When his eyes opened he wasn't sure if he'd died again
The sky was too bright
A soft blue bruised with streaks of gold
Wind passed through his hair like it knew his name
Shigure sat up slowly
The pain didn't rush in
It tiptoed
Like it was waiting for permission
Grass beneath him
Real
Soft
Green
There was a silence here he hadn't known in years
Not the silence of death
But of things at peace
His fingers dug into the earth
And for a second he cried
Not loud
Not wild
Just tears that slipped out without warning
He tried to scream
But nothing came out
Because he didn't know how anymore
Too many times he'd screamed into fire
Into empty skies
Into broken dreams
Now that there was no one to hear it
He'd forgotten what it was supposed to sound like
He stood
Barefoot
Unarmed
But not weak
A dirt path led through the trees
And so he followed it
Because there was nothing else to do
And because something inside him whispered walk
The forest wasn't quiet
It breathed
Chirping birds
Rattling leaves
Rivers whispering secrets only the dead should know
He reached a clearing and stopped
A shrine stood there
Small
Worn
Covered in vines
A single wooden plank with the kanji for "Forgiveness" hung above it
Crooked
Fading
He stepped forward
And knelt
Not because he believed
Not anymore
But because his legs gave out
The wind picked up
And suddenly he wasn't alone
She was there again
Not the burned one
Not the one from the tea house
But the version of her he dreamed about when he allowed himself to sleep
She didn't speak
Didn't smile
Just stood beside him
Looking at the shrine
He whispered "Do you forgive me"
She didn't answer
But a single blossom fell from the tree behind them
Landed on the shrine
And didn't move
He took that as enough
Then she was gone
Not vanished
Just...never there to begin with
Shigure stood again
The path continued through the trees
His body ached
His soul felt raw
But his feet moved
He still didn't know how to scream
But he didn't need to
Because maybe
Just maybe
He was learning how to live again