Chapter 7
Emi was sleeping peacefully for a while. In her dream she opened her eyes and she was outside the expo that was now up in flames. Her eyes widened and started to back away when she noticed Hiro and Tadashi closer to the entrance. She ran towards them quickly to try to get them away but Tadashi had run inside already and the building's entrance exploded. Emi fell backward and suddenly jerked awake on the hard floor, tears running down her face. She looked around but now she saw the inside off the building and fire was surrounding her and she could barely move.
In reality she was tangled in blankets on the ground struggling and looking around quickly. She started coughing on what she thought was smoke and her eyes were burning as she cried. She was terrified. In her thrashing about she had knocked her bag to the ground and was just making racket.
Tadashi, who had settled for just crashing on the couch after his long day and so that he could be near if Emi needed him, was startled awake by the sound of crashing coming from the basement. Within moments he's on his feet and racing down the stairs, panicking slightly when he saw the young woman thrashing on floor. "Emi!" he cried, racing over to her and scooping her up into his arms. "Emi, what is it, what's wrong?" Emi felt really hot like she was burning.
She didn't reply at first and when he touched her he saw the fire at the expo again. Flames surrounded them in a circle. She saw him clinging to her once he touched her. She saw him in the fire and stared at him. "T-Tadashi? Wh-how?" She asked, tears were running down her face. Tadashi, for his part, was completely freaking out. They were back in the fire-how?! Oh gosh, he seriously hoped that he was actually dreaming right now... Emi started coughing. "Tadashi...? Where did you come from? You weren't here a moment ago..." She said after she stopped coughing on the smoke.
"I-I don't know," Tadashi answered shakily. "I came down into the basement when I heard you screaming, and I saw you thrashing on the floor and when I picked you up... Suddenly I was here! What-what's going on? Where are we?" "I'm not really sure... I think we're back at the expo fire...But weren't we at the cafe?" she asked just as confused. "Definitely," Tadashi agreed, looking shaken. "We... I don't think we could have dreamed getting out of the fire, there's waaaay too much detail... So, do you think maybe we're dreaming this now?" Emi thought about it. "But how? I saw you and Hiro outside the building a little while ago!"
"Don't you remember what happened yesterday?" Tadashi pressed. "We... We were in the hospital and everything!" She focused quietly for a moment. "But if it's all just a dream... Then why is it so real? The fire has heat, the smoke is just as bad to breathe in as regular smoke... This doesn't make any sense..." she replied. "And I can see. And walk. I can't do that at the café..." she replied trying to figure out what was happening but was only getting more confused. "I... I don't know..." Tadashi admitted before something hit him. "Hold on-I-I didn't end up in here until I picked you up... If I try something, will you promise not to freak out?" Emi took a deep breath but nodded.
"All right then..." Tadashi very gingerly set her down and then, slowly, let go of her. In an instant, he was back in the basement. Emi tensed up when he vanished but didn't freak out. She looked around slightly. She wasn't sure what had happened. As soon as he was sure that he actually was back in the basement, pinching himself to make sure that he was awake, Tadashi touched Emi's arm again and within an instant he's back inside the fire. She gasped when he reappeared. "Well? What happened?" she asked curiously.
"I-we-were back in the garage!" Tadashi explained, feeling slightly relieved. "I mean-I was definitely there, and you were there in front of me... But you weren't really moving, it's kind of like... Like you're passed out or dreaming or something, and when I touch you, somehow I get pulled into the dream as well!" She looked at him confused. "But...Then how are you in my dream or nightmare or possible hallucination?" she asked. "I... Have absolutely no idea," Tadashi confessed. "But I think we try to need to figure out a way to get you out of it-although I'm kind of afraid to really try anything because I'm not sure if I might accidentally do something that might hurt you..."
Emi thought. "If it's a dream then I just need to wake up right?" "Right..." Tadashi agreed. "But how?" She asked. "A shock or something usually does the trick..." "Yeah," Tadashi agreed. "And I'd try using something from the outside, but I'm just worried that I might somehow cause a problem if I force you awake since we're not sure exactly what's happening..." "If it's a dream then shouldn't I have control?" she asked, thinking. She thought of something. "I can't seem to get the fire to go away or teleport us out of here... So let's try to just get out of the building." She said, standing up. "Right," Tadashi agreed. "Let me go first, I want to make sure that it's safe."
"But if you let go of me then you'll disappear again." "Gah, right..." Tadashi frowned at the reminder. "All right-together, then." She nodded and put her hand in his. She smiled as confidently as she could. Carefully, Tadashi reached one hand out, just barely touching the flames. Instantly, relief washed over him. "It-it's hot, but it's not burning," he said, looking back at Emi with relief. "I don't think we'll die if we go through it!" Emi nodded. "Okay. Let's go."
Tadashi carefully led Emi through the fire, back towards the same emergency exit that they'd used-wow, was that only two days ago? Despite the fact that he was pretty sure nothing could hurt them in here, he still did his best to keep them as far away from the flames and any falling debris as possible. Emi looked around as they headed out and she stopped when something slithered past her. She saw glimpses of little black things scurrying across the floor. "The heck?" Tadashi muttered, staring down in confusion. "Those... those are Hiro's microbots, aren't they?" he finally managed to get out, looking back at Emi. She nodded and turned to see where they were going and saw a figure in the middle of a lot of them.
"Who...?" Tadashi strained to see through the flames, only to let out a gasp as he finally recognized the figure. "P-Professor Callaghan?" Emi gasped as well. "PROFESSOR!" Tadashi called out, almost letting go of Emi's hand in his desperation to get to his mentor but reminding himself that it would be all for naught if he did. "PROFESSOR!" he tried again, but to no response. Emi looked at him. She bent down a grabbed a microbots in her hand. It squirmed trying to get to him but she didn't let go. "Tadashi...I...I don't think he can hear us...we can try to get closer...but...I don't think we should..."
"But..." Tadashi gave her a slightly heartbroken look-after having lost his beloved mentor once, it was obvious that he didn't want to go through the experience again. But finally he just nodded mutely, starting back towards the exit, although not with many looks backwards. Emi sighed and turned to the exit. "Ready?" she asked. "I... Yeah, I think so," Tadashi agreed quietly. They headed towards the exit and once they walked through they were back in the cafe. Emi could see now. "We're back...in the cafe..."
"Y-yeah," Tadashi agreed, blinking in surprise and wondering if he was completely losing it. "Whoa... That was..." "Freaky. I wonder what happened?" she said then suddenly fell over, instinctively latching onto Tadashi's arm as her legs collapsed in a heap of pain and she cried out when they twisted strangely. "Oh my gosh, Emi!" Tadashi let out a cry of alarm as he did his best to support her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She tried to stand back up but gasped in pain when she tried to move them at all. She shook her head slightly. "No...I can't stand again..." she tried to move her legs into a better position but winced again. "It hurts to move them at all." she said.
"Okay, c'mon, I'll get you back up on the bed," Tadashi said, trying to position his arms so that he could carry her in the way that would cause her the least amount of pain. Once he picked her up she settled in his arms and she passed out from exhaustion and went right to sleep in his arms. Tadashi couldn't help but worry if something had gone seriously wrong when she completely went catatonic, so, as soon as he had her settled on the bed, he went to get Baymax.
The nurse bot scanned the girl, only to say that nothing new was wrong except that she was mentally and physically fatigued. Tadashi was greatly relieved by the news, but still, in spite of Baymax's insistence that he needed to get some rest of his own, he stubbornly pulled a chair up next to the bed instead of going to his own room, determined to be there in case Emi needed him again. Emi was sleeping peacefully now. No dreams, visions, hallucinations, or nightmares. She was exhausted. Despite his best efforts, Tadashi finally nodded off as well.
(Emi can now see different timelines/worlds, and into the past, present, and glimspes of the future.)
