Archive of Our Own

“Kiss me right here.”

Hoseok watched as Yoongi gingerly pointed to the underside of his jaw, right below his cheek.

It had been three weeks since Yoongi and Hoseok had come back from the Sun Warriors, long weeks of Hoseok relearning everything about how to wield his firebending. Hoseok practically had to beat everything he knew out of his head and relearn what he thought he knew for the past two decades. But, finally, after three hard but quite successful weeks, it was their first day to rest and relax.

The first thing they chose to do was go to the lake with Himari, Jungkook, Jimin, and Namjoon.

Hoseok gently nudged Yoongi’s shoulder with his own before he leaned over to kiss him. He lowered his voice, murmuring into Yoongi’s skin, “You think I’m ready to follow you into battle now?”

“I think…” Yoongi hummed. He looked down at their hands, laced together on top of the rock, and kicked his feet in the water. “That I’m really proud of you. But we’ve still got a lot of work to do if you’re going to be obedient.”

Hoseok wrapped his hand around Yoongi’s waist and looked up at his fire lily, taking in every delicate curve and flush of pink in with a quiet chuckle at Yoongi’s little joke.

They were more than ready for whatever was going to come. They knew that. And Yoongi knew full well that Hoseok would follow him to the ends of the earth. Especially now with the revelation that his mother was a Sun Warrior, and his realization that he couldn’t sit by and wait for someone to do the job he wanted to do just because he was comfortable.

Remaining silent and choosing not to fight was only enabling the issue.

Yoongi taught him that.

Hoseok pressed his forehead against Yoongi’s and stared at his bright, blue eyes. Up close, Hoseok could see little golden flecks in them and the little sparkle in Yoongi’s eyes whenever they were with each other.

They weren’t even together again, but god this felt so right.

“Hey, lovebirds!”

Himari sat up proudly on Jungkook’s shoulders and pointed her fan at them with a cocky smirk, “Get over here. I’m going to whoop your asses even faster than we got these two.”

Jimin and Namjoon popped out of the water with a burst of air, their hair immediately flying up and drying off. They grabbed hold of each other, Namjoon floating with the help of Jimin’s grip on him.

“Okay, that’s not fair,” Namjoon huffed. “You beat a person who can’t even move their arms.”

Yoongi laughed as Namjoon, Jungkook, and Himari bickered and glanced up at Hoseok, who immediately slipped into the water. They quietly giggled together as Yoongi sat up on Hoseok’s shoulders and laced his fingers through Hoseok’s hair, pulling it tightly to hold himself.

The moment they found their balance, Jungkook and Himari began approaching them.

Hoseok grabbed Yoongi’s thighs – his plump, milky, soft, beautiful thighs that Hoseok could feel wrapped around his head like two pillows — and marched over to face Jungkook and Himari. He tried his best to not get distracted by the beautiful…pretty thighs squeezing into his face and underneath the tips of his fingers…so close that he could bite them.

“Hot hands,” Yoongi warned.

The moment Yoongi said their safety word, Hoseok took a deep breath and focused on controlling himself. It was so hard, especially knowing now that Yoongi was his reason, his life, and his passion. But the last thing Hoseok wanted was to hurt Yoongi. Especially considering that Yoongi still didn’t know how to heal himself.

“And be careful of your back, my prince,” Yoongi whispered. He kissed the top of Hoseok’s head and smiled, “If you feel us tipping, just let us go. Don’t sacrifice the rest of your day for me.”

Hoseok pressed a kiss to Yoongi’s thigh and nodded, “I won’t.”

God, Yoongi’s body was a paradise. Hoseok could live and die in his soft skin and pink edges and sweet lips that curled into an even sweeter smile. To feel the sensation of Yoongi’s body gently molding to your fingertips was to need it for the rest of your life.

And, fuck, Hoseok couldn’t go without Yoongi’s touch for more than a few minutes at this point.

Hoseok tapped his fingers on Yoongi’s thighs as if they were a piano, thinking about the way his own sun kissed skin stood out against Yoongi’s.

He kept walking around in the water, Yoongi’s body swaying on his shoulders with every movement, his grip on Hoseok’s hair tightening every time he nearly lost his balance. Hoseok could hear him giggling. And he couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else saw the sparkle in Yoongi’s voice when he giggled.

Suddenly, Hoseok felt Yoongi’s hands move from his head. They laced their fingers together as the world tipped backwards.

They fell into the water together, Hoseok snapping out of his senses the moment the cold lake drowned his face. He squinted underneath the clear, blue waters of the lake, just to see Yoongi giggling with an air bubble around his head and an endeared look on his face as he laughed at Hoseok.

They wrapped their arms around each other and floated back up to the surface. Himari and Jungkook were celebrating their ultimate victory, and Jimin and Namjoon were demanding a rematch (and cheering for them too of course).

Yoongi moved his hands up to Hoseok’s head. He turned Hoseok’s head towards him and kissed him, laughing into their kiss, “Idiot.”

“Your idiot,” Hoseok smiled. He kissed Yoongi back just once before they pulled away. They didn’t let themselves have more than two at a time as an unspoken rule.

They didn’t let themselves admit that they both wanted much more than just two, measly kisses either.

“Fine. My idiot,” Yoongi nodded. He laid his head against Hoseok, staring out at their friends with a content smile. “My prince?”

“Hm?”

Yoongi glanced to the side at Hoseok and smiled, “I found a woman in town who makes Northern Water Tribe food. Do you…maybe want to get dinner there and eat by the fountain?”

“The fountain’s not big enough for all of us.”

“Hoseok.”

Hoseok glanced at Yoongi in confusion for just a moment before the realization struck.

“Tomorrow, just before sunset. Meet me there,” Yoongi whispered. He bit his lip, looking up at Hoseok with a strange, nervous excitement. “I just want to test the waters. So…think of it as our second-first date.”

Hoseok nearly cried as he peppered Yoongi’s face with kisses. He truly never thought this day would come. At least not so soon. Not that he would complain. Whatever Yoongi decided, he would follow. Even if Hoseok dreamed of being with Yoongi again.

It was just a small step, but the victory was so much sweeter than Hoseok could have ever dreamed of.

~~~

Neither of them had felt like this since they first began dating — this shy, excited nervousness that came with the idea that this was something that could become serious. Something long-term.

God, just the idea of being able to say “I love you, my fire lily” without worrying about whether or not it would bother Yoongi.

Introducing him as “Yoongi. The love of my life.”

“Stay with me,” as they dance in place together.

Getting down on one knee and asking, “My fire lily, will you marry me?”

They were on the verge of having it all again, and Hoseok didn’t know what to do. Because, yes, he had experienced these feelings before. He knew what it was like to date Yoongi. But that was in the Fire Nation, where Hoseok could woo Yoongi with all of the gifts he wanted and pull scrolls from the archives and fresh fruit from the kitchen.

And, fuck. Hoseok didn’t even know what to do with all of these new emotions. Everything felt so much scarier and rawer. Especially since Yoongi had said their little “date” would impact what he felt in the future and whether or not he felt like they should love each other again.

Back then, he had simply been entranced. He wasn’t worried about being attached to Yoongi or having to deal with him for a long time. He wasn’t worried about what it would feel like to lose Yoongi because he hadn’t cared that much.

Now, he was already in love with Yoongi, and he knew exactly how painful losing him was.

What if Hoseok fucked up?

Lately, he’d been an idiot around Yoongi. Hoseok wasn’t sure why, but he was just out of his head when Yoongi was around. Every rational thought would turn into want. Hoseok practically turned into a puppy, waiting at Yoongi’s feet, excited to just be around him, and longing for the moment Yoongi said “okay, you can love me.”

What if he was an idiot on the date and fucked it all up?

Hoseok felt something wet slip down his cheek.

A singular tear landed on his hand, filled with all of the fear and sadness and nervousness and stress Hoseok was feeling inside from just the idea of messing up again.

That one tear broke open the dam.

Hoseok began crying, right there on the fountain. There was nobody around — most were already at home now, waiting in fear of news that Ba Sing Se had finally fallen — but him and the feelings that were tearing him apart from inside out.

The tears poured out of him uncontrollably, his chest heaving and his body keeling over with pain as he tried to keep up with all of the feelings that were bursting out of him.

It was painful.

It was so, so painful.

Hoseok wanted so desperately to scratch his forearms to distract from the pain. He deserved it anyways. He was making a fool out of himself in public. At any moment, Yoongi was going to come and see him like this.

What would Yoongi think if he saw Hoseok so weak?

Somehow, that thought only made Hoseok sob harder.

“Hoseok?”

Hoseok flinched away from the sound of Yoongi’s voice, hiding his face from him as he tried to sound as normal as possible.

“H-hey, my f-ire lily.”

Hoseok felt two hands gently wrap around his head until he had to bury his face in Yoongi’s stomach. Something about the act was so familiar, yet so distant. Hoseok didn’t know what it was, or why it was so comforting.

“Oh, my prince,” Yoongi whispered. He ran his thumb across the back of Hoseok’s head and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Oh.

Hoseok knew now.

Crying, being wrapped up in someone’s arms, crying into the warm fabric of their clothes as they made sure he was okay…Hoseok looked down at the fabric of Yoongi’s long, floor length skirt that was so beautifully flowy, and tucked the fabric between his fingers.

Hoseok remembered pinching the fabric of his mother’s silk garments and crying into them no matter how expensive or beautiful they were. His mother would never mind. She would just let him cry and cry in her lap until he felt better. HIs father minded though.

The clothes were too expensive to ruin. Hoseok was going to end up being some coddled child who doesn’t have the stomach to do what he had to for his nation. Taking him away for hours at a time meant less practicing time and more people asking where he was. He was an embarrassment.

“My prince,” Yoongi whispered again. “What are you feeling?”

Hoseok wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s waist and pulled him close. He pressed his face against the soft fabric of Yoongi’s blouse with a quiet murmur, “Stressed and scared and nervous.”

Yoongi tightened his grip around Hoseok’s head and sighed, “I know exactly what you mean.”

Hoseok silently cried into Yoongi’s white blouse, leaving a wet spot, and nodded against Yoongi’s stomach. They stayed there for a while until Hoseok’s tears slowly tapered off. All of the overwhelming feelings were still there and very much present, but Hoseok could feel the weight being taken off his shoulders.

It was almost as if the time he took crying and letting himself simply feel and release everything gave him the break he needed to process everything.

“You look very handsome today, my prince,” Yoongi smiled softly. He gently perched himself on Hoseok’s knees and brought a hand up to hold Hoseok’s face. Hoseok did the same, holding Yoongi’s waist with the other hand. “Not even a minute into our date and you’re making me blush like a shy little kid.”

Hoseok’s heart warmed with the feeling of knowing that he made Yoongi’s heart flutter, and his lips curled into a small smile. Yoongi always knew how to make him smile. He was probably the only person in the world who could lay claim to that achievement.

“You look beautiful, my fire lily,” Hoseok smiled back. He ran his fingers across Yoongi’s blouse and sniffled, “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I was just waiting for you and I was thinking about how much was on the line and how much it hurt when I lost you the first time and how much more it probably would hurt if I lost you again and I—”

Yoongi grabbed Hoseok’s face with both of his hands and quietly shushed him, “Hoseok…Hoseok. It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for crying. You’re not going to lose me again. And all this date affects is whether or not I think I’m ready for this again, okay? I promise, I will be. Maybe not now, but it will happen.”

Yoongi ran his thumb across Hoseok’s cheek with a small chuckle, “Hot hands.”

Hoseok took his hands off of Yoongi’s waist and tucked them in between his thighs. Even to him, they were blazing hot. Hoseok quickly turned Yoongi around, examining his back carefully to make sure that nothing was burning.

That “coincidentally” gave Hoseok the opportunity to clear his throat and admit, “I think I jumped to the worst case scenario too quickly. My mind spun out of control and I just…can’t handle the thought of losing you again. I won’t ever not worry. The last time I was confident that I would be yours until the end of time, everything got fucked up.”

Hoseok bit down a sob and let go of Yoongi’s body, “We were supposed to be married by now. It was going to be beautiful.”

“I know you would have made sure of it,” Yoongi smiled. He turned around to take Hoseok’s hands in his. Yoongi pulled Hoseok up until he was standing right in front of him. “Do you want to go get our food? Eating with someone you love always helps with the sadness.”

Hoseok simply nodded and let Yoongi lead the way.

They passed by a bunch of houses that Hoseok didn’t remember being in the town, but he was sure that Himari must have shown him while he was blacked out, thinking about Yoongi, on their date.

Hoseok cringed at the memory of being with Himari. He really treated her like shit. And, while they were all good friends now, he really had to give it to her for pushing him and Yoongi together and talking to Yoongi. Between Himari and Jungkook, Yoongi and Hoseok were getting a lot more emotional and mental support than they ever thought they would have.

The change was noticeable. Especially after they came back from the Sun Warriors. Yoongi had been completely shaken by the revelation that he was Hoseok’s passion and drive and life, and Himari helped guide him through all of his feelings.

(In return, Yoongi sat down for hours and tested all of the different tea combinations she was trying to make).

Hoseok still didn’t know what they talked about that first day. Yoongi had told him a little bit of it — they had discussed how they both felt throughout the entire cheating situation and Himari told Yoongi something that completely pushed him towards accepting his feelings towards Hoseok and the idea of them loving each other again.

Himari was also the only person Hoseok showed his newest poetry to. He wasn't quite sure if he was ready to show Yoongi yet — his poems were extremely intimate and could easily make Yoongi uncomfortable with how intense they were in their expressions of love — but Himari urged him to get ready to show Yoongi once they began dating again. She also told him to show Yoongi the old ones too.

When they got to the place, their food was already waiting for them. Yoongi had gone ahead and ordered for the both of them so that they could spend as little time as possible waiting for the food.

Hoseok almost cried again when he saw the food.

Yoongi ordered the stuff from their first date. And their twelfth. And their sixteenth. And their twenty second. And their twenty fourth. And their thirty seventh. And their forty third.

Along with a few other dishes of course. They had to bring home leftovers for the rest of the gang.

They found two seats and a table near the fountain and dug into the food together, sharing each plate with each other as they always did and claiming the plate as theirs when the other took a particularly good looking piece though.

Hoseok let Yoongi have it this time though. He’d been eating so well lately, and he’d been putting back on the weight that he had lost from the prison and the stabbing and the stress. Yoongi looked healthy, and he looked happy (which was honestly the most important part).

Still, sometimes Hoseok took a little piece for himself. Yoongi would find it suspicious otherwise.

“You’re staring,” Yoongi giggled. He dipped a piece of lobster inside the butter sauce and held it out towards Hoseok. “Take a bite, my prince.”

Hoseok cocked an eyebrow in suspicion, but he still leaned forwards and took a bite into it, leaving a good amount for Yoongi. He wasn’t sure what Yoongi was up to, but he couldn’t help but laugh at Yoongi’s mischievous face.

“You’ve worked so hard these past few weeks. I’ll be happy if you eat well and rest,” Yoongi smiled.

Hoseok took another bite, still leaving about half of it for Yoongi. The lobster was good, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the one back in the Fire Nation. Hoseok wondered how that place was doing. The last he heard, the owner was found out to be a sympathizer of…well Yoongi and his friends.

“Now you eat, my fire lily. You’ve been feeding me this entire meal,” Hoseok chuckled. He grabbed the piece of lobster and dipped it in the spicy chili oil that Yoongi loved. Yoongi had already poured most of it all over his noodles. Hoseok pushed the lobster into Yoongi’s mouth through the crack in between Yoongi’s lips, forcing his mouth open, and pushing his fingers just a knuckle inside. “I can take care of myself, darling.”

Yoongi’s face turned bright pink as he quickly turned away from Hoseok, hiding his face while he chewed the food Hoseok had given him.

It wasn’t long before he found his confidence and leaned forwards, letting the blouse hang off of his shoulders as he delicately walked his fingers across their food, trying to pick the next thing to eat.

Yoongi let his hand wander up Hoseok’s chest and neck, all the way up to his face. He let his hand linger there. At least until Hoseok leaned in to kiss him. Yoongi sat back in his chair and grabbed the broken claw of the lobster, biting into it with a cheeky smile and a little wink.

“Tease,” Hoseok smiled.

“Flirt,” Yoongi replied. “At least I didn’t put my fingers into your mouth.”

Hoseok gently kicked Yoongi’s leg underneath the table and scoffed, “I’m trying to put more in there than that.”

“But, seriously,” Hoseok beamed. “I think I’m in love with you even more than I was 20 minutes ago. Is that even possible?”

“I think it is, because I am too,” Yoongi blushed. He slurped up the last of his chili oil noodles and wiped the oil off of his lips. “How is it possible that it feels so new though? I feel like I’ve never loved you this way before.”

Hoseok looked down at the leftovers, quickly calculating how much they could pack to take home. He straightened his spine, his back cracking against the brace, and quickly began putting things away. Yoongi seemed to get the message, because he gathered all of their trash in one place and ran to throw it away.

They packed up quickly, meeting each other back at the table with excited smiles on their faces.

Hoseok licked his lips at the sight of Yoongi standing in front of him with a shy smile on his face and sucked in his breath, “You’re so breathtaking. Enjoy being able to feel your lips while you can. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop once I get going.”

“I think I’ll like them much more when they’re numb and swollen,” Yoongi giggled. “What about you? What do you think?”

“I think,” Hoseok hummed. “That I’m the luckiest person in the world. Thank you, my fire lily.”

Yoongi simply grabbed Hoseok’s face and pulled him in for a deep kiss under the glow of the streetlights.

They shared one long kiss as they remade their memories together, creating something entirely new, but still entirely them. Hoseok had to say that he liked this better. He liked being able to be vulnerable with Yoongi. He liked being free from the Fire Nation. He liked that Yoongi was proud of him now.

Somewhere in between the first kiss and the millionth giggle, they found themselves laying in the meadow of fire liles. The ones they had replanted were beginning to grow out of the ground, the leaves sprouting out and growing anew from the dirt.

They were laid down on the grass, kissing each other on their sides because Hoseok’s back couldn’t handle the stress any other way.

Neither of them could feel their lips. They couldn’t feel anything but pure bliss and euphoria either. They just rolled around in the meadow, laughing excitedly and smiling with each other, giving kisses that just barely missed their mouths, pulling and biting each other’s lips. Yoongi lost all ability to function when Hoseok moved his hand down just a little bit further.

And then, their hair began whipping around.

Hoseok was the first one to notice the wind, but Yoongi was the first to notice that familiar smell. Like vegetables and hay.

“Mm…my prince,” Yoongi murmured. He pulled away from Hoseok, sitting up just a little bit only for Hoseok to start kissing his neck. Yoongi laced their hands together on the back of his neck with a small smile. “Jung Hoseok, I think Caramel got out.”

Hoseok bit at Yoogni’s soft skin and sighed, “Fine, fine. But I can’t believe you used the full name. This is cruelty.”

Hoseok got up, leaving Yoongi on the ground with a little kiss. Yoongi sat up, letting his skirt pool around his legs as he watched Hoseok look up in the sky for any sign of a sky bison.

They didn’t have to look too hard.

Just as Hoseok looked up, one flew right over their heads and looped back around. It looked a bit too big, and…

Wait, why were there two figures on its back?

~~~

“YOU’RE HERE,” Yoongi squealed.

Yoongi tackled Seokjin in a hug, followed quickly by Jimin and Jungkook dogpiling Taehyung. The soft rug broke their fall and Namjoon squished all of their ribs when he jumped on just for the hell of it.

“What took you so long,” Jungkook pouted. He crawled over underneath Taehyung, Jimin, and Namjoon to hug Seokjin too, clinging onto him in that obvious Jungkook has a crush way. “We thought you were never going to come. We missed you.”

Seokjin ruffled Jungkook’s hair and smiled, “We missed you guys too. Things just took a long time to get going.”

“Is the Northern Water Tribe self-sufficient again,” Yoongi whispered.

“Yeah it is,” Taehyung smiled proudly. He wriggled out from underneath Jimin and Namjoon and sat up against the wall, right next to a big canvas bag. “People aren’t doing too well, but they’re running again. And — oh yeah. We only came now because we just had a big adventure and we just had to tell you everything!”

Yoongi glanced at Seokjin and cocked his eyebrow, “You went with Taehyung on an adventure?”

“Ah, well I didn’t really have a choice in this one,” Seokjin chuckled. He sat up against the couch, propping Yoongi up as well, and hummed, “We kind of…got sent to the spirit world by Tui and La.”

“It was so cool! We got there and we were wearing these really cool clothes and we met Hoseok’s uncle, Iroh, and a bunch of spirits. And we learned more about ourselves and confronted our biggest fears and found the Garden of Soulmates or whatever it was called because, when we were sucked in, I was trying to figure out stuff about soulmates,” Taehyung rambled. He stood up, pulling a few sheets of paper out of the bag, “Look! This is Uncle Iroh! He’s so kind and I wanted to stay in the spirit world and adventure with him forever, but we had to go unfortunately.”

Seokjin patted Yoongi’s hand with a sad smile, “We found you in the garden. You and Hoseok. You’re soulmates. Destined to be with each other. Taehyung has a lot of notes, so if you want to know more you can ask him. He’s become quite the researcher.”

“That’s our Taehyung,” Namjoon chimed in. He nudged Taehyung with his shoulder. “Always so observant.”

Taehyung fell silent.

It was strange. Taehyung was never, ever silent. But it only let them know that whatever he was going to say next was important. And, if something mattered that much to Taehyung, it mattered to all of them.

“I’m not comfortable with you calling me observant. At least not for right now,” Taehyung finally whispered. He fiddled with the scrolls in his hands and shook his head, “Uncle Iroh helped me realize that…well I’ve never really liked that about myself. We can talk about it later, it’s really not that important, but I just wanted to tell you.”

“Sorry,” Namjoon sighed. He nodded towards the scrolls in Taehyung’s hands and smiled reassuringly, “Tell us what’s in there.”

Taehyung unrolled the first paper, and out came a drawing of an old man.

“This is Hoseok’s Uncle Iroh.”

~~~

Hoseok had forgotten how he was an outsider to Yoongi’s group. It was so easy to forget once he got accustomed to Jungkook, Jimin, and Namjoon. Jungkook and Hoseok confided in each other even more than any of the others. Namjoon and Hoseok bonded over their disabilities, especially since it resulted from the same event. And Jimin and Hoseok simply shared an energy that allowed them to sit in silence together.

But, now, with Seokjin and Taehyung back in the picture, Hoseok was pushed to the side to watch as the six members of one odd family quietly talked to each other for the first time in months.

Hoseok wasn’t particularly upset about it. He understood that Yoongi missed them and that they were his family first. He just wished that they hadn’t come right as he and Yoongi were rebuilding what they had let fall apart. Why couldn’t they have come just a day later?

Yoongi ran towards Hoseok excitedly and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Why is my prince sad? Come on, I want you to properly meet Seokjin and Taehyung. They have something to show you.”

Anything for Yoongi. That was Hoseok’s motto.

So Hoseok stood up and let Yoongi lead him back towards his friends. Immediately, Seokjin looked wary of him, while Taehyung just looked excited.

“Seokjin, Taehyung, this is Hoseok! He just goes by Hoseok now, no need to add anything! And Hoseok, this is Seokjin and Taehyung,” Yoongi beamed. “Show him the thing!”

Seokjin looked at Jungkook, whose face flushed red under his stare. Jungkook nodded, followed by a nod of confirmation from Jimin and Namjoon. That seemed to be enough for Seokjin to look a little less on guard.

Taehyung pulled some pieces of parchment from his bag and handed them to Hoseok, “We went to the spirit world and met your Uncle, Iroh! He sends you all of his love, and he wanted us to tell you that he’s so proud of you for finding your way. He really misses you.”

Hoseok took a step back. He couldn’t tell if Taehyung was lying or not, but he was extremely confused. Hoseok side eyed Yoongi and laughed awkwardly, “Hahaha, funny joke. Uncle Iroh’s been dead for a long time now. My fire lily, did you tell them about him?”

“No, I didn’t,” Yoongi smiled. “Open the parchment.”

Hoseok unrolled it, only to find his Uncle’s face staring right back at him. The memories of Iroh flooded through his body as he flipped through the papers. Drawings of Iroh and Taehyung looking over something, Iroh drinking tea, and them walking around. On the side, Hoseok could see his handwriting.

‘Look inward and start asking yourself the big question. Who are you? And what do you want?’

“What the fuuckkk,” Hoseok breathed out. He took a closer look at the parchment in disbelief. He hadn’t even shown Yoongi any portraits of Iroh. How could they have created such a perfect image? But it didn’t seem like they were lying, and Hoseok was pretty good at spotting lying. Except when it came to Yoongi because…well that whole thing. “Okay, really, stop it. This isn’t funny.”

Jimin and Jungkook slapped Hoseok’s shoulders at the same time, followed by Seokjin’s small confirmation.

“We’re not joking.”

For some reason, Hoseok believed it when Seokjin said it. Maybe it was the deadpan. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t seem like someone who would mess around like this. He seemed too tired for things like that.

“Okay…well, I am going to go into my room and lay down for a while. Jimin, Namjoon, Jungkook, can you show them around,” Hoseok asked. He placed his hand on the small of Yoongi’s back and whispered, “Have…have fun with your friends. I just want to sit and think.”

Yoongi looked up at him worriedly, but he simply kissed Hoseok on the cheek and whispered against his skin, “We can continue what we were doing in a little bit. I know you wanted to.”

~

Hoseok stared at the drawings for what seemed like forever. There was no way. It was impossible. But, if it was impossible, how would they get Iroh’s handwriting and his exact image?

God, those days seemed like forever ago. He could barely remember what Iroh was like. He just remembered that Uncle Iroh was the one adult who always listened to him, treated him with respect, took care of him, and played with him. He died not long before Hoseok met Yoongi. That was a shame. They probably would have liked each other.

Iroh was kind. So kind that he was shunned from the family because of it. He always tried to tell Hoseok to find his own path. That didn’t work out too well at the time.

Iroh was the last foreign firebender to learn the ways of the Sun Warriors. Just like Hoseok. He always treated Hoseok’s mother with kindness. He didn’t hit her or scream at her like Hoseok’s dad did. They would sit together and drink tea as they watched Hoseok and Akira play. At least until one of them inevitably ended up stabbing the other or pushing the other into the lake.

Hoseok was pretty sure Iroh had a son, but he couldn’t remember Lu Ten that well. It was a bit of a hazy period of his life, when every day was the same to the point of monotony. Lu Ten probably died when Hoseok was maybe 8? 10 at most.

There were too many questions in Hoseok’s mind to keep track of them all. He sat there, contemplating each one that came along. And none of them made sense — unless Taehyung and Seokjin were telling the truth and they really did travel to some spirit world where they met Iroh.

What even was a spirit world?

The door cracked open, a ray of light spilling into the room as Yoongi entered. He looked like an angel as he gently closed it and ran to Hoseok’s arms.

“Hey, my fire lily,” Hoseok sighed. He squeezed Yoongi tight to his chest and sat up to give him room to sit. Their bed was small – Hoseok could only do so much with the space in their room — but it was big enough for Yoongi to fit if Hoseok moved all the way to the end of it. “Don’t you want to keep catching up with them? I know you haven’t seen them in forever.”

Yoongi let his fingers glide across Hoseok’s collarbones with a little laugh, “Seokjin’s too tired from the journey and Taehyung almost passed out. So we’re going to properly talk and greet each other and everything in the morning.”

“Are you still up for this,” Hoseok asked.

“It depends,” Yoongi shrugged. He hooked his leg around Hoseok’s hip and ran his fingers up and down Hoseok’s spine. “Is your back feeling okay? I want to get messy with it, so messy that your dick goes in me maybe. But I can change things for you if you don’t feel like you can do it.”

Hoseok seriously contemplated lying to Yoongi. Because, yeah, his back was definitely on fire and screaming at him for torturing it. But Hoseok knew that Yoongi would call him out on his bluff and he would create a fair solution anyways.

“It does hurt a lot. My days of wrangling sky bison are over,” Hoseok chuckled. He rested his head in the crook of Yoongi’s neck and whispered, “I want to do this. I want you so badly.”

Yoongi smiled his beautiful, gummy smile and leaned into Hoseok’s ear, “I’m ready, Hoseok. Do you want to stay with me forever? Only if you’re ready for forever though. My heart can’t take losing you again.”

“I’ll never let it happen,” Hoseok smiled. “I can’t take it again either.”

They pulled away, Yoongi sitting up on Hoseok’s lap and Hoseok sitting up against the bed to stare at each other. Their faces stayed centimeters apart as they smiled at each other. But even Hoseok only had so much self control.

Yoongi leaned into Hoseok for a kiss with a quiet moan, “My prince…I need you…”

Hoseok didn’t need Yoongi to tell him twice. Yoongi slipped off of Hoseok’s lap, both of them holding onto the kiss until they had to stop, and slipped out of his skirt.

The fabric pooled to the floor around Yoongi’s ankles, leaving nothing but a pair of white panties that hugged Yoongi’s skin behind. Yoongi’s thighs and ass were perfectly plump, the curve of his waist tucking up into the slightly sheer blouse.

Jimin was a genius.

“I feel like I need to get on my knees for you,” Hoseok exhaled shakily. He watched as Yoongi gathered a small ball of oil and placed it into the small bowl they kept by their bedside. Even in the darkness, with nothing but the gentle rays of moonlight flickering across Yoongi’s skin, Hoseok knew that Yoongi was blushing. “I’m going to worship you, my fire lily.”

Yoongi motioned for Hoseok to take his pants off with a coy smile, letting his fingers follow the waistband as it traveled down Hoseok’s hips. He sat back down on Hoseok’s lap, his thighs cupping Hoseok’s hips. Yoongi’s ass was positioned perfectly over Hoseok’s cock.

“And I’ll worship you, Hoseok,” Yoongi smiled. He slowly began to grind against Hoseok’s cock, swaying his hips back and forth with a satisfied smile as he felt Hoseok grow harder and harder. “Make me yours.”

Hoseok pulled Yoongi’s panties down to his ankle and dipped his fingers in the oil. His body was already on fire at Yoongi’s teasing.

Hoseok pushed one finger inside of Yoongi. The waterbender tensed up, a small gasp escaping his lips as he felt Hoseok’s finger slip inside. At first it was one, and then Hoseok forced a second one in.

He skillfully stretched Yoongi out, making quick work of unravelling the beautiful boy on top of him. Yoongi fell against Hoseok, moaning and begging for Hoseok to keep going. Hoseok kissed Yoongi’s neck. The gentle bites quickly turned red against Yoongi’s skin, and Hoseok found that he was of the opinion that there was no piece of jewelry that could adorn Yoongi’s neck so prettily.

Yoongi pulled Hoseok’s pants down. The moment that he could feel how big Hoseok was, he bit his lip in an attempt to stop his nervous smile.

“My prince,” Yoongi whispered. He placed one hand on Hoseok’s chest, and the other on his shoulder. “Lay down. I’m going to do all the work for you.”

Hoseok let his fingers slip out of Yoongi’s ass. He gripped the sides of Yoongi’s hips, his fingers pressing indents into Yoongi’s supple flesh. There was nothing more beautiful than Yoongi's body bathed in the moonlight.

Maybe Hoseok was biased, but no sane man would disagree with him. Yoongi sat right above his cock, his skin already flushed pink at every corner and glittering from the moonlight, his pink nipples and little cock standing at attention, and his swollen lips gently parted to allow himself a deep breath before they rewrote the memories that had once defined them.

After all of the hurt and grief and heartbreak that they had put each other through, this was their fresh start.

Yoongi slid Hoseok’s hands back to his ass, letting Hoseok grip as hard as he wanted and pull them apart as much as he could with nothing more than a small whine. He grabbed Hoseok’s cock, pressed the tip against his warm hole, and slowly, he began to sink down.

Yoongi was unbearably warm, and so fucking tight. Hoseok almost doubted that he’d stretched Yoongi out at all.

“Ah, ahh fuck,” Yoongi whimpered. His entire body tensed up, his ass tightening around the tip of Hoseok’s cock. “You’re so much bigger than I remember, my prince. Fuck me, how is that possible?”

Hoseok sucked in a sharp breath as Yoongi sank down even further and shook his head, “And you got even tighter, darling.”

The pet name made Yoongi shudder. His grip on Hoseok’s chest loosened, and his knees slipped on the sheets as he squirmed around on Hoseok’s cock. But the lack of support subjected Yoongi to gravity.

Yoongi’s body slammed down onto Hoseok’s hips. A loud cry shuddered through him. His arms and legs trembled as he tried to handle the feeling. It was painful, it was terrible, and it was perfect. The way Yoongi’s ass fit in Hoseok’s hips was perfect. The way they immediately grabbed each other was perfect.

“Fuck,” Hoseok groaned. He pulled Yoongi into a warm hug and managed to ask through the haze of the heat and pleasure, “Are you okay?”

Yoongi simply began moving up and down. His face twisted into pain and frustration as he began to move. He wanted it faster. Hotter, messier, stickier. Hoseok could see it on his face.

God, Yoongi was so warm and tight. He took Hoseok’s cock so well.

Hoseok kissed the top of Yoongi’s head and laid his head back down on his chest, “You feel so good. Just bounce. Anything you do will satisfy me.”

Yoongi pulled himself up, capturing Hoseok’s lips in a kiss. They began biting and sucking away at each other’s lips, but Yoongi had other plans. He opened his mouth, letting Hoseok’s tongue slither in and claim anything it could touch as Hoseok’s.

Then, he began moving his hips.

Without even lifting his chest, Yoongi began moving his hips up and down, sliding up and down Hoseok’s cock again and again and again until he found his rhythm. Yoongi began bouncing recklessly, his moans and cries muffled into Hoseok’s mouth. His nails dug into Hoseok’s skin, leaving scratches anywhere he could reach.

Hoseok wished he could say he was any better. His fingers were digging into Yoongi’s hips so roughly that it was already turning bright red. He didn’t give Yoongi even a second to rest before his arms made Yoongi slam down onto his cock again. He had a hold on Yoongi’s face as well. He kept Yoongi trapped in their kiss. They didn’t let each other even breathe. Hoseok fucked Yoongi’s mouth with his tongue.

It left Yoongi squirming on top of Hoseok. The pleasure was just too much to handle. He could feel himself being edged closer and closer to the finish, but he couldn’t keep a hold on himself. His mind was lost to the clouds the moment Hoseok’s tongue entered his mouth.

The knot built in both of their stomachs, their pace getting messier and quicker as they tried to get to their release together. Yoongi didn’t care about trying to keep a rhythm anymore. He bounced on Hoseok’s cock needily, moving as fast as he could so that Hoseok could slam him down again. Hoseok bit Yoongi’s lips harder, he grabbed Yoongi’s ass tighter, and he let himself melt away from the heat of Yoongi’s warm hole.

The moment Hoseok’s hand touched the scar on Yoongi’s waist, Yoongi’s orgasm violently ripped through him. He began twitching on top of Hoseok, his nails digging into Hoseok tighter and tighter as he tried to regain control, but every sensation was heightened and overstimulating.

Just as Yoongi began twitching, Hoseok came into Yoongi’s ass with a quiet shudder.

They let each other go, Yoongi falling into a hiccuping, dazed puddle on top of Hoseok. Hoseok’s cock slipped out of him, a string of cum still connecting them.

Hoseok ran his hands through Yoongi’s hair, petting him as gently as possible. Even that motion made Yoongi’s body jerk away from him.

Yoongi managed to get up, his arms and legs trembling as he tried to make sure Hoseok was okay. He sat on Hoseok’s thighs, examining every bit of redness to make sure it wouldn’t bruise or leave a lasting mark.

“You’re funny,” Hoseok chuckled. He laid back against their pillow and smiled, “Your body is already beginning to bruise and you’re checking to see if I’m okay. You weren’t even rough.”

“These scratches are going to be here for a while though,” Yoongi whispered. He looked back at his ass with a flushed face and a shy grin, “And I like how rough you were. It was…thrilling? Exciting? Scary? I’m not sure, but I want to do it again. Please, can we do it again?”

Hoseok ran his thumb across Yoongi’s cheek. With every passing day, it was harder and harder to say no to him. Now, it was nearly impossible to look at him like this — glowing, his eyes full of happiness, his gums poking out of his smile, and pink flushing his face — and tell him that he can’t have anything in the entire world.

“Of course, my fire lily. Do you want to do it tonight, or would you like to do it another time,” Hoseok replied.

Yoongi looked back at his still leaking ass and hummed, “I love you, Hoseok. I love you so so so so so much. And I want to be with you forever and ever. But I can’t possibly go again.”

“I love you so so so so so much too,” Hoseok smiled. He pinched Yoongi’s cheek with a fake exasperated sigh, “I guess we have no choice but to sit here and talk until we fall asleep. Sounds like a boring night ahead of us.”

“My thoughts exactly. I hate listening to you whisper in my ear,” Yoongi laughed. He laid down on Hoseok’s chest and let out a small sigh of content, “You know, you’ve never really told me much about Iroh. Just bits and pieces and I have that recipe for his tea, but other than that, nothing.”

Hoseok ran his hands through Yoongi’s hair, “You can call him Uncle Iroh. You’ve always been my family, so it’s only right that you call him that. And…well he’s pretty important to me. He was…the only family member really who didn’t treat me like shit. Him and my mom. They always pushed me towards the right path. He was the best family member I could have asked for, even if I didn’t listen to him like I should have, you know?”

Yoongi cocked his eyebrow at Hoseok. A teasing smile played on his lips, and Hoseok knew he had to get a response out before Yoongi began his long journey of not letting Hoseok live his mistake down.

“Okay, well family is overrated anyways,” Hoseok scoffed. “Who even needs one nowadays?”

Yoongi looked up at Hoseok and pouted, “But you said I was your family. Does my soulmate not need me anymore?”

“Soulmate?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi smiled. “We’re soulmates. Taehyung found us in the Garden of Souls together. He said our souls were intertwined like a tree, and in the hollow of it was a fire lily. And he also said that he saw us dancing.”

Hoseok looked up at the ceiling. A small smile grew across his face as he thought of the idea of them being soulmates. Destined to be each other’s. It felt…terrifying. Like their decisions weren’t their own. Like their love was pre planned by the universe, and they were forced together..

But Hoseok felt giddy too. They were each other’s, and they would never be anyone else’s. Their love was something that the universe felt was so strong and fated that it tied their souls together.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Yoongi whispered. He rolled to the side of Hoseok, craning his neck so that his head could fit inside the crook of Hoseok’s, and whispered, “Soulmates can just not end up with each other. Right person, wrong time. Not compatible in this life. Early death. It’s not guaranteed. Their trees don’t grow. But ours was strong, and big. And, Taehyung didn’t say this, but he implied that Uncle Iroh believed it was because we chose each other and stuck by each other. We grew together to make it work.”

Hoseok laced their fingers together. He kissed the back of Yoongi’s palm and murmured against his skin, “Aren’t you glad I didn’t leave when you were pushing me away? We’re soulmates now.”

“Except you did leave me alone for months you meanie,” Yoongi pouted.

“With instructions on how to find me. And didn’t me leaving turn out so much better for us,” Hoseok bit back.

Yoongi pretended to shove Hoseok into the corner. He turned away from Hoseok with a loud huff, “And then you got with Himari!”

It was all a joke. They were having fun. Hoseok knew that.

But he hated seeing Yoongi upset. Even when it was fake. He couldn’t even stomach it anymore. So he rolled over to force Yoongi to be the little spoon and began kissing up and down his shoulders, stopping only at the shoulders of his blouse to get it off.

Hoseok’s shirt tickled against Yoongi’s bare skin. His muffled giggles filled the quiet room along with Hoseok’s quiet reassurances.

Yoongi reached back and wrapped his arm around Hoseok’s head with a big grin, “I love you, you big goofball. You know I’m not that mad about it anymore, right?”

“I love you, my fire lily,” Hoseok whispered. “And, just as priests pray every day to affirm their love and devoutness to their gods, I worship you and thank the universe for you every day. I will always, always consider you my goddess.”

Yoongi turned into Hoseok’s chest to hide his face with an embarrassed smile, “You’re my king, Hoseok. I know you wanted me to call you ‘my prince’, but you’re really a king to me. The king of my heart, body, and soul. And I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Oh, and hot hands.”

Hoseok let go of Yoongi and focused on calming down for a moment, breathing in and out and he whispered back, “I hope we’re going to the same ends, because I’m following you too.”

Yoongi reached up to take Hoseok’s hands again.

“I guess we just have to decide where we will go together.”

~~~

Hoseok and Yoongi woke up long past sunrise to the sounds of kimono chickens screaming and chatter in the hallways.

The house felt truly alive, the sun spilling into their curtains and framing Hoseok’s face. It made Hoseok smile, especially now that he remembered that his mother was a descendant of the Sun Warriors. Hoseok almost felt as if she were waking him up personally and keeping him warm and comfortable like she always did.

“Mm, my entire body hurts,” Yoongi whimpered. He sat up with Hoseok still clinging onto his waist and yawned, “Where’s my clothes?”

Hoseok gestured towards the floor tiredly, “On the ground. But you should wear red.”

“Why?”

“It’s traditional in the Fire Nation after losing your virginity,” Hoseok smirked.

Yoongi smacked him with a pillow, his footsteps storming away in that overdramatic way Yoongi stomps away when he’s pretending to be upset. Hoseok bit back his smile as he took the pillow off of his head.

“I’ve already lost it. To you, you dumbass,” Yoongi pouted. “And, in Earth Kingdom culture, you’re supposed to have married me already.”

Hoseok watched as Yoongi took out the red and black hanfu with white sleeves that Jimin sewed for him for a new Fire Nation disguise. He made a matching outfit for Hoseok too. Buying Jimin all of that fabric was constantly proving to be a good decision.

“We aren’t counting that one. It’s a social construct anyways. So this is it for the new, real us,” Hoseok reasoned. “That looks lovely on you.”

There was always a sense of pride that rose in Hoseok whenever Yoongi wore red. It was weird. He didn’t even really like the Fire Nation anymore. But seeing Yoongi wearing the colors of his nation and the colors couples in the Fire Nation would wear when getting married made Hoseok’s heart race. The red was just a bit dark, and it made his features look even more delicately beautiful.

Hoseok quickly changed into a shirt and the pair of pants he had worn for so long when he was in the military. They weren’t the most pleasant reminder of the past for Hoseok, but they were still very useful. Especially now that Seokjin and Taehyung were here, and they were going to head out any moment now.

They almost weren’t noticed when they walked in. The kitchen and living room was buzzing, alive with the sound of laughter and conversation and bustling with people moving around to find someplace to eat and cooking. Their entire house smelled amazing.

Himari passed by them with a bowl of naengmyeon. It smelled incredible. Like buckwheat and chili oil and soy sauce and all sorts of seasonings.

She gestured with her bowl to the kitchen counter, where there was one waiting for them, and laughed, “Go eat lovebirds. I heard you two had quite the night together.”

Yoongi hid his face in Hoseok’s chest to hide in embarrassment and pouted, “You weren’t even here last night. How did you know?”

“We’ve been gossiping for the past three hours,” Himari shrugged. She jumped up onto the couch, laying her legs across the armrest, and teased, “Rumor has it, you were pretty loud there, Yoongi.”

Seokjin stood up, placing some more chili oil on the table with an exasperated sigh, “Just eat. All of the chores and stuff are done.”

Yoongi grabbed their bowl of naengmyeon and piled a ton of chili oil onto it. He also added a little more vinegar before he ran over to kiss Seokjin on the cheek, “Thank you! This looks delicious.”

Yoongi ran back to Hoseok. He wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s shoulders and asked, “Are you sure you want to eat it that spicy, my fire lily? I don’t mind if you don’t.”

Jimin looked back at Hoseok with an amused smile, “Oh, you have no idea how spicy Yoongi will eat his naengmyeon. If you weren’t sharing that bowl with him, I’m pretty sure he would have put even more chili oil and peppers and spices.”

Hoseok looked down at Yoongi and cocked his eyebrow.

“I love spicy food,” Yoongi giggled. He pecked Hoseok’s lips, holding the bowl close to his chest to keep it from spilling as it was squished between them. “Come on. Let’s eat! You have to try Seokjin’s naengmyeon. It’s so good, and you make the best chili oil.”

They sat down on the floor behind the table and joined in on the conversation. They talked about anything. But the discussion flowed so quickly that there was no losing focus for even a second, because that was all it took for them to switch gears. Hoseok and Yoongi fed each other the bowl of naengmyeon throughout, watching quietly as Jimin and Namjoon did the same and Jungkook attempted to get Seokjin to. Taehyung and Himari laughed about the three pairs having to share their food.

Their first serving was amazing. Hoseok could make it through the spice, even though he could definitely feel it. But maybe it was a mistake pretending like it was below his handling level, because Yoongi got a second serving and put even more spice on it.

Everyone burst into laughter as Hoseok nearly exploded from the heat. Somehow, Yoongi was completely fine. Hoseok’s mind couldn’t help but think of him as a spicy little custard bun. His cheeks were so cute flushed with a reddish-pink, and his lips were beginning to form a pout from the spicy sauce.

Hoseok listened in pain from the spice as the conversation veered towards a detailed recap of what happened in the spirit world for Himari’s purposes. Taehyung seemed to want to go adventuring with Iroh again a lot, and Seokjin seemed to never want to go back. Hoseok couldn’t get his finger on the pulse of it.

Was it a good thing? Was it a bad one?

Well, wherever Uncle Iroh chose to rest must have been a positive force.

Hoseok wanted Yoongi’s lips around his dick again.

He also wanted to prove that he could fit in with Yoongi’s friends. He’d never interacted with a group this big, with the exception of children, and his social skills maybe needed a little work. But he just had to prove that he could make Yoongi and his friends laugh.

For some reason, Hoseok knew that Seokjin was going to have to be the one to impress. He was not having it with him. It was scary how he would go from laughing to glaring at Hoseok in a matter of seconds.

What was a joke Hoseok could make? Something that could probably get more people than just Yoongi to laugh.

“I feel like the aunties right now,” Himari laughed. She sat back, setting her empty bowl down on the table with a pained groan, “Eating too much, gossiping. All we need now is to get some tea to drink.”

Everybody nodded in agreement at the suggestion of getting tea, and Hoseok knew it was his time to shine.

Hoseok got up, leaving Yoongi to sit on the floor by himself. He grabbed a teapot from the kitchen and began making tea, brewing it just how Iroh used to do it. Although, he was sure that it wasn’t nearly as good as Iroh’s or even Yoongi’s.

He poured out cups of tea for everyone and began passing them out with Yoongi’s help.

“I went to a tea meditation once,” Hoseok blurted out.

Everyone stopped to stare at him, and suddenly Hoseok wanted to crawl into a corner and die. Why did he think that he could be normal after all of these years?

Hoseok simply set the tray of teacups down and cleared his throat, “There was a real atmosphere of tranquili-tea.”

Yoongi let out a small giggle and Himari let out a weird noise, like a burst of air. But everybody else was dead silent. Hoseok felt his entire body light on fire. All he could do was sit down next to Yoongi again.

“Hey, it was a good joke,” Jungkook smiled encouragingly.

Namjoon nudged Hoseok’s knee with his foot and nodded, “Yeah, it was. Very clever.”

“It was good,” Seokjin nodded.

Hoseok let out a small sigh of relief and buried his head in the crook of Yoongi’s neck. Yoongi simply smiled and let Hoseok hide there as the conversation continued on to a more serious subject.

“I think we should get going as soon as possible,” Seokjin tossed out. He leaned back in his chair with a stone cold expression on his face. “Rumor has it that Ba Sing Se can’t afford any more time. They haven’t broken through yet, but it seems that, unless the Earth Kingdom can get more soldiers to their aid quickly, the Fire Nation will break through by the coming of this winter.”

Jimin furrowed his eyebrows and looked outside at the beautiful summer day, “But…last time it took us years to launch our plan, and we failed. How are we going to be able to do this within months? And we have the farm here. The animals, the plants, our new life. What are we going to do with this place?”

Himari glanced up at Yoongi and Hoseok with a hum, “Well, you’ll have me this time. And someone who knows the Fire Nation inside and out. And I can get the local teachers to allow the students to take care of the farm as an assignment. I doubt Hoseok wants this palace abandoned.”

Hoseok nodded in agreement.

It was an interesting point that Himari raised though, and Hoseok could see that all of them recognized it. They had Hoseok — who grew up in the military and royal family, who knew everything there was to know about how his father acted and how the nation operated, as well as all of their weaknesses.

And with Himari, who was a Kyoshi Warrior, they had one more, extremely powerful person by their side. Yoongi had nearly become a master at waterbending since the first attempt at defeating the Fire Nation, Namjoon was getting better and better at combat by the day, and Hoseok was more powerful because of the Sun Warriors. Albeit, there was the setback of both Namjoon and Hoseok being disabled. The rest of them were already very skilled benders though.

“I don’t think there’d really be a way to take them down. The security is too high in the capital and around the palace — especially after everything about Yoongi came out. They’ve nearly doubled it. And, even if we kill my father before anything could happen, we’d need to get my sister too. And that would also mean that it could be too late because of communication times,” Hoseok sighed. He sipped the tea that was definitely not as good as Iroh’s. “They also have a shit ton of resources and scouts, so we can’t…”

That was when the idea hit him.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours,” Yoongi asked. He nudged Hoseok’s elbow to prompt him to share, “Anything can help.”

“Well,” Hoseok frowned. “If their resources are the problem, why don’t we take them out? All you would need to do is take down as many factories and plantations and training camps as possible. That would also weaken their offense on Ba Sing Se, buying us more time if needed. It took a year to build those, so they couldn’t recuperate. And it would leave them with exactly the amount of soldiers they have left. They’d direct more to Ba Sing Se so as to not lose their massive operation, a good handful from the security. And it would leave him more open to an attack.”

Everyone sat in silence as they thought about the idea. It was good. Almost too good to be true.

“So when do we leave,” Namjoon asked. “We should head to the Air Temple first, get our supplies ready, and do some strategizing.”

“Tomorrow morning,” Seokjin declared.

Everyone fell into silence again, and, this time Yoongi and Hoseok felt a shared sense of sadness at the thought of leaving this place. They tried not to think about the fact that they might not even come back together, but it lingered over them like a dark cloud.

This was it.

~~~

Something had shifted inside of the palace. Akira didn’t know exactly what it was. But everything was different.

Her father had shunned her, sending her away on more and more missions, beating her even harder for every mistake he had and forcing her to give more and more blood to the ancestors as punishment. The palace workers stared at her, disturbed by her disheveled state and the gauntness in her cheeks and frame.

Akira could practically hear their mocking laughter when she turned the corner. She could almost see them thinking about slitting her throat when they tried to fix her hair. She could see her team leaving weak spots specifically to allow their enemies to get to her.

Ohhh they thought they were so smart, clearing a path so windy that she couldn’t possibly notice it or think of it as a threat. But she knew. She knew what they were planning.

Akira could feel the anger burning underneath her skin, day by day. And she could see her mother through the red tunnel vision, right at the center of it all. She saw how she stood by and looked away from the beatings with a cruel smile contorting her face into something unrecognizable. She could see how their mother always protected Hoseok, and never gave the time of day for her.

Her father couldn’t have simply turned on her like this. She didn’t even do anything wrong. It was all Hoseok’s fault. Their mother had to have known. That was why she was turning Akira’s own father against her. That was why she made Aiko kill herself, wasn’t it?

It was all piecing together in Akira’s mind.

Akira felt a tug on her hair.

She flung herself out of the water, heart spiking with fear and hand already drawn to her blade. Her hair was dripping all over the ground as she stabbed the woman right in the throat.

The woman collapsed immediately in a puddle of blood. Akira kicked her body across the room and screamed at the man cowering in fear, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS INSOLENCE?! I SHOULD HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE THRONE.”

The man dropped to his knees and bowed down in front of Akira, sobbing, “Please, my princess. Don’t hurt me.”

Akira slammed his head onto the ground, and stabbed him over and over and over again until all she could see was red. Something in her sparked at the merciless slaughter. An almost orgasmic euphoria washed over her as she took out all of her rage on this man.

A laugh ripped through her throat as he writhed around in pain, still clinging onto his life.

“I hope this was painless enough for you.”

~~~

Hoseok never thought he’d be here again so soon.

But, if there was one good thing about leaving behind everything that Hoseok had built and grown to cherish, it was that he and Yoongi were on Caramel alone. Seokjin, Jungkook, and Himari were put onto Mochi together, and Namjoon, Jimin, and Taehyung were on Apple.

They had taken nearly everything. All of their clothes and pillow and bedsheets, most of their food and some meat that they dried out with salt for preservation, their belongings, everything. Amongst the things that Hoseok took were his poems, and the ring that he was going to propose to Yoongi with.

If they were likely not going to make it back together, what was the point in not at least asking? That way, whoever died would have no regrets. And Hoseok was sure about it anyway. He wanted Yoongi to be his, for life. And, sure, he didn’t have a ring for himself. But they could always find a simple one somewhere. Maybe in a Fire Nation village.

Hoseok just had to find the right time to ask.

Definitely not now.

Now, they were passing over Earth Kingdom towns, and Yoongi looked distraught. Hoseok knew exactly why.

“Talk to me,” Hoseok whispered. He looked over the saddle, staring at the town below them as Caramel tried her best to keep up with Apple and Mochi. “You can tell me anything.”

Yoongi laced his fingers in Hoseok’s hand with a sad smile, “I know. I’m just thinking about that day. All of the soldiers I hurt. The more I think about it, the more I realize that they were victims of the Fire Nation too. Less than everyone else of course, but still.”

“Yeah. I mean, the Fire Nation promises all of these rights and privileges that you can’t have normally, like welfare or rice and meat for your family or scholarships, as long as you join the military. We did everything to practically force civilians into the war just so that they can live,” Hoseok sighed. He laid the side of his head on the saddle to stare at Yoongi. “But, you know, some good came from that day. I realized how terrible what the Fire Nation was doing is.”

It always started with the crops. First, they took all of the growth. Hoseok couldn’t even imagine having to give that up. And then, they would tell you to replace it with Fire Nation greenery since "the taste of Earth Kingdom crops are too exotic for our troops' palates".

Even growing food was a privilege. Hoseok loved being able to feed himself and the people he cared for and being able to choose what he grew. He couldn’t imagine how it would feel if the crops he had worked on for nearly a year were suddenly uprooted by some soldiers who told him exactly what he had to grow, and then to give almost all of it to them once it was ripe.

They’d always take away the little things next. Hoseok wouldn’t have realized how important it was until Jimin began making clothes for specific nations based on the color. Green dye for clothing was a huge part of the sense of nationalism for Earth Kingdom people. And then cemeteries, small cultural differences, honorary statues and monuments, etc. were taken away too.

Celebrations and holidays next.

"Do this instead of your regular celebrations and traditions, because the Fire Nation people who you are so generously hosting need a little taste of home."

And, finally, it becomes "we're tearing down your religious and cultural buildings to make this new cultural hub to trade and share" after that.

Inevitably, they would be twisted into, "we love your culture and your beliefs even though we strip them away and silently dispose of anyone who speaks up about it, we are going to establish a colony here so that we can improve on your methods and ways of life by imposing ours onto you and generations of kids."

Hoseok observed that same pattern both from the view of the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom villages. The slow, forceful ease into total control was always the same.

“Well, you’re right about that,” Yoongi smiled. “Sometimes I wonder what I did though. I’ve never seen anything like it. They became husks. Like I sucked the life out of them. I swear, I remember feeling every single limb in their bodies. It was horrible.”

Hoseok brought Yoongi in for a quiet hug. He held Yoongi’s head close to his chest, smiling as he kissed the top of Yoongi’s head over and over again. Yoongi didn’t say anything — just sat there and basked in the warmth of Hoseok’s love. He was so grateful to have Hoseok. Really.

It had only been a day since they officially had been together again, but Yoongi knew that this was really it. There was no doubt about it. They belonged with each other. Hoseok made Yoongi fall right where he stood with every word he spoke, but he always caught Yoongi in his arms before he could get hurt.

“My prince,” Yoongi smiled. He lifted his head, barely being able to get out of Hoseok’s tight grip. He shifted his weight onto his knees and pulled them further into the middle of the saddle. “Are you sure that you’re ready to do this? I understand if you don’t, but we can’t have any hesitation out there. I think you know just as well as me how that turned out for us last time. And we’re going to have to train a lot harder in a much shorter period of time.”

Hoseok didn’t hesitate. The moment Yoongi finished his sentence, Hoseok kissed his face with a determined smile, “I’m in this, my fire lily. We’re going to defeat the Fire Lord. And I’m going to make sure that you come home, safe and sound.”

“You know that you’re going to have to take the throne, right? This won’t end unless someone who will be willing to fix everything takes the throne,” Yoongi whispered.

Hoseok laid down on Yoongi’s lap. Yoongi took Hoseok’s head in his hands, quietly playing with Hoseok’s hair as Hoseok curled around his knees. They sat there for a minute as they both thought about what Hoseok taking the throne would mean for their future.

They had the choice of staying together in the Fire Nation so that Hoseok could rule and make things right, staying together on their farm in the Earth Kingdom, or they could be apart, maybe visit each other every once in a while on the farm or in the Fire Nation. Both Yoongi and Hoseok knew that staying on the farm in the Earth Kingdom was selfish, and they had to help the world heal. But they knew that they couldn’t be apart for so long.

“How would I fix everything,” Hoseok hummed. He ran his fingers across the side of Yoongi’s knee with a small smile, “What do you think would need to be done for us to make reparations and heal the world?”

“Well, I’d start with repairing all the damage the Fire Nation did to structures and towns, removing soldiers and military bases from the colonies — but only the ones whose primary purpose there are as soldiers, because there are some that have started families and have regular jobs,” Yoongi suggested. “I’d also give lots of money to the Earth Kingdom citizens. Releasing the records you have on them and allowing them to learn and practice their original cultures freely. And…this one may be a pipe dream but I’d like people to know about the Southern Water Tribe and the Air Nomads. They deserve to be remembered. And, since Jimin and I aren’t going to be having kids, I doubt that they’ll ever be able to come back.”

Hoseok smiled to himself.

“I’ll put up museums everywhere. And that all sounds perfect,” Hoseok smiled. “But I also want to fix things on the homefront too. I want to fix Fire Nation education so that there’s no more propaganda taught to kids. I want to give people all of the things that are offered right now as ‘incentives’ to join the military. I want to help more people in the Earth Kingdom get education too.”

Yoongi bent over and kissed Hoseok’s forehead, “And once it’s done?”

“We can be together, forever,” Hoseok smiled. “We’ll go back to our home and stay there. Unless you want to do something else?”

“No, that sounds perfect,” Yoongi giggled. He pressed more kisses to Hoseok’s forehead, still holding Hoseok’s head in his hands. “We could travel together too. I’d like to try going to the Southern Water Tribe and seeing what there is there that I could salvage.”

Hoseok reached up to cup Yoongi’s cheek. He closed his eyes and nodded, “We’ll go there. And we’ll go to Ember Island together too.”

They stayed wrapped up in each other, whispering about their plans for the future in bliss for days. Even as it rained. Yoongi simply sat up against the boxes of supplies for their journey that were mounted on the saddle as Hoseok clung to his body and completely froze the rain around them and the others.

Every single thing that Yoongi did only made Hoseok want to marry him more.

“Wake up, my prince. We’re here.”

~~~

“The factories on the west side first. Those are their biggest producers. And then we have to hit the east side almost immediately after, if not at the same time.”

All Seokjin did was blankly stare at Hoseok. Hoseok tried to not let it get to him, but it was unnerving. They were alone. Yoongi and Namjoon and Jimin were out cooking, and Himari and Jungkook and Taehyung were out finding food.

Hoseok was left to fend for himself underneath Seokjin’s empty gaze. And, normally, Hoseok wouldn’t be scared. But Yoongi trusted Seokjin the most after him. Seokjin was the person whose approval mattered the most. Hoseok couldn’t be with Yoongi and not at least be on Seokjin’s good side.

Well, he could be. But that wouldn’t exactly be the greatest time for either of them.

“So, the factories are here, here, here, and here,” Hoseok gulped. He drew circles on the map, his hand shaking as Seokjin just continued to stare at him. “What do you think of that plan?”

Seokjin glanced down at the map and sat back in his chair, “Well, first off, I’m not sure whether or not we can trust you. But, assuming you’re telling the truth, it’s a good one. It gives us the fighting chance that we need and cuts them off of their resources.”

They fell into silence, staring at each other from across the table.

Hoseok didn’t know what to say anymore. There was not much left to plan except for the whole infiltrating the palace part. But they couldn’t do that without the others. So, for now, they were stuck.

“Dinner’s here!”

Hoseok and Seokjin both perked up at the sound of Yoongi’s voice. They watched as Yoongi walked into the room with a happy bounce in his step and two plates in his hands. He handed the first one to Seokjin with a little pat on the back and the second one to Hoseok with a kiss on the cheek.

“How are you guys doing here? I see you’ve managed to not bite off each other’s heads yet,” Yoongi smiled. He sat down right next to Hoseok and looked down at the map, scanning it with his eyes. “I see you’ve got some things marked out?”

“Those are the factories. And we’re pretty much done with the exception of the final part,” Hoseok smiled. “Did they come back with food or was this from our reserves?”

Yoongi looked down at the plate of dumplings and hummed, “Well, the fish in the dumplings was from them. But I made the skin of it with some stuff we had. Oh, and they’ve already claimed rooms. Seokjin, you’re with Jungkook. Himari gets her own room. Taehyung gets his own room. Namjoon and Jimin decided they wanted to share one. That leaves you and I to the one outlooking the cliff, Hoseok. The view is amazing, you have to see it once you’re done here.”

Hoseok pressed a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek and hand fed him a dumpling, “I don’t know. I think it’s going to be pretty hard to beat this one right here.”

Seokjin stared at the ground, quietly eating his dumplings as Yoongi and Hoseok flirted with each other. He only looked back up at them after maybe a few minutes of their back and forth.

“Just don’t defile an ancient temple please.”

Yoongi burst out into laughter, leaning against Hoseok to support himself as even Seokjin began laughing. Hoseok felt like he was missing out on some inside joke, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

Would it be awkward to laugh too? Or would it be worse to stay silent?

“I can’t believe you’re the one saying that, Seokjin,” Yoongi smiled. He turned to Hoseok and wrapped his arm around Hoseok’s shoulders to pull him closer. “Back when we first got here, Seokjin pinned me against a wall and kissed me until my lips started hurting. And then he started kissing my neck until it hurt too.”

Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows. He knew they were together, but he had to admit that he didn’t know a whole lot about what their relationship was like. He knew what Jungkook told him and he could figure out how it fell apart. But he didn’t know anything about moments like that.

It drove Hoseok a bit crazy. And, of course, logically, Hoseok knew that he and Yoongi were soulmates. They were together now, and Yoongi wouldn’t choose anyone but him. But that didn’t stop Hoseok from feeling that painful twinge of jealousy.

Especially since he could see that Seokjin still loved Yoongi.

Hoseok wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s waist and pulled him into his lap, “Do you wanna hear about the plan? I’d love your input on it.”

“Yeah, we would,” Seokjin nodded.

Yoongi looked back at the map and pointed at the circles, “Well, those are the factories, aren’t they? I think it looks good. But we should strike both sides of them at the same time. That way we have the element of surprise. Don’t you like that, my prince?”

“You remembered,” Hoseok smiled. “Yeah, that sounds good. Honestly, I think you could take out most of the east side all by yourself. So it would be plausible for our team. What do you think next?”

“Convene on the capital. Team one clears the way for Team two. Team two gets in and takes the Fire Lord out,” Yoongi hummed. “I think Team two should be…three people at most. One of them has to be you, my prince. You know the best way into the palace, so you’ll lead and the other two strike.”

Seokjin drew out what Yoongi was saying and watched as Hoseok ran his thumb across Yoongi’s shoulder. He pursed his lips, biting his tongue so that he didn’t say anything stupid in front of them.

It was impossibly hard to watch as his first love was so happy with someone else. Especially when that someone else was the person who used to be their shared enemy. But, if there was something Seokjin could control, it was himself. And he wouldn’t ruin Yoongi’s happiness for anything in the world.

“What team do you want to be on,” Hoseok asked.

Yoongi popped another dumpling into his mouth.

“Team two. You, me, and Jimin,” Yoongi whispered. “And Jimin and I should be the ones to end it.”

“I agree,” Hoseok smiled.

They leaned in to kiss each other, but they could barely even touch before they were interrupted by Seokjin clearing his throat.

“There’s a rat on the table.”

Yoongi and Hoseok jumped back at the same time. They fell to the floor with a little yelp, Hoseok making sure to break Yoongi’s fall. It was a bit of a hard hit to his back. But if it meant that Yoongi was okay, then Hoseok was happy to do it.

Besides, Yoongi was already holding the rat in his hand and making sure that—

Yoongi…had the rat…in his hand…

“OH MY GOD,” Yoongi screamed. He dropped the rat and washed his hands as quickly as possible as he backed up into Hoseok for safety. Once his hands were cleaned, he helped Hoseok sit back up again. “How did that rat get in my hands?”

Seokjin looked over at them to make sure that they were okay and shrugged, “It just flew into your hand when you fell. Like, it froze, and lifted up, and flew to your hand.

Hoseok ran his hand in circles on the small of Yoongi’s back to comfort him. He already looked like he was going to throw up. Hoseok was just worried that the full realization hadn’t hit yet. It would be a storm when it did, Hoseok knew that much for sure.

“Hoseok,” Yoongi whispered. “Is there water inside living things? Because…if so…I think I just controlled that rat’s blood.”

Well…there was no answer that would satisfy Yoongi. If he said no, then Yoongi would quite literally die for the answers. If he said yes, Yoongi would have to deal with the thought that he could control the water inside another being’s body.

But…Hoseok couldn’t lie. He couldn’t leave Yoongi torn up about what just happened.

“Yeah. People and animals and even plants, they have water in them,” Hoseok whispered.

Yoongi curled up into Hoseok’s body and closed his eyes. He took in deep breaths, breathing in tandem with Hoseok’s hand on his back in an attempt to calm himself down. Hoseok could already feel him shaking.

All Yoongi could see was the sight of his first crush’s blood, seeping down and running towards him. He could see his mothers’ blood, splattered all across what was once the entrance to their home, dripping down and forming a puddle around his body as he held his moms’.

Seokjin kneeled down in front of them and quietly patted Yoongi’s head.

“Yoongi…I think you can bend blood.”

~~~

“Lift my hand again,” Hoseok whispered. He wrapped his hand around Yoongi’s and held his other one out. “It’s okay. You can never hurt me.”

Yoongi looked out at the window, watching the unmoving fog blanket the steep valley. The bison was flying with the rest of the gang out there somewhere. Having fun. Laughing. Soaring through the clouds.

The only reason that they weren’t with them was because, after their revelation, the mood had dampened considerably. It was immediately decided that Yoongi had to start training this new, never before done, no guidance skill because it was too dangerous. And it “could be useful” for their mission ahead.

“I don’t want to do this,” Yoongi cried. He grabbed Hoseok’s pointer finger and lifted it up and down, “Look, there, I did it. Please, don’t make me do this. I hate it, I don’t want to be able to do this. I don’t want to hurt anybody else with this.”

Hoseok sucked in a deep breath and nodded, “I know, I know, my fire lily. But we have to figure out how to control our skills. Otherwise, we’ll hurt people we don’t mean to hurt with it. How about…you lift my pinky? And I try to let my hand warm as much as possible without burning you. Does that sound okay?”

Yoongi looked down at Hoseok’s hand and began sobbing. He lifted Hoseok's pinky up with his pointer finger as he dove into Hoseok’s chest for comfort. And, of course, Hoseok being Hoseok folded the moment Yoongi started sobbing.

A blanket and a warm hug was all it took for Yoongi to start calming down a little bit. His hands were still shaking, and he was still crying hard, but Hoseok knew Yoongi. He could tell that even just a warm embrace made Yoongi feel so much better than he had before. It was almost instantaneous.

Hoseok made a mental note to ask Taehyung if that was a soulmate thing.

“Okay, you don’t have to do it today,” Hoseok whispered. He let his body heat rise around Yoongi, keeping it in a good temperature thanks to how deeply he was breathing to make sure that Yoongi didn’t get yet another scar. “You did amazing.”

Yoongi pulled the tears out of Hoseok’s shirt and made a little stick figure out of it. Hoseok smiled as it walked up his arm to give his face a wet little hug. He loved the way Yoongi’s fingers danced in the air to move the thing. His fingers were so graceful, even with the chafing from gripping the bed sheets too hard last night.

“I wish I could do that,” Hoseok smiled. He gave the little water figure a kiss on the head, and one on Yoongi’s head too. “All I can do is make fire and direct it.”

“That’s better than being able to rip the blood out of somebody’s body,” Yoongi whispered. He kissed Hoseok on the chest and murmured against his skin, “Can you make love to me again?”

Hoseok gripped Yoongi by the hips and pressed a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek with a quiet hum, “I’d be honored to. But don’t you want to join the others? I’m sure they want to have fun with you.”

“No. I don’t want to see anybody right now but you,” Yoongi pouted. He tilted his head down and looked up at Hoseok with those puppy eyes that Hoseok would always instantly fold for. There was no fighting the grip Yoongi had on his heart. “Do you want to go with them?”

Hoseok simply laid Yoongi down on the bed with his legs wrapped around Hoseok’s hips.

“I’ve never heard of this training method before.”

“Me neither, but hey. If it works.”

Yoongi and Hoseok looked up to find Namjoon and Jimin, standing at the open doorway with a teasing grin on their faces. They were soon joined by Himari, Taehyung, Jungkook, and finally, Seokjin, who all seemed to be rather amused by their “training”.

“Seok, you should teach Seokjin how to train like that,” Jungkook blurted.

Everyone turned to him, and Yoongi and Hoseok were able to breathe for a split second as the embarrassment was taken entirely off of them, and all eyes were on Jungkook. Sometimes, it was hard for Yoongi to comprehend that Jungkook was the one saying things like that.

It begged the question, was Seokjin aware of Jungkook’s crush on him? It was too obvious at this point.

“You guys are so horny, geez,” Himari sighed. She poked her head through everybody and smiled, “We were going to ask you if you wanted to join us since it’s no fun without you two and they felt bad, but I guess you’re already enjoying your training time together. Do you want us to leave?”

“A little bit, yeah,” Yoongi pouted.

Himari reached out for the door handle and began closing it, pushing everyone back out.

Just as it was about to close, she poked her head out and grinned, “You go, Yoongi.”

Yoongi smiled to himself as Hoseok grabbed onto him even tighter. Even though the situation in which their friendship grew was terrible, he was so glad to have Himari.

“My prince, I think I can control it,” Yoongi whispered. He wrapped his arms around Hoseok’s neck, cupping his face with his hands. Hoseok’s new, favorite resting place. “Please, don’t make me do it again. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Hoseok leaned into Yoongi’s palm and nodded, “Never again. Never again, I promise.”

Somehow, Yoongi got the feeling that, one day, he would have to do it again. And it was going to be so much more painful than it had ever been in the past.

~~~

The days passed by so quickly. Training session after training session, meal after meal, night after night spent together. It was all a blur in Hoseok’s head honestly. All he knew was that, after just one week, everything had shifted.

Himari and Yoongi and Jungkook were inseparable when Yoongi wasn’t with Hoseok. Oftentimes, Hoseok would find them wandering the halls, giggling and talking with each other. Hoseok was never included in those conversations. But he didn’t mind. Yoongi seemed really happy to be with all of his friends and his lover.

It showed in the way Yoongi would hop up to Hoseok and kiss him out of the blue, or ask Hoseok to make love to him or cuddle with him no matter what time of the day it was. Hoseok always gave in, of course, but it was a bit unusual for Yoongi to be so clingy.

Namjoon figured out how to navigate life without the use of his arms or chest. And he could really fight now at that. He was a little bit slow, and once he had a motion going, he couldn’t stop, but even just one hit was enough to stop a sabertooth moose lion in its tracks. Where Namjoon lacked in speed though, Jimin made up for tenfold.

They all were getting more and more powerful with each training session. At first, it was clunky. They hadn’t properly fought in a long time, and it was hard fighting against different elements. But, as time went on, they all started developing and taking pieces and pieces of each other’s styles. Jungkook especially adopted Jimin’s way of weaving around opponents. Yoongi developed Himari and Hoseok’s quick jabs and punches and sharp kicks. Jimin started to move like water, redirecting more and more hits towards them. And Seokjin completely took on the Earthbending style of blocking and firm stances.

From what Yoongi said, Hoseok had started to take a little of everything from the other elements.

Seokjin…Seokjin was a strange case. Hoseok didn’t think he’d ever be able to say it, but they were actually starting to get along. It was certainly obvious that Seokjin still found him a little untrustworthy. But he was more and more comfortable with telling Hoseok things that were crucial to their mission.

Yoongi and his friends had an incredible talent of being able to make a home anywhere. At this point, Hoseok would have taken this temple over his life in the palace.

By the sixth day, they had to leave. They were running out of supplies and food, and a supply trip was necessary. But the closest town was in the Fire Nation. So, they figured, why not hit multiple birds with one stone?

They needed food and supplies, they needed hawks and paper to send letters to their associates, and they needed maps of the palace. The plan was to go to the east end of the Fire Nation, drop Team Two off, and let them explore until we hear word form the others. Then Team One would go back to the West side, and the rest of them head over to the east.

Actually, they still needed to really talk to Jimin about the plan. Jimin kind of knew that he was on Team Two, but Hoseok wasn’t sure that he knew what that entailed.

Which was why Yoongi and Hoseok decided to ask Jimin to sit on Caramel’s back with them as the others continued to pack up their things. Hoseok already had his stuff packed (including the poems and the ring), and Yoongi never really took his things out, so it was okay for them to pull Jimin aside.

Not that Jimin was very happy to have to leave Namjoon alone. At this point, they were practically attached by the hip. Yoongi couldn’t even make fun of him for it because he and Hoseok were no better.

“Can we hurry? I don’t want Joonie to try lifting something,” Jimin asked worriedly.

“This will only take a second,” Hoseok nodded. He glanced over to Yoongi to take over the conversation.

Yoongi fidgeted with Hoseok’s fingers and began, “Well, Hoseok was thinking…we’re on Team Two. And…we figured that it should be us.”

“To make the Fire Lord’s head roll,” Jimin asked.

They nodded in tandem.

Jimin glanced at both of them blankly. Not even Yoongi could read what he was thinking. But he knew that, at the very least, Jimin was worrying about separating from Namjoon, all the way on the other side of a continent.

“I know the Air Nomads were pacifists, but…I do want blood,” Jimin sighed. He looked over the saddle to try and catch a peek of everyone packing up. “Did you guys realize that, chances are, at least one out of the eight of us is not going to make it back alive? We barely scraped by last time.”

Yoongi placed his hand on Jimin’s shoulder and smiled, “But, this time, we have a Kyoshi Warrior. And we’re all stronger than we were before. And we have Hoseok to tell us exactly how to beat them. The odds are in our favor.”

“This is all happening so fast. I’m really scared,” Jimin confessed.

Hoseok leaned back against the saddle. His thumb fiddled with the ring in his pocket as he nodded, “Things are moving really fast. But we can’t waste time now. In a week, we’re taking the Fire Lord down.”

“Wow…just one week.”

Yoongi looked over the edge of the saddle with a long sigh. He looked around at everyone, moving as quickly as they could.

Except for Taehyung, who was slowly wandering around, seemingly dazed by his surroundings.

“Hey, are you okay,” Yoongi shouted out.

Taehyung’s head shot up at Yoongi. He looked around, his eyes stopping at the water fountain right next to him.

“Yeah…I just had a weird dream.”

~~~

8 days to rebellion

~~~

“How do I look?”

Hoseok looked up at the sound of Yoongi’s voice. He watched as Yoongi stepped out of their tent, wearing his red and black hanfu. He looked amazing. If it weren’t for his eye color, Hoseok would mistake him for any Fire Nation noble.

The group had set up camp in a rural area, near a village on one of the tiniest islands in the Fire Nation. It was the farthest one from the main island of the archipelago. Hoseok knew this place all too well. It was near where his school was. One of the only prestigious schools in the entire nation. Hoseok could see the red gates when they flew over. And, just a little bit further beyond, the gated buildings of the only swordmaster’s house laid tucked into the hills.

Himari was going to go there to get a sword for herself. Her fans were getting dull, and apparently Kyoshi Warriors had some sword training. Hoseok suspected she also just wanted to duel the master for the hell of it.

“You know you’re gorgeous, my fire lily,” Hoseok smiled. He reached out for Yoongi, extending his hand as far as he possibly could.

Yoongi let Hoseok pull him into his lap with a giggle, “I know. I just like hearing you say it, my prince.”

“You should get roughed up a little bit. Someone’s going to mistake you for the village beauty and snatch you up,” Hoseok chuckled. He pressed kisses all over Yoongi’s cheek and murmured against the skin, “Don’t let anyone marry you before I can, okay?”

“Oh? You want to get married,” Yoongi teased.

The ring in Hoseok’s pocket seemed to burn through his skin. It begged for Hoseok to pick it up and slip it into its rightful place on Yoongi’s finger. Hoseok had to exercise all of his self control.

It had to be the right place, at the right time. Team One still had to get to their side of the Fire Nation, and then Team Two had to get to their spot on Ember Island at least two days before the invasion on the palace happened — what they called the rebellion. They would get a few hours of rest before nightfall, and then the destruction would begin.

Almost everyone was going to be dropped off at different spots. Team One was going to stay together with Caramel since they had the smaller side of the island and required stealth. Jungkook, Jin, Taehyung, and Namjoon were going to separate to cover the big side of the island. They were going to start slightly earlier as well, so that they could get to the palace ever so slightly before Team Two got there.

Yeah…Hoseok may have influenced where their spot was a little bit. But Jimin didn’t mind. It also happened to be a good vantage spot for them. That was where Hoseok was going to propose. Right there on Ember Island, right where they were supposed to have gotten engaged, and right before the rebellion.

That way, if one of them didn’t make it back home, they died knowing that they didn’t have that regret and that they were going to be with each other forever.

Hoseok let Yoongi cup his head and sighed, “You know I want to. Come on, let’s go get our things.”

~~~

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“HELLO? IS ANYONE HOME,” Himari yelled.

She was losing her voice at this point, and the so-called “master” wasn’t coming out or even telling her to stop. Himari couldn’t even tell at this point if it was because he just didn’t want to train a woman or he was annoyed by her screaming and banging on the doors.

In all honesty, probably a combination of both.

Finally, an old man opened the door with a groan, “Will you stop the incessant knocking? We will not buy anything from you.”

“I’m not here to sell anything sir, and I am willing to bet that you don’t assume that when boys come knocking at your door,” Himari retorted. She crossed her arms over her chest and planted her feet in the ground. “I want to train with the master. I was pointed this way.”

The old man was silent for a moment before he sighed, “Fine. Come in. I’m sure he will be…thrilled to meet the girl that hasn’t left us alone for three hours.”

He certainly wasn’t. In fact, when he saw Himari, he immediately turned away with an annoyed sigh. He definitely knew who Himari was, and he definitely knew that Himari was here to train with him.

“Why do you feel that you are worthy to train with me,” he asked.

Himari looked down at the ground with a frown. She didn’t really know what to say to that. What would be an answer that he would take? And what was believable enough for her to act? She was a terrible actor, honestly. She could barely pretend to be happy for Yoongi and Hoseok when they first told her.

“Well, I’m not sure that I am. But I don’t think that that should be a requirement for anyone who wants to learn the art of swordsmanship,” Himari shrugged. “All that it should take to be worthy is the will and discipline to learn. And I have both.”

“And what makes you have discipline?”

“I’m a Kyoshi Warrior, sir. I have had the discipline since I was five,” Himari replied. She shifted her weight on her feet, preparing for him to say something stupid like ‘what is a Kyoshi Warrior’, or ‘that doesn’t count as a real discipline’.

It had happened too many times before. But a man as old as he was had to at least know about them. And, by virtue of him being a swordmaster, he had to know how serious of a discipline and martial art it was. The whole thing literally stemmed from Avatar Kyoshi teaching young women how to defend themselves in times of crisis.

The man turned to Himari with a confused look on his face, “I thought the way of the Kyoshi Warriors was extinct…especially after Kyoshi Island was taken.”

Himari gritted her teeth in an attempt to push the memories of her burning village out and nodded, “The way of the Kyoshi Warriors is extinct, but some are still here. Including me. Although, I fear that the rest of them have been taken by Fire Nation soldiers such as yourself.”

“I am not a Fire Nation soldier. I may be a citizen of the Fire Nation, and I may be a master at the art of the sword, but I am a soldier and protector for the world. That is where my duty lies,” the man replied. He pulled something out of his pocket — a white lotus imprinted pai sho tile.

Himari could have sworn that she saw it somewhere before.

A beat of silence passed.

“Is there a chance that the person who directed you to me a prince?”

Himari kept her face neutral, not reacting to that information at all. The Kyoshi Warriors often had to deal with situations where it was crucial for them to keep their calm. But she couldn’t disguise the slight raise of her eyebrows in surprise. Himari could feel her giveaway before she took control of her face.

“No,” Himari simply responded. “It was some villager, in the weapons store.”

The swordmaster was just as observant as she was.

“It’s okay. My name is Piandao,” the man replied. He flipped the Pai Sho tile in between his fingers, the lotus swiftly moving through his fingers. “And I know why you have come here. I myself was planning to travel to Ba Sing Se with some…friends in a week. The general public isn’t being told what is going on, but there’s been a rash of death letters, and my sources have been telling me that this move by the Fire Lord was provoked by a certain misstep.”

Himari let her breath go and her body ease as she replied, “I’ll trade you information for lessons, sir. My village was heavily involved with the aftermath.”

Piandao smiled to himself and nodded, “Very well. I like your relentlessness. I will train you, but not for long. If I had enough time to train you to become a master, we would be caught and I would be executed for treason.”

Himari placed her palm above a fist and bowed down to him in thanks.

There were only eight days to the rebellion. Not nearly enough time to become a master — even with her previous experience and determination.

Good thing Himari was a fast learner.

~~~

“I keep falling in love with you every time I look at you,” Hoseok sighed. “How can someone be so breathtaking while picking out meat?”

Yoongi looked up at the vendor with an embarrassed flush on his face and let Hoseok wrap his hands around his waist, “Don’t mind him. He’s a bit of a romantic. Which bones do you think would be the best for a family? This one has a lot of meat on it, but would it be too expensive?”

Yoongi couldn’t believe that Hoseok was acting like this in public. He wouldn’t take his hands off of Yoongi’s body no matter what, and he constantly complimented Yoongi and charmed him. It made it so hard to focus on the task at hand.

But it was somehow worse when he was quiet. Hoseok only stopped talking when Yoongi cupped Hoseok’s head in his hands. A peaceful smile would spread across his face, and he would nuzzle his warm face into the crook of Yoongi’s neck. And his hands would warm on Yoongi’s body so intensely that Yoongi had to squirm.

The vendor smiled at the pair, just as all of the vendors before had done, and chuckled, “Well, if you two have a big family, then I would say you have quite the keen eye. And don’t worry about it. I used to be the same way with my wife. She was our village beauty, and everyone kept trying to win her over with the most expensive gifts. But all I had were my words and my eternal devotion to her. When this war started affecting us here, I sent her and our kids away to a small town in the Earth Kingdom.”

“That’s pretty much us too. My shining sun here, he’s the village beauty,” Hoseok laughed back. He pressed a gentle kiss to Yoongi’s cheek, making him blush profusely as he continued with the lie. “I had to make sure he was mine. He makes my day better just by being in it. I don’t know what I would have done if he had chosen someone else.”

“Oh, you know I wouldn’t have taken anyone else. Especially not after you kissed me,” Yoongi giggled. “Underneath the light, do you remember?”

Hoseok immediately spotted the truth Yoongi slipped into their little lie, a smile growing on his face as he nodded, “How could I forget? It’s one of my most cherished memories.”

The vendor looked at them wistfully, his eyes welling up in tears as he was clearly reminded of him and his wife. Yoongi couldn’t help but wonder if they were soulmates too. Something in his spirit told him that it was so.

“Here, take this,” the man sniffled. He wrapped up the bone and a piece of meat for them, placing it in their basket. “You two seem young, so here’s some advice. Never leave each other, okay? I miss my wife and kids every day.”

Before Yoongi could even reach out, Hoseok took a handful of the money they had to spend and placed it in the man’s bucket with a smile, “You’ll see them again someday.”

They bid farewell to the man and began walking back to their camp with all of the supplies they got. Hoseok read the list out to Yoongi over and over again so that he could check that they had everything.

Even the smallest details were important now, and they couldn’t miss a thing.

“You laid it on thick today, didn’t you,” Yoongi teased.

Hoseok tucked the list back into Yoongi’s basket with a smile, “Hey, I spent a year unable to love you. I’m just letting it out, okay? You’re my little fire lily. I just want everyone to know that you’re mine forever now.”

“You’re so cheesy, it’s adorable,” Yoongi giggled. He pivoted around so that he could wrap his arms around Hoseok’s neck and pressed a kiss to Hoseok’s lips, “I love you, my prince.”

“I love you too,” Hoseok hummed. “My fire lily.”

Yoongi stood up on his tippy toes, reaching up for another kiss as he giggled, “Being with you feels a lot better than not being with you. It hurts so much less.”

“I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you,” Hoseok whispered in between little kisses.

Yoongi tore himself away from Hoseok with a sad smile, “I hurt you too. I pushed you so far away and then wanted you close and I just kept switching between them.”

“But you did that because of what I did to you,” Hoseok replied. He wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s shoulders and pulled him towards the trees, holding him close. “And that whole thing with Himari, because I was too much of a coward to be honest with you about what happened while you were gone.”

Hoseok watched as Yoongi blinked away a few tears. As subtle as Yoongi could be, nothing slipped by Hoseok. Especially not when he slowly pulled the tears from his eyes. They hit a blade of grass, seeping into the ground.

“We talked that out a long time ago, my prince,” Yoongi smiled. “Himari and I are okay now. We don’t hold anything against you. Just…let’s focus on the us that’s right here, right now. Especially since…we might have more time together, you know? Just make the most of every moment we have left.”

Hoseok gently kissed Yoongi’s forehead and shook his head, “No. We’ll have all the time together.”

~~~

“Your jian is an extension of yourself, just as this brush is an extension of your arm and mind.”

Himari blinked underneath the cloth covering her eyes, feeling the weight of the brush in her hand. The smell of the ink was all too familiar. It reminded her of home, inside the schoolhouse where the kids learned to write.

“A good swordsman must always be aware of their surroundings, able to understand their environment and utilize it to their advantage. Just as an earthbender can change their surroundings to their advantage. But we non-benders don’t have that ability. So we must learn to work with nature, sense it, let it speak to us. I want you to do exactly that. Let nature speak to you, and let the brush be the channel for your imagination.”

Piandao placed his hand on her left shoulder to signal where he was, “I will be back when the sun is at its peak. Let the world speak to you.”

“Wait,” Himari called out. “How am I supposed to do that?!”

And, just like that, he was gone.

Himari turned back towards the paper, letting the brush spin between her fingers. She took a deep breath.

There was grass underneath her. And, somewhere, there was a waterfall. But she had no idea where, or how big, or how far the grass stretched, or what else was around her.

No matter how deeply she breathed in, nothing was speaking to her.

He never said I couldn’t stand up, right?

Himari carefully got up, being careful not to kick the ink. Almost immediately, she felt a small rock underneath her foot.

She began to walk, being mindful of where the ink and parchment were, and careful to not run into anything. Her hands remained in front of her, reaching around for anything that could help.

But there was absolutely nothing.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS EXERCISE,” Himari screamed. Her steps quickened as she rushed to where she figured Piandao had gone. “TREES CAN’T TALK.”

All of the sudden, something in her told her to stop.

Himari immediately halted her steps. She lowered herself down into a horse stance and stretched her hand out, listening carefully for any signs of another person in the area.

Her hand hit something right in front of her, and something clicked into place.

A tree.

Himari reached up for the bark and closed her eyes underneath the blindfold. Growing up on Kyoshi Island, she had always played like this. Used trees as her place to jump and climb, the rocks as a bridge across the waters.

But never had she done it blindfolded.

Something, deep down inside of Himari told her she could do it.

She climbed up the tree, using the bark and branches to pull her up. It wasn’t particularly tall, but it was more than strong enough.

Himari stood up on a branch and took in a deep breath.

She turned to the right, shifting the weight onto her back leg to jump.

I can’t do this.

I can’t trust my instincts.

It was my fault my village was burned down. It’s my fault I don’t have any sisters left. If I hadn’t told them that the Fire Nation wasn’t coming, we would be safe. We would have been able to defend ourselves.

When does anything good ever come of listening to myself?

It told me that there was a chance they could love me, even if their hearts belonged to someone else. There was a chance.

STOP.

Suddenly, Himari couldn’t feel the branch under her feet anymore.

~~~

Jungkook, Jin, Taehyung, and Namjoon sat on the saddle together, huddled around the small flame that served as their only heat and light source.

For a place that was known for being the hottest part of the world, the Fire Nation was freezing cold in the dead of night. The wind nipped at every edge of their bodies, threatening to break their resolve, and freezing them halfway to death.

But not even that could stop them from enjoying their idle chatter.

“How does it feel to be away from Jimin?”

Namjoon glanced up at Taehyung. He looked tired already, but that was normal nowadays. For some reason, it seemed as though his youthful innocence was sapped away from his time in the spirit world. He jumped at every loud noise, became twitchy at a raised voice, and much less observant of things going on — sometimes even the things in front of his own face.

But he would never divulge what happened down there. And, of what Seokjin could give, whatever happened happened when they were apart from each other. Unless magical forests and investigative work with Iroh was deeply traumatizing.

“It’s a bit weird,” Namjoon admitted. “Especially now that we have this new…thing on top of my problems. I just don’t know what to do without him. But I guess I’m glad at the same time? I’m finally going to have to learn how to not depend on Minnie. Especially since…you know…Team One more than likely won’t make it back in one piece.”

Jungkook looked up at Seokjin, who simply closed his eyes and shook his head. The silent signal to not say a thing.

They couldn’t risk anything nowadays. Especially their luck.

“You should show me how to do that rock arm thing again. I think I know how to do it, but I end up just swinging everywhere,” Jungkook sighed. He raised his fists, the blanket falling to his lap a little. “I just gotta figure out how to do it so that it doesn’t push me around everywhere.”

Taehyung wrapped the blanket back around Jungkook’s body and hummed, “Well, I think it helps that Namjoon has really good stances. His feet are firm on the ground, even when he’s on one leg.”

“And my core and shoulders can’t move as much,” Namjoon added. “There’s very little mobility, so I can’t get swung around by the gauntlets.”

“I have literally nothing to add to this conversation,” Seokjin chuckled. He threw another block of wood into their small fire, watching it intently as it grew. “There’s no way for the water to push me around, that’s for sure. I just can’t imagine how it feels to get pushed around by your element.”

Jungkook sat up straighter, making sure to catch Seokjin’s eyes as he excitedly replied, “It’s so weird! Because you’re in control, right? But, the moment that you love concentration or focus, it just keeps swinging! It doesn’t fall to the ground or freeze into ice. It just pushes you around or stays in place. So there’s like no room to be distracted.”

“You’re distracted all the time though,” Taehyung laughed.

“Not when I’m bending,” Jungkook pouted.

“You’re distracted by a certain person,” Namjoon teased.

Everyone went silent, their eyes all turning to Seokjin.

“Guys, he’s not subtle. I’m well aware of his feelings towards me,” Seokjin chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’d be distracted by me too.”

Jungkook felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He hid his face in his blanket, unable to feel it when Taehyung and Seokjin patted his back in reassurement. This was the absolute worst way for his feelings to come out.

Well, Jungkook wasn’t even sure that this was his feelings coming out if Seokjin already knew.

“I love you, but I think you know that I don’t feel the same way. You’re like…my little brother and you’re like four years younger than me. It’s weird for me to think of you like that, you know,” Seokjin smiled. “No hard feelings, right?”

“No hard feelings,” Jungkook nodded. “Honestly, I’m just glad that I have you guys. You’re the best family I could have ever asked for. A lot better than my own.”

Taehyung elbowed Jungkook in the side with his signature, boxy smile, “Hey, save the sappy stuff for after the rebellion’s done. But I agree. I’m really glad that we all found each other. We’ve really pulled each other out of some rough spots in our lives.”

“And we’ll keep on doing that,” Namjoon hummed. He scooted in closer to them, leaning on Seokjin’s shoulder. “For the rest of our lives.”

Taehyung looked down at the fire with a slow nod.

He’d find the right time to tell them about his dream.

~~~

7 days to rebellion

6 days to rebellion

~~~

Hoseok couldn’t sleep.

Something was eating away at his stomach. An unwanted feeling that threatened to consume his being.

Anxiety

That was what Yoongi called it. Anxiety. Nervousness. Fear. Dread. Uneasiness. Typically about an imminent event with an uncertain outcome. But everything nowadays had an uncertain outcome. There was nothing that was set in stone anymore. Nothing guaranteed.

Hoseok slipped away from their tent, wrapping Yoongi in another layer of blankets before he left.

Right now, Himari was still gone. They’d received no word about where she was.

Yoongi and Jimin remained quietly huddled together whenever Yoongi wasn’t with Hoseok — whispering about something urgent.

The Fire Nation government was suspiciously quiet.

The future was worse.

They might not win.

Yoongi might die.

Everyone might die.

The world as they knew it could come to an end.

“Did you really think that I wouldn’t notice you were gone?”

Hoseok’s eyes immediately flew to the gentle hand on his shoulder, then to the face of his beloved.

Hoseok kissed Yoongi’s hand. He whispered against Yoongi’s skin, “You should stay in the tent. It’s cold out here.”

“It’s colder in there without you to warm me up,” Yoongi pouted.

He sat down right next to Hoseok, looking out over the edge of the cliff as he wrapped his blanket around Hoseok. The moon reflected over the crashing tides. The stars peppered the sky in bright whites and grays. Hoseok never remembered the Fire Nation being so beautiful.

Hoseok looked down at Yoongi, who had rested his head against Hoseok’s shoulder.

Even their future wasn’t certain.

If Yoongi said yes on Ember Island, and if they won the battle, then they might not even be able to be together. At least not how Hoseok wanted them to.

Yoongi would be in the Fire Nation for sure, undoing and helping to fix all of the damage that was caused. And Hoseok…Hoseok would go back to his home in the Earth Kingdom. Thousands of kilometers away from Yoongi.

At most, they’d be able to see each other a few times a year.

But Yoongi was committed to fixing the world, and Hoseok was committed to not having anything to do with the Fire Nation anymore.

“I just needed a moment,” Hoseok mumbled. He looked down at their entwined hands, feeling the weight of the half-lie coming down on him already. Ever since the entire…thing with Himari, lying to Yoongi — in any form or way — had been getting more and more difficult.

“My prince, I know you haven’t been sleeping. I felt you leave last night too,” Yoongi sighed. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Hoseok’s palm. “Are you okay? Is your back hurting you again?”

Hoseok wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s waist, his hand resting on the burn scar underneath Yoongi’s sleeping shirt, “I’m okay right now. Seokjin really helped it a lot. I’ve just been anxious. Not about anything in particular. Just…the future.”

“I’m anxious too,” Yoongi admitted. “But everything is going to work out I think. As long as we have each other, right?”

“I’m never, ever gonna let you go. If the Fire Nation wants you, they’re gonna have to pry you out of my cold, dead hands,” Hoseok chuckled. He pressed a kiss to the top of Yoongi’s head, his hands warming as he held Yoongi closer and closer.

Yoongi snuggled closer into Hoseok’s body with a quiet laugh, “It’s a two for one package then, because I’m only going down when you do. Death won’t do us part.”

They didn’t say any more.

Instead, they quietly watched the thrashing sea together until the sun came up, Yoongi’s words lingering in their minds.

Death won’t do us part

~~~

“Jimin, wake up.”

“Wake up.”

“WAKE UP.”

Jimin was jolted out of his dream. His body hit the top of the tent, the air around him shooting up right along with him. His eyes immediately flew to the right for Namjoon.

Everything dropped when he realized that Namjoon wasn’t with him. Jimin, the intruder, the few belongings in his tent, and Jimin’s heart. All of it fell to the rocky floor with a dull thud as Jimin reached out for where Namjoon should have been.

Instead of Namjoon worriedly asking him if he was okay, he was met with a quiet, “ouch.”

Jimin whipped his head around to find Himari, looking pretty good considering the fact that she’d disappeared for the last few days, sitting on the ground.

“Himari! Are you okay,” Jimin asked worriedly. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you about that. And Hoseok too now that I think about it. I guess I forgot that you haven’t actually been a part of this group for that long.”

“Eh, it’s okay. That’s what I get for jumpscaring an airbender I guess,” Himari sighed.

Jimin helped her up. He blew the dust off of her clothes with a quiet chuckle, “Yeah that’s what you get. But really, it’s just when I’m sleeping. I’ve got some bad experiences with being asleep. I think you’d understand.”

“Of course.”

Jimin looked around the tent. It seemed to still be dark out. In fact, it was nearly pitch black — save for the small flickering of a lamp just outside.

“Wait, why are you here? Aren’t you getting sword trained,” Jimin asked confusedly. “It’s been like…two days. Did he just send you back in the middle of the night? Did you fail?”

Himari shook her head, “I need you to help me make a sword. I finished my training the first day actually, but I stayed there because I figured it out. I just needed to continue honing it and practicing before I could come back to you guys and help.”

“You’re being vague,” Jimin pointed out.

Himari waved her hand dismissively, “For dramatic effect. It’s going to sound really crazy anyways. But basically, I think I can…feel nature. But on a spiritual level. It just speaks to me. I know where everything is, even though I’ve never been there before. I was jumping across trees with my eyes closed, and I could feel my sisters running alongside me, guiding me.”

Jimin was quiet for a moment.

He knew what she was talking about. That feeling, like those that came before you and that you once knew were watching you and guiding you. Making sure you were safe. Jimin felt it. Yoongi felt it.

What was the common link between all three of them?

Well, that was easy.

Yoongi had lost his entire nation, and then lost the only family he ever knew right in front of him.

Jimin had lost his entire nation. He was dumped on the side of a temple and sent by the old couple that found him to Ba Sing Se, never having had a family until he’d found this one.

Himari had lost everyone on the island she grew up on. Her fellow Kyoshi Warriors, her village, the entire island itself. Burnt to the ground. Leaving her with nothing but her fans and memories.

They were the last remnants of each of the things they came from. If any one of them were to die in battle, the Water Tribe, the Air Nomads, or the Kyoshi Warriors would die with them. Even if they weren’t thinking about it, they all knew in the back of their minds that the fate of those people laid with them.

After a while, it was just a heavy feeling that weighed them down. Deep down, it was why they all fought so hard to survive. Why none of them ever considered leaving their pain behind.

Jimin glanced in the direction of Yoongi and Hoseok’s tent, “I know what you mean. Okay, let’s go. We should get this done quickly if we’re going to get to Ember Island on time.”

“Thank you,” Himari smiled. “And…could you not tell Yoongi and Hoseok about this? I know it’s not really a big deal, but…you know.”

“Of course,” Jimin nodded.

They slipped out of the tent together, grabbing the lamp as they ran out of the encampment. Neither of them noticed Yoongi and Hoseok on the cliff. But Yoongi and Hoseok didn’t notice them either. Both pairs were in their own separate worlds for now.

When those worlds joined together again…that was when things would have to get serious. And, right now, none of them wanted to put their game face on.

Jimin found it strange to think that they were going to lead the rebellion and possibly change the world. It hadn’t really sunk in yet. All of their rebellion efforts had always felt like a game to him. Nothing serious, nothing with real consequences. But then the attack on the Water Tribe happened, and Namjoon got injured, and suddenly things got too real all at once.

And with that, you’d think that Jimin would suddenly feel the stakes of it. But, really, he was just a kid. They were all just kids, playing a game that was meant for adults to understand. Real adults. With lifetimes worth of experience saving the world. Not children who have had to grow up too quickly.

Jimin sometimes wondered what they’d all be doing if there was never a war. Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jungkook would probably be in school or in an apprenticeship. He’d probably be travelling around the world with the Air Nomads. Himari would be at home, doing whatever it is the Kyoshi Warriors did. Yoongi and Seokjin would be in their respective tribes, just entering the real world. And Hoseok would be studying. Probably in a higher education college.

As Himari led him through the woods, jumping across the tall trees and running on wind, Jimin’s mind floated to thoughts of Namjoon and that cold night in the Earth Kingdom.

”Jungkook’s asleep,” he had whispered. “He’s so adorable when he’s sleeping.”

Jimin wasn’t wrong. His cheek was squished against the pillow, and his face scrunched up into a little pout. But his mind wasn’t entirely there that night. His attention was more so devoted to Namjoon’s bare chest and the marred skin that covered his body..

Maybe it was a bit wrong to call it beautiful, but Jimin certainly thought he was.

”Are you hungry? I noticed you didn’t eat much of your dinner.”

Namjoon looked up at Jimin, his lips barely parting as he whispered, “I love you.”

The next morning, they headed off for the Air Temple.

And Jimin never got to say it back.

Namjoon could say as much as he wanted that it didn’t matter to him whether or not Jimin said it, but it wasn’t just him that it affected. Jimin felt terrible. Throughout all his relationships in the Earth Kingdom, he’d never once been able to say it for fear of it not being true.

But he knew it was with Namjoon. He knew it was.

“So what is it you need me to do, exactly,” Jiimin asked.

Himari stopped running, spinning around the trunk of a tree to stop herself from falling forwards. Jimin hopped over her, gently floating down on top of one of the thin branches.

“I need you to help me make a sword,” Himari quietly replied. She looked down, scanning the pathways for any signs of somebody who could possibly hear them. “I got the metal already. Some leftovers from this Water Tribe dude who trained with the master. I think his name was Sock? Anyway, the metal needs to be superheated, and then cooled very, very quickly. And the machine the master has was built for a man so I need your help to use it and to cool the metal. Master Piandao can’t help because he’s heading out.”

Jimin looked down at the ground, double checking whatever Himari was seeing before speaking again, “Where’s he going? He’s just leaving you alone to be in his house and use his machinery?”

“Well, not exactly. He’s leaving me with his butler. But he’s going with this group to stop the invasion of Ba Sing Se. They’re like us, but an old version and super powerful. Hoseok’s uncle, Iroh, apparently was a high ranking member,” Himari whispered. She jumped up onto the tree that Jimin was standing on and leaned in. “They’re called the White Lotus. They’ve coordinated their attack with ours, and they’re leaving us gear in both of our checkpoints.”

“I believe you, but I know Hoseok would want me to ask. Are you sure the White Lotus is trustworthy? I mean, for all we know, he could be delivering our whereabouts and plan to the Fire Nation right now,” Jimin frowned.

Himari was silent for a moment, but it was really unfair to call it that. It took what seemed like hours for her to finally speak.

“Don’t tell anyone else about this.”

That wasn’t going to be a problem.

Jimin wouldn’t know how to even begin describing what he saw.

They were in a secret room that was encased in a secret room that was encased in a secret room that was encased in a secret hallway that was encased in a secret room behind a bookshelf. There was no way that anyone would be able to find it if they were not shown exactly where it was.

Large paintings of the White Lotus Pai Sho tiles were hung on the massive walls. And, in between them, portraits of almost a dozen people. On the very end of the wall, Jimin could make out the figure of a certain pot bellied man. Only, instead of the kind smile Seokjin had painted him with, he was straight faced and clad in armor. A large, round Pai Sho tile made up a table, with a large map in the middle. Dozens and dozens of thrones were lined up around it.

Jimin touched the base of one of them. It was still warm. And there was no dust on the table. There was no dust anywhere.

“Holy shit,” Jimin breathed out.

“This is the biggest base of the White Lotus. Back when it was a much bigger organization anyways,” Himari explained. She looked up at the painting of a man with a bun on his head and a beard. He held a sword in his hands. He was one of the few on the wall who were in Fire Nation armor. “Most of their bases are much more bare and unassuming. But this was the one exception.”

“This is…incredible. What is it? Two…three from the Earth Kingdom, two from the Water Tribe, two from the Fire Nation. They’ve even got an airbender here,” Jimin counted. He looked up at each of them, studying the portraits closely.

How many people did it take to make each one of these? How old were they? Were there more, hiding away somewhere? It was clear that they weren’t all made at the same time. Some of the paintings showed much heavier signs of aging than the rest of them. The most recent seeming to be the swordsman and Hoseok’s Uncle Iroh.

The oldest one was clearly the one of the airbender. It was tattered, and something had eaten away at the canvas more than the others. There was even a very, very old looking burn mark on the side of it, and the remnants of smoke on the wall next to it.

“Are you ready to make a sword?”

Jimin looked up at the airbender and pinched the canvas between his two fingers. A strange feeling struck him. One of immense sadness, rooted deep within his soul. Deeper than melancholy or grief or mourning. But…at the same time…it was hopeful. Like a strange sort of optimism within the black sea crushing his lungs.

“Let’s go.”

~~~

5 days to rebellion

~~~

“Where did Hoseok say it was, again?”

“In between a boulder and a tree. But the boulder may have been moved.”

“That’s so helpful,” Namjoon replied sarcastically. “In a forest with about a billion rocks, it’s the place inbetween the rock that may not be there anymore and a tree.”

Jungkook shoved Namjoon’s shoulder, pouting, “Hey, you should trust Hoseok. I’m sure that it’s hard to describe where it is.”

Seokjin glanced back at them, looking up from the ground with a sigh, “Okay, we know that you love him and would trust him with your life, but not all of us do, okay? Taehyung and I have only really met Hoseok twice and been around him for like a week. And during that time he abandoned Yoongi, came back, and abandoned him again. Oh and apparently cheated on Himari.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Jungkook cried out. “He promised Yoongi he’d stay and help him until they got to the Water Tribe, and he gave up everything he knew with no chance of going back in order to help Yoongi do that! Yoongi only thought he’d stay because they were starting to put their relationship back together. And the thing with Himari was really, really bad, but they all worked it out and talked in the end as soon as they could once Hoseok actually cheated on her. And Yoongi was complicit in that too!”

“Guys, calm down,” Taehyung sighed. He moved Seokjin away from Jungkook and looked back at the younger boy with a little, reassuring smile. “We’ve all done questionable things, alright? I mean, I think between the four of us, we’ve killed enough people to populate a small village. You especially, Seokjin.”

Jungkook’s head shot towards Seokjin, who tensed up a little, “Wait…what?”

Everyone looked at Seokjin, who was now hyper fixated on the ground.

“It’s nothing. I did what I had to do to survive. That’s all,” Seokjin murmured. He kicked a small rock out of his way. “They probably didn’t tell you because they didn’t want to ruin your fantasy of me. It was a long time ago anyways.”

Jungkook ran to catch up to Seokjin. He placed his hand on Seokjin’s shoulder and smiled, “I don’t think any less of you. I mean, I definitely have blood on my hands. Hoseok’s probably killed a city’s worth of people, absolutely none of those soldiers at the Water Tribe probably survived, and Hoseok described to me in detail about how Yoongi turned a bunch of people into living mummies.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jungkook and laughed, “You literally are in love with Seokjin, of course you don’t—FUCK.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I fucked with Jimin and Namjoon so that’s not even true,” Jungkook pouted.

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Taehyung scoffed. “I tripped on this stupid branch.”

Namjoon bent down, looking closer at what Taehyung tripped on, “Well, that boulder was definitely moved. Or that’s a very trapdoor looking forest floor.”

All of them got down on their knees, scrambling to look at what it was Taehyung tripped on.

It was indeed a branch, just one fashioned to be stuck to the door. Leaves and sticks and moss covered most of the hatch, with just a small section of wood visible. Jungkook brushed some of the debris away, picking a small pai sho tile out of it.

“Well, somebody can’t play pai sho anymore,” Taehyung remarked.

Namjoon stared at the debris Jungkook was wiping off with a small frown.

“Somebody’s been here recently. None of that moss was attached to the actual wood.”

“Do you think it’s safe to go in, then? I mean, it’s just a checkpoint so I don’t think we really need to make camp there. Let’s just set up in the trees or something,” Seokjin suggested.

Taehyung shook his head, “If they covered up the door, that means they must have left. Besides, Hoseok said there’d be some rations in there, and we desperately need food and water.”

“Whatever we decide, we’ve gotta hurry. There’s probably soldiers lurking around here, and we don’t have Apple or Mochi right here with us to make a quick getaway,” Namjoon pointed out.

“Okay, all for not going in, say aye.”

“Aye.”
“Aye.”
“Aye.”

“Okay,” Jungkook sighed. “Let’s go. We’ve got to get some rest before the destruction starts tomorrow.”

They all stood up, looking up for a tree with a good base for them to set up camp in for the night.

Taehyung looked back at the trap door.

Something in him had a sinking feeling that whatever was in that trap door had the ability to change his fate.

~~~

4 days to rebellion

~~~

The blade pierced into the ground with ease, sinking itself into the earth. Yoongi could see a glimmer of his reflection in the inky blackness. It seemed to swallow him whole as his anxiety gnawed at the pit of his stomach.

“Is that obsidian? How is it not breaking immediately? For a piece this thin and long, it should have broken on impact,” Hoseok asked. He seemed absolutely fascinated by Himari’s sword, and Yoongi didn’t have the heart to comment on the fact that they should probably leave immediately so that they could get to Ember Island on time.

They still needed time to train as much as they could and feel comfortable with what was going to happen on the day of the rebellion. Yoongi and Jimin especially…they had to figure out how exactly they were going to kill the most powerful firebender in the world.

Himari pulled the sword out of the ground, slamming it into the sheath with a small smile, “A little bit of magic. Jimin was very helpful.”

“We’ve got some extra equipment waiting for the rest of us in Ember Island,” Jimin added. He slung his bag over his shoulder, blowing hard on the sky bison whistle. Caramel quickly appeared above them, circling around the encampment with a happy bellow. “Courtesy of Master Piandao and the White Lotus.”

“Woah, hold on,” Hoseok frowned. “You told him where our checkpoint is?”

Himari looked up at Hoseok and nodded, “Yeah. I swore to secrecy, and so did Jimin, but he’s trustworthy. And so is the White Lotus. Your Uncle, Iroh, was a high ranking member.”

Hoseok pursed his lips.

Yoongi didn’t need to ask to know what Hoseok was feeling. He placed a gentle hand on the back of Hoseok’s head and smiled reassuringly, “How far away is Ember Island from here?”

“Less than a day, my fire lily,” Hoseok replied.

“Then why don’t we go, and you can spend the next few days examining all of the equipment to your heart’s content. You can decide for yourself if Master Piandao is to be trusted,” Yoongi suggested.

Hoseok let out a long sigh and nodded. He grabbed their stuff and threw them up onto Caramel’s back. Himari and Jimin climbed onto the saddle, followed quickly by Yoongi, who helped Himari tie everything down.

Hoseok patted Caramel’s snout before he jumped up, powered by a blast of fire that scorched the rocky earth underneath his feet.

“I wish I could do that,” Yoongi pouted as Hoseok landed right next to him. “You and Jimin can practically fly.”

“Hey, at least you can bend anything,” Himari pointed out. She rolled her eyes playfully and smiled, “And can’t you practically slide and run around anywhere just by turning things into ice?”

Yoongi’s face turned pink in embarrassment as he admitted, “Sometimes, I forget I can do that now.”

“And, hey, you can also literally puppet people around,” Jimin added as Caramel took off. Yoongi flinched at the reminder of that particular ability.

Hoseok gave Yoongi a reassuring little squeeze and hummed, “You know, couldn’t you theoretically suck all of the air out of someone’s lungs? That’d be…pretty much immediate death.”

“Maybe.”

Himari looked around at all of them with a nervous laugh, “Please don’t test out that theory right now. Thank you.”

Yoongi let his mind float as he stared at Hoseok’s hand. He drifted in and out of the conversation, simply watching as all of them laughed and joked around with each other. It reminded him of the days before he had met Hoseok. When he, Jimin, Namjoon, Jungkook, Taehyung, and Seokjin were all one family.

The days felt empty without them, but Yoongi also never wanted to go back to that time. Now knowing what it feels like to be loved so deeply by someone, Yoongi would only find himself feeling even lonelier without Hoseok.

Yoongi stared at Hoseok’s hand. He gently lifted his fingers up, Hoseok’s fingers following his small motion.

That was about the most he could do without hurting Hoseok or making himself throw up at the idea of controlling another person’s body and overpowering their will. Yoongi didn’t have to listen to the dreams from his ancestors to know that, if he went too far down this road with no support, his mind would start to crack, and the black hole of madness would grow wider and wider until he had no choice but to be sucked in.

Hoseok withdrew his hand from Yoongi’s. Instead, he wrapped it around Yoongi’s waist, his fingertips settling right over the scar on Yoongi’s waist.

Yoongi sat in his own thoughts for so long that the conversation stalled, the sun set into a warm Fire Nation night, and Caramel touched down in the sand before Hoseok pulled him out of his head.

“Two years later, and we’re finally on Ember Island together,” Hoseok smiled. “Took us long enough.”

Yoongi looked out at the gentle tides, the moon glittering above them. Like Tui and La, the moon and the ocean, looking over them. He could feel something in him light up a little. With the way Hoseok straightened his ever-perfect posture, Yoongi knew he felt it too.

“Where’s Himari and Jimin? Are they packing already,” Yoongi asked.

“Who cares,” Hoseok replied.

Yoongi felt Hoseok’s hand gently creep up to cup his cheek. He glanced up at Hoseok’s fond face and warm smile, his head following with the arc of Hoseok’s burning hand.

“Hot hands,” Yoongi smiled back at Hoseok. He placed his hand over Hoseok’s, their fingers lacing together against his cheek.

“Who cares,” Hoseok repeated.

They melted into each other as their lips met.

Their kiss was gentle and warm and passionate. And Yoongi had no idea how, after years and millions of kisses, this felt just like their first one all over again. Their shy kiss underneath the light of the streetlight by their favorite food stand — the gentle brush of lips that ignited a spark in them that they could never quite put out no matter how hard they tried.

Yoongi felt a drop of water on his hand. Their tears mixed together, turning to ice underneath Yoongi’s palm as Hoseok’s hand grew unbearably hot on Yoongi’s cheek.

“I love you, Hoseok,” Yoongi whispered against Hoseok’s lips, his voice shaking as they kissed.

Hoseok wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s lower back, supporting Yoongi’s entire weight despite his back beginning to shake from the effort. He broke away to press a gentle kiss to Yoongi’s jaw, right below his ear, “I was going to propose to you right here. Right as the sun set. All these years later, and I still want nothing but to be yours forever.”

Hoseok moved back so that they were face to face. Even after all this time, Yoongi could barely meet Hoseok’s eyes.

“My fire lily, I know that you won’t be satisfied with just winning the battle. You have to go and help the world recover, and I would never do anything to pull you off that path because I know that’s what you’re meant to do and where you’ll be the happiest,” Hoseok whispered. “But I know that you know I can’t join you.”

Yoongi took a deep breath and nodded, “Yeah. I know. And I would never drag you back into that world against your heart. Out of all the places I’ve seen you, you were at your happiest in the Earth Kingdom amongst your animals and your plants.”

“Amongst my fire lilies, and in the home I repaired in hopes that we could grow old in it together,” Hoseok corrected. “Feeding the children that I grew to love because of the thought that one day ours might be amongst them. Walking the pathways I hoped we’d get to walk a million times over together.”

Yoongi tore his hands away from Hoseok, wiping his tears as fast as he could as he began to cry, “You’re so cruel, my prince. Is it your secret mission to make me cry all of the time?”

“Trust me, if I wasn’t used to unconsciously blocking off all of my emotions all the time, I’d be constantly making myself cry over you,” Hoseok chuckled. He clutched his heart, falling back in the sand, “It takes a very strong person to love you.”

Yoongi laid down right next to Hoseok, resting his head right next to Hoseok’s. He looked up at the stars, “I could say the same thing about you, you know. I had to give you a knife and let you hold it to my stomach before I knew that you really cared about me.”

“Eh, that was a lot of bravado and pride. I was falling for you harder than I knew someone could ever fall already. If I wasn’t so scared of what you made me feel, I would have admitted it to you the moment you asked,” Hoseok sighed. He rolled his head over to stare at Yoongi.

Yoongi turned his head to face Hoseok, only for his lips to be caught in a kiss. He smiled into it, letting his head drift away from everything but Hoseok.

“Yoongi,” Hoseok called out.

“What’s with the seriousness? Come on, let’s enjoy the beach for a little,” Yoongi laughed.

He gently stood up, walking closer to where the tides crashed against the sand. Hoseok followed behind him, wrapping his arms around Yoongi’s waist from behind.

Hoseok spun Yoongi around, until they were facing each other, hand in shaky hand, their shoulders to the ocean, and looked at him with an imperceptibly in love look in his eyes. Yoongi watched as Hoseok’s Adam's apple bobbed up and down nervously.

“Hoseok,” Yoongi giggled. “You can’t possibly still be nervous around me after all this time.”

“My fire lily, my love, will you marry me?”

Every emotion possible hit Yoongi all at once. He blinked at Hoseok, trying to comprehend what was happening.

“If I die in the battle, or if we’re apart afterwards, I don’t want to have any regrets. I feel as if I have wanted you my entire life, as if you were the part of me I never knew I was missing. And I know that, if I never got the courage to at least ask you, then my entire life will have been for nothing,” Hoseok admitted. He pulled out the rings from his pocket, undoing the pouch he kept them safe in. “I am fully devoted to you, my fire lily. My entire life, my love, my body, anything I can give you. I have been willing to go all in since I first told you I loved you. You changed me for good. You taught me what it feels like to love, what true happiness is, what heartbreak feels like, what kindness and compassion feels like even if I didn’t deserve it.”

“Hoseok,” Yoongi cried. He buried his head in Hoseok’s shoulder, trying his hardest not to start bawling like a baby as Hoseok held him.

Hoseok looked down at Yoongi and sniffled, “Yoongi…even without this, my entire being…it belongs to you. Even if you said no and left right now and moved onto someone else, the moment you need me, I’m there. Even when you’re out there, changing the world, all you have to do is send me a letter when you’re feeling lonely. I don’t care how far I’ll have to travel. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“You’ll never be stepping foot in the Earth Kingdom then,” Yoongi laughed. He stepped back just a little so that he could look at Hoseok and wiped the tears from his face. “Hoseok, every moment I’m without you is empty. Of all the mistakes of my life, my worst was not holding onto you as hard as I could. Every moment that I wasn’t with you, where I was yelling at you and pushing you away…it was the worst feeling I’ve ever known. Even now, I think. What did I do to deserve someone who loves me so unconditionally? What can I even do to make up for all of the time we lost because of me?”

“The answer is nothing,” Hoseok whispered. “All you have to do is exist, my fire lily. No matter what, I’ll adore you.”

Yoongi shook his head, “That’s not the answer. I have to say yes, right now. And I have to try my hardest to hold onto you no matter what the future brings. Otherwise, I’ll just be making my worst mistake all over again.”`

A smile broke across both of their faces at the same time. They stared at each other, unsure of if they could even utter the words they wanted so badly to scream.

“Min Yoongi…the love of my life, my soulmate,” Hoseok shakily called out. He held out the rings to Yoongi, the fire lily petals embedded in them seeming to shine brighter than the stars. “Will you marry me?”

Yoongi held out his shaking hand and beamed, “My prince, it would be my honor.”

Hoseok tried his best to slide the ring onto Yoongi’s finger, but their hands were shaking so badly. He missed the first time. They had to hold onto each other to get it on.

But, the moment that the rings were settled on each of their fingers, something in their universe seemed to click into place. For a brief moment, everything was right in the world, and the moon shined a little brighter for them.

“My fiance,” Hoseok smiled. He looked back at the house that was meant to be theirs and pulled Yoongi away from the beach, “For the sake of being traditional, may I show you the bedroom?”

Yoongi let Hoseok pull him away with a shy nod, “You may. Only if you show me a good night.”

They ran to the bedroom together, bursting into excited giggles as they crashed onto the bed together.

~~~

3 days to rebellion

~~~

“How did you guys manage to break the bed,” Jimin asked in disbelief. “Happy for you guys of course, but don’t you have back problems, Hoseok?”

They stared down at the wreckage, Yoongi and Hoseok smiling sheepishly. They had gotten a little bit carried away last night. Yoongi’s body was filled with hickies as far as the eye could see and much more where nobody but Hoseok was allowed to look. Hoseok’s back was entirely scratched up and extra bandaged today. And the bed…well the bed definitely didn’t survive.

Himari had left to continue eating breakfast in disbelief the moment she saw the bed.

“I told you to go easy, Hoseok,” Yoongi pouted.

“Oh, come on. You loved it,” Hoseok teased. He pinched Yoongi’s cheek, which elicited a small whine of protest. “Besides, it’s a little bit easy to ignore my back when I’ve got my fiance underneath me.”

“Himari was smart for leaving,” Jimin sighed. He shot a burst of air towards the bed, pushing the dust and small splinters into the corner. “No but, seriously, I’m so happy for you guys. Wait until the rest of them hear the news. They’re going to be ecstatic. You’d better let me design your wedding outfits. And Taehyung’s gonna want to be one of your best man’s for sure.”

Hoseok wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s shoulders and hummed, “Well, I literally have nobody to invite so he can be mine.”

“Do we really have to train today,” Yoongi pouted. “I’m so sore. I can barely sit down.”

“That’s what you get when you have loud, bed-breaking sex for nearly the entire night,” Jimin laughed. “Come on. You can train lightly today. Word in town is that ‘the rebellion’ has been doing a very fast and effective job destroying military outposts and factories on the other side. We’ve got much less to do now.”

Jimin walked out of the room with a little chuckle. Yoongi followed behind, only to be pulled back by Hoseok for a little kiss before they left together.

3 days until the rebellion, and Yoongi and Hoseok couldn’t have been in more bliss.

Hoseok practically bridal carried Yoongi to the backyard, where Himari had set up everything they needed to train with. Including the armor and weapons supplied for them by the White Lotus.

“My prince, I was thinking, why don't we train ourselves to do that thing really well. You remember when you were helping me make an ice shield for the rain and it just exploded? It'll make us really dangerous in battle,” Yoongi suggested.

“I know your excuses, my love,” Hoseok laughed. He got behind Yoongi, wrapping his arms tight around Yoongi’s waist. “But fine. I guess I’ll just hold onto you and support you and give you tons of kisses. Is that okay for you, your royal highness?”

Yoongi looked back at Hoseok in surprise, “That’s a new one.”

“Well, I’m going to treat you like royalty. Real royalty, not like my family,” Hoseok smiled. “Besides, when you marry a prince, you become royalty.”

“And, once we kill your father, you’ll technically be the Fire Lord,” Yoongi hummed. “If your sister doesn’t kill you the moment he’s dead, that is. Or challenge you to an Agni Kai.”

Hoseok let out a small sigh at the mention of his family and shook his head, “Technically, it’s whoever he leaves it in his will to be. It’s just customary to go by line of succession order. But after the shit I’ve been pulling…probably not. And you make it sound so easy to kill him. Like he’s not the most powerful firebender in the world, whose fighting style is entirely unique from even anyone else in the family.

“So we have to train to very specifically kill the Fire Lord,” Yoongi pouted.

Hoseok pressed a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek and whispered, “Hence why I need you to bloodbend. Can you do that for me, my little fire lily?”

Yoongi looked down at their hands and at the rings that now linked them together forever. He pressed a kiss to Hoseok’s ring finger with a little nod.

“Only for you.”

~~~

2 days to rebellion

~~~

Akira couldn’t stand it anymore. The scratching sounds, the clinking, the clacking, the scurrying of footsteps as they ran away from her, the crackling of the fire. She could hear it all 24/7. She couldn’t even sleep. The sounds were slowly digging themselves into her brain.

She knew who was behind it all. Who made all of the scratching and clinking and clacking. Who told the servants to run away from her. She wasn’t even trying to hide it at this point. It was so glaringly obvious who the issue was. And yet, somehow, Akira’s father never kicked her out of the palace.

Nobody had done something about it. But Akira didn’t need anyone to do something for her. She was taught to survive on her own and handle business on her own.

If none of these worthless people were going to handle this attempt at usurping the throne and royal family, then Akira was going to do it herself. Those ingrates were aiding and abetting in usurping the throne anyways.

Akira watched bemusedly as her mother begged and pleaded for help.

Beatings once reserved for the bedroom had now begun at the dinner table. It had been that way ever since the traitor left and ran away with his peasant. He was a traitor, and yet, somehow, their mother didn’t see him as such. It took the littlest things for her to see Akira as a monster.

But no. Her sweet, little angel, Hoseok, could never do anything wrong.

Her shrieks pierced through Akira’s ears, cutting right into her brain. It shouldn't have been possible for a single human being to be that annoying.

Akira stood up and left the dinner table with an annoyed click of her tongue.

“Can’t that bitch just shut up for once,” Akira spat. She turned to the side to look at the mirror and stared.

Aiko stared back, her eyes lifeless as she laughed, “You know what would shut her up? Putting her six feet underneath the ground, like she deserves. Nobody else is doing it, Akira. Don’t you think it’s time? Or have you gone soft?”

Akira froze in place. She felt her heart drop. All feeling left her body. And, suddenly, everything was cold.

All Akira could see was black.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up in a pile of blood, with her mother’s pale, lifeless body right next to her.

~~~

BOOM

The outpost exploded behind Yoongi and Hoseok, bits and pieces of the metal wall flying every which way as explosive shards of ice tore through every little nook and cranny of the place.

Caramel circled above them, flying just above Yoongi and Hoseok in case they needed to make their quick escape from the soldiers that were just barely on their heels.

Yoongi squeezed Hoseok’s hand and suddenly stopped. He whirled around Hoseok, spinning on Hoseok’s foot, the water from the ocean following the arc of his hand. A tunnel of ice slammed into the line of soldiers, throwing them into the sand.

“H AND J AREN’T FAR BEHIND, LET’S GO,” Hoseok yelled.

They ran up a ramp of ice as Yoongi strained to keep pulling water and freezing it in front of them. He couldn’t even think about Hoseok beginning to slip behind him from being unused to running on ice. The moment he stopped concentrating, both of them would drop right onto the soldiers below them.

Hoseok jumped up, grabbing the rope on Caramel’s saddle. He hung down as Caramel flew, waiting for Yoongi to jump as well. Instead, Yoongi continued running up higher and higher until he was running right alongside Caramel. Hoseok watched him with a blank face, only a hint of pride showing in his eyes as he climbed up the rope.

Yoongi jumped onto the saddle, falling right into Hoseok’s arms.

They didn’t exchange words, only a look in both of their eyes that screamed that this was possible.

Hoseok gave Yoongi a little squeeze and jumped to the saddle, turning Caramel around nearly 180 degrees. They flew across Ember Island as quickly as they could, Caramel giving her all to go full speed.

Just as they flew over the ruins of the factory and the bodies of nearly a dozen soldiers, a burst of air nearly shattered Yoongi’s eardrums. Jimin and Himari crashed down onto the saddle with a low groan. Himari’s bloodsoaked sword and fan fell right next to Yoongi.

“Sorry,” Jimin hissed. He got up, blasting the dust and grime off of their armor. “Not used to doing that with someone else.”

“Dust yourselves off. Ember Island down, five more to go,” Hoseok yelled over the wind. “Next stop, Fire Nation naval fleet, Port 6.”

They zoomed over the ocean, quickly approaching the next mass of land.

Yoongi stood up on the saddle, looking back at the quickly disappearing island. He clutched his right hand tightly and smiled.

“GOODBYE EMBER ISLAND!”

~~~

“Leaving factory 12. 4 more to go,” Seokjin counted off.

He looked back at the wreckage. They had been leaving chaos wherever they went, quickly tearing through the Fire Nation’s supply system. The team of earthbenders had done all of the work on the landlocked areas, the three of them raising the earth underneath every factory.

They left mountains mixed with metal and leaking oil and coal wherever they went, never having to even get close to the factory. In the coastal areas — military outposts and ports — it was all too easy for Seokjin to raise hell. Water had never been his favorite offensive tool. It was much more useful for healing and redirection in his opinion. But the power of the riptide of an unexpected tidal wave was undeniable.

Soldiers feared them, but Seokjin was surprised to find that the citizens were more than grateful for what they were doing. The factories had been poisoning their lands, the war straining their populations, and soldiers straining their resources.

They were more than happy to give their medicines and food to Jungkook, Taehyung, Namjoon, and Seokjin.

“Eat up. Taehyung, hop on over to Mochi and give Namjoon some of this medicine. It should help with the pain,” Jungkook ordered. Ever since they’d kicked into action, the bubbly youngest member of their family had suddenly taken the lead. “We’ve got less than half an hour to recoup before we hit the next point.”

He had led the attacks, directing Namjoon and Taehyung what to do and where to go. He had gathered their resources, paying close attention to who got a little scrape or who was starting to get winded. For Namjoon, it was especially important to monitor his pain and mobility — a task that Jungkook delegated to Taehyung in the absence of Jimin.

Seokjin found it admirable, and a little bit sad.

Taehyung jumped over to Mochi, where Seokjin and Namjoon were, with the medicine. He gave a small bit to Namjoon, who seemed to be okay enough to handle without much of it for now. Besides, if things got bad later, they needed to have that ready.

The entire time though, Taehyung stared Seokjin down. As if Seokjin had kicked his puppy or something.

“Hey, can I talk to you really quickly?”

Seokjin looked up at Taehyung and patted the space next to him.

Taehyung sat down, looking down at the ground as he stated in a hushed voice, “I don’t think I’m going to make it out of this alive.”

Seokjin was silent. He was a better listener than he was a talker.

What could you even say to that anyways?

“I had this dream. And I know the Earth Kingdom isn’t generally known for being the most spiritual but I believe it was Uncle Iroh reaching out to me. I’m not meant to make it out of this alive,” Taehyung whispered. “So, when I die, I need you to do something for me. I need you to tell everyone that I love them and I’ll always watch over them. And I need you to go find my childhood home — it’s in the village you found me in, one story house with a windchime out front — and tell my mom that I forgive her. Oh, and, when Yoongi and Hoseok finally get married, tell them congratulations for me. And they’d better save me a plate. Especially if Yoongi bakes and Hoseok cooks.”

Seokjin blinked at Taehyung, trying to take all of that information in. Something inside of him didn’t want to accept what Taehyung was saying. But something else, deep in his soul, told him to listen carefully and remember every last word.

“You sound sure that this is it,” Seokjin replied. “Why are you just telling us now?”

Taehyung opened his mouth to respond. But, before he could get a word out, Jungkook’s voice cut through the tense air.

“Approaching factory group 13!”

“Jin,” Taehyung called out. Seokjin blinked in surprise at the use of his childhood nickname. “I trust you the most with this. You were more of a parent than anyone ever was to me, Jungkook, Namjoon, and Jimin.”

Seokjin wished he’d known what to say.

~~~

For just a moment, the voices in her head stopped.

Akira looked down at her mom’s body. Her eyes were wild as she screamed in joy, attracting the attention of the guards.

The moment they entered the room, they had no idea what to do.

“GRAB HER,” Akira screamed at them. She stood up, watching in glee as the blood dripped down onto the floor. “PIN HER UP ON THE WALLS. I WANT ALL OF YOU TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MESS WITH ME.”

The guards quickly followed her orders, terrified that they were going to meet the same fate as the queen. With every little movement they made, blood spilled out of one of the stab wounds all over her body.

But is this going to make you happy? Nobody will ever love you now.

Akira span around, swinging the knife she didn’t even know she had in her hands wildly at the air.

“SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.”

Father would be proud of her. He would love her. He would be so proud at how ruthless she’d become. He would take joy in the fact that she had no problem with disposing of people the way he did. He would praise her for not blindly trusting anyone — not even her own mother. He would love her he would love her he would love her he would love her he woul—

“What have you done,” the Fire Lord’s voice rang out.

Akira froze. She couldn’t hear anything but disgust and anger in his voice.

He’s not real. Turn around, he’s not there.

Akira turned around, throwing her knife as hard as she could at the source of the voice.

Blood spilled to the ground, and Akira’s eyes widened as she realized what she had just done.

Her father collapsed to the ground with a choked scream, blood spilling out of his mouth.

A smile grew across Akira’s face.

She walked over to her father’s body, removing her knife from his throat, and slowly walked over to the throne room.

Every single person she passed on the way stared, but she didn’t care. Their stares of fear were like bread and water to her. Besides, they should be staring. Maybe if they looked hard enough, they’d noticed their queen and their lord’s blood on her hands.

No matter.

She walked into the room full of generals, gathered around the table for the briefing that father was supposed to attend.

Akira walked right past them, straight to the flames surrounding the throne. She placed her hands in the fire, watching in glee as the orange fire turned blue. The entire room seemed to change as she sat down at the head of the table.

“Fire Lord, ma’am, rebels are making their way to the palace and Ba Sing Se as we speak.”

Akira looked out at her generals and smiled, “Gather all of our soldiers that are not in Ba Sing Se already and fortify the palace. My brother and his friends are not making it out of here alive.”

“Oh, and,” Akira hummed. She stood up, looking down at the foolish men her father had trusted and listened to over her all these years. “Let all of the palace staff know on your way out.”

“Kiss mother and father dearest goodbye as they leave the palace.”

~~~

1 day to rebellion

~~~

The tension in the Fire Nation air was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

It was nighttime, the evening just before the rebellion would begin. The citizens were waiting in suspense for the rebels that had been destroying the nation to reach the capital. Soldiers stayed on alert at their posts. There were so many all around, it was hard to believe that they could arrange so many that quickly. There were no war balloons in the sky. The destruction of the ports and manufacturing had destroyed all of the balloons they had left that weren’t in Ba Sing Se already.

Yoongi, Hoseok, Himari, and Jimin stayed perched just outside the capital, waiting for the first signs of screaming that let them know that the rebellion had begun. It was up to Namjoon, Seokjin, Jungkook, and Taehyung to start it and clear the way for them to go.

“We’re really on a nostalgia tour today,” Yoongi whispered. He looked out at the capital, eyes searching for any landmarks. “You bumped into me there.”

Hoseok lifted his head up from Yoongi’s hands and smiled, “The start of a chain of events that nobody could have ever guessed, and the most successful seduction operation to ever take place. The field where you taught me how to make flower crowns is over there somewhere. They’ve probably got too many soldiers stationed there to see now.”

“I have to admit, I really grew to love the Fire Nation because of you,” Yoongi giggled. He leaned into Hoseok, happily accepting a kiss on the cheek from his fiance. “And I think I’ll love it even more after it gets rebuilt. Promise me you’ll always indulge my nostalgic days and go on dates with me here?”

“As long as you promise me you’ll put changing the world on hold for a little honeymoon with me in Ember Island,” Hoseok replied.

“Always.”

Yoongi and Hoseok sat there in silence for a little longer before they went back to where Jimin and Himari were to rest for a bit. They held each other close, not wanting to think just yet about the task that laid in front of them tomorrow morning.

It was all coming so fast, the end of their long journey.

For just a moment, they hit the pause button and rewinded. Just to look back at everything that had led them here.

~~~

0 days to rebellion

~~~

Everyone that day woke up to the sounds of battle.

Yoongi, Hoseok, Jimin, and Himari shot up as quickly as they could. The capital was already in flames. Pillars of earth shot up from the ground, launching dozens of soldiers and war machines up into the air. Blasts of water sent everything that wasn’t attached to the ground flying. Everything that was flammable outside of the palace seemed to be on fire.

They flew in on Caramel, narrowly managing to avoid all of the destruction floating up at them.

Caramel dropped them in the front of the palace, headbutting away an entire swath of soldiers to make a clearing for them.

Himari immediately jumped into action, running on people’s heads and jumping off the walls, her sword cutting away at the soldiers as if they were wheat. Yoongi, Hoseok, and Jimin however were completely surrounded.

It seemed as if the soldiers were a hydra. Hoseok would take down one, and five more would come to take their place. The water from the sewer systems wasn’t exactly plentiful either.

Jimin, Hoseok, and Yoongi worked in lockstep with each other. They held each other’s backs as much as they could. All they could rely on was hand to hand combat at this point. Jimin and Yoongi dodged and redirected the soldiers' hits with grace, Hoseok following their lead as best as he could.

Every hit was punctuated with their bending. Every kick had to sweep someone off of their feet. No dodge could just be a dodge, or else the soldiers’ spears would hit the person right behind.

The circle of soldiers around them closed in more and more as Himari took out their cannons from the backline. But, with the press of bodies getting closer and closer to Yoongi, Jimin, and Hoseok, they had to do something — and fast.

The ground began to rumble underneath them.

Suddenly, a wall of earth burst up around them, forcing all of the soldiers away.

Four people dropped in all around Hoseok, Jimin, and Yoongi. None of them armored, but all of them faces that they were more than happy to see.

“CIRCLE, AND PUSH,” Jungkook yelled.

The three earthbenders circled around the trio. They slammed down their feet on the ground, walls of earth continuing to shoot up from the ground. Namjoon kicked the first block, followed by Jungkook and Taehyung punching theirs forwards.

Himari leapt over the stone from behind, running as quickly as she could into the circle.

They all circled up around the assassination team, weapons and fists raised as they prepared for the soldiers to break through the stone.

“They’ve got nearly every soldier they could get here,” Seokjin briefed. “Sorry it took us so long. We had to take down most of them in the capital. The citizens are taking care of the rest.”

Jungkook looked back at Hoseok with a look that screamed ‘are you proud of me’ and nodded, “Most of them are really young, like, our age. So they just took the chance to defect.”

“ARROWS,” Namjoon screamed. “THEY’RE GETTING THROUGH.”

Jimin jumped up at the sound of Namjoon’s voice and closed his eyes. A big ball of air surrounded them. Every single arrow was caught by Jimin’s spiral, and redirected back at the marksmen.

“I’m so in love with you,” Namjoon sighed.

The walls of earth began to crumble. Soldiers broke through, running full speed at them with a loud battle cry.

Everyone broke up, doing their best to push their way through the mass of people so that Jimin, Hoseok, and Yoongi could get through. Blasts of fire and water and earth and air erupted everywhere.

Jimin ran towards Yoongi and Hoseok, pointing at a small gap in between the soldiers that Himari and Taehyung were clearing for them, “COME ON.”

They broke out into a sprint, running as quickly as they could through the soldiers…when they began to start stepping away.

Nobody understood what was happening, except Hoseok.

“FUCK, MOVE.”

They all tried to scramble away as an armored rhino-bull began charging at them. Yoongi remembered it now. Hoseok had told him about it once. Sometimes, to bulldoze a way through or to quickly kill their enemies in a line, the Fire Nation will use a rhino-bull.

Easy enough to dodge. But in the tangle of legs, someone was bound to get caught.

Yoongi fell down, and Hoseok’s scream seemed to shatter the air itself. He lifted his head as quickly as he could, only to see the Fire Nation soldiers holding their prince back. Even after he was labelled a traitor, it was easy to see that his people were still loyal to him.

The rhino-bull was just about to step on Yoongi when a terrifying crack rang through the air. Everybody — even the Fire Nation soldiers gasped.

The rhino-bull fell to the ground, right along with Himari and Taehyung.

Himari’s shoulder was almost entirely broken up, bone sticking out of her and her arm twisted the wrong way. Taehyung’s entire body was nearly blown to pieces. The soldiers on the sidelines were swept away by a huge wave of water and earth as Seokjin, Namjoon, and Jungkook ran to them.

Yoongi got up as quickly as he could, running to collapse by Taehyung’s side.

He was barely breathing, but he still managed to take Yoongi’s hand and give a reassuring smile.

“Don’t cry,” Taehyung breathed out shakily. His voice was barely working, and a puddle of blood was beginning to grow underneath him. “You have a job to do.”

Yoongi felt Hoseok place his hand on his shoulder, but it didn’t do anything to stop him from sobbing, “You shouldn’t have done that. Why did you do that? Why the hell would you do that, Taehyung?”

“You have someone to live for,” Taehyung smiled. He looked up at Seokjin, who had just walked up behind Yoongi. “Thank you, Jin.”

Taehyung’s hand ever so slightly squeezed Yoongi’s ring finger, and the ghost of a smile echoed on his face.

“Taehyung,” Yoongi cried. “TAEHYUNG, THIS ISN’T FUNNY.”

He grabbed Taehyung’s body, wrapping him in his arms. No part of him wanted to believe it. That this kid, who used to play pranks on him with Jimin and Jungkook and anxiously waited for him to come back home with a treat was gone.

Everyone was silent for a long moment before the sound of footsteps began charging at them. Hoseok forced Yoongi’s hands off of Taehyung and picked him up, carrying him to the palace right alongside Jimin, who looked like he was about to cry too. Yoongi couldn’t even see what they had done with Taehyung’s body.

And then, something inside of Yoongi settled, and all of his tears were replaced with a fire inside of him. All he could see was red.

“Put me down,” Yoongi whispered. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Hoseok threw Yoongi up onto the steps, continuing to run hand in hand with him up the stairs. Between Jimin pushing the air to boost them and Hoseok’s rocket step, they sped up the stairs with ease.

At the top of the stairs, they were met with the Fire Nation’s most elite guards — their faces covered with skulls and their equipment far beyond anything below there. But Yoongi didn’t care. He wanted the Fire Lord’s blood for what he did to Taehyung, and he wanted it now.

Before Hoseok and Jimin could even attack, Yoongi stepped forwards, the water from the sewers seeping up to his arms to create two long tentacles.

He grabbed the biggest soldier he could see, a man that must have been a meter taller than him and 50 kilograms heavier, by the helmet. The soldiers laughed. Not a single one of them moved a muscle, as if they were waiting for Yoongi to fail so pathetically that it was comical.

Instead, Yoongi raised his hand up, the soldier’s arm following his movement. The moment he realized that it wasn’t of his own volition, terror was struck into his eyes.

Yoongi looked back.

Hoseok nodded in approval.

And Yoongi tore the man’s arm out of its socket.

Before anyone could even react, he began flinging the man around, using his body as a twisted sort of ball and chain to bowl through all of the terrified elite guardsmen.

Jimin and Hoseok jumped into action, cleaning up whoever was left in the path of Yoongi’s destruction.

Yoongi hated it. He felt sick to his stomach seeing what was happening and seeing what he was doing. But, at the same time, it felt so…good. To make these people pay for everything they and their system has done to Yoongi and Taehyung and all of his loved ones. To make these people suffer as much as the rest of the world has as a result of their war.

These people were the elites. They were the ones who were the most loyal, who trained to kill and torture, and who loved to carry out the Fire Nation’s most twisted commands. These were the kinds of people that made everyone Yoongi had ever loved suffer.

Yoongi, Jimin, and Hoseok walked through the palace. Ready to take care of the one person responsible for all of the world’s suffering.

There was nobody in the palace. Not a single soul. It was a wreck. There was blood everywhere, and a putrid smell filled the hallways.

None of them had to say it. They all knew what they were thinking.

Something wasn’t right here.

Hoseok stood behind Yoongi and Jimin, watching their backs carefully as he led them into the throne room.

There, the Fire Lord sat in silence. Waiting for them to come and kill him. Yoongi and Jimin immediately squared up, Hoseok audibly sucking in a breath at the sight of his father.

Silence.

Yoongi stepped forwards, squinting in an attempt to look at the Fire Lord closer.

He was slumped over, something clearly dripping from his mouth.

“He’s dead,” Yoongi gasped.

He turned around, only to be met with the sight of a shadowy figure stabbing Hoseok in the back.

“NO.”

Yoongi ran forward to catch Hoseok, who let out a little groan. The shadowy figure disappeared just as Hoseok looked around. Jimin was tied up, gagged but still conscious. Right next to a woman that Yoongi vaguely recognized.

“MOM,” Hoseok screamed. He tried to move forwards, only for the knife to shift a little inside of him. His face became pale, and he collapsed right next to Yoongi as a little blood began to trickle down. “Fuck, it’s poisoned.”

“Please, I can’t lose you too,” Yoongi begged. He tried his best not to cry. Instead, he held onto Hoseok tight and whispered, “Please, Hoseok. Stay strong. Don’t die yet, please. I’m going to set you down right here, and once this is all over we can get you Seokjin right away, okay?”

Hoseok helped Yoongi sit him up against the pillar, careful not to push the knife in any further, and smiled weakly, “Don’t worry about me, my fire lily. I’m not dying before we can get married.”

“Oh, Hoseokie. When were you going to tell me that you’re getting married? I do hope I’m getting an invite.”

Yoongi’s head shot up to the sound of the voice. Akira stood above her father, the trademark pin of the Fire Lord in her messily chopped hair.

Almost immediately, Yoongi ran to Jimin. He undid Jimin’s gag and untied him as quickly as possible, not removing his eyes from Akira for even a second. The moment he looked away, she’d disappear. And it was only a guessing game of who she’d stab next.

Akira watched as Jimin was released from his binds in amusement, “I’m sure you realize why you were the only one I left alone. There’s no water within your reach. But, even with the airbender, it’ll be all too easy to take care of you and my dear brother. By the way, condolences for your loss. I meant to kill Hoseok.”

The moment Akira mentioned Taehyung and Hoseok, Yoongi felt all of his rage boil up. He reached his hand out, pulling Akira up into the air.

She struggled against his grip, her expression switching from calm to wild in less than a second. Yoongi pulled her closer to him, until she was just a few meters away, and yanked her arm up.

The knife in her hand lit up, blasting a column of fire upwards.

Yoongi swung his arm, making her hand swing wildly. Her screams filled the chamber as her knife flew around uncontrollably.

Akira’s own fire burned her as Yoongi tried his best to get her to drop the knife.

“JIMIN,” Yoongi called out. “NOW.”

Jimin jumped up, pushing himself off of a pillar, and aerial kicked her right in the face. Yoongi let her go, her body falling to the floor in a pained scream. Yoongi pulled the water out from his little flask and froze it all around her, locking her on the ground.

A ball of air circled around her.

Yoongi could physically see Jimin taking the air out of her lungs.

He collapsed next to Hoseok, all of the bloodbending finally catching up to him and taking its toll on his body and mind. They sat together, tired and in pain, watching as the last remnants of this far too long war came to an end.

~~~

3 weeks post-war

~~~

Yoongi looked down at his dress, taking in a deep breath. Something didn’t feel real about all of this.

The war was over. Taehyung had been buried just a week ago. And all the people he loved that were still here were gathered in the next room. Waiting to celebrate the beginning of Yoongi’s new life. The new life of one of the grand heroes of the war.

Seokjin extended his hand to Yoongi with a small smile. He was dressed in the Water Tribe’s traditional wear. Not for a wedding guest though. For the parents of the bride. In his arms, he held two portraits. One of Yoongi’s moms and one of Taehyung himself. Hoseok’s best man.

Yoongi himself was dressed in a beautiful hanfu that Jimin had designed. It was blue with gold embroidery, it flowed like water when Yoongi moved, and it was possibly the most beautiful thing Yoongi had ever worn.

Maybe it was a bit weird to ask your ex to give you away at your wedding, but Yoongi couldn’t think of anyone else to stand in at his wedding.

Yoongi stood up, grabbing Seokjin’s arm. They walked to the front door together, where the little but beautiful ceremony awaited. Hoseok had done all the decorations, and he must have consulted Seokjin because it looked like the perfect mix of a traditional, Water Tribe wedding and a Fire nation wedding.

Little banners of all of Hoseok’s poems for Yoongi hung on the seats. And, in the field of red fire lilies in front of their home provided all of the flowers they needed for the bouquets and the arch that Jungkook was more than happy to create for them.

They had spent so long, sitting side by side together as they recovered from the battle, reading them that Yoongi could recognize the phrases on sight.

Hoseok stood, already there waiting for Yoongi with a big smile. He was dressed in a much simpler, red hanfu (Yoongi had protested but Hoseok insisted that he didn’t want to outshine Yoongi). Jimin, Namjoon, the kids from the village and the Water Tribe, and Himari with her bandaged up shoulder sat in the crowd. Jungkook stood on Yoongi’s side as his best man.

All of them watched as Yoongi walked to Hoseok, but Yoongi couldn’t look at anyone but his husband to be.

Seokjin let go of Yoongi, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before he set the portrait of Yoongi’s moms down in the front row and walked over to Hoseok’s side with Taehyung’s.

The ceremony proceeded normally, but they added a section to commemorate Taehyung’s sacrifice just before the vows. Everybody lit a stick of incense for him and set it down next to a plate of the food they had prepared for the reception.

When everybody settled down again and stopped crying, Yoongi looked up at Hoseok. They had so much to say to each other, but they promised to keep their vows short and simple for the sake of the kids.

So Yoongi just took Hoseok’s hands in his and smiled, “I promise you, no matter what happens, my heart will always, always be yours. And I won’t spend a single night we’re apart not wishing you were by my side. I love you, my prince.”

“I love you too, my fire lily,” Hoseok smiled back. He squeezed Yoongi’s hands, looking straight into his eyes as he promised, “Everything I do will be to make you happy. I always knew that would be the case but what I had to do became even clearer to me when I watched you defeat my sister. I can’t expect things to be perfectly okay no matter what I do. So, from now on, I’ll make sure that you won’t ever have to spend a night alone. Even if it means jumping between the house and the ends of the earth together.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows raised in a silent, surprised question to which Hoseok only nodded.

“We’re going to put the world back.”

“Together.”