Hey everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of "Waking Up Again" :D I hope everyone's week is going well. I know my semester's going a little crazy, but I just want you guys to remember that we can get through this, no matter how insane things get! Last time we left Tadashi in a kind of precarious situation. Well, it's now six months later and things are starting to take a turn—whether for worse or the better, I'll let you decide! I don't want to keep stringing this out, so I'll let you get to reading and see you again at the bottom!

0o0

"Well, that about does it." The twenty-something boy with floppy brown hair and glasses that were taped across the bridge of his nose lets out a satisfied sigh.

"Yep, I think we've done just about everything we can for him," agrees the girl next to him, her blond bob swaying as she nods her agreement. She taps her pen against her clipboard as she lists off, "We've replaced his lungs and most of his gi tract with synthetics. We've wired him up with the best nervous system and artificial frontal lobe that can be built in a lab. He's got one robotic eye, one robotic arm, and two robotic legs, all fully articulated. We've set him up with both solar and traditional electrical charging abilities. And on top of that, he's about as indestructible as an armored truck, all while appearing completely human."

"You've done us all proud," Dr. Elephun tells them, putting an approving arm around each of their shoulders.

"So then why hasn't he woken up?" the boy asks, pushing his glasses up his nose and turning a questioning gaze to his mentor.

"Well, that's all up to him," Dr. Elephun answers, gesturing towards the boy on the hospital bed that they had spent the last six months carefully putting back together bit by bit. "Right now he's floating somewhere in his subconscious, and only he can decide when he's going to come back to the land of the living."

"Isn't there anything we can do to kind of speed things up?" the boy presses. "Play some loud music in here or put some coffee in his feeding tube or something?"

"No!" The girl jumps in before Dr. Elephun even has a chance to answer. "A shock like that could do permanent damage to him, mentally and physically-it could undo everything we've been working on for the past six months, you blockhead!"

"Thank you, Ophelia," Dr. Elephun tells the girl, giving her a look that says she should keep her rampaging in check. Then he turns back to the boy. "He just needs to do this gradually and on his own time, Travis," he explains in a gentler tone.

"Do you think he can at least hear us?" Travis presses, waving his hand in front of their patient's face as if he were only trying to snap him out of a light daze and not a months long coma.

"It's hard to say. Research is inconclusive as to whether patients in situations like these are aware of what's going on around them, and it really seems to vary from case to case," Dr. Elephun replies, looking slightly intrigued by the subject and leaning down to peer at the unconscious boy's expressionless features. "For all we know, he could be hearing every word we're saying, or if he could be off somewhere deep in his subconscious."

Ophelia lays a gentle hand on the boy's arm. "I wonder what he's thinking right now…"

0o0

Tadashi sits next to Honey Lemon up on the roof of the exposition building. He has no idea how they'd gotten up there, but he really doesn't care. It's too nice of an evening to waste it on worrying about something so insignificant. The night air is pleasantly cool. The crickets down below provide a soothing soundtrack to the scene. And the stars are all out, sparkling like diamonds in the velvet sky above the San Fransokyo Technological Institute. And speaking of diamonds…

"Um, Honey?" Tadashi softly says the name of his girlfriend, fingering the small box in his pocket. She turns to him, her gorgeous green eyes outshining all of the lights above them.

"Oh, Tadashi, it's all so beautiful!" she sighs happily, squeezing his arm with contentment.

"You're beautiful," he murmurs, taking her hand in his and making her blush in a pleased manner. He starts to pull the ring box out of his pocket as he takes a deep breath to begin the speech he's been preparing practically since he met her in Freshman year. But a sudden clap of thunder breaks the mood, sending chills down his spine. Glancing around, he realizes that the sky is suddenly full of menacing looking clouds that hadn't been there a minute before. Feeling panic seize his chest, he tells Honey, "We've got to get down from here. It's not safe!"

Honey Lemon nods, her eyes opening even wider than usual with fear. Tadashi takes her hand in his and together they race across the roof, looking for a way down. Around them thunder rumbles like angry battle drums and lightning begins to strike like vicious snakes. Suddenly a bolt touches down right between them, and Honey lets out a terrified shriek as she stumbles backward. It seems like only second later that the building had caught on fire, flames spreading across the roof like wildfire.

"Tadashi!" Honey cries, her voice filled with panic as the blaze grows ever bigger.

"Honey, it's going to be okay!" he calls back, desperately hoping that his words are true. He reaches out towards her and shouts through the fire, "Take my hand!"

Honey Lemon does as she's told, thrusting her arm out towards him. He catches it in his grasp, and for a moment that it seems that things will be okay, both of them smiling as they hold hands through the blaze. And then the roof gives way below Honey, and an instant later she's gone.

"Honey! NO!" Tadashi screams, racing forward and fruitlessly staring down through the hold the love of his life had just gone through. She can't be gone! She just can't! "Honey!" he cries again, hoping against hope that she might somehow still be alive down in the building's fiery interior.

Suddenly a crack of thunder and a flash of light alerts him to the fact that he's in immediate danger himself. Looking up, he realizes that a bolt of lightning is heading right for him. He tries to dive out of the way, but he's too late. He can feel the electricity transferring out of the air and into his body with almost energy-drink intensity. It seemed to fill every part of his body, coursing through his veins, causing his heart to start thumping with hammer-like rhythm, and triggering something off in his brain not unlike plugging in a Christmas tree. As white light fills his field of vision, he thinks he hears Honey Lemon's voice calling out to him, "Wake up Tadashi! Wake up!"

0o0

Man, that was a pretty intense chapter! Sorry to leave y'all with a terrible cliffhanger like that, but I promise that next week there will finally be some answers to what's happening to poor Tadashi. I'm giving out Baymax shaped cookies to all of my reviewers this week. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this chapter, and I can't wait to see you again next time! Have a safe and blessed week! ^^

~Bonnie