What was once an undesirable battlefield turns into a home for the injured. Never have I seen hospitality explicitly exercised until today, when the leader of the Capital commanded all of his surgeons to treat their enemies as equally as they would treat their comrades - with accuracy, grace, and care. Those who have died are identified and brought to the burial grounds. Even deceased Nights are buried in the same lot as the Capital's Own.

A number of the Capital's Own who are alive are appalled that the Capital leader would close the war in such a way, but I understand what he is attempting to accomplish. His actions mean more than showing mercy for the enemy. This is atonement for the past.

Whether Han notices, I do not know. He's too busy complaining about the man bandaging his torso to be grateful for a second chance.

“They don’t teach you very well here, do they?” He says as a surgeon drapes his wound with an ointment. Han winces and continues, “Everything you’re doing is a hassle. All a soldier needs is something to stop the bleeding.”

“If you think preventing you from dying is such a hassle, then I’ll stop.” The surgeon finishes wrapping Han’s wound and stands. “But if you want to live, you’re going to shut up.”

Han swears after the surgeon leaves. As I wait beside him, I watch a couple of the Capital’s Own strip the Nights of their weapons. Very few of them retaliate. One Night attempts to stab a Capital soldier in the neck, but thankfully, two alert Capital guards stop him, thereby disallowing a restart of the battle.

The Capital’s leader has been ushered to safety, along with Nari, who was eager to tend to her father. Shortly after their leave, a fresh division from the Capital’s Own marches in to regulate the captives. Or perhaps the Nights are considered free men, for a man has yet to order that they be chained.

“We’ve secured every floor,” I overhear a commander from the Capital’s Own discuss with another commander. “We’ve taken some of the Rebellion into custody. The rest have escaped.”

“Confirm that all entrances and exits are closed, and place guards at each one. As for the Rebellion, we’ll wait on further command.”

“We won’t track them now?”

The first commander glances at me. “Apparently, we’re in the business of second chances.”

“What about them?” The second commander gestures to the injured Nights. “We can’t keep them here in the open. The citizens have been made aware of the situation. We have to do something, if only to assure them.”

“Lead them all to the prison, then. At least we can contain them in one area, rather than encourage them to spread out. Inform the others. We’ll start the transfer immediately.”

Taking the initiative to step into my role as an advocate for the Capital, I help Han to his feet and communicate to the other resting Nights that we are being redirected. I see that the men who have been collecting the weapons are preparing to leave. I call out to them and make a request.

“I’d like one knife,” I say.

After sharing a volley of curious looks, one of the two answers, “We were ordered to take everyone’s weapons.”

“Everyone would include the Capital’s Own, but I see that isn’t the case.”  The man gulps errantly. “I’m not a Night. Give me a knife.”

I can feel Han’s stare drilling between my shoulder blades. I hold my hand out and wait until a knife is delivered to me. Once it is, I easily slide the knife into my boot as they shuffle away to what I presume is the armory.

“You could’ve at least asked for one of my knives,” Han sighs. “They cost a fortune.”

“Which I hope means we can sell them and use the money for better things,” I answer, “such as food, or protection.”

“You sound like my father.”

I smile once I hear his words. “I’ll accept it as a compliment.”

“Round everyone up!” shouts the previous commander. Slowly, the remaining commanders move into action. Wounded soldiers of the Capital’s Own help Nights to their feet, and surgeons swiftly pack their things to allow fluidity of movement. Friend and foe walk together to a place where I had lived in just days before. Without complaint, with barely any physical objection, the Nights are led by the Capital’s Own. Since Han is struggling, we remain in the rear so that I can support him at his own pace.

“This is quite the switch, isn’t it, brother?” He muses. I recognize it is the first time he has ever referred to me with such an intimate tone. “I am suddenly the helpless one.”

Wanting to avoid an argument, my lips stay sealed whilst I guide him to the prison. Once we catch up to the group, we are welcomed by a wild hubbub of commotion. The Nights who have regained their fighting spirit refuse to be locked behind iron bars. The Capital’s Own, who are as wary as they are bruised, feebly use physical force to prevent them from escaping.

“You save us, and then imprison us?” A Night accuses. “What kind of grace is that?”

“We have nowhere else to place you,” the Capital commander reasons. As I observe, I see that it is true. It is difficult to move in the small space, and the tight community of pain merely transmits discomfort. Due to the sudden rush of people, the prisons swell with heat. I dab my forehead with the back of my hand before standing still with Han leaning against me.

“They will attack, no matter how weak they are, if they’re irritated,” Han blandly narrates. His words play out before me as the Nights, who feel unfairly oppressed, begin to attack the Capital’s Own with bursts of spontaneous energy. Instinctively, the Capital’s Own reach for their weapons, resulting in an unfair skirmish. Before chaos becomes predominant, the commanders keep the Nights in check. After communicating with each other regarding an adjustment to the plan, they announce over one another’s voices. “Calm them down, and don’t lock them in the cells.”

“They’ve gone mad.”

“We can’t contain this mob of ingrates!”

“With all due respect … “

“Stop talking, now!”

We all look at Han who, despite being partly unconscious, screamed with authoritative zeal. He tsks to himself and, with a voice so low he pulls everyone closer, he adds, “I’m getting a headache from the idiocy that’s coming out of your mouths.”

I laugh, but no one hears me; the Nights are too busy pulling each other away from the Capital’s Own.

“I really do have a death wish,” Han coughs. Blood spews from his mouth. “I’d much rather die than see my pitiful father forgive me.”

“You’re just proud,” I respond. I search for a place where he can rest before carrying him to a nearby chair. “I’m going to have a surgeon look at you again. Don’t be stubborn, and let him take care of you.”

“Tao.”

I straighten my back from bending over to tend Han. In front of me is a man of the Capital. Behind him are two other men with faces as callous as the one who had spoken to me. They are men of the court, I think, and not of battle; their clothes are bright, clean, and unwrinkled.

“We’ve been ordered to take you to the Capital leader’s study.”

“I don’t understand – “

“Come with us,” he says, and without my consent, the men behind him impel me to follow. I can hear Han chuckling to himself as I leave. The prison doors shut firmly behind me, sealing away the overwhelming noise.

“Sorry about that,” he says, his rough pretense gone. The men release me. The spokesman’s voice settles into one of ease. “We were warned to take caution. We did what we deemed would be satisfactory to the Nights, to avoid further wrath.”

“… I see,” I say. I walk with them to the study. The room is unoccupied. They tell me to wait, and then they exit. Shortly after, Nari runs into the room and throws her arms around me.

“Tao,” she cries. She tightens her grip on me, just enough so I don’t feel suffocated.

“I trust your father is well.”

“He’s recovering.” She steps back to look at me properly. “The council is sorting out a decision regarding the Nights.”

“They’ve made a plan.”

“To release them, I think.”

“And this is for certain.”

She nods. “They’re preparing to enforce it.”

“I can’t imagine that the council is agreeing to that.”

“They aren’t. Not entirely,” she specifies. “They are fighting my father about it. But he’s standing his ground.”

He’s loyal, but he’s reckless. “The Nights attacked the Capital. There’s no guarantee that once they’re free, they won’t do it again.”

“You’re right. There isn’t. And they mentioned that. But that’s a risk he wants to take.”

“At the expense of the Capital.”

“No. At the expense of himself.”

I think of Han and his bloodstained hands. I think of the surgeons who, only by the Capital leader’s command, treated the Nights. “What are you saying?”

She releases me and smiles sadly. “His final decree is to free the Nights. After that, he will no longer be the Capital leader. The vice leader will step into his position.”

“Surely the council doesn’t have to go that far,” I say as my heart sinks to the Earth’s core.

“A public apology, framed by his resignation? Not a man on the council opposed it. Everyone knows who the leader of the Nights is. Everyone knows how my father is, now, as well. The citizens feel threatened. How can anyone trust a Capital leader who is the father of a Night?”

She’s correct. After this ordeal, not a man or woman would place their faith in the Capital leader. Letting the Nights go would further mar his image; however, letting them go is the only way to show grace to his unforgiving son.

“And you,” I say. “What happens to you?”

She laughs. “The council knows I’m in love with you. They know where your loyalties lie, but they can’t trust you, either. You’ve betrayed them once already. We’re all being evicted, you see. We haven’t a place to call home.”

“So they’re leaving you and your father to the streets.”

“No. We’re being given a small house by the outskirts of the Capital, with guards. They say they’re there to protect us, but I know that’s not the case.” Her sigh is filled with fear. “And you? Well, you’re the best wushu fighter in the country. They really don’t want to give you to the Nights.”

“I never planned on returning to them.”

“I know.” She tugs on the crumpled collar of my shirt, not even flinching when the blood on my clothes transfers to the grooves of her fingerprints. “You have a choice - to train with the Capital’s Own, beginning at the bottom tier, or to work the fields. Either option will have you under high surveillance.”

“That’s easy,” I respond and push a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Which path will bring me closer to you?”

She smiles cunningly. “There’s a training ground not far from where they will place my father and me. I suppose you could see me when you’re there.”

“And will you visit me?”

“If I can, I will try.”

“Promise me.” I offer her my pinky. She narrows her eyes at it, and then she hooks her pinky over mine.

“I promise to bring you apples whenever I visit you, as long as you don’t do anything rash.”

I grin and embrace her again. My heart races when her sweet aroma fills my conscience. “I’ll do my best, Nari.”

“Call me Ada,” she whispers against my shoulder. I feel her body shake in apprehension of the future. To reassure her, I squeeze her hand.

“Call me Zee.”

----- Two Days Past -----

After improving each captured Nights’ health, the Capital has released their prisoners to the forest in which they belong. With weary bodies and weaponless hands, they left the Capital grounds while I stood watching through a window that overlooked the front gate. At that time, the sun was just beginning to split over the horizon, and the magnificent display of orange and yellow hues cast on the Capital’s front yard bathed the Nights in an angelic glow that rivaled their torn, mottled black clothes. Like a disease, they sped into the darkness, knowing full well that if any of them tried to deviate at that moment, they would be seized and killed.

The Nights no longer had a motive. Han would be released a day after, to a sanction in Haw. As for the Capital leader, he along with Ada have been sent to the Capital’s borders the morning the Nights were freed. Han and I are the only two that remain. As of today, we are prohibited from the Capital and will be sent to our respective locations. My brother will live a life of seclusion, and I, back to a life of restriction.

“Follow me,” an officer of the Capital’s Own says. He takes me to the gates early in the day. Han is already there. He is waiting to be discharged to a different authority figure when I arrive.

His hands are tied. Beside him are five officers of the Capital, and beside me are six. When he sees me, he scoffs with a derisive laugh. “Should I be offended, that they placed more guards on you than on me?”

“You’ll have more guards in Haw.”

“Exactly what I need,” he congratulates himself. The officer then ties my hands with a thick rope. He begins to lead me away, but I steal a few seconds of his time to say one last thing to the brother who raised me.

“I may never see you again.”

“What a blessing that will be.”

“All sarcasm and titles aside, Han, I wish you the best.”

He looks up from kicking a stone at his feet. “Why would you ever do that?”

“Because you raised me.”

“I never treated you well.”

“I know. But I never hated you.”

For a second, his eyes soften. Although it is rapidly replaced by that iron glint of focus in his eyes that I have come to respect, that ephemeral intrusion of vulnerability is enough to assure me that he never once hated me, either.

“Goodbye, Han.”

The Capital’s Own finally forces me away. Han doesn’t raise his head to share the same sentiment as I do, but I know his thoughts. Because he isn’t saying anything, I am certain that he feels what I feel.

I etch his face to my memory before the Capital’s Own turns my head in the opposite direction. With full regard of what lies ahead, I look toward an empty road that will lead to the start of an insecure future.

But I don’t feel cheated or unsatisfied. I am excited. I know that what I will end up facing is not easy, nor preferable, nor delightful. But it’s familiar. And sometimes, that’s all a man can ask for – to know that what awaits him may not always give him the best journey, but it will give him the best destination.

And so I let the Capital take me away from the place I wanted to call home. I let them take away the people I call my family. Because now, I am who I desired to be; and further more, I can truly be my own.

The Capital officers signal me to move, so I step forward. The knife, which I had hidden in my boot some days ago, taps me with its cold, thick blade. I’m ready to be what I’ve always been.

Brave.

We made it to the end! Thank you for supporting this fic, even though at times I at updating it. (Im sorry). I want to tell you guys that I really do appreciate each and every one of you. And your comments are always insightful.

Regarding the Kris/Exo situation right now, please stay strong. That's one of the things I wanted to tell you regarding this fic. The journey will be rough, but the end destination, although sometimes is not always desired, is necessary. Don't trust everything you read, and remember to keep a cautious mind. But most of all, be brave. For Exo. For the fans. For yourself.

Until next time.