Miss You (1/1)

A few weeks had passed since the princess's four comrades first arrived. Apart from being a little less lonely, Ah Young felt much more secure and safe. JaeJoong had taken her shopping in the palace square, while Junsu rode off to uncover news from the war. Yunho was wondering around the whole palace, trying to memorize the floor plan, in case there was a threat. Lastly, Changmin sat in the study catching up with paperwork. "Princess, Junsu informed me earlier this morning that the square has recieved new imports." JaeJoong held onto the horse's rein as it trotted down the street with Ah Young on it's back. "Shall I take you to see them?" Ah Young nodded and JaeJoong led the horse towards the shops. Her guards followed, keeping an eye out for any disturbance. As they entered the square, and passed by shops, the people would step aside and bow deeply. JaeJoong helped Ah Young off the horse. She observed intricate vases that had been imported from China. "These are beautiful, especially the pearl red one." She traced her finger along the top and smiled. "I'll get this one." One of her maidens stepped forward to help the shopkeeper load it in a box, carefully. Then a few assistants took it back to the castle. "Your higness?" JaeJoong glanced at her profile. "Why did you buy the red one out of all the others?""Ah, JaeJoong." She faced him. "Pearl red has a deep meaning for me. When I was a child, my father had taken me to a mountain in the north. He said he wanted to show me what beauty really was. I didn't understand what a mountain had to do with it. But even so he took me up high where there were no trees, just a clear sky, and told me to search for stars alligned in the shape of a 'W'. Cassiopeia, he had said. He explained that it was named after a vain queen who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. I asked him why he wanted to show me something exquisitely beautiful when it was named after a vain and coldhearted figure....""Ah Young." Kim Yong Hwa bent down and poked his daughter's nose. "You are most beautiful when you love yourself the way you are. Beauty isn't what you see as your reflection. If you have a kind heart, free of bad intentions, you are beautiful no matter how you may look. You are a very special person, like a puzzle piece to society. Without you, it is incomplete. The constellation, Cassiopeia, is much more beautiful than the queen in which it is named after, of course. It doesn't boast, yet each of the five stars come together to create such a beautiful thing that warms other people's hearts. No matter how this may sound or how puzzling it may seem, that is beauty. Just like your heart being red, Cassiopeia shares a pearl red glow. And that itself, is beautiful." Ah Young finished her story and smiled at JaeJoong. "My father died shortly afterwards. So even if I forget his meaning of beauty, I think of Cassiopeia. Pearl red." JaeJoong grimaced, "I'm so sorry Ah Young. By the sound of that story, he seems like a wonderful person. I want to see this constellation now.""My father was, and there's no reason to be sorry." She put a hand on his shoulder. "When this war is over, we shall all go and see the five beautiful stars""Of course, your highness." He trailed behind her as she started walking along the street, one hand grasping his sword in case anyone posed as a threat to her life. She stopped again to pick up flowers, and another time to look at Japanese imports. They changed route back to the entrance of the palace and once they had arrived inside, they were greeted by maidens and Junsu. "Your highness," Junsu got to his knees and bowed, his forehead coming in contact with the wooden floor. "Junsu, 'your higness' is already enough. You are my comrade, no need to bow so deeply." She took his hand and brought him to his feet as he rubbed his forehead with the other. "Have you come back from the war already?""Yes, Princess. I met a soldier half way. He told me-." Ah Young shushed him. "We'll talk about this inside, Junsu. To the dining hall." Her maidens, guards, and JaeJoong bowed, then left the two alone to walk swiftly into the other room.  Ah Young sat on a cushion first and waited for Junsu to sit across from her. "Princess Ah Young, the soldier informed me that as of right now, our side is losing the battle. They've lost a lot of men, but also the desire to keep fighting." Junsu looked at the floor, his eyes watering. Ah Young's eyes never left Junsu's head. "Junsu, how many men?" Junsu braced himself, tears streaming from his eyes. He got on his knees and bowed the way he had at the entrance. "Almost 2000, your highness." Ah Young gasped and got to her feet, shaking her head. "No, that's unbelievable. Yoochun wouldn't let this happen." She too, started to shed tears and her head started to feel light. "How can they lose the desire to keep this country safe? Our enemy could never be that po-" "Princess!" Junsu ran to her side and felt her forehead. "Somebody, HELP!" A few maidens, Changmin, Yunho, and JaeJoong rushed in. "What happened?" They all crowded around the knocked out princess. "I told her the news on the war, the fact that we lost so many men.. she just stood up and then fell." Junsu prodded one of the maiden's shoulders. "Omo, hurry up and get the doctor!" As she ran off, Changmin bent down and felt her forehead. "She has a high fever, we should take her to her room." Yunho brought her into his arms and carried her down the hall. "Tell the doctor that we've moved there, Junsu." Junsu nodded and ran off to find the maiden and doctor. JaeJoong and Changmin followed closely behind as Yunho ran with Ah Young, craddled in his arms. "Open her doors!" They slid the wooden doors open and Yunho placed her on her blankets, spread out on the floor. The doctor, Junsu, and maiden ran in at that moment. "You, take off her hanbok, but leave the under-dress!" The doctor pointed at JaeJoong, who did as he was told. "Now, move back everyone so that her highness is not crowded." He moved the hair away from her forehead and placed a hot towel on her head. He then took out a medicine from his bag and put it in a cup for her. He opened her mouth and poured in the liquid slowly. "This should do it for now. Someone should stay by her side until she recovers. She has a high fever and apart from that, feeling very faint, I'm sure. If she wakes up, be sure that she doesn't do strenuous things." The four men nodded as the doctor left with the maiden behind him. "So, we're losing the war?" Changmin paced around the room. "How could that be? The prince can't just give up on us!" "Our enemy this time, has gotten him down." JaeJoong rubbed his temples and looked at Ah Young. "I'm sure he misses her." Yunho grimaced. "He shouldn't give up on his country though, just because he misses her." When the sun had gone down, it had been Changmin's turn to watch over the princess. He lit the candles in her room, to make sure that it was bright enough. He got another warm towel, then wiped down her temples and cheeks. He moved a few strands of hair out of her face and frowned at the fact that she was very pale now because she was sick. He set the towel aside and laid down on the wooden floor, a few feet from where she was laying. "Princess, don't lose hope in your husband. War is tough, and I'm sure he just misses you. If I was him, I'd miss you every moment of the day, maybe I'd be too much of a coward to fight in the first place. I guess that's me being greedy, not wanting to die so that I'd come back to see you." He smiled to himself and then turned to look at her. "If you lose hope in him, he'll have no one believing that he can win this. Your heart is strong enough to warm the hearts of others." He closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. In the middle of the night, Ah Young opened her eyes to see Changmin laying three feet away from her on the cold, wooden floor. "Omo, he's going to freeze." She rubbed her eyes and put her hanbok on top of him. He awoke, to see the Princess sitting at the veranda of the garden. "Your highness, feeling better?" He walked over and sat next to her. "Everyone was really worried."She nodded. "I'm just worried that they'll lose more men. I don't know why Yoochun is losing hope in the war at this time.""Ah, princess. I'm sure that there's a reason, good enough to explain it." Changmin took from his pocket, a folded parcel. "Junsu told me to give this to you, a letter from the prince himself." She looked at it and then at her feet. "Would you mind reading it to me, I don't think that I could take in what he's trying to tell me." Changmin obliged. He unfolded the letter and cleared his throat. "My beautiful princess, I hope you are well. I trust that Jung Yunho, Kim JaeJoong, Kim Junsu, and Shim Changmin are taking care of you and keeping you safe. They are good men. For the past three weeks, I've been struggling with war tactics. I've lost almost 2000 men already and the enemy has hidden stakes out. I made a new plan today and discussed it with one of my right hand men. He approved and said it was best to avert our attention to a battle in the field, in which I will lead. I now have a new hope in winning this war. I want to come home to you, but first I have to win the war. Imagine though, this guilt I have from taking so many men away from their wives. Whether or not, we shall return home, I want you to stay strong. You are a beautiful, intelligent young woman, and is very capable of running Korea. Wait for me like the moon waits for the sun. If I never should come home, know that we have fought a tough battle for Korea. No matter what happens, Changmin, Yunho, JaeJoong, and Junsu will dedicate their lives to you. I love you, Kim Ah Young, thus the reason I chose you in all of Korea. Wait for me, Love Park Yoochun."She wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks, and looked at Changmin. "Do you think that they'll be able to win?""If I didn't, I would've said so already. The day the Crown Prince loses a war is the day when Cassiopeia breaks apart in the sky." He gave her a reassuring smile. "JaeJoong explained to me why you brought home the pearl red vase. When one person withers, all is lost. You should believe in them. One of your purposes, is to inspire them. Cassiopeia will never die, and neither should your faith in your husband." She hugged Changmin. "Thank you Shim Changmin. I will always, always keep the faith in him, the soldiers, and you four." She got to her feet. "I miss him, and know he'll win the war. He can get through this. All five of you are my reason to always believe in a bond that is strong enough to last eternally."  **** Author's Note ****Thank you all for subscribing to this fic. To be honest, it started out as an experiment. I was watching 'Rooftop Prince', (one of the inspirations for this story) and started imagining a different storyline similar to a Japanese historical drama that my mom watched. The idea, turned into the first chapter, the only base I had for this. Through asking a very special 'chingu' of mine for a poster, I had to explain the story. Then, the storyline was formed. I knew what I wanted to write and I knew I had a new story that I would enjoy writing. My other stories are on a semi-hiatus because I'm really into writing this one. If you don't know already, my bias is Yunho and he's tied with Yoochun. So, you probably know why these two are the featurettes in my stories! But thanks for all the wonderful feedback I've been getting so far! And in reply to some of your comments... yes, Yunho is easily wooed by pretty women! Yunho: Oh, yes yes. See! He agrees! I hope you all enjoy this story, because I love writing it! If you don't, TOO BAD! JaeJoong: Silence, woman! Keke, my bad primadonna! ^^ Please give me feedback in whatever form, even if you want to punch me in the face! KYA~ ENJOY! ♥ I love you all very much~!