A gentle breeze blew against the cherry blossom trees of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Its soft scent wraps the institution in an embrace. Elsa closed her eyes to feel the wind in her hair as she walked towards the main building. It's been a few days since she's been on campus. Normally, she would feel anxious about coming back after absences (especially on a Friday!) but today feels different. She didn't have any work to do and she caught up with her classes. She had a good feeling about today..

Students gather around the bulletin board, decorating it with flowers. She steers away from the crowd but cranes her neck to see what was going on. They were all wearing black baseball caps in one way or another. Some of them wore it properly, one had it hooked on her belt, some wore it backwards, some were using it as a fan. Elsa can barely read the posters they were hanging from where she was standing.

A tall blonde girl noticed her and beamed at her. "Are you attending later?" she asked, readjusting her magenta glasses. The black baseball cap looked out of place in her colorful ensemble. An oversized yellow knit cardigan and a bright pink mod dress hung loosely on her thin frame. She also wore glitter orange tights, bright pink floral socks, and yellow platform mary jane heels. Definitely not the weirdest Elsa has seen in SFIT but definitely the most colorful one. In a way, the girl reminded her of Anna, actually.

"No, what's happening later?" Elsa hugs her books tighter.

"The ribbon cutting ceremony of the new exhibition hall," the girl said. She quickly grabbed a poster from the other students and gave it to Elsa. "You should come, there will be food and music. It'll be fun!"

Elsa smiled. 'Definitely won't attend,' she thought but said, "I'll see if I can, thanks." She read the poster:

San Fransokyo Institute of Technology invites you to

The Tadashi Hamada Hall Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Join us as we celebrate the grand opening of the SFIT's new exhibition hall and remember the life of Tadashi Hamada over food, drinks, and music.

April 8, 2033 (Friday)

6 PM to 8 PM

Tadashi Hamada Hall, San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, San Fransokyo City, California

Elsa tucked the poster in between her books. Tadashi Hamada. Where does she know that name?

"The weather's nice, isn't it?" the girl sighed, pulling Elsa out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath as she stared at the sky. The wind softly blowing her long blonde hair. A solemn atmosphere seemed to fall upon her and Elsa, separating them from the group of decorating students. A single tear fell upon her face. "It's like the sky is celebrating with us."

Elsa hummed, looking at the clouds passing by. The blue sky is slowly turning gold. "I guess so," she answered.

"I'm Raquel, by the way," the girl wiped her cheek with a smile. "You can call me Honey Lemon, whichever is easier."

"I'm Elsa. It's nice meeting you, Raquel," Elsa smiled. "I have to get going now."

"Of course! Look for me if you come by later. Nice meeting you, Elsa!"

Elsa nodded and walked away. When she entered the main building, she was greeted by a decorated hallway. Cherry blossoms and colorful bunting banners hung along the halls. The ribbon cutting ceremony posters were everywhere, even as she made her way to the library. There wasn't as much decoration inside the library but the posters can be seen plastered on shelves and bulletin boards. Tadashi Hamada. It's such a familiar name. She carefully placed her stack of books on the counter. An old lady with silver glasses sat behind the counter, reading a book.

"I haven't seen you in a while, 이슬아 (Iseul). You look thin," Mrs. Shim said, looking up from her book. She smiled at Elsa. "너 어딨었어? (Where have you been?)"

"많이 아팠어요 (I got very sick)," Elsa shrugged.

"Ah," Mrs. Shim nodded as she looked through Elsa's stack of books. "How's your sister?"

"She's doing well," Elsa smiled. "She'll be visiting again next week. I'll tell her to come see you."

"Not here," Mrs. Shim said. "She's too loud," she laughed as she pulled out a piece of paper tucked between the books. "Oh! Are you going?" She held the poster with both of her hands, looking at it fondly.

"아니요 (No), lots of people," Elsa shook her head. "I'd rather stay home and read."

Mrs. Shim regarded her. She tilted her head, looking over her glasses. "You should go. Meet people, eat food. You're young, go have fun."

When Elsa scrunched her nose, stayed awkwardly quiet and fiddled with the strap of her bag, Mrs. Shim rolled her eyes. "At least pay respects. This boy, Tadashi Hamada, was good. Used to do what you do, tutoring and all that. 잘생긴 남자 (Handsome man). Everyone loved him." Mrs. Shim passed the poster to Elsa. "You might even find yourself interested in his work."

Elsa locked eyes with Mrs. Shim. She looked at the poster. "I'll…I'll consider it."

Elsa found herself browsing through published student thesis papers. She didn't really have a need to, considering that her own thesis is almost finished and she had skimmed through previous works before but her curiosity got the better of her. She scanned the alphabets: E, F, G, H, only to find that Tadashi Hamada's book was in the hands of another student. A student she recognized (and the closest thing she has to a friend in SFIT—apart from Mrs. Shim.)

"Elsa! How are you?" Wasabi closed the book. Elsa never did learn his real name. "You missed a lot of classes, I was getting worried."

"I was sick the past few days," she said and he took a step back. "I'm fine now though!"

He laughed slightly, "Phew. So, uh, were you looking for anything? I personally love Amalia Del Vivar's work with plasma, highly recommend it."

"I was looking for that actually," Elsa pointed at the book he was holding. "I don't know, with all the posters and decorations, I thought I should at least know who we're celebrating."

"Ah," he passed the book.

San Fransokyo Institute of Technology

Project Baymax: Huggable Healthcare

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Advanced Robotics

Hamada, Tadashi

Robert Callaghan

Subject Adviser

April 2032

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows, "It's recent. I thought—"

"It's unfinished, actually. His brother's finishing the paper but the school still published what he left."

She flipped through the pages of the book, skimming through the diagrams and blueprint scans. All the messy notes and sketches. Her fingers traced the last words of the book. An unedited, frustrated, most likely sleep deprivation-induced string of words that ended with: You can do this, Dashi. This is going to help a lot of people.

"Did you know him?"

Wasabi sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "He's one of my best friends. He. Was. The kindest man I've ever met," he looked down with a smile. "Also the busiest man I've ever met. He was always helping someone or running to rescue his brother or following professors around. He was…there when I would get in over my head, overthinking every single detail and beating myself over perfection that I'll never reach and…wow. Okay, uh. Sorry about that. That wasn't supposed to—"

Elsa shook her head and smiled, "He sounds like a great guy."

"Yeah," Wasabi sniffed, clearing his throat. "You would've loved him. Everyone did."

The robotics lab was empty when she arrived. Her steps, loud on the smooth concrete floor. She locked her lab door after getting what she needed. As she walked down the hall from her private lab, she heard someone crying. She stopped in her tracks. What should she do? Should she ignore it? She didn't really know anyone in the lab aside from Wasabi. And she was barely in the lab at all! She and Wasabi have never even seen each other in the lab. She quietly walked towards where the sound was coming from and learned it came from another private lab. The door was slightly ajar, she could see the figure of a young boy in front of a laptop.

Ignoring the alarms going off in her brain, she knocked on the door. "Hey," she quietly said. "Are you okay?"

The boy suddenly closed the laptop and sniffed. "Yeah, yeah," he wiped his tears and spun his chair to face her. "I wasn't crying because of my brother's test footage. Again. For the third time in a row. I'm fine, yeah," he stood up, clearing his throat. "I should really go to the ribbon cutting…thing…Wait. Do I know you? I've never seen you before."

"Probably not. I don't really use the lab much." Elsa stood frozen by the door. Should a boy his age be even here unsupervised? She's heard of SFIT prodigies but never knew one was in the same department as… A news article flashed in her memory. A 10 year old high schooler from San Fransokyo. "Are you…you're Tadashi Hamada's brother, aren't you?"

The boy nodded. "The one and only," he shoved his laptop into his backpack and walked towards her. "Hiro Hamada," he extended a hand.

Elsa took it. Then I regretted it. The boy had sweaty hands. "Elsa Áron-Do."

"Áron-Do?" Hiro locked his lab behind them.

"Korean-Norwegian," Elsa said. "Are you headed to the ceremony?" she glanced at her watch.

"Yeah," Hiro pocketed his keys. "Wanna go together?"

Elsa pocketed her hands and took a deep breath. She didn't have evening plans anyway. "Sure."

They walked down the grassy path to the new exhibition hall. Music can be heard from afar and the fragrance of the food wafted in the air. The skies were painted pink and orange with faint purples and blues. Hiro and Elsa walked in comfortable silence.

"I'm sorry about your brother," Elsa said, looking up at the sky. "I heard he was a kind man."

Hiro kicked the grass as they walked. "He really was. Smart too," he said. "Except the time he was really stupid and run into the fire." He laughed, "But I forgive him for it, I think."

"He ran into fire?"

"You didn't know?" Hiro was now a few steps ahead of her, walking backwards. "A year ago, the exhibition hall caught on fire. Tadashi heard that a professor was still in the building so…he ran in to try and save him." A mixture of pride, bitterness, and sorrow entwined in Hiro's voice. Elsa now remembered the news about SFIT last year. Tadashi Hamada died to rescue Professor Robert Callaghan. A horrific accident. Hiro turned to face the building ahead. "But that's just who he is. Was. That's just who he was."

Elsa pursed her lips and looked away. Hiro reminded her of Anna. "What's your favorite memory with him?"

Hiro looked small among the professors of SFIT and he looked even smaller when the gigantic scissor was handed to him. He smiled, puffy eyed. The building was breathtaking. High ceilings, wide windows, beams that form beautiful geometric patterns. Under the golden rays of the sunset, the building seemed to glow. A playlist of Japanese city pop songs played from the speakers, apparently a playlist Tadashi always played in his lab (often forgetting that the rest of the lab can hear it). The robotics students from the lab danced to the songs, belting out butchered lyrics. Various food and drinks prepared by students and the Lucky Cat Cafe lined the long table. A small shrine sat on stage with Tadashi's photo surrounded by flowers. In front of the photo were incense, candles, and a portion of food.

After the official ceremony, the microphone was passed around to anyone who had a fond memory of Tadashi. They stood next to the shrine and talked candidly about him, each one wearing a black baseball cap. A few students talked about how he would let them borrow his notes and offer to tutor them. Another group had stories of Tadashi walking his robots around the campus. Professors fondly remembered him following them around like a puppy (if a puppy took notes and picked at your brain). Three of his labmates just sang along to the song that was playing when they got the microphone. A nervous student thanked Tadashi for quietly sitting next to them, keeping them company as they cried. Baymax, Tadashi's last invention, played a collection of endearing clips from when Tadashi was building him. Another student smiled as she remembered Tadashi feeding the campus cats when he thought no one was looking. A girl named Gogo recounted the tale of her roller derby accident and Tadashi had been the one to constantly check on her. Mrs. Shim said that he was one of her favorite students as he often helped her return the top shelf books. The school mascot had apparently asked Tadashi to make a mecha robot like in Gundam.

Elsa stood at the back. She spotted Raquel (really hard to miss) but decided not to approach. Raquel talked with everyone and hugged anyone who cried. She wasn't wearing the black baseball hat, it hung on the strap of her shoulder bag instead. She made sure everyone was fed and carried a box of tissue with her. The exhibition hall seemed to be wrapped in a warm embrace. Cries and laughter, joy resonated in the hall.

Elsa walked towards the freedom board they had set up by the entrance. For those who didn't have the courage to take the microphone or simply wanted to remain anonymous. She smiled at the numerous 'I had a crush on you' and 'I wish I told you I liked you' messages. At the 'I miss you' and 'I wish you were here' messages. At the 'I won't fail at this subject in your honor' and 'I remember you everytime I use this formula' messages. At the lengthy 'I'm glad to have been your friend' messages. She stared at the quick sketch portraits of him and at the printed photographs of him. Tadashi Hamada is beloved. A pang of sorrow struck her heart. He was so young. A whole life and a bright future ahead of him. He was, what, 21? He would have been a year older than her but now they're the same age. He'll always be 21. She took a sticky note and a pen.

Elsa looked back at the party, at all the people Tadashi loved, at all the people who loved—no—loves Tadashi. Wasabi was right.

She would've loved him.

'I wish I met you.'


A/N: i hope i conveyed the emotions well ! this idea came to me at a random and i just Had To Write It, especially when i learned that a Tadashi Hamada Hall was built in SFIT (according to the wiki, it didnt have pictures nor context on what the building was for but i just assumed that it's to replace the exhibition hall that burned down).
on biracial elsa: she's korean-norwegian (dad's korean, mom's northuldran/norwegian) and her korean name is Do Iseul (도 이슬). mrs shim was the only one to call her iseul in this fic though as she mostly uses her international name.
on the hangul: i don't speak korean so i heavily relied on online websites ! i apologize for any mistakes or if the code switching(?) is awkward. (i AM bilingual so i wrote the mixed sentences in a way that made sense for me but still. it's a different language.)

please let me know your thoughts !