She ran until she saw his silhouette, sitting on the other side of the tree. She stopped, feeling her eyes water as he slowly turned. It was him. Her heart fluttered, and her tears threatened to fall as he slowly stood up and walked towards her. His face was the same, it was her same General. He took his time to slowly walk closer to her, halting his steps as they stared at each other. They were both over relieved and too shocked to move as they just stared, their memories come back to life.

Finally Eun Soo's chin began to quiver as her tears fell and she whispered, "Choi Young..." At the sound of her voice, he took steady big steps and reached for her, holding her tight in his arms. She clutched at his back, pulling on the robes to draw him closer, as she sobbed into his uniform. She didn't care that the leather was hard and scratchy or that the spikes were digging into her body, she was where she belonged again. She tried to hold the tears back so she could speak, but he ran his right hand through her hair, comforting her, his silent way of telling her that she was free to do what she needed to do.

He kissed her hair, whispering words of encouragement, happiness, and his relief of seeing her happy and well. When she quieted down, he kissed her near her ear as he leaned out, his hand moving down to cup her cheek. "Imja," He murmured quietly. She was as beautiful as ever, more beautiful than he could remember her ever being. Her lips parted as she gave him a tender, glowing smile, still searching for the right words to say. He continued to give her a small and warm grin at her before kissing her gently, his thumb running circles on her cheek. The kiss was their own slow song. Nothing was hurried, the moment was all about finding each other again, connecting their selves again, and their promise of love finding them again.

Finally their lips parted and they lifted their heads apart enough to gaze into each other's eyes. Choi Young ran his right hand through her hair, her hat already on the ground from earlier. She reached up and gripped his hand, squeezing it affectionately.

"You're here," He said quietly, his eyes taking in her whole body, examining and looking for any discrepancies.

She smiled as the tears stopped trickling down her face. "Yes, I'm here..." She whispered, moving both hands to clutch at his armor. "I'm home," She whispered again.

He hugged her tighter, breathing in her scent for the first time in years. "Close to it," He corrected, leaning back out to watch her face. He gave her his warmest smile as he placed his left hand on her right hand, tugging it away from his armor. He led her to the tree to pick up his sword again before turning back towards her. "Let's go to the inn. I have something I've been wanting to give to Imja." He stepped closer to kiss her lips softly again, then her forehead. His eyes stared at her in what she could only describe as contented bliss.

She returned the look in her own eyes and she grinned as they walked down towards the inn. "You have something here for me?" She asked in amazement, hitting her with a sense of warmth. "Why would you have it here?" She inquired, thinking it strange to bring a present here instead of at the palace.

He stopped their trek and pulled her to face him. "Because I knew that Imja would come here first to look for me," He stated plainly. He kissed the back of her hand before speaking again, "And you came."

She sucked in her bottom lip from being overcome with a sense of endearment. "I prayed every day to come back," She admitted, squeezing his hand between both of hers.

He nodded as well. "At least once, if I couldn't manage to do it twice," He concurred, one side of his lip curling upwards. "Now we should pray our thanks every day," He recommended, resting his forehead on hers for a moment, his eyes closed. His lips moved silently as he sent out a quick prayer of eternal gratitude to all the gods.

Tears threatened to come again in her eyes at the sight of him praying. It was such an intimate feeling, seeing him like this. She let go of his hand to gently embrace his face with her hands. As he opened his eyes, she gave him a small smile. She tried to speak but the right words couldn't come out. He sensed this and he held her face in his free hand, reassuring her that he understood. "We should keep going back," She said in a lighter tone. Her eyes sparkled with a new joy.

He nodded and grabbed her hand once more. "Only a little further," He reassured, his steps falling in line with her own.

They walked slowly and carefully, enjoying being in each other's presence again. They were content with just being together. They were getting reacquianted with one another and words weren't needed at the moment.

As they approached the inn, Eun Soo tugged on his arm to force him to a stop. He turned to face her and asked, "What?" His face was still relaxed, but some of the confused face she was used to seeing appeared on his face.

She fought back a giggle while her eyes still showed the same amusement that he grew to love in the past. "Should we go tease the men inside?" She questioned, her smile growing to meet her eyes.

He chuckled before nodding his head in agreement. "How would you like to do so, Imja?" He let go of her hand to run through her hair to rest on her cheek again. He had missed her and was familiarizing him again to her, her body and soul.

She smiled and lifted a finger as she spoke, "I went in there and started asking about who the previous king was and why the soldiers were in Yuan. Pretty suspicious sounding, right?" She started out. He nodded in acknowledgement. "So what if you say that you met someone who was suspicious and you had to catch them before they caused harm?" She clapped her hands together, pleased with her plan.

He chuckled, his head nodding once more as he dropped his hand from her. "Wait here right outside the door, and put your hat back on," He directed, putting her hat back on. "And keep that low on your head," He added, before turning back to the inn.

He took a breath before he opened the doors suddenly, all eyes on him. "Hey!" He shouted, marching up to the troops. He turned his head to look around the room, his famous scowl on his face. "Who was talking to the woman earlier?!" He questioned, pointing at the table with her things still there.

One man was pushed forward by the other soldiers, sputtering and shaking his hands. "It, I mean... She didn't seem to be harmful!"

Choi Young glared and stepped up to his face. "You didn't think?" He asked, eyes set on him. "Because of you, I had to drag that person here." He pushed the soldier with the sword, making him fall to sit on the table. Choi Young went to the door, opening it slower to make sure to not accidentally hitting Eun Soo. He walked out and upon spotting her, gave her a smirk. "Are you ready?" He asked her quietly, his hand reaching out to hold her left arm.

She grinned and gave him a thumb's up. "Ready as ever!" She said excitedly, pulling her hat down on her head. "Lead me in!"

He let out a quiet chuckle before pretending to drag her inside, slamming the doors open again. "This is the one that I had to arrest because of you punk," He said harshly, letting go of her arm as she stood in the middle of the group. The Wudalchi soldiers didn't know what to do so they just glanced around, shrugging and trying to whisper what to do.

Choi Young tapped on Eun Soo's hat, their signal for her to reveal herself. She slowly untied the knot and took off her hat, her face shining with a beaming grin. "Hello fellow Wudalchi brothers!" She said loudly, full of excitement. She waved her hands at them all as they stared blankly at her. Her hands slowed to a halt and she turned her face to Choi Young's. "Do none of them recognize me? Am I that different looking?"

As she spoke. Dae Man jumped across the table and grabbed one of her hands and shook it up and down. "High Doctor! You're actually back!" He exclaimed, looking back to Deok Man and pointing. "Just like the General said!"

Eun Soo laughed and hugged Dae Man, shocking him to stand still, his face frozen as he slowly slid his eyes to his General. Choi Young sighed and clutched her shoulder, causing her to jump away. "What?" She asked casually, her lips turning to a pout.

He leaned in to whisper in her ear, "That sort of thing.. Don't do that. The guys will get the wrong idea." He let go of her and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. Dae Man tried to laugh it off awkwardly before the Vice General came up to shake Eun Soo's hand as well, quickly letting go after.

"High Doctor, it is so good to see you again, healthy and all," the Vice General said enthusiastically. He scanned across the room before facing her again. "There are a few familiar faces, but most of our men are backa at the castle."

She nodded and grinned. "But there's some here! Oh Deok Man, come here! You grew a beard, I didn't know you could!" She teased, walking over to him and slapping his arm lightly. He laughed awkwardly, scratching his chin. "And you picked up the spear? It looks good with you."

Before long, the whole group of Wudalchi were surrounding her, listening to stories of when she was there a few years past, and them filling her in on what had happened when she was gone.

During the catch-up time, Choi Young stayed leaning on the wall, a smile showing freely as he watched the group. He loved seeing her interact so freely with his troops, her smile infectious to all those around her. These men were like his family and seeing her fit in so well, reassure him in a way he couldn't explain.

That's where I'm going to stop it for now :heart:. I have more planned, don't worry! And the next chapter will have a sex scene in it, so be prepared for that. I will mark it off before and after so you can just skip it and still read the rest of the chapter without seeing it. Hope that everything read well and if there's any confusion or typos, let me know!

Thanks for reading, everyone :hearts:.