she spent her whole life trying to pick up random people.

There was a pause and then a small sigh. “But a hug would be nice though.”

Amber grinned widely and victoriously, only barely restraining herself from doing multiple fist pumps as she wormed her way across the ground to Krystal’s side where she placed an arm gently over the other’s stomach. Her joyful smile stretched ever wider as she felt Krystal snuggle her back into her front. She hummed happily as she settled her face near Krystal’s hair, inhaling and enjoying the scent as much as she could.

“Your heavy breathing’s really creepy.” A blush crept up Amber’s cheeks as she realised that she was being too loud and embarrassing, and she paused in her actions. A few moments passed by in silence before Krystal let out an exasperated sigh, “I didn’t mean for you to stop breathing completely, dork.”

There was a loud noise similar to how one would describe a great amount of air being taken in all at once. “Thank god, I was dying there,” Amber gasped; she breathed like she had been forced underwater for ages.

There was a quiet mutter of “dork” before Krystal fell silent again. Amber only smiled to herself because if she had truly been viewed as annoying to Krystal, Amber was sure Krystal wouldn’t let herself be touched like this. Really, even though that girl had the ability to magically produce ice from her palms, she was surprisingly still a very warm human being, and so, Amber closed her eyes and immersed herself in this peaceful feeling she had never been able to feel before, available only when she was blessed with Krystal’s presence. She was still wide awake and pulled Krystal a tiny bit closer to her when she heard the deep breaths, signifying that the other was in a deep sleep.

She slowly began to lose herself in that pleasant sensation of Krystal’s warmth, the steady breathing calming her mind, but she jolted herself back to full consciousness as she heard a noise nearby. They sounded like somebody close by was crying. She leaned over Krystal’s lithe body and scrutinised her features, but a quick check was enough to tell her that Krystal was not the one shedding tears. She listened hard, concentrating as much as she could to detect the location of that small sound, when she suddenly heard it again.

It was coming from the direction of the cabin and no one was in there but the Princess.

---

A/N: Hi! Was my update sooner than expected? :D

Er, some sorta TaeNy angst here, I think, but some KryBer interactions to nullify the pain? Lalala~ (:

Thanks to all you guys who still subscribe to dis hurhur, and as always, comments are greatly loved and make me feel better, but if you're too lazy then it's okay :D