Watcher of the Eternal Flame

The world was aglow, flickering amber light reflecting off of trees, buildings, pathways and faces performing a mesmerizing dance as old as time itself. Each movement, each flicker was accompanied by a crackling sound beating a rhythm, rejoicing existence itself. It was majestic, awe inspiring and would have been breathtakingly beautiful if not for the screams that shattered its solace causing the reality of what was really happening to come crashing down on him.

Hopelessness, terror and disarray. The world as he knew it, was engulfed in chaos shattering the deceptive beauty in the amber flames. The fire was a living beast hungrily consuming everything in its path, snatching away life itself in order to remain in existence and there was nothing he could do tame it. He knelt upon the ground in subconscious supplication, silently pleading that a single life may be spared.

He watched, helpless, as the silhouette before him grew smaller, a stray cap drifting onto the ground. He watched, helpless, he was left behind, the life of another holding more value than his own security and peace of mind. He watched, helpless, as he lost a part of himself, a part of his identify, his very heart in a single bright flash of pure white light and liquid heat.

A gasp escaped Hiro's lips as he suddenly awoke, clutching at his night shirt in pain. Emotional agony coursed through him, the remembered pain given physical life in his chest. He needed to move, he needed to breath but his mind was still lost in the space between dream and reality and the few moments it took him to separate the two were filled with panic and fear. A dream. It was just a dream. Tadashi was here. Tadashi was alive once more.

One. Two. Three. Hiro took deep breaths to calm the rapid beating in his chest, the pain of it all dissipating along with the nightmare, leaving nothing but an empty ache in its place. Confident that he was in control of himself once more, Hiro sat up, flicking a nightlight on before slipping out of bed. Baymax was watching him. Surprisingly, the healthcare companion remained silent, simply blinking his eyes as he waited for Hiro to make the first move. Hiro gave Baymax a wan smile, shakily running a hand through the messy strands of his own hair. "I'm ok. I just had a bad dream." He explained looking down at his feet.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" Baymax asked tilting his head to the side. "Nightmares are known to be a result of unresolved conflict. Talking about them may aid in the conflict resolution."

Hiro sighed and dropped down into the swivel chair in front of his computer, the motion causing it to roll across the floor before slowing to a halt when it connected with the desk. "I keep reliving the day Tadashi died." Hiro explained running a tired hand over his face. "Sometimes I'm kneeling outside watching him run into the burning building which makes sense considering everything and other times I'm inside the building with him, fighting to save him. That one doesn't make sense. Tonight I had the former." Hiro shivered in remembrance lifting his bare feet onto the chair on order to wrap his arms around his bent knees.

Baymax titled his head to the other side. "Reliving the traumatic event of your brothers passing is perfectly normal under these circumstances. It is most likely your mind's way of trying to make sense of the events that have come to pass."

"I know." Hiro sighed burying his face in his knees. "It's just… I keep thinking… It keep expecting… what if I wake up and suddenly he's gone again?" Hiro whispered, the words torn and uncertain.

"Tadashi is here." Baymax replied waddling over to stand in front of Hiro.

Hiro glanced up to look at the healthcare companion, the conflict within reflected in his eyes. "I know but he shouldn't be. It breaks the very laws of nature. He died. His presence here now doesn't make sense." Hiro released his knees to sweep his arm across the room. "I don't even have room for him here anymore. He's sleeping on the couch, for crying out loud! How does any of this even begin to make sense?"

Baymax blinked before speaking. "Tadashi appears to have traveled through time. His metabolism and physical state are identical to the records from three years ago. His physical presence however has been confirmed through sight, sound, touch as well as multiple scans. He has been aging normally since. My records indicate that he is in good health and should li…"

"I know all that." Hiro interrupted him. "I can see as much but logically it doesn't make sense. People don't just travel through time! People don't just come back from the dead!"

Baymax paused to tilt his head again before speaking. "You and I have traveled through inter-dimensional space." He pointed out, lifting a finger. "San Fransokyo has been experiencing time rift phenomena recently and you were working on a project that influences space and time. Perhaps, Tadashi's presence here can be explained by the experiment you were kidnapped to assist with?"

Hiro shivered. Something in Baymax's words seemed to ring true. His thoughts were pulled back to the time portal and the multitude of colored threads that he'd faced there, each and every one seeming to lead to the same grim fate. It wasn't fair. His life had no reason to end that way and he'd decided he wasn't going to simply sit back and let fate take its course, not without getting something out of it first that is. It had been that determination that had driven him to formulate that plan, the one where he slipped back into the past to see Tadashi in the hopes of getting a new angle, a new destiny. That plan might have explained Tadashi's presence in the now provided Hiro had had the opportunity to actually bring it into play to begin with. He'd been rescued before that opportunity could have presented itself.

"I never got the chance to go see Tadashi in the past." Hiro whispered, burying his face in his knees once more, the dull empty ache stronger than ever. Hiro had lost. All the work, planning and determination had been for nothing. In the end he'd been unable to follow through with his plan to save himself. Tadashi had saved him from captivity and someone else had saved Tadashi from the past. How could he call himself a genius when he needed others to do everything for him?

Plop. A white marshmallow hand dropped onto Hiro's head petting it in comfort. "Tadashi is here." Baymax repeated making an even bigger mess of Hiro's already messy strands.

"I know." Hiro insisted. "It's not his presence that I'm questioning, it's the how of it?" Hiro glanced up at Baymax once more. "People can't move through the time portal. Not without this." Hiro lifted his right arm to show Baymax the bracelet still clipped onto it. It was made of five dark grey rectangles, each one marked with Hiro's logo. "I never finished stabilizing the containment device and only got one chance to use the time portal. How could Tadashi possibly have stepped through it unless…" Hiro's eyes went wide at the sudden realization that coursed through him. It couldn't be… Leaping up he launched himself out of the chair and ran straight out of the room, down the stairs and into the living room, stopping only once he got to Tadashi's side. "Unless someone helped him." Hiro whispered staring wide eyed at the familiar bracelet clipped onto Tadashi's left wrist.

- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –

Ern Estine 13624: You reminded me of Full Metal Alchemist with the use of the word Brotherhood. The anime has similar brotherly bond theme in it XD

Cosmickatsu: * Tries not to give in to Baymax... Tries REALLY HARD not to give in to Baymax. * Oh, ok, I forgive you. * Snatches the lollipop, gives Baymax a quick hug and runs away * I see you changed your username XD (Alexissenpai)

shooting2stars: Glad I could address your curiosity about the ankle monitor XD. Tadashi is the best when it comes to being protective over his lil bro and thats just the natural order of things! He is beyond unhappy with the bad guys!

RazzlePazzleDooDot: Welcome back. Yes, the cover image is Hiro's logo. I used it as the cover image so people could have something visual to look at. The continued existance of the remote and the ankle monitor will be addressed XD.

CrazyBlueOwl: I think Tadashi is just shattered. He has a lot to deal with both for himself and his brother. Aunt Cass appreciates the donation.

Anony mouse101: I thought it might be that quote you were referring to :D. Hiro won't verbalise his fears to Tadashi so Tadashi is going to do his best to address the things he does know about. The madness isnt a big issue. It's just Hiro trying to accept the fact that Tadashi is back. As for Tadashi pushing mysterious buttons... he was only doing what any curious person would do :P and Mochi's cameo appearance is coming soon ;)

Rosycat: This mixture was not intentional. As I was writing that chapter it just went that way. I love how Tadashi swung Hiro up and swung him around even though Hiro is almost all grown up.

Jo Anna Grace: I believe that the fact that you wish you could be like Tadashi and want to do that to your sister shows you already have a bit of Tadashi in you!