Title: The Gravestone Under the Tree
Author: Rasei
Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama.
Pairing: Hatsu/Taizou
Summary: Hatsu thinks about her husband underneath their special tree, in front of his gravestone. Hatsu/Taizou
A.N: Thank you Hiraga_Gengai and Faris for your plot help. Yell, thank you for the help with spelling errors. Also this is my tenth Gintama story posted here.
She looks at the lone gravestone under her special tree. Their special tree. The tree that they meet at. The tree that she got engaged at. The tree where they used to spend hours under together, laughing and talking. The tree where she told him goodbye at. The tree where a maid found his body under, too decomposed to be id.
Hatsu shut her eyes, tears unshredded as she stood there. It was only suppose to be a handful of days that her husband was out of the house, while he got a job. Only a few days until her parents forgot the shame of Taizou losing his job. Then Taizou never could find and keep a job. There were moments where she wanted to break their promise about Taizou finding a new job, and have him come home. She brought up once to Taizou, almost a year later. Taizou just took off his sunglasses, and looked into her eyes.
"A man's promise is his honor. It's something that, if broken then the man is not a man."
That was the only time they talked about him coming home without a job. It wasn't often that Hatsu spoke to Taizou after that, but she would watch him from afar. She watch as he struggled, and she watched when he found small pieces of happiness. Hatsu wasn't sure when she realized that the man she fell in love with was a better man than anyone else she ever met, but he was. He would find food, and give it away to hungry children. He would quit a job because the owner of the business would be doing something shady.
There were times where she thought she would lose him, like when he got injured helping Sakata-san. She would sneak into the hospital, and sit with him. Never when he was awake, for he would get upset when he sees her. Or when he stayed close to a woman for a long period of time, making her fear that he would forget her. Taizou would leave the women though, and go back to sleeping in dog houses.
Hatsu wiped her tears, feeling angry for crying. Taizou wouldn't want to see her sad after all. Taizou hated seeing her sad. He would take her into his arms and hold to his chest. Just like he would when they first fell in love, and she would argue with her parents over him. Taizou always preferred her smiling and laughing. He would make dry jokes, which would crack her up.
Her father thought that it was silly of her to hang onto Taizou, but didn't fuss over it too much. Instead he quietly watched as she falls apart. Sometimes her mother would smile, like there was a hidden joke in her pain. Hatsu has taken to avoid her mother. Which pained Hatsu as well, because she used to be close to her mother.
"Taizou," she whispers, as fresh tears well up in her eyes.
"Hatsu," said an unexpected voice behind her. Hatsu froze, knowing that voice anywhere. It had to be a dream, because that voice was silence forever.
"Taizou?" she said again.
"Hello Hatsu. Since when did our tree have a grave under it?" said the voice. Hatsu turned slowly, and stared at the man before her. Taizou looked very much like he did before he lost his job, but thinner, with slight wrinkles, and small patches of grey hair at his temples. He was wearing a suit that was slightly too big for him, but the sunglasses were the same. Hatsu felt new tears sliding down her face, staring at Taizou. Taizou just stepped close and wrapped his arms around her. It was her Taizou, she knew it.
"Taizou, never leave me again," she managed to say into his chest.
"I wouldn't. I found a new job," he whispered into her ear. She just shook her head; that didn't matter. It didn't matter how Taizou was alive either. All that mattered was that Taizou was alive and holding her.
A/N: This original idea for this was the recent chapters, and the fact Madao kept dying. It got me wondering how Hatsu would reacted to her husband's death. I tried to really kill Madao in this, but I realized that Madao needed a happy ending for once. There a couple of theories about the body. I'm would be glad to hear more.