Beginning Author Notes:

Hello. This is an experimental piece of writing I've been working on and I hope that I did well on it, but I guess what decides that is what you guys think of it. I'm not Tappei so I obviously don't own Re: Zero but, either way, I hope you find enjoyment in this little work.

You can read the Author's Notes at the end for extra information, but, whether you do or do not, I will still thank you for taking the time to read something I wrote. Now, what are you waiting for!? Enjoy!

No seriously… what are you waiting for? Scroll down.

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It had been years after the death of the Witch, years after the Royal Selection, and years after the Witch Cult had finally been eradicated. A simple sentence such as that can only describe this new age of Lugunica as nothing short of a paradise, in fact, the whole world was like that. Fewer wars were always a plus, a stronger economy certainly a good thing, more jobs and more affordable living spaces were pretty neat and no disgusting cultists around was certainly brilliant.

Emilia was, like you'd expect, appointed the king. Due to her knights and her own accomplishments, she had risen to unspeakable heights to the point that it would be quite foolish to not have appointed her as king. She wasn't as ignorant and clueless as she once was when she first entered the Royal Capital and started candidacy, so she made many wise decisions as queen. For example, she appointed the other Royal Candidates as her high advisors, second technically and officially to the Sage Council, though Emilia put some restrictions on the Councils power in the country due to an incident that happened years before. An incident that ended up hurting a lot of her dear friends.

Crusch controlled military funding and mercenary matters, Anastasia the economy and many matters involving Kararagi, Felt the slums, agriculture, and that sort of stuff, and Emilia, the organizer, and ruler of it all. Priscilla only being absent due to her other position in Volcannia.

But things weren't always so neat and tidy, of course. She still had to take care of two adorable quarter elf children, two daughters in specific. Fortuna and Naoko were their names, one a 9-year-old girl with beautiful eyes and black, ruffed up hair and the other having shining silver hair, yet mean, almond-shaped eyes like her father before her.

It was no wonder a sudden boost in Castle Maids and butlers occurred when those two adorable goofballs started to gain sentience and start roaming about. It was all too familiar to Emilia and to anyone who knew another certain black-haired, almond-eyed boy. That is, of course, Natsuki Subaru, the father of those two daughters and husband to the queen. Quite a high position to the boy who had once believed that he'd get nowhere in life. Man, that was a lie.

The daughters of the knight and the queen would often take after both their father and mother, somewhat fluctuating attitudes and personalities. In fact, the daughters loved to hear stories of their father and his heroic deeds. Slaying powerful monster's despite being weak, making allies and leading others to battle despite not being a soldier himself, and being an overall amazing person.

They loved the stories of their father, a father they never met.


It was a bright, sunny day in the capital. Merchants and citizens alike littered the streets, looking for the best deals and things to suit their wants and needs. Carriages and ground dragons filled the streets, as people would anxiously cross the roads in hopes of not accidently getting ran over. Appa-merchants were selling, of course, appa's and, at the same time, getting others to cool down from the sunny, scorching hot temperatures.

The slums seemed to be quite non-existent at this point in time, though thieves were still quite apparent here and there, as they always would be. Many past thieves gave up their line of work after many laws and refinements were made that had initially driven them out of the slums, making them more comfortable and able to do other lines of work, especially ones that were safer. Those who stayed on the road of a thief were those who genuinely enjoyed the craft.

The Castle though, the Royal Palace, though was bustling with maids and butlers. They were, of course, preparing for a rather anxious and secure trip for the Queen and the other Royal High Advisors of hers. Today, in particular, was quite special to the country of Lugunica, even more special to the characters who participated in the most recent Royal Selection.

However, as of now, squatted a certain silver-haired half-elf queen, telling her kids to be safe on the journey ahead of them as any overprotective but caring parent would do. That half-elf, of course, being the one and only Emilia.

"Now please stay safe okaaay and don't get into trouble or no cookies!" teased Emilia, as she gave the warning to the two-quarter elves in front of her, both wanting to see their Uncle Otto and Garfiel.

"But Mommy, I made those cookies!" said Fortuna, the adorable silver-haired girl pretending to cry.

Years ago, Emilia would have fell for that fake cry, but not now! Well…

"Okay… you can still have cookies, but I'll limit them to two!" exclaimed Emilia, gaining a laugh and a 'HORRAY' from her children as they darted off to the entrance of the castle, hoping to meet two of their favorite Uncles and go on an adventure!

Their little legs pounded on the Castle floors and their pleasant and innocent cheers resounding through the walls, giving the Castle maids something to converse about and something to certainly smile about. For example, Lushin, one of the oldest maids in the castle, would constantly talk to the children as if she was their grandmother.

"Hey Lu-Lu!" said the delightful Fortuna.

"Heyo Lu-Lu" exclaimed Naoko.

"Oh hello my precious little children… you better be careful on your little adventure," said Lushin, using a puppy voice with the children that only made the children gravitate towards her even more.

"We will!" yelled the sisters as they skipped towards the entrance, one knight and one merchant awaiting the Queen's daughters. Their Captain's daughters…

"Looks like we've the two little rascals huh, Otto-bro?" said the blonde-haired tiger boy, turning towards the grey-haired and still very nervous, no matter how many times he entered the Royal Capital, merchant.

"Well, Emilia-san's kids still have some of Natsuki in them which kind of scares me, you know! One day they might start picking on me all the time!" pouted Otto, though he was secretly happy for meeting the two kids. He never minded Subaru's teasing, after all they did that with each other all the time and it's what made them closer and closer as time went by.

That was, of course, until the incident…

Oh, Otto, he needed to get those memories out of his head. Those memories would only bring pain to his head, clouding his judgment and, like what would happen to Subaru, only make others worry about him. Otto shut his eyes tight and then mentally shook his head in an attempt to fling the bad memories away. Luckily, such a thing actually and incidentally worked.

Otto opened his eyes back up and looked forward, looking at the two little heads hopping towards them with gleaming smiles on their faces, his lips forming a smile at the adorableness.

"Garfiel-san, who do you think would Natsuki-san think would be cuter: Beatrice-sama or those two goof-balls," questioned Otto, pointing towards the two sisters and interested to see Garfiel's answer.

"hmmmm," hummed Garfiel, unsure of what the actual answer would be. This must have been one of the 'Brain Games' that his Captain was always talking about. This really made his gears turn…

What would his Captain say if he was asked that? What would his amazing, charismatic, amazing, badass, amazing, smart, amazing… Wait… He figured it out!

"Cap'n would say 'Emilia-tan is EMT!'" exclaimed Garfiel, trying his best to make a very exaggerated tone and stance like his captain once would. He gleamed in happiness and pride, very apparent on the smile he had, at the thought that he actually did, in fact, say something that was likely for his actual Captain to exclaim. He started to remember many memories of his Captain.

Some of those precious memories may have been bad and gloomy, but those were instantly compensated by a large amount of awesome and happy ones. Garfiel could only look to Otto, wondering what his reaction would be to his answer.

The two friends, brothers even, could only chuckle at that answer since it sounded like something Subaru would actually do. Of course, Subaru would also say that simply to tease with the Great Spirit and his daughters. That was just Subaru for you.

The world had changed a lot since Natsuki Subaru, in short.

After Subaru's death, Otto and Garfiel, alongside everyone really, were heartbroken to their core. They stayed like that for a long time, simply broken to their cores, unable to really do anything of meaning or of any effort due to the sudden emptiness and pain they felt. Natsuki Subaru had played an incredibly large role in their lives, to the point where his absence was almost painful to exhibit.

Emilia, of course, was the most heartbroken. She, however, still had to push on and appreciate the memories she had with Subaru with others. She understood the true importance of keeping people who care for you and you care for close. It was actually one of the side reasons why she appointed previous Royal Candidates to the advisor positions, so she could keep in touch in a way. Emilia still missed Subaru, it was something that one could never get rid of, but her daughters would often make her forget about those sad memories, helping her fulfill them with happy ones.

Garfiel took a lot of training from Julius and Reinhardt and became a knight. His 'graduation' being fairly interesting as he, unlike what you'd expect from a chivalrous composed knight, walked into the knighting with an unbuttoned shirt, his abs showing, and his usual ruffed up hair. It was typical Garfiel, I guess. It was even funnier since not every knight constantly refers to themselves as 'my amazing self!'

Otto, had a relatively smoother road, thanks to help from Garfiel and others. Otto actually started his own shop in the Capital and lived his life with so much fun! He certainly never expected that his life would end up like this, being friends with knights and having so many amazing friends, Subaru obviously included.

Natsuki Subaru changed the worlds of individuals and the worlds of groups.

He had stopped the Witch of Envy, something that not even the Great Sage, Sword Saint Reid, and the Dragon could do. He was the prominent and the main strategist, you could say, behind the eradication of the Witch Cult. He had saved even other countries from crisis.

But more importantly, he changed many individuals' lives. Subaru's interactions with Wilhelm and Reinhardt, for example, eventually got the two Sword Geniuses to talk to each other and hang out more, finally forgiving each other for past incidents and behavior.

In fact, on the very day that Garfiel and Otto were waiting for the Queen's two goof-balls, the two sword Geniuses were actually walking in the market section of the capital looking for a ring (wink, wink Felt…).

ANOTHER EXAMPLE would be Meili. Meili no longer needed to be an assassin or do any of that dirty work so she preferred to stay with Garfiel and just travel about and did what she felt was right, trying her best to not doing anything illegal.

Meili also had finally gotten a father from Subaru, actually understanding what love was after having been used to a very bad role model and a very bad version of love beforehand. She could still remember the pieces of the dark world she had been stuck in shattering upon contact with Subaru's proposal for adoption.

It was kind of funny too considering that they were only like what? Nine? Ten years apart and Subaru was around 19 at the time? That would mean that for Subaru to be biologically her father, he'd be ten years old, ha!

Back to Garfiel and Otto though…

The two little numskulls rammed into the knight and the merchant, hoping that their lightning-fast speeds caught them by surprise. Naoko bumped into Otto, instantly knocking his balance over, and, for all she knew, gave him a serious head injury.

Fortuna, however, rammed into Garfiel only to be met with… a brick wall. Well, that is what his insane abs of steel felt like, hitting plain cement that had already hardened and then plated with more cement.

She could have sworn she got the head injury.

"Uncle Garfiel, can you stop being such a shield for a second?" cried Fortuna, rubbing her head due to the excessive ramming.

"Well my amazing self is just that strong, at this point I'm almost just as amazing as meh Cap'n!" exclaimed Garfiel, oddly prideful for being stronger than a kid.

"Garfiel… Help me…" muttered Otto, almost dying from the sudden impact by the other girl. The girl was now standing to the side of Otto, looking down at the dying and gasping in pain merchant.

"Come on Uncie Otto, you're not thaaat weak," said Naoko, before realizing that yes… he was, in fact, that weak.

"Come on Otto-bro," said a disappointed Garfiel, picking up Otto by the shoulder. At least it wasn't a bridal carry, his brother still needed to retain some of his manly pride.

The quartet walked out of the capital Royal building (I don't know what to call it) and into the busy streets of Lugunica as they were escorted by the famed Shield knight Garfiel and the nervous, yet still amazing grey-haired merchant, Otto.


The streets were still plenty busy like they had always been. Naoko and Fortuna desperately tried to stay close to their Uncles, hoping to not get lost. They would often explore around the castle, unsupervised, but out here, they really needed to be careful. Plus, mommy would limit their cookies if they didn't!

The two sisters, however, were always amazed when walking around the marketplace. It was said according to their mother and many of the older maids in the castle, that the market used to be littered with unfiltered peoples, thieves all about, and even the traffic was abhorrent. Yet now, though some of these problems took different semblances, these problems were relatively unnoticeable. I suppose it was true what mom said, 'The right person in the wrong place can make all the difference,' (get that reference?).

Their mom had told her that she had only been a candidate to the Royal Selection by chance, as the mechanism behind the choice seemed somewhat random and was never truly elaborated upon. She had also said that she had met many of her supporters almost by chance. Their dad, in fact, being a person who had been at the wrong place yet at the right time when they had met. Or perhaps was it the right place?

As the group made their way through the maze of people and market stands, they finally made it to a certain important one.

"Hey their Apple Guy-san!" said Otto, waving towards Kadomon, the appa seller, and walking towards him in order to buy apples for the group.

"Hey Otto and IT'S APPA. I swear you're speaking like that Subaru more and moreover the years. Next year what? You going to start weirdly posing front of my shop, driving customers away!?" yelled the appa merchant.

"Cap'ns amazing, weirdly posing would only attract customers!" said Garfiel, weirdly posing in front of the shop. His finger pointed towards the sky, his hips curved towards the right in a very over-the-top manner, and a wide grin on his face.

"Jeez, you kiddo's still are quite the handful even though your technical adults. You going to buy something?" asked the green-haired appa seller, still eager to make a profit as he had to support his family in any way possible.

"Eight apples please!" said Otto, offering the price needed for each of them. He had bought eight on purpose too; one for him, three for the constantly hungry tiger, and two for both of the little glutinous sisters behind them.

After buying the exquisite tasting apples, from what Subaru called them, they headed out further to their destination, a carriage just outside of the capital. Today was a very special day for Emilia and her old camp in general.

It was, in specific, the anniversary of the day Subaru and Emilia got married, the same day that Emilia got officially held and elected as the queen. It was a day of celebration to quite literally anyone in the kingdom of Lugunica, as it meant the anniversary of the continuation of Lugunica and its thriving nature, mainly due to the new order brought to it.

Today, Garfiel and Otto were out in the capital preparing for getting materials like food, blankets, and what not for the trip to the Roswaal Manor, a very nostalgic place for the both of them, even though it wasn't really called the 'Roswaal Manor' anymore.

Roswaal, though the clown was still a bastard to the end, had finally died years ago, sacrificing himself to save a certain pink-haired oni. In a way, it was one of a few select things that Roswaal had done in his entire 'lives' that actually seemed like an act of redemption. He died, somewhat, with honor and… with genuine compassion and peace.

The Manor, however, was still being kept standing, clean, and improved upon by Roswaals other relatives such as Annerose and her butler, Clind, though he had to hire other maids and butlers due to his age getting the better of him once in a while. Some cracks and a few cramps here and there when, let's say, mopping the floor didn't stop him from working and raising Annerose though.

"Uncie Garfiel, when you say Cap'n you mean my dad right? You don't say Captain all the time…" asked Naoko, unknowingly wanting to know more of the father she never knew or met.

"Of course I mean yer dad, your dad was my awesome Cap'n," rejoiced Garfiel, happy memories flooding over him.

"Is it true that our dad would weirdly pose in front of Appa man's shop?" asked a bewildered Fortuna, still calling the appa seller, appa-man rather than his actual name.

"Well, I don't want you to get the wrong image, but yeah. Natsuki-san would do that a lot. He made everyone laugh and tried to keep everyone safe and happy too. Even Kad- I mean appa-man wouldn't mind it sometimes," explained Otto, remembering Subaru shout the name of his poses in front of the shop, announcing his return.

In fact, Otto and Garfiel met the appa-seller through Subaru every single time they visited the capital. Subaru, for some unknown reason, would always visit the seller and buy a batch of apples simply to either use later or to just snack on. When asked, even the appa-man didn't know. The man said that the kid just walked up to his shop one day with no money and a blank, ghostly stare until running off as he said that he would come back to buy another batch. That was certainly weird…

Otto and Garfiel were also still quite confused when Subaru would visit a certain alleyway, as the alleyway had some divine meaning in his own beliefs. Subaru would often walk up to the alleyway and just weirdly smile as if the place held a specific place within him.

The friends didn't want to admit it, but Subaru was still as much of a mystery as he was back when he was still alive and posing. They now knew tidbits of his past and inner troubles due to some breakouts and panic attacks he had, ones that seemingly got worse and worse. The uncles, though, still tried their best to live in a way that would make Subaru rejoice in happiness. Subaru, though he was stubborn and insisted on doing much of everyone on his own, slowly getting used to call for help. It wasn't at the rate that was safe or comfortable for the uncles, but the fact that Subaru called for help more often still made them happy that their message got across.

Especially to a certain grey-haired, green garbed merchant who had previously continued to beat in that piece of advice into his dear friend.

"So daddy was a weirdo," questioned Fortuna, picturing a silhouette of a man posing with his finger to the sky in front of the shop, making all those around him laugh.

"No, NO! Cap'n ain't some weirdo! He's Cap'n, amazing hero and knight. Otto-bro, you're giving them a bad image!" shouted Garfiel, secretly teasing Otto.

"I know! Well you see girls, Natsuki-san was just like that sometimes. He liked to interact and keep everyone happy. He always tried his hardest to save everyone and even anyone if he got the chance," continued Otto, remembering Subaru bringing papers for adoption and asking Otto with help with it. Otto was shocked to learn that Subaru wanted to adopt the assassin that literally tried to kill him.

As they continued their walk, they finally arrived to the carriage. The carriage was not as fancy or lauded in fancy garments like other Royal carriages, but was certainly made for long travels. The inside of it too was very comfy, lined with blue soft coverings. The inside also housed some blankets, pillows, and some snacks that would satisfy the party as they traveled to the previously known Roswaal Manor. It was, technically, still a Mather's Manor (MM for short).

The two sisters jumped into the carriage, immediately excited by the sight of candies that were inside, probably gotten by the Uncles behind them. Some of the candies, in fact, were personally made by a certain maid with blonde hair and sharp teeth, a maid named Frederica who had used Subaru's old recipe for making something he called… cha-co-lat and pep-er-mint.

The sisters, given by how wise they were, decided to munch on the chocolate, gleaming in pleasure and bathing in the savory melting of the candy. Hopefully, they wouldn't get diabetes in the future. Do people in this world have some sort of weird immunity to that? Well, who knows?

"Daddy must have been a world-famous baker if he made this!" yelled Naoko, crossing her arms and swooning in a prideful manner at the thought that her father was so awesome to make something this delightful!

"Agreed!" said both Fortuna and Garfiel, Garfiel simply saying that because of how happy he was for the two sisters, they saw a glimpse of how awesome his captain was.

"Otto-bro, remember to tell me when you're tired," said Garfiel as Otto was to be the first driver of the carriage on this trip.

"I'll be okay," reassured Otto, petting Fufroo (that's his dragon right?) before hopping on the carriage.

They had a long day ahead of them…


All of them sobbed at the sight. The chapel was deathly clean, chairs arranged in perfect order, tables in perfect shape and shiny with no specs of dust. The chapel was huge and housed very intricate and amazing architecture. It was beautiful, something that the architect who designed it had to be complimented for it over and over.

However, it was not the beautifully laid out structure of the chapel nor was it the neatly arranged things inside of it that made the visitors sob at the sight.

On the far end of the chapel laid a deathbed of sorts, housing a person with their arms crossed over their chest, their eyes closed, and surrounded by a multitude of white flowers.

They laid perfectly in the middle, somewhere that could be seen no matter where one sat inside of the deathly silent and anxious chapel. The group of multiple stepped in, crying their hearts out at the sight. The body still laid in the middle, unmoving despite the flowers offered to it. No call of gratitude or 'thank you' was to be said back.

In the far back of the chapel laid a deathbed of sorts, housing none other than the knight of the silver-haired half-elf. The slayer of all great Mabeasts, except the Centipede Coffin and Shaula. The slayer and eradicator of the Witch cult and the main strategist of it all. The savior of Priscilla and adventurer of the Pleiades Watchtower. Liberator of Volcannia and helper to all in Kararagi. A hero like no other, though still a human to all. Laid on that deathbed, surrounded by flowers plucked from a certain field near Arlam village, was Natsuki Subaru.

The group stepped inside with trembling, worn-out legs. The Anastasia camp was present to honor the sacrifice and death of their ally, the Karsten camp there to honor the death of a hero and a leader, the Priscilla camp even there to offer senses of gratitude for the help in Volcannia, the Felt camp was there to honor the death of their 'Big Bro' and someone who constantly broke them out of their comfort zones, who helped them live life to its fullest.

Then, of course, was the Emilia, Just Emilia Camp as well. They were there for a multitude of reasons. They were there to honor a butler, a knight, a friend, an ally, a captain, a helper, a charmer, a man of only good timing, and, above all else, a good person. To see their friend on that deathbed, eyes closed never to be open again would forever break their hearts. A wound that would never so easily be repaired.

They never thought such a day would come so soon…

They all took their seats as the silence continued permeating throughout the room, making all within the room ever more empty and sadder at the apparent situation. The nation's hero had died; an amazing friend had perished.

There was no priest, at least they hadn't arrived yet, truly slothful in a way. That silence that had been engraved onto the room had stayed engraved for a couple of minutes, making the apparent "pre-funeral" even more depressing and gloomy.

Then stepped up two people, knowing that they had to duty to repair the broken souls laced throughout the chapel. A grey-haired merchant, now wearing a black fancy coat and bow-tie, stepped forward alongside a jittery but still respectful blonde-haired boy, also wearing fancy clothing of some sort.

They knew that if none of those within the chapel said goodbye today, then their futures would forever be laced with heartbreak and regret. That was not something they wanted to risk. They too missed their friend, their captain. They too would rather not be in the chapel, they would rather be somewhere alone, somewhere where they could cry their hearts until they could finally calm down and resume their lives.

But the two brothers knew that was not what they truly wanted nor was that what anybody else wanted either. So despite their great sadness, they stood in front of the room as they slowly gained attention from those within the room.

And so with that, they spoke…

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"Natsuki-san was a great friend to us all, though I will be honest, he still had a lot that made me frustrated with him. He would always keep things to himself while barging into other people's business, trying his best to help without ever taking into consideration his own wellbeing. This is both a good and bad trait, but there is one thing for certain. If Natsuki-san was here today, he'd certainly be trying to lighten up the mood, he would certainly be trying to help in whatever way humanely possible,"

"We all miss him, that is something that will always be certain and is something that everyone in this room, whether out loud or in secret, would admit. To others outside of this chapel room, he is but a savior, a slayer to great and once-unstoppable Mabeast's, to horrid monsters of the witch-cult, and much more. But to us, he is more. He is a great, unstoppable, amazing friend," said the merchant.

Otto breathed in before confessing to his intentions…

"We will all regret it if we don't, we all know that," he said, staring at the crowd only to find perplexed and shocked faces at the sudden change in speech.

Otto breathed in and out again before continuing…

"When Natsuki-san got teleported by unknown means to Volcannia, we were all somewhat shocked by the emptiness that we found. Without Natsuki, we felt like there was a large gap in our conversations, a large gap in how we felt, something that ultimately made us worry even more for his safety. This is the same feeling, we miss him. And without doing this, we all will retain that gap forever," encouraged the merchant, eyes of determination facing all within the chapel.

"We cannot let our grief take away this moment…" finished Otto.

There was a brief pause before another certain tiger-boy continued the speech…

"My amazing Cap'n would have wanted all of his friends by his side when he died," said the boy, his voice turning into sobs as he continued though he tried to keep them in check.

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"He never got them," he continued, looking up towards the audience.

He saw the saddened and depressed looks from everyone inside of the chapel. They were saddened by Garfiel's words for sure, it was something they never wanted to hear.

Subaru had died with no one at his side. He had died saving them all and died with no one near to comfort him before he drew his final breath.

No blue-haired oni was there to give her hero any sweet words of comfort, no silver-haired half-elves were there to give him words of safety, no great spirits with drill hair to give him encouraging and prideful remarks, no one at all.

But then the blonde-haired boy crunched his hand into a mean first, affirming his next word in his head.

"But I'm not going to give meh Cap'n a funeral like this!" shouted Garfiel, catching many within the chapel off guard.

"Cap'n wants his friends to pray for him, pray for him for save travels or whatever. Cap'n was all of our heroes one way or another, so we should, for once, give him want he wants, friends by his side even after death." Finished Garfiel.

Many of the members within the chapel could only stare in shock. Two of the most heartbroken from Subaru's death were standing in front of them, telling them to encounter their grief and to speak.

It was something that was hard for all of them, some harder than others.

But they all agreed one way or another.


Fortuna woke up to the sounds of two snoring ogres, those two ogres being Uncle Garfiel and her sister. They were sprawled out all over the carriage, within the deep and comfortable confine of blankets and soft, malleable pillows. She couldn't blame them for falling asleep due to their fluffiness and the warm interior of the carriage, but did they seriously have to snore so loudly!?

She rubbed her eyes and fixed her short silver hair to make sure that strands didn't get in her mouth or on her eyes. Her entire body was still somewhat numb, maybe from all the candy they had.

Her ears were aching, sleeping with sharp and pointy long ears wasn't always the best, especially if those ears were in the wrong position when one slept. She pulled on them, trying to get them to get used to waking up.

All she could hear now was the sounds of the ground dragon, Fufroo she thinks its name was, walking and pulling the carriage. She waited inside of the warm, delicate carriage for a few minutes before trying to sleep once again. Funny thing was that she couldn't, sometimes life wasn't that easy I guess.

Since she couldn't fall asleep, she did the next best thing…

She made a two-legged figure with two of her fingers and played with her hands as if her hands were battling one another. Boom! The hand jumped and kicked the other hand, and then the other hand dodged, and then it gave a spinning kick, but the other hand did a backflipped and dodged and then…

It seemed much more fun in her head, she thought as she stared at the carriage walls once again…

They had no more candy left so stuffing herself up wasn't an option.

The appa's, a.k.a apples, they got earlier had already been munched up and eaten, their deliciousness savored to the very core.

So what was she supposed to do now?

But then she got a brilliant idea…

She slowly moved towards the carriages slider, the one that separated the passengers from the driver, and slowly slid the cover so she could just make out the back of the green garb worn by one of her uncles. It was very dark outside now, but seeing a bright green suit was easy.

And in a brief flash of instinct, she pinched her uncle's neck!

"EHEOW!" screamed Otto, a very weird noise indeed.

"HahahHAHA!" laughed Fortuna, clearly satisfied with the reaction.

Otto, realizing the perpetrator, teased back.

"Man, that hurt so much that I'm kind of losing control of the wagon." He said, pretending to act wobbly and uncertain in his movements.

"Uncle Garf was right, you suck at teasing," retorted Fortuna.

"AH! My heart…" grimaced Otto, obviously exaggerating. Oh god, he really was turning to Natsuki-san!

"Uncie Otto, you sure you don't wanna rest?"

"Of course, plus I got Fufroo here to keep me company," he said.

"Well I woke up and now I can't go back to sleep! You have any idea's Uncie Otto?" asked Fortuna.

"No, we're almost there. Plus, when we finally get there, you'll be surprisingly rejuvenated by Frederica-san's cooking! I wonder how she would react to seeing me again…"

Fortuna caught on something pretty obscure…

"Oooooo… Uncie Otto has a crussssh," she said in the most teasing manor imaginable.

"I do not!" retorted Otto, somewhat lying.

The two could only chuckle at their interaction.

"Hey Uncie Otto, what is the MM like?" asked Fortuna.

"The MM?" said a confused Otto.

"The Mather's Mansion, what is it like? Is it as big as the Royal Capital Building, does it have as many maids, who will we see at the party? Wait, will we see sister Meili!?" said Fortuna, clearly excited for their little adventure to the manor.

"Whoa, slow down Fortuna-san. It's not as big as the palace but it's still really big you know! And yeah, a lot of people will be there. Even some people who were friends of your mom and your dad will be there," explained Otto, getting the queen's daughter even more excited.

"Will mommy be coming?" questioned the quarter-elf.

"Yeah, Emilia-san will be coming just not now. After all, we still have to help set everything up when we get there. I promised Frederica-san that in a letter,"

"So Uncie Otto sends love letters?" teased Fortuna.

Otto could only blush and chuckle at the remark, was this kid going to tease him like Subaru?

He never thought of seeing a Subaru 2.0, heck what if Naoko was like this? Then it would Natsuki Subaru 2.0 and 3.0!

"Uncie Otto, can you tell me more about my dad," said a Fortuna in a curious, yet somewhat serious tone of voice.

She had only ever heard of her dad being a hero to all of Lugunica and being this very nice, generous person. She, however, wanted to know more. At first, she was skeptical of the details regarding her dad when everyone would constantly call him a hero and compliment him on the same things. Those beliefs of her dad being some awesome generous hero and a good person were only confirmed when she met other people who knew him. People like Uncie Otto, Uncie Garfiel, and, her dad's first daughter, Meili.

Though like many kids her age, that was never enough to satisfy her undying curiosity…

(Oh God! I made her sound like Echidna!)

Otto chuckled once again…

"You want me to be completely honest?" he asked, turning around to look her in the eye.

She could only nod her head.

"Natsuki-san was a hero and a very good person, though that is probably something you've heard over and over, huh?" said Otto, gaining yet another nod from the girl.

"Natsuki-san was also reallllllly stubborn. He always did want to save everyone so he would always make plans using himself as some sort of bait or some insane reckless idea that got everyone to safety except himself. We always had to stop him when it came to that," continued Otto.

He looked back to Fortuna to find her quite surprised.

Otto laughed a bit,

"It's probably something you've never heard before, right? Your dad is an amazing person for sure but he still has many flaws like anyone else. For one was that reckless attitude I described, another being his lack of sharing things with other people,"

"Sharing things? Well isn't sharing caring?" Fortuna innocently remarked.

"It is, but Natsuki-san didn't always share everything about him with us. Sometimes he would get nightmares or just stare off into nowhere and then act like everything was fine after. Natsuki-san, even to some of his other friends, is still quite a mystery,"

"Mystery?"

"Yeah… maybe one day you can unravel his story," finished Otto, hoping his answer to be satisfactory.

Fortuna was still quite shocked by what she heard yet somewhere in her heart warmed up. Her dad was a hero, a very good person to say the least but to also be told that he had his own flaws, that he was still human too made her very happy in a way.

It showed her that effort and work to be a good person truly paid off in a sense and that anyone could be anything despite their flaws.

I suppose it also showed her the meaning behind friendship as she learned that her dad had to commonly be stopped by friends who had worried for his own safety.

Her dad was a hero but most importantly, a human being with a human heart.

"Now try to get some sleep now, I'll probably wake up Garfiel-san in a bit so he can start driving. I just hope he doesn't crash, I can count you on not doing that right, Fufroo?" said Otto, looking at his ground dragon, having it only give a reassuring pout.

Fortuna slid the slider once again, now back within the confines of the warm and comfortable Carriage filled with blankets and soft pillows.

She tried to sleep again and luckily this time… it worked.


Her dream was quite interesting, to say the least. Naoko had never thought she'd have one as realistic as this one. It was one of those dreams where you knew you were in a dream and had control over it, quite a very wacky feeling to say the least.

She turned around in the dreamscape and viewed her surroundings. It seemed like some very lush and beautiful field full of flowers, flowers of all shades and hues. And in the top of a nearby hill sat a silhouette of a man, a man who she supposed was her father or, at least, her image of him. Without anything to paint or create him based off, he remained an empty shadow looking towards the epicenter of the beautiful field.

She missed her dad, which was funny as she had actually never met him. The only daughter he had who actually met their dad was Meili, the adopted daughter of the famed Natsuki Subaru, who was her biological father.

She always felt a sense of curiosity enters her heart at the thought of her dad. What was he like really? What did he actually look like? Did he like appa's too? Why did mommy say that he was obsessed with something called… mayonnaise?

The thought of their dad didn't bother them too much. The people at the Royal Palace constantly kept them doing something, they were learning things every day and due to their mother's interesting way of parenting, also had fun every day of their lives as well.

When Sister Meili, Uncle Garfiel, Uncle Otto, or Sisters Meili's friend, Petra, came to visit, the fun-o-meter ratings would only increase. They would travel within the capital, they would play games even inside the Royal Palace, and would always joke around during dinner.

Their lives, of course, weren't as enduring or hard as their parents before them or the Uncles and sisters before them, but they still faced some challenges once in a while too.

Sometimes learning about the country's history or current situation could be sometimes boring, but it was just something they had to endure. Plus, at least their teachers were actually fun to hang out with you know! Lady Crusch would tell them about the dragon and stuff, Lady Felt would tell them about the slums and then go into a backstory about her time spent there, and Lady Anastasia would constantly tease the kiddo's while at the same time teasing her knight, Julius.

Another challenge she often faced once in a while was, of course, the thought of her father.

So many important questions to be answered yet no one to truly give them to, to be answered in the first place. A feeling of complete cluelessness would often overtake her.

She only could drift in her dreamscape, plucking and brushing the flowers on the colorful field. In this particular dream, however, something different happened. She was confused when it happened, but she didn't pay too much attention to it.

The silhouette of her father began displaying a short line of orange, lined across where his shoulders ought to be.


The two friends looked back behind them to the final resting place of their great friend and then turned around once again to face the others in the chapel once again.

The other members in the chapel, though looks of grief and pain were still ingrained into their faces and expressions, held a certain look of determination.

It was akin to how Subaru's eyes would look and once Otto and Garfiel noticed that they could do nothing but feel incredibly happy and satisfied that their efforts to rejuvenate the audience's confidence and determination had been a success.

A trio of Brothers now reduced to two, looked behind them once again at the laying body of Natsuki Subaru, ending their speeches and saying their last goodbyes before returning back to their chairs.

A few seconds later, a man of short red hair, followed by a short blonde-haired princess and an old yet humble grandfather, walked to where Otto and Garfiel had been previously standing.

Their conviction was made final the second they sat up from their seats, obviously moved by the speech given by the two 'brothers' of Natsuki Subaru.

And so…

.

.

.

Reinhardt Van Astraea spoke…


Author's Notes:

I wanted to see how proficient I am at writing subjects that I myself come up with or get an idea on and I think I did decent on this one. This was originally going to be a one-shot until I realized a much better way to organize the thing would be in chapters. Of course, I still structured the chapter as if it was a one-shot in the case that I don't continue it so that the thing is still somewhat satisfactory.

This story is inspired by a lot of things actually. Number One: some writing bits and hints of inspiration were taken from 'Watching him die and die again'. Number two: the idea for this also sprouted from the 'Last Loop' Fanfic of Re: Zero, something that if you haven't read, should read. AND Number three: a certain Reddit post inspired me to take a look into the world of short stories and that sort of stuff.

So yeah… I hope you enjoyed it and I guess I'll see you next time. I'm still new to the site and fanfic in general so please don't expect much from me nor should you expect certain things to continue. I don't want to disappoint anyone but on the occasion that I do, please know that I'm trying and that any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you for reading…

My Name is Yorelis (Your-El-iz) …

Bye! ;-;