HOBI POV:

With (Y/N) sitting there motionless on the sofa, I recognise the dazed glazed look her eyes hold, her eyes are blank and unrecognising. She is physically sitting here but mentally she's somewhere else. The tension that fills the room is thick and palpable, it feels like an oily, greasy coat which lathers over my skin and suffocates me. The energy is dismal but everyone is mustering up each scrap of hope for her, we're not going to let her go. We have to help her.

I recognise that she's dissociating. Becoming detached and removed from the physical present and reality as she tries to cope with her memories. I can't tell how long it'll last, but I do know for a fact that the best way we can help her is reassure her, ground her in an environment that is comforting and loving.

We need to tell her she's not alone, that she's loved, safe and cared for.

And hopefully it should slowly help bring her back. But the fear of not knowing, the uncertainty of how long this might last is what weighs down on my mind.

I can only act on what I do know. But everyone is different. Everyone reacts differently to trauma. I just hope that our love is strong enough to help her, enough to bring her back to us.

And that worry niggles at me, a constant reminder at the front of my mind.

Come back (Y/N). Come back to us.

The doorbell rings, a sudden shrill jingle which breaks through the low hum of chatter in the living room.

Jiminie gets off the floor and heads over to the door, feet hastily moving. He soon returns with JB and Jinyoung in tow, their faces are grave and sombre and their feet also hasten to where we are all sitting.

There's a quick curt nod of their heads before they kneel gently before (Y/N), eyes large as they scan her from head to toe in gazes that are both hurting and careful. They're making sure she's not physically injured.

"How long has she been dissociating?" JB asks, voice wavering. Jinyoung's hand comes to clasp his shoulder, squeezing gently in comfort.

"It's been a few hours." I reply, lips tight.

JB's not overly panicking. He's showing worry and hurt but he's not panicking. And then it makes me wonder if he's seen her go through this before.

JB and Jinyoung settle down on either side of her legs, heads gently leaning on her, their hands lying intertwined on the carpet between them.

And then JB speaks to her, a constant soft stream of chatter. About his day. About the past. About the latest arguments that have happened with his soulmate. Little details, big stories. Everything.

Jinyoung just watches on with eyes that are tender but also filling with tears. They fall quietly and he makes no move to wipe them away, leaning into (Y/N) for comfort, seeking her out even though she doesn't respond.

JB POV:

My heart comes lurching into my mouth when I see that blank look in her eyes. A look none of us have seen for a long, long time. It makes me feel like my world is crashing down, like everything has just come crumbling down, disintegrating around me. And I'm helpless to do anything more than try and live through it.

It reminds me of years past, of the girl I found looking out to nowhere, sitting there but mind somewhere else. It had taken months to draw her out from the silent husk she had become. And I would do whatever it took to bring her back. To me, who I was now and for the hand she grasped when I had offered it. I owed it to her now, and the child me owed it to her too.

"Remember the time when I came to play with you, and you were sitting down waiting for me as usual when some other boy came out of the blue? And plopped himself down next to you without a care in the world and tried to be friends. I was so jealous, so protective. You were my friend first and then suddenly there was a stranger trying to take you away from me. I was so hurt. So mad. I called you horrible names, pushed the boy over. But when he had a scratch on his knee, he didn't cry. You didn't yell. You just blew at his knee gently and brushed away the dirt. And then pulled me into a hug and told me I was being a silly lion. And then at the end of that day we had a new friend. We had Jinyoung with us." I speak, I know even if she doesn't respond she can still hear me. She is hearing me.

It's like those days, days of speaking to her and telling her everything even though she sat there. I don't know how nor do I know when, when the day came and I realised I had grown to rely on her. She had unknowingly become my safe place. Where I could go and talk with no judgement. She didn't laugh or tease, she didn't mock. She sat there, listening.

My fingers squeeze Jinyoung's gently. He squeezes back, he's heard. He remembers that story too well.

"And JB had been so jealous when he saw I had given you a bunch of daisies. You were so kind (Y/N). Even when he snatched them out of your hand and threw them away." Jinyoung huffs out fondly from next to me, adding in the details I had omitted.

Talking to her like this transports me back to that time. But I don't know what memories (Y/N) is trapped in, I can only hope and pray that talking to her will slowly reel her back. She needs to heal but we need to help her do that. She can't overcome her past and trauma instantly, she might need us, she might not at times but the silence and immobile state she's in strikes chords of worry in me.

(Y/N). Kitten come back to us.

(Y/N) POV:

I feel the two bodies that lean against my legs, feel the comforting and familiar voices that talk. Of days past. Of friends made. I want to will my mouth to move, to call out for them. But I can't seem to pull myself up out of the darkness.

I feel weightless. Cut off. Like my body is freefalling through the dark, and all I can feel is the panic of not knowing where I'll land.

Their words enter my ears, wrap my damaged bruised soul in a cocoon of familiarity, of safety.

It's a solid weight, helps me remain firm-footed on the unsteady, rocky terrain.

I force myself to push through the thick, dense fog that swirls around my senses, urge my fingers to move, reach out to move my hand, to gently nestle it on the heads that rest on my knees. Slowly, stiffly brush my fingers through them.

Allow myself to hear the two voices on either side of me telling me they're here for me, waiting for me, care for me. Allow those voices to become anchors grounding me through the churning waves of the ocean of memories. Allow myself to finally see. See and feel fully.

----

The first thing I notice is that I'm warm, not uncomfortably so. I wiggle my toes experimentally, heart bursting when they move. They're cocooned in a soft, thick material. Socks. The two bodies that press gently into my sides are solid, muscled limbs. The tingles that spread from my body where they touch, seep through the barrier the blanket is, tells me they're my soulmates. The two heads resting on my legs, gentle as though fearful of hurting me send a different warmth, different tingles. My eyes lower to see who it is. My fingers brush against their scalps, see as they turn. JB oppa and Jinyoung oppa.

Next to them, nearby are Tae, Minnie, Joonie oppa, Hobi oppa and Yoongi oppa. They haven't moved away, they're sitting close to each other and close to me, sealing me in a circle full of people who care for me.

I see JB oppa lips part as he gasps, a choked sound that leaves his throat. Next to him Jinyoung smiles, eyes shining with tears yet to fall.

"Where are we?" I breathe, voice raspy and hoarse. It's grates against my throat as I form the words, straining slightly as though I've been screaming constantly.

The body on my right turns to me, hands that frantically scoop mine up into his own, I turn to look into soft brown doe eyes. Eyes that are shocked, relieved, worried, and happy. Kookie's body sags as though the energy has drained out of him. It hits me a beat later that his eyes are roving over my face and his lips are moving.

I focus on them, on the words that trickle into my ears.

"...huh?" I mumble.

"We're at home." He repeats.

Home. Not house. Not building. Home. The word alone is enough to help me feel more rooted.

I nod, processing it, mulling over it.

How did I get here? Why can't I remember how we got back? When we got back? What's the time?

My mind reels and I scrabble to hold onto the two hands that envelop mine, reaching out with my other.

"Calm down (Y/N), relax." Tae's low voice rushes over me, gentle and caring. I lean back into Jinnie oppa, feel the way his arms envelop my waist as something holding me safe. Holding me to the present.

I listen as Joonie oppa explains what happened. Everything. And then it hits me again. Yuna. Stepmother. Choi. She's a Choi. He's a Choi. His dead sister Min-cha. Min-cha was my stepmother. Min-cha is Choi's sister. Choi is Yuna's uncle.

I let out a loud gasp, it's rasping and rattles through my lungs.

"Choi...Choi." I breathe.

JB oppa's hands come to cup my face, large palms enveloping my cheeks, gently steering my head to look at him.

His eyes are both dark and worried.

"Choi...? As in Choi Min-cha, your...stepmother?" he asks, looking fearful of the answer.

His question makes all my suspicions and thoughts into truth. Cements them as facts.

How had I never noticed?

All this time, the web around me had just grown tighter.

I slowly jerk my head into a nod.

The arms around me gently squeeze. A silent act of comfort.

"So...Choi Dongsoo, Yuna and your stepmother are all related?" Minnie concludes.

And I wish he was wrong. Wish I was wrong. But there's no avoiding the truth. There's no hiding from it either.

My past had finally caught up with me.

JINYOUNG POV:

I try to keep my emotions at bay, I do try. I try my damned hardest. But how can I stop the hate that bubbles violently inside me, and how do I hold it back when it does seep out?

Why is it (Y/N) can't live happily and in peace? Why must her past haunt her? Plague her?

I take long, deep breaths. Trying to maintain my breathing, try to will my irregular heartbeat back to normal.

Try to keep the murderous thoughts just where they are. In my head. JB shoots me a concerned look, but there's also understanding. I see the same thoughts reflected in his beautifully expressive eyes. It's that what stills the violent shaking of my legs, eases my fist open where it bunches into the fabric of my jumper.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

(Y/N) first. Revenge second.

I get to my feet. Food. She hasn't eaten all day. No-one has. But she needs something warm and filling.

There's a silent question that sits on my tongue but when I turn to Jin hyung to ask, he nods, clearly unwilling to part from (Y/N) right now. There's gratitude shining in them.

I shake my head at him. No need for thanks. If anything, we should be thanking them. For being the support system (Y/N) needed. For being the lifeline that would bring an end to this all. And allow her to live happily.

With that thought in mind, I turned to head into the kitchen.

A smile makes its way across my lips. Even though we're always there for (Y/N), now that I see that the guys are there for her, I know healing will become an easier process. Because she'll never be alone to become prey to those memories.

They won't let her.

(HOW WAS IT? LET ME KNOW! THERE YOU HAVE IT? I DON'T WANT TO SAY SHE CAME OUT OF IT COMPLETELY HEALED. SHE'S NOT FULLY ROOTED BACK IN THE PRESENT. BUT THE GOOD THING IS THAT THE GUYS KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING, AND THEY'LL DO THEIR BEST TO HELP HER. WHAT MORE DOES ANYONE WANT FROM LIFE? HER DISSOCIATION ISN'T SOMETHING THAT VANISHED THE MOMENT SHE BECAME CONSCIOUS ABOUT THE PRESENT, THERE MAY BE MOMENTS WHEN SHE IS BECOMES DISCONNECTED BUT HEALING AND OVERCOMING TRAUMA ISN'T A QUICK HASTY PROCESS. IT TAKES TIME. ALL SHE NEEDS IS TIME, LOVE AND SPACE. CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL LOVELIES!)

Happy 7th anniversary ARMY! This FESTA has been amazing, maybe because we all might feel disconnected with the world, but BTS reached in and anchored me. And reminded me once again, with them, there is always home.

You may feel lost about who you are. You do not know what the future holds. But let's embark on the journey that is life with optimism in our hearts and strength in each step. With each other, we can falter, we can fall weak. But we bring each other up, we become the hand that pulls someone up. Someone is our hope, and to someone we are theirs. Spirits up, let's continue onwards.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3