The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 56: Comfort and Dreams

Calista ambled back towards Ik-soo's hut. Actually, she had been wandering for awhile and hadn't made it back yet.

But she was in no hurry.

Her conversation with her brother replayed over and over in her mind, wondering if she should have said something different, or prevented him from feeling as guilty as he did.

As she got lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the person right in front of her, and crashed into them.

A pair of familiar arms steadied her easily and Calista squeezed her eyes shut, willing the heat rising to her cheeks to die down before she had to face him.

"Hey, Shin-ah." She grinned sheepishly up at him as his mouth twisted down in a frown. "What's up?"

He pulled back once she got her bearings, but didn't move away. He just stood there, and from what she assumed, stared at her.

She got nervous the first few minutes, gaze darting to look at anything but him, but then met his mask.

"Shin-ah, is something the matter?"

He leaned down so that he was eye-level with her and she forced herself not to back away. She did, however, let out a very undignified squeak in surprise that she tried to cover up with a cough.

"You..." Her ears perked up at the sound of his voice, internally groaning at how pleasant it sounded to her. ".... have been crying."

Her head snapped up and she froze as his thumb came up to her face, wiping away the tear stains gently.

She hadn't even realized that she had been crying.

Well, now I feel stupid.

For both not realizing it and that Shin-ah actions had such a simple explanation to it.

"... You heard..."

She tilted her head to the side, confused. Shin-ah visibly struggled with the words he wanted to say.

"Earlier..."

A light bulb went off in her head.

"With you and the others about Zeno?"

He nodded, relieved she figured it out so that he didn't have to explain it.

Calista sent him a soft smile. "Yeah, I heard. I came back earlier than I thought I would. I hope it wasn't a problem with the others."

He gave her a secret smile and her grin grew. "You didn't tell them, did you?"

He shook his head and she laughed, the sound making his heart soar.

"... the king..."

The strong fighter stiffened and he frowned at her reaction. Jae-ha was right. Something was wrong.

She didn't speak for a minute, trying to find the right words to say. A warm hand covered hers and she closed her eyes at the comfort it brought.

When she looked up, she was surprised to see he had pushed his mask up, eyes swimming with concern as his hand idly stroked hers reassuringly.

Calista grinned. "When did you get so good at reading people?"

He shrugged, just glad to bring a smile to her face even if it was only temporary.

"His name is Soo-won." She said carefully. "He once was a very good friend to us: Hak, the princess and I."

Now that his mask was up, she took notice of the subtle changes of his expression. How his nose crinkled in distaste as she mentioned the king.