Several things were on Hiro's mind, but sleep was the biggest of them all. He didn't want to think about whatever the heck happened with Momakase, he had a date with his pillow. But when he got upstairs, Hiro groaned seeing a pair of blue eyes in the dark.

"I thought you were asleep, Ariel."

"I was." She yawned. "But I couldn't sleep, I had a bad dream." Ari then noticed his tired state. "What happened at the dinner?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." He huffed. "I want to sleep before I process the shock."

"That bad, eh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

He sighed, then walking over to her bed. "What are you doing?"

"Can I sleepover?" Hiro asked. "I had a really rough time."

Ari flashed him a small smile. "Of course." She then noticed Baymax slumped onto the wall. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"What? Oh." He chuckled. "Better put him in his charging station, help me with that?"

"Sure." So the two siblings teamed up to get the healthcare companion into his charging station. Once that was done, Ari went back to her bed, and Hiro joined her.

He instantly felt relaxed as he snuggled his sister. "Wow, you're like an air conditioner." He teased.

"Are you calling me cold?" Ari grumbled. "You're warm as an oven!"

Hiro just chuckled, his eyes feeling droopy. "G'night Ari."

"Night Hiro."

And so the two went to sleep, their snuggles keeping the bad memories away.

Sniffling, she heard the sound of crying, it sounded familiar. Ari got up and walked down the hallway. In the corner of the room was a young boy sobbing, his brown hair swept over his eyes, and he wore a green buttoned up collar. "Rowan?" She questioned.

"Hm?" He got up, and saw her. "Oh, hey Ariel."

"Why were you crying?" Ari asked. "I've never heard you cry before."

Rowan wiped away a tear. "Boys aren't supposed to cry." He mumbled.

Ari grumbled. "What happened?" She walked up and sat next to him.

"Um, I was working with a girl in science class today." Rowan mumbled, his eyes watery. "She called me a really nasty word, and when I started crying, the teacher yelled at me because boys weren't supposed to cry."

"That's dumb, your teacher is dumb." Ari rubbed the back of her neck, her hair much shorter, was this a flashback? Still, the scene played on. "Did you tell your parents?"

"Ari they-" He froze. "No… Momma asked me what was wrong though, I didn't want her to yell at me."

"Dude, you should tell her." She sighed. "Elio has cried before right? And he's a guy."

"Uh-huh."
"Therefore, boys can cry." Ari concluded. "I think your teacher is just sexist or something."

"I mean, she has yelled at other boys in class." Rowan noted. "I might tell the principal, he's nice."

"Then do that, and go to sleep!" Ari sighed. "I swear, school sounds like a bunch of jerks crammed into a room."
Rowan just chuckled. "Yeah, sometimes. I just hate my science teacher, she's the worst."

"The worstest!" Ari giggled.

"Y'know, you're really good at this comforting thing." Rowan told her. "I'm glad I have you as a-"

She then woke up, gasping. "Hiro?" But the feeling of coldness told her that her brother must've already woken up and gone to school. Jeez, what was that? Ari shook her head. Who was that boy?

Was that a flashback, or a dream? She couldn't tell, but it was so vivid, perhaps it was a flashback.

But she could see her sweater, and her hair was shorter, the closest memory to that time was when…

BANG!

Ari wasn't going to think about that. But why was that person so familiar?

Maybe I'll wait until I get a few more memories, maybe it was just a fever dream…

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Mikan Ferns: Today I declare thee cheer up David day

Sienna Kline: A national holiday

David Ferns: Guys plz, I'm fine

Sara Ferns: You are not fine, I cannot believe you're going to school, you should be resting at home!

Rachel Rosemary: I am confusion

TheLittleMermaid: I just woke up but same

Honey Lemon: I'll text you guys later, but please don't talk about it it's a sore subject

Fredzilla: Ari shouldn't you be at school rn?

TheLittleMermaid: I'm on the bus!

Rachel Rosemary: Next to me, I can see the bags under her eyes

Hiro Hamada: Maybe don't stay up so late? Geez

TheLittleMermaid: :/

To those who had been at the mystery dinner, David's grief had been evident, especially in his eyes. They were just empty and full of sadness, he said that he was fine but he wasn't. He just was slumped, barely making any sounds, just trying to get through his day. Granville had asked him a few times if he was alright, he denied any offerings of help.

It wounded Hiro to see his friend like that. "David?" He poked his shoulder. "You sure you don't want a break?"

"I'm fine." David snapped. "I just want to get through the day."

"You don't have to push yourself." Hiro sighed. "Mikan told us what happened." He lied, it was the cover story the snow-striped girl had offered for them, since she wanted them to be there for her brother. "I don't know how you feel, but I can try to understand and help you as a friend."

David flashed him a hollow smile. "Thanks, you're a real pal." He then went back to his work.
Hiro didn't feel any better.

"Hiro, I am concerned about David's mental health." Baymax told him. "His lack of energy is a sign of emotional grief."
"I know Baymax." He sighed. "But I don't know how to help."

"Perhaps a hug will make him feel better."

Hiro smiled. "It might, but I think the best thing we can do is let him grieve, and let him know we're there for him."

Baymax blinked. "It could be bad for his emotional and mental health if he stays depressed for too long."

"I know, but let's just hope he doesn't get to that point and-" He heard a knock on his lab door. "Come in!"

To Hiro's surprise, it was Karmi who opened the door. "Hey Hiro." Her expression was neutral.
He just raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Karmi?"

She pouted. "C'mon, you and I both know that something's going on with David." Karmi crossed her arms. "Is it about his mom or something? I bet Ari told you about it at some point."

"Yeah, I know." Hiro sighed. "But I don't know if I should tell you, it's kind of personal."

Karmi just rolled her eyes. "Fine, but tell him I hope he's doing okay."

"And why can't you tell him yourself?" Hiro asked."C'mon, he's not gonna bite your head off."

"He did that one time." She shuddered. "Also, as much as I know David's a good person and he is nice to me, I…" Karmi just shivered. "I'm still kind of scared of him."
"You are?" Hiro walked over to her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, not really. But remember when he got mad at you for breaking his seismic project?" Hiro nodded. "Well, him yelling at me was really scary, even if he apologized later I still can't forget that."

"That's fine. It scared me too, but David isn't a mean person, otherwise he wouldn't have felt guilty." He sighed. "But you're right, what's going on with him is about his mom. I just hope he's okay."

"Me too." They both hoped that the youngest Fern was doing alright.

"Okay, I know that I said that I was fine in class today but I'm not fine."

Turns out David did take up that offer of seeing Granville in her office. "I'm trying to get through the day and I thought school would make me feel better, but I'm honestly not and I still feel hurt over her…" His voice dropped. "Y'know?"

"I see." Granville hummed. "Whenever we feel depressed, it can be hard to enjoy things that we loved."

"But I don't want to feel depressed, I want to feel happy." David whined. "My blood mom is a jerk, there I said it, and Sally and Steven took care of me when she couldn't. So why do I feel so hung up about her?"

"You know," Granville stated, "Sally had that problem when she was around your age as well."

"What?" He leaned over the desk to hear more.

"From what I heard, her birth parents were not…" She winced. "The most maternal kind, she picked up a few social cues from them."

David recalled that Sally didn't like talking about her parents, but when she did, it was with distaste. "I see that."

"However, she still missed her home in her youth, even when surrounded by her friends- no, her family." She sighed. "Fortunately for you, there is a good chance of you reconnecting with your mother, you both have quite the stubborn nature."

"At least I'm not the one being a master criminal." David grumbled. "But thanks, I feel a little bit better. I'm just worried she doesn't love me anymore because I'm not a thief like her."

"Considering she did the hardest thing a parent could do to keep you safe, I believe that despite her…"

"Many flaws." He chimed in.

"Right, she still loves you." Granville hummed. "If you need to talk to someone, my office doors are open."

David nodded. "Right, I should probably talk to my friends, I bet they're worried about me."
"That's a good idea." The dean told him.

Before he left the office, he raised an eyebrow. "Also a weird question, I overheard the bit about you being… pushy with the superheroes, dare I ask why?"

"...Let's just say being involved with action since returning to SFIT brings out my youth." Granville felt sheepish. "Don't tell anyone I said that."

David just shrugged. "I feel like this is something I'd hear my mom say."

In the middle of her lecture about magnetic fields, Sally kitten sneezed.

"So." Ari looked up from her lunch to see Megan staring at her with curious brown eyes. "You're quiet today."

"Quiet?" She gave her a weird look. "I just had a weird dream, that's all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No!"
Megan held her hands in defense. "No need to snap, I was just asking."

"Sorry." Ari yawned. "I was up late." That was a lie, her mind was still on the strange dream she had, she could've sworn she had seen that boy before... but for some reason, most of his features had been faded and blurry in the dream, she was surprised she could remember what little she did.

"Lucky." Megan chuckled. "My dad double-checks to make sure I'm asleep, he gets upset if I try to stay late past my bedtime." She sighed. "He's worried that if I don't get enough sleep I'll pass out in the middle of the day."

"Huh." Ari recalled a similar scenario with Hiro, who had been overworking in the garage and she and Baymax teamed up to drag him out of the garage. "I should introduce you to my brother, you both seem to ignore your health for work and play."

"I don't know if I should be offended or amused."

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: OH MY GOD GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS

Wasabi: WHAT

Sara Ferns: I FOUND A SHINY ELECTRIKE IN POKEMON RUBY

TheLittleMermaid: What's Pokemon?

Hiro Hamada: DID YOU CATCH IT?

Sara Ferns: YES

Hiro Hamada: WOOOOOO

TheLittleMermaid: What's an Electrike

Rachel Rosemary: Hiro you have failed as a brother to not tell Ari about the magical world of Pocket Monsters

Hiro Hamada: Wait you don't know what Pokemon are?!

TheLittleMermaid: Should I?

Fredzilla: Oh you sweet summer child you missed out on Pokemon!

Hiro Hamada: You don't even know the anime?

TheLittleMermaid: There's an anime on a video game

Gogo: It's not an anime

Wasabi: I have never been so offended in my life

Sara Ferns: That's it we're having another sleepover. THIS TIME WITH POKEMON

Fredzilla: YEAH

Hiro Hamada: YEAH

Wasabi: YEAH

TheLittleMermaid: Is it an anime or not?

Rachel Rosemary: I just sighed irl

Gogo looked up from the group chat. "Nerds." She sighed.

"Aw, isn't that a bit hypocritical?" Honey Lemon raised an eyebrow. "We're college students at science college. And you like cute stuff too, like those talking dog movies!"

The engineer blushed. "You have a point... but also I have a reputation, I don't like sharing my hobbies with people."

"Like the birdwatching?" Honey Lemon questioned.

"Like the birdwatching." She confirmed, then blinked. "Isn't Ruby a really, really old Pokemon game?"

"Sara said she was doing a hard mode challenge." The chemist shrugged. "Whatever that means."
"Huh."

Later that evening…

David sighed, feeling the sun set behind him. "Today was a long day." He mumbled, walking home with his cane tapping each block. "I'm so tired."

He kept thinking about yesterday, the pain in his heart had subsided, but it was still there, still tearing at him. I wonder where my mother is right now, still that monster, does she even have control of herself? He growled. "Fat load of good it will do to wonder, she made her choice, and I always have to live with her choices."

His hand went over his scarred ear, it had been when his mother went on a simple job, enemies of her had broken into the house and held him at knifepoint. According to her, one of the goons had a knife cut into his ear, he barely remembered the angry scream of his mother, who had her graphene knife slicing through the goons. That was all he remembered, anything else gave him a headache.

But that incident had been when she realized that at that point, it was dangerous for him, next time she might not save him in time if another enemy kidnapped him to get to her.

So with a heavy heart, Momakase sent him to live with the Ferns. He could still remember that day like it was yesterday...

"Mum?" His mother had been carrying him for awhile now, he was starting to get tired. "I wanna go home, can we come home?"

"No." She softly told him. "We're going somewhere you can rest though."

"Yay!" He perked up, he heard his mother then knock on a doorbell, and a door opened.

"Hi Ferns household, how can I-" a deep male's voice replied, he'd soon know who's voice that belonged to. "Oh, it's you." The man presumably looked at David. "This is your son, isn't he?"

"Yep!" He replied before his mother could. "I'm David." He then shivered. "You're not a scary man, are you?"

"No." The man's voice was gentle, soft. "I'm Steven, Steven Ferns."

"It's nice to meet you."

Then, his mom set him down on the porch. "Mum?"

"David." Her voice was shaking. "There is something I need to tell you."

"Tell me?" David frowned. "Was it about those scary men?"

"Y-yes." Why was her voice hesitant? "I'm not going to be able to take care of you anymore."
"What?" Betrayal was in his voice. "Why?! Did I do something wrong?"

"I did something wrong." She patted his head. "I'm always scared someone will hurt you when I'm gone, and I don't know if I can take care of you properly, I'm sorry."
"Will I never see you again?" He whimpered, tears running down his cheeks.

"It might not be for a long time." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you again, but you have to be a brave boy for me, alright? Don't give Mr. and Mrs. Ferns a hard time."
He wiped his tears, he had to be a big kid for his mother. "Okay, Mum."

She then left, only to reappear last year. I wonder why things ended up sour. David knew the answer, it was when Big Hero 6 got involved. He loved the superheroes for their job and saving his dad's life during the Krei-Tech attack, but they did arrest his mother.

She literally poisoned Krei, and then there was the star, now she almost killed Granville! He groaned. I wish she'd tell me why she does all this bad stuff. David shivered.

"Why did she have to turn into a freaky monster, did she even want to turn into one? Dear lord." David whined.

"I need to stop whining about it, but still, if I ever see her again, I'm really gonna yell at her, makin' me miserable like this. Not cool Mother." He then huffed, quickening the pace of walking home.

He'd still think about that awful dinner event, and grieve for how it ended between him and his mother and he even questioned if it was worth saving their bond.

But for now, he just wanted to enjoy his semester, with the friends and family that stuck with him.

And that was good enough for David.

AN: A somewhat David centric chapter! He's not sure how to handle what happened at the dinner. He misses his mother but also wonders if it's a good idea considering all the bad stuff she did. Having a villain for a parent is complicated, according to David

Also today is the flashback chapter I guess! For info on the David flashback, to tldr. Momakase heard about the Ferns from someone she knew who knew them, and suggested going to them to take care of David since the Ferns were willing to adopt. She kept contact distant since she was worried her old enemies would find out where David went and try to use him as a bargaining chip against her again.

As for the Ari flashback... well we're seeing more of her memories. I wonder who that person she saw is?

Well I know, but if you think you know, maybe keep the surprise running for awhile~

QOTW: What was your first reaction to Seventh Wheel?