~ a lily among thorns~

"that's an order!"

It didn't take long for Nari to scale Hwarang's walls. She'd snuck out countless times, but for what now seemed like trivial reasons. Growing up, she'd watched her whole life fall apart. Losing her Mother was the tipping point. Now in Hwarang, with little success in vengeance and separated from Poong-yeon, she'd dwelt on giving up. But now that there was a chance her Father was alive...it was as if a piece of Nari's life was falling back into place.

Now in the streets of Silla, Nari was running as fast as she possibly could. The funny thing was, it didn't feel that way. No matter how hard and far she pushed her legs forward, the forest seemed equally far away. It reminded her of the night she'd heard Poong-yeon's screams...how she'd desperately wanted to reach him in an instant, but a maze of doors and halls were keeping them apart. It'd felt like forever until she'd finally reached the courtyard where she'd seen him – wide-eyed and shaking.

Now she was running towards someone else. But instead of feeling terrified, she felt hopeful...hopeful that a missing piece of her childhood could be restored...hopeful that she could run into her Father's arms once again.

The thing was, Nari didn't know for certain where in the forest he was, or if he was still even there. Quite frankly, she had no evidence to say that it really was him who'd sent the message. But something deep down in Nari told her she was on the right path. She could just feel it to be her Father, no matter how hard she tried to doubt it.

As she ran, she began to think how obvious it had been. How could she have missed all those clues? It was as if her life had been so absorbed in the king and avenging her Mother, she hadn't had time to think of any other possibilities. The lilies were an absolute given! But how had her Father been sending her the messages? They were all inscribed with such detail.

Blood pumping straight to her head, Nari always found it easy to think whilst running. Sometimes she thought too much and her mind turned into an overloaded space filled with questions and theories. This time, she was so focused on answers she had no time to overthink. The pins had been manufactured in a nearby town and transported through the forest. That's where her Father must've gotten a hold on them. The coin was foreign to Silla. Obviously, it was straight from him. But her necklace? She knew every detail of her necklace and it was a fact the word 'forest' had not been there until recently. So how did he get a hold of it?

A sudden thought came to Nari, and her pace slowed to a halt. She was unaware of the crowds swarming around her and only engrossed in one thing. The night of the performance! She'd run into a man in black clothing and dropped her necklace. It'd felt like forever until he'd given it back. That must've been when it happened. Therefore, that man must have been...

Nari slowly let out a long breath as she realised how close she'd been to her Father...without even knowing it. If he was right there, why did he need to send her a message? Why didn't he just reveal himself to her then? Nari felt aggravated at the idea, wishing she could go back in time and change that moment. That was impossible though, so she had to be content with her newfound opportunity. Better late than never.

Nari began running again, muttering half-hearted apologies to the people she pushed past. She was usually quite self-conscious about other people's feelings, but today she spared the effort. She was about to be reunited with the person she missed most dearly. Her childhood was flashing before her eyes – the kite flying outings, the stories, the laughter. Could she really get that all back?

Green was on the horizon. Nari could see the treetops peeking over the walls of Silla. Her heart fluttered with excitement. She was so close to happiness.

"Mouse, stop!"

But happiness would have to wait. The girl stopped as instructed, slowly turning around, possessing an expression filled with comfort yet despair. If it had been anyone else, she would have ignored them and kept running. But there he was, standing there with an outstretched arm, begging her to stay. And she did. That was Ji-Dwi's power over her.