Flower Moon

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/57049366.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Relationship: Shin-Ah/Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)
Characters: Shin-Ah (Akatsuki no Yona), Yona (Akatsuki no Yona), Seiryuu | Blue
Dragon Deity (Akatsuki no Yona), Son Hak, Zeno (Akatsuki no Yona),
Kija (Akatsuki no Yona), Yoon | Yun (Akatsuki no Yona)
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Manga & Anime, Manga:
Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-07-01 Words: 4,435 Chapters: 1/1
 Flower Moon
by PandoraOlivine

Summary

An expansion on the sword training scene/Chapter 47 (Yona/Shin-ah)

Cross posted from my Tumblr

Notes

My first time posting a fanfic here so pls be merciful to anything that is abnormal or out of
place I truly have no idea what I'm doing lol. This idea has lived rent free in my mind for
weeks now so I thought I'd write it out. Shin-ah is such an interesting character I was dying to
flesh him out more, plus current manga circumstances have me missing my boy. Yes I know
Hak and Yona are canon but this pairing will always hold a special place in my heart. I don't
own any of these characters.
Shin-ah didn't quite understand the idea of love. How was he meant to when neither he nor
his guardian, Ao, had? His sole point of reference for the outside world was limited to the
scene outside the window of his childhood home, where he would often linger for hours. One
day, he witnessed longingly as two individuals had their arms firmly intertwined. He, with the
naive nature of any child his age, mentioned the encounter to Ao.

"Ao, what are they doing? Are they hurt? Should we go help them?" The young Shin-ah
asked. Ao grumbled, tearing his gaze away from the sword he sharpens towards the window.
Though Shin-ah's vision was hindered by the mask placed on him since birth, he saw the
moment Ao's face dropped. Ao quickly averted his eyes back to his sword.

"They're just hugging." Ao answered bluntly, the sanding of his sword more aggressive than
beforehand. Shin-ah was more confused than he was prior to the question. His eyes found
their way back to the couple as they tear away from the embrace, observing one place a hand
on the other’s cheek.

"What's hugging?" Shin-ah questioned further. Ao, now scrubbing viciously, was silent-
something Shin-ah knew meant he had touched a soft spot. He began to consider retracting
his concern when Ao spoke:

"It's a thing people sometimes do to show love."

"What's love?" Shin-ah pried further. Ao's answers seemed only to lead to more questions for
him. Ao stiffened, his sword slipping off his lap momentarily before he caught it. Though
long baby blue hair covered Ao's face, Shin-ah's dragon eyes saw his gritted teeth.

"Something you don't need to worry about.”

"Do you love me?" Shin-ah wanted some sort of reference for the phrase. He knew he cared
deeply for Ao, him being the closest to a parent he had ever had. He wondered if that was
love. Ao sighed, his sharpening at a normal pace again.

"I guess you could call it that." He stated begrudgingly, his voice half a mutter and half a
grunt. Ao finished with his sword and stood up, giving it a few test swings.

"What about the villagers? They hate us, yet you always go out of your way to protect them.
Why?" Ao froze mid overhead slash, his golden eyes wide. He reeled his sword back towards
himself, then locked eyes with Shin-ah. His face was tight, temples throbbing intensely.

"I can't hate them-so I'll protect them. That's how I'll show them." Ao announced as he
sheathed his sword. His large hand scratched the back of his neck, releasing a deep sigh.
"You sure are chatty today, kid. No more questions."

Show them what? Shin-ah wanted to ask, but knew pushing his luck any more would further
upset Ao, and he hated when Ao got mad. Ao waltzed to the door, readying himself for their
regular bandit hunts. Shin-ah's mouth opened, fear of being left behind overtaking, when Ao
lowered a hand towards the ground and outspread it towards him. Shin-ah grinned from ear to
ear, rushing into a sprint towards Ao's side, placing his small hand in his guardian's.

Shin-ah physically shook his head in an attempt to purge the memory from his thoughts,
finding himself surrounded by tree bark rather than the cold walls of his childhood home. Ao
was always a bittersweet part of his mind, and it frustrated him how little he could remember
of his face-a reminder of how long he had been on his own since Ao had left him.

But he wasn't alone anymore, he reminded himself. A girl who, with an aura more radiant
than the sun itself, had rescued him from his eternal darkness. He even had brothers now, too.
It had taken more getting used to than he had expected, and even now he found himself
wandering far from the group out of sheer habit. He wasn't used to the constant company;
Kija and Zeno especially tended to exhibit a particular need for closeness he simply wasn't
accustomed to.

“Hak, you idiot.” He would recognize that voice in total darkness-even if he were completely
deaf, the warmth of her presence reached him long before she herself did. Yona appeared
from behind a tree then kicked the rock closest to her feet, crossing her arms in an
extravagant huff. She blew a tuft of crimson hair from her eyes, and in doing so, spotted
Shin-ah. Her lips curved into a devious smirk.

Shin-ah gulped, his eyes darting around the surrounding area. His beloved squirrel, Ao
(though not fitting for a female squirrel, was named after the only name he ever knew) was
chewing on his furry headpiece. Yona approached him with a plan clearly on the forefront of
her mind.

“Yes, I want you to teach me swordsmanship. You are a swordsman, right?” Yona asked, her
hands kneading into her skirt as she gripped it tightly. Swordsman? He thought, but he
supposed it was the proper term for him. Ao had never really given him a special title for it.
“Shin-ah, who did you learn swordsmanship from?”

There was a sharp jolt in his stomach, as if he had just leapt from a high ledge. “Ao,” he
whispered. Though the name often fell on his lips for his beloved squirrel, it had been many,
many years since it was spoken in reference to his guardian.

“...eh?” Yona gasped, eyes wide and bewildered. Realizing the confusion he had caused, he
shook his head.

“Someone…by my side, a long time ago.” He confirmed to hopefully resolve any confusion,
his eyes trailing off in thoughts of his guardian for a moment. He clenched his fist. “And then
fighting in actual battles. Bandits and wild beasts, mostly.”

“That's amazing! I figured as much. I bet those villagers are regretting not appreciating you
now that you're not there to fight their battles.” Yona exclaimed, though her brows seemed to
lower slightly at the mention of his former village’s residents. He shrunk his head into his
shoulders. He knew that the villagers were unaware to anything he had done for them-Ao had
made that very apparent to him early on in his life-but it was the only guide he had been
given on how to live through this unfortunate existence. His sole purpose was to survive,
protect the village, and assist the rising of the blue dragon once the curse laid its hands on its
next victim. Clapping her fists together in front of her in a prayer-like motion, Yona leaned
towards him. “Teach me the swordsmanship you cultivated through actual combat, Shin-ah.”

Shin-ah twitched, finding himself at cross roads. He thought of Yona’s protector, Hak, and if
he would be upset at him for possibly putting her in harm’s way. The Thunder Beast was
adamantly against the idea of Yona wielding a sword, and Shin-ah knew he was not one to be
trifled with. However, her glowing green eyes gleamed with uncontainable glee, and though
he wore a mask, he could tell she was doing her very best to look into his eyes. How could he
refuse her when the name she had given him sounded like sweet songbirds coming from her
lips? With a sigh, he took his sword from its sheath and meticulously examined it for any
potential scratches, as well as ensureed that the handle's binding was secure enough to stay in
place as she held it. He hesitated one more moment before uneasily placing the sword in her
delicate hands.

As soon as he let go, the weight of the sword quickly made itself known to her as it
plummeted towards the ground. Despite trembling arms, Yona lifted the tip of the sword
towards the sky, her eyes meeting his, with the fire he admired so much. He evaluated her
stance. He then tilted his head to the side, pondering how to explain once he determined how
terrible it was.

“Widen your legs…shoulder width apart. Better stance makes you sturdier.” He meekly
suggested, not accustomed to being a teacher. He found it difficult, as much of his own
studies had been from observing Ao and practicing on his own. He wasn't quite sure how to
translate that knowledge. She did as he asked, then slashed the sword horizontally. The
weight unbalanced her for a moment, but then she sliced the air going in the opposite way.
She followed it with multiple more swings in an uncoordinated fashion.

Ah, there it is, he thinks, the problem evident. Unsure of how to best word his thoughts, he
stepped behind her and wrapped his hands around her wrists. “Your wrists are too tight…
loosen them. More fluid movement.” He directed, then showed her a proper crossway slice.
He followed it with an upward swing, leading into a sharp thrust. “Move with purpose. Each
move should lead into the next.”

“So, it's kinda like dancing!” Yona blurted out, practicing the move set he had just shown her.
Shin-ah didn't have much dancing practice-or really, any, for that matter-but if the connection
helped her, then that was all that mattered to him. His eyes were drawn to her hands, realizing
just how much more battered up they were up close: etched with scars, splinters, and small
cuts. His chest tightened. He wished that they would stay soft forever and that she would
never experience hardship, but he knew that was not the kind of girl Yona was.

Why was he so fixated on her hands? He interrogated himself, finding his own face growing
hot beneath his mask. He released her wrists and stepped back, tossing the recent thoughts
from his mind. He steadied his headpiece and monitored Yona as she tightened her grip on
the sword. Her eyes were blazingly focused. After correcting her stance as Shin-ah had
shown her, she swung the sword in the fashion previously demonstrated for her.

Shin-ah was caught in a trance, incapable of tearing his gaze away. Her hair tossed across her
face as she sliced, with stray pieces clinging to the sweat that lined the edge of her hair, her
breaths deep but determined. She released small grunts as she fought to keep a steady grip on
the blade that she refused to deem too heavy for herself. She went for the upward slash, her
brow furrowed deeply as she thrust herself forward with her blade pointed at Shin-ah. He
found his breath had escaped him and his rib cage seemed to squeeze at his chest. Had she
paralyzed his heart?

Yona softened as she reeled the sword back. Her face pinched, releasing a faint yelp as she let
a hand off the blade. He froze, a pit carving into his stomach as he saw the deep scarlet
puddle on her pale hands. She stared indifferently at her now-bloody palm.

“I see, this sword doesn't have a guard.” She quickly disregarded her frown, then moved her
hand back to the hilt. “Shin-ah, can you walk me through-”

He promptly robbed her of the blade, clutching the handle fiercely to his body. He'd hurt her.
He was the one who caused this. He did precisely what he had always feared he would. He
pivoted to bolt-his answer to any problematic situation-when a small hand grabbed his elbow.

“Shin-ah, wait. I'm ok, I promise. It's just a scratch.” Yona tried to reassure him, but Shin-ah
still attempted to pull away. As hard as he fought to omit the sight from his all-seeing eyes,
he could not rid himself of the crimson that stained her hands. He could not leave her like
this. He grit his teeth, tossed his sword aside to the grass, then turned to Yona. He knew Yoon
had gone to town to buy supplies so he would have to take care of her himself. He gathered
her up, one arm beneath her legs, the other around her shoulders, then scouted for a nearby
river. Yona cried out, the whites of her eyes taking over and her cheeks glowing, "Shin-ah,
what are yo-”

He unintentionally cut her question short as soon as he leapt towards the body of water he
had just discovered. Her small fists clamped tightly onto his overshirt, and he found it
difficult to concentrate anywhere other than her face as she peered at the passing scenery of
the surrounding woodland. They arrived at the fiercely-flowing river, where he cautiously set
her down and guided her hand into the water. With one hand, he carefully cupped water over
the cut, wincing as he reviewed the incision without blood once the water ran clear. “I’m
sorry…Yona.”

“This isn't your fault. I was the one who was careless. I'm sure next time I'll-” Yona began,
but was hastily disrupted by Shin-ah passionately jerking his head back and forth. He refused
to allow her to get hurt on his account ever again. The bleeding stopped, yet his index finger
continued to trace the lines of her palm. He snaps himself out of it then reaches for the
bandages he kept in his pack for his arm wraps out. He timidly grabbed hold of her fingers
and began to tenderly wrap the bandages around her palm.

He urges himself to stay centered on the task at hand and not let his thoughts drift back to her
features, which he deeply desired to study. His work was abruptly disturbed by sudden heat
on his jaw, which he faintly gasped to. He raised his head to see Yona's hand on his chin,
accompanied by a smile so dazzling it threatened to overthrow the sun and melt his heart. Her
gentle fingertips began to wedge beneath his mask so he swiftly seized her wrist to stop her.
His hands grew sweaty and his fingertips twitched. Yona's expression sank.

“It's ok, I just want to be able to look into your eyes when I talk to you. Won't you let me? It's
hard to read your face with it covered.” She pleaded, stroking his cheek with her thumb. He
pressed his lips together and turned his head away. He detested to risk harming her with this
curse he had been forsaken by. “I could never be afraid of you, Shin-ah.”

She gracefully proceeds to inch her fingers further to remove the mask from his face, and he
finds himself incapable of refusing her. He reluctantly let go of her wrist, illumination
blinding him as he emerged from his realm of darkness. He instinctively squeezed his eyes
shut, largely out of a deep-seated fear of his paralysis powers and the other being sensitive to
the sunshine overhead. Yona's hand slid to his cheekbone and brushed the area around his
birthmark. His eyelids fluttered open, taking in every detail around him like a newborn
observing the world for the first time; from the leaves swaying in the wind, the waterfall
miles away, to the fish swimming against the current. But Yona, the most brilliant light of
them all, was the one he always found his way back to.

Her face was so much more breathtaking without hindered vision. He absorbed every minute
detail: her freckles, the frizz of her wild hair, the cracks in her lips, her sun-kissed skin along
her cheeks, the array of green hues in her captivating eyes.

“You have such beautiful eyes. I wish you weren't so afraid to show them to the world.” Yona
said. He is met with the familiar urge to hide himself, although this time, not out of fear, but
due to a stranger feeling he couldn't quite verbalize. “I don't see how anyone could see you as
cursed.”

“I…” He trailed, unable to find the correct words. After muttering a grunt, he redirected his
focus back to tending to her wound. As Yona withdrew her hand, the heat dissipated from his
cheek, leaving him colder than he was prior with a shiver crawling up his spine. He finishes
wrapping it up, taking special care to ensure it wasn't tight enough as to cause discomfort. It
would have to do for now until Yoon could work his magic. Shin-ah knew the basics enough
to tend to his own injuries from countless years of skirmishes, but he was hardly a
professional. The last thing he wanted was to initiate further damage by addressing her
wound incorrectly. His hands linger on her hand a moment longer, finding it difficult to
remove.

“See? All better! Thank you, Shin-ah.” Yona sings, admiring his work. She then brings her
hands to her lap, gripping the fabric of her dress. “I'm sorry for being so careless, and for
upsetting you.”

“Yona, you could never upset me.” Shin-ah rapidly responds, quite offended at the very idea,
shaking his head furiously. Yona giggles, a sound that could cure him even on his deathbed.
“I want to protect you. I…never want to see you hurt.”

“I'm grateful for you, and the others, for that matter. It means the world to me to have so
many who care for me.” She states, but there is an underlying tone to her voice as her eyes
seem to drift towards the river longingly. “But I want to protect you all too. I never want to be
powerless again.”

Shin-ah sharply inhales at how quickly her mood darkened. He frantically looked around for
Ao, who was much more efficient at comforting others than himself, but she was nowhere to
be found, so she must have returned to camp on her own. He grits his teeth together, his brain
mulling over every possibility, but he drew a blank on what to do. He had never been good at
this sort of thing-how could he be when none had ever been expressed to him? His guardian,
Ao, was certainly not the affectionate type, and the villagers loathed him so much they would
have ignored him to bleed to death and then complain about having to clean up the mess left
on the dirt. He dreaded to see Yona so sorrowful; he desired nothing more than to be able to
physically combat the darkness that engulfed her and beat it into submission so she would
never succumb to despair again. His eyes gleam as an idea rolls into his mind, so he snatches
her unbandaged hand with his own, squeezing it tightly. Yona’s head whips towards him, her
mouth hanging open at the sudden touch. She quickly throws on a smile, her thumb rubbing
against the outer part of his hand.

“That’s why I need you to teach me the sword! I need to be strong enough to protect you the
way you protect me.” Yona exclaimed, her eyes ignited with determination. Shin-ah
immediately shakes his head, his dragon eyes able to see the fresh wound even beyond the
bandages. He would never allow something like that to happen again. Yona's face scrunches
to the side, lips puckered into a pout. Her features soften as she locks eyes with him once
more. “Could I at least watch you practice?”

Shin-ah grew still as a statue. His golden eyes widened as he remembered how he spent his
entire span of consciousness imitating every move Ao had demonstrated for him, even after
his death. He was cast away into memories of his own solitude, his sole solace for the
majority of his life being that Ao remained eternally with him due to the techniques bestowed
upon him prior to his passing. Before he had time to resist, tears welled up in his eyes against
his will. Yona immediately jumped to place a hand on his cheek.

“I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to upset you, we don't have-” She apologized, but was rendered
short mid-sentence by Shin-ah, who coated her entire hand with his own and swayed his head
faintly. His fingers followed the lines of her bandages.

“No…that's perfect.” He reassures, taking a deep inhale in a futile attempt to withdraw his
tears. Yona grinned softly, her thumb collecting the overflow from trickling down his face.

“You’re such a kind soul, Shin-ah. I hope you stay by my side forever.” Yona states. He
discovered he was completely unable to move-perhaps she had paralyzed him, just as she had
done prior. He curled a fingertip just to prove he still could. What had she done to him, then?

“I'll follow you anywhere, as long as you let me.” Shin-ah vowed, wandering in the lush
emerald forest that made a home in her eyes.

Yona grew a toothy smile, her cheeks pink like the petals of a rose against snow. Her eyes lit
up suddenly and she scrambled through her pouch. “Oh! I nearly forgot! I have a surprise for
you.”
Shin-ah’s head cocked to the side, watching her closely as his hands rested in his lap. She let
out a triumphant cry as she extracted a foreign object from her pouch. He heard a familiar
faint ring, one that caused his eyes to expand and intercepted his breath.

“I noticed you lost the bells from your mask after we escaped the cave, and I was worried
they were something precious to you that you lost because of me. So when I was in town
with Yoon the other day and saw this, I knew I had to get it for you.” Yona explained, her
hands cupped together as she presented a large golden bell threaded through a blue ribbon.
He was too overcome with shock to move, so he silently stared at the bell, mouth hanging
open and uncertain how to proceed. Ao's words reverberated in his mind: 'I'll know where you
are, even if I can't see you.' Yona took note of his awe and sensitively laid the bell into the
exposed palms of his lap. Shin-ah hesitantly drew it closer to his eyes, examining the intricate
designs along the surface, slightly flinching at the ring that emitted. “I know it's probably not
anything like the ones you had before, but I hope you like it.”

Like it? He scoffed internally, his heart practically bruising his ribs with its attempt to escape
from his chest. He struggled to comprehend her thoughtfulness in wanting to replace the bells
he had worn for so long. He didn't even imagine that she had noticed his bells were missing.
When his original bells had fallen, he felt no need to retrieve them due to having friends who
finally saw him. However, hearing the sweet ring once more stirred a tender and tormenting
nostalgia he hadn't felt since being liberated from the caves he was bound to. He reluctantly
rattled the bell again, the music plucking the strings of his heart into a melody that nearly
brought him to tears once more. Don't you dare cry again, he ordered himself. Taking a deep
breath, he clutches the bell tightly to his collar bones. “Thank you, Yona.”

He cursed himself for being incapable of verbalizing the depth of his gratitude for this gift.
She sprung slightly forward and clapped her hands together, her signature enchanting smile
adorning her face. Rising to her feet, she dusted the dirt off her skirt, surveying her
surroundings. She then extended her bandaged hand to Shin-ah.

“Now, back to sword practice?” She asked. Despite the injury she sustained, she still
approached him with the same amount of enthusiasm that she had begun with. He pulled
himself out of his daze caused by the gift, snatching his headpiece to place his mask back on,
as it was a force of habit that could not be broken easily. Yona frowned slightly, but knew it
could not be helped-it would take time for him to be able to live without it. He reached for
her hand, wincing for a moment at the reminder of her wound. He then decided to grab a hold
of her wrist as she helped pull him up. She leads the way, but his feet are held down by stones
he cannot see. Noticing his arm resistant, she turns around with her eyebrows narrowed. “Are
you alright?”

His teeth grinded together, his legs trembling as he grasped the bell tightly. “I just...I...” he
croaked, the words clogging his throat. It mustered all his strength to not let it morph into an
inaudible blubber. 'I'm sorry...I'm going to leave you all alone.' Ao's final words assaulted his
thoughts. Yona tilted her head as she stepped closer to him. He turned away in an attempt to
further hide his face. “Please...don't leave me.”

Yona's eyes broadened as she peered lower at their interlaced hands. He whirled to face her,
poised to take back what he'd said, fearing he'd said something harmful, when she freed his
hand. Before he could react, a sudden flash of red surged toward him with two frail arms
enveloping his torso. This was unlike anything he had ever felt before. She buried her head
deeper into his chest, stunning him to the point that his arms were rendered useless, dangling
midair. He recalled the couple he'd witnessed so long ago, and how he'd dreamed of the day
when somebody would finally be willing to stare into his eyes head on without fear. He
wondered what Ao would think of the friends he had made. Tears swelled from his eyes yet
again and he inclined his head towards the heavens in an attempt to prevent them from
flowing down his now raw cheeks. He, with reservations, slowly wrapped his arms around
her shoulders and softly squeezed them. He hoped he was doing it correctly. Yona eventually
draws back, her eyes reddish and glistening like stars from the sun's beaming light peeking
through the overhanging foliage. She embraces his neck delicately with both hands and
sniffles. “I'm not going anywhere. Thank you for being by my side, Shin-ah.”

They leave for camp together, Shin-ah never once losing grip of her wrist while his other
hand cradled the bell firmly to his chest. He nearly stumbled on several occasions as a result
of being so enthralled by her presence. He loved her, he decided. He didn't know much about
what the word meant, but he knew he cared for her more than anything in the world; she who
rescued him from his relentless world of shadows and gave him a moonlight name that he
would treasure for eternity. He wasn't sure how exactly to express this love to her, but he
knew he would do whatever it took to protect her and prevent her from wearing that
melancholic expression on her face ever again. That's how he would show her.
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