Big Hero 6 x Reader One Shots

(50): The Fire (Part Two)

A part two of Tadashi x Reader (42): The Fire was requested, so here! 
~ MAJOR FEELS AHEAD ~
Oh-- this is the 50th One Shot! Holy crap, 50? Amazin'. Okay. Enjoy. :)
(Unedited).

Tadashi was searching for something. What, he wasn't sure. He was digging through charred rubble, black covering his hands and dust and ashes filling his lungs. What was he doing? He was searching frantically for something. . . something he wanted so badly to reach. . . something that he was keeping himself from thinking of. Finally, he stands. He moves slowly to the center of the burnt room to find a body. Yours.
Tadashi falls to his knees, holding his hands out in front of him. He slowly, gently, flips you off your side and onto your back. Your hair covers your face. With grey, shaky fingers he pushes it away. Your eyes are closed. He touches your cheek, the skin your usual (skin_color). No burns. Your eyes were closed, your eyelashes casting shadows on your once flushed cheeks. Tadashi covers his mouth with his hand, choking back sobs as he strokes your cold cheek.
"I'm sorry," He says, leaning down. He drops his head and scoops you up in his arms. "So sorry. I love you, okay? I love you. I didn't want to lose you. . ."  He trails off, sobbing.
Suddenly, the sound of flames erupts in his ears. Tadashi looks around. Nothing, but the sound is deafening. He glances down at your body that he cradles in his arms. Your once smooth (skin_color) skin is now burnt and charred. He cries out, dropping your body. It dissolves in ashes as the sound of your pained screams fill the air. Tadashi covers his ears and curls up on the floor.
"Please stop! I'm sorry!"
"Tadashi!" Your pained voice screams in his head. "Tadashi!"

~

"Tadashi!" Hiro says, panicked. He shakes his brother's shoulders.

Tadashi's eyes shoot open. "I'm sorry, ___!" He cries, covering his face as he shakes with sobs.

Hiro frowns and sympathetically pats Tadashi's shoulder as his brother turns on his side. "Aw, bro. . . I'm sorry. . . I don't know. . . what to say. She-she loved you, you know? It was obvious that she loved you."

"Hiro," Tadashi says angrily. "Go to bed."

Hiro sighs. "Sorry."

Tadashi stares up out the window. Tomorrow was your funeral; he'd been dreading it. Cass comes in the room and sits on the edge of Tadashi's bed.

"Hey, kiddo," She says, rubbing his back. "Nightmare?" Tadashi nods. She's silent for a while, leaning down to lay her head on her nephew's shoulder. He reaches up and grips her shoulder, trying to gather strength. Mochi walks over, meows sadly at the sight of his heartbroken family, and plops down beside Tadashi. Tadashi stares ahead at the moon. "What can I do?" She asks helplessly.

Tadashi shrugs. "Bring her back?"

"If only," She says, hugging his shoulders. "If only I could. I would, sweetie."

"I know," He says. "What do I do?"

"The same thing I told you after your parents' deaths. Adapt. Adapt to this new lifestyle. . .  find a new normal. It's not easy, I know. You know already. You just have to work on it. You'll find happiness sometime again, I promise you."

"I love her so much, Aunt Cass," Tadashi says.

"I know you did, sweetie." Tadashi frowns. Did. So that was it, then. That was the end. He realized that you weren't coming back. He'd known, of course, but he thought that as long as everything was still in present tense, then the two of you were still in love.

Did that mean he was wrong?

~

The next day, Tadashi sits at his desk. It was early, just after six in the morning, and he was going to prepare a eulogy for you. Your parents asked him to speak at your funeral, and he agreed. It was hard. He'd been at it all night, the nightmare still haunted his memory. Also, the events of the fire. He was beginning to forget which was real and which was imaginative.

Aunt Cass walks in around eight. "Hey, honey. How'd you sleep?"

"Great," Tadashi says, scribbling at the paper. Cass frowns at the sight of bags under his eyes.

"I brought you coffee," She says, setting a mug of the steaming black liquid down on the desk.

"Thanks," He says.

"Would you like something to eat?" She asks.

Tadashi's stomach tightens at the thought of eating. "I'll eat after I'm done, Cass."

"Okay, honey. I'll make you whatever you want. Chicken wings. . . I can get you take out-"

"Okay, Cass," Tadashi interrupts. "I want to be alone, okay?"

Cass smiles and runs her fingers through Tadashi's messy hair. "Okay," She whispers. She leans down and kisses the top of his head. "We're leaving at noon."

"Okay," Tadashi whispers. Cass leaves and Tadashi stares at the last sentence he wrote, seeing through his tear-filled eyes and struggling with his shaky hand.
I wish I went in there with you.

~

Before the funeral, there were the visitations where Tadashi, Honey, and your (best_friend, sibling) would speak. Everyone sat in metal chairs on both sides of the church, facing the table that held candles, flowers, and photos that people were bringing up as they went.

Tadashi didn't know what he was expecting. A casket, maybe. He didn't remember that there wasn't anything to bury. As everyone sat and listened to the words the preacher said, Tadashi stared at the floor. None of the words comforted him like they should.

"Now, Tadashi Hamada will speak."

Dazed, Tadashi stands, squeezing Hiro's shoulder as he walks to the podium over the table. "Um," He says, blinking as he tries to concentrate on the paper. "I'm Tadashi. I'm ___'s boyfriend. She is everything to me. I-I realize that most people would say 'was', but I don't think that's right. My feelings for her haven't changed. I love ___ just as much now as I did two months ago, when we celebrated our anniversary, or two years ago, when she began dating me. I will never stop loving her. She-" Tadashi pauses, clenching his fists around the paper and looking down. He starts crying, biting his lip. Everyone else was a mess, too. "She is brave. So brave. Anyone willing to go into a life-threatening situation to save another life is the most. . . heroic thing you could possibly do. She's smart. ___ is smarter than me, I think." Tadashi smiles. "She's beautiful. So beautiful. I so look forward to the day I can see her again. I love her in the present. Not the past." Tadashi nods and everyone claps, which seemed awful to him. Clapping because of sharing someone's awful pain? Hands grabbed at Tadashi's arms as he walked back to his seat. Cass kisses Tadashi's cheek and he smiles at her.

Later, at the actual funeral, people decorate your patch of dirt that buries nothing. Just a memorial. Everyone places one thing down, flowers, stuffed animals, pictures. Tadashi goes last so he can talk. He kneels in the grass, smiling sadly.

"Hey, ___," He says, pulling a folded paper out of his pocket. "I miss you, already. It's not easy, you know? I always imagined stuff like this happen after we got married and grew old. It didn't work out that way, though. I just- I love you. I love you more than anything. I won't stop loving you, okay? Don't worry. Wait for me where you're at. I'll be there soon." He unfolds the paper. A picture of the two of you, taken by Honey Lemon as the two of you walked around the campus of SFIT. Cherry blossom trees in the background, the two of you stood with your back facing the camera, your lips pressed together and your hands together. "Love you." Tadashi kisses the picture and leaves it with the other things left behind.