Early the next morning, Yun sent Ezra and Hak into the village to look out for officials. Ezra laughed as Hak rubbed his eyes sleepily, grumbling unhappily under his breath about the early hour.

Hak really wasn't a morning person.

Suddenly she spotted a head of long, light brown hair up ahead. The slim figure was glancing every which way, looking extremely suspicious. "Wait, is that...?" she mumbled.

Hak rubbed his eyes before striding to the now-familiar man. "Hmm, am I seeing things?" the former general mused. "Apparently I can see the second son of the Fire Tribe general who caused trouble before running off last night..."

Tae-Jun hugged a small package to his chest protectively. "Y-you must have me confused with someone else," he stuttered.

Suddenly Hak stabbed his glaive into the tree trunk right beside Tae-Jun's head. The man yelped with terror. "I see. The wrong person? You're suspicious." Hak narrowed his eyes. "The penalty is death."

"Waah!" the man cried out in fear. "I'm Kan Tae-Jun! I'm Kan Tae-Jun!"

"I see. You're very suspicious," Hak mused. "The penalty is death."

"I'm dead either way?!" the man squeaked as Ezra let out a snort of amusement.

Hak just stared at the man, his expression flat and unreadable.

"I wanted to see Princess Yona," Tae-Jun mumbled. He held out the package in his hands. "Could you pass this on to her?"

Hak glared at him.

"It's fine, I haven't told the officers of my whereabouts," Tae-Jun reassured.

Hak remained silent.

"Say something, Hak!" Tae-Jun pleaded.

"After last night, I had a dream that you carelessly broke your promise three times," Hak said flatly. "I wanted to kill you."

"You're awake, Thunder Beast," Ezra reminded him, amusement flashing in her lavender eyes.

"I came today to give this to the princess," Tae-Jun said, presenting the package in his arms.

Ezra raised an eyebrow. "Hak, that's..."

"I know," Hak grumbled. He grabbed Tae-Jun by the collar of his robes and hauled the nobleman to his feet. "Come on.'

"Hey, wait!" Tae-Jun cried, stumbling.

Ezra laughed as she fell into step behind the men, thoroughly amused by the events of the morning.

"Someone came for you, Princess," Hak called, approaching Yona with Tae-Jun in tow.

"Let me go!" Tae-Jun protested. He glanced up to see Yona's face. "Princess Yona!" he cried.

Yona tilted her head in confusion. "You're here again?"

Looking at Yona, the man's face grew completely red. "U-umm, I came here t-to... to..." he trailed off, fidgeting helplessly with his fingers.

Hak plucked the box out of Tae-Jun's arms and opened it. "Open your mouth, White Snake," Hak ordered, holding something out.

Kija complied, and Hak placed a small dumpling in his mouth.

"How is it?" Ezra asked curiously.

"It's rather delicious," Kija answered.

"Alright, it's safe to eat, Princess," Hak said, handing the boxes of food over to Yona.

"Wait, you used me to test for poison?!" Kija exploded.

"Wow!" Yona gasped, looking at the food. "I'm so happy! Thank you!" She sent a bright smile to Tae-Jun. The poor man looked as if he might melt under the weight of the princess's approval and gratitude.

Yona turned towards the villagers she'd been aiding. "Alright, everyone! Get in line! There isn't much food, though."

"P-princess!" Tae-Jun stammered. "I brought that for you!"

"They've had almost nothing to eat the past few days, so this is helpful," Yona told him.

"But, Princess! Aren't you getting enough to eat?" he protested.

"Me?" Yona asked. "I'm fine. I had enough luxury to last anyone a lifetime when I was a child." She glanced down in thought. "I've been thinking about that a lot lately. If the extravagance that I had when I was younger had been brought here instead... would that have made the country more equal?"

Tae-Jun's eyes widened as he stared at the princess. Ezra couldn't blame him.

It was unusual for royalty to be speaking in such a way.

"Mister," a young child said, tugging on Tae-Jun's robe. "Is there any food for my mother?"

Tae-Jun frowned. "No, that was all I brought."

Dejected, the young girl turned to leave.

"Wait," Tae-Jun said hurriedly, reaching into his clothes. "I have water." He held out a flask towards the girl.

"Thank you," she said with a bright smile.

"That's all I have for you right now, but tomorrow, I'll bring food for your mother, too," Tae-Jun told her.

"Really?" the girl asked.

"Yes," he answered.

Ezra and Yona shared a small smile.

It was the start of a very strange, though quite beneficial, relationship.

~~~

"Huh," Jaeha muttered a few days later, munching on a tangerine he'd stolen from Yun's garden. "So we got another companion while I was away?"

"In a manner of speaking," Ezra said with a shrug.

"No!" Kija said defiantly. He pointed a finger at Tae-Jun. "That man is the son of the Fire Tribe chief! He's our enemy!"

"Interesting," Jaeha mused. "See, normally people like that can't get near Yona."

"It's complicated," Kija said with a pout.

Ezra chuckled. "You just don't like him because of the way he looks at Yona," she teased.

"That's not true!" Kija protested hotly.

"Sure, sure," Ezra acquiesced with a laugh.

She walked over to Yun, who sat on his knees on the ground doing laundry. Tae-Jun sat next to him.

"Need any help, Yun?" Ezra asked.

"I'm good here. Why don't you go check up on Shinah or something?" Yun suggested.

"Alright," she agreed easily.

Happy with her new task, Ezra flounced off, leaving Yun to explain the pitiful state of the Fire Tribe villages to Tae-Jun. Tae-Jun didn't understand why the people didn't simply work to pay their taxes, and Ezra wanted nothing more than to escape hearing that lengthy explanation.

There were a million things wrong with the Fire Tribe villages, and the idiots in the capital city of Saika were doing nothing to help the situation. The sooner Tae-Jun realized that, the sooner he would quit being so condescending.

Ezra made her way back to their camp where she found Shinah outside the tent, his head tilted up towards the sky.

"Got tired of resting?" Ezra called. Yun had left the Seiryu with strict orders not to leave the tent.

Shinah turned towards her, startled. He hadn't even heard her approach. He gave a small nod in response to her question before going back to staring at the sky.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, standing beside him.

Shinah lifted a finger and pointed at a drifting cloud directly above them. "That... looks like Ao," he told her.

Ezra squinted. She could kind of see it. "Hmm... I suppose it does."

"Puukyuu!" The squirrel in question made herself known, poking her head out from the strands of Shinah's fur.

"Hello, Ao," Ezra chuckled, reaching out to pinch the squirrel's cheeks. Ao squeaked happily before hiding herself once more.

Shinah fell silent, not once looking down from the sky. While Shinah was studying the clouds, Ezra found herself studying him. She could only see his side profile as he stared at the ocean of blue above them and most of his face was covered by his mask, but there was something so serene and peaceful about his expression that Ezra found herself not wanting to return to the village.

Her heart squeezed in her chest, unfamiliar emotions running rampant through her head. 

Suddenly Shinah glanced down to find Ezra staring intently at him. "What is it?" he asked.

A bright blush burned in Ezra's cheeks as she looked away from him. "N-nothing," she stammered. "I should probably get back. Yun just sent me to make sure you're okay."

He stared at her, frowning in thought. Why was she blushing?

"You don't need anything, right?" Ezra asked.

Another few seconds passed as he watched her in silence. Finally, he shook his head.

"Then I should go help the others. I'm sure you're bored out of your mind here, but don't push yourself, alright? I'll get worried if you end up hurting yourself again."

"You? Worried?" Shinah's mouth turned down as if he was trying to figure out why Ezra would be worried for him.

"Just be careful." Ezra gave him one last smile before turning on her heel and heading back to the others.