Joonho stepped forwards towards Mrs. Lee, his eyes were blazing with anger as he clenched his fists, trying to physically refrain himself from acting out. ‘What have you done?’

 ‘Done? I have gotten rid of a betrayer! A liar in our midst! She was corrupt! She could have saved my boy!’ Mrs. Lee glared at the hoard of villagers that joined Joonho in the pub, her cheeks were red and bloated from her tears, her eyes wild and frantic with angst. She was unable to produce any sympathy from the apathetic listeners. ‘She watched my boy get taken by the beasts! She was bound to be next!’ Within moments Hyoheon walked up to her, his long legs closing the gap between them quickly before he raised his palm, slapping her. The woman collapsed, her frail body shivering with emotion.

 ‘You ignorant wench! She was my fiancee! I could have protected her! But you threw her out to those monsters!’ He breathed heavily, his chest rose with every breath. ‘You gave judgement against her, so I’ll lay judgement on you as well.’ He spun to face the crowd, his eyes burning with self righteous anger. ‘This woman has abandoned our own, my wife to those monsters. She broke the rules and closed the gate without permission,’ he his hand pointing towards the gate. ‘She broke the gate for her own selfish means, we won’t be able to leave the village again for food until it gets fixed.’ Hyoheon crossed his arms, his stature straight and dominant, captivating the gazes of the watchers, a few curious villagers that were still in their houses opened their doors and watched, trying to see what was going on. ‘She’s left us off worse off than before, and she’s left me without the love of my life.’

 Zuko clenched his jaw, watching Hyoheon dramatise the event as much as he could. Zuko knew that Hyoheon felt nothing for his sister's disappearance except embarrassment, after all the boy had just spent a lot of money celebrating in the tavern only to find his fiancee gone. It infuriated Zuko, he had the right to be angry, to yell, grieve, but a stranger was doing it for him. Zuko stared out at the sky, staring at the purple that came over the blue like dark stains on a cloth. Only time would tell if his sister would reappear, Zuko felt his father rest a hand on his shoulder. ‘She’ll be okay,’ Zuko looked at his father, surprised to see a bitter calmness darkening Joonho's brown orbs.

 ‘How?’ Zuko’s voice cracked as he looked at Hyoheon who was still ranting to the villagers, purposefully riling them up.

 ‘Your mother and I took every chance we could to protect your sister,’ Joonho removed his hand from his son's shoulder, sighing heavily. ‘She will not be killed.’

 ‘That’s not any comfort to me when I know she’s been left with those monsters,’ Zuko hissed, the furious anger of the crowd was contagious, already filling his soul with corrupt emotions.

 ‘Zuko...’ His father frowned seeing the apparent change in his sons demeanor.

 ‘We need to cast her from our village!’ Hyoheon stared at the woman who was still lying on the ground, defeated.

 ‘She needs to go,’ Zuko hissed, for once agreeing with the smith.

 ‘Zuko,’ Joonho stared at his son horrified that he would impose such a curse upon the woman. Although she destroyed his daughters life he didn’t believe they should destroy her life, he raised his family to rely on the principles of healers to be compassionate and help all those who need it, even if they didn’t deserve it.

 ‘We need to hunt them down!’ Hyoheon pumped his fist in the air, ‘and we need to destroy them once and for all! We need to avenge all our families, our fellow villagers, and find my wife!’ The gathered villagers nodded, cheering their affirmations, supporting him fully. They had enough of the Fae trapping them in the village they would no longer be restrained, it had been generations since they had approached the forest and had been able to travel at night.

 ‘Hyoheon,’ Aeko stepped up towards him from out of the crowd, ‘you’re going after her?’

 ‘Yes,’ he nodded firmly, crossing his arms across his chest. Aeko stared at him in disbelief, she couldn’t believe he would be so foolish as to attempt to engage the Fae in battle, especially not for a mere girl, her friend of not. ‘We can’t leave until the gate is fixed, until then we will prepare for an attack on those monsters!’

 Aeko scoffed, stepping back before she glared down at Mrs. Lee. ‘I can’t believe this,’ rolling her eyes she walked past the woman barely sparing a glance to her.

 ‘Aeko,’ Mrs. Lee stumbled, trying to get up and follow her, ‘Aeko.’ Aeko remained impassive to the woman, completely ignoring her. ‘Aeko! Please!’ Mrs. Lee grabbed onto her arm, her limbs shaking weakly. ‘Please, my Kwan will be healed soon, you’ll still accept him, won’t you?’ Aeko’s lips curled in disgust as she shook Mrs. Lee off of her.

 ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Aeko rushed away, looking back at the crowd of villagers lead by the stunning smithy. Aeko had no plans in continuing with her engagement with Kwan, it was never publicly announced, nobody knew so she would not continue with the marriage to a cripple. No matter how healthy Kwan may be he will always be a liability, he was of no use to her blind. Aeko looked at the crowd, her gaze falling on Zuko. There were only three boys around her age Zuko, Hyoheon, and Kwan, the rest were well into adulthood or far too young. Aeko had been unwillingly paired with Kwan, but now that he was impaired she knew her parents would excuse her.

 ‘Aeko!’ Zuko ran up to her, glancing back at the crowd of agitated villagers. ‘Do you know how Hyunsu got out of the village?’ He sighed, frowning down at the ground, ‘I don’t understand there should have been guards.’

 ‘I don’t know,’ Aeko sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she looked away from him. ‘I’m sorry Zuko, I saw her before, she was telling me of her and Hyoheon but I don’t know. I have no idea how she got out of the gate, I’m sorry.’ Aeko looked at Zuko with teary wide eyes.

 ‘It’s okay,’ he smiled at her cynically, he trusted her, that she had no idea, he just worried so much. Hyunsu was his little sister, he had grown up protecting her from everything. He was the one that helped her face her fear of pigs, he was the one that picked her up when she fell. He was the one that made sure she didn’t kill herself when she tried to climb the solitary tree in the village. He was the one who caught her when she fell off the roof, he was the one who killed all of the bugs before she saw them, and he was the one who ate all of the food she didn’t like without their parents seeing. His whole role growing up was centered as her older brother and now here he was standing alone in the village, without his only sibling. He had failed her, he had failed to keep her inside the village, he had failed to protect her.

 'Kwan was to be my beloved,' Aeko closed her eyes, stopping underneath the shade of the sole tree in the village, breathing in the fresh scents of the nearby herbs. Zuko frowned, staring at her with an empathetic gaze. 'My parents will no longer allow me to marry him, I will have to find another husband.' She sighed, looking down at her fingers as she played with them. 'I wish I could honor my promise but I hardly believe I will be allowed to.'   

 Aeko was not lying about her parents, however what she refused to disclose to Zuko was that she agreed with them fully, she just could not marry a cripple. Scanning Zuko with an appraising gaze she whimpered, her chin wobbling as her eyes started to tear up. 'It's just not fair! If only he had made it in the village in time, this never would have happened. He never would have been attacked and Mrs. Lee never would have come up with the idea to toss Hyunsu out into the wild.'

 'I'm so sorry,' Zuko spoke slowly, his voice rumbling out of his chest in low comforting ripples. If it had been the culture of the Fae, he would have felt the need to hug her to comfort her. However in the human culture touches were used only between family and lovers, to hug her would be inappropriate. It was partly the reason why Hyunsu was given so much trouble by the Elders, by repeatedly hugging Sooki in public she had essentially been declaring to the village that Sooki was indeed family, a very close friend.

 'I know,' Aeko sniffled, looking away from him, she had been hoping to elicit more of a reaction from him she had been hoping she could tempt him to cross line. How could she secure him as a husband if he was unwilling to cross the line now? She would have to work on Hyoheon as well, Hyunsu didn't deserve him, she didn't understand how lucky she was to have him as her fiance. Aeko needed some reassurance that Zuko was open to being her backup, after all the healers do hold a relative amount of power in the village other than the smiths. The whole village depended on them for times of sickness, and wars.

 'Your heart is good, Aeko, whoever accepts your hand in marriage is a lucky man,' Zuko smiled softly, his eyes conveying his inner opinion of her. Although she was a perfectly pleasant girl he saw her merely as a girl, his sisters friend and by extension, his own little sister.

 'Zuko,' her voice quivered as she looked at him with large innocent eyes, that sparkled with insecurity under her lashes. 'I know this is wrong but, please I need some comfort, I feel so lost.' She sniffed covering as a single tear spilled out of her eye. 'Can you please hug me?' Zuko hesitated, staring at her fragile frame, shaking from her so called grief. Silently he pulled her into his chest, hugging her. He didn't see the smile that pulled her lips up, or the instant drying of her eyes. He was willing to toe the line, and that was enough for her to know that she had a chance, she would gain status in the village, the status that Hyunsu so willingly left behind. ‘Thank you.’

 'Aeko,' Zuko pulled away, looking at the ground. 'I did it once,' raising his eyes he frowned at her, 'I won't do it again. Please don't ask me,' turning around Zuko walked towards his house, he could feel Aekos gaze on him until he closed the heavy wooden door behind him.

 'Zuko!' He looked up to see his mother looking up from the pot she had over the flames, even the smell of cooking meat didn't help his mood, the smell just sent his stomach into knots. Zuko could tell immediately that Hyoheon’s yelling had not reached the house. His mother had no idea her daughter was gone, he was therefore tasked with telling her the awful news. 'Where's Hyunsu, I need her help,' she tsked and brushed her hair out of her face, scowling. 'She's always running off, she needs to learn to stay put.'

 'Mother,' Zuko lead her to the couch, pushing her down onto it. He crouched down so he saw her eye to eye. 'She's not coming, Hyunsu's not coming,' clearing his throat he looked away, his eyes started to fill with unshed tears.

 'What do you mean?' His mother's voice questioned him, as if detached from the situation she merely at him blankly.

 'I don't know why, but she left the village, Mrs. Lee locked her out there, she destroyed the lever. And,' Zuko looked towards the pot that was bubbling trying to avoid his mothers look, 'she's gone missing.'

 ‘No,’ his mother remained still, the only motion was the faint shaking of her shoulders. Gulping she gripped her thin shawl and pulled it tighter across her shoulders. ‘No, Hyunsu will be coming in soon,’ standing up she walked to the pot, dipping her long metal spoon in and stirring the broth.

 ‘No she won’t,’ Zuko frowned watching his mother continue to stare into the broth.

 ‘She’s coming home Zuko! Now go outside and find your father and sister, we’re having supper now.’ He stared in disbelief as she walked to the kitchen, pulling out four bowls and spoons, setting the table for the whole family, plus Hyunsu. Zuko stared at her before slowly walking out, his movements were jerky and hesitant as he silently closed the door behind him.

 As soon as he left the house she collapsed covering with her hand as she choked on the tears she was fighting to hold back. ‘My baby, oh my baby, my baby’s gone,’ lifting up her shawl with shaky hands she used the worn cloth to wipe her tears. She stiffened hearing light rapping on the door. Immediately she cleared and grabbed the seat of a chair, pushing herself up, ‘I’m coming!’ Roughly scrubbing her eyes with the shawl she walked to the door opening it slowly, as soon as she saw Sooki on the other side she completely opened the door, letting the former Nymph in. She closed the door behind Sooki, sniffing quietly as she struggled to keep her tears at bay.

 ‘I’m so sorry,’ Sooki placed her palm on Hyunsu’s mothers cheek, gently wiping away a stray tear with her thumb.

 ‘It’s not your fault,’ she cleared and patted Sooki’s hand before removing it from her cheek. ‘She will be safe, won’t she? She won’t be hurt?’

 ‘No, she won’t be,’ Sooki took her hand and guided her to the couch, both of them sat down, their knees touching. ‘I promise you she will be safe.’

 ‘Will she ever return?’ She fiddled with her shawl clearing , as she stared into her lap, not looking at Sooki.

 ‘You know the chances of that are low,’ Sooki sighed, her eyes fluttered closed as she shook her head. ‘I heard the men of the village talking of attacking the Fae.’

 ‘No,’ her eyes widened as she stared at Sooki in shock. ‘They can’t, they’ll get killed.’

 ‘They will. Hyoheon is trying to lead the group, he is also planning to rescue your daughter.’

 ‘That’s good, I want my daughter back,’ she flipped from one side of the argument to the other immediately after hearing about her daughter.

 ‘No, it’s not good,’ Sooki shook her head, she was already seeing the conflict that would evolve from the situation. If Hyunsu was accepted into the Fae society, if being the key word, they would fight to keep her in. Fae’s are extremely loyal and see the clan as second most important, only after nature, unlike the humans who saw villages as a fair way to survive by splitting the families into specialties they could get more done and live better.

 ‘But we’ll have her back.’ Hyunsu’s mother begged, trying to show Sooki her point of view.

 ‘For a while you will, until they take her back.’ Sooki remained on the facts, the truth, Sooki was looking to the future but Hyunsu’s mother was looking to the present, ruled by her emotions.

 ‘We shouldn’t have done this, we should have just let her die!’ Hyunsu’s mother covered her face with her shawl, her heavy breathing was audible throughout the room.

 ‘Buyong,’ Sooki reached out to Hyunsu’s mother, putting her hand on her knee Sooki squeezed her knee, trying to physically show her empathy. ‘It was a decision that had to be made.’

 ‘But was it the wrong one?’

 ‘You made your decision, now you must walk the path you chose, time cannot be turned back.’ A whimper escaped Buyong’s lips as she nodded, she knew that this was her reality she just needed to hear another person say it.

 ‘She will live Buyong, that in itself is a gift and why you chose the path for her that you did.’

 ‘She’ll never be my daughter again,’ Buyong clasped her hand on , a fresh set of tears flooding to her eyes. ‘I want my baby girl back,’ Sooki watched as Buyong broke down, her warm tears dampened the shawl she was clutching. Sooki had nothing to say that would make her feel better, she wished to the stars above that there was some way to lessen her pain.