The Golden Dragon [Akatsuki no Yona]

Chapter 31: Night

I've stayed with grandma and Zeno for a couple of days and I've grown closer to Zeno. Getting to know him before everything happens really makes me happy. Actually, just being with him made me happy enough.

Zeno... There's so much I want to say... I'm the girl you are going to marry in the future. You saved me from my loneliness. You showed me how to be loved and happy. I wish those times will return...

"Ash, what are you doing out here?" I heard his voice and turned around.

I smiled and waved hello. "I am just enjoying the night sky..." I looked up and saw the stars. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Yeah, they are," Zeno looked up to admire them too. The stars in the sky shone brightly, decorating the vast dark night sky. They seem to surround the large round lonely moon, keeping it company.

"Do you prefer the night or the day, Zeno?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I suppose I prefer the night," he replied as he gazed upwards. "It's a little quieter and peaceful compared to the day. Also, a lot calming."

I got what he meant. After spending these days with him, I got to witness a few 'incidents'. Other villagers often came to the house to ask for Zeno's 'guidance' and Zeno always had a solemn expression on his face when he hears about that, but it quickly gets replaced by a fake smile and he tells them what he knows. In the morning, I tend to find letters by the door addressed to 'monster'. I opened one, thinking it was just a prank at first, but inside it were just hateful words, all directed at Zeno.

After everything Zeno's done for this village, they were not the least bit grateful. It infuriates me to see Zeno get treated this way.

"Zeno..." I called out his name, getting his attention. "Do you want to leave this village?"

Zeno looked down for a few seconds, before giving a sad smile. "If I could, I probably would have ages ago, but I can't. Grandma can't move much in her condition so I wouldn't be able to take her with me. I don't feel secure leaving her alone so I want to stay here and take care of her. It doesn't matter what this village thinks of me, all I want is to take care and protect my family."

Zeno... Your answer was just as I expected of you. It was foolish of me to even ask, wasn't it?

I sighed and exclaimed, "I've decided! I'm gonna stay here with you!"

"Huh? But Ash, weren't you going to the next village?" He asked. "Wouldn't it be bad if you stayed here."

Uh... Oh yeah, I said that, didn't I?

"Um... It's not really important, don't worry! To be honest, I don't really have a family. Ever since I was young, my family... had abandoned me," I said as I remembered my past.

Back then, they were the ones who kicked me out when they found out about my disease. In the years of my isolation, they have never once visited me, it was like I was outcasted from being their daughter because of my illness.

"Why did they abandon you?" Zeno asked in a concerned tone. I looked his way and my eyes met his concerned and worried gaze. I felt my heart beating against my chest.

"Why... they abandoned me huh... I guess I wasn't the daughter they wanted," I replied with a sad smile. "I've lived in isolation for a while, but then I decided that I can't waste my life away just like that and became a traveler."

Half-true... Half-lie... I wonder when the time will come where my words were of utmost honesty to him.

Zeno rested his head on my shoulder and muttered, "We both have our own scars huh... I admire you, how you can forgive your family and move on. It must have been hard."

... It was... but that didn't matter...

I reminisced on my past with Zeno. How he was always with me.

You will by my side. I was no longer lonely.

"I actually admire you... How you can put up with everything in village and still act like everything is fine..." I muttered.

"It's nothing admirable... I've just gotten so used to it..."

Days past and I noticed some things other then Zeno as well. It was the main person in his life. Grandma seemed to be getting a lot more tired. I feared that...

Her time was almost up.

A/N: Hello! Sorry this update was short, I've been having quite a writers block. I had planned to continue on but I was not sure how to transit this scene to the next so I will write it for the next chapter. Again, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. One month!! TT