Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own anything

False Heroes: Remembrance

Subaru awoke to find two bright blue eyes filled with tears starring at him. He tried to sit up in his bed, but decided against it when a flash of pain shot through his body.
"Subaru you shouldn't try to move." Yuzuriha said, then proceeded into tears
"Why are you crying Yuzuriha?" Subaru was confused. Everything was fine from what he could see; he just didn't understand how she could cry right now.
"Never mind that, the others will be here in a few minutes to see what happened. They were all busy at the time, but they tried to get to us, they just couldn't." As Yuzuriha said this, Subaru could see tears coming again to her eyes and tried to help her out by changing the subject.
"Hey, how's Inuki," he said
"Oh he's fine, just a bump to the head" Yuzuriha said. Upon hearing his name, Inuki came into the room and sat beside Subaru. The Sumeragi looked at the dog suspiciously. Inuki then proceeded in jumping up to lick Subaru in the face. Upon seeing his shocked face Yuzuriha said
"That's Inuki's way of saying thanks for saving me when he wasn't able to. I think he really likes you now"

Subaru smiled, but inside his mind was racing with questions and emotions that he wasn't used to. 'Why do I feel this way around her? I feel happy, but why? I don't think I've had a dog lick my face since I was 15 or so, so why did this happen now? God dammit, why am I so happy? Why?'

His thoughts were interrupted by the young girl's voice.
"Umm, Subaru, I wanted to thank you for saving me. It was very kind of you."

Then it hit him, 'I saved her because she looked like Hokuto, and Fuuma looked like Seishiro. Hokuto died because of me, and I didn't want to have that feeling again. I don't even really know this girl. I just happened to meet her a few days ago. That's why I'm happy. It feels like I was given a second chance to save Hokuto's life. But this isn't Hokuto. It's just some girl. And she is praising because she thinks I saved her, but I didn't. I saved Hokuto.' If Subaru didn't get this off his chest he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Yuzuriha, stop." He had stopped her mid sentence and she silenced her tongue and sat there with a confused look.
"I didn't save you. I saved someone else." Yuzuriha was so confused about that statement that all she managed to say was "Yes you did, you saved me."
"That's not what I mean. It wasn't you that I really wanted to save." That had just made it worse for her. "What do you mean?"

Subaru had come to the realization that the girl wouldn't know what the heck he was talking about until he explained to her the story of his sister and Seishiro. It would be very hard to do this, the only person he had ever told was Kamui, but it was the only way to not feel so guilty. So he did

"Well, let me tell you something first, and please, don't ask questions until I'm done okay? I'm not going to go into much detail, so try to follow along"
Yuzuriha just nodded in agreement

"Alright, here goes nothing. When I was about 15 or 16, I was very naïve and trusting. I opened my heart to a man named Seishiro. I didn't know this, but it turns out that he was the Sakurazukamori, and I was his target. He had broken my arm and told me that to him, it was just like breaking glass. I thought that he felt the same way for me as I did for him, but I was dead wrong. After that, I went into a state similar to what Kamui went into. Do you remember that?"
"Yes I do," Yuzuriha replied, remembering how horrible that was.
"Well, I was just like that. I had a twin sister named Hokuto. We did everything together and were so happy. But when this happened, she felt as though it was her fault because she introduced me to Seishiro. T first we were all happy together, but then she decided that she needed to save me from the terrible fate that had come upon us all. She decided that the only way to snap me out of it was to have something terrible happen. So she went to Seishiro, and got herself killed."
Yuzuriha gasped in horror as Subaru explained the death of his sister to her.
"In my mind, it all played out. I saw Seishiro kill my beloved sister, and Hokuto's plan worked. I came out of my mind and found myself in a horrible reality without the person who I considered my other half. She was the happy, emotional, optimistic type and so I no longer am like that. I've locked away that part of me." A long silence followed that statement until Yuzuriha spoke.
"But Subaru, I don't understand how this relates to you saving me."
"Yes, I'm getting to that. When I saw Fuuma, he resembled Seishiro. And you Yuzuriha, you look and act so much like my dear Hokuto. I had let down my sister, so I thought that if I saved you, things would get better. The way things were at that fight, it was almost exactly how Hokuto died. I thought that if I saved you, it would be like I saved Hokuto, and she would still be alive. But that's not true. She's never coming back, no matter what I do or who I save."
"I'm so sorry Subaru," Tears were once again forming in Yuzuriha's eyes.
"Oh great, I made you cry again" Subaru was beginning to think that anything he did would make this young girl cry.
"It's not your fault. I...I just ....I'm sorry I made you go through all of this! If I was stronger and able to take care of myself, you wouldn't have had to remember such horrible things, let alone tell me them! I'm just mad at myself right now. I'm so pathetic I can't..."
"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!" Subaru yelled at Yuzuriha, who was now trembling in anger and frustration. "I was afraid that this would happen. I'm sorry I had to tell you; I just didn't want you to believe that I was a hero or something. I did it because I'm a selfish bastard."

After a long pause Yuzuriha said, "You know Subaru, this isn't getting us anywhere. I don't care why you saved me, but you did, and I want to thank you for it."
"Yuzuriha, I..."
"Hush up now! I don't want to hear anymore excuses."
"This isn't an excuse." Subaru was hesitant to tell her this, but continued, "I wanted to say I'm sorry for causing you any pain. The reason I told you that story wasn't just to make me feel less guilty, but because I didn't want to lie to you. Even though I haven't known you for that long, I still feel so comfortable around you. It feels like I'm back to being a teenager talking with my sister and one of the many animals she loved. I haven't felt this happy in a long time, and it scares me. If I become too happy, I might forget about Hokuto. I might not want to avenge her death anymore. I'm so confused right now, I don't know what to do."

"Subaru, when you get better, do you want to go get some ice cream?" Subaru was so shocked to hear something like that that he just sat there with his mouth open.
Yuzuriha continued, "If you are happy around Inuki and me, then why not hang around us more? Maybe you can get back the part of you that has been sealed away. I don't want you to forget your sister, but maybe I can help you ease the pain a little bit. Maybe, when you're ready, you can tell me more about your past, and more about your sister. I'm sure Inuki would love it if you were to be our friend. Right Inuki?" The dog happily wagged his tail and barked in agreement.

Subaru took some time to let all of this sink in. Yuzuriha actually wanted to help him and be his friend. He hasn't had this type of emotion in such a long time. Something wet landed on his hand. He looked down, and saw another fall onto his lap. 'What are these? Are they...my tears? Why am I crying?'
"Subaru, are you okay?" Yuzuriha was concerned to see the tears in his eyes.
"Yes?" Honestly, Subaru didn't know Then out of the blue, Yuzuriha jumped out of her chair and gave Subaru a big bear hug. She then realized that Subaru was wincing in pain and apologized.
"Thank you Yuzuriha."
"For what?" Yuzuriha didn't know what the heck he was thanking her for.
"For everything. I haven't been this happy since Hokuto was alive. I may be crying, but I realize that these are tears of happiness. I... I can't explain it but it feels good. I would love to take you up on your offer. I think Hokuto would be happy if I told you about her."
"That's wonderful Subaru. When will you be out of the hospital?"
"In a week, I think."
"Good, then in one week, we'll go out for ice cream, then we can go for a walk in the park, and maybe later we can go ice skating. Oh this will be so much fun."
"Sounds great Yuzuriha. I'm looking forward to it."

Just then, the other Dragons of Heaven walked in. They were all glad to see that both Yuzuriha and Subaru were going to be fine.
"Hey Missy", Sorata said to Arashi, "do you see what I see?"
"What do you mean?" Arashi asked
"Do you see a smile on Subaru's face?"
"Yes I do, and it looks very nice on him." Sorata looked at her with suspicion,
"Hey Missy, you don't think he's more handsome then me, do you?"
"Of course not Sorata," Arashi said as she rolled her eyes.