Later that day, Ezra and Hak worked together on the roof of Mi-Rae's house, repairing a hole in the straw.

For a while they worked in silence, but Ezra grew increasingly uncomfortable as the time wore on. Hak hadn't said a word to her since the morning, and she needed to know what he was thinking. His face, as always, was neutral and unreadable; she couldn't tell what was happening behind those sharp eyes.

"Hey, Hak..." she started, her voice unsure. He glanced up, one eyebrow raised. "Are we... good?"

He frowned. "Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"You haven't spoken to me since I told you about... what I did," she admitted.

He let out a sigh, sitting back on his haunches. He raised a hand and wiped sweat off of his brow with the back of his wrist. "To be honest, Ezra... I wasn't even all that surprised."

"Really?" Ezra asked, eyes wide.

"You refused to talk about your past and deflected all questions relating to you and your upbringing, so I figured you had some secrets you didn't want to share with us," he replied.

She was silent for a moment.

"Do you remember when you first met us?" he suddenly asked.

Ezra frowned, confused by the sudden subject change. "Yeah. Why?"

"You were standing over the body of a bandit you'd just killed with a bright smile on your face. I knew at that moment, the second that I first laid eyes on you, that you had killed before." Hak's blue eyes were distant. "Your first kill traumatizes you, no matter how much that person deserved to die."

Ezra wondered idly what Hak's first kill had been like. "I... I didn't realize that you noticed that," she said quietly.

Hak looked at her. "Your eyes turn cold whenever you fight, and you've always tried to keep your past hidden away inside your own heart. So no, hearing about your mother's death and how you coped with that grief didn't really surprise me. If anything, I understand how that feels and why you did what you did."

"That doesn't mean it's right," she muttered.

"I guess it doesn't. But I can understand your actions and forgive you for them," he told her earnestly. "I hope you realize that this doesn't in any way affect how we feel about you. You're still the same old Ezra we've come to know and care about; that hasn't changed."

A small smile broke out on her face. "Thanks, Hak."

"Yeah," he responded gruffly. "Now let's hurry up and finish this. If we take too much longer, Mi-Rae will come chasing after me with a stick."

Ezra chuckled. "All the more reason to procrastinate."

Hak threw a rock at her head, and she hurriedly dodged it with a wide grin on her face. "You're the worst," he told her.

"Fine, fine," she laughed, returning to work with a twinkle in her eyes. Her conversation with Hak had her feeling much lighter, and they completed Mi-Rae's roof before long.

~~~

As soon as Mi-Rae inspected their work and declared it passable, Ezra left Hak to tend to the other chores around the village so she could check on Shinah back at camp. Knowing that Hak didn't hate her for what she'd done made her feel as if a burden had been taken off her shoulders, giving her a slight spring in her step. Finally telling the group about her past had been gut-wrenchingly terrifying, but she was surprised by how glad she was that everyone knew.

They knew the truth about her, and they accepted and cared for her anyways.

As she walked, she passed Zeno, Kija, and Jaeha chasing playfully after some children. They smiled and waved at her as she went by, and she responded with happiness shimmering in her lavender eyes.

With a small smile still on her face, Ezra returned to their camp to find Yona sitting by their makeshift fire pit, staring off into nothingness.

"Yona?" Ezra called softly. Shinah was nowhere to be found, but that was pushed to the back of her mind once she saw Yona looking so lost and lonely.

Yona jumped. She turned her head and smiled sheepishly at Ezra. "Oh, hey Ezra."

There it was again; her full name. Ezra kept her face blank, not wanting to show how badly it hurt.

Hell, she wasn't even sure why it bothered her. Everyone else called her by her full name, so why did she get so hung up on it when Yona said it?

"What are you doing here?" Ezra asked. "I thought you'd be helping the villagers right now."

Yona shook her head. "I was distracted, so Yun sent me away."

"Ah," Ezra sighed, sitting down next to her friend. "I see."

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them. Ezra hated the awkwardness.

"How old is your brother now?" Yona asked softly.

Ezra's eyes tightened, but she knew the change in subject was to be expected. "He's nineteen."

"How old was he when he was taken, again?"

"Fourteen," Ezra breathed.

Yona's violet eyes were cast towards the ground in sadness. "I'm so sorry that he said all those awful things to you, Ezra."

Ezra tucked her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. "Don't," she whispered.

"Don't what?" Yona asked.

"Don't call me that," she responded. She turned to look Yona in the eyes. "I don't know why, but when you use my full name... it feels wrong. It feels as if... you don't trust me anymore."

Yona's brow furrowed. "Of course I still trust you."

Ezra's eyes were far away, her mind deep in thought. "I didn't realize how much I cherished the nickname you gave me until you stopped using it, Yona. Please... don't call me by my full name."

Yona's face softened. "Of course... Ez."

Ezra's face broke out into a pretty smile. "Thank you."

"Or shall I call you Ezzie?" Yona teased, grinning madly.

Ezra laughed. "Don't push your luck."

It felt so good to be laughing with her best friend once again. Their relationship felt less strained, now that there were less secrets in the way.

Once the amusement passed, they settled into a comfortable silence. Ezra continued hugging her knees to her chest, thinking about everything that had happened so far. She hadn't even realized how much happiness she'd come to find among the strange group of misfits she'd met along the riverbank.

"Yona..." she murmured suddenly. Yona glanced at her in askance. "How did you feel... when you killed Yan Kumji?"

Yona's eyes grew dark, and she glanced towards the sky. It took a few moments before she finally replied. "It was horrible." The blunt declaration hung in the air for a couple seconds. "I knew that he was an awful human being who had committed terrible deeds... but ending another's life is something that I never thought I would have to do. It was like shock and horror ran through me at the same time. There was no victory, no glory... it was just another senseless death among the hundreds or possibly even thousands that had happened in that poor town."

Ezra nodded sadly. "I understand. That's a normal way to think about it."

Yona looked at her, her pretty face unusually serious. "Is that how you felt? When you killed the officials in your village?"

Ezra grit her teeth, fighting back the tears that threatened to surface. "No," she answered honestly. "At the time... I felt nothing."

Yona's expression grew stricken with sympathy. "Ez..."

A self-mocking smile spread across Ezra's lips. "What kind of a twisted person am I? To kill so many people and not feel a goddamn thing?" A humorless chuckle escaped her. "And they weren't all 'Yan Kumji's, either. Sure, some of them had done awful things, but I killed them all indiscriminately. Maybe there were some among them who were good, honest men, who had mothers and fathers and children and families. Who's to say that I didn't end all that?"

Yona was silent, letting Ezra empty herself of the confessions that had been eating away at her.

"A murderer. A monster." Ezra found herself repeating her brother's words. "A traitor who kills without remorse..."

"Stop."

Ezra glanced up, surprised by the forcefulness of Yona's voice.

"What do you feel right now?" Yona asked.

"Anger. Sadness. Confusion..."

"... Guilt," Yona murmured. "You do feel something for all those lives you took, Ez. This, right here. This is your remorse."

Ezra fell silent, considering. Yes, the guilt that twisted her heart was remorse for the lives that she'd taken, but... "That doesn't make it right. That doesn't help me atone for what I did."

"No," Yona agreed. "But it makes you human. And it makes you worth forgiving." Yona wrapped an arm around Ezra's shoulder, hugging her friend close. "I've forgiven you, Ez, even if you haven't forgiven yourself."

Silent sobs wracked Ezra's body, and she leaned into Yona's comforting embrace, letting the tears of guilt slip down her cheeks.

"It'll be okay," Yona said softly.

Ezra rubbed at her face, trying to stop the flow of tears. She'd cried far too much the past twenty-four hours. "I know," she whispered.

After all, if she had Yona, Hak, Shinah, and the others by her side, how could it not be alright?