A/N: Yo, this is Chooch77 back with a new story for Re:Zero. This is going to be a one-shot series mainly about different events that could happen and might be further expanded later on. It is going to be a series of what ifs that I think are interesting but that I either can't make into a full story or am not sure about how to continue after the first chapter.
First one coming up. Summary: What if Rem wasn't immediately forgotten before the group meets back up, would she reveal what happened between her and Subaru and how he was in the capital, how desperate and depressed he got?
Pairing: Platonic/Romantic Subaru/Rem/Emilia-can be read whichever way by the reader.
The group met back up after the end of the battle with the witch's cult where they utterly annihilated the cult under Betelgeuse under Subaru's instructions. All of his information had paid off and Emilia was glad and surprised by how Subaru performed in their time apart. She had heard about how he had supplied all of the information on the cult and the whale as well, including the time and location of the whale and the cult.
Emilia was so glad about how Subaru had grown in their time apart, and was pleased to see Rem and him as well, since it had been about a week and a half since they had left and returned to the capital.
Emilia heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in," in response. The door opened and in stepped a beautiful blue haired girl in a cute maid's outfit. "Oh, good morning, Rem," Emilia said happily.
Rem curtsied and said, "good morning, Miss Emilia. How are you doing today?"
"Oh, I'm doing good, I'm so happy to be with everyone right now," Emilia exclaimed excitedly, "I wish Ram was here, that would make this even better, but it is still so nice seeing you guys again. I know it was only about a week and a half, but I did miss you."
Rem smiled happily, "It is nice to see you too, Miss Emilia. We had a bit of a rough time, but I am glad that it's all over with now."
"Oh," Emilia said, looking concerned, "What do you mean? I know the white whale and the witch's cult were rough on you, but it didn't sound that bad the way that Subaru told me about them. It sounded like after the whale; the witch's cult was easily dealt with."
"It was," Rem rushed to reassure Emilia, "The witch's cult was easy, but…" She trailed off, unsure of how to explain what happened with Subaru to Emilia, having wanted to tell her but unsure of how to do it.
"But what?" Emilia pressed, concerned for her friends.
"Subaru had a bit of a rough time before we started back to the mansion. Before the whale, and I just wanted to ensure that you knew about it, Miss Emilia." Rem said, having experience dealing with mental issues from some things that had happened between her and Ram when they were younger.
"What do you mean? What happened with Subaru?" Emilia pressed on harder, very concerned for Subaru.
"I cannot find a way to put this gently, but he had a mental breakdown," Rem said, looking extremely concerned for her love interest.
Emilia was shocked by the new information, "Oh no, what happened?!" She exclaimed/questioned Rem, wanting more information to know how to help Subaru. She wasn't sure what he was to her anymore, whether she could return her feelings or if he was just a close friend, but that didn't matter. She wanted to help Subaru, ensure that he was doing alright.
"A couple of days before we fought the white whale, Subaru took off all of a sudden, looking extremely tired and sad," Rem recounted, "I found him on top of the hill in the capital and looking over the edge of the hill. I asked him what he was doing and he said he finally figured it all out, what he needed to do to fix the problem."
"That's where he figured it out, right?" Emilia asked, concerned that Rem had stopped the story and hoping for the best but somehow knowing that wasn't what Rem meant.
Rem shook her head, "No Miss Emilia, He said he figured out that everyone was right about what he should do to solve the problem, that what he had to do to fix the problem is give up and that he was the source of the problem," Rem said sadly.
"That is not true!" Emilia said, slamming her hand on the desk she was sat at in her room, upset by what she heard. "Who filled his head with these lies!" She demanded of Rem, wanting to know who hurt her friend.
Rem looked sad, "As far as I can tell, it was Julius, the nobles, and Priscilla."
Emilia quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled a note, wanting to remember the names of who had talked so badly of her friend, but not wanting to get distracted by the information. She would tolerate the nobles and people thinking badly of her, but she would never tolerate people hurting her friends, physically or mentally.
"Continue," Emilia said through gritted teeth, not often did she get angry, but she was furious right now.
Rem shook off her surprise over how Emilia was acting, often forgetting how she could be when she was truly furious. "Right, he said that he wanted to run away and give up, and that there was nothing that he could do to solve the problem, either at the manor or in the capital."
"He said that," Emilia asked/stated, shocked at what she was hearing about one of her closest friends, one who had always come through for her before.
Rem nodded, confirming that Emilia had heard right. "I tried to comfort him and confessed how I felt about him, but I said the wrong thing at the end, saying that it was easy to give up, to which he got angry at me for saying. He responded by screaming at me for saying it, saying that he had tried everything and no matter what he tried, nothing worked, and that giving up was the only thing he had left. That anything he tried would only get him or more than him killed."
"Anything that he tried would get him or everyone killed?" Emilia questioned. "Could it be related to the curse?" She asked softly. Trying to put the pieces together and writing this information down on the same piece of paper that she had written on before.
"Yes, he said that giving up is the hardest thing to do, cutting himself off from his emotions and friends." Rem said. "He also continued disparaging himself, saying that he was worthless and pathetic and that he had wasted his time and that wasted time was what made him as useless as he was." She said sadly, not agreeing at all with his conclusion that he was useless and sad that he was pushed to that point and that she didn't see he was getting that low that he would think that.
"You corrected that train of thought, right?" Emilia pressed, wanting to make sure that this wasn't something Subaru was still thinking.
"I did my best to and I am hopeful that what I said and what happened against the whale and the cult was enough to bring him out of his depression, at least a little." Rem confirmed.
"Good," Emilia sighed a breath of relief, happy that her friend was doing better than he was at that point, but still concerned that he ever got to that point in the first place. "I am worried about Subaru." Emilia said, "I know he is doing better, but from what I know and from what happened with you and Ram, it takes a while for someone to truly come out of that state, and it is especially concerning as this is the second time he is feeling like this in two months." Emilia said, remembering how low he was getting back at the manor and having to help him out of that depressed state then too.
"Yes, I am concerned as well, miss Emilia. Subaru went from fine to depressed in less than a minute. I am unsure of if something happened all of a sudden or if he was truly hiding this all along, but either are concerning." Rem stated, remembering how short the amount of time between when he was just talking to her to running all of a sudden.
Emilia bit her lip, looking over what she had noted down and thinking, "I am not sure but I think it has to do with his curse. He stated that he had tried stuff before and that anything he tried would get everyone killed, correct?"
Rem nodded, confirming what she said but not wanting to interrupt her train of thought.
"He also always seems to know information that would be impossible for him to know as well." Emilia continued, deep in thought as to how these different aspects of Subaru could be connected, before coming to a conclusion. She immediately stood up from her desk and marched out of the room to where Subaru was currently at the desk studying books.
He saw her come in and immediately put the books away, trying to hide them from her.
"Hey, Emilia," Subaru said happily, seeing her for the first time today.
Emilia focused on Subaru hard and kept pressing closer to him, with Rem coming into the room behind her. "Miss Emilia, what is it?" Rem called out from behind. Subaru also took a step back, but for every step that Subaru took backwards, Emilia took one forward, until he was pressed against the wall and Emilia, looking serious, was right in front of him.
Subaru looked a little freaked out by the situation but also had a blush on his face from how close Emilia was to him. "W-What is it, Emilia?" He asked.
"Can you time travel?" Emilia asked bluntly.
"Miss Emilia, there is no way that is correct." Rem said, getting right next to the two of them.
"N-no way, there is no way that is correct," Subaru tried to deny, looking away, but something gave him away.
"No, you aren't," Emilia said, looking at his face, "But I am not wrong either, you have experienced it before somehow, so if not time travel then how?" Emilia mused.
"Miss Emilia, what are you talking about?" Rem asked, confused as to how she came to the conclusion.
Emilia kept facing towards Subaru, "The information he has, along with what he said about him and everyone around him dying, and how everything he tried failed, along with the curse. The only way the four pieces of information could be connected, would be if there was some sort of time or experience or prediction going on that was so real it may as well be that he did it already. Tell me, does your curse have something to do with prediction." She pressed him, wanting to know about it and not wanting to give him an out.
Subaru shook his head, his eyes wide in despair, not wanting her to know but obviously not going to stop her.
"Am I right about there being some connection to time travel then," She pressed further, "No, that wouldn't make sense with your talk about dying. The only way to know some of that I have heard is through experience, so the only way that you could experience that is if it happened before, and the only way for that to happen is if it happened before. So, tell me, can you time travel to an earlier time when you die, is that the curse?" Emilia asked, softening when she saw how scared and despairing that Subaru had become, needing to know to help him, but not wanting to hurt him in the process.
Subaru tried to nod when he started coughing like crazy and fell to the ground. Emilia immediately fell with him wanting to help him. "Subaru," She cried, trying to help him however she could, wanting to alleviate his pain.
Rem was shocked beside them, surprised as the witch's scent was triggered on him, it only happening when he tried to speak about his curse. This confirmed what Emilia was saying about him returning to the past when he died.
"How many times have you died, or seen us die?" Emilia asked softly, not having to look up, having heard Rem's gasp that confirmed her guess.
"Too many," Subaru said as he started crying on the floor, his despair finally being let out at others knowing about him, scared at their possible reaction but also letting out everything that had happened to him in the past.
Emilia immediately hugged him, which immediately stopped Subaru's deep sobbing into a gentle stream of tears, confused as to why she was hugging him, not understanding her reaction.
"You've been through so much," Emilia murmured into his ear, holding him tightly and thinking through how desperate he must have gotten at times and wanting to help him.
"Wh-why are you not running?" Subaru asked, not sure what was going on-why Emilia was hugging him or why Rem wasn't running.
"Why would we?" Rem asked softly, kneeling down and hugging him from the back.
"Because I am worthless," Subaru cried, "I let you die so many times, there was nothing I could do."
"But we're alive now," Emilia corrected gently. "Whatever fate might have befallen us there; it didn't happen here. We are alive because of you."
"But-but you know the truth. The only reason I am worth anything is because I can die and fix my own damn mistakes!" Subaru cried out in agony, "Every situation we were in was because of me, and me being able to correct them shows that."
"No, it doesn't," Rem said, murmuring into his ear. "The cult would be after Emilia no matter what from what you said their end goal was, the white whale would still be out there killing people if you hadn't gathered the army, the shaman in the village along with those dogs would have killed the entire village and maybe even us if you hadn't done anything, and Elsa would have killed Emilia or made off with the item without your intervention." She said, going down the list of what Subaru was saying and correcting each situation.
"Wh-what?" Subaru asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"Subaru, you have been so essential in fixing all of these situations," Emilia said, finally letting go of him and gently grasping both his hands in hers, making sure his eyes were on her, "If it wasn't for what you brought to the table in every situation, we would have been in a much worse state then we were. Who cares how you got the information, the fact is that it wasn't the information that got us out of that situation, it was you. However you got the information, it was you who figured out the situations in a way that helped us get to the best possible outcome." Emilia said, pressing her hands to his, desperate for Subaru to listen to the words that she was saying.
"But I was the reason for the white whale targeting us in the first place, I caused the witch's cult to come after us sooner, I failed to stop you from ever meeting Elsa in the first place." Subaru continued to push back, clinging to the last mistakes he had felt he made.
"No, you didn't," Emilia said softly, "the witch's cult would have intervened in my life no matter what, this way we at least were forewarned. The white whale was going to be in the area regardless, you just gave it a target, and it has been around forever anyway. And I was always going to go there to get my insignia, there is nothing that you could have done to stop it. Like I said, whatever fate might have befallen us, it didn't, because you helped us."
"Me and miss Emilia will not run away from you just because we know this now." Rem said, still hugging him from behind. "If anything, this will allow us to support you more in the future and give us more ways out of the situation. With us informed of this, it means that we will be able to help more in the future."
Emilia nodded, making sure that Subaru was looking at her as she did so. "I do not know or care what happens in other resets, the only thing I care about is that Subaru is happy and close to me." She confessed. She did not know how she meant it, in a romantic or platonic way, but she could tell that she meant what she was saying to Subaru.
"Now get up," Emilia commanded Subaru, using her grip on his hands to pull him and Rem up, with Rem using her grip on him to help her pull him up.
As they stood, Emilia crossed over to the closet and threw it open upon letting his hands go as he stood, with Rem supporting him, as it looked like any small movement would knock him back to the ground.
Emilia looked through the closet for a few seconds with her finger on her chin before finally finding what she was looking for and taking it out. It was a very good suit with a cape as well as a sword in a pommel.
"What are you doing with that?" Subaru asked, before she tossed it to him, forcing him to catch it.
"We are going to make you feel better and rub it into everyone else's faces what you have accomplished." Emilia said, matter of factly.
"Wh-what?" Subaru said for the 100th time, it felt like, that conversation.
"I said get ready and get dressed," Emilia said, before turning to look back at Subaru with a smile, "We are going to lift up your spirits and show everyone just who beat the monster and the witch's cult."
"Rem," Emilia continued, going to her for the next instructions."
"Yes, miss Emilia?" Rem questioned, wanting to know her orders.
"Help Subaru to look presentable and then meet me when he is done getting dressed, I am going to teach him how to act as well as what to say around people like the ones who are deriding him and have degraded me." Emilia told her. "We are going to show off Subaru and make him have a better opinion of himself by throwing his success in all of their faces!" She said with a smile.
Done! I hope that you all enjoyed it. This is just something that I felt could have happened had what happened at the end of the first season not happened. I do not believe that Rem would have let Subaru get away with hiding how down he was feeling from Emilia. Nor do I believe that she would forget the remark about his death and everyone's death.
Part of this is just my head canon of Rem and Ram going through depression when they were younger after what happened in their village and getting over it with the help of Emilia, so they would have experience in dealing with depression. Another part is a head canon about what is going on with Subaru after his breakdown. I know from experience that people do not just get over mental breakdowns and depression, both of which were happening to Subaru in the course of the loops he was stuck in when he was at the capital, so I do believe that Subaru would still be in a bad place and any stressor would send him back downward, like what happened when he was confronted.
I also hope I laid out my thought process on how Emilia figured it all out well enough. I do believe she is smart enough to do that, but she just doesn't have enough social knowledge for most things yet in her life and that is why she sometimes can come off as a bit of an airhead.
Here is the thought process I am giving her, I gave her four key pieces of information to deal with and figure out, two of which she wouldn't have had prior to the conversation with Rem, which was actually the information that would have sealed it for her and enabled her to figure it out. 1. Subaru somehow knows information that he shouldn't. 2. Subaru has a curse. 3. Subaru has somehow tried things before that didn't work despite no one knowing about the things he has tried. 4. Subaru has somehow experienced his death and the death of others around him.
Based on that information, she figured out that there had to be a way for him to see into the future, but decided that just seeing into the future wasn't enough to be called a curse, if that was the case it would have been called a blessing and never have been that realistic that it would affect his mental state that badly. So, he had to have experienced it somehow, which led her to the time aspect and figuring he had to have a way to experience it without anyone remembering, which led her to the realization that he has to have some time related ability.
This is also how I believe that Emilia would react to hearing about what was going on with Subaru. She would be sympathetic, thinking about how often he has to die, as well as what he would be going through prior to his deaths- especially after just hearing about what was going on with him. Emilia is a kind, considerate, thoughtful person who always thinks about others before herself, so she would place Subaru's mental state before her wants and needs as she thought through what was going on with him, making her more likely to take it better. Not only that, but Emilia also has an angry and serious side to her whenever people she cares about are threatened or hurt, and I feel like hearing about how Subaru was treated in the capital again, as well as hearing about what it did to his mental state, even for the parts that she was there for, would make her mad and want to rub what Subaru has accomplished into their faces.
I hope I wrote Rem in character and in enough of the chapter. I will be honest, after the first bit I had trouble fitting Rem into the story in a way that would support her characterization and keep her interacting with Subaru and Emilia and I think it might have showed. I hope you all enjoyed the story and please like and review.