(2/2)

A cat's soul is made of the wind. That is why they cannot be tied down because the wind cannot be contained by anything. And so they go as they please, letting their wanderlust guide them to wherever the sky calls. The epitome of freedom and independence.

That is what Hiro's mother told him, before Hiro became 'Hiro' and was simply a nameless kitten.

But there is not the wind, but a whole universe inside of him. When he first opened his eyes, the she-cat who had mothered him had flinched away because it was not the sky reflected in those amber irises.

"What is my name?" he had asked her. His first words.

"We are cats," she replied. "We do not carry names." She scoffed then, turning her head at his curious little frown. "Names are for domesticated breeds. The weak. But we're different. Do you understand?"

No, no. He did not understand. Hiro mewled out more questions and the universe inside him was ever expanding.

He was terrifying for such a small thing.

"Good luck," the she-cat said.

What hurt the most was that she did not even look back.

What she failed to realize was that cats were also made of bone, flesh, and blood. Fragile hearts encased in thin ribs, it beats just like any other living thing. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

So the kitten wiped away his tears and walked away. I don't need anyone, he told himself. No more waiting. No more crying.

Then Tadashi found him and Hiro forgot that promises were just words on air, easily blown away by a single breeze. Who'd have thought he'd come to love a dog?

"I will never leave you," Tadashi had said. Loving, kind, and gentle. Always, even when he was yelling at him after rescuing him from another food battle with the other strays.

Knucklehead, cats are supposed to be smart, what were you thinking!

I will never leave you, I will never leave you, I will never leave you.

Day three of the Disappearance and Hiro had to face the truth.

"Tadashi, you liar," he cried. "You liar! I hate you, you stupid dog!"

Alone was thick around him. Burning in the back of his eyes, choking him in its intensity. Alone had never hurt him so much before. But now it was clogging him up, twisting his heart into something so painful that he just wanted to die. Anything was better than this cloying existence.

Hiro curled up on the thin ragged blanket that had served as his and Tadashi's bed, trying to breathe in more of the scent. That was all the energy he had, really. He couldn't even open his eyes.

What was even the point.

Why did Tadashi go? Where was he? He didn't know what to do. He buried his face deeper into the blanket, trying not to lose the dog's scent.

"I hate you," he said again, quietly this time. But that was a lie too.

Day one of the Disappearance, Hiro had waited. Day two, he went looking. Everywhere - the park, the alleyways, Honey Lemon's shop, even stopping by the pound where Tadashi had almost gone too. Then he went back and waited. And waited.

Perhaps Hiro should have done what his mother had said. Become the wind, she had tried to teach him. Blow away elsewhere, nameless. We are sky and moon and shadows. We are freedom, we are air! ('Good luck' echoes in his head still, the sight of Mother turning away). Ah, but she had never told him that even cats could fall in love. She never told him that it could hurt so bad.

Cats cannot be the wind. Cats are cats and wind is wind. Two fundamentally different things.

Tadashi, Tadashi.

Come back.

I miss you.

"There, there."

Hiro jolted awake and yowled, scrambling up. He stared, wide-eyed, at the thing that had woken him up.

The fattest bird he'd ever seen in his life stared back, one snow-white wing furling back to its side. The bird blinked and bobbed its head.

"Hello. I am Baymax."

"Um," Hiro said. "What?" He took a step back, uncertain of what to do. He'd never really gotten over his fear of birds after Tadashi's paranoid warnings. "A mourning dove? You… you're quite fat." The words slipped out of him before he could stop them and he shut up, mortified.

(Still, he'd never seen a mourning dove of that color or size before. It was… strange).

The bird - Baymax - didn't seem very offended. "I am of huggable design," he merely stated. He stepped closer, making a strange cooing noise. "You seem hungry," he added. "I brought you some food." Hiro stared at the ground between them.

"Those are seeds," he said flatly. Baymax tilted his head. "I am a carnivore!"

"That is unfortunate," Baymax replied. "I am a vegetarian."

"I - that's - obviously - ," Hiro shook his head, aggravated. "Okay, back up here. Why are you here and what do you want?"

"I was flying by and landed on that sill to rest." Baymax gestured to the broken up window that was just above Hiro's sleeping area. "I saw you lying here and felt some concern." He tilted his head.

As if on cue, Hiro's stomach growled. Loudly.

Baymax stared at him with those unnerving beady eyes.

Hiro hissed, his tail lashing and ears flattening on his head. "I eat things like you for breakfast!" he snapped. Go away, leave me alone. Baymax did not even flinch and Hiro was left stumped on his next course of action.

(He tried eating a bird once. A little sparrow that was not very intimidating. He didn't particularly like the taste of feathers and promptly spat it out, letting the indignant squawking creature fly away).

Hiro's stomach growled again.

Baymax said, "There is a place of fish not too far away." Hiro snorted and curled back up, turning away from the bird.

"I don't care. Get out."

"You do not like fish?"

"Oh for -" Hiro sat back up, turning around to glare at the bird. "Can't you take a hint?!" Baymax plopped down, nudging the seeds forward. The cat slumped in defeat. "Okay fine! Take me to the fish; I'm not gonna eat bird food." He got up and stretched. How long had he been lying here? Scowling, he walked out of the building, Baymax waddling after him. "Hurry up, you weirdo!"

"I am not fast," Baymax responded, but he flew up and perched on top of Hiro's head, causing the cat to yelp and stumble.

"Unbelievable!"

Baymax was officially the strangest bird that Hiro had ever met. Not that he talked to a lot of them, besides the times when he was squabbling with the crows over food scraps. Baymax just wouldn't go away. But he was a great listener and he let Hiro curl up into his side, just under his wing. Alone was still bitter and hanging over him, but maybe it was a little better now because he had Baymax. Even if he could not remember the last time he had purred.

Tadashi was still gone and Hiro still didn't know where he went. He didn't let himself wait though; he'd break if there were any more disappointments. So he left the building and took to wandering the streets - and it was good because Baymax could fly and be able to signal to him if there were any trouble or where to find food. It was a rather odd friendship, but Hiro liked him anyways even if a rather large part of him still ached and cried for the warmth of a larger body and kind eyes that never let him down.

Life went on. And life changed once again.

It was maybe a month later and Hiro was sunbathing on the roof of a car, Baymax perched on his back, snoozing. They were both rudely interrupted when human hands suddenly grabbed Hiro. Baymax fluttered off to the side. "Oh no," he said. "Hiro?"

Hiro yowled, scratching at the hands. "You'll never take me alive!" he hissed, already fearing the pound. However, it was not a human in those dreaded animal control uniforms that filled his vision, but a scowling young woman wearing dark clothing and cursing viciously.

"Ow! Damn cat, settle down - fuck!" She held the struggling Hiro in one hand as she used the other to reach into her pocket and pull out a mobile, pressing it tightly to her ear. "This is the last time I'm doing this, Honey! You hear me?!" There was a pause as someone replied. The woman looked annoyed. "Do you know how many stray black cats there are in San Fransokyo?!" She gave a smug grin. "Well, I definitely got the one this time. This one had a bird sitting on him! That has to mean something, right?" There was another pause. "We'll see. If Tadashi looks at us crazy again, I'm done. Yes, I know I said that the last cat we brought him."

Hiro stopped all struggling, eyes wide. The woman noticed because she grinned at him, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. "Did you say what I think you said?" he mewled. Excitement blossomed in his chest before he could stop it. "Baymax? She just said Tadashi's name!"

"Perhaps she knows him?" Baymax landed on the woman's shoulders. She glanced at him, wide-eyed. Then she just shrugged and kept walking to another vehicle as she stroked Hiro's head.

There was a dark skinned man sitting behind the wheel. "GoGo, there is a bird on your shoulder," he said. "Do you know how unsanitary that is?"

"Relax, you big baby." GoGo smirked as she climbed in, placing Hiro on her lap. "I don't think we need a cage for this one. This is Tadashi's cat, I just know it."

The man cringed, looking ill. "My poor car," he muttered under his breath.

GoGo rolled her eyes. "Drive, Wasabi!"

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

Baymax hopped onto GoGo's lap, cooing over Hiro's sudden silence. "Hiro, are you alright?"

Hiro shook his head. He was too afraid to hope. Baymax seemed to understand because he let out one of his comfort songs, a soft little trill.

"Awesome, you found another cat!" Another young man, called Fred by the others, looked immensely relieved. But it was the woman standing next to him that had Hiro meowing loudly. Honey Lemon who took one look at him and squealed.

"YES! GoGo, you did it, this is the one!" She scooped him up, gently. "Oh kitty, we've been looking for you all over the place." She took a glance at Baymax and raised an eyebrow. "You weren't kidding…"

GoGo popped her gum. "Yup. Now let's go in the cafe before the dog tries to escape again."

Once they entered the small building, Hiro instantly perked up. Was it really…

He leapt out of Honey Lemon's arms, Baymax flying after him, and bounded up the stairs. "Tadashi!" he cried out.

There was a small noise. Lying beneath a window was the familiar sight of his beloved dog wearing a ridiculous cone around his neck. The German shepherd blinked sleepily, raising his head. "Hiro…?" he mumbled in a disbelieving tone.

Hiro wailed and dived right into his side. "You left me! You left me! Liar, liar, liar! Stupid dog! Bad dog!" Each word was punctuated with him rubbing his head almost violently into Tadashi's stomach.

Tadashi, on his account, looked completely astonished. He tried turning his head, but the cone prevented him from fully turning. "Oh my biscuits. Is that really you, Hiro?" A low whine erupted from his mouth. "Oh Hiro, I missed you so much." He tried turning again to nuzzle Hiro but the cone bonked the cat in the head instead, causing him to screech.

"You don't get to say that to me! I hate you! Quit moving!" Hiro maneuvered himself around to Tadashi's head where he reached up to lick at his silky ears. He gave a watery sniff and pressed his forehead against Tadashi's, having noticed something vital - or the lack thereof. "You're missing a leg," he choked out.

Tadashi glanced down at the stump of where his front right leg used to be. "Oh yeah," he said. "Well, I see you've gained a bird." He was referring to Baymax who had perched on a nearby chair, watching them both with some bemusement.

"I am Baymax," the dove said. He ruffled his feathers and settled in place. "Carry on."

Tadashi blinked and turned his attention back to the cat who was still crying. He whined again against Hiro's head. "I'm so sorry," he breathed out. "Hiro, I am so so sorry. Please don't hate me."

Hiro bit him. "Shut up. I was lying, you stupid nerd." He stepped back, eyes wide with concern. "Why are you so hurt? What happened?"

"Boy, do I have a lot to tell you," Tadashi responded with some relief. "But later. C'mere." Hiro complied, nuzzling at his face again. It was hard. The cone was in the way.

"I missed you too," he said in a small voice. "I thought you were dead. Or worse."

A rumble went through Tadashi's chest. "Well, I came pretty close." He closed his eyes, tail wagging hard.

"Good thing you have me. Did you know a cat's purrs speeds up the healing process?"

"No I did not. Silly cat."

Hiro mewled out a protest and stepped away so he could curl up against the dog's side instead. "Don't do this again."

"Did you wait for me?" Tadashi asked. He became miserable when Hiro had moved out of sight and he tried to pull the cone off.

"No," Hiro lied and purred contently, listening with amusement to the sound of the dog's struggles.

They barely noticed the humans coming up the stairs and they didn't even flinch at the flash of Honey Lemon's camera. ("Oh no," Cass Hamada sighed later when she found them. "This is going to make the custody battle so much worse." It didn't stop her from printing the photo out and framing it later, though).

"You know, I really love you," Hiro said. Tadashi wagged his tail even harder.

"That's the first time you said that out-loud." The dog sounded utterly delighted. "You are so cute, Hiro. I love you too."

Mother had it wrong. There was a freedom in this kind of love as well, in this world that Hiro had created. It did not belong to just the wind and skies, but the warmth of a hearth and the happiness that came from having people to listen to his purrs.

A cat is made to purr, after all.

End.

So what happened to Tadashi anyways? (transcribed from my tumblr, haha):

Well, when he was coming back, he found a burning building with a girl still inside. Being a stupidselfless hero that he is, Tadashi went in, found the girl and rescued her. Unfortunately he suffered great injuries. However, the girl and her father who turned out to be the great Dr. Callaghan were very grateful so they paid for his surgery and it turned out that he was microchipped! However, the owners had died from a car accident and the closest relative was Cass Hamada who owned the Lucky Cat Cafe.

She was happy enough to take him in but Tadashi had become famous! Everyone knows of the hero dog who had saved Abigail Callaghan! So distant relatives were showing up, trying to claim custody over the dog. (prestige, you know) Meanwhile, Tadashi is still feeling pretty woozy from the pain killers and recovering from the missing leg.

BUT THEN, regular customer, Honey Lemon, recognized Tadashi and realized he was missing his 'girlfriend'. So she calls up her friend to go look for the cat. Good thing to because once Tadashi became conscious enough to notice that Hiro wasn't there, he kept trying to run off to find him. Honey Lemon's friends also kept finding random black cats and bringing them to the cafe, much to Tadashi's great confusion.

(Fred adopted them all by the way).

But they finally find Hiro and with the help of Callaghan and Abigail (who is unfortunately allergic to dogs or they would have adopted Tadashi themselves), Cass finally gained custody over Tadashi, adopts Hiro, and also adopts Baymax who likes to fly off every once in a while but he comes back.

And that's it. Also, I was trying to translate Hiro's genius into a cat one with the whole 'universe' thing so that may have been confusing.