Tayeon began to withdraw her energy from the river, trying to do it slowly, but like the first time, it was hard to control it. The voices of the others faded away, and Tayeon channeled all her focus into holding on. She managed to reach the bottom of the chasm, and then began to withdraw up the long, winding river.
"You guys can take your hands out of the water now, but do it one by one," she told them.
The others did as she said, accordingly withdrawing their power until only Jimin and Yoongi were left.
"You guys too," said Tayeon.
"Are you sure?" Jimin checked, and when Tayeon nodded firmly, he did as she asked, and withdrew. Yoongi, however, did not.
"Oppa, you as well."
"No," Yoongi shook his head. "You couldn't handle it last time. Let me help you."
"Not this time. I don't want to hurt you," she said, looking pleadingly at him. "Please."
"No, Tayeonie, please. Just let me help you."
Tayeon could feel calmness flooding across the mental connection they currently shared, and felt herself forcibly relaxing. It was the strangest feeling - she'd never wanted to fight against Yoongi's power working on her before. She'd never needed to. But she wasn't sure he understood how much raw energy was currently right at her fingertips, waiting to rush back up towards them the second she released it.
"Yoongi, don't," she pleaded, shaking her head, trying to rid the emotion from it that she knew was foreign. "I won't be able to control it, you're gonna get hurt."
"It's okay, Tayeon!" He insisted, trying his best to calm her.
Jimin watched the two of them worriedly, not knowing what to do. He wanted to help Tayeon too, but he wasn't sure if Yoongi was helping or hindering her.
Yoongi reached out to touch her with his other hand, and that was what did it, for Tayeon. She couldn't hold it back any longer, and suddenly, every ounce of her power was rushing towards them at high speed, bursting out of the underground tunnel with a force that shocked everyone. Tayeon could feel the influence of Yoongi's power being ripped from her mind, and he and Jimin were thrown back several feet, crashing into the undergrowth behind them. The others had been far enough away that the blast of kinetic energy didn't affect them, apart from Hobi and Jin, who had been standing the closest. They were only knocked off their feet, which was relatively harmless. As for the river, it continued to rush on into the lake, causing what seemed like a massive tidal wave.
"Jungkook-ah!" Yelled Taehyung, gazing up at it in horror, as the wall of water towered over them. "Shield!"
Jungkook immediately expanded his shield to cover the group, and only just in time, as the water crashed back down around them, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. It sloshed back and forth a few times, before all the excess water ran down into the underground cavern, and finally, everything was still.
Tayeon was exhausted, but picked herself up, and ran over to where her boyfriends was lying at the edge of the forest.
"Yoongi! Jimin-ah!" She exclaimed, her fear for them evident in her voice.
She dropped down beside them, and moved her hands to Jimin's face, breathing out heavily upon seeing that his eyes were open. He was completely drenched from the water, and covered in several cuts and scratches, but that was just his visible injuries. Yoongi wasn't fairing much better, his eyes had been closed but they blinked open as Tayeon laid a hand on his face, and tilted it towards her. She felt a tear escape her eye, and run away down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry Yoongi," she cried. "I didn't want to hurt you! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," he breathed, blinking up at her slowly. "You tried to warn me. I didn't listen."
"Tayeonie, it's okay, it's not your fault," Jimin raised a hand to connect with hers that still laid against his cheek.
"Yoongi, please don't do that to me again," she whimpered, collapsing on top of the two of them and trying to hold on to them tightly. "I saw you just lying there... I thought I'd..."
"No, don't say it," he interrupted her, laying a finger over her lips. "I'm okay. That wasn't your fault, it was mine."
Tayeon only shook her head, laying her head on his chest, feeling more tears escape as she blinked up at Jimin.
"I love you," she mumbled. "I love you both with all my heart. Please don't die. Ever."
Jimin breathed in sharply, and squeezed her hand he was still holding onto. Yoongi was quiet for a moment, before his arms moved up to encircle her body gently.
"I love you too," he responded, in a quiet voice. "And I'm sorry."
~.~.~.~
All eight occupants of the valley were quiet for some time after the incident at the river. Tayeon, after her emotional confession of love to her boyfriends, had begun to avoid Yoongi, withdrawing into herself, and pulling her shield tightly around her like a tortoise in its shell. Hobi had to spend considerable time healing both Yoongi and Jimin - Jimin had broken a bone in his leg, and cracked his head open, after being tossed violently against a tree, and Yoongi had a cracked rib again.
"I hate to sound like a hypocrite, hyung, but we really need you three to work together like you always do," said Hobi quietly, as he focussed on healing his rib. "Today more than ever. If what Jisoo said is right, we're going to be attacked later today, and we need to be ready for it."
"I know," Yoongi muttered, wishing he could look away from his friend, but the healing process demanded his full attention. "I feel so bad, Hobi. I was just trying to help her."
"I guess you just need to trust that she knows her own limitations," said Jimin softly, slipping his hand silently into Yoongi's. "She's never rejected your help before, you know."
Yoongi shook his head silently.
"Why was today any different from last time?" Hobi wondered. "I know she was using all the rest of our powers, but we'd all withdrawn when it happened."
"It's because she was sourcing extra power from the lake," Yoongi explained. "It made her stronger, but a lot harder to handle. I should have just listened to her. And now she's mad at me."
"I don't think she's mad," Jimin shook his head calmly. "She's just trying to process what happened."
"I agree with you, Jiminie," said Hobi, "She's not mad, she's scared. I imagine it's pretty terrifying to know you've hurt the two people you love most in the world."
"It's her worst fear," Yoongi muttered. "Her last one in the sim - the first time she went in there she lost control of her powers, and destroyed everything."
Hobi said nothing, not really knowing what he could say. He wished to be able to give Yoongi as good advice as he'd given him when he was struggling with his relationship, but Yoongi could probably give himself better advice than anyone else.
"Tayeon's a pretty logical thinker," he said, after a while. "Hyung, she literally told you she loved you right after it happened, she knows you had good intentions, okay? And this is the first time something like this has happened, right?"
"Right," Yoongi nodded. "It's never happened before."
"So it's a learning curve for you both," said Hoseok. He patted his friend on the shoulder, and smiled at him. "You're all done now. Feel better?"
"Lots better," he sighed, sitting up, deliberately breathing in deeply, heaving a sigh of relief upon realising that all the pain in his chest was gone. "Thanks Hobi."
"Any time, hyung. You know that. Now go talk to Tayeon, okay? I'd say she needs space, and I wish we had time to give it to her, but we literally don't."
"We'll go find her," Yoongi nodded, glancing at Jimin.
Jimin stood up to follow him outside, but once they were back in the open air, he halted. Yoongi halted with him, knowing he had something to say.
"Hyung... you need Tayeon to forgive you, but you also need to forgive yourself," Jimin stated, a little hesitantly, and Yoongi melted at his wide eyed look.
"Oh, Jiminie. But I am so, so sorry you got hurt as well. That was entirely my fault. I promised to protect you both, and now it's my fault you're both hurting."
"No, please don't keep saying that," Jimin's words were soft, and he reached out a small hand to take one of Yoongi's. He raised it to his lips, and rested against it, blinking at Yoongi over the top of his knuckles. "You've already acknowledged you were at fault to me, and I'm fine now. Hobi-hyung healed me, I'm not in any physical pain anymore. The only thing that's hurting me is that Tayeon is hiding somewhere because she's blaming herself for hurting both of us, and Hobi is right, we need to reconnect with one another because we can't be divided when there's people coming to war against us."
Yoongi sighed softly, and gently lowered his hand that was clasped in Jimin's so he could kiss his lips softly.
"I adore you, Park Jimin. I don't deserve your kindness."
Jimin smiled at him.
"Yes you do. You deserve the world."
Tayeon was in the first place that they looked for her, which only proved how well they knew her by now - she was round by the river again, in the same place things had suddenly gone wrong for them only a few hours prior. The blonde looked up, when she noticed her boyfriends approaching, and breathed out heavily, but didn't turn away from him as they came to sit one on either side of her. All of them were silent for a while, and the boys watched as Tayeon idly played with the water, making tiny fountains and whirlpools using her connection with it. She looked much more relaxed now, and at peace with herself, which made Yoongi feel a little better about himself.
"That helps you to relax?" He wondered, breaking the silence between them.
Tayeon nodded, glancing at him briefly, before turning back to the river.
"I needed to reconnect with it, in a way," she said. "I had to prove to myself that it's not as terrifying as it felt in that moment. And being near the water helps me to get strength back to use my connection with it again."
"I'm so sorry, Tayeon," Yoongi said again, studying her face intently. "I ought to know by now that you know yourself better than anyone."
"My instincts won't hurt me," she explained to him, finally turning to meet his gaze, and holding it steadily. "But I can hurt the people around me, if I lose control of my abilities. I just... I could feel you trying to force calmness over me, and because we were connected like that I couldn't access my shield. I've never been in a situation where I wanted to fight against you like that. I think that's what scared me the most."
"I was just so proud of you for making that connection through the water strong enough that we could actually talk to the people on the other side," said Yoongi. "I was just trying to help you, although it probably wasn't the best idea. You have to know that I wouldn't try to force anything on you if I wasn't convinced it would help. When I've helped you to stay calm before it's worked, that's why I kept trying it."
"I've never wanted you to stop before," said Tayeon. "Yoongi, you've helped me so much with accepting who I am, and learning how to control all this energy that lives inside of me, so please don't think that I don't appreciate that. I just need you to stop when I ask you to."
"Then I promise I will from now on," he said softly.
"I do know you were trying to help, and it's okay. You already said you were sorry, and I accepted that," Tayeon told him, reaching out, and taking his hand, before turning to Jimin, and taking his hand as well.
"Jiminie, I..."
"No," Jimin cut her off, his expression a little fierce, "If you're about to apologise for something that's entirely not your fault, stop right there. What if I apologised to you for standing there in the first place, instead of moving away like Hobi and the rest did?"
"No!" Tayeon immediately protested. "Of course it wasn't your fault for standing there! How could you know what was going to happen?"
"Exactly," Jimin smiled at her softly, leaning in to kiss her, and Tayeon gladly allowed him to, kissing him back sweetly. "So," Jimin murmured against her lips, "It's not your fault either. And both of us forgave hyung for his part in it. We move on."
"We move on," Tayeon sighed softly, breathing out in what felt like relief.
"Tayeonie... did you mean what you said?" Yoongi dared to ask, his thumb stroking softly over her hand that was still connected to his own.
"Yeah," Tayeon suddenly smiled, feeling a lot better. "I guess it took a near death experience for me to realise it, but I'm in love with you, Min Yoongi and Park Jimin."
Yoongi smiled at her, his eyes following hers as she leaned closer to him, and pressed their lips together sweetly. The kiss was so loving and affectionate, and both of them began to smile as they felt Jimin's lips and hands against their necks and in their hair. All traces of animosity between them faded away as they lost themselves in each other. In that moment, Yoongi felt as though the three of them were the only people in the world.
"I love you too," he breathed out, murmuring the words against her skin. "Til the end of time."
"You'll be an old man by then," said Tayeon, and Yoongi groaned.
"Good to see the real Tayeon back again," he stated. "It's been a good few hours since you made fun of me over something."
"Got a few hours to catch up on then, haven't I," she grinned. "By the way, I can't believe them lot are all living in our romantic first kiss spot."
"I know right," Jimin immediately joined her in righteous indignation.
Yoongi smiled at their wide eyed looks in amusement.
"So disrespectful," he shook his head, his hands moving almost automatically to the base of their necks and tangling in their hair. "My sweet angels. I love you both. I would give you the world, if I could, but unfortunately it was necessary to give away the cavern spot to people whose lives would otherwise be in imminent danger."
He was holding back a smirk as he spoke, and Jimin snorted at his ridiculous words.
"It's okay," said Tayeon innocently. "I like this spot better."
"That's handy, since it's a lot closer," Jimin grinned. "Do you need to stay here a bit longer, or are you okay to come and help us get ready to defend the valley?"
"I'm good," said Tayeon. "I'll come help you guys."
~.~.~.~.~
After several hours of preparation, and a late afternoon lunch of, yep, you guessed it, fish, the eight Divergents were about as ready as they thought they'd ever be. They had no way of knowing exactly what time the attack would come, or how many people they'd be defending themselves against, but they were prepared for the worst.
Tayeon and Taehyung had spent their time moving as many large boulders up above the narrow entrance to the valley, along with several piles of logs, all of which could be used to drop on any intruders. Hobi, after completing his defences on the lookout island, had been working not far from the two Taes, making use of the piles of spears and smaller weapons Tayeon and Jimin had carved out of wood a few days prior. Every so often, Hobi interrupted Tayeon's work with Taehyung to ask her to light the end of one of the spears on fire, as he experimented with flaming projectile weapons. Jin, Jungkook and Ae-cha had been setting up a large wooden stockade, combined with several more boulders that Jin had flown into position using his telekinesis. They intended to attack from the top ridge of the valley which overlooked the pine forests outside. It would be nearly impossible for someone to scale the steep mountains that bordered the edge of it, and they intended to narrow their choices down even further by directing all their enemies into the gap, where they could more easily pick them off as they tried to come through by dropping large objects on their heads.
"I hate this," sighed Jimin, as the group of them were standing at the front of their makeshift base. The sun was beginning to dip lower on the horizon now, as the afternoon wore on. "I hate war. I don't want to hurt anyone. But it's so necessary."
"They want to hurt us," Hobi gently reminded him. "This isn't our fault, okay? Remember that. We're defending ourselves, not attacking them."
"It still sucks," The blonde sighed. "I can't wait til it's all over."
"I second that," said Yoongi, giving his boyfriend a sympathetic smile. "We're gonna get through this, okay? Everyone's got their own job to do today, but remember to look out for each other as well. You guys are like my family now, I don't want to lose a single one of you if I can help it."
"I hate to break up the party, but I can hear people heading our way," said Ae-cha. "Lots of people."
Everyone looked around cautiously, and Jimin pricked up his ears, before nodding in agreement.
"Okay," Hobi nodded. "It's go time."
"We're stronger than them," said Yoongi. "Don't forget that. We're here because we're Divergent, and we were never supposed to follow their rules. Let's fight for our own dream."
A/N: oop here we go 👀
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