First Breaths After A Coma

“Hazuki. Hazuki there is someone here,” she whispered.

His eyes awakened fully and he bolted up from his repose.

“Can they see you?” he asked her.

“Not likely,” she answered.

Hazuki frantically gathered his things and began to apologize before he was even out of the tent. Outside, two officers were waiting along with a park employee.

“He isn’t a problem. Please!” said the park employee.

“I’m s-sorry! I haven’t asked anyone for anything or bothered anyone. I’m sorry,” said Hazuki with a deep bow and a shaking voice.

“This park is not for sleeping. There have been reports from citizens. The tourist season has begun and we cannot have you staying here,” stated one of the officers as he stepped towards the tent.

Naoe was there hiding in the tent but it did seem as though none of the others could see her. Still, as the officer stepped towards the tent, Hazuki felt a sense of terror that she might be seen and the two of them be accused of something indecent.

“I’ll move! I’ll m-m-move out of sight!” he answered.

The officers paused and sighed in frustration.

“This tent better not be here this afternoon,” said the first officer as he stepped back.

The park employee bowed then began escorting them away with a quick glance over his shoulder to see if Hazuki was okay. The employee was a small, round man in his middle years. Hazuki felt as though he had seen him through the years.

After the employee shuffled the officers away, Hazuki extended his hand to help Naoe out of the tent. Naoe noticed his knuckles were rough as her fingers briefly grazed against them but she quickly pivoted to focusing on the shake emanating from his hand as he held onto hers.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Hazuki blinked and clinched his jaw before trying to speak but could not. The tremors continued and he stood there still holding her hand. Blinks came faster and he turned away from her.

“I’ll- I’ll find somewhere nearby…” he said quietly.

Both of them could feel a weight of despair slowly gaining force between them. After years of being apart, the notion of being separated again for even a moment felt like a blow to the chest. For Naoe, her secret revelation was whirling in her mind, causing her to want to cling to Hazuki as much as possible.

Even though the park was enormous, Hazuki now feared that his ability to stay there would face greater friction if he was now being watched by the local authorities. Naoe finally tried to speak.

“I don’t want you to go. I… I want you to stay near,” replied Naoe in a low voice.

Hazuki turned to her after blinking his eyes clear.

“You can’t leave this tree in any capacity?” he asked.

Naoe didn’t respond at first. In her head she was weighing ideas and solutions. Leaves around her rustled in the breeze and she looked up at the blossoms.

“I have to be near the tree, but what if the tree moved?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Hazuki.

A frantic solution proposed itself to Naoe and she reached up to a nearby branch and plucked a flower blossom. Excitement shined in her nervous expression as she looked to Hazuki then slowly began to step away from the tree. Step by step she moved inches further from the trunk, until the grass met the sidewalk. Naoe paused and inhaled then stepped forward with her eyes closed. Her body tensed as though awaiting some sort of impact but nothing happened, causing her to exhale deeply then turn in elation to Hazuki.

“It doesn’t hurt!!” she proclaimed with excitement.

“Hurt?” asked Hazuki.

“I’ve tried to leave the tree before, but it felt like my whole body was being touched with a hot iron as soon as I left the range of the roots. It doesn’t hurt now!” she replied.

Hazuki stepped to her and joined her on the sidewalk.

“So when we first met?...” he asked.

“I was trying to see how far I could go, but the pain was excruiciating. I closed my eyes and didn’t see you coming. Otherwise I would have moved. I was even more shocked that you could see me after you ran into me,” Naoe answered.

Both of them smiled in a quick reflection on the importance of that single decision from all those years ago. Had Naoe not tried to see how far she could go, they may never have met.

“I’m very grateful you were on the sidewalk that day,” said Hazuki.

“Me too,” answered Naoe.

Once again, she began her cautious steps, stress-testing the range she could go, all the while holding the blossom in her hand like a sacred talisman. Each step seemed to bring her greater and greater joy. Hazuki limped along beside her, ready to grab her and rush her back to the tree if necessay. Still, the pain did not come, and she soon was several meters away from the tree. Naoe paused and inhaled deeply in celebration of her temporary freedom.

“So you’ve never tried this before?” Hazuki asked.

“If I have, I don’t remember it. There are a lot of things I don’t remember either. Hundreds of years of memories are hard to hold sometimes…”

Hazuki saw her sad smile appear once again. He found himself also smiling a somber smile. Two people both unsure of who they truly were, unable to remember much of their past, now connected by a mystical tree. It was a very interesting dynamic.

“I think if I have something alive from the tree, I can move freely!” she said.

“So as long as the petal is alive and on you, you can go wherever?” asked Hazuki.

“So it seems!” said Naoe with a spin of joy.

Following several minutes more of range testing, the two of them slowly made their way back to the tree. Naoe’s blossom petals had started to curl and they feared the lifeforce might fade soon. Thus they returned to the tree and began to pack Hazuki’s tent.

His personal effects and shelter were loaded into his backpack in solemn acceptance. Naoe looked out at the thousands of other trees.

“It’s a very big park,” she said.

“Have you never seen it?” Hazuki asked.

She shook her head.

“My tree used to be by itself. These were all planted and cultivated, but it was long after I had been confined. So I got to watch everything change and grow, but never experience it.”

Hazuki pondered her answer.

“We can start trying to explore if you want. With more blossoms…” he proposed.

Naoe seemed to like the idea but she smiled her familiar, secretive smile that held hints of sadness.

“That only lasts so long, and I don’t want to hurt the tree. But we can try,” she answered.

A single blossom was selected and clasped into Naoe’s left hand. Hazuki held out his left hand and Naoe took it in her right. With a deep breath in, she stepped back onto the sidewalk and the two of them set out into a new direction within the park.

This became their routine over the next several days. One blossom per day was the ration, and they decided to only trust its longevity to a few hours. Still, it was enough time for them to slowly make their way through the sea of blossoming trees and fields of vibrant flowers.

Time flowed gently for a brief moment. Through the days, their hands stayed together like a binding thread. Every new view was a moment of wonder and joy for Naoe and Hazuki found himself rekindling his true appreciation for the park.

Each smile from Naoe chipped away at his silent wall of trauma-hardened distance. Often it felt like he was experiencing the wonder and joy for the first time himself, or at least in a similar sensation to someone waking from a long coma. Just as the trees shook off the freeze from the harsh winter and greeted the world in a blooming display of life, Hazuki found himself thawing from the winter of his soul.

Naoe felt it as well, and even with the secret festering in her heart, allowed herself to experience as much joy in the moment as possible. Whatever sorrow she’d felt waiting for him, she knew she would stop it from ever coming to fruition. Whether or not he ever knew about it, she did not yet know. If possible, she would never tell him.

For the moment, she was focused on the sensations of happiness and new adventure blooming in her heart. It had been some time since she had felt anything close to that, and she was grateful for Hazuki to be there sharing it with her.

On more than one occasion, Naoe found herself admiring the boyish handsomeness that crept through the fragmented spirit before her. His hair still occasionally fell over his eyes, but it was a weathered, tired look that Naoe actually began to appreciate. Small flutters in her chest sent confusing signals to Naoe’s heart and she wondered if she had ever felt such a thing, or what they even meant.

In time, Hazuki found a hidden grove nestled in the western edges of the park that was decently off the walking paths. They felt it was the safest option for him, so he made his home there. Every night, he would stay awake as long as he could so that they did not have to part, then would silently make his way to his secret hideaway for a few hours of fitful sleep.

Even when he was hundreds of meters away, Naoe could feel his dreams pulsing and gliding through the darkness to her heart. When they arrived, she closed her eyes and luxuriated in the sensation of being connected to him even when he was not there. It was a sensation she cherished, and she hoped one day he would as well. No matter what, those days were days of light and impermanent tranquility. Just like her blossoms, she knew they would bloom in vibrance then fall and fade. But for now, their world was full of gentle color and soft pleasantness.