It wasn't until almost three weeks later that Kaella finally woke up.
Hanzo spent a good portion of his days in the med-bay, only returning to his room at the demands of Angela. He couldn't comprehend why he felt such a strong need to be near the young woman that had attempted to kill him and his fellow agents, but he couldn't shove the urge down any longer.
Despite Hanzo's assurances' to his commander, Jack had insisted on restraining Kaella to the bed, and when Hanzo had attempted to offer an explanation for Kaella's apparent transformation Jack had held up a hand to stop him.
"When she wakes up, we will discuss the matter. Until then, rest up and keep an eye on her. I want to be informed the second she wakes up."
While it was quite upsetting how long Kaella had been unconscious, it had presented him the opportunity to speak with Zenyatta about the questions plaguing his thoughts for the past few months.
The omnic had hummed with amusement when asked why Hanzo had felt surge a strong urge to be near Kaella. "I believe you already know the answer I will reply with, Hanzo."
He had grit his teeth in effort to keep the scowl from marring his features. Genji's master was infuriating at times, but Hanzo held him in the highest regards. "I am not infatuated with the onna, perhaps this is another symptom of the bond we share?" He suggested pleadingly. Genji had explained the situation concerning the two to Zenyatta not long after Kaella joined Overwatch.
Zenyatta had thought for a moment, his gaze darting over to Genji when he snatched one of the floating balls from the ring surrounding him. If omnics could he was sure that Zenyatta would have rolled his eyes at his brothers antics.
Genji had informed Hanzo of his new relationship with Zenyatta when they had returned and Kaella had been settled in the med-bay. While the news shocked him, Hanzo did not resent their newfound happiness, despite his minor discomfort when watching the two together.
Zenyatta had turned to look back at Hanzo calmly. "Hanzo, I understand your frustrations and your unwillingness to accept the answers I provide you with; however, have you considered your distaste for Agent McCree and your irritability concerning young Miss Kaella could very well be answered if you simply looked within yourself?"
Hanzo mulled over the conversation several times after he had shook his head and excused himself to return to Kaella's side. He scoffed at the notion Zenyatta had presented, Kaella was an annoyance at best. There was no possible way he could have formed feelings for such a creature, she had tried to kill him!
Still, she had somehow managed to pull him through several struggles. Hanzo remembered when Genji and he had been young, mere months after they first met, and though she often felt very far away she always seemed to show up when the two needed her most.
"Genji! Do not stray so far from my side, you know it is dangerous here!" Hanzo shouted as he ran around a corner to catch up to his brother.
"Come on! That's boring as hell! Let's go check out the sea!" Genji cried out in response, scaling the side of a house and running across the roof tops in his swim trunks.
Hanzo growled, but couldn't help the small smile on his face. It was rare when the brothers were presented with an opportunity to simply be boys, they were on their way to spend the day at the beach, their father dismissing them, claiming there was no business to conduct that day.
As he made the leap from one rooftop to another Hanzo felt his adrenaline surge, it had been too long since he and Genji had a race.
Wasting no time, he adjusted the sword resting on the small of his back, and pushed his legs to move faster. Easily catching up to his brother, he smirked as he passed Genji while jumping across another space between houses, then landed with all the grace of a feline and moved faster.
He was surprised when his heard his brothers footsteps close behind him, Genji had been training more often than Hanzo had assumed, it seemed.
They reached the beach within minutes, Hanzo had dropped back at the last moment, feigning a stumble to allow Genji his victory. The younger Shimada cheered his victory, but quickly stopped to ensure his sibling was okay, Hanzo assured him he was fine and they enjoyed their day at the beach.
As the sun began to set Hanzo called Genji to head back to the Shimada castle.
"Awe! Do we have to?" His brother groaned in exasperation.
Hanzo nodded, assuring him that they would return when their father gave them another day of rest. Genji had cheered gleefully, a fist pumping into the sky as he hurried over to Hanzo's side.
The hairs on the back of Hanzo's neck stood on end and he drew his sword, but it was a moment too late. The sound of a single shot rang through the calm air, filling his chest with panic as Genji's eyes widened while his chest blossomed with blood, the acrid, sickening smell flooding Hanzo's senses.
Griting his teeth Hanzo turned and brought up his sword to deflect the next shot meant for him, he spotted the snipers location among the rocks and the next shot bounced off of his sword and buried itself between the snipers eyes.
Hanzo sheathed his sword and bent to hold his dying brother to his chest.
He felt tears pricking his eyes, he refused to believe Ganji would die. Looking around he knew Genji wouldn't make it until Hanzo was able to get back to Shimada castle.
It was desperate, and he didn't know if it would work, but he had to try. He threw his head back and shouted as loud as his lungs would allow him.
"KAELLA! Please! Hear me! Please help Genji!" He had never pleaded for anything in his life but he was willing to get on his hands and knees to beg her to save his brother.
"No need to scream, hot shot. Hold him still." Kaella was kneeling before him, looking over the groaning Genji with furrowed brows. Blood was soaking the sand at an alarming rate and Hanzo's breath came in terrified, ragged gasps.
She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her thighs. "Deorum vacui, hoc cura, ut det mihi fortitudinem contritum puer." Her eyes opened and she waved a single head over Genji's chest, the wound began knitting itself together almost immediately in response until it closed. Genji's breathing was calming slowly, though he was still deathly pale and cold/
Hanzo looked at the girl in front of him in wonder as she breathed out in a sigh, looking over her work she nodded and stood. "Take him home, he should rest for a few days to regain the blood her lost, but her will be okay."
Hanzo was speechless, all he could manage was a mumbled: "T-thank you..."
Kaella nodded before turning and walking away along the shoreline, Lokiv trotting to keep up with her.
Hanzo smiled wistfully at the memory, leaning back and closing his eyes in the chair he occupied next to Kaella's bed.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he opened his eyes to see Okkin standing before him.
Had she gotten bigger?
The wolf growled at him, edging closer to Kaella's side. Her shoulder blades rose to well above the edge of Kaella's bed, eyes gleaming with a sickly red she offered him a snarl and turned her head to sniff lightly at her masters restrains.
Hanzo sighed, relaxing only a little. "I suppose if you are here, that means she will wake soon."
They stayed like that for a while, Okkin moving to lay beside the bed. Hanzo was skeptical of the beast, she seemed to grow every time he saw her and she only appeared when her master was in a wounded state. He wondered what it could mean and he had yet another question to ask Kaella, so many had piled up with only cryptic answers to satisfy them.
Suddenly the monitors next to her bed began sounding an alarm and he jerked his head, looking to see her heart rate begin climbing to a normal pace. Hanzo looked at her face and saw her eyes begin to slowly blink open, Okkin disappeared within moments with a final growl of warning.
Hanzo sighed as her gaze landed on him. "You will not attempt to escape your restraints and you will no longer use your powers to their full extent unless I explicitly say you may."
Kaella huffed in response, looking away and coughing weakly. She groaned and stared at the ceiling, "even if I wanted to get away, I couldn't even if I tried. Once harmed by the holder of the kami no hoseki my powers will lie dormant until the holder allows me to use 'em again."
He nodded in understanding and looked up to see Jack Morrison and Angela Ziegler enter the room. Jack stood quietly with his arms folded, staring at Kaella while Angela fluttered about to check the womans vitals and ensure her stability. Once Angela confirmed that Kaella was stable enough to talk the older man sighed.
"You have a lot of explaining to do young lady."
Hanzo tensed as Kaella scoffed, leveling the older gentleman with a glare that put his own to shame. "First off, no more o' this 'young lady' bullshit. I'm older than any o' you vermin." She spat with venom dripping from her words.
Hanzo rubbed the bridge of his nose. Kaella had never shown any favor towards the commander, in fact she seemed to like him the least, but had respected his command. Now that her secret was about to be revealed it appeared she no longer felt the as she did for the past few months.
Jack was taken aback by her words, startling for a moment before furrowing his brow and setting his lips in a hard line. He opened his mouth to speak but Kaella cut him off.
"Second off, the basic run down of everything is I'm an immortal being who draws power from the void 'tween time and space." She smirked at the obvious confusion on Angela and Jack's faces.
Hanzo groaned, unable to tolerate her barbed tongue any longer. "Yes, but that is not all. The woman you see before you is an Akarai, a weapon of war created by gods long ago. Her kind has died out since then but she possesses unsurpassed power, which she displayed three weeks ago. She is tied to me through this:" He untucked the pendant on his neck for a moment to show the disbelieving pair in front of him.
He suddenly felt like a child that had stumbled onto his fathers weapons collection and nearly killed a dear family friend, all by accident.
"I can give her orders that she is soul bound to obey, she cannot go against an order that I have given her unless it is one that the pendant deems to be harmful. The incident at the Talon base was my fault, I had given her the ability to use her powers as she saw fit, now I seem what a mistake such a decision was.." He trailed off, looking down in shame.
Kaella apparently felt otherwise as she jutted her chin out, a smirk of victory on her face. They would fear her, and it seemed to be something she craved.
"Well, that is... Interesting, to say the least. How were you able to subdue her if she is so powerful?"
The next twenty minutes were spent with Hanzo explaining the nature of their connection and what it entailed. At times it seemed as though Angela and Jack did not believe a word of what he said, though Kaella's performance proved what he said to be true.
When he finished he turned to a smug looking Kaella, determined to finally attain the answers he sought. "Onna, I have been intending to ask you something for a while, and you must answer me honestly." She shot him a look of absolute terror. "What is Okkin? Why does she seem to grow every time I see her?"
The woman sighed, looking at the ceiling with a somber look, before turning to look at him again. "Okkin represents the part of my mind that is slippin'. With age, all Akarai fall to such a fate."
Hanzo sucked in a sharp breath at the implications, she continued regardless. "All Akarai are born- or made -with two animals as their guides. A massive lion, and a wolf. The lion is, as I told you before, wisdom, peace, balance and such. While the wolf is the exact opposite, the Akarai wove it into their traditions that every one of their kind would allow the spirits to roam freely beside them, in order to keep track of how balanced their mental stability was. I don't think I gotta tell you what hell it'd be if an Akarai lost their mind completely to the darkness and allow the wolf to take over." She shot him a grave look.
"Regardless o' how we tired to stop it, the Akarai would loose their minds with age. Being immortal comes with shitty consequences after all. As the elders of our race found their own harmony they were allowed to live, their lions stayed the same, the others, who did not, their lions shrank until they were mere house cat kits, at which point, they were killed." Kaella looked at her folded hands, her face a look of pure sorrow.
"I was part o' the group tasked with keepin' the elders in check. But as time marched on, fewer and fewer of our kind were left, the members responsible for such an awful duty began to loose themselves to the darkness.." She trailed off and Hanzo saw memories flash before her eyes.
"They... They completely lost themselves, started bein' skeptical of the elders, sayin' they had tricked our kind into trustin' them... They slaughtered hundreds.. The elders, the children, the men, the women.. Everyone.." He voice cracked and Hanzo saw her fists clench.
But she steeled herself, "They killed every member of our race, 'cept fer me. I was a prodigy of sorts, the leader of the task force was my ol' man and he had trained me since I was born. Five thousand years later my kind scattered, my papa swore to hunt down every living Akarai 'til there was none left, and then the world would be safe."
Realization sparked in Hanzo's mind and he snapped his gaze to Kaella's carefully trained features. "So.. When you appeared in my room that day, you had just.." He trailed off, throat clenching with emotion as she nodded.
The woman sucked in a deep breath, attempting to calm her shaking arms. Hanzo felt the strong urge to hold her hand, and he could no longer restrain himself. Kaella had had to kill everyone she had grown up with, her family, her father. It was no wonder Okkin had grown so strong, even after his own harrowing experience with Genji it had left him torn and in a state of pure agony, he couldn't imagine how Kaella could handle her own thoughts after having to commit such horrendous acts.
Kaella flinched when Hanzo gently took her hand in his, but she relaxed after a moment, clutching his hand tightly. She looked down at her lap, brows knitting in sadness and her lip quivering for a moment, but she shook her head and looked up to glare at the pair at the end of her bed. "I'm the last of my kind, and my mind's slippin'. Y'all are lucky that all did was torch a fuckin' warehouse, and that hot stuff here had the presence of mind to use nightshade. I can't refuse an order made by him, but that's my sense speakin', if Okkin wins, ye'd better have secret way of puttin' me down."
Hanzo did not like what the woman was implying.
Kaella was released from the med-bay days later after several assurances that Hanzo had given her the order to restrain herself. She was allowed to return to her room and Hanzo noticed she did not leave it for quite some time.
News of Kaella's story spread through the base like wildfire, though the story was jarring and concerning none of the agents seemed to fear her anymore than when they had seen her abilities in the field, before the incident.
A week after holing herself in her room Kaella emerged as Hanzo and a few of the younger agents were passing.
Mei nearly screeched with joy, rushing over to give the woman one of the tightest hugs Hanzo had ever seen. "Oh, Kaella-san! I am so happy you are alright! I feared we would not see you for quite some time!"
Kaella chuckled, returning the embrace and patting the other womans back. "Nah, I'll be around for a while yet." She pulled away, eyes gleaming. "In fact, I gotta surprise for y'all if yer willin' to trust me."
Mei's brows furrowed in confusion and she hazard a glance to Hanzo and the others. He sighed, shaking his head, why did she have to look for him for confirmation?
He gave a brief nod and her face lit up, practically bouncing in her place she nodded enthusiastically at Kaella.
Kaella beamed, smiling brightly she patted her on the shoulder. "Go round up the gang, anyone who wants to come with is welcome. Tell em' to bring swim suits and towels."
Hanzo watched as Mei, Lena, Hana and Lucio hurried to tell everyone, he waited until they were gone to turn his gaze back to Kaella. She was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, he noticed Lokiv winding himself around her boots, looking slightly smaller than the last time he had seen the feline.
"What do you have planned, onna?" He questioned suspiciously.
Kaella laughed and shook her head, turning to go back into her room. "Go get ready, Hanzo. Bring your brother by the way."
Everyone in the damn base had gathered in the common room in anticipation for Kaella's surprise, and by everyone, Hanzo meant everyone. Even the Fareeha and her mother were sitting in casual clothing next to one another with towels next to them.
Hanzo grit his teeth and felt a headache forming at the volume in which the chatter in the room had grown to. He had never enjoyed crowded rooms, or large groups of people, an attribute he feared would never change.
Every went silent and stared past him, he turned, and standing in the doorway beside Kaella was Okkin, lips drawn up in a threatening snarl and her shoulders rose to just beneath Kaella's.
"Y'all, meet Okkin. She's my wolf spirit, don't get yer panties in a wad though, she won't attack." Kaella explained calmly, Okkin seemed to understand her words and growled at her master, who just rolled her eyes.
"Okkin protects me when I'm down, she's a fiesty lil' fucker that's for damn sure. All Akarai's wolves are." She stepped forward, dismissing Okkin with a wave of her hand.
"Now, y'all ready to go?" She questioned with a grin, swinging her towel over her shoulder as though a ferocious beast hadn't been by her side moments ago.
"Miss Kaella, where is it we are going? I assume swimming somewhere?"
Kaella waved a hand at Winston's question. "That's the surprise, big fella'! Now, if y'all wouldn't mind holdin' onto each other, shoulders, hands, whatever; long as everyone's included." She stepped forward and took Hanzo and McCree's hand, the cowboy beamed, squeezing her hand and she smiled in return.
Hanzo could barely suppress the growl itching at his throat.
While the others were hesitant, they did as were told. Grasping each other tightly. Kaella's grin widened and her eyes glimmered with excitement. "Hold on!"
And then it was nebulae of blues and purples and pinks and every color imaginable, Hanzo gaped as he watched the clouds of color whizz by at an incredible rate, he heard similar gasps of shock from the others.
He looked at Kaella, who had her eyes closed and her head bowed in concentration. He watched her brow furrow and a bead of sweat slide down her temple, it must take a lot of strength to perform such a feat.
When the colors retreated far into the distance and he looked around, Hanzo realized that they were on a gorgeous beach. The waning sunlight gleamed gold and red on the waves making gentle hushing sounds as they lapped at the sand.
He looked around, the others were in a shocked stupor, Winston himself looked as though he was having trouble coming to terms with the world around him.
The shocked silence was broken by Lena's cheer of excitement, with a squeal of joy she threw her towel on the ground, flung her clothes to the side and zipped into the water.
This triggered cheers from the rest of the group as they raced over to the water, Hana challenged Lucio to a race into lovely waves, who looked slightly odd without his trademark skates. Fareeha and Ana moved to find a suitable place on the sand to watch the others run and play through the water. After a moment all that was left beside Kaella was himself, Winston and McCree- who Hanzo noticed hadn't let go of Kaella's hand.
Winston turned to look at Kaella in awe. "Where are we?"
She beamed at the monkey, "Hawaii, year 1774. We're a couple years 'fore the islands were found by a man called James Cook, not a whole lotta natives come to this particular beach 'cuz there's been sightin's of a witch here."
Hanzo sniffed. "I do not suppose that witch would be you?"
Kaella smirked in feign innocence, "I'm sure I ain't got the foggiest idea what yer talkin' about, hot shot."
Hanzo wasn't sure if the nick names infuriated him or if he found them endearing.
"Well I'll be a sun of gun! I was just talkin' 'bout how I needed a day at the beach! Thanks darlin'!" McCree placed a kiss on Kaella's cheek, the woman blushed and purred in amusement before watching the man run off, tossing his belongings onto the sand and diving into the glittering water.
Winston chuckled at the man-child's antics, before nodding his thanks to Kaella and moving off to join his friends.
Hanzo watched the monkey go and surveyed his teammates. Ana and Fareeha were laying on the sand in their bathing suits, laughing and talking with Jack and Angela. The four senior members would glance every so often to the larger group in the water, bursting into laughter when Hana completely toppled Lucio over into the water.
Lena was in a splash competition with Mei- who was extremely small, one could never tell what she looked like considering the warm clothes she wore constantly -Lucio, Hana, and Reinhardt, who seemed to be taking over a fatherly roll to make sure the younger ones were well taken care of. Just as Reinhardt sent an impressive wave into Lena with his forearm, booming with laughter, Torbjorn launched himself onto the man shoulders, demanding a chicken fight. McCree appeared beneath Lucio's shoulders, lifting him up and engaging Reinhardt and Torbjorn.
They were interrupted as Winston cannon balled into the water with a cry, Lena zipped over to the monkey, placing herself on his shoulders and declaring a three-way chicken fight.
Hanzo smiled, his teammates looked truly relaxed and happy, they hadn't had a moment to breathe, let alone enjoy a moment to play around in years. Something tugged at his heart, watching them enjoy themselves, while they were away, something could go wrong, someone could end up hurt, they could be attacked, there was any number of possibilities for things to go wrong. But at the moment, the world seemed to stand still to allow the Overwatch team a chance to relax.
"Hanzo? Can I talk with ya for a mo'?" He turned to see Kaella fidgeting, she had shed her usual outfit to be replaced with a lovely pink bikini, a stark contrast from her usual dark clothing. Her hair was down, wavy and curled from the amount of time it had been held up by the french braid. She looked timid almost, lips pressed into a firm line and a pink tint covering her cheeks to her ears.
Hanzo felt his heart skip a beat, she was adorable and beautiful rolled into one. "O-of course, what is it?"
She shifted even more, a hand on her hip and the other wringing the back of her neck. "I-I was wonderin'... D'ya... D'ya think McCree would wanna go on a date with me?"
Hanzo's breath caught in his throat. "What?" The question came out much more vehemently than he'd intended.
She jumped at his tone, eyes widening in fear she began wringing her hands. "D-d'ya think Jesse would go on a date with me? I-I know it's a bit far fetched b-but I-"
Hanzo cut her off with a scowl. "Do as you wish." He then turned and stalked away, finding a suitable spot far enough away from the other where he could meditate, his mood suddenly turned sour.
He had been sitting for all of five minutes before he heard a familiar hum next to him. "I suppose Lady Kaella asked about Agent McCree."
Hanzo grunted in affirmative, opening his eyes to find Kaella timidly walking up to the cowboy, after a moment a grin spread across Jesse's face and he wrapped the woman in a tight embrace, she seemed stunned, but returned the show of affection with a broad smile.
He scowled at the display of affection, turning his eyes away to stare ahead of him.
"Hanzo, have you considered what you are feeling might be jealousy?" The omnic hazard, with a gentle touch to Hanzo's shoulder.
Hanzo grit his teeth. "That is impossible, I simply do not trust the gunslinger."
Zenyatta hummed, nodded slightly. "You trusted him well enough before Kaella came to us."
He growled, the damn omnic always had an argument for everything it seemed.
"Zen! Come on I gotta show you something!" Genji was calling his master while waving a seashell in the air.
Zenyatta, nodded, turning to join the younger Shimada, but not before casting a final glance at Hanzo. "Hanzo, please consider the possibility." with that, he floated over to an overly-enthusiastic Genji.
Hanzo took a deep breath and released it slowly, looking down at his clenched fists, perhaps he should consider it.
A/N:
AAYYYYEEEE WHAT UP Y'ALL
I apologize for not posting last night, got carried away on Overwatch, y'all know how it is.
BTW if any of you were wondering about what Kaella said last chapter, since google translate will go all over the place, it's Latin.
Last chapter she said "Gods of the void, grant me your strength."
This chapter when she was healing Genji she said "Gods of the void, grant me your strength to heal this broken child"
Aaaaannnd we're just kinda gonna follow that theme basically.
I did not proof read this chapter, I am exhausted, so I apologize for any spelling errors.