**Quick Author's note: I wouldn't have been able to do this without some motivation from a friend of mine, so a quick thank-you to her for getting this started. UPDATE: This work is currently undergoing serious editing, since I actually got myself a beta (and went back and reread how it was...). The chapter with the (!) next to it in the table of contents is the chapter currently in the process of undergoing edits. Some details may change, but nothing too major. This is to clean it up and improve the quality of writing. My current Beta is Telemain's Daughter, and I'm very grateful for her constructive criticism and suggestions.**

Five years had passed since Tadashi's death and the subsequent conflict with Callaghan. The showdown at KreiTech that had made Hiro and his group of friends instant heroes in the eyes of San Fransokyo had launched a year of nightly vigilante activity. His secret masquerading, in addition to college courses difficult enough to force him to work at school for possibly the first time in his life, kept Hiro frantically busy. He rarely had much more than a spare moment to dwell upon the injustice borne of Callaghan's trial or the gaping hole left where his brother should have stood with his lectures and encouragements in equal measure. In both cases, there hadn't been anything he could do.

The distraction and hype of being a hero quickly diminished as the public came to realize the lack of need for a full-time group of young superheroes. After the first year, it became apparent that Hiro and his group had only the ability to impact surface-level crimes, while driving the more significant criminals further underground, making the police's jobs harder as a whole, and in turn creating more trouble than good for the wary city. While they were assured of being placed on the law enforcement's speed dial, to be called upon should the need arise, the team was otherwise free to resume working on their projects from before the convention, or in Fred's case, to provide team spirit and fantastic, if unscientific, ideas.

As the years continued to pass, and Hiro's relationships with his new friends grew stronger, he found that it was easier and easier to come to terms with Tadashi's death. Though there were still moments where he missed his brother deeply, the draining ache of his absence that Hiro had felt shortly after the fire did not make a reappearance.

Over this time, Hiro's mind and body matured, and he came to hate that as he grew older the resemblance to his deceased brother become painstakingly evident. A glimpse of a reflection in the corner of his eye was enough to renew the light pain in his chest that, though greatly lessened, never truly went away.

Hiro finished college in three easy years, ditching bot fighting permanently - the mere thought of the event he once loved now sent a spear of diluted grief towards his heart - to go on to work in the medical field, primarily orthotics. He pursued the profession of designing and creating improved prosthetics for amputees, using the technology of microbots in conjunction with standard artificial limbs to allow for greater range and control of movement. He also continued working on Baymax, keeping him updated on new medical procedures, while making sure to preserve a back-up chip of Tadashi's data in order to lessen the probability of losing the core of who Baymax was.

Two years ago, shortly after graduation, he took up the project of creating two new robotic nurses, with all of the protocol but none of the personality of Baymax, and sent them to the major hospitals of San Fransokyo as a test of their ability to assist in real-time hospital work. He kept Baymax nearby, not having it in his heart to part with him, considering he was the most important physical remnant of Tadashi that remained.

Though they went their separate ways after graduation, the team remained determined to stay in contact.

Gogo went on to become a competitive cyclist, while creating a whole new line of bicycles based on her electro-magnetic suspension prototype. It was rare that her prized bike be allowed in a standard race, but when it was, she never lost. Not that she did much losing on her regular one, anyway.

Honey moved to England, becoming a leading scientist in the field of chemical engineering, and continued to send photos back detailing her occasional side-trips to Paris, the result of her latest concoction, or what she had for lunch at the small café on the street corner; she isn't picky.

Fred would drop in every now and then, raving on about the latest edition of whichever comic series he had devoted his attentions to that week, while sometimes alluding to some family secret involving his dad and a secret room and a family island. With his tendency towards conspiracies and dramatic plots, the team doubted the veracity of many of his claims, for most of them were likely the result of some convoluted dream. Honestly, who had ever heard of a superhero room devoted mostly to super-undies?

Wasabi had attained his Master of Science degree in applied physics and was working towards his doctorate of engineering science in applied physics, specializing in plasma physics. He was also the most likely to stop by the small café to chat or even help out on Beat Poetry nights when business was at its peak.

His help became all the more valuable after an afternoon, roughly a year ago, when Aunt Cass tripped over Mochi, falling down the flight of stairs leading to the café. She initially complained of a headache, and Baymax confirmed a mild concussion, suggesting bed confinement until the symptoms died down. In the weeks to follow, any attempt at resuming work resulted in a sharp headache, nausea, and dizziness, and though Aunt Cass would insist she was all right, Hiro would demand she stay in bed and had Baymax scan her after each episode. The only treatment available for a concussion was to allow it to heal on its own, but Aunt Cass continually insisted on doing what she considered minor activities whenever Hiro wasn't around to determine otherwise.

One day, Hiro came home from a follow-up meeting with a hospital, one of the few in which a robot of his worked, to an empty café and a message from Wasabi telling him to return to the hospital he had just left. Baymax had activated from his charging station upon hearing Aunt Cass's cry of distress when she had once again tried to get out of bed in Hiro's absence. A quick scan had confirmed a hemorrhagic stroke incited by a secondary head trauma that was gained when she fell out of bed. Baymax was able to take her to the hospital in less time and with less impact than an ambulance would have been able to, considering the traffic. Tadashi was still watching over his family, even from beyond the grave, and Hiro had sent a silent murmur of gratitude to his sibling.

He hadn't even thought to check his silenced phone after the meeting and, upon reentering the hospital, discovered that his aunt was already in surgery in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Baymax and Wasabi greeted him in the waiting room, and with Gogo and Fred running in the moment they heard, a video chat with Honey Lemon completed the team as they anxiously waited for news.

Hiro's nervous pacing was interrupted when a kind, human nurse lead him back to the room where his aunt lay on a hospital bed. The nurse was quick to assuage his initial fearful reaction by informing him that, while his aunt was in a coma from the damage done by the build-up of blood in the brain, she had slight reflexive responses to pain, indicating a possibility of recovery upon her awakening. She assured him that any change would be reported and detailed visiting hours he already knew as she led him out of the room.

A year passed, and though there had been moments of activity beneath her eyelids, his aunt's condition hadn't really changed. Hiro kept the little café in business, running it on his own during the times he wasn't needed elsewhere. Though he contemplated creating robots with the sole purpose of running the café, he decided against it. The idea of replacing his aunt - who had been there for him ever since the passing of his parents - with machines didn't settle well with him. To come back every day to nothing more than his own creations... it wouldn't feel like home anymore.

On an abnormally stormy morning, Hiro had trudged downstairs and opened the shop, unsurprised at the lack of customers for the first couple of hours. The torrent of rain made it nearly impossible to see the streetlight out the window or to distinguish anything more than the headlights of the few brave souls who had decided their destination's importance trumped the dangers of San Fransokyo's weather.

Around midafternoon the storm abated to a light, if persistent rainfall, allowing a few regulars to trickle in, nearly driven mad by their lack of unnecessary decaf and weak lattes. It was a short day, boring as most were when he wasn't absorbed in his latest project. The time approached the six-o-clock closing time, and the café had been completely empty for the past half hour.

Hiro had closed the register and was spinning the cafe keys on his finger when a heavily clothed child wandered in, splattering water on the polished floor. His heavy coat's hood was pulled up and a bright red scarf that was certainly not sized for a child was wound multiple times around his neck; it almost completely covered his face. As the child began to struggle to loosen the scarf, Hiro hurried over to assist, frowning at the lack of an accompanying adult.

"Hey, buddy. Did you wander away from your parents?"

As he reached the child, he bent down to his level just as the scarf was left successfully unwound around his neck. The child reached to take off his hood, revealing soft brown eyes that Hiro recognized immediately. Pushing black rain-soaked hair back off his forehead, he smiled widely up at Hiro, showing a small gap between his front teeth like the older boy had.

Hiro's mind froze as he tried to process the impossible possibility. His body locked up, mouth agape and eyes blinking rapidly, as if blinking would make the familiar traits of this child fade to something reasonable.

Maybe... no, there's no way that-.

But when the child spoke Hiro's name quietly, his voice, though definitely not as deep as it had been, caused warm tears to build up behind his eyes.

"Tadashi?" Hiro choked.

The child nodded his head gleefully. Tadashi jumped, practically knocking Hiro over, and wrapped his small arms around him in a tight hug, Hiro practically engulfing his miniature frame as tears began to escape the corners of his eyes. Hiro could feel the much smaller version of his brother start to shake.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I left you, Hiro."

"But, but how? How are you alive?"

"I-I'm not sure, it's kind of blurry." Tadashi pulled away slightly and looked at Hiro with misted eyes. "I remember flames and warmth, and it should have hurt, but there's no pain up here." He tapped his temple. "The only thing I remember after that is growing up in the orphanage."

Tadashi took another step back, taking a deep breath and fiddling with his scarf as he gathered his thoughts.

"I didn't think anything of it at first, but I heard them whisper about me being pulled from a burning building by a fireman looking for survivors and how they didn't think my parents had made it since no one came looking for me. They were going to put me up for adoption, before I got too old for people to want me."

Tadashi looked around the café, taking everything in. "A week ago, I began to remember. It started in little snippets, flashes of our parents, you, Aunt Cass, going to SFIT. I tried asking about it, but they just looked at me funny. I used one of the computers to look up the incident of the burning building that I had been found in. The reports said they never found my - Tadashi's - body."

He shrugged his shoulders a little. "Everything sort of fell into place after that."

Hiro's brows remained furrowed, hundreds of thoughts and questions dancing on the tip of his tongue, but in that moment, with his sibling blinking up at him with his wide dark gaze, warmth flooded his chest. He smiled, unable to resist the urge to hug his brother again as he wrapped him in his arms and stood, easily carrying his weight.

"I missed you so much, Tadashi. I love you."

Tadashi laughed from his place in his former-younger brothers arms. "I love you too, little bro."

A single brow shot up at his words, and Hiro responded skeptically. "I'm not the little one anymore. How old are you, anyway?" He could give a fair guess, but knowing his luck, he'd probably end up being much younger than he estimated.

Tadashi thought for a moment before holding out his little hand with all of the fingers extended.

"Five."

Hiro couldn't help but laugh, thinking of all the brotherly payback the little one would have in store.

He had him back. After five painful years, Tadashi was here, looking around the café with his head resting on his now bigger brother's shoulder. Hiro turned and carried the small child straight up to his room, heading over to the red charging station and setting Tadashi back on his own feet.

Standing over it, Hiro spoke in the most deadpan voice he could muster.

"Ow."

It was evident Baymax had been spending much too time around Hiro. He was programmed to learn socialization through the interactions around him, and had consequently gained a sense of humor and the ability to be sarcastic. Upon inflating, the first thing Baymax said made Hiro double over with happy tears and laughter.

"I told you, Tadashi is here."

**A.N.: And so it begins. Reviews are welcome and will fuel motivation for future chapters. I absolutely love hearing what you've got to say, even long past the posting date. **