She was on Tanjiro's back as he walked through the forest. His hair was plastered with snow, his breathing labored and though she couldn't see his face she could tell that he was barely staying awake.

"Brother?" she asked "Are you alright?"

His head perked up at the sound of her voice. "I'm fine Nezuko." his voice uneven as he took deep breaths "We're almost there. You're going to be alright."

He must be really tired to be saying weird stuff like that. She was with Tanjiro, of course she was going to be alright.

She snuggled up to him. "I just had a really scary dream." she murmured sleepily closing her eyes "There was a demon that attacked our house but then you scared it off."

"Oh really?" he made a weird choking sound as he spoke. "It... It must have been really scary Nezuko. Do you... remember anything else?"

"I think you fought the demon with the hatchet we have at home." she giggled quietly "Big scary demon scared off by a little human with an axe." she hummed in thought "Maybe we can make a snowman about it when we go back home."

She imagined that for a moment. Tanjirou, Takeo, Shigeru, Hanako and herself pelting a snow demon with snowballs and pebbles.

Tanjirou's shoulders began to shake. "Yeah" he croaked out "We can do that when go home."

She opened an eye "Are you alright brother? You sound sick."

He didn't answer as his shoulders kept shaking.

"Brother you're acting weird." she muttered "Are you alright?"

He sniffled "Nezuko?"

"Yeah?"

"I... You know I love you right?"

She opened both of her eyes again. Of course she knew that. Why was he acting so weird?

She opened her mouth to reply.

.

She woke up.

A dream. The dream.

The same dream that she had been having the last week.

She furiously wiped away her tears as she sat up. Stupid Nezuko. Why couldn't she dream about something else?

The door creaked as old man Saburo stepped in. "You awake Nezuko?"

She looked away giving him a quick nod.

He sighed. "Dream?"

Another nod.

"Go wait outside." he said already used to the routine "I'll go get some tea."

She waited until he left before heading outside and sitting down on the wooden terrace next to the house.

Old man Saburo lived about a quarter mile away from the village, making a living by creating parasols and furniture out of the wood he got by cutting down some of the nearby trees. His house while smaller than the one she used to live in had two rooms, a wooden terrace which she was sitting on now and a small heating system to keep the house warm during the winter.

It had been the place she'd been staying and recovering since the demon attacked.

She watched as Saburo came out and handed a steaming cup to her. "Are your bandages holding out?" he asked "Or do you need to get new ones."

She gently touched the right side of her abdomen and winced as a short spasm of pain shot through her. "The bandages are fine I think." she said "The wounds still hurts though."

"Of course it will." he sniffed as he took a sip of his tea "You were lucky to be alive. Those kind of things take more than a few weeks to heal."

A punctured liver and lung with a severe case of blood loss. The doctor had barely been able to save her and even then it had taken her two weeks to regain consciousness.

(If only Tanjirou had made it with her...)

Coming to think of it there was something she needed to ask Saburo.

"Saburo-san" she asked hesitantly "When... when my brother brought me here... before he... you know. Before he..." She trailed off unable to force the words out of her mouth.

Saburo slowly set the cup down. "Yes?" His voice was tense as he said the word.

"Did he... I was wondering if he... said anything?" She fidgeted with the edge of her kimino as she spoke. "I wanted to know if... I wanted to know what... his final moments were like"

Saburo he seemed to age ten years before her eyes. The moonlight cast shadow across his face making his wrinkles stand out, making him seem much older than he was and his eyes spoke of all the pain, regret and sadness he had experienced over the years.

"Are you sure you want to know Nezuko?" he asked "There really isn't much more than I told you."

"I have to know." she insisted. "This... this isn't something I can just avoid."

He exhaled slowly "Fair enough. What do you want to know exactly?"

"Everything" she said. She could tell he didn't want to say anything at all but like she said, this wasn't something she could avoid.

He stared at his cup for a moment.

"There isn't much to say" he finally said "Carrying you down the mountain while severly injured himself took a big toll on him." He closed his eyes "He came out of the woods carrying you on his back saying that a demon attacked your family and that you were the only one he could save." he glanced at her "He begged me to heal you and keep you safe you know? Made me promise up and down that I would look after you when he was gone, that I would-" he stopped suddenly

"What?" she asked "What did he say?"

"That's... between me and him brat." he looked away. "All you need to know is that even while bleeding out on the ground he prioritized you over himself."

"What's so important that he wouldn't want me to know?" she pressed on "Why won't you tell me about it?"

"Don't ask me that question Nezuko. I'm not going to tell you what it is. By the way-" he said ignoring her sounds of protest "One of the last things he told me was to give you this." He fished out something from his pocket and showed it to her.

Her voice died as she recognized the object in his hand.

"Said it was something that would look good on you." he muttered. "God knows why he only gave you one of them."

"It's not... That's not..." her throat thickened.

'Look after them for me when I'm gone okay Nezuko?'

Her eyesight blurred as she hugged the single hanafuda earing to her chest.

"That stupid idiotic... " she choked out as tears began to stream down her face

Saburo embraced her in a hug as she began to sob. "I miss him." she sobbed "I miss them. I... just... I miss them all..."

"And you'll always miss them." he murmured "Years later you'll still walk into a room wondering why they aren't there anymore"

He had a far off look on her face as he spoke on "But as time goes you'll find that they haven't left at all because family can't be torn apart so easily by something like a mere demon."

He began to pat her gently on the back as her sobs slowly dissolves into hiccups "It'll be hard but always remember that they'll always be with over you." he murmured "Stay strong Nezuko. For their sake as much as yours."

She couldn't remember when she fell asleep after that. But for the first time since her family had died she didn't wake up crying.

.

.

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Notes

Tip for writing: Rewrite your work over and over again.

Notes while writing this fic: Showing grief is difficult.

My attempt at writing a role reversal fic that doesn't follow canon. (And so far I regret everything)

Reviews + comments on how to improve my writing/this fic will be appreciated.