Chapter Text
There was only so much Jesse could avoid about the whole Hanzo situation.
Everything about it was unnerving and he didn’t want any part of it. Every time he even looked at the man, he felt guilty as hell even though he knew it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t love him. It didn’t stop him from thinking about how he had the power to stop this whole thing at any time if he could just love him.
Unfortunately for him, no one on the base seemed to be capable of talking about anything other than Hanzo’s hanahaki. It was a rich vein of gossip, especially when only three people on the whole base knew who the object of Hanzo’s affections was.
He never participated in any spreading of rumors, but it was impossible to avoid hearing about them. He heard all about how Hanzo had been released from the medbay after the mission disaster only to be admitted back a week later, barely able to move. The disease had begun to take a horrific toll on his body. According to what Jesse had heard, his organs were slowly shutting down, his muscles were beginning to atrophy, and his mental health was waning quickly.
Genji, of course, was with Hanzo every second he could be, but Jesse could see that was beginning to wear him down as well. His usual energy was gone, he stopped eating in the mess hall with everyone, opting to eat where he could keep an eye on his brother instead, and Jesse found that not even he could cheer the younger Shimada up.
It wasn’t until Jesse saw Hanzo for the first time since after the mission that he finally believed all the rumors.
They happened to have turned down the same hallway, coming from opposite ends. What Jesse saw made him stop dead in his tracks. Hanzo looked half-dead already. His eyes were sunken in, he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and he was pale and sickly looking. In one hand, he held a cane that he used to help him make one wobbly step at a time, the other was gripping onto his brother’s arm for support as Genji guided them slowly down the hall.
He was also wearing the serape Jesse had given him.
When Hanzo noticed Jesse at the other end of the hall, his eyes brightened ever so slightly, as if he was smiling under his surgical mask. He let go of Genji’s arm, weakly reaching out for him.
Jesse felt like he couldn’t move, like he couldn’t breathe. He felt his right hand twitch and he raised it the tiniest bit, almost involuntarily, reaching back for him.
But then Genji noticed what was happening and made Hanzo turn around to avoid going near him, whispering gentle words in Japanese so Jesse couldn’t understand them. The pained whimper Hanzo gave as he was forced away from him was enough to make his heart ache.
-
Jesse wasn’t sure of a lot of things, most of all his opinion of Hanzo, but there was one thing he was absolutely certain of: Genji didn’t deserve any of this, and it broke his heart to see his friend hurting.
On one day in particular, Jesse had wandered a little too close to the medbay in search of something for Winston when he heard the unmistakable sound of crying. He followed his ears until he came up to a room he previously thought was vacant, but clearly someone was in there.
He wasn’t going to disturb them until he caught a glimpse of green through one of the small windows into the room. Worry flooded him as he realized his best friend was having some sort of breakdown and he opened the door without knocking.
Genji leaped to his feet in surprise, not quite able to stop his sniffling. Jesse could now see that he was clutching onto piece of paper and his visor was laying on this floor, tears leaving shining streaks down his cheeks and onto his metal chin piece.
“Hey, Gen,” he said with a gentle voice, as if afraid of scaring him off. “Sorry for startlin’ you. Just got concerned and wanted to see if you’re alright.”
“Jesse! I, uh-“ he quickly wiped at his face, crumpling the piece of paper in the process. “I just, um, I stepped away for a few minutes. I am fine.”
Jesse sighed. “No you ain’t. Sit back down an’ tell me what’s been goin’ on. Unless you don’t wanna, then I can just sit with you or somethin’.”
Genji nodded and sat back down on the one of the few derelict chairs that populated the abandoned conference room. Pulling up another chair right next to him, Jesse sat down too and waited for his friend to speak.
After a few more sniffles, Genji uncrumpled the piece of paper that he had been holding, attempting to smooth it out on his leg. “I wrote to Zenyatta to tell him about what was happening with Hanzo. I asked for guidance and… I wanted him to be here with me at the end. And- and he sent me back a reply, so I wanted to read it and get away for just a few moments. So I came here and…” Tears began to start falling down his face again. “He can’t come. It is not his fault, he- he tried to come but he can’t even though this is when I need him most.” His last words dissolved into heaving sobs.
Jesse knew how much his master meant to Genji. Even as his best friend, he knew there were some comforts he just couldn’t provide. Zenyatta helped Genji find happiness when Jesse couldn’t. If he could go to Nepal and personally bring him to be with Genji, he would have in a heartbeat.
He put an arm around Genji’s shoulders and pulled him against his chest. “Hey now, it’ll be alright. I know I ain’t as wise as Zenyatta, but I’ll be there for you.”
Tears soaked into his shirt as Genji continued to cry, barely getting words out between gasping breaths. “This is so stupid! Hanzo is so stupid! Hanahaki is so stupid! W-why are we Shimadas so cursed?”
Jesse gently rubbed his back and let him get it all out. His heart was breaking for his friend and he was powerless to do anything about it.
“I’m sorry, Gen,” he whispered. He was the cause of this, after all.
Genji shook his head. “Do not be sorry. Love cannot be forced. I would never ask that of you. But…” He leaned back up and looked Jesse in the eyes. “If you could try, just one more time? Jesse, please. It is my last hope.”
He wanted to say no and that it was impossible to fall in love with someone on such short notice, but the raw look of pain behind Genji’s eyes made him throw away any thought of saying that. He couldn’t fall in love and make this all go away, but the least he could do was try. Talking to Hanzo one more time wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“Yeah, alright. I can do that.”
“Really?” Genji sat up straight, something akin to hope flashing across his face.
Jesse nodded. “Give me until tonight.” He was already beginning to hatch a plan. If this was going to be the last time he spoke to Hanzo, he was going to make damn well sure it would be a good memory that would comfort both him and Genji until the end. The thought of it being probably the last time he would speak to Hanzo sent a haunting sense of dread racing through him, but he ignored it for now.
“Thank you so much.” Genji threw his arms around Jesse. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Jesse returned the hug, holding his friend close. “You think Angie’ll let me take him out of the medbay for a bit?”
“If she does not, I will distract her so that you can sneak him out.”
A small smile stretched across Jesse’s lips. It was comforting to know that, despite everything, his friend’s mischievous nature had never truly faded.
-
Jesse found himself preparing for the evening a lot more than he had thought he would. What started out as just a simple plan to talk with Hanzo on the roof turned into an elaborate scheme to be as romantic as possible. Just because he didn’t feel the same way about Hanzo didn’t mean he couldn’t give him something nice. As soon as his brain made the connection between the approaching evening and the word ‘date’, he began to run around the base, gathering various supplies: a blanket, some candles, a radio. He even thought about trying to get some champagne before he realized Hanzo couldn’t even drink it.
As time passed and the sun began to set, Jesse began to feel nervous. This wasn’t even a real date yet he felt the overwhelming need to impress Hanzo. Maybe it was the thought of not wanting to mess up a dying man’s only wish.
No fuckin’ pressure, he thought to himself as he lit the last candle and took a step back to look at his handy work. Well, here goes nothin’.
Genji had informed him that Angela had given the all-clear as long as Jesse kept an eye on him, so now all he had to do was go to the medbay and get him.
When he got there, he saw that Hanzo was awake and scrolling through a device in his hand, not noticing Jesse’s presence. Jesse thought back to the time when their positions were reversed almost exactly and wished they could go back to then; back to when Hanzo was still on his feet, when he could talk and laugh, when Jesse had nothing more than a wound that would close up with no problem. He would have given anything to redo that moment, knowing what he did now.
He also noticed, with a particularly painful pang in his chest, that Hanzo was still wearing his serape.
He cleared his throat to get Hanzo’s attention without startling him. When he looked up, there was a brief moment of confusion before that melted away to a serene smile that lit up his entire face. He wasn’t wearing a mask for the first time in a long while that Jesse had seen, and it was nice to be able to see his expressions.
“Hey, darlin’,” he crooned, stepping closer to the bed. “I’ve got a surprise for ya. Think you can stand right now?”
Hanzo nodded enthusiastically, already reaching for the cane standing next to his bed. Jesse rushed forward to help him, offering his arm to support the other man.
Now that he was this close to him, he could see that there was a petal caught in Hanzo’s hair; a bright splash of color against the inky black that surrounded his face. Jesse couldn’t recall if he had ever seen Hanzo with his hair down. Any other thought he had, however, was suddenly overtaken as he noticed dried blood at the corners of Hanzo’s mouth and felt a strong sense of unease.
Slowly, they began to walk toward where Jesse had laid everything out, each step making him more and more nervous. He felt Hanzo trembling and he didn’t know if it was because of excitement or exhaustion but he put an arm around his waist just in case it was the latter. Hanzo smiled and ever so slightly leaned into the touch.
Finally, they reached the roof and Hanzo drew in a sharp breath as he saw what Jesse had carefully set up. A soft blanket was laid on the surface toward the edge of the roof with various mismatched candles set all around and soft music playing from the radio he had managed to convince Mei to let him borrow.
Hanzo looked at Jesse and pointed to the set-up and then back at himself.
Jesse gave him a warm smile. “Yeah. That’s all for you. I wanted to get ya flowers, but I figured that was kinda inappropriate.”
A warm feeling spread through him as the biggest smile he had ever seen stretched across Hanzo’s face.
“Well come on, then. Let’s sit.” He gently led Hanzo over to the blanket and helped him sit down before sitting down next to him. “You like it, then?”
Hanzo whipped out his communicator and furiously typed something. “I love it! Thank you, McCree.”
Jesse wrapped an arm around Hanzo’s shoulders, adjusting the serape as he did. The fabric had become gathered at the shoulder at some point and he wanted to smooth it out to make it more comfortable. Somewhere deep in his mind was a ghost of a thought about how he had always wanted a partner to share his things with. The thought disappeared quickly as he remembered where he was and who he was with.
“If you want, you can have it back. I did not mean to keep it.” Hanzo looked up at him as he finished typing the sentence. There was a sadness to his eyes that told Jesse he didn’t really want to give it back and that he was just trying to be polite.
He ran his hands over the red fabric, smoothing it out after his adjustments. “I thought I told you not to worry ‘bout it. There’ll be plenty of time for you to give it back to me once you’re all better.”
Hanzo’s face fell slightly as he turned and looked out toward the sea in the distance. Jesse followed suit, allowing the two to fall into comfortable silence, just listening to the lilting music filling the air. It was nice, peaceful even. He only wished he could have had this moment under different circumstances.
The silence was broken only when the robotic voice of Hanzo’s communicator cut through Jesse’s thoughts.
“The sea is beautiful. I am going to miss it.”
He hadn’t expected the last half and the resignation of it broke his heart. “Now, don’t go sayin’ things like that. I just told you that you gotta get better so you can give me my serape back. It ain’t too late for you.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’m sure if you asked, Angie’ll-“
Hanzo held up a hand to stop him so he could type out a response. “Dr. Zeigler has told me the disease has progressed too far. It is too late.”
So that was it then. Hanzo was going to die. A massive pit opened in his stomach while it felt like his brain couldn’t even process the fact. All he could feel was shock and slight nausea. “Well- You- What if-“ He couldn’t finish a single thought.
Hanzo gave him a small, sad smile. “Do not worry, McCree. This is what I want.”
Jesse just shook his head and looked out at the sea again. “Call me Jesse.”
“Jesse.”
He couldn’t see it, but Hanzo’s happiness at the one simple gesture could have rivaled the radiance of the moonlight.
While Jesse tried to think about how much longer the man next to him had, Hanzo typed up something else.
“I have a question for you, Jesse.”
Jesse blinked to dismiss his train of thought and looked back at him. “Yeah?”
“Did my brother tell you to do this for me?”
A sigh left his lips. He should have expected this. “He didn’t ask me to do this in particular, no. All he did was ask me to give you another chance. The rest…” He nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Well the rest was all me.”
“I see.” Hanzo was in the middle of typing something else when he started to cough and Jesse started to panic. It sounded less like a cough and more like a death rattle, which frightened him even more.
“Shit, uh, I’ll go get Angie.” He started to stand up, but Hanzo grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, dropping the communicator to his lap and signaling to Jesse that he was okay, despite the red he could see trickling between the fingers of the hand held over his mouth.
Hanzo took a few deep breaths and Jesse was relieved to see that the cough had passed without turning into a full-fledged attack. Once it was over, Hanzo picked his communicator back up, wiping his blood-speckled hand on his pants with a grimace.
“I know you do not love me, but I cannot tell you how much this means to me, Jesse. Every time I think I cannot possibly like you more, you seem to take it upon yourself to prove me wrong.”
Jesse’s heart couldn’t help but speed up at the words and he was about to reply when he saw Hanzo’s eyebrows furrow and his hands typing one more thing.
“I love you.”
Jesse couldn’t help but let out a little gasp. He knew Hanzo loved him. That was why he was dying. But Hanzo had never told him so directly before. He had never said those three words and something about it stole Jesse’s breath.
Hanzo looked satisfied, like he had finally gotten something off of his chest, while Jesse fished around for something, anything, to say.
He finally settled on pulling Hanzo closer and whispering, “You can’t die on me, alright? I’ve barely gotten to know you. So you gotta hold on for as long as you can, you hear me? Don’t seem fair to take away any chance of a second date.”
Jesse could feel Hanzo’s grin more than he could see it as Hanzo pressed his face into his shoulder and stayed there, taking comfort in Jesse’s warmth and his company.
They stayed that way for a long time. Jesse lost track of how long they had been sitting, wrapped around each other. All he knew was that the candles were beginning to die out from burning for so long and Hanzo was softly snoring from where he had fallen asleep tucked into Jesse’s side. It was almost painfully cute, the way Hanzo would shift occasionally only to bring himself closer to him. But more than that, Hanzo looked peaceful. He looked less like he was in constant agony, and if Jesse really tried, he could imagine Hanzo wasn’t dying and that they truly were on a date with promises of a second one.
Gently, he reached his hand out and tucked a strand of Hanzo’s hair behind his ear. It was then that Jesse realized that maybe there was still enough time left for him to fall in love after all. Hanzo just had to stay alive for a little while longer.
Not wanting to wake him, Jesse carefully maneuvered himself to be in a position where he could scoop Hanzo up in his arms and carry him back to the medbay.
The man in his arms continued to sleep, his face laying against Jesse’s chest, his hand loosely gripping onto his shirt.
Jesse smiled down at him as he continued to slowly make his way back to Hanzo’s bed. “Just hang on for me, darlin’. I won’t let you die.”
-
The next day, after Jesse had completed his training and other tasks for the day, he decided to go back to the medbay to talk more with Hanzo. He was stopped, however, when he heard a heated argument coming from a door just ahead of him.
It seemed like whoever was arguing had been at it for quite a while. Their voices were raised and they kept trying to talk over one another. Jesse decided to stop and listen in, curiosity taking over.
“Genji, please calm down!”
Angela’s voice cut through the two who were arguing, silencing them for only a moment before Genji spoke up again, voice still raised.
“Take me off of this mission, Morrison!”
“We are short-staffed as it is and we need everyone available for this.”
The other voice obviously belonged to their commander and he seemed just as frustrated as Genji was.
“This is a 15-day mission! My brother does not even have 7!”
Jesse’s heart felt like it dropped to his stomach. He didn’t realize how little time Hanzo had left.
“I’ll see what I can do, Genji.” Jack sighed and Jesse heard footsteps approaching the door, so he ducked behind a corner just in time for the commander to walk out.
After Jack walked away, Jesse was going to follow suit and make his way to the medbay as planned when the continuation of voices stopped him once again.
“Genji, have you thought more about what I told you?”
“No. I do not want to think about it.” Genji’s voice wavered and there was the unmistakable sound of sniffling. Genji was crying.
“You must. He is running out of time.”
“I know that! Why can you not just ask him?”
Angela sighed. “I can, but he is unable to speak, soon he will be unable to type, and he is losing touch with more and more of himself. Towards the end, I fear he may be unable to answer for himself and you are his next of kin.”
“Just… ask him and do whatever he wants. If he wants you to make him pass peacefully, then do it. If he wants to be awake and cough his stupid lungs out, then so be it. I don’t care anymore. At this point, I just want it all over with.” Genji sounded so defeated that it made tears well up in Jesse’s eyes. He could almost feel his friend’s pain and it made his chest ache.
He had to leave. He couldn’t listen to any more talk of Hanzo dying. Hanzo wasn’t going to die. He couldn’t die.
Not when Jesse loved him.
The thought came to him with quite a large amount of shock. It was so loud and sudden that it was impossible to miss. The thought of losing Hanzo broke his heart in a way he never thought possible. He didn’t want Hanzo to be out of his life, he wanted him in his life. He wanted him by his side to laugh with, to talk to, to hold, maybe one day to kiss. He loved Hanzo.
He had to tell him. He had to tell him now and fix everything.
Finally emerging from his hiding spot, he started to run toward the medbay. He knew Hanzo wouldn’t die in the time it took him to get to him, but a small part of his brain kept repeating but what if he did?
By the time he finally got to the medbay, he had managed to work himself up to a panic attack.
“Hanzo!” He shouted, pushing the doors open and running to the man’s bed.
But the bed was empty.
Jesse’s panic skyrocketed until he forced himself to take deep breaths and think rationally. Hanzo was probably in the bathroom or maybe on the roof or possibly in his old room.
Starting his search at the medbay’s bathroom, he gently knocked on the closed door and waited for a response. When none came, he tried again. Still no answer. He tried the door and found it unlocked and the room on the other side dark and empty. So he wasn’t in the bathroom.
Heading up to the roof to check that next, Jesse tried not to let himself think too much about what could have happened and what if Hanzo was just gone. But when he also found the roof and Hanzo’s bedroom devoid of the man he was looking for, his worry returned.
He ran back to the room where he heard Angela and Genji speaking and was relieved to find them still there.
“Either of you two-” he gasped out, panting from having run all around the base. “Know where Hanzo is?”
Both of them stared at him with looks of great concern.
“Yes, he was sleeping in his hospital bed last I checked,” Angela said tentatively. “Why? Is something the matter?”
Jesse groaned. Everything he was trying not to think about, everything about the worst case scenario, was creeping back into his mind. “Yeah, somethin’ is the matter. He’s not there!”
“Jesse, this is not funny,” Genji said, his breathing visibly picking up. He sounded angry, like he wanted anything other than to believe his friend.
“It’s not a joke! I swear! I was just there an’ his bed is empty.”
“Did you check the-“ Angela tried to offer an alternate explanation but was quickly shot down by Jesse.
“Yes! I checked the bathroom, an’ his old room, an’ the roof. I can’t find him anywhere!”
There was a beat of stillness where no one quite knew what to do, but then that stillness was broken by Genji and Angela sprinting as fast as they could toward the medbay, leaving Jesse behind to try and catch up. He still hadn’t caught his breath, however, and ended up being much slower than the other two.
When he finally caught up to them, Angela was on her comms with someone, shouting for answers while Genji was frantically searching the empty bed.
“Get me the camera footage NOW!”
“Where the fuck could he be! He should not even be able to walk without help!”
The scene was frantic and panicked. Jesse didn’t know what to do so he ended up walking over to Genji to see if he could help. Before he got there, however, Genji suddenly froze, which in turn made Jesse freeze.
“Uh… You alright?”
Genji didn’t respond. He reached down and gingerly picked something up from between the tangled sheets he had been tossing around.
“Hey, did you find somethin’?” Jesse looked over Genji’s shoulder and found a folded piece of paper with Japanese characters written on it. “Is that from Hanzo? What does it say?”
“It’s my name,” Genji said softly. He turned to Jesse with tears in his eyes. “I cannot open it. I am too afraid. What if- what if-“
“Shh, hey now, I know yer scared, but we won’t stand a chance of findin’ him if you don’t open that. What if it says where he went?”
Genji nodded. “You’re right.”
He unfolded the piece of paper and began to read it. It didn’t take too long for the tears in his eyes to begin to roll down his face and for him to start shaking. It escalated to the point where the paper tore from Genji’s grip.
“That fucking bastard. If he is not dead yet, I am going to kill him.” His voice was high-pitched with barely contained rage and fear.
“What? Why? What does it say?” Jesse took the note out of Genji’s hands so he wouldn’t completely destroy it.
“He left. He didn’t want me to watch him die so he fucking left.”
Jesse looked down at the note, wishing he could understand what it said.
Angela crossed the room to be where the other two men were in about 5 steps. “Winston has the security footage. I’m going to go look at it and try and determine where he could have gone. My fear is that the psychological effects of the hanahaki have made him confused and delusional. We need to find him immediately before he hurts himself or others.”
“We’re comin’ with you. If we’re gonna find him before it’s too late, we need all the help we can get.” Jesse also figured that Genji needed someplace to redirect his nervous energy before he snapped. “C’mon, Gen, let’s go.”
Jesse and Angela began to run back toward the door, but Genji stayed where he was.
“Goddammit, do you want to find your brother or not?” Jesse was getting frustrated with his friend. He whipped around when he got to the door to glare at him. “I can save him, but we have to find him first, don’t you get it? Let’s go!”
“I know where he went.” Genji’s voice sounded flat and distant, like he was dissociating from all the stress.
“What?” Jesse ran back over to him. He had been doing a lot of running that day and knew it was only just the beginning of what he would have to do. “Did the letter say where he was goin’?”
“No, but my brother is not as hard to read as he thinks he is. And I am sure the hanahaki’s influence did not help with that either.”
“Well, spit it out, man! We’re runnin’ outta time!”
“The letter was short, but he managed to reference the time he tried to kill me three times. He went to Hanamura one last time. I think he wants to die where I did.”
Jesse groaned. “That dramatic motherfucker. As soon as I tell him I love him, I’m gonna kill him.”
“Get in line,” Genji scoffed before he really processed what Jesse said. “Wait, you love him?” He turned to Jesse with wide eyes.
“Yeah, that’s why we gotta find him. Now let’s go.” Jesse was tired of wasting time. They didn’t have much of it left and every single second that passed was crucial.
They both raced to where Angela and Winston had already started combing through security footage, Genji’s fear having been sated slightly by the new hope Jesse had given him.
As suspected, the security footage revealed no helpful clues as to where Hanzo could have gone, but Genji’s theory of him having gone to Hanamura was so strong that they decided that searching there was their only option.
Overwatch couldn’t afford to send more than the three of them on the search party which aggravated Angela, but they had no time to argue. The size of their team at least allowed them to take the smallest, fasted jet in the Overwatch arsenal.
“Are you sure you know how to fly this thing?” Jesse gripped his armrest until the knuckles on his flesh hand turned white. He was properly strapped into his seat, but with how Angela was taking off, it didn’t feel adequate enough.
“Of course,” she tried to reassure them, but even her voice was trembling slightly with fear. “I may not be as good as Lena, but I can still fly a jet. Here we go!”
The jet finally made its way out of the hanger and into the sky. The speed of the jet did nothing to ease the nervous tension in the air.
Not fast enough. Not fast enough. Jesse bounced his leg as he couldn’t help but think that over and over again.
“When we get there, we will have to take out a few Shimada Clan members,” Genji instructed as they neared their destination. “The dojo in the main castle is where he will be and that is always heavily guarded. It is highly possible that he could not even get in.”
“Would that be good news for us or bad news?”
“Depends on if he was caught.”
The situation was getting more and more complicated and Jesse hated it all. There was also the foreboding thought of ‘what if we were wrong and he isn’t in Hanamura’ looming above them, but none of them allowed themselves to become consumed by that thought.
“Then let’s hope he wasn’t caught. Anythin’ else we should know?”
“Yes, we are only three people. The Shimada Clan is many. The only way we are going to be able to get in is if we exercise stealth over anything else. I also know many alternate entrances we could use, but they are treacherous to reach.”
“We trust you, Genji,” Angela said from where she was sitting in the pilot’s chair. “Just lead us to where we need to be.”
-
They landed the jet a few miles away from the castle to remain unseen, despite their time constraint. Angela had argued that they wouldn’t do Hanzo much good if they were caught before they could even save him, to which Jesse reluctantly agreed.
Wanting to get to the castle as fast as they could, Jesse managed to hotwire a hovercycle for him and Angela to ride while Genji ran along the rooftops, using his cybernetic enhancements to keep up.
The hovercycle silently weaved in and out of traffic as Jesse sped down the streets, Angela clinging on for dear life. He knew he was being reckless, but he didn’t really care in that moment.
When they finally reached the castle, Jesse slid to a stop as Genji dropped down beside them.
“What happened here?” Angela asked as all three stared at the wreckage in front of them.
The large gate had been pushed open, allowing them to see bodies scattered across the courtyard beyond it, blood painting the stone flooring.
“I think Hanzo did.” Genji bent down and picked up what looked like half of one of Hanzo’s arrows. “But how…”
“Doesn’t matter. We gotta keep going,” Jesse urged, leaping off the hovercycle and charging into the castle’s complex, Genji and Angela close on his heels.
Genji guided them toward the dojo, a mounting sense of hope and anticipation befalling all of them as they realized they were so close to saving Hanzo.
When they stepped into the dojo, however, the feeling shattered like glass.
“He is not here.” Genji sounded so defeated. “I do not understand. Where could he have gone? He… he was here! We saw his arrows in the courtyard. Where did he go?”
Jesse wanted to scream. They had been so close and now they were at a complete loss again. “Goddammit!”
Genji walked up to the large banner hanging on the wall and ran his hand across it. “I thought that maybe… he came here every single year on the anniversary of my death to pay me honor. I thought he would have- wait. He took the sword.”
“What?” Now that Genji mentioned it, there did seem to be a structure that looked very much like an empty sword stand.
“He stole the sword that he used to kill me.”
“Well, what does that mean for us?”
“I wish I knew, but he is not here. We need to split up.” Genji was resolute in his command. “Fan out. He could not have gone far and I do not think he would have left the city. We will find him.”
Angela and Jesse nodded.
“I’ll take the bike and comb the west side of town,” Jesse offered.
“I will search the rest of the castle and the surrounding area since I will be on foot.” Angela fixed her caduceus staff to her back and drew out her pistol, ready for action.
“I will take the east side. Now let’s save my brother’s idiotic ass.”
-
Jesse was better at hiding than he was at finding people. Still, his years in Blackwatch weren’t for nothing. He knew how to keep his eyes and ears open. He couldn’t read Japanese, but Genji taught him how to say enough that he could ask the members of the town if they had seen a man pass through carrying a sword and coughing up rose petals.
The cherry trees that lined the streets and filled the town were in full bloom and would have been beautiful if not for the fact that the light blanket of soft pink petals they left in the streets hindered Jesse’s ability to see the red ones he was looking for.
Occasionally, a flash of red would catch his eye and he would chase after it. He was desperate and followed any leads he could find, even though they always led to nowhere. If the townsfolk had truly seen Hanzo, too much time had passed and he had moved on from where they were directing Jesse.
He searched for what felt like hours. His desperation was slowly beginning to morph into resignation, preparing himself for the worst.
“Anything?” He said into his comms.
“Nothing yet,” Genji responded.
Angela took longer to respond, probably finishing up a conversation with someone, trying to gather information. “Someone saw him head toward the river.”
“I already checked the river. He must have moved on.” Jesse sighed. He wasn’t ready to give up just yet, but it was beginning to look like a lost cause.
“Just keep looking,” Genji urged.
Jesse pressed on. He looked for another hour and ended up on the outskirts of Hanamura, nothing more than rolling hills, cherry tree orchards, and a few sparse buildings. It seemed unlikely that Hanzo had travelled this far out from the castle.
He was going to turn around to do another sweep of his section of the city when he noticed a figure on the top of one of the hills in the distance. He squinted, trying to determine if he recognized who it was. The likelihood of the figure being Hanzo was very low and if Jesse ventured out to investigate, he would waste a lot of time. He realized that he was also wasting time by sitting there and doing nothing while he decided whether or not to go back into the city.
The logical choice would have been to return to the city, but something in his gut was telling him to go after the figure. So he did.
With no buildings to get in his way and no pedestrians to dodge, Jesse flew across the grass that separated the road and the hill he was heading towards. Again, he had to thank his Blackwatch years for training his reflexes up enough to allow him to navigate through the orchard, barely avoiding crashing into the maze of trunks and branches of blossoms.
When he emerged on the other side and was finally able to see who was on top of the hill, he let out a cry of relief.
“I found him!”
He gunned it up the hill as Genji and Angela bombarded him with a chorus of questions, asking him to confirm his find, how he had managed to find him, and where he had found him.
“West, just outside of town. Get the jet, I’ll send you my location.”
As soon as he had started to travel in Hanzo’s direction, he began to notice an alarming amount of red petals being tossed about in the wind.
When he reached the top, he came to a screeching halt and threw himself off of the hovercycle, sprinting toward Hanzo.
He was kneeling in front of what looked like a young cherry tree, the sword he had stolen laying across his lap. To his right, a cane laid on top of a bow and quiver of arrows, all three looking like they had been haphazardly tossed aside. The grass around Hanzo contained blotches that were shiny and red with blood that he must have been coughing up for a while now since it also trailed behind him like a path, showing how Hanzo had made his way up the hill. He was also still wearing Jesse’s serape.
Upon getting closer, Jesse saw that the red fabric was wet with a darker shade of red in many spots, and that Hanzo was swaying, as if struggling to remain upright.
He ran even faster and began shouting Hanzo’s name to try and get his attention. He didn’t seem very cognizant of what was happening around him, but he still twitched at the sound of Jesse’s voice, as if, despite everything, the hanahaki still reacted to his presence.
Damn fool, he thought to himself. He shouldn’t have exerted so much energy doing some dramatic ass bullshit.
He threw himself down next to Hanzo and wasted no time in gathering him into his arms.
“Hey, baby,” he said, his words wavering with emotion. “I’m here now, it’s okay, you’re gonna be okay. I love you. Ya hear that? I love you, Hanzo Shimada. I told you I wasn’t gonna let you die.”
Hanzo could barely hold his eyes open, but he seemed to recognize something about what was happening because the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile and he raised a hand up toward Jesse.
Jesse took the hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it and pulling Hanzo closer to his chest. “You’re gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay,” he kept repeating, more for himself than for Hanzo. “Angie and Genji are on their way and we’re gonna get you home and get you well. I’ve got about five more date ideas in my head and I’m gonna take you on every single one of ‘em, I promise. I love you, Hanzo. I love you.”
He cradled him as they sat there, waiting for the jet to come and pick them up. He did his best to try to keep Hanzo awake, but it was difficult with how little energy Hanzo had left.
“We looked all over for you,” he explained, trying to say literally anything to gain Hanzo’s focus. “We thought you would be in the dojo. I wonder why you would come to a place like this.”
For the first time since he had gotten there, Jesse actually looked at the cherry tree. He was no tree expert, but it didn’t look any older than about a decade. He wondered what significance this tree held that Hanzo would pick this place to die, and also why he had bothered to steal the sword from Shimada castle.
Then something clicked. 10 years ago. That was when Genji was taken to Overwatch to be brought back from the brink of death.
Hanzo must have planted the tree in Genji’s honor, returning to take care of it when he could.
He had come back to use his final breath to atone for his sins one more time.
Jesse suddenly, painfully remembered every single harsh word he had ever said to Hanzo about what he had done. He also remembered how Hanzo had fallen in love with him despite it all, and it had almost killed him.
“Hey,” he said gently, moving Hanzo’s sweat-slick hair out of his face. “I promise, from now on, I’m gonna help you forgive yourself, alright? You know Genji already does, now it’s your turn. I’m gonna love you forever and we’re gonna work together to help you heal both inside an’ out. We’re partners now. So sorry, but you’re stuck with me. Just stay awake. They’re almost here.”
He could see the jet looming toward them and couldn’t help but laugh in a moment of hysterical relief, looking down at Hanzo and smiling brightly. “We’re gonna be okay.”
-
And they were. Better than okay, even. They were as brilliant as the stars. Together from this life far into the next.