Every morning, as Izuku had promised himself when they started the Serpent's path, he'd made the decision to live. It was getting easier, even if the walking was difficult and dangerous and he never got any better at it. He had Ochaco and he found joy in walking the path. In some morbid, dark way.

Walking was good in itself, the further he walked, the more irrelevant Bakugo and the world had seemed. It was just Izuku here. Izuku and Ochaco. The path gave him no small measure of joy. Everyday brought new adventures. The path was possibilities, the kind he thought his life would never hold again, and Izuku himself was in motion. Any direction you walked was forward, and that was easy. Walking was easy.

Walk on became his motto; he repeated it to himself every morning upon getting up and deciding to exist for one more day.

"So, Ochaco, tell me more about the Serpent path. You said you don't know what's on the end of it?" He had said one day as they decided to again start their journey along the path.

"Well...no I don't! But I've heard that the Serpent path is a path of the spirit! And enlightenment! So, since you're a spirit, and you've sort of lost your way…" She trailed off ominously.

"Is this how you regained your life back?" He couldn't help but ask. Maybe whatever was at the end wiped your memory and that's why she didn't remember? A theory that was immediately dashed by her response.

"Nah," She waved it off. "I did something different. Quicker too."

"And, I couldn't do that because...?" He trailed off meaningfully. He would have much preferred something not as...intense, even if he was coming to like walking the path. Getting back faster would be nice.

"What worked for me, wouldn't really work for you Izuku, ya know?" She stated, hands behind her head in a carefree walk as they strolled along.

At that, Izuku stopped. "Why wouldn't it? Doesn't the end become me just coming back to life and...being your partner? Wouldn't faster be better?"

"Mm...say, before I answer that, let me ask you a question Izuku...who's your favorite hero? They have an origin story, and all that?"

Izuku immediately brightened, recalling the video that he had to have seen at least a thousand times. It was an old video, of an apartment buildings that were in the process of being destroyed, by what seemed to be a fire of some unknown origins. Or at least Izuku assumed so by all the smoke rising from the buildings. Only instead of cries of fear of pain, there was only laughter. There was a man, a giant of man who was single handedly saving everyone. In record speed.

It was All-Might's debut. And when Izuku had watched it, he had felt like he could do anything. The debut was an old favorite, but at the same time something had changed. Some part of the debut galled him. He felt like he was seeing it with two different eyes; an eye full of stars that still saw the hero and everything that could've been, and a new eye, one that he'd acquired while walking, an eye full of…

It was full of fire, he decided. Just like his dad. Like Kaachan. His second eye saw the flesh of the story burned away, held up the bones up to his own story, and saw the truth.

Bakugo...All Might were both right. He couldn't do this. Not without a quirk of some kind.

"I get it." Izuku said, morose and having regretted asking. Thinking about All-Might and Bakugo brought up some weird, angry feelings that Izuku didn't want to deal with. But now that the floodgates were open, Izuku couldn't help but deal with the questions that he had been ignoring for all of his life.

Something was wrong with him. Something terrible was in him, and THAT was why he had no quirk. That was why he couldn't do what Ochaco did, and had to do this. That feeling never really went away, but he could quiet it by walking, by studying, by following the REAL heroes. Walking only suppressed his inherent awfulness. It wasn't a cure. Maybe there wasn't a cure. Maybe there was nothing at the end of the Serpent path and this was all a game. He'd been born bad, he'd died bad and he was dragging his bad body through hell to no avail.

He sat down, hurting all over, feeling like he'd slid all the way back to the start when he'd walked off the building in the first place. It was going to be hard to make himself walk tomorrow.

Ochaco was at his side, padded fingers soft against his cheeks. "Is it that person?" She asked softly.

"What person?" Izuku asked. He gently moved her hands away, even if her touch was a comfort. Izuku was a terrible person and didn't deserve comfort.

"The one you loved, who abandoned you. All-Might, 'Kaachan, take your pick. Are they the source of your feelings?"

Izuku was sure he'd never said a word about Bakugo, or All-Might. Or at least, nothing that implied that he'd been abandoned. And when he thought about Kaachan, abandoned wasn't the word he used. Kaachan was always there, he hadn't abandoned Izuku.

"You're making assumptions."

"Deductions." Ochaco corrected him. "And of course I am. It's my duty as your friend."

Friend.

Izuku hadn't had one of those in a long time. Sure he'd heard Ochaco say that many times, but it hadn't really registered...he hadn't really believed her on some level.

Until now.

"Why?"

"Hmm? I don't understand the question." Ochaco responded, smiling at him softly.

"Why can't we...why…" Izuku couldn't even finish the question, so he asked another. "What if someone has wronged you terribly...and you can't do anything about it? What if…" He swallowed.

"What do you do Ochaco," Izuku whispered, "If the person you most desperately want to hurt is yourself?"

"Then you hurt yourself." Ochaco said simply. "With your mind."

"Beat myself up you mean?" Izuku said bitterly. "Recite my long litany of regrets? I do that all the time."

It made him wish he were dead. Well...deader. He wrapped his arms around his head.

"No, no that." She said. Her breath burned against his neck. When had she gotten so close? "I mean you focus inward. Clamp down. Hold on with everything that you have."

A fire crackled.

"And then let go," Said the fierce, hot wind in his ear.

Izuku said nothing. Ochaco crept back to the other side of the walkway. He waited until he heard him snoring, and then he let the tears flow.

Kaachan's criticism was too painful to hold on to and too primal and embedded to let go of. It was the rock Izuku had been pushing uphill his whole life and he had an inkling that this could not be resolved in one night. Not even close.

His very reluctance suggested that this was important. He should hold on to the memories that he didn't want to remember.

And then, maybe, she could finally let them go.

He conjured up Kaa, no Bakugo to mind, on purpose, for the first time since he had arrived here.

On the other side of Izuku, Ochaco smiled.

XxX

"Tell me something, Izuku" Ochaco started as they walked along the path, calling over her shoulder to Izuku who was lagging behind. "Why did you let Bakugo treat you like that? He's not your father, or your brother, but you risked your safety and well being catering to him? What drove you to do so? Pity? Fear? Guilt?"

Izuku considered, averting his eyes from the girl as he thought up an answer. "He's my friend," he offered eventually.

"Love then?" She said, turning around to face him. "Love is a worthy motivation, although you see how quickly it can sour into guilt right?"

Izuku's mom involuntarily, painfully leaped into Izuku's mind. Bakugo wasn't far behind. "Are they really separate things?" He asked, looking up. "I can't seem to separate them."

"You've been thinking about it," She responded, sounded pleased. "Here's what I think: love and guilt are like ham and eggs. So many people enjoy them together, but there's no rule saying you must have one with the other! They don't even come from the same animal."

She paused. "Here's an analogy that my mom used to say; guilt is a runaway wagon down the mountain. It can carry you a distance, but it usually ends terribly. Love on the other hand, is much slower, just your own two feet, really," She said, giving Izuku a meaningful look. "But it's more likely to take you somewhere worth going."

Izuku had never met anyone like this, who talked all abstract and wasn't quite sure how to respond to her when she got like this. "I do like walking." He said at last.

She eyed him, and then winked, "You've got the figure for it!"

Izuku blushed, but pushed forward. "Walking the road gives you time to think too,"

"We'll get you out of your shell just yet!" She said warmly. "Tell me what you think!"

"Walk on." Izuku said, feeling surprisingly shy as he said, like he was showing Ochaco something really important to him.

Ochaco was silent for a moment, before blinking at him.

"What? That's it?"

"It's harder than it sounds," Izuku defended, folding his arms. "Whenever I start feeling like I want to...like I'm not going to make it, I decide to walk on until tomorrow at least, and-"

"And then you do it, huh?" She responded. "Sounds a little like running away."

"No!" Izuku yelled, immediately. "It's the opposite of that."

"Running towards?" She said, stopping to face Izuku fully, completely focused. "I'm not saying don't run-or walk-only that it sounds incomplete. I only meant to prompt you to think further, ya know? What happens when you get there?"

"Um...you don't really get there," Izuku said, growing annoyed despite himself. "You're on the Path and the Path goes on and on. Izuku felt himself speak about the Path as if it were a person; he hadn't realized he felt this way until he had said it.

"Now' we're getting somewhere! We're all on this path, metaphorically, and literally in our case. That's our lot. Is that what you're getting at? And we have to choose to walk on, rather than petulantly sitting on one's butt and pouting?"

Why did it sound stupid coming from her mouth, when it had sounded so nice when he was walking? "I guess…" He trailed off, unsure what to say.

"It's a start," She said. "Tell me something though: Is walking the only virtue in your system? What if someone decided to stay in one place and not walk on? On purpose? Would that be bad?"

Izuku considered. "We've been walking, literally walking for about...two months? I think? And I feel...right when I do. My mind is clear; the world makes sense. Walking is good in itself."

"Yeah, yeah," Ochaco said, waving him off, "But it's not the only good. Since we're being literal now, have you felt clear and sensible at other times in your life?"

The question startled Izuku into thinking. And a long forgotten memory came back to the front. "When I was younger, and quirks first started manifesting, there was this child that Bakugo was bullying...and he needed help and then...I was there. Sure, it hurt, but...I felt good. And studying heros...and helping my mom. And there's-"

"Right." Ochaco said firmly. "Walking, defending, studying, and helping,"

Izuku blinked, unsure of what she was getting at.

"You feel whole when you're doing things, Izuku. When you're in your body," She said slowly, as if Izuku was stupid. "The mind may go off in all directions, but the truth is centered in the body ultimately."

"My body? So...I'm just a worthless punching bag, like Bakugo said," Izuku interrupted.

"That is NOT what I mean. And you know that. I would guess, based on your knee jerk reaction, that you despise your lack of power, and everything that's happened due to it? So let me ask you this; Do you think that one needs a quirk to be a hero?"

Izuku went cold. She was asking him the same exact thing that he had asked All-Might...and his mother. But he had already known the answer. "Yes." Izuku said, heart pounding.

"Wrong." snapped Ochaco, her suddenly sharp brown eyes taking in every nuance of Izuku's reaction. "First, I gave you two choices as a test: There are never just two choices. That's a lie to keep you from thinking too deeply. Second and more importantly; you do not need a quirk to be hero."

"That isn't true," Izuku half whispered. Every one of her words was a knife, prodding a deep, unhealed wound.

"Third," She said, as is Izuku hadn't spoken. "Consider doctors, policemen, and teachers. And even parents. Sure quirks are beneficial, and helpful, but by no means are they necessary, and they too are considered heroes. It simply requires more work, and more effort on their part, but is by no means impossible.

Izuku trembled so hard his teeth chattered.

"You've been curling around your own pain for far too long Izuku. So long that you can't see beyond yourself. I rejoiced when you decided to strike out and walk this path with me, but you still have a long way to go. You want to walk on? Walk out of that shadow. Walk Izuku."

Izuku wrestled back tears.

"Show me the true heart of you. Your credo goes farther than you realize: Walk on, yes, but don't walk past people who need you. Uncurl yourself so you can see them and respond."

Izuku was too distraught to take everything in. The words bounced off of him like a stone skipping over the surface of a lake.

A stone may skip a long way, but it always sinks eventually.

"What...what are you?"

Ochaco smiled wanly. "What do you mean? I'm your partner. Nothing more, nothing less. But we can discuss that later. What do you intend to do next?"

Izuku glanced back. The section they had just crossed was pouring down rain, but the section in front then had the sun rising and looked overall pretty pleasant. "It almost feels like a sign from a higher power, finding you and talking about this stuff." He said. "I almost feel like I should stay."

"Almost isn't good enough," Ochaco warned. "Just like guilt isn't good enough."

She was right, and Izuku felt a weight come off of his heart. He threw his arms around Ochaco and held her for a moment. "Thank you for everything," He said. He laid his forehead on hers, and they stared at each other. It was becoming even noiser behind them, even the thunder and rain was subsiding.

"We could stay here and rest until the weather calms down on all fronts?" She asked, looking at him.

Izuku was in no mood for travel, or conversation, so he nodded and they packed up for the day.

XxX

Izuku's impatience to get going outstripped the speed of the weather and they set off four days later before everything really cleared up.

They had made it roughly two miles and that took so long because of the weather. Izuku was beginning to regret not waiting due to how slowly they had to creep.

"We're almost at the halfway point," Ochaco said suddenly as they came to an entrance. "I hope you're ready?"

Izuku gulped, but nodded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but not being ready wasn't quite an option that he had.

"This cavern portion of the path is called 'Big Spooky,". She said gesturing at the cave they were about to enter.

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at the name and Ochaco grinned at him. ". Shut up! I didn't name it!"

Big Spooky looked like a collapsed souffle, crumpled in on itself, sunken and shrunken down the middle. Vines snaked over walls, and saplings grew in the crevices of the ruined cavern. The cavern looked like it collapsed a long time ago.

The most accessible entrance, Ochaco insisted was to the South, a fifty foot pit lined with vegetation. It was a hard climb down for Izuku, even with the rocks and vines to hold on to, which made Izuku wonder about Ochaco. She must be so much tougher than he thought.

These were caves the likes of which Izuku nor Ochaco had ever encountered. They walked for hours. Ochaco chose large passageways, looking for something that she wouldn't elaborate on, no matter how many times Izuku asked. She's know it when she saw it, she insisted.

They found a vast lake, which horrified and fascinated Izuku, and discovered rooms full of crystalline wonders. Nothing suited Ochaco.

They reached a chamber like the nave of a cathedral, it's ceiling and walls far beyond their reach. An enormous flat Rock, like a dais, lay near the center; it had fallen from the unseen ceiling an age ago.

"Here,". Ochaco said approvingly. "Let's do this Izuku."

"What do I need to do?"

"I need you to lay on the dais there, and I'm going to Pierce your artery, and collect some blood from you, and me. Sprinkle it around you while you sleep there."

Caves, it turns out, are incredibly quiet when you're too stunned to speak.

"I... what?"

"We can use…". Ochaco glanced around the cavern in frustration, and noticed two odd whitish stones a ways off. They were identical, curved like bowls and roughly the size of two cupped hands. "These would hold a good amount of blood!". She decided.

"What-why are we doing this?". Izuku was proud of himself for not stammering or stuttering there. He really didn't want to be stabbed.

"It's part of the renewal process. It's basically setting up and preparing your body and spirit for your triumphant return! Hold still,". She warned as she lightly nicked his artery with a knife that he was sure she didn't have earlier.

With that done, she quickly collected the blood from him in one of the bowls and guided him to the dais, where he collapsed, suddenly exhausted.

"I'm going to wait until you're asleep, and then start."

She told him, knowing that that wouldn't take too long.

"Are you going to pour it on, or around me?". He asked faintly. It was almost time.

"I'm going to do both," she answered, as she sliced her hand and began to collect her own blood. "Do what seems right. Intention is more important than details here. Probably."

No response. He was asleep. Or dying. She had to be quick.

Ochaco sat a bowl of blood in each hand and waited. Before she's made up her mind to start, the blood began to glow. The bowls in her hand glowed a pale blue. All around the cavern other blue orbs shone, like a hundred moons reflected in a lake, breathtakingly beautiful.

Ochaco, focused on her task, circled Izuku's stone, sprinkling and dribbling blood on and around him. Every spatter made a constellation.

She flicked the last of the blood on Izuku's body and Izuku too, began to glow.

Ochaco sank to her knees just as the light went out. The pale blue light of a hundred shining lights suffused everything. It ebbed and flowed over Izuku.

Before her very eyes, the wound on his throat cleared up. She watched, mesmerized. Then the light began to fade, so slowly that Ochaco couldn't tell if the glow still lingered or if it was an afterimage on her eyes.

Finally, the darkness was total. Izuku had stopped glowing and the silence was total.

For a moment, Ochaco imagined that she didn't exist.

"Ochaco!" Izuku cried, from right beside her. "That was crazy! I feel-I feel…". He trailed off, unsure how to voice his thoughts.

His stream of enthusiasm was forestalled, momentarily by the sound of Izuku vomiting.

"My quirk used to make me vomit all the time. I don't miss that,". Ochaco said, rubbing his back soothingly. Her only response was more vomit.

She took her other hand and examined every place that had glowed with extra brilliance. It went perfectly. He was finally whole.

Now if only he would stop vomiting, this would have been a nice moment.