The Ghost of Hallow's Eve

"I'm here, Jesse." Hanzo's figure is merely a darker shade of night, highlighted by the dim glow of the clear, moonless velvet sky. He stands lonely, surrounded by the empty grass lot pockmarked with small stone markers. His voice is soft, broken, hardly daring to break the spell of the night, and Jesse's heart breaks as he speaks again, no more than a whisper. "If what you said is true... If the veil between worlds is truly at its thinnest tonight... Please. Come back to me."

"Oh, darlin'," Jesse breathes, aching for his lover, his beloved husband. "I'm here, sweetheart. Eight months, thirteen days, seven hours, and I ain't left your side." He reaches out, lays his hand on Hanzo's shoulder, just as he has countless times before, but nothing is different; he feels no warmth, no texture, only solid presence, and Hanzo doesn't react.

"I miss you," the archer says, voice cracking.

"I know, darlin'; I know." Jesse chokes on tears that will never fall, now matter how much he hurts. "I am so, so sorry... I promised you the resta my years, and I didn't even give you ten. I'd give just about anythang to hold you right now; to kiss away your tears; to apologise for leavin' ya... to say goodbye."

"I- Jesse... I don't think..." Hanzo wraps his arms tightly around his middle, curling in on himself with a strangled noise of pain. "I don't think I can live without you."

"No... No, Hanzo, darlin', please," Jesse begs, stepping into him and embracing his form. It's cold, fake, useless, and he wants to scream. "Please, baby; keep livin'." He rests his forehead against the cool curve of Hanzo's neck, despising his inability to revel in his lover's living warmth.

"How do I continue without you by my side?" Hanzo whispers, pleading. "I was not living until you, and now you've gone from me. You brought life to me and then took it with you to the grave."

"Oh, Hanzo... Sweetheart, I'm so sorry," Jesse chokes, fracturing to his core and still unable to cry.

Hanzo falls to his knees, and Jesse really fractures, splintering as his being is disturbed. He burns, pain scouring through him to match the ache of his heart, and then stands above his shuddering widower.

"I needed you, Jesse," Hanzo cries, fingers digging into the grass and tearing. "I needed you and you left."

"I would change it if I could," Jesse answers, raising his gaze to the sky and praying for just one moment, one chance to make it right.

"I never feared death until I had you and now where am I?" Hanzo whines, tears streaking his cheeks and making Jesse want to scream all the more. "What use is living? But what if we are separated even in death? What if I face death at last and there is nothing beyond?"

"I dunno, Han... I don't even know if this is real," Jesse admits, kneeling beside him. "I don't know I'm real... Just a... a ghost..."

"Hanzo?" They both look up as a beam of soft yellow light sweeps up to highlight the archer before dropping to the ground beside him. A gentle footfall brings the newcomer to stand over him, and he breathes a shuddering sigh.

"Alex," he greets, his voice nearly even.

"I thought I'd find you here," she replies quietly, crouching beside him with the flashlight illuminating the stone marker in front of them.

"Eight months," Hanzo whispers, arms still wrapped tightly around himself.

"I know," Alex replies. She falters, and then reaches out, fingers brushing against stone, tracing the etched lines of letters and numbers. "I miss him, too."

"Oh, baby girl..." Jesse breathes, touching her cheek where starlight gleams in a fresh trail down to her chin.

"...I don't know if I can live another month without him," Hanzo admits, so quietly that Jesse almost doesn't hear him. Alex shifts sharply, grabbing his arm.

"Hanzo? Please don't be saying what I think you're saying."

"I don't know," he repeats, covering her hand. "Before Jesse, death was inevitable, a promise I intended to keep once my penance was paid. Now... More than ever, I have reason to keep that promise, but... I can't. I- I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"What if... I take my life... and there is nothing beyond the veil? Worse, what if there is something, and he is not there? What if our differing beliefs place us in different afterlives? Life without him is agony, but eternity without him? I can't."

Alex says nothing, and Jesse wishes for the umpteenth time that he could hug them, comfort them. Then she sets the flashlight on the ground and pulls Hanzo into her arms, holding him tightly.

"I don't think it matters what you believe," she says after a long stretch of silence. "I choose to believe that he's waiting for us, that when the time comes, he'll be right there to greet us when we die. But you know as well as I do that he wouldn't want it to be now. He'd want us to live full lives, to hold on as long as we can." Releasing him, she leans her forehead against his temple, gently rubbing between his shoulder blades. "You're not alone, Hanzo. We're all here, and we're going to keep his memory alive. You'll see him again, but in the meantime, live the life he doesn't get to live."

"...When did you become so wise?" Hanzo huffs finally, turning to press his lips to her forehead. She breathes a quiet laugh.

"As Master Zenyatta says, wisdom is nothing more than sensibility and the boldness to speak it."

"And boldness you carry in spades," he notes blandly, standing and offering a hand. Alex picks up the flashlight and takes the offered hand, also standing.

"I owe that to Jesse," she replies, a cheeky grin in her voice. "He rubbed off on me."

"On us both," Hanzo agrees, tugging her into a quick grateful hug.

"Are you coming in?" Alex asks as she steps away. "Genji was asking after you now that the party is winding down. He said something about claiming your portion of the Halloween candy if you don't return soon."

"I will be there momentarily," Hanzo chuckles lightly. "Go ahead of me."

"Alright." Alex turns to leave, and then pauses. Turning back, she leans in to kiss Hanzo's cheek. "From Jesse."

Once she's gone, Hanzo takes a deep, shuddering breath and tips his face to the dark velvet sky. Jesse watches, holding breath he doesn't need and waiting to see the last truth of his beloved's heart.

"I need you, Jesse," Hanzo whispers to the sky. "But I cannot risk being separate from you. I am a coward, so I will live. Please... I don't know if you can hear me... Please, Jesse, my love... Wait for me."

The archer's back is rigid with determination as he walks away, head held high, and Jesse longs once more to cry for his lover. He watches until Hanzo is gone, and then looks to the endless stretch of stars above.

"God, whatever miracle you've given me lets me stick around, don't let it end; I beg you. Let me stay by his side to the very end."

Rising, he follows his beloved husband home.