[author's note:] a little tadashi/honey lemon one-shot meant for your tadahoney emotions. enjoy!
sunshine
For Tadashi Hamada, Honey Lemon was the epitome of sunshine.
It wasn't just because of how her eyes would glimmer under the light, or how her hair would remind him of golden strings. It wasn't just because of her bright clothing or her appearance.
"What's sunshine?" he once asked her.
Honey Lemon gave him a confused look, "It's the light emanating from the sun? The portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by it? "
Tadashi shook his head. "No, no. I meant, give me a figurative definition. You know, what does it ... symbolize? "
"Woah there, Shakespeare," Honey Lemon chuckled, "I think you asked the wrong student."
"Come one, Honey Lemon. It's just a personal question," Tadashi said, "What does it make you feel?"
She jokingly sighed as she put down her chemistry book.
"Okay then," she removed her glasses, "I think a sunshine would describe a person. It's someone who could make any gray day better. It's someone who can light up any darkness. Do you know that feeling when you see the first bit of sunlight after a stormy night? Yeah, that's how I feel when I'm with a sunshine."
And that was all he had to hear to know exactly what she meant.
He saw it in the way she would laugh, that's when her eyes shine the brightest. Just hearing her laugh would lift a huge pressure off his chest – it was a breath of fresh air. He loved how she talks about something she's enthusiastic about; her eyes would look so bright. He loved how her mere presence made everything feel better even at his darkest days.
She always had a way to look at the better side of things. The brighter side.
That's what made her shine.
It was her smile. Her laugh. Her reassurance.
When he was cramming for his finals, it was her who made him relax and take things slowly. When his experiment failed for the 50th time, it was her who assured her it was okay. When he felt useless as a student and as a brother, it was Honey Lemon that would hug him tight and say, "Stop thinking like that, Tadashi. Everything will get better. You just have to take things slowly."
Sometimes, he would be afraid that maybe he's just leeching off her sunshine.
He'll repay her one day, he was sure of it.
There were times where Tadashi would catch her with swollen eyes in the morning. Sometimes, he'd catch her asleep in her work area. Sometimes he would pretend he didn't hear her crying.
He knew she deserved to be happy and he wanted to be the one to grant her that happiness.
But...
...I'm sorry.
Fire. Fire engulfed the whole place. There was no escape.
I didn't make it through.
I'm sorry.
When the fire died down, all there was left was ash. It was dark and cold, and there was not a trace of sunlight to be seen.
XX
"From a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?"
She didn't respond.
XX
Up to this day, Honey Lemon could never forget how Tadashi had asked her about sunshine. She said it was someone who could make any grey day better. It's someone who can light up any darkness.
She had seen him at its weakest. She wanted to be there for him even at the lowest. But for some reason, she was glad that Tadashi isn't around to see her like this.
Clothed in her darkest and hair tied into a bun, she tried to hide her eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses and her deep sorrow behind her smiles of sympathy.
Long after the incident, she still visits him. Every visit she would try to appear stronger but it wasn't until today that she was finally able to tell what she had always wanted to say.
You'll never know dear
"I kept on telling you that everything would be okay. Everything's going great now. The gang's all right. We all just moved out of the Nerd Lab and going our separate ways. It was tough saying goodbye all over again but I'm sure we'll all see each other soon." she chuckles lightly.
"Aunt Cass is extending her shop. More and more customers are visiting. The business is expanding plus, she's been less stress eating nowadays. That's really good. Baymax is a miracle worker, as always."
"Hiro's already in his last term in SFIT. He'll be graduating, Tadashi. And to think years ago, you kept on worrying for him. I told you he could do it. He really did take up a lot from you, after all." She smiled then she closed her eyes. "I miss you."
Running a hand through her hair, she looks up to the clear sky.
How much I love you
"The weather's really nice today, just as Baymax told. Reminds me of a question years ago. What's a sunshine for me, you ask?"
She had to take a moment before speaking up again. She bit her quivering lower lip.
"It was you," she whispered. "And it will always be you."
Please don't take my sunshine away.
[end note:] ta-daaaaaaaaah! and i hope you enjoyed that rollercoaster of feels. so many plotholes for this but meh, this was only a small one-shot to get my writing fuels up again. hehehehehe.
you are my sunshine + otp = feels beyond compare
no doubt, a win/win formula guys.
-shishiyow-
