a/n: A tad-bit heavy on the dialogue side. I apologize for any confusion on who's speaking which part.

Chapter 3 – Visions (Gintoki x Tae)

"Ane-ue, do you want me to brush your hair for you?"

"It's okay Shin-chan, I'll just wait for Kyuu-chan to help me with that. I know you're not too good with these sort of things."

"Ah… sorry."

Tae smiled as she reached a hand out towards her brother. Immediately, Shinpachi took a few steps forward and angled his body towards his sister. Her fingers were cold and frail against his cheek, and the young man recalled the many times when he remembered these very same hands were once always warm. There was always a perfect balance of gentleness and firmness to her touch, which defined Shimura Tae so well, being the daughter of a dojo master and a cabaret hostess, but it wasn't the same anymore.

"Thank you, Shin-chan. I know you're busy with your own things, and you're even taking care of me."

Shinpachi covered his older sister's hand with his own, "You're my sister. Of course I would take care of you."

The white-haired ("They were brown before," Shinpachi would bitterly remind himself) woman dropped her hand and allowed it to rest over her stomach.

"So how is Kagura-chan doing? I haven't seen her for a few days."

"She looked fine the last time I saw her. I heard that her father's visiting again and she had asked him to help her with some training."

Tae frowned, "I hope the guys aren't giving her too hard of a time. She's still just a girl after all."

Shinpachi smiled, "You worry too much ane-ue. There's nothing to worry about. She's safe with those guys."

"But with Kondo-san being arrested—"

"Ane-ue!"

The siblings looked at each other in shock; both of them were surprised by the younger Shimura's sudden outburst.

"Ane-ue," Shinpachi gritted out as calmly as he could, but anyone can tell that he was far from it by the slight shaking of his frame, "Hijikata-san will keep things in order for now, so please..."

He looked down at his feet, willing himself not to shed any tears today, "Please, just worry about yourself. Please focus on your health for now."

"Okay."

Shinpachi looked up at his sister who smiled serenely at him, "I'll do just that Shin-chan."

"You have such a sweet younger brother Shimura-san!" The young nurse in charge of her exclaimed as she closed the window, "He's always visiting you."

The older woman smiled, "Even with other people visiting me, he still worries too much."

"There are many people who are supporting you, Shimura-san," The nurse gave her shoulder a gentle pat after tucking her in. "You have to give it your best!"

"I will."

"Alright Shimura-san, as always, just call us if anything happens. I'll turn off the lights now. Good night!"

Tae nodded and thanked the nurse before closing her eyes. What transpired earlier with Shinpachi was still in her mind, and Tae found herself starting to reflect a lot on several things. She knew her brother was blaming himself, even though he had no part in causing her illness. When she was first diagnosed with the White Plague two weeks ago, everyone else around her took the news really hard. It was almost as if they had received a death sentence for themselves, and only Tae herself took the news calmly.

A part of her reasoned that it might be because she had suspected that she had the White Plague, three years ago, when she spotted a few strands of white hair amongst her brown locks. Another part of her simply knew that if she allowed herself to be depressed over this, it would only cause the people around her even more pain. They were already in enough pain ever since Gintoki had disappeared.

It's been a long five years...

She didn't remember falling asleep, a few hours perhaps, but Tae found herself waking up from her slumber when she felt a slight breeze. This detail had caused her to frown; the nurse had closed the windows before tucking her into bed, so someone must have—

"G-Gin-san?" The shaking of her own voice surprised her, "Is that you?"

She heard a slight noise to her right, in the direction of the open window. She could make out that someone was standing there, but her deteriorating vision made it difficult to make out any features, especially with the lights out. In spite of her waning strength, Tae tried to get up into a sitting position. Just as she propped herself up with her elbows, she felt a hand on her left shoulder.

Aside from just her movements, Tae felt that her breath had stopped as well. When she finally gave in and laid back against the pillows, the same hand shifted and rested on her left cheek. It wasn't her brother, or the nurse's hand, but it was still a familiar hand. It was a large, calloused hand—the hand of a samurai—but it was also very warm, and very gentle. She could feel her own tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's him." She concluded, "It's Gin-san. He's alive. He's here."

However, the fact that he hasn't spoken a word yet had troubled her. It made her question whether or not her mind was playing tricks on her. Or if this was a hallucination or dream.

"Gin-san?"

He didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything. The very sight of her on the hospital bed, with her hair was as white as snow and her skin was paler than he ever remembered, had rendered him speechless. The moonlight from behind him only make her visage all the worse. Only her eyes remained the same, except she could barely see him. The doctors did say that she was starting to lose her vision.

"I know it's you, Gin-san. Why aren't you saying anything?"

I can't.

"Why did you leave?"

I had to.

"Those two... Shin-chan and Kagura-chan, they're trying their best, you know. They couldn't agree with one another, but they both want the same thing. They miss you."

I know.

"And I miss you too."

I...

"Gin-san," His breath was caught in his throat at the sight of her tears spilling to the side.

"I'm dying..."

He closed his eyes, unable to hold back his own tears.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

"Otae..."

Her eyes widen in shock. Just hearing his voice, along with the sensation of something wet falling on her cheeks aside from her own tears added to her surprise.

"I promise you. I'll fix everything."

"Gin-san..."

"Just wait alright? Everything will be alright."

His warm hand rested on her forehead now.

"Sleep."

When Tae woke up the next morning, she noticed that the windows were shut. As she fingered her tear-stained cheeks, she wondered to herself whether last night's encounter had been a reality or a dream. But whether it had been real or not, she knew in her heart that Gintoki was alive and still out there somewhere.

a/n: Sorry that it was so fragmented. I just felt that adding too many descriptions would take away too much from the dialogue. Most of these chapters start off as a bunch of dialogues (this chapter was built around the semi one-sided conversation between Tae and Gintoki) in which I'm just trying to fill in the blanks with details and some semblance of a story line. I apologize for all this angst—I do have a more light-hearted chapter in progress (again, need to complement all that dialogue I had planned). Thank you for all your feedback! (: