Bound By Fire And Fate || Bakugo X Reader

Into The Shadows (Y/N pov)

The days pass slowly, each one blending into the next, a hollow ache growing deeper in my chest with every sunrise. Bakugo doesn't come back to the forest. Each morning, I wake with a flicker of hope that I'll find him waiting for me among the trees, that his rough voice will break through the silence, pulling me from this nightmare. But the clearing remains empty. There's no trace of him, no sign that he ever even existed in this world that suddenly feels smaller without him in it.

I know what everyone would say if I asked-he's a dragon prince, an enemy. But I can't ignore the growing dread in my heart. Something isn't right. He wouldn't just leave without a word, not after everything he said. Not after promising he'd come back.

I spend hours searching the forest, as if he might appear from the shadows if I just look hard enough. I venture farther and farther, ignoring Alden's warnings, ignoring the rumors that the dragons' forces are gathering along our borders. Each night, I return to my small, silent cottage, the emptiness echoing around me, and I feel that ache grow heavier.

Alden doesn't mention Bakugo after that day in the clearing, but I can feel his eyes on me, watching every time I return from the woods. I know he thinks I'm a fool. Part of me wonders if he's right, if Bakugo simply realized the impossibility of this, the weight of his duty and the loyalty of his people, and... walked away.

But deep down, I know that's not true. I've seen the fire in Bakugo's eyes, the fierce resolve that made me believe, for the first time, that we could defy fate. If he's not coming back, it's because he can't.

The idea fills me with a horrible kind of certainty. What if they've trapped him? What if his own family is holding him in that stone prison of a castle, bound by the weight of tradition and duty? It's a thought I can't bear, but it's one I can't shake either.

The weeks drag on, and each day that passes without him feels like another nail driven deeper into the coffin of hope I cling to. I find myself lingering near the edge of the forest, staring toward the distant mountains where the dragon kingdom lies, wondering if he's trapped there, helpless and alone. I imagine him, held captive within the palace walls, guarded day and night by his father's loyal servants. The thought is enough to drive me mad, to make me reckless.

The longer he's gone, the more a quiet rage festers inside me, twisting through the worry and fear. I can't let this end in silence, in empty words and broken promises. If he's trapped, if they've taken him from me, then I'll do whatever it takes to find him. I'll march into their kingdom myself if I have to.

The thought terrifies me, but it also fills me with a strange, fierce resolve. I won't let them keep him caged. I won't let them rip him from me without a fight.

And so, as the sun dips below the horizon, I pack a small satchel, slipping a dagger into my belt and pulling my hood over my head. If they've forced him to stay away, then I'll go to him myself. And I'll face whatever stands in my way.