Hwarang and The Jewel.

Chapter 6

The first thing I can think of when I open my eyes is, wow, I'm warm.  The second thing that slams into my mind immediately after is I'm roughly 1,500 years away from home.

"Alice?" A-ro gently calls out to me. I don't reply, I just burrow further into my blanket and curl tighter in on myself. "Alright," she sighed "I'll give you some time alone."

A-ro's footsteps faded away, and somewhere in the distance a door closed. Finally alone, I couldn't hold the tears any longer.

Turning my head I started sobbing into my pillow, my chest was aching like it was caving in and my eyes were streaming tears. Thoughts of my life flashed before me and in each memory I mourned my Mom. Is she looking for me? Is she worried? Gasping for breath, I realised she would never find me. She wouldn't even be able to mourn me properly, there would be no body to lower into the ground, and she will never be able to find out what happened to me. I would be forgotten by everyone but her, and I knew -as the only person we had was each other- that this would probably break her heart, just like mine is breaking now.

I wanted to scream about how unfair this was, I wanted to yell at the sky until my throat was raw but all that left my lips was pathetic whimpers and heaving sobs. I don't know how long I cried for, it felt like I was stuck in a void. 

Suddenly I felt a weight across my hips and a pressure at my back. Turning slightly I saw that A-ro had lied down behind me. Without a word I turned over to her and let her cradle me in her arms. I cried for a long, long time - and A-ro held me through it all.

                                                                                        ***

The next time I woke it was dark. A-ro had sat me up and did a check over. She listened to my breathing, counted my pulse and felt the temperature of my forehead.

"How do you feel?" She was speaking in a whisper to me, like I was a horse about to bolt.

"Tired." My voice was rough and weak from all of my crying.

"Yes, I thought you might be. You can go back to sleep as soon as you eat this."

She handed me a bowl of warm broth. I spooned it into my mouth with mechanical motions until it was mostly finished. Satisfied, A-ro took the bowl from me and tucked me back into the bed. Glancing around the room tiredly I realised this must be the healing room that A-ro works in for the hwarang. Too exhausted to even think anymore, I tiredly shut my eyes and drifted in and out of sleep. 

Faintly, I heard the door open and footsteps come into the room.

"How is she?"

"She's in shock. Whatever she learned this morning must have upset her greatly."

"When will you tell her?"

"Tomorrow, after she's slept. I put some herbs into the chicken broth, she should be able to get some sleep tonight."

"Where will she stay? We can't put her in with the others."

"Yes I thought about that, she can use the second storage room in here. Technically, she's still in Hwarang House, just not in the barracks." A-ro sighed, and I felt her run her fingers softly through my hair. "Sun-Woo, will you look after her when I'm not here?"

"Of course."

Their voices steadily faded away into distant murmurs and I drifted off into a deep sleep.