A/N: Erm...So...hello everyone! I am so very very sorry its take me so long to update but my life has been a mess and I have not at the time to take this story further. But my college year is nearly over and I have a lot of free time on my hand. And I know that I may not have uploaded in a LONG time but I promise I will NEVER abandon this story!

I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! Sorry I kinda left you all hanging there. SO SORRY!


Disclaimer: Don't own anything except OCs.


"Callaghan is still inside!"

"Tadashi, we have to get him."

"Sakura, you sta-"

"There is no way in hell I'm letting you go in there alone Hamada."

She remembered she had ran after him before he could reply, catching up to him as soon as he entered the burning building. Instantly her eyes watered and she coughed loudly as she inhaled the smoke. It was nothing compared to the heat though. It was unbearable. She nearly jumped when she felt the first lick of fire brush her skin making her hiss in pain and clamp her hand tightly around the burned area, biting her lower lip to keep from crying out anymore. Tadashi glanced at her worriedly before taking her hand, and leading her through the fire. Sakura made sure to stay as close to her boyfriend as she could.

"Professor!" She called out, her eyes darting around the room that was up in flames, trying to see past the smoke as well as the tears in her eyes.

"Professor Callaghan!" Tadashi shouted. The fire was hissing and roaring around them, growing by the second and it felt as if her skin was melting off.

"Maybe he got out!" She suggested loudly, her eyes still roaming the burning room. A loud groan from above them made the two of them turn their gaze skyward.

"Get down!" Tadashi screamed, wrapping his arms around Sakura's shoulders and pulling her with him as he bodily threw the both of them on the ground, just as the beam they had been standing under collapsed to the ground. It seemed to have triggered something because there was an explosion that made their eardrums pop. As the fire roared and the flames grew, Tadashi lifted his head from the ground, soot and dust covering his face, his hair singed in some places. The debris that had fallen on him clattered to the ground and he winced as he sat up, clutching his knee where he had thrown all his weight on, only to see a rather large splinter buried in his calf. Blood was oozing out from around it, yet the splinter kept most of it trapped within his leg. There was no pain. Probably because of the adrenaline. But he could barely stand. How was he going to get Sakura out?

Sakura!

"Sakura?!"

He suddenly realized he was all alone. And fear gripped him.

"Sakura!" He called out again, eyes frantically searching the area around him. He coughed, waving a hand in front of his face to try and dispel some of the smoke.

A weak groan came from his right. Stumbling and coughing Tadashi limped his way towards the source, wincing with every step, to see Sakura lying face down on the ground, her arm bent at an odd angle.

"Sakura!"

The relief at seeing her seemed to have sapped whatever energy he had left and Tadashi collapsed once he reached her. She was bleeding from the head. She was still breathing, and seemed to be staring at something. Panting and coughing weakly, his eyes watering so much he could barely see, Tadashi turned his gaze where Sakura was looking.

There stood Callaghan, gripping what looked like a headband. A very familiar headband. He stared back at the two people he had seen as his students.

"Professor…." Sakura called out, her voice weak and barely a whisper, her breathing erratic, her lungs burning from lack of clean air. Tadashi simply continued to stare, lying a foot away from his girlfriend.

They both watched as the man turned and without a backwards glance he placed the band around his head, commanding Hiro's microbots to form a protective coat around him.

And then he was gone.

The fire roared once more, and another much louder explosion sounded, rocking whatever remained of the building.

Brown eyes met purple. The hopelessness in either of them was overwhelming. Sakura moved, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out as her body screamed with pain. Especially her arm.

"Tadashi." She whimpered, eyes filling with tears as she stared at her boyfriend.

Both of them knew they weren't strong enough to make it out. They had inhaled too much smoke and they were both injured.

Tadashi held out his hand as best as he could, crawling forward. "I'm sorry Sakura."


The Fire…

He wanted it to stop.


His warm brown eyes were brimming with tears while she was crying softly, tears streaking down her soot stained cheeks.

Another beam fell, this one quite near them and Sakura winced at the noise, but the next second the hand of her uninjured arm was clasped around Tadashi's and her attention was towards the boy.


The Heat…

It was too much for her.


"Not your fault." She whispered, her voice cracking from emotion.

He smiled at her, the gesture weak and sad, yet loving at the same time, despite his leg now screaming from pain.


The Burning…

He wanted the pain to stop.


"Unbelievable." He muttered. The boy was close enough to kiss her, the gesture weak and small, before he pressed his forehead to hers.

"No. You're unbelievable." She whispered, before she screamed having moved her head, the accompanying pain nearly sending her into a dead faint.


The Pain…

She was screaming herself hoarse.


It was getting too much. The heat. The smoke. The pain. His presence and his eyes were the last thing she felt before her eyes closed and everything went dark.

Tadashi felt her hand go slack within in, and the tears he had been holding back started to flow. His head was spinning. And as it dropped to the ground, somehow weighing so much that he could no longer hold it up, Tadashi managed to whisper her name, before a light came into his vision, so bright that he closed his eyes.

And then everything was silent.


The Screams…

He wanted to die. She wanted to die.

Anything to make the pain stop…

Anything to stop the torture.

And then it finally did…


Four Years Ago

The envelopes with the Institution's Logo at the top of the right hand corner were placed in front of either of them with their respective names typed in the middle of the thick paper. Tadashi sat in his seat staring at the envelope while, lightly drumming his fingers against the top of the table, while Sakura sat next to him, her foot taping against the floor as she nervously chewed on her bottom lip, her right hand playing with a few loose strands of her hair, curling them between her fingers.

Tadashi glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eyes, the same time Sakura did, who suddenly shook his head, pushing away from the table and standing up, throwing her hands in the air.

"I can't do it! Nope. I'm just gonna pretend it's not lying there and go help Uncle James with his new class. Yeah. Nothing beats teaching the elderly how to do the salsa." She had hardly taken a few steps towards the door of the cafe when she was pulled back by someone tugging at her ponytail lightly. Sakura huffed before pouting and turning around, looking petulantly at her friend, who smiled reassuringly at her.

"Hey! I'm sure we're both gonna get in." He said, his voice calm, though Sakura knew he was just as nervous as she was. But it still didn't stop her from acting out.

"Well then I suppose I'll have to be the bad friend out of the two of us and say either none of us will get in or the other one will and then it will ruin our friendship because we would be going to completely different institutions and have other friends that we would prefer hanging out with." How she managed to say all that in one breath was beyond Tadashi, but he wouldn't put it past her to have said the same thing out loud before. Sakura had a tendency to speak what was on her mind when she was nervous or frightened. And right now she was both.

"Have you been watching those soap opera shows with Aunt Cass again?" He couldn't resist asking, a bemused look on his face. The question, however, simply earned him a light punch to the shoulder.

"I have a right to not answer that question." She grumbled, glaring darkly at the envelopes, lying on the table innocently. Tadashi sighed, before walking the last few steps between them and wrapping his arms around her in a hug, pulling her close and relaxing once he felt her reciprocate the embrace by wrapping her own arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his chest.

"Sakura, you have to calm down. I know we'll both get in." He whispered, his mouth close to her ear since he had his face buried in her shoulder a few seconds before.

Her voice was muffled as she asked. "And if we don't?"

"Lets cross that bridge when we come to it." She was quite for a few seconds before he felt her nod silently against him.

"You two are such weirdos."

Both teens jumped apart when they heard Hiro's voice, who was standing next to their table, casually munching on a sandwich and looking at them with a disinterested expression. Tadashi shook his head.

"Not now Hiro. We're in the middle of something." Tadashi said before staring glumly at the envelope once more. Hiro merely took another bite before shrugging.

"I don't really see the fuss about everything I mean you both got in."

Sakura who had just about to take her seat once more suddenly looked up, loosing her balance somehow and falling on the floor, the back of her head hitting the seat of the chair, making her cry out in pain, while Tadashi who had been taking a huge gulp of water to ease his dry throat inhaled sharply and started to cough, water spilling out of his mouth and his chest burning from where it had gone down the wrong pipe. While Sakura kept groaning in pain, clutching her head and curling into a ball, Tadashi thumped a fist against his chest, trying to regulate his breathing, his face slightly red as he tried to catch his breath at the same time, Hiro stood there looking at his brother and best friend with a bemused expression.

"We both got in?" His voice was weak and hoarse as Tadashi resisted the urge to cough again as he stared at his brother just as Sakura pushed herself to her knees, slowly sitting up and blinking away the dizziness and black spots in front of her eyes, peaking over the top of the table at Hiro, her hand still cradling the back of her head where she had hit it.

"We both got in?" She asked, a few seconds after Tadashi her tone low, and what could only be described as hopeful. Hiro nodded.

"I was the one who took the letters when they arrived and opened them up before sealing them shut again and giving them to you." He shrugged. "I don't see what all the fuss was about. I don't think anything can separate the two of you." Saying that he took another bite of his sandwich before walking out of the cafe and up the stairs, leaving Sakura and Tadashi to stare after him.

"Yup. Nothing can separate us." Sakura muttered, before turning her head to look at Tadashi who only grinned at her. He only had a few seconds to do so before Sakura launched herself at him and hugged him tightly, laughing and crying in disbelief as he hugged her back, just as ecstatic as her as he twirled her around, his own laughter mingling with her own.


A/N: Not as happy as the last chapter but hey at least it gives you come closure? Or not. I'm already working on the next chapter and it will be up within this week :) I'm really happy to be back here. Honestly I've missed this story. And I am SO sorry once more for the long wait.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! - Hestia28

PS: I've also started on a Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Fanfic of anyone is interested. Its an Alphonse/OC slowburn fanfic and it followed the 2009 Series.