"Alright, let's knock some sense into them."

"They can't treat Jimin like that."

The letter was like a giant switch. Suddenly everyone's talking over each other, with J-Hope and Namjoon arguing about battle tactics, Taehyung joining them with ridiculous new ideas that Namjoon argues impractical but J-Hope argues can be an "innovative surprise", and Jin and Suga are in another group talking about how to go about this and where exactly to head to, and I, completely lost all the buzz of activity, hang onto Jungkook's hand for dear life because it feels like I might get blown away by the sheer amount of chaotic energy in the air. Like a blizzard.

A chaotic energy blizzard.

Jungkook stays quiet, too, which I'm a-thousand-times-over thankful for because that means I'm not expected to speak either. The sudden rise in volume is disorienting enough as it is.

"Okay people, Jimin says they're coming before sunset," Jin points at the letter. "So we wait for them to come to us, or we pack our bags and get them first."

"How do we get them if we don't even know where to go?" Suga asks.

"I don't know."

"What does the letter say?"

"It just says they're coming for us. Before sunset!"

"Then how are they even planning to find us?"

Jin throws his hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to know?!"

"Uhh, you guys... "

Jungkook stops when no one listens. There's sadness and urgency fighting in his eyes. He glances at me, unsure, and I tilt my head to encourage him.

"Hyungs!" He steps closer and waves with his free hand (the one not being strangled to death by my grip - I sheepishly loosen my hold when I realize that). "You guys, I think I might know!"

Jin and Suga stop.

They look over at the same time in the exact same fashion, like a mirror. I would've clapped if not for the current circumstances.

"There's no easy way for me to say it directly, but..." Jungkook presses his lips together. "Where are most of the Fighters located at any point in time? And... and Jimin's worst nightmare is Training Headquarters. So... that's the most, likely, uh, place. I think."

His voice trailed off as he spoke, quieter and quieter until we were straining to hear. But I still got the message, and one glance at Jin and Suga only confirms my dismay.

Oh.

We have to go back there.

Suddenly the prospect of getting Jimin back doesn't feel nearly as fun. And as ridiculous as the possibility sounds, it makes sense. Where else could they take him?

Jungkook doesn't look up from the ground.

"Let's just get to the darn place and attack first," Suga says bluntly. "They don't know that we know they're coming, so we'll have the element of surprise."

I nod thoughtfully.

"Does that sound good to everyone?" Jin asks.

This brings everyone back together. After Jin repeats Suga's suggestion for those who didn't hear it the first time, everyone slowly agrees. It's the best chance we've got. I exhale in relief, feeling more stable on my feet now that the worst of the Chaotic Energy Blizzard has passed.

"Okay great! We've got -" Jin glances at the sun "- maybe five hours left before sunset? That evil place is pretty far from here so let's start packing now, and then we can have snacks on the way."

We mumble in agreement.

And that's how we found ourselves splitting off again, this time to pack.

The whole thing becomes really surreal to me. Weren't we chilling by the campfire with Suga just moments ago? And now we're going headfirst into an ambush. Who knows how this'll turn out.

"Need any help?" Jungkook walks over as I'm attempting to shove my sleeping bag into a... bag.

"Yes, please," I admit. "This thing is just so poofy."

We do the rest of our packing together, the occasional glances and fingers brushing and all those cheesy gestures that probably aren't much but for me, those little things are enough to make my heart beat faster and send my wind energy fluttering in excitement.

Jungkook stays unusually quiet despite his faint smiles. I think about asking him what's wrong but decide to give him space. He'll tell me if he wants to, when he's ready.

The next thing I know we've taken our tents down and piled up our belongings. J-Hope pours more gasoline into the truck and too soon - way too soon - we're off to the very place I loath, to the place where everything changed forever.

Freedom Academy.

The truck roars to life. Taehyung and J-Hope are up front again for navigation so the rest of us are piled in the back. I look out into the distance, feeling the wind blow in my hair. Breathtaking white terrain passes by us like the memories of these past few months, and a raven settles and caws sadly on top of a lifeless tree.

"This is really ironic," Namjoon comments. "We're running back to the place we fought so hard to escape from."

I nod. In a devastating way, it was almost poetic.

Something cold touches my wrist. It's Jungkook's hand, freezing in the winter air, and it finds mine. I intertwine my fingers with his and bring them into my coat pocket, then put my head on his shoulder. He doesn't mind - and there might've been the faintest whisper of "thanks", but it was too quiet for me to be sure.

We stay that way for a very long moment. I'd expected some jokes from the others about us openly cuddling like this, but the atmosphere is so tense and full of nervous energy that they just let us be.

There's no happy rubber-duck-burrito-singing traveling like last time. That feels like years ago now.

Jin clears his throat. "You guys are really gonna sit in dread for the whole ride, or...?"

"Pretty much," Suga says.

"How about we focus on something else to pass the time? Anyone want snacks?"

We shake our heads. There's no way I can eat with the sick feeling in my stomach.

Jin goes back into deep thought and a few moments later, he gives us a knowing, very mischievous look. "Okay, how about this. It's very important. Crunchy or mushy cereal?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Namjoon glances at him. "Crunchy."

"I'm for mushy cereal."

I gasp. "How dare you?"

The debate goes on like this for the next hour, switching to different topics. Every single one is food related: pancakes or waffles, vanilla or chocolate, coke or pepsi. I laugh with them when they make jokes and fool around, but there's an undertone in the air that doesn't go away.

It might be the last time we'll be together like this.

We don't say it out loud... but it's true. And it hangs in the air between us, unspoken yet understood. In the midst of the conversation I sometimes catch Jungkook staring at me but he just shakes his head and looks away, quiet.

Something churns inside my stomach, a sick feeling of dread and worry.

And sixty minutes later, sixty minutes of light joking and worrying and trying-not-to-think-about-what's-coming-too-much, sixty minutes of terrain passing by, the truck abruptly stops. Jungkook tenses beside me.

"Yah!" Jin sits up. "Why're we stopping?"

J-Hope pokes his head out the driver's window. "You guys see the smoke up ahead?"

We follow the direction of his finger point. Sure enough, just above the horizon, dark gray smoke billows eerily as it travels up to the white clouds in the sky. And there's not just one of them.

"I count eight," Suga says.

"Nine." Namjoon points at a smaller one off to the side.

"Oh, right."

Jungkook shifts uneasily. "Are those from campfires?"

"Looks like it," says Jin.

"There's so many."

I squint at the line of campfires and tune in to the sounds around me (which has become a habit at this point), carefully, prodding around us and into the distance. I feel Jungkook doing the same beside me. The smoke travels upward but the air currents feel wrong, forced...

"... I think those are Fighters," I whisper.

"Fire elementalists." Jin nods. "They're here."

"Why here?"

We're not even close to Freedom Academy yet. I frown.

"I got it." Suga thinks quickly, eyes sharp. My gaze switches to him. "The letter's blotched. The ink is smeared right in front of 'before sunset' so we never knew the actual time."

The meaning of this sinks in. My shoulders slump.

There are too many parts of Jimin's letter that we can't read. And with the Fighters right in front of us now, ruthless and ready for battle, with Jimin rendered unable to communicate anymore...

We're still on our own.

"How about we don't drive the truck any closer?" I say meekly. "If there are wind elementalists in that camp, they'll hear us and we're doomed."

"I can just mute the sound," Jungkook offers. "It's okay."

"We need all the energy we have though."

"I think that makes sense." Namjoon nods to me. "Let's not use it on getting the truck closer if we can just walk there."

We wordlessly hop off the truck and take only what's necessary in our backpacks. Everything else is left behind.

(Unnoticed by the others, Suga murmurs a special goodbye to his fluffy sleeping bag. He knows he'll miss it lots.)

Namjoon gives a final debrief of the plan as we trek through the snow. J-Hope will go first with his light abilities to see if we can find Jimin's location. He'll be backed up by Suga with his merciless ice mist and Taehyung, who volunteered himself. Plan A is the three of them getting Jimin back and running away without getting caught.

... which is unlikely, but still worth trying.

Plan B starts if something goes wrong. Jungkook and I will wind the Fighters away from a safe distance while Namjoon and Jin make explosions. This'll give J-Hope's group more time to run away.

And Plan C, well, we'll fight in the chaos and give our everything so we can take them down with us.

That's the plan at least.

"You all realize this can go terribly wrong, right?" Suga says as we approach the right of the campsite.

"It can also go right," J-Hope insists.

"But the odds." Suga shakes his head. "Be careful alright? We've got to stay calm and really fight if we want any chance of... not getting hurt."

His meaning sinks in as I continue walking.

For the sake of one, we could fail and lose even more of us. But there's no way we're backing out now.

We finally arrive at the side of the campsite. The conversations end and all of us, solemn and quiet, tiptoe to the edge to get a closer look at what we're dealing with. The anxiety in the air is so thick it's almost tangible.

Oh.

I glance at Jungkook, terrified.

"What are we getting ourselves into?" I whisper.

Jungkook just shakes his head.

Suga hasn't seen anything yet, standing in the back. "How does it look?"

"Well," Namjoon says quietly, "there's seven of us, and uh..." He trails off.

And hundreds of them.

There's a dangerous yet gleeful glint in their eyes, a mass of Fighters all prepared in their stark black suits. Most of them are Fire and Earth and some are carrying these dark blue weapons I've never seen before. They must be new. And deadly. And suddenly I feel very, very small, like we're facing a looming abyss of doom.

"Hey, there's no better time than now," Namjoon whispers. "If we wait, we risk them seeing us. Let's go."

And who knows how much time Jimin has left.

Namjoon beckons us over to a more discreet entry at the side that's covered by pine trees and bushes. "Remember to prioritize the Commander. Jimin was next to him last time, so chances are we'll find him there this time too. J-Hope's group, ready?"

"Ready," Taehyung nods. Suga, who's usually tired and laid back, doesn't look that way in the slightest - he's cold and indifferent now, with revenge and hard determination sharpening his features. No wonder his speciality is ice.

The three of them set off.

I watch with bated breath as J-Hope casts his light powers over the group, making the three invisible, just before they turn the corner and walk into camp. The closest Fighters don't notice.

Something tugs at me inside.

It's sad, swirling with desperate hope and... a faint pull of longing, the despair of a reluctant farewell. It's the foreboding clink of a parting glass, the feeling of a soldier saluting away their comrade.

Jungkook gently squeezes my hand. I wipe my eyes with my other.

The students at Freedom Academy, and possibly the entire nation, are bound to have heard about us at this point - the first group ever to commit treason and openly rebel like this. Even if we lose now our legacy will live on, a beacon marking the beginning of a new era. We've started something big, something different and larger than us, and we can fight knowing that we've already accomplished so much... but that doesn't make it hurt less.

We'll get you back, Jimin.

We'll get you back.