The water looked deep and inviting. The deep blue of the oceans calmed my nerves but at the same, it made me nervous. What was hidden beneath the water? What secrets did the water hold that would be forever kept from the land and air? Why could the beings of the land and skies co-exist in either territories, but suffocate and writhe in pain within the waters? The three territories were split into the skies, the land and the waters. They all had to co-exist for life to continue, but the realms of the water world were secluded and kept away from the others.

I kicked a rock into the waters and watched it carefully. The deep sound of the waters swallowing a piece of the land whole resonated through the realms of the skies and carried itself to my hearing range. The small part of the land slowly sunk into the depths of the waters, disappearing and fading into nothing but the deep blue of the waters.

It was clear that the waters were deep. The rock would embed itself to the ocean floor where it will remain there, hidden from the realms of the skies. The waters would not allow its escape and draw more victims of the land into its territory to bury the previous victims. If the waters were merciful, they would return part of the land back, but only in the form of small shattered pieces of sand.

The skies and land could not argue against the waters. They needed the waters for their own survival. The two deities needed the third, but the third didn’t need the other two. The waters could exist on their own. They did not rely on the skies or the land for their own survival. The waters were just there, independent from any other parties yet it was depended upon by everything else.

“Taeyeon, they want to see you now,” a voice interrupted the calm silence around me. I turned around to see my standing there, waiting for me. I stared back at the open waters again and watched as the sun slowly began to sink into the horizon. The realms of the sky were not pleased with their only warmth leaving as the winds began to pick up and blow against the waters. I continued to watch the waters as they fought with the winds, causing waves to arise. The land fought back against the waters and separated its waves into small splashes of water.

“Taeyeon,” my interrupted my thoughts again. I sighed heavily at the responsibilities that I had to uphold and left the three realms to continue their fight. As I followed my to my duties, I couldn’t help but feel as though everything was so pointless.

“The general has planned a new attack route. He wishes to use you and your… unique abilities to startle the enemy,” my briefed. I merely nodded my head once to indicate that I was paying some of my attention to them. “They will be caught off guard and we will bring in our troops to render them immobile. With your help we have a chance to claim the territory back from those water dwellers.”

I looked down at my hands at the mention of ‘water dwellers’. I did not understand why there was so much hate for the water clan. The earth and sky clans lived peacefully with one another yet we continuously destroy and threaten the water clan. Of course, the water clan was more than eager to challenge us and as a result, a war has started.

Seventy years this war has raged. Seventy years the warriors have fought. Seventy years and no real achievements have been made by any of the clans.

“Why do you call them water dwellers? They do not reside within the water,” I questioned quietly. To my knowledge, the water clan lived on a piece of land surrounded by deep waters.

“They do dwell within the waters. Beneath their land built buildings is an underground water base. Only those of the water clan can survive in there. The land built buildings are there to train the troops and protect the water base,” she answered precisely. “We were hoping that maybe you could enter that base too.”

I gave a hollow laugh at the ’s attempt to make a joke. Anyone else from my clan would have laughed, but I couldn’t. It was much too personal to be brushed off as a joke for me.

“Relax Taeyeon. You’re not one of them.” The had obviously detected my foul change in mood. Giving off another hollow laugh, I concentrated my mind onto my hands again.

Taking in a deep breath, I felt the pulsating power build within my stomach. As calmly and as slowly as I could, I released it. As the air was pushed out of my lungs, the pulsating feeling in my stomach spread through my body and flowed towards my hands. I closed my eyes and tensed my jaw as I collected everything in my hands. As I opened my eyes, my vision changed.

Through my left eye, I could see the channels and tunnels of the waters beneath the sand. I could see it curve and bend in spontaneous directions beneath the earth floor.
Through my right, I could see the very fine cracks and weak points of the ground and trees around me. I could easily detect the homes of animals within trees and burrows within the sand.

I then turned my attention back to my hands. My left hand held a moving ball of water whilst my right made the ground beneath it shake.

My felt the tremors from my right hand and turned around. She watched in amazement at my ‘unique ability’ and smiled triumphantly.

“With you on our side, that water clan is as good as gone,” she beamed egoistically. I clenched both of my hands tightly as the effects started to wear off. My normal vision returned as the water fell to the ground. “If only you were partially from the air clan. It would make you unstoppable,” she suggested carelessly.

I stopped walking immediately and glared at her.

“Oh, sorry,” she quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean anything like that. I was just thinking aloud.”

I didn’t bother to listen to her. Instead, I stormed off ahead and gripped my hands into tight fists. There was nothing satisfactory about being sharing half of the water clan’s blood.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Are we clear?” the general’s voice boomed. All of the warriors nodded their heads proudly in unison with their newfound confidence. The warrior beside be gave me a glance but I ignored him. I knew where this new confidence was coming from and it was uncomfortable. To be relied upon by many hundreds of warriors was a heavy burden. It was a burden which was draining all the freedom that I had left. If I were to fail, I would most likely be ostracized and return back to those dark days of the past.

“Taeyeon, I expect you to be at your post by dawn. We will begin the attack as soon as possible,” the general focused his attention on me. I stared at him blankly and nodded. I had no choice. “Remember who you’re doing this for. She will be proud,” he continued.

“Don’t say that,” I growled under my breath involuntarily. It was always about her. I was doing everything for her, or so they say. The general merely laughed at my threat and walked off, leaving me alone with the captains of the troops. Before any of them could praise or even think to congratulate me on being a key player of their clan, I walked out of the tent.

I could feel the earth beneath me move with each step I took. My vision slowly began changing without my control as I located the weak point of the tree just barely a few steps away from me. Gripping my hands into fists, I lifted my arm and aimed my attack on the critical point. Just moments before my right hand collided with the tree, a rock casing formed around my fists. Without a thought of hesitation, I threw my hand into the tree and shattered its trunk into many splinters and chunks of wood.

I could never live my life with the freedom I wanted. ‘She will be proud,’ he says. What right does he have to say about her? I threw another attack at the already damaged trunk, causing menacing cracking sounds to travel up its trunk. Why does he even care about what she would feel? Why should anyone else for that matter?

They didn’t care for her or me back then. Now that I was of use to them, I’m suddenly their most prized possession. So what happened to her? They were too quick to judge and as a result, she was not here to be proud of me. She was not here to reassure me or comfort me. Because of who I am, she was forgotten and casted aside, and now I’m alone with no one to impress.

My mother would no longer smile at me or pat my head during the nights. I was left with no mother and taken in by the orphanage where I was then scouted for my abilities. I was all of a sudden the prodigy instead of an outcast. It was pathetic. And they even have the audacity to say that she will be proud. Having her own child forced into the war was something no mother would have wanted, especially if it was her daughter.

I only had one purpose for joining this fight against the water clan. I had to find him and make him pay for what he did to my mother.

With one last punch, I shattered the poor tree’s trunk even further. Before I could damage the tree even further, a hand placed itself onto my shoulders. Still feeling the frustrations building, I turned and aimed my last and final attack at the person behind me. My earth covered hand collided with a wall of rock before colliding with a hard piece of armour.

A long groan escaped my victim as they were pushed pack a few steps with the impact. I quickly lost all forms of hatred when I heard the groan and controlled my temper as best as I could.

“You really do pack a punch. I think that’s going to bruise tomorrow morning,” the victim chuckled sorely. I then held my hand out for her and pulled her up off the floor, mumbling a barely audible apology.

“No harm done. At least not a lot,” she continued to muse despite the obvious pain she was in. Feeling guilty to hurting a fellow clan member, I bowed my head in apology again as the last of my rage receded.

“I still can’t get over the colour of your eyes. It’s really beautiful you know,” she complimented. I quickly turned my head away from hers and waited for my vision to return to its normal state. “Hey, don’t hide them. They’re pretty,” she quickly interrupted me and pulled me around. I stared back at her as I could feel my eyes slowly changing back to normal.

I could see the disappointment in her face with the evident pout that she was giving.

“I don’t see why you always have to keep hiding it. Others just love half castes,” she sighed. I scoffed at her remark and turned back to the injured tree. I felt remorseful for damaging the poor thing but I needed to release my anger out somehow. If I held it in I knew I would have hurt someone very badly. I was just glad my had fast reflexes to lessen the attack I gave her.

“I wish I had blue instead of green. It’s so much prettier than green and white,” she continued in her disappointed tone. I scoffed at her again. “There’s so many air-earth half castes that it’s so normal seeing a green and white eyed person. Green and blue definitely seems better.”

“The blue does not bring any fortune,” I indirectly answered her. I held my hand up to my left eye which held the entity of water. It was because I had this colour that I suffered in the past. The deep blue of the oceans were reflected through my eyes and others mocked me for it. I was an abnormal child to the clan because I had this eye.

“Maybe after this war is over, there will be more blue eyed half castes. Well I hope so at least,” she continued mindlessly. I turned around and stared at her sceptically.

“What?” she asked hesitantly.

“I thought you wanted to destroy the water clan. Why are you suddenly hoping that they will produce half caste children now?” I questioned her. Through my years of having her follow me, it was rare for her to wish for anything besides annihilate the water clan.

“I think you’ve misunderstood my motive my dear Taeyeon,” she laughed with amusement. “It’s not the water clan alone that I want to be removed. After this whole thing is over, all I want is a-”

“Taeyeon, Sooyeon. The general wishes for you to give a last training session with your group of warriors before we set off into position. He said no exemptions this time,” a soldier interrupted her before she could finish. I gave a long and tired sigh before turning towards the soldier.

Taking in a deep breath, I felt my eyes ache slightly as the vision changed again. The soldier flinched under my gaze but I paid no attention to him. My followed closely behind, smiling as she also adjusted her eyes to their full power.

“Others love half castes huh?” I quoted when the soldier cowered away from the both of us. She skipped on ahead and shrugged carelessly as her eyes glowed with the brilliant green and murky white.

“I know I love one,” she beamed before eagerly skipping off to the training grounds. I scoffed at her obvious taunt at a race but I had not a chance. Being part of the air clan surely had its perks with agility.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Again!” the warrior yelled in frustration. I took my stance and readied myself. He charged at me with full force. The barrier of earth around his fists grew as he aimed an attack at me. I stopped the attack with the water barrier of my left hand, causing his earth barrier to erode and soften. I then used my right hand to throw another earth attack at his fists, breaking his barrier and watching it fall to soggy pieces of mud onto the floor.

The warrior gave a grunt of frustration and tried to throw another attack to my side, but once again I held his fist with my left hand. Breathing in deeply, I focused half of my energy into my hand as I felt the cool water start to form around the barrier. I held the water around the earth encased fists, allowing for it to soak completely. After the soaking was complete, I relaxed my hand and allowed the mud that was created fall to the floor lazily.

“Next,” I called out lifelessly. I was growing tired. Using my abilities didn’t hinder my energy levels much, but with the constant attacks thrown at me, I was beginning to feel the consequences of using the elements. But I was not given time to rest. Our clan was at war and I was being pushed to my limits to prepare myself for the big fight.

More attacks were thrown at me. It was easy to dodge their attacks with my fluid motions but each attack was getting closer and closer to hitting its target. Deciding that I had already drained enough energy, I pulled out my katana and resorted back to defence mode. Using the hilt, I would damage the earth attacks and strike at their weak spots that they left open at times, careful to hold back in case I were to injure them.

As the nth warrior stepped off and another came towards me, a rush of air blew in between me and my new opponent.

“I think that’s enough from Taeyeon. She’s obviously growing weak. I’ll be your opponent from here,” my interrupted before the warrior could strike. I gave a relieved sigh and dug my katana into the earth to hold myself up. A rush of air blew right next to me before she showed up next to me.

“You alright there?” she questioned. I nodded my head and steadied myself with heavy breaths. She gave me a disapproving look and bent down lower to face me.

“You left eye is dulling to a really dull blue and your right eye is turning an almost black green. You obviously pushed yourself too far this time.” She knocked her knuckle against my head harshly, causing me to stagger slightly. Before I could even think to steady myself, she was already pulling the left side of my body up.

“I don’t care what the general says. We can’t have Taeyeon fit for battle if she’s pushed this far.” Her stern voice resonated through the groups of warriors. I noticed the man that I was supposed to have brawled against take a wary step back. “Come on Taeyeon. You can’t end this war like this.”

Great. So it was up to me to end this war now too. I’m no longer expected to win the battle, but also win the war.

“Relax Taeyeon. The sooner this war ends, the sooner we can rest. I just hope the general doesn’t decide to take it too far.” I felt my body being lifted with the aid of the winds around me. I was too tired to pay attention to what was happening. Willingly, I let her hold all of my body weight as I tried to get some much needed rest. I had to be fit for the battle. Not to win the war, but to make him sorry. He will repent for ever taking a step towards my mother.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Group A6 go to the west side. Group E3 can take the south west. Taeyeon’s group take the direct south path whilst A7 and E4 can take the east and south east,” the general briefed quickly. The leaders of the groups gave a reassuring nod to him but I cared too little to even give a response. “Taeyeon. Are we clear?” he repeated, inflicting his authority against me.

“We’ll be there,” she answered for me. I turned my head lazily to the side to see her with her stern expression. She really wanted to win this battle by the looks of it. It was odd to see her look so serious but I guess this was her chance to rid of the ‘water dwellers’.

“Sooyeon, I’m relying on you to keep her in check. We can’t afford to lose this one,” the general lectured my . I gave him a disapproving glare. No one was to order my around besides me and he had no right to have someone ‘keep me in check’. I’m their most important pawn and yet I was treated as a prisoner. So much for coming home with honour and glory.

“When I give the sign, we charge in. Everyone, get into your positions now.”

With that, all of the group leaders dispersed. I had no interest in securing the water clan’s base but I had to follow orders if I were to get anywhere near my target. Dragging my katana along the floor, I trudged out of the general’s tent as she followed behind as per usual.

The scenery outside the tent was nothing to be desired. The area was decorated with broken terrain and ashes from the fire camps. It was dreary and with the sounds of warriors training against each other. I wonder how we were not detected by the water clan with all the screams and yells of the men trying to show off their masculinity. In my view, their yells did not prove how ‘manly’ they were. It just proved how loud they could scream when met with a sword against them. I’ve had experiences where the manliest of men’s screamed reached an ear-piercing shriek on multiple occasions.

“You seem indifferent about this. Aren’t you nervous?” she interrupted my thoughts of mockery with her unusually calm and collected tone.

“Why should I be nervous? The outcome of this battle will be in our favour. It has to be. If not then we would be better off dying in battle then facing the general’s lectures on how inadequate we are,” I replied in a monotonous voice. She laughed silently behind me and patted my shoulder lightly.

“Relax. You’ll get to see him soon enough. Just don’t throw yourself into the fire just to see what’s on the other side,” she whispered quietly. I quickly turned around and stared at my , wide-eyed. She merely returned my gaze with an innocent smile before walking off into the broken terrain.

“I’ve been with you for the past six years, Taeyeon. You would think that I’ve heard you mumble your hate for him multiple times during your little fits, don’t you think?” She indirectly answered my silent question. Without uttering another word, she walked away with a skip to her step. Who would have thought that my would have paid any attention to what I said or mumbled?

“Sooyeon!” I yelled out towards her. She turned around expectantly and rocked on the heels of her feet, waiting. “What else do you know?” I asked in a hesitant tone. I was sure she was able to hear what I said with her relations with the air clan but I was half hoping that maybe it would slip by her. With the smirk plastered onto her face, I was sure that she had heard.

“I know a lot of things but that’s for me and only me to know,” she answered cheekily. I felt myself frown at her response but I was half expecting that answer from her anyway. She had a way of indirectly answering unwanted questions and avoiding the questions I wanted. “Are you curious?” she questioned.

“N-No,” I quickly answered. Within moments I felt the air rush past me as she stood next to me with the smirk still present on her lips.

“Oh, really? It would seem to me that you want to know a lot more,” she mocked. Not wanting to feel exposed under her anymore, I walked away from her and made my way to my tent. What she knows doesn’t matter to me. So long as she does not hinder my goal, it will not matter. The general will have my head if he caught us dawdling around. He was already unhappy with me taking a break before we moved into positions and I knew I was only one mistake away from blowing his temper. It was tempting to see him lose his temper, but I would be taken off the battle and lose my chance to achieve my purpose. I couldn’t take any chances.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Are you nervous yet?”

I gripped onto my katana tightly. My group of warriors were in position and all we were waiting for was the sign from the general to charge in for the attack. The water clan’s base is within a short running distance. It was so close and so near, but I was not allowed to enter it yet. Not until I was given permission from the general.

“I’m not nervous. I’m just…” I tried to find the right word but there was nothing to describe what I was feeling. The adrenaline was already pumping through my veins even though I was still in a dormant position. I used whatever control I had to keep myself from running into that base and finding him. He was in there, most probably enjoying his life with his new family. He would be drinking his tea whilst completely unaware of my existence. He was in there.

“Anxious? Eager? Impatient?” she suggested. The words were closer than ‘nervous’ but they weren’t quite right. I would just have to settle with a mix of them all.

“Taeyeon,” her voice softened. I calmed myself down as best as I could to pay attention to her. Perhaps she would be able to make time past faster. “What if… I mean there’s always a chance, but what if he wasn’t in there? What would you do?”

The grip around my katana loosened noticeably.

“I mean, you don’t know what might’ve happened. He may be in there, but he also might not be. I was just… I don’t know,” she whispered with a hint of a hidden emotion that I could not quite detect. I gripped onto my weapon tightly again and shook my head. He was in there. He had to be.

“The general gave me a list of the men that would be within the water clan’s army. He’s in there. I saw him. It’s him,” I answered with confidence. He was the second in command after the general. He was the one who would be standing guard deep inside the base. He has to be.

“Oh. I see then,” Sooyeon whispered. There was something wrong with her today. Just before we left she was eager. She was smiling and skipping with every third step. How did she lose all her drive so quickly?

Before I could even question her, there was a small tremor beneath our feet. The warriors took their place and stood up confidently. It was the sign. I stood up from the dirt floor and readied myself, but a hand gripped onto my wrist before I could draw my weapon. I traced the hand and recognised my to be the one to have stopped me. I watched her expression closely and noted something was most definitely wrong.

“Try not to hurt yourself too much. I’ll be… behind you.” The grip around my wrist tightened with the word ‘behind’. I gave her a rare reassuring smile and nodded.

“I’m trust you will, Sooyeon. Stay close,” I drew my katana and stood in front of her. The warriors also drew their weapons and took their places, ready to charge. I could tell that half of the group was holding their breath but so was I. It was so close.

With the second tremor of the ground beneath us, we entered the battle field.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Their surprised expressions when they saw the water dwell within my hand was most amusing, but it was short lived. This was a battle, not a training ground. The day was coming to an end and I was growing tired but we only managed to secure the outer regions of the water clan’s base. I had lost a total of twenty warriors from my group but I had received message that our east side group had lost almost half. We were doing well so far, but it was time for us to take our rest before the battle continues the day after. It was going to be a long fight, but the warriors were not demotivated. They were eager for the victory against the water clan and were willing to give up many weeks to secure the enemy base.

Whilst we were waiting for the south-west division to arrive, I sent a group of fifty men to see and help the south-west. I didn’t want to lose a whole division if I wanted any chance of reaching the centre of the base.

“You did well today,” my and now back-up sat beside me with an extra cup of tea in her hand. She passed me on of the cups and smiled warmly.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. The warm exterior of the cup felt nice against the palm of my hand but I was careful to not have too much contact in case I get blisters from the scalding hot cup. As I took a sip from the ceramic cup, I noticed something odd with her.

“Did you get hurt?” I questioned, quickly scanning over her for any signs of major injuries. She shook her head slowly and gave me a reassuring smile.

“I’m just… tired.”

I nodded my head slowly. I could understand. With our training grounds we were always messing around and trying new techniques without having to worry about the consequences that much, but now that this was the real thing there was a different atmosphere to it. One small slip up could cost you your life. It wasn’t just weeks of resting. It was an eternity resting.

“Taeyeon. What are you planning to do once this is over?” she questioned suddenly. I was stunned for a moment as I thought for an answer. I hadn’t really planned for anything after this was over. I really don’t even know what I could do after I was free from the clan’s army.

“I’m not quite sure,” I answered, still not being able to find an answer. She nodded he head slowly and took another sip from her cup. I noticed that her hand was shaking slightly as she held the cup. I then remembered her mentioning something about the air clan’s people having problems with the cold. Knowing that she was partially from the air clan, I took off my overcoat and placed it around her shoulders.

“Look after that while I go talk to the others and check on our casualties,” I told her before walking off towards the medical tent. I had only taken two steps before her hand grabbed onto my wrist and stopped me from walking any further. I turned around to see her staring straight at me with that odd expression that she wore earlier that day. I still wasn’t able to identify what emotion she was portraying.

“Do you trust me?” she asked bluntly. I was taken aback by the sudden question and even more so at the nature of the question. Sooyeon was most definitely not herself today. It was kind of scary seeing her so serious all of a sudden. And to think that she would ask such questions made me worry for her.

“Why would you ask that?” I asked her back. She gripped onto my wrist tighter and pulled herself up. She then continued to stare straight into my eyes.

“I just wanted to know. Do you really trust me?”

Great. Now she added ‘really’ to the question. I don’t understand why she was worrying about the trust I had for her.

“You know I have a hard time having people stand behind me. The fact that I willing allow you to cover my back should prove something right?” I answered, feeling a little odd that she would question the trust I had for her. “Do you not trust me?”

I saw her eyes open quickly as she dropped her cup and waved her hands furiously. I raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to answer.

“I do. I really do. I just… You never really tell me anything so I thought that maybe you didn’t trust me as much as I would have wanted.”

I crossed my arms and continued to stare at her as if I was interrogating her. It might have been the side effects of the battle that made her worry about the trust between her comrades. I could understand, but I was surprised that the trust between us would also be questioned.

“You have a way of finding things out of your own. I trust you to figure it out on your own. I never denied anything that was true when you revealed it, nor did I ask for you to keep quiet. I trust you enough to allow you to know and trust you even more to know that you won’t reveal anything to anyone else,” I answered in the most controlled tone I could muster. I didn’t know why, but I feel insecure. Although I never showed it, I appreciated my more than anyone who I had ever met, aside from my mother. To have her question my trust for her made something in my chest twist uncomfortably.

I then felt her let go of my wrist and smile ever so slightly.

“I’m glad to know you trust me. I trust you a lot too, Taeyeon,” she tried her best to smile but it ended up being slightly lopsided. Feeling the atmosphere around us grow odd, I patted her head and turned around to check up on the medical tent as I had previously planned. Perhaps I should show my appreciation for her more often to avoid her questioning anything like this again.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“This is the last day troops. When the sun rises, we shall go out with full force. Taeyeon, you and what’s left of your group can go straight into the depths of the base where the two army leaders are residing. The water clan’s base underwater is inaccessible to us and so is left unguarded. I want you to go in there and inform the clan of their defeat as soon as we have the army leaders. You cannot mess this up Kim,” the general’s deep and urgent voice boomed through the building.

Again, I was left with the most responsibility again. For the past three months we had been battling against the water clan’s troops. The air clan that had started attacking the north-side a week after we secured the south had finally managed to catch up to our status. There was only the army base left where he was supposed to be hiding with the other water clan troops.

“I think you’re being a little harsh on her, general. Taeyeon had led the south division well and has come out with the most warriors left. I hardly find it fair to blame everyone on her if she were to fail,” Sooyeon’s voice suddenly interrupted. I slowly peeled my eyes off of the floor and stared at my with a shocked expression. Never in the years that I served the army had anyone disagreed on putting the blame on me if things were to go wrong. This was the first time that I was experiencing this, and judging by the general’s expression, it was his first time too.

“Sooyeon, you are in no position to talk here. You are only able to enter these briefings because Taeyeon allows you to. I still do not trust you enough to reveal everything about our tactics just yet. You could sell off the information to the water clan for all I know,” the general retaliated. I noticed her jaw tighten at the general’s insult and suspicion of treason.

“I do not trust you either general. In fact, the only person I trust here is Sooyeon. Every time we go into battle, I have second thoughts. How do I know that you’re not going to send me in as a shield?” I answered back with a stern voice. The general gripped onto the side of the table tightly, crushing it beneath his palm.

“As soon as the sun comes out, I’m infiltrating the base. That’s all there is to it. Now if you excuse me, I have to rest and prepare for the last battle.” Without giving a second thought, I pulled Sooyeon out of the water clan’s old post office that had been reclaimed by the earth clan just a few days earlier. I could hear the general giving a frustrated yell within the building but I did not care, although I did regret not being there to see it.

The end was almost near but over the past few months, I felt lighter the closer we got to the main base. Having Sooyeon back me up throughout the battles relieved me of some stress but there was something else that took the burden off my shoulders. I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel myself having better nights sleeping than I did back in the safety of the earth clan. I would hardly call the earth clan sage after what they did to me when I was younger, but I wasn’t under the constant threat of waking up to a battalion of water clan troops.

It wasn’t long before we reached our resting area. Only Sooyeon and I occupied it due to its small space but it was relatively close to the briefing area in case the general wanted to discuss anything. I knew he had very little trust in me, but he had no other choice. I really couldn’t wait for this whole war to end. Through the nights that I spent on guard, I had a lot of time to think about her question. I had an idea of what I was going to do, but I wasn’t certain.

“Sooyeon, thank you,” I uttered once we reached our building. She pulled slightly on my hand, urging me to turn around. When I turned around, she gave me a bright smile, something that was not seen for the ever since this fight had started.

“You’re welcome. It’s even I guess, since you stood up for me too,” she laughed. I nodded slowly and turned my head away slightly. I don’t ever quite recall standing up for her before. I felt selfish knowing that I had often left her be. “Ahh, I can’t wait for this to be over. That general can stop breathing down our necks and lots of half blue-eyed babies will be born. I can guarantee they are going to be adorable,” she continued, completely on a different subject.

I then remembered our conversation right before we left our base. She had mentioned that she didn’t want only the water clan removed but something else.

“You never really did tell my why you wanted this war to end so badly. Care to elaborate?” I questioned her as I placed some of the firewood into the stove to make hot water. Having no abilities related to air, I stepped aside and allowed Sooyeon to light the fire.

“Oh, right. I was interrupted wasn’t I?” she answered absentmindedly. I placed the kettle filled with water onto the stove and prepared the tea, waiting for her to continue.

“I guess I wanted to rid of the water clan at first. I was assigned to follow you first though because they needed someone to control you and thought that maybe you would approach another half caste easier than a normal earth clan member. Of course it took a while but eventually you allowed me to follow you.” I could sense the smile in her voice and wondered why she would be smiling at such memories. I rarely talked to her back then and took almost two years for me to even bother to learn her name.

“I then followed you when you would sit beside the cliff and stare out into the waters. I guess all that quiet time gave me time to think and admire-” she quickly stopped. I raised an eyebrow up at her sceptically at the last word she uttered.

“Admire what?” I questioned. Sooyeon covered her hand over and shook her head furiously. I noted that her ears were slowly turning red. I looked at the stove and concluded that she was probably standing too close to the fire.

“Th-The scenery,” she stuttered. I placed a few tea leaves in the two cups and nodded, urging her to continue.

“Anyway, with all that time to think I thought about how many lives would be lost and how dull the world will be if it was only the earth and air clans left. I figured that everyone would be happier if the clans didn’t exist and everyone lived with no restrictions of which clan they’re from. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being a half caste. Controlling two elements is better than one any day,” she quickly finished.

I smiled slightly after realising her purpose for fighting in this war. She wanted the clans to break their walls and learn to live with each other.

“Why do you fight in this war Taeyeon?” she questioned back, her tone dropping to a noticeably quieter tone.

“You already know why,” I answered her, very much aware that she knew my reason for even agreeing to work with the army. She nodded slowly and took her cup, waiting for the water to boil.

“And then? When all of this is over, are you going to go back to the earth clan?” she continued. Once again, the expression that I could not identify was being portrayed through her features. The expression was something that she showed a lot more with the battle coming to a near end and I was still not sure on what the expression was. Sorrow? Remorse? Regret? I couldn’t find right words.

“I won’t be part of any clan. Maybe find a neutral village and find refuge there. There’s no way I’m going back to the earth clan and I’m not welcome in their air or water clans,” I mumbled in response. She remained silent but nodded once to reassure me that she was listening. She then placed her cup onto the table and walked to one of the seats to sit down quietly.

“What do you plan on doing?” I placed the cup down and took a seat beside her. I was curious to know where she would drift off to once we were free from this war.

“I really didn’t have anything in mind, but I was hoping that maybe...” She didn’t finish before she turned her head away from me and fidgeted in her seat slightly. I took off my overcoat again and placed it over her shoulders, securing it into place my placing my hands on her shoulders.

“Well, you’re free to follow me if you want. It’s nice having someone watch your back for you,” I suggested honestly. If I had a choice, I would rather have Sooyeon accompany me than travel alone. Knowing the general, he would probably want to keep me within the army and send his troops to recapture me. If she were to accompany me, it would be safer and, to an extent, less lonely.

“Do you mean that?” her voice was suddenly eager as she looked at me with bright eyes. Avoiding her gaze, I nodded hesitantly. Before I could even finish with my gesture, the air around us moved as two arms wrapped itself around me, knocking the wind out of me.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she repeated over and over with her newfound eagerness. I hesitantly patted her back, surprised that she was so happy and so quick to accept the offer. Her grip around my shoulders then tightened suddenly as her words became silent. I was beginning to worry for her recently. She would be really happy one moment and then drop to an all-time low the next. I was having trouble keeping up with her moods lately.

“Are you okay?” I questioned, trying to pull back. She tightened her grip even more and nodded against me shoulder.

“I’m just really grateful. I just… I don’t think you’ll want me to follow you after all of this,” she whispered the last part. I patted her back reassuringly, confused even more than ever. I had offered her to follow me willingly and yet she thinks that I don’t want her to follow me? I really could not keep up with this girl.

“I kind of wish this wouldn’t end. I really am scared of what will happen once this is over,” she continued. I could her hear sniffle into my shoulder and tried to make the pats on her back seem more reassuring. This would be the first time that she would shed tears near me, let alone right in front of me. I was starting to grow scared as to why she was acting so strangely.

“Don’t worry. Calm down. Nothing’s going to happen,” I tried my best to make my voice calm but it ended up being a mangled and struggled whisper. She shook her head in the crook of my shoulder and gripped even tighter than before.

“You don’t know. You just don’t know,” she repeated with more desperation. I bit my lower lip at the predicament I was in. I had no clue how to comfort her and as a result, I just kept silent and continued to pat her back, sometimes her back in attempts to calm her down.

“You don’t know…” she whispered barely audibly before she slowly started to quieten down. The grip she had on me was slowly relaxing as her limps grew limp. She had probably fallen asleep from the exhaustion of the emotional breakdown and battles. I was sitting in a very odd position but I didn’t want to wake her up. She needed her rest and I wasn’t going to be the one to take that from her.

With her body within my arms, I was left immobile but the stove was still burning the excess firewood. I knew that it would cause trouble if I was to leave it but at the same time, I didn’t want to move her.

I sat there in silence, arguing about whether I should try to put out the fire or not.

After long moments of debating, I decided that Sooyeon was in a deep enough sleep for me to move her. Carefully, I slipped my hands beneath her knees and behind her back. I then slowly and carefully slid off my seat with her still sleeping in my arms. As quietly and gently as I could, I moved to the fire and summoned a ball of water in my left hand to put it out.

With a sizzle, the fire went out and the building was no longer under threat of burning down, however there was some smoke being made in the process.

Not paying much attention, I accidently inhaled some and coughed unexpectedly. With the jolt of my body, she woke up drowsily. I didn’t know what I was thinking, but I pretended to stay perfectly still as if she wouldn’t see me. She rubbed her eyes and scanned her surroundings, only to freeze when she saw me so close to her.

As quickly as she could, she jumped off from my arms and knocked over the pot of boiling water.

“Ahh!” she exclaimed when the water met her skin. Out of reflex, I pulled her hand into my left hand and covered her hand with the cool water. She winced slightly but relaxed when she got used to the cold water from my palm.

“You’re too clumsy, Sooyeon-ah,” I sighed as I watched the hand slowly turn red. She lowered her head shamefully and nodded. Frowning, I let the water fall to the floor and examined her hand. Seeing it still burn red I covered it in water again.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized meekly. I didn’t reply. I was too engrossed with her hand to reply. All of a sudden, she pulled her hands away from mine and wrapped them around me again.

“I really am sorry.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“They broke through our last defences. Sir, please save what’s left of our people!” he yelled before one of the warriors heartlessly penetrated his body with their sword. I turned around and closed my eyes. There was too much blood shed. There was just too much. This was not the battle plan. Throughout these few months, the warriors were very composed. No one drew blood unless they had to. Everyone used what they could to disable the water clan.

Why were they suddenly so violent? What was driving them to this state of insanity?

“Taeyeon, come!” Sooyeon yelled from the furthest exit. I ignored her and pulled the sword away from one of my warriors, disabling him.

“I thought I said we were disarming them. Who gave you permission to kill as you please?!” I growled menacingly. The warrior just laughed and pulled the sword back, giving me a deep cut in the palm of my hand. On reflex, I pulled my hand away and drew my sword against him. Instead of cowering like they all usually would, he smirked.

“You’re no longer in charge, Kim. General just gave us the order. Annihilate the water clan’s army by any means and hold no mercy,” he chided. “It only takes one cup of water to drown a man.”

I gripped onto my weapon tightly with the warrior’s arrogance starting to irritate me to no ends. In an attempt to show some authority, I withdrew my blade quickly and gave him a light cut. Before he could raise his sword against me, I used the end of my katana and knocked the weapon out of his hands.

“Taeyeon! Quickly!” Sooyeon called again. I gave the warrior one last glare before kicking his weapon away. I then sheathed my sword and noticed the material around the handle bloodied red from the cut in my palm. I would have to get that cleaned soon before it sticks.

“You’ve become much slower lately. Are you sure you’re not growing old for this?” Sooyeon mocked when I finally reached her. I admit that I was beginning to outlive my prime years but I wasn’t that far.

“You’re only a few months younger than me Sooyeon. Watch yourself,” I mocked back. She opened wide and was about to attack me but I had already started making my way to the water clan’s headquarters. I noticed that they didn’t put much of a fight considering that this was the heart of their army. But I suppose my warriors were much too out of control that it seemed a little too easy. I would have to give them a long lecture about following my orders later.

“Sooyeon.” The question had been bothering me too much that I had to ask. “Have you noticed that our division is no longer as loyal as they were in the beginning? They’ve become too feral.”

I waited for an immediate answer but was startled by the fact that there was quite a long pause before she answered.

“I think they’re just eager to finish this war. They have people waiting for them back home,” she answered hesitantly. I looked down at my hand at the deep cut that was given to me by my own warrior. It was obvious that he did put any effort into taking the weapon back carefully. It almost seemed as if he had wanted to cut my whole hand off. Were they really that eager to return home?

“Aren’t you eager to finish this? I mean, you will finally be able to see him and tell him everything you wanted throughout the years.”

My feet automatically stopped moving as my hand clenched into a fist. My whole purpose of joining the fight was to confront him and blame him for all my struggles. Of course I was eager, but I felt as though there was something different now. I had constantly been thinking about what I would say, what I would do when I met him for the past two weeks. Every night, my approach would change. I couldn’t decide on what I would do, what I would say.

“Are you nervous?” she asked the question I never dared to think of.

Was I nervous? If I was, what was I nervous of? I was ostracised for being a half breed of a water clan. He had caused my mother to live six years with a whole clan constantly torturing her because of her affair with the enemy clan before leaving this world hungry and cold. Why would I be nervous about meeting the man who had caused both my mother’s and my own despair?

“I mean, he is your father.”

“No, he is not!” I unconsciously yelled. Surprised with the intensity of my own voice, I released my clenched fists and took three quick cautious steps away from her. Her expression mirrored my own with her wide eyes and slightly opened jaw.

“Sorry, I-”

“No, I’m sorry. I went too far,” she interrupted before I could finish. I lowered my head and bit onto my lip guiltily. She was right. He was… no, is my father. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, I shared half of his blood, half of his features.

She placed her arm around my shoulders and patted it reassuringly and apologetically. I relaxed slightly under her touch but I was still nervous. I was nervous. I had waited many years to finally see him and question him but now that the chance came…

“I just don’t know what to say,” I sighed. A soft chuckle came from her as she slammed her palm against my back jokingly.

“You’ve become a softie Kim Taeyeon. What happened to ‘barbaric little dog’ and ‘until I get my hands around his neck I will not rest easy’?” she quoted. I chuckled at the memory of my private moments, realising that she had seen me in those moments. “Relax. Just do what you want and I’m sure everything will flow flawlessly.”

I noticed that there was a sudden unsteadiness in her voice towards the end of her statement. She was probably just trying to calm my nerves and I had to admit that it was having some effects. Little, but it was enough.

“We’ll disarm them and then I’ll take it from there. Be sure to keep a watch of your back in case reinforcements come,” I waved my hand carelessly and started making my way to the headquarters again. Each step brought my closer to him. What would happen when those doors open? What will I say to him?

I had not a clue how things would go from there, but she was right. I’ll do what I want and let things flow from there. Whether it’s in one path or another, you cannot change your path once you step into the waters. The waters will decide where it takes you.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“You have some nerve walking straight in here. Do you not fear that this will be the end of your life?” he laughed darkly as he aimed another attack into my abdomen. I felt the sharp pain spread throughout my body and hunched over in an attempt to lessen the pain whilst he stood in front of me with his superiority over me. I glanced over to where my was lying painfully on the floor. I glared up at the man in front of me and tried to collect what was left of my depleting energy.

“You earth mongrels have nothing but brute force. You know nothing of compassion and mercy. That clan of yours sickens me. And to think that the air clan would make an alliance with you makes me fear for the future generations of those air heads,” he continued to mock. A low groan from Sooyeon caught my attention as she began to stand up unsteadily with the support of her katana. Before she could support her full weight, he threw another jet of water towards her and pushed her back down.

I took this chance and threw a punch to his jaw. I then quickly took a side stepped and picked up my steel blade and held it in position, readying myself for another attack. He rubbed his jaw sorely and began to breathe deeply. Slowly, his eyes began to change to a deep dark blue. The area around him slowly began to change as chains of water began to form, flowing towards his hands. He was strong. I could feel it. My left eye began to ache with the change in the area around me.

“Your earth attacks do nothing to the people of the water clan. You merely charge with your sharp blades and use your brute strength to force your way through. But you no longer have that strength. What do you plan on doing now, mongrel?” he laughed darkly again. He then lifted his hand and aimed it towards me with his palms open. I smirked when I saw his hand close into a fist. As a jet of water began to shoot from his hand, I dropped my katana and readied my left hand. When the water met with my hand, I saw the vision in my left eye change as I turned the water away from me.

“Wha-” before he could finish, I took the chance to strike him down with another punch to the jaw, this time much harder. He staggered back a few steps before I kneed him in the stomach, causing him to crouch over as I had previously.

As I aimed another attack, he stopped my arm and stared straight at me. His eyes slowly turned back to the dark brown shade as he kept his grip on my hand. I tried to pull my arm back and finish but he didn’t allow me to.

“It’s you…”

Immediately, I felt all the power that I had within me disappear. ‘It’s you’? Who was he referring to?

“Taeyeon?”

I tensed and stared back into his eyes. His expression was completely different from what it was when we had entered the headquarters. He had a murderous expression. He had no mercy. Before we could even utter a single word, he attacked both Sooyeon and I singlehandedly. Was this really the same man who had attacked us just moments ago?

“It’s really you. You’re Taeyeon!” his voice began to grow eager with his grip around my arm loosening. I took this chance and pulled away from him.

“Why do you care?” I answered spitefully. A smile began to grow on his face and was starting to scare me. How could he so easily turn into this smiling fool from a man who had wanted to kill me?

“You… you look exactly like your mother.”

I quickly bent down and picked up my katana, throwing it in his direction.

“What right do you have to speak of her?” I yelled. He merely moved out of the weapon’s path and took a step towards me. I took a cautious step back.

“Taeyeon, it’s me. Do you not know of me?” he questioned. I clenched my teeth and took another wary step back. Of course I knew who he was. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know who he was.

“I’m your fath-”

“You have no right to call yourself that,” I growled under my breath. He was stunned by my remark and took a step away from me, not wanting to push any further. I then winced when there was a sudden pain in my stomach from the previous attacks. He took five quick steps towards me but I threw my left hand at him, stopping him with a water wall.

“I-I’m sorry for hurting you like that. I didn’t know you were… I can get a healer here for you. Just wait here,” he stuttered. He looked desperately around him and raised his hand up to his head to run his hand through his hair. A huff of confusion escaped his lips whilst he continued to look around. I crouched down onto the floor from the crippling pain.

He quickly tried to make his way towards me again but this time I used my right hand to create a dirt wall. He stuttered back again and did not try to make his way through even though it was easily possible.

It gave me time to think. What was I supposed to do now? He knows. He knows of me. If I remained like this, nothing will happen. Nothing will take its course properly. I don’t know how I was supposed to react. Embrace him like the long lost father he was, or deny him and keep him away from my life as it always had been? What consequences came with each decision? There were just too many possibilities.

I was forced to fend for myself at the age of six when my mother passed away. She constantly gave up her portions to feed me, only to pass into the afterlife as a hungry ghost. Never once did she say how much she regretted having me and always told me that it was not my father’s fault that I existed. She blamed herself. She was careless. She should have thought things through and continuously apologized for bringing me up in that environment, an environment where everyone around me saw me as a demon.

“I sent many letters but you never replied,” he voiced. I gave him a cold stare and turned away again. “How is she?”

I turned around quickly and stared at him. He returned my gaze with a rather surprised one. Did he not know of…? Wait, what letters?

“The last letter I got was from the leader of the earth clan. Apparently, your mother became very successful with her trade in bread. I’m sure you’ve been helping her often,” he smiled gently. I felt my eyes opened wider. What trade with bread? A letter from the leader? Why did I not hear of this?

I lifted my hand up to my head and gripped onto the side. This didn’t make sense.

“She’s dead. Just like you will be,” a new deep and dark voice resounded through the silence. I then turned back to where he was, only to see the general standing there with his blade against the water clan’s army leader.

“She’s what?!” my supposed father yelled. Just as I was about to stand up, a pair of hands wrapped around me and turned my head around. A struggled cry then broke through silence. I felt a sickening feeling settle within my stomach.

“Such a sad love story. As if the likes of you had the right to be with anyone from our clan,” the general’s dark voice chuckled. The arms around me gripped tighter. It was then that I noticed the familiarity of the arms around me. There was only one pair of arms that could touch me without setting off my instincts to attack.

“Sooyeon, hurry up,” the general mumbled. I felt one of the arms slowly let go of me. Wondering what she was doing, I pulled back to face her, only to be met with a piercing pain in my left shoulder blade.

A surprised gasp was emitted, followed by the sound of a metal blade hitting against the hard floor. I then looked up at the person in front of me and saw her staring at me with her eyes b with water. I then turned my head to my side and saw a bloodied dagger dropped carelessly beside me. A throb then came from my newly cut wound.

My instincts quickly kicked in as I stood up and backed away from her. She slowly raised her shaky hands to and kept it there as her eyes continued to water. My hand was trembling as I looked back and forth between her and the dagger. I then stared at the general where a lifeless body was bleeding at his feet.

Where was I?

“Sooyeon! What are you doing?!” the general barked. I then stared back at Sooyeon and noticed the fresh red liquid on her hands. My shoulder throbbed again, reminding me of an important clue in solving this mystery in front of me.

What was happening?

I stared again at the lifeless body at the base of the general’s feet. Our goal was to bring the water clan’s army leader back to the earth clan and keep him there. There was no mention of murder. There was especially no mention of the general appearing or any daggers pressed against my shoulder.

Earth, water and air were the three elements of nature that are constantly at war with each other, yet they cannot continue with any one of them missing. Or at least I thought so. The land can still remain as land without air or water. All that will be left is dirt. The skies can exist without the aid of water or earth. The sky will still remain with no boundaries keeping it confined. Water will remain as a liquid. It will remain whole and as one, left undisturbed and untouched.

The realisation that the elements could continue peacefully without each other had finally opened my eyes to the truth. The three didn’t need to live in harmony for them to continue their existence. It was us humans who needed the elements to exist in order to keep our own existence.

It was ironic. Completely ironic.

We need all three elements, yet here I was, working with the clan of the earth and air to destroy the clan that governs the waters. The earth and air clans understand their need for each other, but do not understand the need of the water clan. It was naïve of them to disregard such an important element.

There was only one goal in the mind of the earth and air clans. The annihilation of the water clan. They were naïve, but I was just idiotic. I was stupid to think that I was one of them. I was naïve to believe in the lies they fed me. I was idiotic to believe that I would stand a chance.

“Taeyeon, please calm down. It’s not what it looks like,” she pleaded. I took a step away from her and continued to stare at her with the coldest expression I could manage. She quickly took a step towards me but I took three steps back. I don’t want her near me. I can’t have her behind me.

“I just- It’s because the general and- they told me- I… I just-” she continued stuttering endlessly. I finally knew why she had been acting so differently. I finally understand. It was all clear to me now.

“You… you betrayed me,” my broken voice dropped low and threateningly. Her expression dropped at the accusation. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. She looked like she was guilty but I didn’t know what to believe anymore. The only thing, the only person who I had ever trusted drew their blade behind my back and attacked me.

“I didn’t… I was… Taeyeon, please let me explain.”

“Explain what, Sooyeon? What is there to explain?!” I snapped back. I didn’t know what was hurting more, the pain in my shoulder or the aching pains inside of me. I had allowed this person to follow behind me, every step of the way. In the end, she was the one who I should’ve never let come near me. In the end, I was wrong. I had misjudged.

“Taeyeon, please just remain calm. I know this looks bad, but I wasn’t going to. Well, I was but I then I thought about-”

“Stop with the act Sooyeon. She’s injured. Finish her!” the general barked again. I so my katana behind me and quickly made my way towards it. I bent down painfully and picked it up with my right hand. The cut that the warrior had given me previously was still fresh but I couldn’t hold the weapon in my left. I could feel the whole left side of my back drenched with the warm thick liquid oozing from the open wound.

To add to my disadvantage, I no longer had someone to defend my back. I was open in so many places that there was no way that this was a fair fight, especially if my own and only ally was against me. My ex- picked up the dagger again and held it in the palm of her hand. The uncomfortable pain in my chest returned.

“This was planned… wasn’t it?” I directed to the general. The beast merely smiled and shrugged carelessly. He then nodded his head towards Sooyeon and shrugged again.

“Honestly, we originally planned to keep you in the army. However, this one seemed quite keen on getting rid of you. So, considering the dangers that you possess, we put her in charge of this long project. Worked a charm,” he grinned. The grip around my katana loosened. It was her idea?

“We needed someone to distract this guy and she suggested we use you. Such a smart tactic that worked a charm. Was such a shame that you didn’t have enough time to bond with your dear old father,” he continued as he kicked the body in front of him. I stared blankly at the person who I had previously trusted.

“So you approached me… with this in mind?” I questioned quietly. She was the only one who had dared approached me. I thought that maybe she would be different. I had trusted her when all along, she planned on betraying me.

“I… Yes, I did have this in mind. But I no longer… I just can’t…” she still struggled to compose herself. That was enough for me to hear. The fact that she already drew blood from me proved where her priorities were.

Gripping onto my only ally left, my katana, I took my stance. My left arm was limp but this would be the last battle. I had to give it all that I had left. The outcome didn’t matter to me. It could go one of two ways, I die by their hands, or I escape and flee. Either way could not be achieved without a fight and I was never the one to cower away.

“Take your sword,” I growled at her. She continued to stare at me quietly with her jaw slightly ajar. My shoulder throbbed again as the warm thick liquid continued to run down my arm. I thanked my luck silently for my right hand was still uninjured. I continued to wait for her to draw her sword but she did not move an inch.

Frustrated, I unsteadily reached out to her blade with my left hand and drew it from its sheath before throwing it in front of her. I noted the drops of red that fell onto the floor with the action and bit onto my tongue to tolerate the stinging pain that accompanied the action. She slowly reached out for the blade with shaking hands. She wasn’t hoping to keep up her loyalty act was she? Why was she so hesitant in taking her blade? If anything, this would make it easier for her to achieve her purpose.

“Oh please. This is getting old. Stop pretending Sooyeon and just get it over with!” the general spat, throwing his blade down in frustration. I knew that he wouldn’t find anything any more amusing than me being betrayed by the only person I trusted. It was too sweet for him to miss. He would even trade his position as the army leader just to watch it happen.

“Take your blade… and stand up,” I said unsteadily towards her as I held my blade against her neck. It felt sickening to raise my weapon against her but my mind overrode the feelings and encouraged me to keep my pride. I was not to let myself be betrayed so easily.

Still not uttering a single word, she took her blade and stood up unsteadily. She did not take a stance but instead stood up with her blade hanging by her side. My weapon followed her neck unconsciously. I cursed myself for my unstable hand as I watched the metal blade twitch and shake against her neck. Slowly, I drew back my arm and took my stance, urging her to follow suit.

“This is too slow!” the general growled in frustration. I then saw his body move swiftly to pick up his weapon and groaned silently at the thought of having to fight the both of them at once. Although I didn’t want to admit it, the general was not put in charge for no reason and with the abilities of my former partner I knew that I was going to struggle with my injured left arm.

The first of the attacks was made as the general pushed my former partner aside and swing his sword towards me. As quickly as I could I countered it with my own attack, preventing him from landing the blade against my body. My wrist bent uncomfortably at the force that it was met with, almost forcing me to let go of my own blade. We both took two steps back from the force of the metal but he was quicker to recover than I was.

As I watched his weapon glint in the light, I lifted up my own arm and stopped yet another attack, this time causing me to drop my blade.

“Curses,” I spat beneath my breath as I saw him smile victoriously.  With my stronger right hand, I pressed it firmly against the floor and placed a barrier between me and him as I rushed myself to find another weapon. A dark laugh was heard as the barrier that I had made crumbled to reveal a maniacal general glaring at me with a wide grin.

He ran towards me at full speed with his blade up high. I saw my sword behind his tracks and quickly dodged his attack to reach for it. I felt the cold metal barely miss the top of my head and couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of myself being any taller than I was. Dismissing the thought quickly, I made my way to my sword. The blade was just an arm’s length away as I reached for it.

I could practically feel the hilt in the palm of my hands before it quickly disappeared from my sight.

“Hah! That’s the way Sooye-” the general’s voice quickly stopped short before a guttural sound was heard. I quickly got to my feet defensively and turned my attention to the man in case of another attack. What I saw was beyond my imagination.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” the general’s unsteady voice yelled as he looked down towards his stomach. The metal blade stood out from his middle section as drops of red thick liquid dripped at the end of it. His uniform slowly started staining into a vibrant red at the end of the metal blade as his stance stuttered. I couldn’t help but cringe as I saw the red blade withdraw from his stomach ever so slowly. Agonizing yells and grunts were emitted by the general before the blade completely disappeared from my view.

He dropped his own weapon and used both his hands to grip his bleeding wound whilst stuttering to the sides quickly. Once he moved I could only stare at the one lone person in my line of sight.

She stood there with the bloodied sword in both her hands. Her face was completely stiff with an expression of shock and horror.

“You!” the general guttered as he leaned against the wall to support his weight. The sound seemed to have awakened her as she dropped the blade quickly. Her hand was stained with red as drops of blood were also sticking to her clothes. She stuttered back two steps before falling to the floor again. She held both her hands out in front of her as she stared at them.

Disturbing grunts were then emitted from the general again. I turned to him and saw him with a smaller blade in his hand. I saw the anger in his eyes as he stared at the helpless girl on the floor. As soon as his feet took flight towards her, my feet also reacted.

We both dashed to her in haste. With only an injured shoulder, I managed to reach her first. I grabbed my katana that was on the floor and turned around. No sooner did I turn my torso around did I see the general in front of me. Out of reflex, I held the blade up.

Silence engulfed the room.

My eyes were closed shut so I could not see anything. I fear what I might see when I open them but judging by the silence, something big had happened.

No one uttered a word until…

“Taeyeon,” her voice called out quietly as I felt a hand place itself onto my shoulders. It was then that my senses slowly started to return. My hands were beginning to grow warm as they held tightly onto what I presume was my katana. Ever so slowly, I opened my eyes one by one.

My hands quickly let go when I saw the face of the general just inches away from me, causing his body to fall on top of me. Disgusted by the result, I quickly used my feet to push myself away, throwing his body to the side in the process. I glanced down at my hands and saw what the warmth was just moments before. I clenched my hands experimentally to make sure that they were my own hands. The bloodied hand clenched and flexed just as I willed it to.

I then looked up at the general lying on the floor with the blade standing upright between his shoulder blades but noticed that his arm was placed oddly. I followed along his arm that seemed to be reaching towards me. His forearm was outstretched as his fists seemed to have completely relaxed. I continued past his hand until I reached my own legs.

“Taeyeon!” a shrill voice screamed. I winced at the sound and realised that something was not right.

A sharp pain from my lower left stomach made itself known as I moved my body. Wondering what was causing the pain I looked down and saw a knife protruding from my flesh as more blood was shed.

“It wasn’t such a clean win then,” I groaned quietly as I took the small knife out. It hurt but it was bearable. However, it had some effects. My head became light as my vision slowly started blurring. I had pushed myself too far. Much too far.

“Taeyeon, hang in there,” a panicked voice called out to me. I blinked a few times in hopes of clearing my vision but it was futile.

In two blinks everything became dark.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“If you need anything, just call. Make sure you rest yourself in order to get better,” the lady said kindly before leaving the room. I sighed heavily as I scanned over myself. I was certain that there was more bandage than skin on me with the restricting feelings whenever I moved. I had hoped to have continued my rest but there was something preventing me from doing so and it was starting to irritate me.

“Are you just waiting for the moment I fall asleep to finish off your plan?” I muttered beneath my breath as I avoided looking into the corner of the room. A low sigh that was not mine filled the silence of the room but I ignored it.

“I’ve told you many times already; I’m not going to do that. Can’t you just please let me explain?” she said with desperation. I gritted my teeth at her voice and continued to stare mindlessly at the end of the bed. I still had no clue where I was but according to what she said, we were safe. That told me nothing about where we were and it only led me to rush to conclusions.

We were either with the air or earth clan. Just because she said it was safe, it didn’t mean that it was necessarily safe for me, especially if she was standing by my bed every moment of the way.

“What more is there to explain? You betrayed my trust and now you’re trying to get me to forgive you,” I answered grudgingly. For the nth time, she sighed. I continued to avoid looking at her as I looked out the window to perhaps get a hint as to where I was.

As I stared out the window, I noticed that it was rather quiet outside. Not a soul was in sight but it did not give off an eerie feeling. It was a peaceful feeling that the emptiness gave. I knew for sure that this was not the earth or water clan due to the chaos that would be erupting in those two clans at the moment. The possibility of the air clan was high but I was still not completely sure. It was the kind of place I would have escaped to after the war had ended if it wasn’t part of the air clan. Peaceful and tranquil.

An uncomfortable feeling then grew within my chest as I remembered my plan for after the war. I glanced back at the lone figure in the corner of the room and couldn’t help but feel myself be betrayed all over again. To think that I would have been happy to have her accompany me to a foreign land alone when she planned on getting rid of me before I could even get the chance frightened me. I had placed all the trust I had in her and her only intention was to rid of me after I had finished my purpose.

“It’s been two weeks already and I have not shown any signs of doing anything to you, yet you still don’t allow me to tell you the truth. How much longer will you hold this grudge against me?” she questioned quietly. I shifted my left arm slightly to get the blood running through it properly and continued to ignore her. I did not understand why she would stay in the corner each day but I had given up on trying to understand her long ago. Whatever she wants to do does not concern me any longer.

She then suddenly stood up abruptly from the corner and pulled something from behind her seat. I quickly backed up as far as I could when I saw my katana in her hands. Was she really going to continue with what she started?

“I guess you really don’t trust me after all,” she said with an unstable voice. I gave her an incredulous look in return.

“You expect me to trust you after you drew your blade against me? I don’t know which world you’re from but I don’t think anyone in their right mind would trust the person who tried to kill them,” I countered. Her grip tightened around my weapon before she threw it down onto the floor. Her hands were held into tight fists as they shook with the force that she exerted on them.

“I left everything that I had for you. I admit that it was wrong of me to even think about betraying you, but in the end I remained loyal to you. Do you not see that I had given up everything that I was and am for you?” Her voice was as unsteady as her fists. I looked down at the katana on the floor and noted that the stains were still evident on the metal blade.

“The army are after me. I’ve become the most wanted by the earth and air clans because I betrayed them. If anything, the pressure on finding you has been lifted because they all think you’re dead!” she yelled in pure frustration.

“After you fainted, the rest of your division came. I had them believe that I killed you before betraying them and killing the general. I had to rush everything and even kill some of my members just so I could get you out of there in time.”

I unconsciously moved my hand up to the bandage along my stomach. I had completely forgotten that the last clash I had was not entirely in my favour.

“I knew you would hate me when you awoke, but I continued to stay. I didn’t know whether you would make it or not. If you didn’t pull through I was ready to face the clans again just so I could get some kind of vengeance.”

“Stop with the lies. If anything, you’re just here for personal benefit! You were there when the general fell and since I was also injured they blamed it on you. You’re only here because your chances of being promoted or honoured by the clans have completely shattered and I’m the only hope that you have in case the clan comes after you. If they did come after you, don’t expect me to stop them because I would be more than happy to see you leave!” I yelled back at her before she could continue. My head was starting to feel light from the excessive exercise of my throat and I found myself breathing heavily after it all. I was not naïve enough to be tricked twice and I was not taking any chances.

“So that’s what you think?” she said ever so quietly. I continued to breathe heavily as I watched her lower her head to hide her expression.

“So be it. If you think I’m here to hide from them, then I shall go confront them.”

Without a moment more, she was gone.

All that she left behind was my katana on the floor.

I knew it was stubborn of me to continue on like this but I couldn’t help it. Half of me told me to just forget it all but the other half keeps telling me to forget about her instead. I didn’t think that it would hurt this much to be betrayed by the only person I had trusted. I had always told myself to never trust someone because they will only disappoint you in the end, but there was just something about her that made me willingly put my life in her hands. When her hands threateningly started to close and endanger my life, I fled from her grasp.

Although I had nearly died in the palm of her hand, part of me wanted to return to that place. I could put my trust back into her but part of me didn’t want to. What if she was to completely crush me in the palm of her hand again? The physical pain of it all wouldn’t even come close to the pains of betrayal. I was given a taste of betrayal and I never wanted to even come close to that again.

I looked down at the stained katana on the floor again and focused my attention to its blade and shuddered at the thought of the stains being my own. Thankfully they were not mine, but the general’s himself.

I then stiffly moved my left shoulder again. The sound of the blade hitting the floor the moment I got the wound flashed back into my mind. Her stiff expression when I stared at her as she dropped the blade, the unsteadiness of her voice and pleas as I held my blade against her and the blood that stained her hands were still fresh in my mind.

“Stop!” I yelled as I moved my hands up to my head in an attempt to stop it all.

I knew why I didn’t want to trust anyone again. I know why but I don’t know what to do about it. In order to stop it I had to trust others again, but I couldn’t trust anyone because of it. It was just an endless circle and it would only stop if a miracle happened to come by.

I was scared and I needed help.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After she returned my katana two weeks ago, she would come in for a brief moment each day to bring me my food. Before she would leave she would eat a spoonful as if to prove it wasn’t poisoned before leaving without saying a single word. With me being the cowardice that I am, I never bothered to talk to her either which made every meeting awkward and uncomfortable.

As per usual, she entered my room again with the food. She placed it on the table beside me before eating a bit of each. She then placed the utensils down and made her way towards the door. The only difference this time was that she stood at the door before leaving.

“Stay inside and don’t come out no matter what you see or hear. It was a pleasure to have served you Taeyeon, but it’s time I said my farewell,” she said bluntly. I stared at her back inquisitively, wondering what in the world she could possibly be saying.

“Good bye, Taeyeon.”

The door then closed quickly before the sound of rustling was heard on the other side. Ignoring her odd actions, I reached for the food and continued on the daily routine; Eat, walk then sleep. She would have returned the next day and probably repeat the same thing.

Out of habit, I looked out of the window of my room to look out onto the village. There was no one outside but this time it felt different. It felt like the calm before the storm and there was a sense of tension within the air. It felt as though something was going to happen soon.

No sooner did the thought pass me did I see a familiar face walk by. For once, it was not her.

I jumped out of my bed and hid behind the wall as the familiar male walked by. It was the man who I had seen before I entered the water clan’s centre. He was the one who told me that I was no longer in charge.

“Take her back. We’ll deal with her back at the clan,” the hoarse voice ordered. The outside was no longer silent as the sound of feet against the dirt floor rustled noisily. Wondering what could possibly be happening, I moved myself to peer out the window and take a glance.

A group of four men were on the dirt with an even more familiar person in their grasp in the middle. A yell of disapproval was emitted by the middle person and I was sure that I knew who it was in the middle. I just didn’t know what she was doing there or why all of the men’s faces seemed so familiar.

I then glanced down at their armour and noted the familiar image on their shoulder blades.

What in the world was the earth clan doing here?!

Before I could get a closer look, I realised that the male who rebelled against me in the war was walking towards me. I quickly ducked out of the way and stood out of the window’s view.

“Hurry up and take me back already. This game of cat and mouse is getting old,” her voice yelled out to catch the attention of the curious male. A dark laugh was emitted by him as he walked away from my window. My stomach dropped as I heard the sound of a sharp slap outside.

“Who would have thought that you would betray everyone who trusted you? We knew that the naïve water caste would die by your hands, but we never would have thought that you would even turn your back on our general. You just love backstabbing everyone, don’t you?” the dark voice sneered.

“The general deserved what he got. As for Taeyeon, she was smarter than the load of you combined,” her voice retaliated. Another slap was heard as she let out a yelp of pain. I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I felt the blood in my veins begin to pump rapidly.

“You’re still a loyal rat to that mongrel aren’t you? We know you didn’t kill her. It was the general’s blade that killed her. When we walked in we saw you trying to save her,” he continued. I stared at the door opposite me and closed my eyes desperately. What was I even thinking? Wasn’t this what I wanted? To have her taken away so I would be left to me peace.

“Loyalty is earned and the likes of your certainly do not deserve it. She earned my loyalty and I am not going to make the same mistake in betraying that loyalty to her again,” her voice sounded firmer with each word.

“Well what use is it if she’s dead? It seems loyalty was not enough to save that water outcast.”

That was the final straw. With growing determination, I reached for my recently cleaned katana by the door and made my way out. I would have dealt with that good for nothing soldier if it wasn’t for the fact that my door was locked.

I pulled on the handle again and still it did not budge.

It finally dawned upon me that the rustling sound outside was her locking me in. I cursed her silently for being so thorough and kicked the door in frustration.

“What was that?” the soldier suddenly asked.

“W-What was what?” she quickly answered. I then heard the sound of footsteps approaching the building. I quickly scanned around the room in hopes of finding an exit. Perhaps her thoroughness would cost me my life in the end if they were to open that door.

I then looked at the window and scolded myself for not seeing the obvious sooner. As the footsteps approached my room’s door, I quickly hopped onto the bed and out of the window. No sooner did I duck down, did the door in my room open. That was much too close for comfort in my opinion.

“Well… it seems that you’ve been lying about a lot more,” the menacing voice chuckled. I slowly turned my head to the voice and saw everyone looking at me, her included. My wounds have healed slightly but I still wasn’t fully healthy yet so with the jump of the window, some of my wounds were becoming sore again.

“Welcome back from the dead Taeyeon. It’s too bad that you’ll be greeting the gates of hell again,” he laughed as he approached me. Before he could take a step further, I placed the blade of my katana against his neck. He had obviously not seen the weapon in my hand as his eyes widened at the feel of the cold metal against his skin.

“Say anything more and you will be greeted by the devil himself,” I threatened as I pushed the blade closer. He cowered away as expected but the sound of the feet rushing by his other men alerted me. Not quite sure if I was up to standards, I switched the weapon to my left and quickly raised my right hand. As I did, the earth in front of the soldiers moved up to create a barrier between me and them. I then secured my arm around the male’s neck and held the blade closer to his neck as I waited for the barrier to crumble.

As expected, the wall crumbled as the men charged towards me. When I placed a light cut onto the man’s neck, they all stopped in their tracks.

“Release Sooyeon and I will release him,” I said sternly as I nodded my head towards her. I briefly looked at her to see her with widened eyes and a stiff jaw. The men were hesitant as they exchanged glances towards one another.

Unexpectedly, they all started making their way towards me in unison.

“Hey! What are you doing?! She’s going to kill me?!” the man in my arms yelled. The men all shrugged their shoulders carelessly and drew their blades. I pushed my blade further into the man’s flesh, causing an unmanly whimper to be emitted.

“Loyalty is earned. Right now, none of us owe you any loyalty,” one of the men answered for him. I couldn’t help but smile at the reply. The man in my arms began to struggle against me but I wasn’t so cruel as to murder him heartlessly. Instead, I pierced him in his stomach where her hand a chance of surviving before throwing him towards the men. I shook my katana briefly to get the excess off the tip before another male lunged at me.

I parried his attack before landing a swift kick into his stomach. I noted that my movements were sluggish and each attack was causing strain onto my wounds. I had to end it quickly if I wanted a chance of walking out of this.

As the second male threw another attack towards me, I dodged it by going underneath his arm before giving a swift kick to his behind to launch him forward into the sand. I then noted the other three men and looked at her behind them. Her arms were still tied so she was rendered useless so I had to think quickly.

Wait… what was I doing?

Why was I trying to help her?!

“Taeyeon! Behind you!” she yelled, interrupting my thoughts. Without looking back I moved to the side before a blade slashed by me. I turned my head to see the man I had kicked to be the attacker. Whilst his blade was lowered, I lifted my leg and kicked his hands from above to force him to let go of the weapon. I then used the hilt of my own weapon to knock him against the jaw and onto the floor.

“Move right!” she then yelled. Instinctively, I did as she said as a fist flew by me. I grabbed onto the wrist and forced myself backwards to hurl the body over me. I then turned around to see that the positions of the men had changed. There was now someone holding his hand over as the other charged towards me. Quickly, I blocked the attack and used my left hand to change the dirt beneath his feet into mud.

Before he could move out of the muddy mess, I made my way to her and threw an attack against the man’s arms to let her go. Blood was drawn as I cut his arm but I did not have the intention of cutting it all off. As soon as she was free I stood in front of her and pushed the last male away.

“I managed to defeat you at training and I can do it again now. You are to return to the clan and completely forget about us, you hear?!” I yelled at the men. The one who I had stabbed was lying on the floor, desperately calling out to the men who he thought were his allies and couldn’t help but laugh silently at his pitifulness.

“Kim Taeyeon and Jung Sooyeon are dead. Are we clear?!” I yelled at them again when I received no response.

“Yes ma’am!” they answered just as they did back during the training days.

“Now leave! Before I change my mind,” I growled at them. Obediently, they all got to their feet and started to gather their stuff. Before they could pick their weapons, I used my right hand to move it away from them.

“Take him back so he can get help and leave your weapons. You won’t need them,” I said sternly. With their heads bowed down low, they walked towards the crying grown man and picked him up before making their way down the dirt road. I watched them carefully in case they were to turn back around but as obedient and scared as they were, they never even dared to look back.

As soon as they were out of sight, I felt all of the adrenaline rush disappear as I fell to the floor with only my katana for support. A stinging pain was them felt in my abdomen again as I was sure that my wound and reopened. I looked down at the bandages and sure enough, the red was starting to seep through. It was going to take a lot longer to recover now.

“Taeyeon… you,” her soft voice called out. I raised my hand and stopped her before she could continue.

“Don’t think that things can return to the way they were. I haven’t completely forgiven you yet,” I told her coldly. A soft laugh was emitted by her before I felt her throw her tied hands around my shoulders.

“It doesn’t matter. This is enough,” she whispered into my ear. I winced again at the pain in my abdomen and she seemed to have noticed as she removed her arms right away.

“Taeyeon, you opened your wound again!” she yelled as she turned me around. I winced again at the movements and fell onto the floor completely.

“It will take at least a day before the lady will come by again. Couldn’t you have been more careful? You’ve reopened your wound just as it was beginning to heal!” she scolded as she held me up. It would take at least a day for the lady to come? Why would it take so long?

“Really, I don’t know what to do with you,” she sighed in frustration as she reached for my katana and undid the ropes herself. When she was free from restraints she lifted my body up and brought me back to my room. I couldn’t help but let out small cries of pain when she laid me down onto the bed due to the contortions of my body.

“Why does it take her one day to get here?” I asked her out of curiosity. She rushed to one of the cabinets and took out some more bandages before returning to my side. As she reached for my bandages I stopped her.

“Hey! Who gave you the right to touch me?” I said to her coldly. She looked frustrated when I didn’t let her change the bandages but she gave a defeated sigh and sat back down beside the bed obediently.

“If you haven’t noticed, the population of this town is two. Now I know I’m not forgiven but we have to stop the bleeding until I can ask for help from the neighbouring villages again,” she said sternly. Population of two? How was that even…?

“Wait, so it’s only me and you here?!” I said abruptly as I tried to sit up. As a result, my body crumbled in pain and fell back into the bed.

“Yes! Now stop being stubborn. You can ignore me all you want after, just let me stop the bleeding,” she pleaded as she tried to reached for my bandages again. I tried resisting her but she pinned me down and punched me where the wound was. The pain was unbearable and it rendered me useless as I tried to cope with the pain. Using my short term vulnerability, she got to work to change my bandages.

As she worked diligently in trying to stop the bleeding, I couldn’t help but feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t know exactly what it was that was being lifted, but it felt nice to feel that much lighter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“So… it’s only me and you?” I questioned as I sat by the river that happened to be nearby. Sooyeon sat by me with her feet in the water and hummed quietly.

“Yep.”

“And the next town is a whole day by foot for me?”

“Yep.”

“And this was the place you were planning on taking me to after the war had ended?”

“Yes, but under different circumstances to what had happened.”

I sat in silence as I watched the water flow past me. If I had counted my days properly, nine days had passed since the incident with the earth clan. My wound was on its way to healing with the persistence of her keeping me still and with the help of an old lady from the closest village. I was able to identify what it was that was lifted that day but I was not ready to openly admit it to her just yet.

We sat in silence for a few moments as the sound of the rippling water calmed the overall atmosphere around us. Experimentally, I raised my left arm and played with the water, letting it make patterns in the air.

There was a question that I was itching to ask but I didn’t know how I was to start it. It would see weird to just suddenly ask it blatantly with no build up.

“Just say what you need to say and save us all this awkwardness,” she suddenly stated. I dropped the water back into the stream and turned to her with a questionable glance.

“I’ve been with you long enough to know when you want to ask something. Ask it now or forever hold your peace,” she continued. I couldn’t help but laugh at how keen her senses were, but then again we did go through a lot together.

Looking back, I really did find myself relying on her a lot. She was the only means of company I had and she was the only one who saw me for who I was rather than a tool, at least towards the end she did. It still hurt to know that she only approached me to use me, but I was glad that I was worthy enough to have changed her views. At least changed it enough to make her change her mind about killing me.

“Why did you decide to remain loyal towards me? You would have been hailed a hero and you wouldn’t have to worry about me hating you since I would already be dead. It would have allowed you to stay with your people and given you everything that you would have wanted,” I asked hesitantly. In all honesty, I still thought that this was a trick of hers. That maybe I would find myself with a knife lodged into my heart one evening. But that part of me was very minuscule. Although it was small, it still made itself aware whenever I thought about these things.

“I would have gotten anything but what I wanted if I did follow it through. Our wants change over time, Taeyeon. I think it’s safe to say that you’ve won me over wholly and completely,” she answered confidently. I splashed my feet in the water awkwardly as I was still not quite sure what she had meant.

“Okay, maybe I was wrong about everyone loving half castes, but what I said after it was true,” she continued with a laugh. I stopped moving my feet in the water and stared at her blankly. I then looked back at the water and put my mind back into rewind as I tried to find that specific conversation.

“Others love half castes huh?”
“I know I love one.”

My eyes widened as I quickly moved myself away from her and stared at her. She laughed at my sudden actions and cocked her head to the side whilst smiling innocently at me.

“Do you remember?” she questioned. My jaw unhinged, ready to say something but I lost all the ability to talk as it stayed open, awkwardly gawking at her.

“It hurt when you ignored me, but it was understandable. I know that we’re not like it used to be, and I’m not quite sure if we can ever return to that, but so long as you didn’t hate me I would be fine. I guess it was my punishment for even thinking to raise my blade against you and I have thoroughly learnt my lesson,” she said confidently as she gave another awkward laugh.

I continued to stay silent as I pointed to her before pointing back towards me. She gave one single confident nod before turning her attention back to the water. I noted the slight red tint in the tip of her ears and cheek before turning my attention back to the water.

It was certainly a surprise, but it wasn’t like she didn’t make it obvious. I was just too ignorant to have seen the signs.

I gave a heavy sigh and continued to splash my feet in the water. I would be lying if I said I hated it, but I didn’t know what to say.

“You’re forgiven,” I mumbled after finding nothing else to say. She was forgiven long ago but I just never fully acknowledged it. I was always late in acknowledging my own feelings and thoughts but it was a part of who I am.

“I know,” she beamed with a wide smile. I couldn’t help but feel exposed when I realised that she had always detected my thoughts before I did.

Her hand then found itself into my own before holding it tight with our fingers interlocked. I stared at our hands blankly before looking up at her. Her cheeks were still slightly red and her ears were now even redder than I had ever seen them but it made her seem… nice?

I didn’t know what to say or do so I just let her hold my hand and turned my head away. I had a feeling that she was reading into me right now but I had no way to stop her. No matter how much I try to hide it she would always figure it out.

“You know how I feel before I do,” I sighed dejectedly. She nodded and gripped onto my hand even tighter.

“I know,” she answered.

I knew that there was something that she knew that I didn’t. I guess it would only be a matter of time before I would finally catch up to her current thoughts now. Perhaps in the future I will realise something about my feelings that I had always been denying but maybe she already knew.

“I know,” she repeated as if to answer my own thoughts.

I sighed again and succumbed to the moment. Better late than never I guess. I’ll just have to wait for the moment when I realise it.

*Note*

Sorry the story changed. I found this one whilst I was writing the original 'The Night Guardian' and thought that this would be better since the other one was not even half finished and I didn't want to rush it.

It's not really halloween-y but it's something right?

Happy Halloween guys ! 

Daym this was a loooong oneshot o_o

Everything seems to be longer now T_T

Anywho, hope your last few minutes were good (or however long it took you to read this)

Until next time~

Bubbles out~

--