Those of Us Alone

Chapter 41: Traveling Plans are Decided

Midori's POV

As I had been bowing for a while, I took this as a sign that I could finally straighten myself up. When I did, I met the pitiful glanced thrown my way. To be fair, the King was trying his hardest to not pity me entirely - that was nice of him - as well as Joo-doh.

They shared a look, but the one that spoke up was the General, "Are you trying to regain your memory?"

I could practically feel Yona's stare as I spoke casually, "I am. Currently, I am trying to figure out as much as I can from my friends here, but I figure I may be leaving soon so that I can talk to other people I know."

"Oh?" The general was still questioning me, I guess to see if I really knew what I was doing. I knew that Yona was getting antsy and that the king wasn't sure of how he was going to manage to get us (me and Yona) away from Joo-doh long enough to allow us to go without Yona being discovered, "Where are you headed to next?"

I looked down at the cobblestone, but then met his eyes again as I spoke, "I was thinking maybe the Wind Tribe?"

Accepting the answer, Joo-doh spoke, "Home is always a good place to start if you want to get some of your memories back." He then looked to the King, as if expecting him to say something to me. Surprise covered his features, however, as the King tried his best to look anywhere but his General. Sighing, he turned to me and spoke again, with a slight bit of annoyance this time, "Did you want an escort?" Ah, no wonder. He must've thought that the King would extend the offer himself.

I realized then what the issue was. Yona was with me AND she had intended for me to travel with her, so I guess that I should try to turn this guy down, "Oh, well," I looked away from him, "I wouldn't want to burden you. Besides, I'm not packed to leave yet."

While the King tried to relax, Joo-doh spoke again, "You're down an eye." I flinched, refusing to meet his gaze, "It'd be dangerous - even for you - to travel." As I opened my mouth to protest, he spoke again, "Do you remember how to get to the Wind Tribe lands, let alone Fuuga?"

I blushed as I looked down to the cobblestone angrily, "I could always find someone here to take me." I then glanced at him from the corner of my good eye, "I'm fairly certain that regardless of wherever you are going to, it's not Fuuga, so you'd only go out of your way. Which would mean delaying your inevitable arrival to wherever, and leaving the King," I glanced at him, hoping for some sort of backup - though he just disappointed as he refused to meet either mine or Joo-doh's gazes, "out in the open."

A scoff came from Joo-doh, "Certainly it would be a hassle to keep His Majesty under control, but at least we'd know if you were safe in your arrival."

"Something as simple as a letter from me could say the same."

Knowing that I wasn't winning this fight, Soo-won finally spoke up from his silent stupor, "Why not just travel with us, Midori? We could recount some things for you as well."

I guess betrayal was something that this King did often. 

"Fine," I said with a sigh, "when do we leave?"

I could practically feel Yona's shock, but there was nothing else I could do. . . Why do I get the feeling that this kind of thought will become familiar to me in the future?

"Is nightfall enough time to say goodbye and get packed?"

I sighed before meeting Joo-doh's eyes again, "I guess. . ."

A hand was placed on Joo-doh's shoulder, turning him and leading him away. Soo-won spoke up as he began pushing the general from where we stood, "We'll see you then, okay, Midori? We will wait by the outskirts to the west."

I nod as they - as well as their troops - leave me in the middle of the road, dreading the journey I had just agreed to.

~~~~~~~~~

I collapsed to my knees after I was sure they were out of sight. Assuming that was the case, Yona came out from the shadows and joined me.

We were silent for a minute before I spoke, "I'm sorry."

"Midori . . ."

I turned to her, "I tried so hard to try to get them to leave without me." I took her hands as I bent over, my hands holding hers to my forehead as I rested them on her lap, "I didn't know what to do, I . . ."

Yona took one of her hands from mine and began to run her hand through my hair, "It's alright. It was bound to happen anyway."

I sat myself up and looked into her eyes, tears streaming from mine, "I'm so sorry." We embraced as she too began crying. We sat there for a solid five minutes before another pair of footsteps were heard.

I didn't move to see who it was, but Yona did, ". . . Hak. . ."

"Princess? What - ?" His eyes must have fallen on me because he stopped short and gasped, "Mi-Midori?" I managed to look up to him from Yona's shoulder, and Hak's eyes widened, "Y-you're crying?" He collapsed to his knees and tried to reach out to me, but seemed to think better of it.

This guy was the most familiar to me, so I figured I knew him pretty well - though I guess I didn't cry around nearly enough people. So, with that new information, I reached out to him, grasping his shirt and pulling myself into his surprised, but kind embrace. He began to get even more confused as I managed to speak up through the crying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

He had stiffened up every time a tearful apology left my mouth, and he was quick to hold me tighter every time it happened, "What's wrong?"

I couldn't say. There was no way I would be able to tell this guy about what happened to me. Yet, I really did want to tell him. I wanted to let him know that I forgot him, but I couldn't. I really wanted to tell him that I now had to travel with the King, but I had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. Therefore, I couldn't tell him anything.

Yona seemed to realize this as time passed without me answering the question, "Hak." The man moved to see her - I assume, as I was hiding from the world in his embrace, "She . . . Midori got really injured during . . . y'know. . ."

Realizing what she was saying, Hak took me by the shoulders and pushed me back to face him, "What? Are you okay?"

"D-define okay . . ." I said wiping my eyes, and barely making eye contact.

He brushed his hand over my covered right eye, "What happened . . ?"

Yona carefully spoke, "Well . . ."

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I think by now you don't need to hear how Midori lost her memory, so I'm not going to write it out for Hak. Let's just say that he gets told by Yona here. :)

Anyway, I . . . uh . . . surprise?

I wanted to write about something that didn't require me to . . . uh . . . reference the manga for a while. I just want to try my hand at building a story around Midori while she tries to find herself. Obviously, since I wrote it in this chapter, she won't be around Yona and the others for a while now, so . . . sorry, but I will be having her interact with other characters from the world. It's hard enough to keep track of one OC much less more than that, so as far as I'm planning, I will not be adding in another OC.

I'm hoping that'll make things easier to follow.

I also wanted to try my hand at more Midori-centric plot lines away from the group, as to build her as a character - especially while she is rediscovering things about herself. Also, in my other Akatsuki no Yona story, y'all seemed to like the chapters that I made up completely, so I'm kinda hoping for something similar.

Let me know what you think.

I'm glad for everyone who's still reading. Thank you all so much, 

~Ashley