Remembering

What happened after they parted? The end of one thing is merely the start of another. Warning: Spoilers

Yuzuru Otonashi. He lost everything. His life. His friends… His love.

She had disappeared right in front of his eyes. In his embrace, she disappeared. All because she was able to believe that he loved her. He sat on the ground, trying to keep himself together. Then, everything went white.

The Real World

Kanade Tachibana (wanted to keep their names). An 18 year old grad student was idly minding her own business. She was leaning up against a wall, humming a song. Snow was falling all around her. It was Christmas Eve, and the streets were busy. Couples and such, walked around shopping.

Yuzuru Otonashi. Also 18 years old, had woken up that day feeling… Different. He was heading off to his friend's house when he passed by a girl humming something that he was somehow familiar with. He turned to get a full glimpse of her, and as soon as soon as he saw her full appearance, he passed out, memories of his life in limbo coming back to him.

Before he could hit the ground, he was caught by Kanade. 'Why does he look so familiar?'. It wasn't until a good 30 minutes before he woke up. She had taken him to her home, where she lived alone. Her parents passed away only years ago and she was living a stable life. She got good grades in school, but she didn't have to worry about money. The money that her parents made were enough to last a family for years. This didn't stop her from working however. She worked as a video game animator. His mind was sorting through everything that it had just obtained from his previous life. He woke to the sight of the girl he had fallen in love with. The one that also loved him. "Angel…"

Her eyes widened as memories of her past self flooded her mind. She fell forward onto Otonashi, and he held her in his arms, stroking her hair, waiting for her to wake up. Just then, a young girl, pink hair, maybe a year or two younger than him, walked in to see him holding her sister. Like normal people, when she saw someone holding her older sister, she freaked out, nearly passing out.

'Since when did she have a boyfriend!?' She thought, not thinking that he could be a possible intruder. "Y-Yui, is t-that you?" 'Did she tell him about me or something? Why does he sound so surprised?' "Yui, do you remember anything? Do you remember Girls Dead Mons-" before he could finish, she was falling to the ground, her memories coming back as well.

He caught her gently with his foot, put Kanade down, and brought her to him. He always liked Yui. She was like a sister to him. A very energized, sometimes annoying, but normally adorable little sister. He held her in his arms, tears coming out of his eyes at being able to see them once again.

Yui woke up only ten minutes later, instantly jumping into Yuzuru's chest. They rejoiced at being reunited. Neither of them had anything to not like each other for. Hell, Yui admired and respected his drive for taking the pacifist route. He even told the other guys to listen to her before judging her singing skills. He helped her practice her baseball skills, and never complained about helping. All in all, she saw him as the sibling she never had.

It took Kanade an hour to wake up. She had much more memories to sort through, considering that she was there before Yuzuru or Yui. When she finally came to, she launched herself at him, bringing him into a tight embrace.

He soothed her by stroking her hair, saying that it was okay and that they were back together. Eventually she calmed down enough that they could sit in peace, wondering what they would do next. They still had more people to find. Who knows what might've happened to them? Their first step? Find Yuri Nakamura. They suspected multiple places. For starters, local jobs, places like that. Another possible choice was to check the phone books. As boring as it is, they were bound to find her last name. Her parents were rich, afterall.

It took them a good 2 hours before they found it, and were surprised at how close she was to them. Only three miles out was her house. Now, they had to actually get there.

"Yui, let's go. We're going to go find her." The younger girl got up, excited that she could see Yuri again. They piled into Kanade's car, and drove off. Hoping to find their lost captain. It took them awhile, but they eventually came upon a very nice looking house. A car was parked outside of the house.

They exited their car and walked to the front door, knocked, and waited for Yuri to answer. Not much longer, the person that they were expecting, opened the door.

"Oh, hello. May I ask who the three of you are?" She asked cautiously. "Sis, who is it?" Came the shout of a younger girl. "Well, we're glad to see you again… Captain Yurippe."

Her eyes widened at the memories she was gaining. Although, it was at a much slower rate, not causing her to pass out. She instantly hugged Yuzuru, overjoyed that she could see him again. She then looked at Yui and Kanade, and was at a loss for words. Her siblings came to the door to find their oldest sister crying on the shoulder of a guy they had never seen before.

"It's gonna be fine, Yuri. We're all back now. It's just a matter of finding them. That's all." He said, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. Yuri then turned around to look at her siblings, the memories of her life in limbo still returning to her. The memories began at the most recent, and went backwards, so she was able to see Kanade as a friend, not an enemy.

With tears still in her eyes, she explained to them, what had happened. "These are my friends from when I was… From my previous life." This got them all confused. "You see, from what I can see from these memories, Yuzuru was the guy that basically ended by fight against Angel over there. In the end, I was able to see Kanade as a friend, and not an enemy. We were stuck in a state between life and death. There, we couldn't die. If your life there was fulfilling, you would disappear. Move on to the next life. This was something that the group that I led, was afraid about. I'll have to wait a bit more to explain it in more detail to you, but I hope you can understand that I'm still the same big sister that you guys have known since you were young. It's just that I've been reunited with some old friends." This got her siblings thinking.

"Well of course we would still see you as you. Just because you remember your time of being dead, won't affect us in any way. We just hope that you can get by, knowing that you were dead." The second oldest girl said. "Thank you Lily, I'm glad you understand the situation."

Yuri then turned to her two friends. "How come we know the events of our past lives and no one else does?" She asked the two. "We don't know, though I believe that to regain your memories, someone from that world has to regain their memories, and say something that was meaningful to you in that past life." Kanade explained.

"Eh, seems logical." Yuri said in a bored tone.

"Well, how do you guys want to spend the holidays? It is Christmas Eve after all." Yuzuru asked the others. "Well, we could have a little celebration at my place. No one but Yui lives with me, and it's a pretty cozy home." Kanade offered. "I can make it. What about you, Yuri?" Said girl raised her eyebrows in thought. "Hmm, I'll have to ask my parents. Knowing them though, they'll say yes as long as no alcohol or things like that are present. Knowing you guys, neither of you probably have those. They should be back in thirty minutes tops. How about you guys stay over for now? We could try and catch up." She said.

"Well, sounds like a plan! It'll be interesting to tell you about what's going on in this life." Yuzuru said in an excited tone. From what he knew, his little sister was alive and well. She was still in school, got good grades, and was an overall, good kid.

And so they talked. Not long after, Yuri's parents came home, they were fairly surprised that Yuri was home with some friends. They were glad that she was willing to let her friends into their home. She had never before had friends over, as she was worried about their home being left a mess.

"Yuri, I see you have friends over." Mr. Nakamura said to his eldest daughter. "Yeah, and they were wondering if I could go over to their house for a Christmas celebration tomorrow. They aren't bad people, and they don't do anything you would consider bad, so is it okay if I go?" She asked her parents. "Well, if they aren't going to do any unethical things, I say it's fine that you go. I'd like you home some time before midnight though." Mrs. Nakamura said.

They said their goodbyes and parted for their respective homes.

"Yo, sis, I'm back!" Yuzuru said to his younger sister, Hatsune. "Welcome back! Being home during winter break without you sure is boring." She said. "Heh, sorry about that. Say, do you want to go with me to my friend's house tomorrow? We're having a little Christmas celebration over there." He asked his little sister. "Sure, why not? It'll be fun to meet your friends I guess… Wait, none of them are perverts, right? Yuzuru, I swear, if any of them try anyth-" she was quickly interrupted by him. "No no, they're all girls. So far, it's me and only three girls. One of them is your age, too."

She seemed a bit questioning, but nevertheless, decided to agree on going with her older brother. "Well, sounds like fun. Goodnight Yuzuru. I'm super tired." She said, going to her room. "Alright, goodnight sis. See you in the morning."

The Next Day

"Hatsune, get ready, we're gonna leave in a couple minutes." Yuzuru told his younger sister. "Already? It's only… 6 PM?! Where did the time go? Eh, oh well, I'll go get ready." She said, returning to her room.

Once she was ready, they set out for Kanade's house. "So, these friends of yours, how nice are they?" She asked. "Well, Kanade is one of the most kind hearted people I know. She's caring, compassionate, and overall, a very good person. Yuri on the other hand is honestly, just as lovely as Kanade. Though, she's almost like her opposite. She's still nice, caring, and compassionate, but she had this other side of her that's full of adventure, unlike Kanade, who likes to stick to herself. Kanade's younger sister, Yui, is fun, brash, and kind of loud. Not the bad loud, but the fun loud. She's nice to be around, and always tries to raise everyone's spirits."

His sister looked at him with a smirk. "Well, sounds like someone has a little crush on someone." She said, expecting a reaction from him. Much to her disappointment, the only reaction she got was a slight chuckle. "I guess you're right Hatsune. I honestly like them both. Though, I like Kanade on a level slightly above Yuri. What do you think I should do? Confess to her at the party?" His sister just looked forward, looking at the road in front of them with a smile on her face. "Yeah, I think that's a great idea. A good Christmas gift too." She said dreamily.

She had always longed for her brother to have someone special. It excited her at the descriptions that he gave her.

Once they arrived, Yui answered the door. "Yuzuru! You're here! Finally, big sis has been waiting for you. Says she has something to tell you." Yui said with a slight giggle. "And you must be Yuzuru's sister! Oh, it's so nice to meet you! I've seen you in school before, never talked to you but" she went on and on, taking Hatsune away to keep on talking to her.

'Better not keep Kanade waiting.' He said, and entered the house. "Hey, Angel, Yui said you had something to tell me." He said, approaching the girl that was sitting at her dinner table, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. She clearly tensed up a bit at him saying this. "Y-yeah…" She then looked at the ground. "I remember what you said before we passed on… Did… Did you really mean what you said? How you love me for all that I am?" "Of course Kanade. I said it myself. I would always love you no matter what happens. I was going to ask you the same question." He said with a chuckle. He brought her into a hug.

"Awww~" they heard from just outside the room. "I knew you could do it bro! Though, I don't really understand what she means by before you guys passed on. Is she saying like, broke up or something? What's going on?" Hatsune said. "Well, this might be a bit difficult to tell you, but… I have memories of my past life. When I was in the realm between life and death. You see, Yuri, Kanade and I, plus some other guys, we're all friends in this realm. Though, I only became friends with Kanade later on." His sister raised her eye at this. Though she believed that reincarnation was possible, she didn't think that it would be possible for someone to regain those memories.

"Well, okay then I guess. That is possible… Or at least I think it is." She said, unsure of her older brother. Before they could continue, there was a knock on the door, signifying that Yuri was here. Yui immediately shot out of her seat. "I got it!" She then raced down the steps to greet their guest.

And their Christmas celebration went very well. Yuri was greeted warmly, introduced to Hatsune, and then they ate.

"So, I noticed that you brought that backpack along, Yuri. Might I ask what is in it?" Kanade asked politely. "Well, my parents said if I wanted to stay over, it would be fine. As long as it's okay with you, that is." And of course, Yui jumped at this. "Kanade! Can they please stay over? Pleeeease! It'd be so much fun! We could" and she continued babbling on, entertaining everyone there with all her suggestions of things that they could do. "Alright Yui, it's fine. They can stay if they want." This caused the girl to explode with excitement. "Alright, Hatsune, I'm gonna go home and get some clothes for us, okay? You'll be alright here, right?" Yuzuru asked his sister. She nodded and went back to watching Yui as she was still talking about the things that they could do, despite Kanade telling her to stop. You just can't stop Yui.

Their night went on very satisfyingly. You pick what this means *winks*

AN: Alright! Christmas one-shot! Woo! Merry Christmas guys, or whatever holiday you celebrate. Despite my family not being Christian, we still celebrate Christmas as a way to be with family. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

This is the second one-shot I wrote in the same day. The first was my Fairy Tail one-shot, "Framed". You should check it out if you haven't already. If you have, check my profile. I should have some more Christmas one-shots if you haven't already read them all.