I'm currently forcing myself to finish editing a few extremely old Hak/Yona fluff fics but, due to my incredibly short attention span, I just haven't gotten to the point yet where I would be happy with them being shared. In the meantime, I'm able to share something I wrote for Hak/Yona after a close friend tossed a few random words at me. One of the words was "regret" and so…naturally, I was inspired to write something of an angsty one-shot. I'm terribly sorry. Next time I'll try to share something more sweet natured and happy for our lovely pairing. As usual, I don't mind comments or criticisms.

Queen Yona was so nervous, she could hardly keep herself from wanting to pace the entire throne room. This evening there was to be a Five-Tribe meeting, a meeting in which she'd be seeing a certain special someone she hadn't seen in years. Soon enough, the guests would be arriving and Hak would be among them in her hall. These Five-Tribe meetings had been so rare over the years. The kingdom had been at peace since the day Soo-won had abdicated the throne to her, and in the two meetings that had occurred since her reign, Hak's grandfather, Son Mundok, had been present in his stead on both occasions. "In the end, I wasn't able to tell him my feelings after all…" Those were the agonizing words she'd whispered to herself that day when she'd stood by the castle gates and watched Hak leave for the Wind Tribe, her heart broken and her eyes full of tears. Things had fallen apart. Hak was someone else's now, and much of it had been her own fault for her cowardice and refusal to speak her heart. Fate was cruel. She didn't want to recall that still tender, sore memory.

Yona had been told a few days ago that Hak would be arriving with a special guest. After receiving that news, she'd fretted day and night, wondering if he would be bringing the fortunate woman he was spending the rest of his life with. As she anxiously watched the arriving generals and their guests from her throne, she couldn't stop her hands in her lap from shaking. The tribe's generals individually greeted her, and in turn, she acknowledged each half-heartedly. The moment before Hak entered the room, she'd felt his presence. From a distance she watched him appear, and once she noted that he hadn't arrived with a woman by his side after all, released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. However, in his arms, partially covered by his long cloak, sat a quiet toddler, dressed in blue as he himself was. Hak reached out to strongly clasp the hands of the other generals. In a low murmur, he briefly exchanged words with them before turning his full attention in Yona's direction.

An attendant announced him as he set the small child lightly on his feet: "General and Lord, Son Hak, of the Wind Tribe!" As Hak stepped forward, the little child reached up to take his large hand and the two of them slowly approached Yona. When they finally reached the dais, Hak bowed low at the waist. Getting up from her chair and approaching the edge of the dais, Yona watched as he straightened himself and his blue gaze met hers. His eyes held hers for what seemed like an eternity as time stood still. It had been three years since she'd become queen and he'd moved back to the Wind Tribe to fulfill an arranged marriage, yet, to Yona, time hadn't changed Hak one bit. The Thunder Beast, her Dark Dragon, remained the same as ever. She wanted very badly to ask if he was doing well and if he was happy but the words wouldn't come. She let her gaze slowly roam over his handsome features, not daring to blink in case the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes fell. It was slightly hard to tell through the blurriness of the tears but was that a sad smile etched on his face as he silently stared back? Then he looked down at the child beside him and a soft, fond smile spread across his features. She recalled having teased Hak at one point about what kind of a father he would someday make and she knew now, without a doubt, that he was the perfect father she'd always envisioned to herself he would be. Yona's gaze followed his and landed upon the up-turned face of the young child, perhaps nearly two years old. Dark hair and blue eyes, he looked so much like Hak. He would take after his father and, one day, be just as handsome. It was already apparent. As Yona stared, the child became shy and tried to hide himself behind his father's well-built, tall frame. Hak gently nudged him forward, and Yona forced the warmest smile she could muster to her lips.

"Your majesty," Hak's eyes had returned to her. He tilted his chin proudly in the direction of the child. "My son. He's finally old enough now to meet the queen he, too, will someday serve." He mentioned the child's name but Yona didn't hear. Hak was being so formal, as if they'd never been close, as if all her memories of him…of the two of them…had been dreams. He was being completely appropriate considering the situation, of course. Still, it hurt. Yona swallowed the painful lump in her throat. She yearned for a moment with him in privacy, to be able to talk to him without all the eyes trained on them or the ears listening in on their conversation. There was so much she wanted to ask, so much she'd left unsaid. Several hot tears suddenly trailed down her cheeks. Feeling her face burning with embarrassment, Yona quickly turned away to wipe at her eyes in a gesture that she hoped would appear to those watching to be nothing more than her trying to be rid of something that had fallen into one of her eyes. Hak would know, however. He had always noticed everything when it came to her. When Yona turned back to him, he appeared at a loss for words, and perhaps it was just her silly imagination but…she thought she sensed him struggling to hold himself back from stepping forward to take her into his arms and comfort her like he used to.

With still-chubby, baby hands, the child tugged on Hak's robe; managing to distract his father momentarily before turning his large, shy eyes on Yona. As she returned the child's silent gaze, the changing rays of the magnificent setting sun filtering in through the nearby window landed on the tiny boy to awash him in a pool of beautiful, orange light. As she watched, his abundant dark hair appeared to change color from black to what seemed like a fiery red and she suddenly felt something flicker deep within her heart, a connection with the child, an instant recognition and longing. It was as if the two of them had always known one another. A strange heaviness slowly settled in Yona's chest. The boy wasn't old enough to be properly verbal but she sensed rather than heard his soft words: "Mother…didn't you want us? Father and I could have been yours. We really wanted to be yours." The heaviness in her chest twisted into a sharp pain that seemed to cut straight into the depth of her heart. She wanted to assure him that it wasn't true and that she had indeed wanted them both, that she'd been living every day in regret, missing an incredibly important piece of herself. Her carefully painted red lips trembled as tears began to flow freely down her face, and she couldn't stop the grief or the sobs that shook her as she stared into his sad eyes. When she blinked, the child's hair had returned to its normal dark color and reality returned, full force. She realized he wasn't hers. Yona knew by now that she'd become a complete mess. Without an explanation for her behavior, she rushed from the dais and out of the throne room as Hak and the others stared after her in silent shock.

~FIN