" YUANFEN " genji shimada.

vii | the kitsune

yuanfen.
act seven, chapter seven.
"the kitsune"

_

THE SOUND OF HER heartbeat was the first thing she heard when she came to. It pounded in her ears, almost as if her body was crying out to let her know that she was alive. But she knew that wasn't the case; the last thing she saw, she felt, was a bullet tearing its way through her chest. The pain that followed was only momentary before the weight of the world was lifted off of her soul. As she lay on whatever surface she'd awoken on, she felt at peace. She left the world with a purpose. She could only hope that it hadn't been in vain.

Dahlia's eyes fluttered open, eager to take in her new surroundings. What surprised her, however, was how strikingly similar the afterlife was to the medbay on the Overwatch base. Perhaps it was to ease her into death, giving her a sense of familiarity and comfort when she woke up. A being stood in the far corner of the room, back to her, but Dahlia was able to make out her blonde hair and the golden glow that seemed to surround her body. In her delirious state, Dahlia was convinced that the being was an angel, ready to greet her and assist her into the afterlife.

Then, she began to hear it. It was a shrill, continuous beeping noise coming from somewhere to her left; it reminded her of the heart monitors that she and Dr. Ziegler would hook up to any severely incapacited patients. As the sound continued to pulsate through her skull, an aching pain closely followed. Groaning, Dahlia reached up to grip the sides of her head. Her fingers danced almost instinctively over the scars that covered the skin of her temples, and she was confused as to why she still carried them in the afterlife.

Why did that annoying beeping sound follow me all the way to death? I thought death was supposed to be peaceful, she thought to herself. Her eyes squeezed shut as yet another groan fell from her lips, attempting to block the droning beeps from her mind.

"Oh, you're finally awake!"

Dahlia's eyes shot open as a familiar voice met her ears. The voice rang through her head, sounding as if its source was miles away, though as she slowly turned her head to the side, she came face to face with Dr. Ziegler.

Dr. Ziegler is the angel? Dahlia was confused. There was no doubt in her mind that the being that stood before her was the kind doctor that she'd worked with for nearly a year, but what was she doing in the afterlife?

"You're actually an angel?" Dahlia slurred out. Her eyes squinted against the bright fluorescent lights; they seemed to be the thing causing Dr. Ziegler to seemingly glow.

A soft laugh fell from the doctor's lips, and she shook her head. "No, dear."

Dahlia was still unable to grasp the idea that she was alive. She felt no pain (apart from the headache that was growing increasingly worse as the shrill beeping sound continued to drill into her skull.) It felt as though she was never even injured. "Are you dead too?" For a moment, she was terrified. Had her sacrifice been in vain after all?

Dr. Ziegler shook her head once more. "I'm alive, and so are you."

Her words echoed through Dahlia's head, and she looked around the room. Slowly, she became more aware of her surroundings; she could now feel the softness of the mattress beneath her, as well as the fabric of the hospital gown that she wore over her body. She took a moment to flex her fingers one by one and watched as the tendons worked beneath her skin. Then, she looked towards the doctor once more. "What happened?"

"You are a brave soul, Miss Blackrock, and we will forever be grateful to you because of it," Dr. Ziegler said to her. Her voice was soft, but she spoke slowly; she seemed almost hesitant to answer the question.

As the events leading up to her injury came rushing back, Dahlia only became more confused. She reached up to clutch her chest, once again remembering the pain she felt as the bullet ripped through her skin. She was surprised to find nothing but the cotton fabric of her hospital gown. There was no sign of any injury, not even a bandage. She then moved over to her arm, once again finding nothing but untouched skin- for the most part. She sat up in bed, her eyes widening upon landing on the dark ink that now adorned her golden skin.

"I've heard about waking up with a strange tattoo after being blackout drunk, but never after getting shot and nearly dying." Dahlia's tone was humorous, though the shakiness of her words gave away the uneasiness she felt as she stared down at the tattoo.

"You have lots of questions, as do we, but whatever gave you that tattoo also saved your life," Dr. Ziegler said to her. Upon closer inspection, Dahlia realized that the ink resembled a fox; its lithe figure wrapped around her bicep, seeming to almost dance gracefully along with the flow of her limb. She reached up and ran her fingers along the tattoo, mesmerized.

Dr. Ziegler finished documenting Dahlia's vitals on her clipboard before reaching out and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You had me worried, dear," she said. Dahlia was surprised by the feeling of warmth that spread through her body at the doctor's kind words. Never once had she thought that these people truly cared for her. The doctor hummed softly and lifted her hand from Dahlia's shoulder; for a moment, Dahlia was tempted to reach out and return her hand, for her touch brought her a sense of comfort that she longed for. Dr. Ziegler had a twinkle in her eye as she looked down at her. "Genji's been waiting to see you. Would you like me to send him in?"

Dahlia perked up at this, and she nodded eagerly. Without another word, only a single nod, Dr. Ziegler left the room. The sudden quietness put Dahlia on edge; she was once again overly aware of the droning beeps coming from her vitals machine, and the fluorescent lights above her did nothing to help her aching head. She looked up as the door swung open, and a small smile appeared on her lips as Genji stepped into the room. He said nothing as he moved towards her bed, falling into the chair that sat beside it. His shoulders slumped and his head hung slightly.

"You scared me." His voice was quiet, barely audible over the whirring of his cybernetics as he sucked in a deep breath. Dahlia's chest tightened at his words. In the moment, she thought about nothing but the safety of her teammates; she had convinced herself that the potential pain they could feel towards losing her would only be temporary, and in the end their safety was worth much more than her own life. She never once thought about how he would feel.

"Genji, I'm sorry..." Slowly, she reached out and placed her hand on the side of his faceplate. She tilted his head up so that her eyes met the green glow of his visor, though he quickly pulled away from her, and she frowned.

"Do you know how stupid that was? How pointless?"

Dahlia was surprised by the momentary hardness in his voice. She tried to swallow the lump of emotion that had formed in her throat. "I did it to protect you, to protect everyone," she said, her voice small.

"It would not have changed a thing. They are still going to kill us. They think you are dead, but they are going to come back." Genji sighed, lowering his head to look down at his hands in his lap. His shoulders heaved and his tone softened as he glanced back up at her. "You would have died for nothing, Dahlia."

Dahlia wasn't completely surprised that the Reaper was still adamant on killing the other Overwatch agents. He had his mission, and he wasn't going to stop until it was complete. Dahlia's sacrifice wouldn't have changed a thing, and she had already begun to realize this as she slipped out of her delirium; she had only given him an easy way to rid himself of an obstacle. "If I'm being honest-" she began with a rather nervous laugh. "-I didn't think he'd actually pull the trigger. I was trying to stall."

Genji scoffed at this. If she could've seen his face, she knew that he would've been rolling his eyes. "I never thought you could be so stupid," he muttered. Dahlia was slightly hurt by his words, but she shrugged it off. She reached out to touch him once again, though she gasped as she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her tightly. She was pulled into Genji's chest, and his hand cupped the back of her head. He let out a shaky breath as he pressed his faceplate against her forehead, whispering: "I thought I lost you again, Kitsune."

Her chest tightening with guilt, Dahlia returned his embrace. She held him close, hoping that her touch was enough to bring him comfort.