After much longing, I have forgotten you

The second when Time breaks and eternity engulfs it

And my mind began to wander,

And my brain began to swim,

Then those hands outstretched to save me

Seemed to call me back again

Those dark eyes did so implore me

To resume my reason's reign [...]

Power of Love, Anne Brontë

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Gon wandered without direction in a field full of pink wheat plants, the spikes tickled his rough palms and clung to his clothes.

What is this place?

He tried to remember if he had been here before, but nothing came up in his mind. Was it near the Palace? Or somewhere in his Kingdom?

How did I end up here?

Around him there was only silence, an endless silence and it was peaceful in a way that made him anxious. He was used to quiet rooms, preferring them to louder ones, but there was something off in the vivid landscape that surrounded him.

Am I still dreaming?

The cool wind was ruffling his sibijangbok, a traditional ceremonial black robe he rarely wore and that now, more than usual, was suffocating him in its many layers. His title never seemed heavier, and it was so frustrating that not even in his dreams he could escape from his life.

There were times everything became too insufferable, so he would run away from the Palace for a while. Far away from people and chaos, enjoying the calmness that only the woods or the sea could give him. Sometimes it was just for a night, while other times it took more days to pull himself together.

A part of him was ashamed by his reckless actions, he was supposed to be the King, to care about his people and their wellbeing, but at the end he was just a man full of flaws.

Probably this was one of the many reasons why he liked so much being in the Republic of Korea, there he could just be a man like any other. His ugliness fit perfectly among those of others.

Though guilt pinched him when he enjoyed it more than he should.

Sighing, he raised his eyes towards the sky but the light hit him, so he had to hold one hand over his eyes to protect them from the burning sun.

Then Gon finally noticed the huge ginkgo tree standing tall in the field, its yellow leaves seemed to reach out the cloudless blue sky.

Looking better, he spotted a tiny female figure resting against the tree trunk. He would recognize her anywhere and blinked a couple of times, trying to make sure she wasn't the umpteenth product of his vivid imagination.

She was still there.

He called out her name, but Tae Eul didn't seem to have seen or heard him.

Gon rushed towards her, although it seemed the spikes were trying to slow him down. She was as beautiful as in his sweetest memories in her white humble hanbok. It was the first time he saw her wearing a garment like that, in his other and more familiar dreams, she always wore something more fitting to a Queen.

Her dark hair weren't tied, but framed her small face, hiding her expression. He wanted desperately to see her eyes, those dark eyes that fascinated him from the first time they had rested on him.

Should I let her know I'm here?

Still hesitating, he raised his hand to graze her shoulder as he did many times in the past, and she finally glanced at him.