Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who reads my Hansel and Gretel stories! I really appreciate your reviews as well :) I'm going to start taking requests for Hansel and Gretel one shots, message me if you would like one.
I don't own Hansel and Gretel, this story is purely for entertainment. Enjoy :)
Hansel, Hansel, Hansel, Hansel, Hansel, Hansel.
Her voice hissed in his head over and over. Hansel tossed and turned on the floor as his blissful sleep was interrupted by nightmare.
Hansel, Hansel, Hansel.
Her voice grew louder and angrier. Hansel couldn't see her face but he knew it was her. He began to sweat and his breathing sped up.
Hansel! Hansel!
She was screaming now. Hansel couldn't take it. Her voice was filled with so much pain and hated. She continued to scream his name until Hansel couldn't take it anymore. "Mina!" He yelled and shot up from his sleep, hitting his head on the bottom of his sister's bed. He wailed quietly while he rubbed the bump forming on his fore head. He heard Gretel roll over in her bed but he hadn't woken her up. Hansel thought over his nightmare; Mina was pale and bloody, just the way she looked when she died in Hansel's arms. That was a few months ago but Hansel can't seem to get over it. He replays it in his mind everyday, which has caused him to start having nightmares.
Hansel rolled over from underneath the bed and sat up, leaning against it. I held his head in his hands with his elbows sitting on his knees. He thought about Mina; her golden sunset hair, her soft skin that always seemed to shine, her big brown eyes, her petite lips that have just enough pink in them and her smile that always made him want to smile. She looked so beautiful that day they went swimming in the lake; a couple days after that sweet memory was made, she was killed.
Hansel started crying silently to himself as he once again relived her death. Her face was calm but her eyes showed the fear that she felt inside. Then her beauty began to fade as her blood poured from her wound. Her hair was dirty, her shiny skin faded to an unhealthy white, her eyes projected her fear, her lips lost their colour and her smile had disappeared forever.
The pain in Hansel's chest strengthened as his mind showed him images of what haunted him at night. During the day Hansel hunted evil witches, which lifted some of the weight off of his shoulders; he felt like he was doing something good for the world and preventing other good witches from dying. But all your worst fears hide in the dark and you can never escape them. A soft sob escaped from his lips but it was loud enough to wake up his sister. Gretel rolled over so she was facing away from the wall. "Hansel?" She said sleepily. "Hey, what's wrong?" She sat up quickly but lazily and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head on his right shoulder looking up at him. Hansel sighed loudly as if it would prevent the tears from falling.
"I can't...I can't get her out of my head. When she-" He said trying not to break down again but Gretel interrupted him. "Hey! That wasn't your's or anyone else's fault. We can't take it back and you know that she wouldn't blame you." She said still sounding tired as she stroked his hair trying to sooth him. "It's okay, Hansel. We couldn't stop what happened but we were able to stop it from happening again. We got that bitch good." She laughed softly which allowed Hansel to loosen up as well. He did feel good about getting his revenge on Muriel but he felt bad for not killing her before she got to Mina. "Yeah, but still...I just wish I could have saved her, maybe then I could sleep at night." He looked down at his knees avoiding Gretel's eyes. Gretel sighed softly through her nose then stopped stroking Hansel's hair. "It's okay, we're gonna get through this together. We'll go into town tomorrow to see if we can get something for you to help you sleep. But you need to stop punishing yourself for what happened. There's nothing you could have done. I'm not telling you to forgive and forget, because you can't just forget about something like, someone like her." Gretel paused allow what she just said to sink in. "You have to forgive yourself, Hansel. It's unhealthy to carry all this guilt around. If you had had the chance to save her, you would've done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately you weren't given that chance but that's okay because you were given the chance to say goodbye instead." Hansel started crying again because he knew how right Gretel was.
What if Mina had died and he wasn't there to see her before she passed? The ache in his chest was replaced with something a lot less painful; gratitude. He looked at his sister who was waiting for him to respond to what she had said. Instead of saying anything, Hansel got up off the floor and hugged his sister. Gretel hugged him tightly because she knew that this was his way of saying 'thank you'. "Now, try and get back to sleep, but don't dream." She patted him on the back then laid back down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Hansel nodded to himself and got back down on the floor then rolled underneath the bed. He fell into deep, blissful sleep once again. He did end up dreaming, he dreamt about that day at the lake. It didn't go into too much detail, it was purely focused on how beautiful Mina was. His dream wasn't interrupted once, he was able to sleep until morning. He woke up as the morning sun shone over his face. He rolled out from underneath the bed and walked out of the room they were staying in. He watched the sun rise; it was beautiful, the same colour as Mina's hair. He smiled to himself then walked back into their room.
Gretel was just waking up and from the looks of it she hadn't slept as well as Hansel had. Hansel walked into the room cheerfully and called out to his sister, "Come on, lets go hunt some witches!"
Let me know what you think :)