67. Distance Between Us

A soft wind brushed against Giyuu's face. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He found himself standing on a narrow stone path that wound through an endless garden. White blossoms and soft pink petals drifted lazily through the air while warm sunlight spilled between the branches overhead, casting everything in a dreamlike golden radiance.

The tranquility of the place settled around him like a warm embrace. Giyuu's features softened as he looked around. He did not know where he was or why he was there, but something about this place felt familiar, like a memory he had forgotten or a place he had been searching for without knowing.

Just as Giyuu began to lose himself in the quiet beauty around him, a soft playful voice broke the silence.

"Giyuuuu-saaaan."

Giyuu's entire body froze. His breath caught in his throat. Slowly, almost afraid of what he would see, he turned around.

Hana stood among the flowers, her hair moved gently with the wind, her eyes were bright, and a smile rested on her face as she lifted her hand to wave at him. It was as if she had been waiting for him, as if nothing had ever happened to her

Giyuu stared, his eyes widening. "Hana..." The name left his lips like a whisper. For a moment, he could not move, his mind refused to understand what he was seeing.

She smiled wider. "There you are."

His eyes filled with tears. "Hana..." he whispered his voice breaking. "Are you really here??"

She looked at him with the same warmth she always had, the same smile that had once brightened even his darkest days.

With a playful tilt of her head, she waved him closer, sunlight catching in her hair.

"Come here."

Giyuu took a step forward, then another. His breathing became uneven. "You... you are here.." A tear slipped down his cheek.

He moved toward her faster, then faster still, until he was running. He did not care about anything except reaching her and embracing her.

The distance between them remained unchanged, stretching endlessly no matter how fast he ran. With every desperate step forward, she seemed to drift farther away. He had been running for what felt like forever.

"Hana?" he called.

She stood among the flowers, but her smile was gone. The warmth in her eyes faded, replaced by something that made his chest tighten painfully. Tears gathered along her lashes, and a deep sadness settled across her face.

Giyuu froze.

Seeing Hana cry had always been unbearable. His heart sank as he looked at her. All he wanted was to reach her. To wipe away her tears. To pull her into his arms and hold her close. To tell her
that he was there for her. That he would always be there. No matter what.

But he couldn't even reach her.

Giyuu started running again, harder and faster. His legs moved, but the garden stretched endlessly. The flowers blurred around him, and his breathing became desperate.

"Wait," his voice trembled. "Wait, Hana. I'm here." He reached out his hand, but he could not touch her. His fingers closed around nothing. Fear slowly replaced confusion. "Hana?"

The flowers around him began to change. The beautiful blossoms slowly withered. The petals fell apart. The sunlight faded and the warmth vanished.

"No..." Giyuu stopped frantically looking around. The peaceful garden was gone he was no longer surrounded by the beautiful flowers. The air was cold, dark, and empty.

His eyes moved around. "Hana!" His voice echoed as he turned around but there was Nothing but darkness.

"Come find me." Her voice echoed through the endless garden.

Giyuu felt his heart break at the sound of her voice. "I'm trying," he whispered helplessly.

"Don't give up."

His heart started pounding.

"Hana, where are you?" He ran forward into the unknown darkness, knowing only that he had to find her. He could not lose her again, not when he had finally found her. His feet carried him through the darkness until he reached a clearing. And then he saw her.

His entire body stopped. "Hana..."

She was lying on the ground, still and silent. The warmth had disappeared from her face, and her eyes were closed. For a moment, Giyuu could not breathe. "No..." He moved toward her, slowly at first, then faster, until he dropped beside her. "Hana." No response. His hands trembled as he reached for her. "Hana, wake up."

Panic filled his chest. "No, no..." He pulled her toward him, but she was cold. Too cold. His heart shattered. "Hana?" His voice became desperate. "Hana, please. Open your eyes."

The darkness seemed to close around him from every side, swallowing the world until there was nothing left except his broken heart.

"Hana..." His voice broke. His hand trembled as it tightened around hers.
"I can't do this without you. I don't know how to keep going if you're gone. I need you, Hana. Please I really need you."

"Hana..." His voice rose. "Hana!" The sound echoed through the empty clearing, but she did not answer. His tears fell onto her face. "Please..." His voice became a whisper. "I am begging you." The world around him faded. "Hana... don't leave me."

A painful silence followed. Then, he screamed, "Haaaaanaaaa!"

Suddenly, Giyuu gasped.

His eyes flew open, and he bolted upright in bed. A sharp breath tore from his lungs as he looked around wildly. His heart pounded against his ribs, and sweat clung to his skin despite the chill in the air.

For a few disorienting moments, he could not tell where he was. The dream had felt so real.

The endless garden. Hana's voice. The tears in her eyes.

His chest tightened painfully as he struggled to separate the dream from reality.

Then his gaze slowly settled on the room around him. White walls. Dim lights.

Giyuu lowered his head, his hands tightening around the blanket as the last traces of the dream slipped through his fingers.

His gaze slowly dropped and there she was. Hana. Still asleep. Still beside him.

Giyuu froze.

For a moment, he simply stared at her, as if afraid she would disappear the instant he blinked.

Then, slowly, his trembling hand reached for hers. She was warm.

His fingers tightened around hers as relief crashed over him so suddenly it almost hurt. She was here. She was alive.

It had all been a dream. A cruel, terrible dream.

Giyuu closed his eyes for a moment and let out a shaky breath. The frantic pounding of his heart gradually slowed as he sat there beside her bed, feeling the steady warmth of her hand in his.

Yet the fear remained. It lingered deep inside his chest, refusing to leave. The fear of losing her. The fear that one day he would wake up and find her gone.

His grip tightened unconsciously.

For months, he had carried that fear alone, burying it deep within his heart. But now, in the quiet darkness of the hospital room, there was no one to hide .
For the first time in a long while, Giyuu allowed himself to acknowledge the truth. He was terrified.

Terrified of a future without her.
Terrified of living in a world where Hana no longer existed. The thought left a hollow ache inside him.

Slowly, Giyuu lowered his head until it rested against her chest, just above her heart. He never let go of her hand.
The room was silent except for the soft hum of the machines and the steady heartbeat beneath his ear.

Giyuu listened to it carefully, as though reassuring himself that she was still there.

Still here.

Still with him.

Eventually, exhaustion pulled at him once more and his eyes drifted shut.

But even as sleep claimed him again, his fingers remained intertwined with hers, unwilling to let go, afraid that if he did, she might slip away like a dream.

He was so consumed by the storm inside his own mind that he almost missed it.

He was entirely unaware of the smallest movement beneath his fingers.

A faint twitch.

But for the first time in five months- Hana's hand moved.

And she slowly squeezed his hand back.