[Dara] 

  It has been a while since the sun rose. I sighed, rubbing my nose as a small cold starts to set in. I've been sitting here for a good 3 hours now. It's not that I'm waiting for anything, but I got caught up with the many memories that crossed my mind. How long have I been here? A good 8 months? There's so many things that happened here that I want to forget. The thought of that massacre made me shiver. Houses and bodies burned brightly in the night.. People screaming... Sounds of wailing.. The sight of that Taeyang soldier's throat getting slit apart and the sensation of his still warm blood splashing on my face... I want to forget them all.

  I still wake up sometimes thinking how this is all a dream. How is time travel possible? 

  My legs dangle beneath the short, narrow wooden plank bridge above the still, deep river. This was the place where I was found. This is supposedly where I came from. If it is able to bring me here, then it should be able to bring me back. Is the water cold? What if it doesn't work? What if I actually die?

  These questions kept me from delaying the jump. It was dark when I arrived but its bright now. 

  This place.... Kingdom of Dal... Would I be able to forget it after I return to my own world? Just wait till Bom hears about it. Would she believe my words? 

  There's so many different people I met here. Historian Lee who is always desperately hungry for new information of the past; Sangchul who's capable and courageous on the battlefield, but terribly awkward with girls; the noodle shop ahjusshi who makes some of the best soup in this entire universe; the Crown Prince, who is slick with his words; Lady Kim who is the exact female version of her son; Kiko, the Pyul Princess who didn't seem to care for anything much other than the floral and fauna; Jisoo who's young and kind; Doodoong, the cute, poor child with beautiful eyes.

  There's also Seungri. I smiled upon the thought of him. That wealthly, obnoxious git that struts around and flirt with girls all day. I had never really told him how thankful I am for him. I guess bickering can be a source of stress relief too. I still don't understand why he had to diguise himself with such an image and put up with those capitol people looking down on him when he is actually as smart, courageous and skilled as his other brothers. I remember the way he held off the enermies that surrounded us to let me escape. I'll probably be dead without him, right?

  And there's Soo Hyuk. 

  Thinking about him gives me chestaches. 

  Even now.. Even now, some part of me is still in denial about his betrayal. He was a prince of Taeyang all along. A seething pain gripped me as I thought of the words he said that night where we were seperated by the fences. That was when I told him that the Ice Lord would be going to the capitol. He said he liked me. It's hard; almost amusing; ridiculous to think of that now. I really can't differentiate between what's real and what's not anymore. I thought of the old times; where we were actually happy; the time where we ran away from the hooligans in the alley then collapse laughing at the absurdity of the situation's turn-around; the useless conversation about why this kingdom used silvers instead of gold as payments as we ate in the noodle stall. Every little bit of them is flooding in my head and I shut them off. Those are in the past already. 

  And lastly, there's Jiyong.

  I inhaled sharply and looked up at the sky. No, I won't be able to go if I were to think of him right now. He would end up happy. He must.

  I've used up enough time. I bend down and dipped tips of my finger into the water. It didn't felt too bad. 

  I took my shoes off and straightened up after placing them neatly by the edge of the bridge. It's for sure that Jiyong would look for me. At least he'll know that I've gone home after he sees them. 

  I took a long last look at the land around me.

  Thank you, Dal. Thank you, Jiyong.

  And I leaped.

  My body hits the water and fills my nose, choking me. My lungs shrieked in alarm and the water pulled me downwards. There was a ebbing voice in my head that was screaming that this isn't the right decision; I am going to die instead of going home. The fear got louder and louder and I shut my eyes tightly. My brain understood my intention but my limbs didn't as they instinctively fought for survival; but soon my muscles relaxed and everything seemed oddly calm for a moment.

  Then everything went still.

  I waited. There was nothing. I couldn't open my eyes even when I tried.

  Am I dead? Why can't I lift my eyelids?

  I can't feel the moving water around me.

  Then I hear something. A beep. Pause. Another beep.  Pause. And then another one.

  I struggled to open my eyes.

  There was the sound of chairs scraping against the floor before a small familiar warmth enveloped my left hand.

  "Hey, I'm here again." 

  That voice made my mind blank out.

  "You're still sleeping, I see." It's Bom!!! I'm home! But.. why can't I see? Why can't I move? "This is all my fault, Dara. I missed you so much. It's been weeks."

  I missed you too Bommie. Her voice made me choke up. There was a lump in my throat but I still couldn't move. She sounded far away, like a broken radio- a little disorientating and fragmented. 

  "Oh my god!" She screamed all of a sudden. "Doctor! Get the doctor! She's crying! She's tearing! Help!"

  There was a loud screech of the chair against the floor and the fading sound of her running further away from me. I still didn't understand. Am I under some sort of a coma or medication?

  "Dara-"

  This time it was was another voice, from a different direction, calling out to me. Painfully familiar. 

  "Dara please-"

   Jiyong.

  "Dara please, wake up."

  He sounded hoarse and.. is he crying?

  "Dara! Can you hear me? Wake up, please!" This time it was Bom.

  "Dara-"

  "Dara-"

  "No..."

  "Doctor- she's-"

  "I'm begging you, Dara."

  "Oh my god, thank god, stay with me Dara!"

  "Stay with me."

  The voices came from two directions and its hard to hear one at a time. My heart clenched painfully at the pain laced in the two voices. It feels like I am forced to choose. Do I get to choose? 

  "Come on, Dara..." Bom whispered. "She's crying, doc, does this means that she has consciousness? It has been-"

  "I love you."

  Those three words erased away every other commotion I am hearing as my heart pounded once loudly and then stayed still.

  "Please."

  His voice was pleading, dripping with pain. Where is he? Is it part of my hallucination? I heard him clearly but I see nothing. Why? How many times had I imagined him saying those words to me, but now that I heard them, why am I so unsure, why does it feel so damn painful? 

  "Dara..." 

  There was an edge of hopelessness to his voice now.

  I am allowed to make a choice. So I did. 

  I'm so sorry.