Response to reviews: sorry for lack of light hearted fun that should have been here next. Really wanted to see it but my angst-ridden mind would not allow me to. So, here is more sadness and angst as usual...

All three brothers wish for things that cannot be...

"No, no. It's nine o'clock. Time to go to sleep." Steve said firmly, ignoring the puppy-dog eyes his brother tried to give him. A pout appeared as the child turned away. Sitting on a comfortable chair with tiny wheels on the bottom that allowed the chair to roll across hard wood floor, Steve's brother poked his finger into one of the strange screens hovering in the air before a false window on the wall. The images of a strange, cubical shaped world there glimmered and vanished, the window turning to a matted dark that reflected the child's disappointed white eyes.

Steve waited until the child walked over and smiled at him, with an already familiar gesture ruffling his brother's soft, brown hair. Earning a reluctant smile from the child, whose eyes turned up to him with trust, Steve walked with him to his room and made sure everything was set for the night.

Leaving the window open just a bit to allow in the cool breeze from the outside, Steve tucked in the gray blanket around the child, who calmly watched him. Steve lowered the brightness of the artificial stars that softly glimmered from the ceiling and looked to the child with a question.

"Is that good?" He asked. The child silently nodded, his white eyes already drooping a bit.

Steve was already at the door, when he felt Hero's question.

"Um... You mean, why did Notch go with that mob?" Steve verified to make sure he understood Hero's intent correctly. Just like before, Hero still couldn't speak words out loud. He was catching really quick to using his old method, though, combining his own feelings with thoughts and images.

And just now, Steve glimpsed the dark-skinned mob from the End, who appeared in the doorway at dinner. Notch, who was telling Steve a story from his and Hero's childhood in the world they once called home, frowned and asked to be excused. He teleported away shortly after. He still had not returned.

"I have no idea. Maybe something had come up?" Steve shrugged a little. His answer didn't seem to reassure the child, where a very familiar frown appeared.

"Don't worry, Hero. I'm sure he can handle it. He's really strong and smart." Steve grinned, sending sincere confidence and admiration Hero's way. That worked better, since the child's frown relaxed. Sending Steve his confident agreement, since he shared in Steve's slightly intimidated but awed feelings toward the big guy, Hero wiggled deeper into his blankets, pulling up his blanket all the way to his ears and turned his bright eyes toward the twinkling ceiling stars.

Steve unwillingly glanced there again and smiled. It was such a fun idea to hang them up there. Where did Notch come up with all this stuff?

"Good night, Hero." Steve said softly and stepped out. He closed the door until only a sliver remained, casting light from the corridor into Hero's room. Hero liked it that way.

Still smiling, Steve headed back to the living room, which he staked out as his living space despite Notch offering to expand his house and make him a guest bedroom. Steve appreciated the idea and he knew that he was absolutely safe in this place, where everything was under Notch's control. He just wanted the exit doorway to be in his sight. He could see it very well from the spacious, plush couch where he could sink in. Notch didn't mind it at all. 'Of course. Feel like home.' He reassured Steve. And Steve did. This place that he had avoided for so long had turned out cozy and comfortable, despite lots of strange things that Steve didn't dare to touch. It was also like nothing he had imagined.

He expected to find some grand mansion with polished marble floors and maybe a throne room.

Steve made a slightly amused and embarrassed chuckle.

Maybe he should move in? That's what Notch was hoping he would do. Hero's recently found Big Brother wanted both him and Hero safe.

He also promised to tell Steve his side of the story that led to them being here. Steve couldn't wait! Even though Notch warned that he would have to wait for Hero to wake up to hear the rest.

It's now been almost two weeks.

Notch still reassured Steve that everything was fine, so Hero could stay little a bit longer. Still, Steve was starting to feel a bit guilty. Notch was keeping Hero in this state just for him. This wasn't just a prank as Notch claimed. At least, Steve suspected that it wasn't. But what would Hero, himself, think about all this after he woke up?

Steve unwillingly shrunk a bit, recalling his brother's intimidating, bright glare. His presence always made Steve small, as if he was a child once more, helpless before boundless rage barely kept in check.

Little Hero felt nothing like it. He was also not as troublesome as Notch warned. Steve had no difficulty at all watching over him. For a time, he imagined to find Notch's house set on fire or something. To his relief, Hero took to playing on that strange device that Notch called a computer, where he moved a little blocky figure that could mine and move blocks. In a way, the game that Notch showed to them both really reminded Steve of their real world and he puzzled why anyone would wish to pretend to mine, when they could go out and do it for real? But Hero liked it and Notch said that he also liked it before, when he was very little, so Steve just shrugged and went along with it.

Notch even made each of them those little figures that he called 'avatars' - a white eyed one for Hero and a blue eyed one for Steve. They even wore the same clothes as they did in real life.

But what will Hero say, when he woke up and learned that he was wasting time like this with Steve?

It was all good for Notch - he was so powerful. But if Steve found his brother looking at him with that tightly coiled anger again, Steve would just die.

He also... really wanted Hero to just be... happy a little longer.

His smile lessening a bit at these selfish thoughts, Steve headed to the living room, where another one of those shifting picture frames stood on a small table. Picking it up, the young human settled on the velvety couch, his blue eyes curiously studying the changing images.

There, the familiar image of Hero and Notch's family appeared again.

A tall, dark-haired man that looked a lot like Hero, only with his eyes a pale gray stood with one of his hands on the shoulder of a chubby, grinning boy with curly dark hair who was taller than the other boy. That man was named John and he was Notch and Hero's father. He looked at Steve with a serious, calm gaze despite a small smile twitching in the corners of his lips. The taller boy was Notch, though he looked nothing like him now.

"We looked different... When we lived in our own world. When we were still human." With some embarrassment, Notch in Steve's memory slid a hand across his now bald head.

"When we ended up here, our forms were changed. Improved. Hero had come here first. And later, I did. And this..." Notch chuckled a bit with fondness. "This was my brother's prank. For accessing his gameplay and adding a scraggly beard to his avatar. We used to play pranks all the time now. Back and forth. And when we ended up here for real... I thought it would be funny to keep it." Notch shrugged. "I mean... I could look different if I wish. Hero cannot do it too well, due to his condition. But I could..."

Notch's image shimmered and changed to a younger man with curly hair, only his warm brown eyes staying the same, but then he shrugged and changed back.

"It really doesn't matter though." He concluded lightly, abandoning that topic.

Steve's eyes moved to the other two figures. Next to the tall man stood a girl in a white dress, her wide-brimmed hat slightly pulled down against the wind tugging at her shoulder-length, dark hair. Hazel eyes laughed from beneath. Her hand responded to the man's; fingers intertwined together. And her other handheld on the shoulder of the younger boy, who was grinning at the world with soft, brown eyes. This was definitely Hero, a little younger than he was right now, but it was him. And the smiling girl was Anna, their mom.

"He was five years old and I was eight. We were on vacation to the Karzan Sector where they built this giant Sea Dome. It's a place… Where a lot of people really wanted to go every month-end. A nice place to get away to from everyday work in cramped little buildings. Really big space, fresh air, real plants and trees." Notch in Steve's memory moved his arms apart and took in a deep breath.

"And I remember watching the sea there, all the way to horizon. It was fake, of course, but it was real enough that everyone gave it five stars as the best tourist destination in the entire Colonies." Notch chuckled and Steve nodded, though he didn't really understand why Notch spoke of it so fondly when he could literally create an ocean if he wanted to. Only of course, he couldn't when he was still human like Steve.

"It probably makes no sense why anyone would think its special." Notch mused a little wistful, his eyes considering Steve. Steve had the distinct perception that the great immortal saw him as just a little child again. "You have an entire world, with endless oceans and woods as far as the eyes could see... It might be hard to understand how precious it may feel to someone who had never seen such a sight. And that was us." Notch's eyes turned to the picture, regretful and sad.

"This was just a year, before... everything changed... But that's another story for another time!" Notch concluded with more cheerful air returning, turning away with expression that let Steve know that his big brother did not wish to talk about this more then. The memories, although bittersweet, held hidden pain. Steve didn't dare to ask more questions.

He had so many, though.

Reluctantly, Steve put the picture frame on the small table next to the couch and turned on his stomach, his blue eyes still holding on it. The picture already shifted to another image, of Notch and Hero's dad swirling their mom around. They looked much younger, with their dad only a teen. This was before they married, at the day of their 'graduation'. Notch said that their parents went to the same school, both studying to work with 'coding systems'.

"Studying to be creators." Notch had explained with a smile, though Steve knew the immortal was really simplifying things for him. Steve was all right with that.

"My dad was on the team of people who created these worlds and everything in it." Again, Notch's voice was sad, though pride was also there.

Steve let out a wistful sign. He would have greatly wished to have known these people, if even for a short time like Notch and Hero. At least, his brothers had some time with them. The warmth and love was palpable in the way their parents looked at each other and Steve wished…

He was Notch and Steve's brother, even if he was not an immortal like them. And that meant… that these two people were also his father and mother. In some way. Even if he was made in a lab.

Blue eyes, still holding on the picture, began to close as Steve drifted off to sleep…

…

The digital clock on the table glimmered with blue letters, adding faint light that fell on the sleeping child's dark hair, all but his ear hidden under the blanket he tightly drew around himself.

12:23 AM shifted to 12:24.

Purple particles swirled, materializing into a tall figure. Brown eyes searched and settled on the child sleeping in his bed. The big figure stepped toward him and hesitated.

"I'm… sorry, brother. I need your help." Notch apologized. Then, he gently picked up the boy. A soft, purple flash and the room stood empty, as he reappeared elsewhere with little Hero still in his arms.

It was a small room next to what seemed to be a square chamber, lit with ambient white light. The walls, floors, and ceiling in it were bright white in contrast to the darkened room, where only strange screens lit up along the walls as Notch approached them. Numbers and letters ran in strings across, along with a rotating A-posed figure of a man with glowing, white eyes on one of the screens.

Ignoring all this, a frown on his face and his lips pinched flat, Notch strode into the brightened chamber, where he placed the child on the floor. Waking up a bit, the boy sat up and curiously looked around. His white eyes settled on Notch with a question, but the man was already striding out of the chamber. White eyes held on the closing door, puzzled but still trusting, then shifted to his strange, new surroundings.

Avoiding to look at him, Notch gestured, making several screens draw closer to him. An empty screen snapped into place next to the one with the grown-up man.

"Analyze subject." Notch directed, the frown not leaving his face. The strange screens responded with a new flurry of numbers and letters flooding the dark screens with faint light. On the empty screen next to the man, an image of a child appeared, mimicking each movement of the child in the brightly lit chamber. Little Hero continued to look around himself, now a little worried as no answer to his continued question came.

Notch looked up. "Just a little longer, Hero. Don't worry." He reassured. Content, the child relaxed and waited, his curiosity returning. Notch returned his attention to the screens.

"Analysis complete." A pleasant, but emotionless female voice spoke, slightly echoing across the small room.

The image of sitting Hero changed to an A-pose state, mirroring that of the man. His frown etching deeper in his face, Notch gestured again and the complex image of two neural maps unfolded, with bright red and orange colors lighting the areas with differences.

"Commence mirror image or combine?" The disembodied female voice verified. Notch frowned at the bright orange spots showing in Hero's younger version – all his recently acquired memories. A mirror image would erase those.

"Percentage of success?"

"Ninety three percent and seventy nine percent." The voice readily complied. Notch winced a little. The longer he waited, the lower the chances of completing this process correctly. Notch's hand leaned toward the higher chances option, first. Then, instead, his eyes held on the child in the chamber. His hand shifted to the other option.

"Combine." He directed.

"Commencing memory recombination process. Please wait." The system cautioned. Dropping his eyes, Notch tensed, avoiding to look at the chamber. A bright flash still reached the corner of his vision.

A child's small, stifled cry hardly expressed the bewildered horror that exploded from the other chamber, permeating and overwhelming Notch's soul. He let it, though his hands tightened to steady their faint shaking.

The pained cry turned to unending, soft sobs. Lifting up, Notch's guilty eyes held on the small, curled up figure on the floor of the chamber, still small. Hero's entire form shook, trying to fold up as tiny as possible while sobs still wracked his form.

"Recombination process complete."

The voice was still speaking when Notch rushed to the chamber, the doors whooshing open to let him through. He fell to his knees, gathering the small figure to his arms into a tight hug. Hero's body jerked, attempting to fight him, but Notch didn't let go, shushing him as he sent waves of comfort to envelop Hero's still overwhelmed and struggling mind.

"Sh-h-h. It's all right. You are safe. I'm here. I'm here." He kept repeating in a low tone of voice, until he felt Hero relax a little.

"N-n-notch?" White eyes turned up at him, disbelief, pain, and fear still flaring all through him in powerful waves. At the sight of tears slowly trickling down his brother's small face, Notch's heart clenched once more.

"Its me. I'm here. I'm so sorry, Brai. So, so sorry." Notch said softly. The child buried his face in his chest, his small hands holding on to Notch's clothes as if afraid to lose him.

"I'm here. You're safe." Notch kept repeating, until the sobs wracking his brother's body quieted to mere sniffles.

Then, pulling away, the child looked at him with more coherent gaze filled with reproach. A frown, too serious for a child's face, creased his dark eye-brows.

"N-notch? W-why didn't you d-do it sooner? I have things to do and you t-think its funny to…"

"Steve…" Notch interrupted the complaint. The boy blinked a bit at that with a startled look, then his frown lessened, understanding appearing in his face followed by reserved sadness.

"I just wanted him to not be afraid of you." Notch smiled a little apologetic smile. "This seemed the right opportunity."

"You… You are right." Hero sent in subdued tone.

"I figured that family is more important than your work. At least… it could wait a little."

At that, the child's frown returned and he stood up, his lips pinched as he tried to regain composure. Brushing off his trousers, his eyes held on his small hands and he paused.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"A small matter but I need your help." Notch reassured. Hero nodded, his eyes drawing to his small hands again. "I thought you should return here and spend some more time with him. That's why I left you like that." Notch explained before Hero could ask him the obvious question.

Still looking at his hands, the child's face twitched with an annoyed frown.

"I don't think I can pretend to be little, Notch."

Notch sighed, watching Hero's disgruntled expression. The difference between him before and now was marked. Steve would be able to tell.

"Then don't pretend." He offered. "Just wait until he notices and then explain. What is the worst that can happen? That he will leave again? He will do that anyway the moment he learns that you are gone. Maybe this way you… I don't know, Hero, its up to you." Notch finally shrugged, giving up.

"Right now, you finally have your little brother with you. That's what you wanted, isn't it? At least this way he will be here a little longer."

After a moment, Hero nodded, dropping his white gaze to the ground, emotions breaking across his face despite his obvious attempts to remain calm. His lips turned down and trembled, almost as if he was going to cry. He didn't though, instead scowling with annoyance.

"My emotions are all over the place, Notch. I'm not used to it. This form is cause."

Notch humphed good naturedly. "That's because you've forgotten what its like to be a child. To be human."

"Why don't you do it, then, if you think it's so great." Still scowling, Hero strode toward the exit from the chamber. Notch chuckled, following after him.

"Unlike you, it wasn't that long ago for me. I still remember."

"Just… show me what the problem is." Hero cut off in clipped tone. "I want to get back before Steve wakes up."

"All right, all right, all right! Hold your horses." Notch soothed in his usual cheerful tone, relief that the unpleasant moment was over and done with. How he hated doing this to his brother. He only had to do it three times so far and each time it hurt so badly knowing that his brother had to suffer, regaining all his awful memories at once. Reliving them, in the blink of an eye. Losing his family, then Notch, remaining all alone, trapped among heartless enemies, sacrificing himself, only to be blamed for atrocious deeds that were never his fault. Still being blamed for it now and for many other unfortunate actions later, which occurred as a result of his condition. Him blaming himself. Finding Notch again was the only good thing.

None of it should have happened, had Notch been just a bit more careful. If he had been there for his brother, then…

"Notch." Notch caught Hero's scolding, impatient look. It looked so comical on his brother's young face that he couldn't help another amused smile.

"Cannot wait to see your mobs when they see you like this." He prodded.

"If they dare to say a word, they'll regret it." Hero nearly growled, the threat emanating from his presence surrounding him like a dark cloud. Notch lifted his hands in appeasing fashion.

"All right, all right…"

…

Several hours later, purple light flashed and resolved into Hero's small form. Materializing in the hallway, he cast the living room a wary look.

Stepping to the door, his white eyes regarded his sleeping brother, growing softer at the sight. Steve still slept soundly, sprawled on the couch that he claimed as his favorite place despite Notch's offer of a guest bedroom.

Bags of chips and empty cans of soda – Steve's new favorite drink – crowded on the coffee table next to a photo frame.

His gaze held on his brother, while doubt and uncertainty ran across the child's face, until he sighed. Turning away, Hero went to his room, hit footsteps entirely soundless. Climbing back into his bed, he drew his blanket up to his chin and frowned at the ceiling. Dozens of sparkling lights softly sprinkled across there.

Dimly, he recalled putting them up there with Steve hoisting him up, both of them laughing.

The boy blew a frustrated huff through his lips.

What if… Steve didn't accept him after he learned that his memories had been restored? His brother had been so light-hearted and glad to have him little. For a moment, Hero almost wished that Notch didn't return his memories. That matter could have waited. Notch could have solved it.

Or maybe not.

There were responsibilities that neither he nor his brother could ignore. Too much depended on them now. And their personal wishes, no matter how strong, had to be pushed aside.

Still, he really wished… He wished to see his little brother happy again, the way he remembered it… Yesterday… And also long, long ago, when this place was home. Restoring memories always messed with his mind.

Sweeping across the small, dimly lit room, white eyes began to close despite his worries. His current small and far too human form required more rest than his normal state. He could… allow it.

Thoughts slowed and worries dispersed, the frown on the child's face smoothing away. In a few moments, he was deeply asleep.