p class="p1"strongBlood and Blossom/strong/p
p class="p1"strongBy Escae/strong/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Hanamura is beautiful in the summer./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The cobbled streets are covered with a paper-thin layer of delicate cherry blossoms, the sun lovingly dances upon the walls of the many shops, wind whistles through the bells hanging off countless small shrines. Truly a wonderful thing to see before you die./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"emOr when you die/em, thinks Genji Shimada to himself. Sprawled out on the sun-bathed street outside his lifetime family home of Shimada castle, Genji is glad this gentle scene will be his last memory. His arms and legs are useless, his heart can barely function. Even the muted sounds of summer are drowned by his own beating heart, slowing down every second until... emnothing./em His eyes slide shut into darkness with the cherry-scented breeze tickling his nose in a final salute to a honorable soldier./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Farewell./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"-/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Angela Ziegler decides she has never seen anything more beautiful than Hanamura in the summer./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The cobbled streets are covered with a paper-thin layer of delicate cherry blossoms, the sun lovingly dances upon the walls of the many shops, wind whistles through the bells hanging off countless small shrines. Truly a wonderful thing to see before you die./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"emOr before you get shipped off to another rock in the Mediterranean, /emAngela Ziegler thinks to herself. It is the final day of her two-week vacation from Overwatch, the organization founded in order to re-establish peace after the terrors of the Omnic Crisis. Angela spent her whole life after graduating from medical school at a record-breaking young age dedicated to making the world a better place. When she got the opportunity to join the budding team that was Overwatch, she stood with them proudly./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"And she still does. Even though the rest of the team betrayed her and the rest of the world forgot about her. Many left immediately after the passing of the Petras Act, too afraid of legal consequences to continue their life's work. More left after the defection of Reyes, one of the other founding members who joined their rival, the terrorist cell known as Talon. The rest simply trickled out as life called to them. Now that the war was over, the world didn't need heroes. Not anymore./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Angela, operating by her code name Mercy, and the intelligent gorilla scientist Winston were the only two still officially part of the team. Funds were low, and morale was lower. Angela had taken a much-needed leave of absence to visit exotic locales around the world and, more importantly, consider her future. Would it be with Overwatch? If not, where would she go? What would she do? With the lack of new recruits, public support, and just problems to solve in general, there was no point to sticking behind that orange and white symbol that used to mean so much more./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"And so it was with great reluctance that Mercy ended up in front of Shimada Castle, the last stop on her two-week tour around the world. This has settled it for her, beyond a doubt: there was just no one left for her to help in the world./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Until, barely visible among the blanket of cherry blossoms covering the street, she spotted the pale outline of a young man lying in a pool of glistening blood./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Picking up her feet the best she could in those darned heels, she rushed over to his side and let her medical instinct take over, first cataloging the man's appearance and injuries. emYoung man. 20s. Japanese heritage. Fractured ribs, plenty of external bleeding. Pulse faintly present. Black hair. Brown eyes. Major trauma to skull, no openings evident. Unconscious. Recovered in front of Shimada Castle, after an unknown amount of time. Presumably less than an hour. Taken to a hospital immediately./em/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Looks like there was someone for Angela to help after all./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"strongThanks for checking out my fist attempt at the tried and true Mercy-rescues-Genji story. I would very much appreciate a readreview and love to hear what you think. More (and longer) chapters are on the way./strong/p
p class="p1"strongBy Escae/strong/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Hanamura is beautiful in the summer./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The cobbled streets are covered with a paper-thin layer of delicate cherry blossoms, the sun lovingly dances upon the walls of the many shops, wind whistles through the bells hanging off countless small shrines. Truly a wonderful thing to see before you die./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"emOr when you die/em, thinks Genji Shimada to himself. Sprawled out on the sun-bathed street outside his lifetime family home of Shimada castle, Genji is glad this gentle scene will be his last memory. His arms and legs are useless, his heart can barely function. Even the muted sounds of summer are drowned by his own beating heart, slowing down every second until... emnothing./em His eyes slide shut into darkness with the cherry-scented breeze tickling his nose in a final salute to a honorable soldier./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Farewell./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"-/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Angela Ziegler decides she has never seen anything more beautiful than Hanamura in the summer./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The cobbled streets are covered with a paper-thin layer of delicate cherry blossoms, the sun lovingly dances upon the walls of the many shops, wind whistles through the bells hanging off countless small shrines. Truly a wonderful thing to see before you die./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"emOr before you get shipped off to another rock in the Mediterranean, /emAngela Ziegler thinks to herself. It is the final day of her two-week vacation from Overwatch, the organization founded in order to re-establish peace after the terrors of the Omnic Crisis. Angela spent her whole life after graduating from medical school at a record-breaking young age dedicated to making the world a better place. When she got the opportunity to join the budding team that was Overwatch, she stood with them proudly./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"And she still does. Even though the rest of the team betrayed her and the rest of the world forgot about her. Many left immediately after the passing of the Petras Act, too afraid of legal consequences to continue their life's work. More left after the defection of Reyes, one of the other founding members who joined their rival, the terrorist cell known as Talon. The rest simply trickled out as life called to them. Now that the war was over, the world didn't need heroes. Not anymore./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Angela, operating by her code name Mercy, and the intelligent gorilla scientist Winston were the only two still officially part of the team. Funds were low, and morale was lower. Angela had taken a much-needed leave of absence to visit exotic locales around the world and, more importantly, consider her future. Would it be with Overwatch? If not, where would she go? What would she do? With the lack of new recruits, public support, and just problems to solve in general, there was no point to sticking behind that orange and white symbol that used to mean so much more./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"And so it was with great reluctance that Mercy ended up in front of Shimada Castle, the last stop on her two-week tour around the world. This has settled it for her, beyond a doubt: there was just no one left for her to help in the world./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Until, barely visible among the blanket of cherry blossoms covering the street, she spotted the pale outline of a young man lying in a pool of glistening blood./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Picking up her feet the best she could in those darned heels, she rushed over to his side and let her medical instinct take over, first cataloging the man's appearance and injuries. emYoung man. 20s. Japanese heritage. Fractured ribs, plenty of external bleeding. Pulse faintly present. Black hair. Brown eyes. Major trauma to skull, no openings evident. Unconscious. Recovered in front of Shimada Castle, after an unknown amount of time. Presumably less than an hour. Taken to a hospital immediately./em/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Looks like there was someone for Angela to help after all./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"strongThanks for checking out my fist attempt at the tried and true Mercy-rescues-Genji story. I would very much appreciate a readreview and love to hear what you think. More (and longer) chapters are on the way./strong/p