Diving Deep (requests closed)

Jae-Ha (Yona of the Dawn) - Finding Our Way

For LokisAsgard Thank you for requesting this Jae-Ha oneshot. Let me know if this is okay for you.

I slowly crept closer to the shivering teen, his ragged clothing doing very little to protect him from the harsh weather. It was only the wild look in his eyes that cautioned me against simply hurrying over to offer him the assistance I wanted to provide. Those eyes spoke of someone who might not trust as swiftly as others, someone who had been betrayed too many times to simply put his faith in the first person to offer their hand out to him.

And so here I was, slowly moving closer as his one visible purple eye watched me like I was going to lash out at him without notice. Finally, when I was just at the edges of being able to reach out and touch him, I stopped and sat down. I pulled my jacket closer around me as I fought not to shiver from the chill in the air, thankful that at least it wasn't raining right now.

Pulling the large sack off my back, I made sure to use slow movements so as not to startle the young male nearby. Setting the bag down beside me, I opened the bag and carefully pulled out the folded blanket from inside, placing it in between him and I. Even though I wanted to smile when he grabbed it and quickly wrapped it around himself, I kept my face neutral and focused on bringing out the smaller bag of food from inside the sack.

The moment I brought out the loaf of bread, I could see him freeze as he watched me place it on a piece of cloth I had sat on the ground between us to keep it clean. When he refused to accept the food, I lifted it back up and took a large bite before setting it back down, smiling at him in a friendly manner as I swallowed and showed him my now empty mouth.

My smile grew even brighter when he grabbed the bread and started eating it, still watching me as I began pulling out other food for him to eat. The more I brought out, the slower he ate, his eye growing wider as he looked at the small pile of fruit, cheese and meat that I had sat down. Finally finished setting out the meal for him, I sat the empty back into the sack and put it aside for the time being, satisfied with the idea of simply watching him eat his fill.

Once he was done, he sat there staring at me like I was some kind of puzzle he couldn't solve. Chuckling softly, I slowly stood up, grabbing the sack and holding out a hand to him.

"My names (y/n)! How would you like to come with me? I'd be happy to have you travel with me. I'm on a journey, you see. I have a promise to keep, but the road I am on has been very lonely. You don't look like you have a destination in mind, so maybe you could figure out where you are going while traveling with me? But you don't have to if you don't want to! It's up to you what you do with your life..." Seeing the frown on his face I slumped my shoulders, expecting him to refuse me as I started pulling my hand back, ready to turn around and leave.

At least the boy wouldn't starve as quickly. As soon as I turned my head away, I felt my hand grabbed, quickly whipping my head back to look at him with wide eyes. Upon seeing him slowly nod his head at me, I couldn't help but cry out happily as I pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I've been so lonely by myself!" It took a bit, but finally I felt his trembling arms slowly wrap around me, the warmth from the blanket nothing compared to the warmth I felt in my heart.

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Now so many years later, it was with that fond memory in mind that I now looked up into his eyes as he told me of his fear of being forced to join the other dragons on this journey, even if he did seem to like the people within the group. I knew what it was he worried about, so reaching up to pat him on the head, I smiled up at him and spoke.

"If you go with them, you go with them. If you are worried about being trapped by them, you can let go of those thoughts. After all, it's not like I would let you go without me. You know that if something happens to you, I'll find a way to free you again. We always find our way, as long as we are together." I reached out my hand and felt that familiar warmth as he gently wrapped his fingers around mine.

"Then let's get packed. We might have a long journey ahead of us, (y/n)."