"I don't have any details"

Voices penetrated through Tadashi's dream. Voices meant people. Tadashi's dreams were almost always centered around the fire but never before had people existed. The facial details of the figures present were hidden by a dense cloud and, although broken, only phrases made their way through to Tadashi's ears.

"I pulled him out."

"I have no idea who he is."

Why was his brain mocking him? Could there be information pertaining to Tadashi's rescue and yet his mind kept torturing him with the unknowns? Who? When? How? Why? He had to find the answers and fast! Did he actually know the answers but was too blind to really see? Tadashi yelled out to the receding figures, "WAIT!" No answer. He called out again, "WAIT!" but no one stopped for him. Tadashi tried once more and broke through the barrier between sleep and reality.

The room around him was dark and silent save for the soft breathing from Hiro's side. Tadashi knew that the dream would be gone forever along with any chance for answers. "Wait..." he said glumly. There was hardly any new evidence for him to use in furthering his search, only the faintest idea of a voice. What flimsy evidence to go off of. There couldn't be any information surrounding the fire that Tadashi hadn't already read over with a fine toothed comb. He had spent hours researching, thinking, and wracking his mind for any useful information. No matter how hard Tadashi wished, there were no memories from the night of the fire that could help him.

He remembered the painful burn behind his eyes when searching desperately through ash and smoke.

He remembered his throat hot and scratchy from shouting "Callaghan".

He remembered nothing once the heavy tar air asphyxiated him, mind going dark.

Tadashi tried to settle the loud thump thump of his heart. He laid back down with a small sigh. Probably, he muttered to himself, he'd be up half the night with his brain circling endlessly through aisles and aisles of thoughts.

The next afternoon Tadashi and Hiro were downstairs in the Lucky Cat café. Tadashi watched Hiro work behind the bar. Hiro now filled Tadashi's role as assistant barista. That job had been Tadashi's for a number of years, and although Tadashi wasn't able at this moment to work he enjoyed watching Hiro. Hiro was a lot more focused, not wanting to get distracted in fear he'd screw up an order. After all, Hiro was still learning the extensive recipe book of teas, lattes, and smoothies. Tadashi had loved that job, especially when chatting with pretty girls, and missed the social interaction that came from working at the bustling cafe. But whenever he was feeling especially strong, he made his way down to keep Hiro company at the bar. Things were now so much better between them. Not only did Tadashi watch Hiro at the cafe, now Hiro even let him in on engineering projects he was trying out. It had been so long since Tadashi had worked his brain on robotics and it was a welcome change. It cleared cobwebs that had formed in his creativity channels. They were brothers once again.

The bell chimed when two visitors entered the cafe. They spotted the brothers and walked over. "Tadashi," Carter smiled and put a friendly hand on Tadashi's shoulder. Tadashi grinned and gave Carter a warm greeting, "Hey, my man." Joan briefly hugged Tadashi, then she hopped onto a bar stool to watch Hiro. Joan enjoyed the challenge of getting Hiro to break his concentration. Tadashi moved with Carter to a nearby table, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"We just came by to check in on you, see how you're holdin' up."

"I'm doing good," he smiled softly, "Life hasn't changed very much so it's just the same old same old." Tadashi's attitude had shifted dramatically since his talks with Hiro. He had resolved to leave self-pity behind and turn his thoughts to a bigger world than himself, "How are you doing?" Tadashi inquired, "I know you must still have a lot of doctor appointments."

Carter shrugged, "Not too many right now. It's one of my quieter periods, but I'm holding up just fine. Actually I wanted to tell you that Joan actually got some applications into a few colleges."

Tadashi smiled broadly, "Really? That's exciting! Has she heard back from any of them yet?"

"Not yet. I'm proud of her for putting herself out there." Carter smiled while glancing at his younger sister, brotherly pride filling his chest. Tadashi reassured his friend, "She'll perk someone's interest for sure and soon. Joan is truly talented." As his nearest sibling, Carter adored her. Once he thought over the sacrifices she had made because of his illness, his respect for her character grew every day. She deserved the world in his eyes. Although Joan's rise to greatness had been frustrated by Carter's chronic illness, he knew with all his heart that Joan's future was rich with opportunity, and that made him happiest.

Carter and Tadashi chatted freely until Joan returned from her post. She admitted Hiro was a lot more consumed with his job than answering her peppering questions. Joan looked at Tadashi's arm, bravely sharing her thought, "Hey Tadashi, I have some ideas on how to improve your prosthetic arm. It might help the fingers and weight and such," She spoke confidently, sipping on her matcha smoothie. Carter saw the flame of brilliance in her eyes. Hiro snorted from his station, even murmuring "You wish." Joan spun around quickly in her seat, "HA! I knew you were paying attention to me!" Hiro sent her a gentle teasing smile and returned his attention to the order he was filling. Both brothers couldn't help but laugh at the two younger teenagers. When Joan went back to pester Hiro, Tadashi drew Carter's attention to something else, "Carter, I never asked what you do for work. You don't go to college so I assumed you had a job."

"I'm between jobs right now," Carter shrugged, "Finding a steady job willing to make concessions for my illness is hard to come by. I used to work as a janitor on the SFIT campus." Tadashi's interest peaked, "So you were working when the fire happened?"

"Yeah, he was. Which is why I couldn't go to the Science Fair," Joan was still a little bitter about the whole evening. "But Joan, it was a good thing you didn't go. I hardly got out," Carter corrected her.

"Do you know anything about the fire?" Tadashi pressed, although trying his hardest to keep the eager tone from his voice.

Carter shook his head, "I don't have any details." That sentence! That voice! Was it Carter's voice in Tadashi's dream last night? Could it be? Carter continued, "I mean I have no idea what, or who, started the fire."

"Do you know how Callaghan got out?"

"I don't know how Callaghan got out."

Tadashi felt his adrenaline start pumping, his hands sweating, and face flushing red, "How did you get out? Why did you nearly not get out?" Carter wasn't sure why Tadashi was so interested in the details of such a dark event. He himself wanted to forget the whole matter, "Why are you all of a sudden so interested?"

"I'll tell you why later. Just answer the question. Please," Tadashi added, remembering his manners.

"There was a person caught unconscious in the fire. I was close enough to reach them before the building started to fail." Carter shuddered uneasily while thinking about what he had seen: a face covered in soot with dark burn marks covering the body, "God, I have never pulled so hard in my life than to drag him out." With the building beginning to burn and fall apart around them, Carter couldn't think. He had to act.

Carter recounted all he had seen to the wide eyed faces around him. He recalled tugging and pulling the limp body as fast and hard as possible, muscles burning from such unusual exertion; heaving both of them out before the building was engulfed in flames.

SMASH!

The whole cafe stared at the bar where the sound of a shattered mug. Hiro stood frozen in shock, cup broken at his feet. Impossible but at the same time possible! There had only been two people perceived dead, Callaghan and Tadashi, who were now found alive. The authorities had determined only the building was lost. So if Callaghan protected himself with the microbots, and Tadashi was the only one needing to be rescued--Hiro gulped, afraid and yet at the same time eager to hear more. "What happened next?" Tadashi egged Carter on.

"I pulled him out and got the attention of a first responder and left. I have no idea who he is.

"It was me!"

Tadashi shot up quickly, sending the chair toppling backwards, "The person you saved was me! It was me!" Carter shifted in his chair, "You?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Normally so composed, Tadashi could count on one hand the number of times he had felt this rush. His mouth dry, stomach in knots, and eyes shining with interest. "You have...no idea...oh god." He let out a deep breath and righted his chair, "This is amazing," Tadashi whispered, sinking into his seat.

"Yeah, no kidding," Carter said more to himself than anyone, "But how do you know for sure?"

Hiro slowly came from behind the counter, thinking aloud as he went. "Tadashi was stuck in the exhibition room right before the building collapsed. For someone to have found him, they'd have to have been already inside. He'd be unrecognizable through all the smoke, not to mention being covered with burns." Hiro took a seat at the table. "It was weeks before the hospital contacted us that he was alive. Someone would have had to come forward with his identity since all identification was most likely incinerated. The matching stories-- It was you who saved Tadashi!" Hiro looked at Carter, "Carter, you're a hero." The table silently looked over, convinced of the truth-- Carter had saved Tadashi's life!

"I'm no hero," Carter said humbly, "I'm just glad I had the power to do what I had to do." Tadashi couldn't help but laugh, "Who would have believed any of this? I certainly can't and yet I'd have a hard time believing anything else." This story changed his whole view of Carter. Tadashi now saw Carter not only as a survivor and fighter, but also as a savior.

The cafe was closed for the rest of the day to celebrate. Hiro jumped on the phone to gather Gogo, Wasabi, Fred, and Honey Lemon over, sharing quickly and semi-understandably the story he'd just heard. The group raced over to join in the pandemonium. Carter was hailed as a superhero in his own right. Although not a student at the academy the gang readily accepted him, making him feel welcome in their brotherhood. Aunt Cass rallied everyone for drinks and food on the house. Honey Lemon helped Aunt Cass distribute drinks around. Joan helped Hiro bring down from the apartment the secret stash of gummy bears. Fred entertained them all with his finest sign spinning. Tadashi could hardly remember a day as wonderful as this. He looked around and tried to impress each detail of this moment in his memory.

He wanted to remember the mountain of gummy bears atop Joan and Hiro's hot chocolate and whipped cream mustaches on their faces.

He wanted to remember the first real smile he'd seen in a long time on Hiro's face, tooth gap and all.

He would always remember that his bond with Carter was formed long before their chance meeting in the hospital.

As Tadashi took it all in he could feel the serenity that existed only at home. Home was warm, comforting and safe. Home had existed for Tadashi before the fire, even without his parents, because Aunt Cass and Hiro were there to keep him anchored. But since the fire, Tadashi realized that home wasn't just a physical place on the street. It was so much more than that. Home was love, understanding, and forgiveness. That home was hard to see when Tadashi was weakest, both physically and in his relationship with his family. But when he finally moved on from the past and looked toward the future, home was solidly in front of him.

Tadashi had finally returned home.

THE END