hey! this is the penultimate installment of After The Storm...the hamada bros are finally gonna get some peace after this! the next chapter will be a short epilogue...

i'm sorry if anyone is offended because of the spirituality of my stories...i've just been raised to be very religious and i don't want to offend anyone. just let me know if there's too much spiritual stuff...i thot it might be interesting to put elements of my religion in my stories.

silvie: i'm glad you're okay! hope you're feeling better (and also, you should write some more bh6 stories! i love your stories so much)

thanks everyone! please read and review

peace out!

TADASHI

I limp the last few hundred feet toward the bridge, my knee throbbing. Honey, supporting me while I do the same for her, calls out for our kids. "Eva? Teddy? Can you hear me?"

A soft cry answers her. As we round the corner, I can see a dark, masked figure—Callaghan. He stands on the broken edge of the bridge, holding something over the water.

Trev.

My baby son is wailing and struggling to get away, but Callaghan has a tight grip. Eva and Teddy stand behind the masked man, bawling their eyes out, begging Callaghan to give their baby brother back.

A fire ignites in my chest, and I charge forward, screaming at Callaghan. "Give me back my kids! They didn't do anything, they're innocent! My son is three months old!"

Callaghan turns around, pulling up his mask. "How kind of you to join us, Tadashi. You should have died in the fire, but better late than never. And your wife, children, and brother will go with you."

My fists clench. Callaghan tried to kill me in a fire shortly before the hurricane, but I ran back to help Hiro, because he was choking on the smoke. We were both injured, but not badly, and I obviously didn't die. I guess Callaghan's upset about that.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," I growl, trying not to let my knee give out. Honey isn't supporting me anymore—Teddy and Eva are clinging to her skirt, whimpering as Callaghan dangles Trev over the water with an evil grin. Trev wails louder, kicking his tiny legs furiously.

"On the contrary, Mr. Hamada, I can get rid of you very easily indeed. All I have to do is pull the pin and throw." Callaghan holds up a large grenade. "Just surrender the rest of Big Hero 6, and I'll let you and your son live. You're not truly a superhero, so I don't need you. Just hand over your team. You don't want to die, do you?"

I really don't. But I can't let anyone else die, either. "No way. I'm not giving anyone up to a worthless piece of junk such as yourself."

Callaghan's face hardens. "Then I suppose—"

"I suppose you didn't think I'd show up."

Hiro literally falls from the sky, his brace's thrusters powering down. My baby brother coasts to a stop in front of me, standing between me and Callaghan.

"Do not touch my brother. And hand over my nephew. Seriously, Callaghan? A three-month-old baby? That's sick. You're sick. Not even Obake would stoop that low. He's an innocent child—what did he ever do to you?"

Callaghan grins evilly. "It's not so much as what he did as what you did."

Suddenly, Callaghan reaches up and presses a button on the side of his neck.

A button?

My old professor's skin melts away, and his figure changes, becoming smaller, more slender.

It's not Robert anymore.

It's Abigail.

"You put my father in prison for life," she snarls. "He was killed by another inmate three weeks ago, and it's your fault. You put Obake in that prison too. Ironically enough, I used his technology for my disguise. I murdered Obake first, and now it's your turn."

My world is falling in. My professor is dead, he's actually his daughter, Obake murdered him, Abigail murdered him, and now Abigail wants revenge on all of us. Can this get any weirder?

Abigail dangles my son over the raging ocean. "Now, if you want little Treven to live, I suggest you agree to my demands."

I can't. Our team will die if I give them up. My baby brother will die if I give him up. But if I don't, my son will.

"I won't do it," I say, knowing Trev is about to die and trying to think of a way to save him.

"Neither will I," says Hiro firmly. "Take me. Just me. Let everyone else live and go free, and you can kill me."

"Hiro, no!" I shout. "Take me, you can have me! But don't hurt my brother, or I will kill you."

I mean it. I would murder anyone who killed Hiro.

Abigail smiles evilly. "How sweet of you. But since you can't agree on a decision, I'm just going to have to take all of you out."

Suddenly, Baymax waddles onto the scene. "Hello! I am Baymax, Hiro's personally healthcare companion. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to get here. My thrusters are inoperable."

"Move aside, robot," Abigail drawls. "I'm about to throw a grenade. Then I'll drop the baby."

"I would advise not throwing a grenade. Or dropping a baby." Baymax moves to stand in front of Hiro. "Do not."

"You've left me no choice."

And she pulls the pin.

Suddenly, a high, guttural scream cuts through the air. My four-year-old daughter flings herself at Abigail, bowling her over before she can throw the grenade. Eva, Abigail, and Trev all fall off the edge of the bridge, and on the way down, the grenade explodes.

The force throws me backwards, and I bounce several times on the asphalt before slamming into a post. I see stars and my vision goes dark for a moment. When it returns, I scramble to my feet, limping back over to the edge of the bridge. Two of my kids just fell into the ocean during a grenade blast. I think I'm going into shock.

I hurriedly check that everyone else is still on the bridge. Hiro is nowhere to be found, and I start panicking. But my kids are in a lot more danger right now.

I take a deep breath and a running start and jump off the edge of the bridge.

HIRO

I struggle to pull myself out from under Baymax, dazed and winded. Baymax jumped in front of me to shield me from the blast, but he's now on top of me and I can barely breathe—the smoke and dust are not helping my asthma. Some shrapnel got past Baymax, and now my chin is bleeding almost as much as my forehead was earlier. My ribs also don't like being pinned under a four-hundred-pound robot.

I manage to get my head and shoulders out, and I fall limp, gasping for air. My headache still pulses furiously against my skull, and my chest and ribs burn. I press a hand against the wound on my chin, relieved to find that, though it's bleeding a lot, it doesn't seem serious. I just need to stop the bleeding and it'll be fine.

Looking around, I can see no one else, just blown-up bridge. I hope they're just unconscious and not dead, and that they're just out of my field of vision.

"Dashi?" I call hoarsely. "Honey? Eva? Teddy?"

A tiny whimper answers me. Honey and Teddy limp into my field of vision, both a little banged up but not badly injured. If they are hurt, I can't see it.

Honey gasps when the sees me, then grabs my arms and pulls me out. I collapse on the road, panting, then raise my aching head slightly. "You guys okay?" I rasp, trying to get my voice to work. I can barely breathe, my asthma is so bad.

"We're okay," Honey says shakily, and Teddy lets out a whimper. "But Eva and Trev just went over the edge…and Tadashi jumped after them."

I sit up so fast I see stars. "What? We've gotta go save them!"

"Of course, Hiro. What do you think we should do?" Honey looks at me earnestly. Teddy sniffles, then comes over to hug me. I smile as he wraps his tiny arms around my shoulders and collapses into my lap. Putting an arm around him, I tell Honey, "I'm just gonna head down with my thrusters. I don't want you or Teddy to get hurt, and Baymax is out of commission at the moment."

"So are you, Hiro! You're hurt! You can't just go save them all by yourself!"

"I have to try," I say determinedly, getting to my feet. My ankle twinges when I put weight on it, but it's only twisted. I'll be okay. Pressing the button on my thrusters, I power up, rising a few feet into the air.

"I'll bring them back," I tell Honey and Teddy, and then zoom down to the bottom of the bridge, scanning the area for my family. I see a dark figure collapsed on the bank—is that—

Upon closer inspection, it's Tadashi. He's cradling a limp Eva and Trev, and the kids aren't moving. I land in front of them and startle Tadashi.

"Hiro!" he exclaims. "Are you okay? Where'd you go? I couldn't find you, I thought you'd fallen off the bridge too—"

"I'm okay," I tell him. "I was under Baymax."

Relief washes over his face. "Are you hurt?"

My fingers unconsciously go to the cut on my chin. "I'm fine. I just got hit by…something sharp. I don't know what. It's not a deep cut. What about the kids, Dashi?"

Dashi's eyes are wide and scared. "Eva won't respond to anything. Trev keeps moving a little and whimpering, but he's unconscious. I…I think they're both going to die. Or they're already dead." His voice breaks and tears start to slide down his face.

"Did you give them CPR?" I ask.

"Yeah—Trev coughed up a little bit of water, and some came out of Eva's mouth. But neither of them woke up. We need to get them to a hospital."

"For sure," I agree. "I might be able to carry you with my thruster. It'll be hard, though."

"Can we try?" Tadashi asks. "We have to get them somewhere safe."

I manage to fly us back up to the bridge and we land on the asphalt. Honey screams when she sees us and rushes over to her husband and kids, Teddy trailing behind. Honey scoops Trev into her arms and gives him a kiss on the forehead. Trev's eyes immediately open and a stream of water comes out of his mouth. Then he lets out a weak cry that I think means he's hungry.

Relief washes over me. He's alive. I don't know how, but he is. Tadashi starts to cry harder, gently picking up his son and hugging him. Trev makes an adorable cooing noise and grabs Dashi's shirt like he's never going to let go.

Tadashi passes me the baby so I can cuddle him too. I hold my nephew to my chest. He kicks me in the ribs by accident and I yelp. "Ow!"

Baymax sits up and waddles over. "I heard a sound of distress. Are you alright, Hiro?"

"I'm fine," I gasp, holding Trev with one hand and massaging my ribs with the other. "He just kicked me."

"My scan shows that your bruised ribs have been aggravated. Would you like a cold compress?"

"Sure," I mutter, handing Trev back to Tadashi. Baymax places a cold compress hand on my side, pulling me into half a hug. I sigh in relief as the coolness soothes the pain in my side. "Thanks, Baymax. Do you know where Megan and Aunt Cass are? And could you scan everyone?"

The scanner whirs. "My scan shows that Megan and Cassandra are on their way to the bridge. They will be here in approximately five minutes. I will scan you now. Scan complete."

Baymax pulls out a band-aid and some bacitracin and slaps them on my chin, then proclaims me okay. He patches up everyone's various cuts and scrapes and produces a bottle of formula for Trev, which he starts drinking so fast I'm pretty sure he's going to throw it all up when he's done. Baymax bandages Tadashi's knee, which is sprained, and tightens the Ace bandage on Teddy's still-broken ankle.

Then he leans over Eva and presses a hand to her chest. He blinks once, then says, "I detect severe internal injury and water inhalation. This condition is not able to be effectively treated. I am sorry. Evangeline is clinically dead."

My world falls in.

My four-year-old niece is dead. She had so much life ahead of her. It shouldn't have been cut this short. And we've already lost our parents, and Dashi is still getting used to being a dad. Why do bad things happen to good people? Eva didn't do anything wrong, Tadashi and Honey didn't do anything wrong. They're good people, but this seems like a punishment—the worst punishment any parents could imagine. I just don't understand why God would let this happen. Maybe He doesn't care.

The sob that comes from Tadashi breaks my heart. I feel tears slipping down my face.

"C-can't you d-do anything?" Dashi begs.

"I cannot. I am sorry, Tadashi. She was too young to die."

Tadashi pulls his daughter into a last hug, murmuring a prayer. I can barely hear the words.

"Bring her back, Father. It's not time yet. Please, I know You can do it. But—" he sobs again—"Thy will be done."

Honey has dropped to her knees beside him, crying silently. I grab Teddy's hand and hug him to my chest, kneeling in the midst of my family.

Eva doesn't move, and I've given up all hope that she can be saved.

Then I see the light.

TADASHI

I raise my head and see my daughter's spirit leave her body, glowing white. But she's not the only one.

My mother, father, sisters, GoGo, Fred, and Wasabi all stand in a circle around us, white wings extending from their backs. Angels.

"It's not time yet, little one," my mother says, tilting my chin up. "It's not her time. She'll be okay. We're here to help send her back."

"But—how—"

"Anything is possible," my dad says gently. "She's going back. God's sent people back before. He sent you back. Why can't He do the same for Eva?"

"He sent me back?" I ask, confused. "When?"

"When you were two. You got pneumonia, and you died in the hospital. But I guess it wasn't the time. And look at you now. You have a wife and three beautiful kids, and your family isn't going to be torn apart again."

I start sobbing again, and my dad wraps me in a bear hug. Mom grabs Hiro and pulls him in too, and we just sit there and cry for several minutes.

Finally, our parents pull back. "We're so proud of you. Keep up the good work. And never forget that we're watching over you," Mom says, wiping the last tears from our cheeks. "You will be alright."

The angels vanish one by one, and Eva's spirit goes back into her body. My daughter sits up, looking confused, and Honey and I immediately scream her name. So does Teddy, and Trev, who is being held by Baymax, lets out a little shriek.

There are so many hugs going on right now that I don't even see Megan and Aunt Cass. Hiro leaps up and runs over to his wife, throwing his arms around her and kissing her firmly on the lips. When they finally break apart, Aunt Cass grabs me and Hiro and gives us both a slap on the cheek, then the biggest hug I've ever seen someone give.

Aunt Cass draws back, surveying our faces and the scene behind us. "What did I miss?"