/**

* Warnings: Headcanons and OOC-ness. And probably feels. Dunno. You have been warned.

* Update schedule: Yes, I am setting an update schedule for this thing. Twice a week: Tuesdays and Saturdays. But don't worry about me not being able to write on time. The story's already finished.

* Please review.

*/

I

Arthur

Unknown place. Unknown date, Unknown time

Arthur opened his eyes to a vast expanse of darkness. He felt strangely light, as if he was floating, and also strangely comfortable. He tried to remember how he had gotten there - wherever "there" was - but there was only a memory of cracking sounds, a sharp pain in his torso, his life in fast-forward, and a blinding white light...

His life in fast-forward. A blinding white light.

... Huh. So he had died.

Figured. There was no way anyone would survive being crushed to a wall by a speeding truck.

Arthur heaved a sigh of relief. Most people would probably find it strange - not that it was something new - that he was relieved that he had died, but his mind only thought of the little girl that he had pushed out of the way and how thankful he was that it wasn't her who suffered this fate. The girl had too much to live for yet and there are a lot people who would no doubt be saddened if she were to perish. He on the other hand...

So he was dead, huh? Arthur didn't quite know what to make of his current situation. He didn't exactly believe in heaven or hell or even the purgatory, but he did wonder if the vast expanse of darkness he found himself floating in was one of them.

"This is not heaven, Arthur," a female voice said. "Nor is it hell. It's not quite purgatory either."

A lady in white materialized in front of him, with shining copper hair and gentle green eyes. He thought she looked familiar, perhaps a face from a very long time ago, but he couldn't put his finger on a name.

"This is a holding place," she continued. "For people who will be given a second chance at life."

"A second chance?" Arthur echoed. The lady smiled.

"It's not really the right term, I suppose. After all, you are still alive, although barely."

"So, it's like a coma? The kind of situation where it depends on my will whether I live or not?"

"Something like that." The lady's smile turned sad. "But your case is different."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

"You will be given 24 hours," she replied. "Within this time, you must find proof that at least one other person wants you to live."

Arthur gaped at her. She wanted him to do what?

"Wha- How am I supposed to do that?"

"Surely it's easy enough to do?" the lady asked, but it's obvious that she knew his situation very well.

"Surely you jest. You gave me this sort of test exactly because you know my situation," Arthur replied. He wasn't quite irritated. Rather, he knew he sounded as resigned as he felt. "Everybody who knows me hates me. Or is indifferent. And for those people who hate me, I'm pretty sure I'm on the top of their list of 'people who deserve to be hit by a truck', if I'm not the only one on it."

"You must be exaggerating." She didn't sound too convinced.

Arthur sighed. "My brothers tell me they hate me all the time. Everybody else talks behind my back about how I'm so grumpy, crazy, prideful, annoying, ugly... They call me names. I'm the butt of every joke. They prefer to play their pranks on me. It's... It's hard to believe that anybody actually cares.

"I know I don't really show how hurt I am and how lonely I am, but surely they'd think about my feelings? I... It hurts... It's sad... But I can't appear weak, you know? I... I was strong. I was great. I... I was. Past tense. I'm not strong anymore. I don't have anything to lessen the impact of those rocks anymore. Surely... Surely they see that?

"This... This test is useless. I know I wouldn't be able to find proof of anybody caring with only 24 hours. It's impossible..."

Arthur had curled himself up into a ball in the middle of his tirade without noticing, tears pricking at the sides of his eyes. He was surprised he even managed to hold them in. Perhaps it became too much of a habit that he could even do it unconsciously.

The lady was crouched in front of him with the same sad smile on her face. "Please don't say that. You wouldn't know until you try."

"Optimism won't really help much..."

"Pessimism would only seal your fate," she reprimanded. "Isn't it better to have a choice?"

Arthur laughed without humor. "Is there one? A choice?"

"You think it's an illusion?"

"Of course," he nodded and stood up, squaring his shoulders. Like he had said, he didn't like appearing weak. "There's only one outcome after all."

The lady looked up at him and smiled, but it didn't look so sad anymore. She looked... Optimistic. "People may sometimes surprise you.

"Humans are complex beings. There is no way to know what somebody is thinking or feeling. I only ask that you not put words into their mouths, Arthur. Try to keep an open mind. There must be a reason why they do the things they do."

"Do you think those reasons are reasons enough?" Arthur asked.

"What do you think?"

There wasn't really a question. "I suppose, in all respects, they must be."

~.;*;.~

Los Angeles, USA. March 26, 11:04 am

Arthur opened his eyes to blinding white light. Funny, he thought, that it was the opposite of his previous awakening. His body felt heavy, like it was made of lead. He heard people talking over a steady beeping sound...

"Mommy, he's awake!"

The shrill voice made him flinch and groan, and immediately, the same shrill voice let out a whispered "sorry".

"It's fine..." Something over his mouth and nose muffled his words a bit, but the girl standing beside his bed looked like she understood him. It seemed the owner of the shrill voice was the girl he had saved. She beamed at him.

"The doctors were saying that it'll take a miracle for you to open your eyes again. You've been asleep for four days, you know. I'm glad the miracle happened, mister! I still had to thank you for saving me."

Arthur chuckled, or at least tried to. He ended up with a coughing fit instead. "Aren't you quite mature for being such a young lady?"

Her smile was so sweet and innocent. He really was glad the she wasn't in his position. "Mommy said to thank everybody who helps me. And you helped me so I had to thank you."

"And you have, honey. Now we must let him rest, alright?" the lady behind the girl said. The girl chirped an "okay!", waved Arthur goodbye, and was out the door in a few moments.

Now that the distraction was gone, Arthur could suddenly feel the pain in his torso. It was a bit dull compared to after he got hit by the truck - he figured it must be because of painkillers - but it was still painful to breathe. Every rise and fall of his chest rattled his insides and he kept blacking out. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt that much pain...

But he had a mission. He had 24 hours to find proof that at least one other person would like him to live... Did the girl before count? She did say she was glad that the miracle happened...

No, she only wanted to thank him. And she had. She had said the magic words and there wasn't anymore reason for her to want him alive.

What reason could anyone have to want him to be alive? He and his brothers didn't get along too well. His colleagues would do anything not to be paired up with him. There wasn't really anybody else around who knew even a little bit of him to care. What reason could anyone have to want him alive?

If Arthur wasn't in so much pain right then, he would have sighed. He instead let out a shaky breath, groaning when his chest flared up in pain again. He barely registered the needle that went into his arm and the clock on the wall that read "11:23" before his consciousness faded and the darkness swallowed him once again.