See You on the Other Side
A Big Hero 6 FanFiction
EDITED 10/3/14 DUE TO ELIMINATOR
Hey! I found this song called See You on the Other Side by Shaun Canon, and it totally reminded me of Hiro and Tadashi. So I decided to make a fic inspired by it
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6, only the plot.
See You on the Other Side
Hiro Hamada gazes down blankly at the memorial of his older brother Tadashi. He looks longingly at the portrait of his brother, watching his grinning face and relaxed posture, like a ghost out of the past.
Hiro can take it no longer. With a frustrated, strangled scream, he turns and runs.
And runs.
And runs.
Tears run blindignly down his face, blocking his vision as he tries to rush away from the haunting memories.
But he fails. The memoris come regardless. Like cut scenes from a movie, they flicker through his mind.
Tadashi holding him after a nightmare.
Tadashi jumping excitedly, having recived his acceptance letter to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.
Tadashi joking about "nerd school".
Tadashi helping Aunt Cass around the cafe.
Tadashi helping him "shake up" his ideas.
Tadashi.
Tadashi.
Tadashi.
Overwhelmed, Hiro collapses blindly on the side walk, ignoring the odd looks of the passersby.
Just when everything was going right, Tadashi was taken from him. Hiro descends into a dark abyss, feeling yhe sobs choke his breath.
I love you, Tadashi.
I miss you.
~oOo~
Hiro recalls the fire.
The deep, resounding blast.
The fear, and the panic.
The overwhelming panic.
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Hiro gazes down at his brother's baseball cap, clenched tightly in his hands.
Catching his breath, he smooths out all of the wrinkles. Trying to stop another stream of memories.
At first, Hiro welcomed the memories. They were a connection to his brother. They were the only thing he had left.
But they were too painful.
The worst one is the fire.
The red, hot flames.
The crackling, twisted wood collapsing.
His brother, selfless as always risking his life to save one soul.
His brother, losing his life.
Hiro recalls it as if it happened only moments ago. He knows that the memory will never fade. It will always be his living nightmare.
~oOo~
Hiro had stopped eating awhile ago. All he does is sit on his bed, gazing at what used to be his brother's room. Distantly, he is aware of Aunt Cass coming in and switching out yet another uneaten meal with a fresh one. On an urge, he stands up and looks down at the ballcap on the bed. So many memories, so much pain.
He walks back to bed, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. He only distanly registers a small pain in his toe as it jams against the bed frame. He mutters "ow" out of instinct, and only looks up when he hears the sound of something inflating. He watches in shock as a white robot makes it way over to him.
"Hello. I am Baymax, you're personal healthcare companion."
Even as Baymax scans Hiro and diagnoses him with "puberty", all Hiro can think is that even after death, his brother still continues be bless his life.
And as Baymax leads him aroumd town following a microbot, Hiro's sadness begins to fade and starts to be taken over with determination.
~oOo~
Hiro looks around at Tadashi's assembled friends. After having been contacted by Baymax to help resolve his depression, the quartet had arrived just in time to save Hiro's life.
And now, they are preparing to help him avenge his brother.
Hiro scans them and races around the garage (read "lab") and mutters to himself as he throws together computerized concept sketches of what will be their armor. For the first time since his brother's death, Hiro feels he has a purpose.
He finally feels that he is doing something to help his brother.
For the first time since the memorial, Hiro allows a small smile to slip across his face, gone as fast as it appears.
He has a lot of work to do and, glancing over at his friends, he has finally found the will to do it.
~oOo~
Hiro glares down with hatred at the man before him. This man...
After stealing Hiro's mircrobots...
After trying to kill Hiro...
After trying to kill his friends...
This man is the one that Tadashi lost his life for.
Looking down at the cowering form before him, Hiro fails at trying to muscle up some form of pity. Instead, he only feels deep, burning malice.
"Baymax," he says in a calm, collectes voice, "destroy. "
Baymax looks at him blankly. "It is against my programming to hurt a human being."
Impatience bubbles to the surface of Hiro's emotions. "Not anymore!" Standing up tall, Hiro removes his healthcare chip and tosses it aside. "Now Baymax, destroy!"
Hiro watches with an odd churning feeling in his stomach as it takes all of his friends combined to subdue Baymax and as Callaghan escapes, feeling his chance for justice escapw with him.
Overcome with extreme emotions, he barely listens as his friends rebuke him, and flies back to the garage the minute that they shut their mouths.
~oOo~
"I am satisfied with my care."
Hiro watches as Tadashi's smiling face looks down on him from Baymax's video playback system. Hiro feels distant and cold at the memory if how excited his brother looked at the thought of finally inventing something that could truly help people.
And Hiro had used that invention to try to kill.
Feeling like he has betrayed his brother, Hiro breaks down into sobs. He barely looks up as his friends enter the garage, and only cries as they all put their arms around him.
I am so, so sorry Tadashi.
As Hiro feels the love that his friends have for him, something warm begins to blossom up and fill the gaping hole that has been eating up his heart since his brother's death.
He would still capture Callaghan, but it would not be through murder.
If he wants Tadashi's memory to truly live on, then he will uphold his final wish, to help all of those around him.
If he wants his friends to forgive him, then he will have to work hard to help people, and not hurt.
~oOo~
Hiro gazes at the wreckage of Krei Industries around him.
They are almost done.
They have Callaghan.
They have destroyed the microbots.
There is only the portal left.
But according to Baymax, there is life within it.
As Hiro tears his brain apart as to what to do, Tadashi's face springs unbidden into his mind.
"You're going to help so many people!"
He realizes that there is only one choice that Tadashi would make.
He leaps onto Baymax's back. " Let's go!"
As they rocket into the hyperspace, Hiro feels a sense of peace, as if he is finally discovering what it means to be a hero and, above all else, what it means to be Hamada.
If he saves only one life, he will be satisfied.
~oOo~
Hiro looks at the lone red fist, trying to resist the memories. He was gone.
His last connection to his brother, lost in the space between worlds.
But he can't feel regret. He knows that Baymax and his brother were content with their sacrifice. They wouldn't have wanted to go any other way. It was their mission to help others.
Hiro turns in a circle as he surveys Tadashi's old workroom at SFIT, now his. He feels both happiness and sadness as he spots pieces of his old life lingering in the room. A small smile makes its way onto his face as he spots a picture sitting on the corner.
He walks over and picks it up. It was taken about ten years ago, when Hiro was five. Tadashi had grabbed Hiro by the ankles and was dangling him upside down. Hiro felt gentle tears make their way up to the surface. Still smiling, he wipes them away, this time relishing in the memories instead of pushing them away.
He still misses his brother. He always will.
But it will no longer hold him back.
A gleam at the corner of his vision catches his eye. Following his instincts, he follows it to Baymax's fist and pries the fingers open.
Inside rests the green healthcare chip.
Hiro now allows the tears to flow freely.
~oOo~
Hiro no longer lets himseld be held up by the past. He hangs around with Big Hero 6, laughing and talking, loving freely and never hesitating to help.
He goes to "nerd school," and makes inventions that truly change the world for the better. And, of course, there is still the big job of keeping a city like San Fransokyo safe.
As he grows, he only gets stronger. He begins to say "thank you" and "I love you" more to Aunt Cass.
He grows more humble.
Gentle.
Tender.
He falls in love, gets married, and starts a family, teaching his children to work, share, and, above all else, love and help others.
Through his life, he never forgets his brother, and the powerful lessons he taught Hiro even after he had passed.
And for which Hiro was eternally grateful.
~oOo~
Tadashi Hamada smiles down on his brother. He had shared every moment with him. Every bit of laughter, joy, and excitement.
Every bit of sorrow, anger, and fear.
Though Hiro may not know it, Tadashi was there every step of the way, guiding and protecting.
He smiles both in sadness and joy as he watches Hiro laying prostrate on the bed, surrounded by friends and family. He has built an amazing life for himself.
Tadashi watches silently as Hiro breathes out his last living words.
"I am...satisfied...with my...care."
As Hiro crosses over, Tadashi is standing there to greet him, flanked on either side by their parents. Holding his arms out, he gathers his younger brother in a long awaited hug.
"I'm so proud of you, Hiro."