I forgot to credit my new beta reader GRYFFINDOR123456 in the last chapter, so I'm doing it now. Thanks for all your help so far!
As for everyone else reading this, enjoy the unearthed trauma and angst and cuddly robot!
BOOM!
They knocked again. This time, Aunt Cass jerked awake.
"Officer, I swear I didn't –"
BOOM!
Hiro dared to peek over the sofa cushions. Aunt Cass leapt to her feet and grabbed a rifle that was mounted on the wall. She aimed it at the doors.
"Who's there?" she shouted, her voice quavering.
There was a pause. And then –
SMASH!
The double doors were forced clean off their hinges and landed flat on the floor.
A giant of a man stood in the frame. His features were hidden in shadow, but Hiro could make out spiky tufts of hair, and hands and feet the size of Christmas hams. He was carrying an old carpetbag. The giant stooped under the doorway and squeezed inside the boat.
"Uh, sorry 'bout that! Lemme get those for you."
He effortlessly picked up the doors and fit them back into the frame.
Hiro turned on his phone's flashlight for a better look at their intruder. He was barefoot, and wore a pair of red overalls; one strap was missing, which made him look even more muscular and huge than he already was. He squinted his small mud-colored eyes in the light.
The clearer view of their interloper must have returned some of Cass' courage to her. She readjusted her aim and shouted:
"I demand that you leave at once, sir! You're breaking and entering! And if you harm a HAIR on my boy's head, I'll –"
The giant held up his hands and grinned apologetically. "Okay, lady, calm down, I don't mean any harm –"
Thunder cracked outside the window, and a frightened Cass yelped and dropped the gun. It went off with a bang, blasting a hole in the ceiling.
The giant gingerly stepped forward.
"How about we get rid of this before someone gets hurt?"
He twisted the barrel of the rifle into a knot as if it were a balloon animal, and tossed it over his shoulder.
Cass gulped.
"Hiro," the giant said.
Hiro looked up into the stocky face and found an unexpectedly warm smile.
"I haven't seen you since you were a baby. Look at you, all grown up!"
He ruffled Hiro's hair, which, considering his hand was as big as his head meant that Hiro was shook around like a bobblehead doll.
"You look a lot like you mom, but the hair's definitely your dad's. Ooh! I got something for ya! It might have jostled around a bit on the journey, but it should still taste good."
The giant opened his bag and searched inside until he found what he was looking for – a box tied with a ribbon. Hiro opened it curiously. Inside was a slightly burnt pie with holes poked in the crust spelling out "Happy Birthday Hiro!"
Hiro looked back up at the giant, a smile growing across his face. "Thanks. But, uh…who are you?"
"Oh, where are my manners? The name's Ralph. I keep the grounds, tend to the animals, and if some part of the castle needs to be knocked down before renovating, well, I wreck it."
He posed with his arms up, showing off his astounding muscles.
"You wouldn't mind if I threw something to eat on the fire, would you? It's been a long trip."
Ralph dropped his bag by the fireplace, knelt to the floor and pulled out some things Hiro couldn't see. Within moments, warm, flickering firelight flooded the room, washing over Hiro as if he'd sunk into a hot bath.
Ralph, meanwhile, continued to fish through the bag and took out all sorts of things: a chipped teapot and cups, some cans of alphabet soup, two squashy packages of hot dogs and buns, some sticks, a pack of paper plates, and a party-size bottle of root beer that he took a swig from before starting to roast the hot dogs over the fire. Hiro didn't think it was possible to keep all that inside that one bag. Nobody said anything while he worked, but as he slid the first three, juicy, slightly burnt frankfurters on to the buns, Hiro licked his lips in anticipation.
"Don't touch anything he gives you, Hiro," Cass said sharply.
Ralph puffed through his lips.
"What do I look like, a witch? If I was trying to poison your nephew, and I'm not, I'd be offering him apples, not hot dogs."
He passed one to Hiro, who was so hungry that it was the most wonderful thing he had ever tasted then. But, as no one seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't understand who you are."
"I'm just Ralph," the giant said, his mouth half-full of hot dog. "I brought you to your aunt's when you were a baby on Merlin's orders. He's headmaster of the Magic Kingdom. Of course, you know about the Magic Kingdom, right?"
Aunt Cass blanched.
Hiro shook his head. "Sorry, no."
Ralph raised an eyebrow. "No?"
Hiro felt embarrassed. "Sorry, should I?"
"Sorry?!" Ralph barked. "You're not the one who should be sorry, kid. I knew you weren't getting your letters, but not even knowing about…did you even wonder where your mom and dad learned it all?"
"All what?"
"ALL WHAT?!" Ralph thundered. "Now wait just one cotton-picking minute!"
He jumped to his feet, which shook clouds of dust down from the rafters. In his anger Ralph seemed to fill the whole room. Cass slowly backed into a wall.
"Are you telling me," he ranted at her, "that Hiro doesn't know nothing about…ANYTHING?"
Hiro thought this was going a bit too far. He'd been accepted to college at ten years old, for crying out loud.
"Hey, I know a lot of things!" he cried. "I'm the best in my class at math and science; I even know Pi to thirty digits."
But Ralph simply waved his hand and said "I mean about our world – well, technically it's not just our world anymore. But people like you and me and your parents –"
Aunt Cass suddenly found her voice.
"Stop!" she shouted. "Don't say anymore! I forbid you to say another word –"
Ralph wheeled around and glared at her like a bull eyeing a red flag.
"You never told him? You never showed him what was in Merlin's letter? I was there! I watched him leave Hiro on your doorstep myself! And you've kept it to yourself all these years!"
"Kept what from me?" Hiro asked eagerly.
"NO! Hiro, please listen to me –" Cass begged desperately.
"No way, lady, you've kept this from him long enough. I'm telling him," said Ralph. He took a deep breath.
"You're enchanted, Hiro."
Everything felt frozen in time. Hiro could hardly move.
"…I'm what?" he gasped.
"Enchanted, magical, you have a touch of destiny about you, take your pick," said Ralph. "The point is, you've got the power to wield magic, and pretty darn well I'd say, once you've trained up a little."
Warmth and pride poured from Ralph's voice, but Hiro felt neither pleased nor proud. Him? Magic? There must be a mistake. Magic was for princesses and sorcerers in far away lands. He was all science and technology; it was the only thing he was ever good at. If he was magical, why wasn't he living in a castle and singing songs at the drop of a hat? Why hadn't he turned his bullies into toads? Or made silverware dance? Or surrounded himself with talking animals?
"No, no, no, you've made a mistake, Ralph. I-I can't be magical. I'm a science geek. I study all day long, I build bots in my aunt's garage, I was voted "Mr. Technology" in my school's yearbook, for crying out loud!"
To his surprise, Ralph simply grinned.
"Well then, 'Mr. Technology', have you ever made anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were feeling really happy or angry or scared? Or managed to do something you loved so well that nobody else could top it?"
Hiro looked into the fire. Now that he thought about it, every odd thing that his aunt tried to downplay when he was upset…every time he was harassed, he always found himself out of his tormentors' reach…dreading going back to school virtually bald, he'd managed to make his hair grow back…and just recently, hadn't he been able to communicate with a sentient droid, even though it didn't speak any human language?
Hiro, comprehension dawning on his face, looked back at Ralph and saw that he was positively beaming at him.
"Thought so. Now, I think it's about time you read this."
He pulled a familiar white envelope from his pocket. Hiro stretched out his hand at last to take it, addressed in purple ink to Mr. Hiro Hamada, The Sofa, The Abandoned Riverboat, Devil's Bayou. He pulled out the letter and read:
The Magic Kingdom Academy
Headmaster Merlin
(Order of Yensid, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Magician,
Supreme Warlock, International Confed. of Enchanters)
Dear Mr. Hamada,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at The Magic Kingdom Academy. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. We await your response no later than July 31st.
Yours Sincerely,
Edalyn Clawthorne,
Deputy Headmistress
Questions exploded in Hiro's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide what to ask first. After a minute he stammered, "How do I respond?"
"Oh, Jiminy Cricket, that reminds me," said Ralph, clapping a hand to his forehead. He took a pen and pad of paper from his bag. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Hiro could read upside-down:
Dear Merlin,
Gave Hiro his letter.
Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.
Weather stinks. Stay inside. See you soon.
Ralph
Ralph rolled up the note, put his fingers to his mouth, and whistled. A green dragonfly buzzed through a crack in the door and landed on his outstretched finger.
"Hey Evinrude, think you can get this to Merlin tonight?"
Evinrude took the letter, saluted, and flew back out into the storm.
Hiro realized his mouth was open and closed it.
"Now where was I?" Ralph pondered aloud. But at that moment, Aunt Cass stepped back into the light, ashen-faced and tight-lipped.
"He's not going."
Ralph grunted.
"Sorry, lady, but there's nothing you can do about it. He's had his name on the registry since he was born."
"I don't care what any registry says!" Cass shouted. "I promised the moment I took him in that I'd keep him away from all this magic stuff and I've done a pretty damn good job so far!"
"Wait, you knew?" said Hiro, nearly falling off the sofa. "You knew that I'm…magical?" The word still felt strange coming out of his mouth.
"Since the day you first arrived at the cafe," Cass continued breathlessly. "How could you not be, Tomeo being who he was? He got a letter just like that and he disappeared to that – that school – and he'd come home every summer just itching to go back. It was all he ever talked about. Mom had to drag him away from his magic practice just to have dinner with us. He ditched me so he could meet his friends, then the letters dried up, and the next thing you know, he's getting married and suddenly he remembers he has a sister! And just when I think maybe we could get things back to normal, he vanishes again. Hardly a word from him in years! The last thing he ever gave me before he and your mother burst into flames was a note telling me you were born. Well, I'm not letting magic take away anyone else. I'm not going to lose my family again!"
A harsh silence fell over the room. Even the wind and rain outside seemed muted. Hiro had never seen Aunt Cass like this before, not even on her most stressful days at work. It seemed like she had been waiting – and fearing – to say all that for years.
Aunt Cass shuddered, and fell on the sofa next to Hiro. When she spoke again, she looked straight ahead into the fire.
"What you have to understand, Hiro, is that I was adopted, too. When my parents – your grandparents – brought me home, I was no older than you were when I found you. Tomeo may not have been my brother by birth, but he might as well have been. We were so close once…He promised me that going to a different school wouldn't change anything…but it did in the end. Sure, he kept me in the loop for a while, showed me incredible things he was working on with magic and science…but nothing I ever did was enough to keep him from leaving me behind. No matter how long I waited for him, no matter how much I reached out…And the day you arrived on my doorstep was the day I learned that he was dead. Then I knew I could never get him back. I couldn't even hold a funeral for him. There wasn't anything left to bury…"
And now, Cass collapsed into her lap and sobbed; years and years of repressed tears and heartbreak flowed free at last. Ralph, whose expression gradually shifted from cold and indignant to sad and sympathetic as she told her story, gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Cass leaned into him, still crying. Ralph didn't pull away.
Hiro was still taking it all in.
No bodies…
She knew…
He was special…
She knew…
"So…so everything with school…and the droid at the showcase…but…but you told me they died in a car crash…"
"A car crash?" asked Ralph incredulously. "A car crash killed Tomeo and Maemi Hamada?"
"I had to say something," Cass wept.
"Merlin said he explained it all in the letter he left with Hiro; how his parents died, why everyone knows who he is," Ralph said. "Did you open it?"
Cass wiped her nose with her sleeve.
"I did, but…I hardly understood it then. Hell if I do now."
"Wait, what is it that makes me so special?" Hiro asked urgently.
Ralph grew nearly as anxious as Cass.
"Well…that's kind of a hard story to tell," he said in a low, worried voice. "I mean I thought she would have…or at least…but if someone's got to…you can't go to the Magic Kingdom not knowing who – or what – you are."
He sat on the floor and took a deep breath.
"I'll try to tell you as much as I can – thing is, I can't tell you everything since I don't entirely understand it all myself…"
"Just say however much you can. Please." Cass replied gently.
Ralph stared into the fire for a few seconds.
"All right…I guess it begins once upon a time with a fairy, except, well, fairy's not the right word for someone like her; 'witch' is a lot closer, though she was way more intense than any witch you'd meet on the street. Even nowadays people are still too scared of her to say her name. She was bad, as bad as you can go. Worse. Worse than worse."
"What was her name?" asked Hiro
"Her name is – was – Maleficent," Ralph answered in a low, somber tone. "Years and years ago, she started looking for followers. Got 'em too, all sorts of sorcerers and hunters and even royalty – some were afraid, some wanted a bit of her power, 'cuz brother, she was getting power all right. It was dark times, Hiro. You didn't know who to trust, didn't get friendly with even the most charming princes…terrible things happened. Those Villains, we called them – not an original name, I know, but, they were taking over the world, bit by bit."
"Wait, wouldn't the worlds' governments be up in arms over sorcerers and witches trying to conquer the planet?" Hiro interrupted.
"That's the thing, Hiro," said Ralph. "Magic people like us were underground back then. It just wasn't safe to reveal that magic was real. People saw it as a threat in the old days. Some still do. And a lot of the countries and kingdoms the Villains were attacking? They were hidden behind all sorts of enchantments and barriers. Many of them were from different times and dimensions, but still existing at the same time as each other…it's kind of a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, Jeremy-Bearimy…thing. I hardly understand it myself."
"Anyway, one of the last safe places left was the Magic Kingdom, thanks to Merlin. He was the only person Maleficent was ever afraid of. She didn't dare try to take over the school while he was there. There were lots of brave and powerful heroes who stood up to her, thinking they would be the ones to end her reign of terror, but most of them ended up dead, or cursed so horribly that they wished they were dead. And your mom and dad, they were part of one of the groups fighting her. And they weren't the only ones. A lot of folks put their whole lives on the line to keep the world safe, like them. They had to lie to their families or cut them out altogether to protect them from her wrath."
If Hiro hadn't been sitting next to Cass, he might have thought he'd imagined the tiny gasp she made.
"Now your parents, they weren't like most of the people on our side, Hiro. They created some insane stuff to fight the Villains with using magic fueled by technology…or technology fueled by magic, either one. Some people thought they were crazy for using unmagical means to fight this war. Others thought that abandoning magic and embracing science was the only way to defeat Maleficent. It was a big deal; almost split us up. But Merlin, well, he's got more than enough room in his heart for both. You'll see, at the school, they've got this alchemy lab where you can build these really cool – um, like I was saying, some of the work they did with him helped turn the tide for us. And then…just around spring ten years ago…it happened."
"…What happened?" Cass asked quietly.
"There was…I dunno how to describe it…a feeling, a tremor from somewhere called Bald Mountain. It's a place that's steeped in magic – dark magic. No one knew what it meant, except that it wasn't good, and it was getting stronger. But Tomeo and Maemi, well, they dropped everything and started researching it. They knew that Maleficent would come running to Bald Mountain the first chance she got and use whatever was going on there to finish her world conquest tour. Sure enough, all their studying and espionage pointed them to the exact day she was gonna strike. They headed out there with as many of our guys as they could to stop her once and for all. Heck, they were so confident that this would be the deciding victory that they took you along as well, even though you were barely a year old. And maybe things would have worked out, except…"
Hiro hardly dared to breathe.
"Except, what, Ralph?"
"…She already knew. Once they settled at the mountain base, she attacked. And not just her, but everyone. All her witches and cronies and demons and, and…all of them! Every Villain in her posse! They all fought them and, and…"
Ralph hung his head.
"Nobody survived. No one. Except you, Hiro."
Silent tears streamed down Cass' cheeks. Hiro felt a chill in spite of the warm fire. After sitting in silence for several minutes, Ralph found the will continue.
"But here's where things get complicated. It wasn't as if she was being careless and overlooked you. You know those scars you got?"
Hiro instinctively brushed his arm; the scars poked out from under his sleeve. Ralph nodded.
"Not exactly a paper cut, is it? You only get a mark like that from a curse, and an evil one at that. Why she would try to kill you too is anyone's guess. Frankly, she was so far off the deep end I shouldn't be surprised that she'd want to kill a baby. But whatever she tried to do to you, it didn't work. It did the opposite, in fact; it not only bounced back on to her, but her entire army too. Wiped them out, woosh! Not a trace of them left! And when that happened, all their evil spells broke, and magic came pouring out into the world like it never did before. The barriers hiding us from the world came crashing down, and all those separate lands and kingdoms and worlds were brought together into one. Magic was out in the open. We were not only free from Maleficent, but free to show ourselves as we really are. That's why you're famous, Hiro. That's why everyone knows your name. You did what hundreds of heroes tried and failed to do. You're the One Who Conquered Them All."
Something painful was going on Hiro's mind. As Ralph's story came to a close, he once again saw the blinding flashes of light more clearly than he had ever remembered it before, a wall of violent green flames – and he could remember something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold cruel laugh echoing all around him.
Ralph looked on sadly.
"I took you from the ruins myself. Brought you to your aunt. Merlin said she'd raise you right."
"And I have, haven't I?" said Cass. Hiro jumped; he had almost forgotten his aunt was still there.
"Well, I can't say I agree with your methods," Ralph said, scratching the back of his head, "but after what you said I understand why you did what you did."
"It's not like I had any resources or a support group for this sort of thing," Cass continued. "How do you tell your child that he created an entirely new world because somebody tried to kill him? In fact, how do we even know that all of those witch's followers are dead and that they aren't plotting some kind of revenge? If he goes to SFIT, he'll have a normal life and be safe and happy studying what he loves."
"And he'll only grow more powerful, except he'll have no way to control his magic and nobody to show him how. And then what'll happen if someone does come looking for him?" Ralph retorted.
"How do we even know if anyone's gonna come after me?" asked Hiro, trying to mentally sort through his other hundred questions. "What even happened to Maleficent? I mean, she's dead, right? There's no way she could come back to kill me?"
Ralph frowned.
"Well, a lot of people think she's dead, but…I dunno. I don't think she was even human enough to die. She disappeared completely, but she could be out there, for all I know, just biding her time, too weak to carry on for now…"
Hiro coughed and nodded his head towards Aunt Cass, who looked ready to faint. Ralph quickly realized he was not helping his case.
"But, ah…some of the people on her side returned to ours after. Yeah. They came out of trances and spells, said she made them do things against their will. Whatever the case, something about you nipped them in the bud that night, Hiro. Something she didn't count on and stopped her cold in her tracks. Besides, if anything does happen, he'd be under the protection of Merlin, the greatest wizard the Magic Kingdom ever had. And I'll be there, too."
He thumped his chest proudly. Aunt Cass was suddenly focused on twiddling her thumbs. "I don't know…"
Hiro thought fast; this was his one chance to find all the answers to the questions that plagued him at night. If he couldn't make Aunt Cass understand that, he didn't know what he'd do. He put his hand on Cass' and looked her right in the eye, hoping – praying – that what he was about to say was enough.
"Aunt Cass, you've done a lot for me. I know you're trying to keep me safe, but this" – he gestured to the dingy room – "this isn't safe! You've told me my whole life that I'm normal, but I'm not! What I am is…I don't know yet, but I want to find out for myself. I want to know more about my parents and what they did. Going to the Magic Kingdom, learning more about this magic stuff…I think this is my best shot at that. And Ralph is right; if I make a mistake or lose control, there'll be someone there who knows what to do. Maybe I'll even make some friends for once. There's gotta be other kids there like me. And whatever happens, we can always reach out and talk to each other." He tapped his phone knowingly. "So please, Aunt Cass? Can I go?"
Aunt Cass' mouth became a thin white line. She had that determined look on her face Hiro recognized from all the times she had to make a difficult decision (usually over whether or not to have that last helping of mac and cheese at dinner). Finally, she closed her eyes and exhaled.
"…All right. You can go, Hiro."
"YES!" Hiro pumped his fist and jumped around ecstatically. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
"But I would feel better knowing there was someone to look directly after you," Cass murmured. "There's only so much a couple of teachers can do."
"I – WOAH!"
Hiro stumbled over his backpack and fell backward on the floor, scraping his hand against the warped wooden planks. "Ow!"
A series of beeps and flashing lights came from his bag. Hiro crept up to the bag and zipped it open. The noise was coming from the red metal box.
"I know that box," Ralph gasped. "I brought it with Hiro."
Two black circles popped open at the ends of the black line across the white space. The top folded back, revealing a round white head carefully perched on top of a mass of squished-up vinyl. It rose up, inflating like a balloon as the box stretched out from side to side. Hiro scrambled back as the robot, for that's what it was, finally stood on its own two feet. In its full form, it was surprisingly round and cuddly-looking. The robot carefully stepped out of the box and waddled up to Hiro.
"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion," it said in a pleasant, almost humanlike voice. "I was alerted to your need for medical attention when you said 'Ow!'"
Hiro stared up, gobsmacked.
"You have fallen," Baymax stated matter-of-factly.
"You think?" asked Hiro. He got to his feet.
A rectangle lit up on Baymax's chest; ten little cartoon faces showing varying degrees of pain appeared on it.
"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" he asked.
"Physical or emotional?" Hiro asked skeptically.
Baymax did not respond. He straightened up.
"I will scan you now."
He blinked. Hiro could hear gentle whirrings from inside the robot as he moved his head up and down.
"Scanning complete."
The faces on his chest became an outline of Hiro's body; the left hand lit up in red.
"You have a slight epidermal abrasion on your left hand." Baymax raised a pointed finger and held out his hand. "I suggest an anti-bacterial spray."
"Woah, whoah," Hiro said. He had to admit, this robot was beginning to impress him. But he still had no idea what he was capable of. "What's in that spray, specifically?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The primary ingredient is bacitracin," said Baymax as a diagram of the medicine's chemical structure came into view.
"Oooh, that's a bummer," said Hiro. "I'm actually allergic to that."
Baymax tilted his head and blinked.
"You are not allergic to bacitracin. You do have a mild allergy to peanuts."
"Huh. Not bad," Hiro mused. He held out his hand and let Baymax spray it with his finger. "There's some serious coding on this thing."
"I am programmed with over ten thousand medical procedures," stated Baymax.
Hiro let Baymax finish, then began carefully inspecting every inch of him.
"Hyperspectral cameras…titanium skeleton – no, carbon fiber…killer actuators! Vinyl makes him look like a walking marshmallow – no offense."
"I am a robot. I cannot be offended," Baymax said cheerfully.
Hiro nodded. He tapped the circle on Baymax's chest. It opened, and a card slot bearing a green data card popped out. Hiro could make out a smiling doctor face logo with the word "Hamada" handwritten above it. Next to the card were three empty slots. With a light tap, they slid back in again. Hiro knelt to the floor and studied the strange box his new robot emerged from.
"A charging station, lithium-ion battery. Supercapacitors would charge him way faster, though."
"Merlin said Maemi and Tomeo created that thing," Ralph wondered aloud as Hiro continued his observations. "It's supposed to withstand against magic, otherwise it would have been destroyed along with everything else at the site. Nice to know what it finally is after all these years."
"Tomeo and Maemi built that?" said Cass.
"Yeah," answered Ralph. "Merlin thought they did it to protect Hiro."
Cass made a sound like "owmydizzy". Baymax turned to her.
"I heard you say "ow". On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
"Oh no, I'm fine," Cass said, wiping her eyes.
"It is all right to cry."
Cass laughed with a painfully forced smile.
"Whaaaaat, who's cryin'? Not me!"
"Crying is a natural response to pain."
"I'm not in any pain!"
"I will scan you now."
"No, you don't have to –"
"Scanning complete."
"Unbelievable!"
"I see no evidence of physical injury; however, your heart rate is at a rapid pace, your neurotransmitter levels indicate low levels of serotonin, and you are hyperventilating, sweating, and shaking. These are signs of a panic attack."
"You don't need to tell me that, you're Hiro's robot!" Cass nearly screamed. Baymax blinked again.
"You are my patient, too. I would like to help."
Baymax reached down and touched Hiro's laptop. Random images flashed across his chest and the screen.
"What are you doing?" said Hiro.
"I am downloading a database on mental health."
Baymax lifted his hand, and both screens went blank.
"Database downloaded. Treatments include mindfulness exercises."
He turned again to Cass. A soothing ocean scene appeared on his chest, complete with the sounds of rippling waves and seagulls.
"Take deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through the mouth. When you are ready, name five things in this room that you can experience with each of your senses."
Cass, still feeling rather self-conscious, took a few breaths.
"Okay, um…I taste, smell, and see the hot dogs, I hear the storm outside, and, uh, I feel my clothes. How's that?"
"Very good," said Baymax. "Focusing on senses in the present helps maintain mindfulness and reduce stress. Would you like me to look up available therapists in your area? Therapy can aid with understanding trauma, learning coping mechanisms, and improving your physical, mental and emotional health."
"Well…okay," Cass sniffled. "But not right now. Maybe tomorrow."
The view on Baymax's monitor changed to a calendar. A green checkmark popped up with a ding on the following date.
"Reminder noted. You are both very good. Have a lollipop."
Two red lollipops appeared in his hand. He gave one to Cass and Hiro.
Cass looked at Hiro, full of awe.
"…Can we keep him?"
Hiro's laugh quickly turned into a loud yawn. Ralph soon joined him.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to turn in for the night."
Ralph stuck his entire arm into the carpetbag and pulled out three large colorful quilts. Hiro looked into the bag; it was totally empty. He picked it up off the floor. There were no hidden compartments or flaps.
"Okay, that's gotta be magic, right?" he asked.
"Correct," Ralph grinned. "But, uh, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone at the school about this. I'm not really allowed to do all that much with magic stuff, not since I was expelled."
"You were expelled?" said Hiro.
"Yeah, fifth year. But Merlin let me stay on and work at the school so I wouldn't have to go back to living in the dump. I had no parents, no home; I'd be nowhere if it weren't for him. He's a great guy, Merlin."
"Why were you kicked out, Ralph?"
"It's getting late and we've got lots to do tomorrow," Ralph said loudly. "Gotta get your thingamabobs and whatchamacallits for school."
He tucked Hiro in and gave one of the quilts to Cass. Ralph settled down against the wall with his quilt and soon he was snoring away. As for Baymax, he was quietly observing and petting Mochi, who had taken a shine to him.
"Hairy baby…" the robot murmured.
Hiro closed his eyes, smiling to himself. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of what wonders awaited him the next morning.
Yep, this was a doozy for poor Aunt Cass. Things are going to be better for her from here on...sort of. Also, take it from someone who knows, Baymax's five senses listing usually comes in handy if you have anxiety or panic attacks. Plus therapy. Therapy is good too.
Now there's just one thing left to do since Hiro's going to the right school - do some shopping!
Next Chapter: Main Street