This fic is pure wish-fulfillment. If you have a problem with that, click away now.

The all-too familiar sensation of death overtook him. The cold chill on his shoulders. It felt as if he'd been plunged deep into water too quickly, or thrown off the peak of a mountain. It took his breath away, and his heart felt like it was sinking down his body. The pain was there too. The pain of what killed him, but it almost seemed as if the pain was overshadowed by the onslaught of foreign sensations in his body, like he was being pulled apart. His vision blurred and darkened until he could not see anything.

He opened his eyes, and there was Rem before him, the sun high in the sky, but her smile warmer and brighter than it could ever be. He blinked, making sense of where Return by Death had brought him this time. Rem's confession came flooding back. He breathed.

"Ore wa Emilia ga suki," he told her.

I love Emilia.

She continued smiling, but he saw a shadow of resignation pass over her perfect fact. Her eyes seemed to glaze for a moment, as if getting wet, but she looked up at him.

"I want to see Emilia smile," he said. "You say you'll be at my side. That you'll support me in what I want to do. I want to save Emilia. I want to fight for Emilia. I want your help for that."

Rem was beautiful. More beautiful than anything he'd ever seen. Each word he spoke was like a blow to her. He knew. He could see it. He'd known it before as well, but clinging to his infatuation with Emilia was the only was he knew to push forward. Now he saw he didn't need that. Rem poured her heart out to him, welcoming him with open arms despite the promise of heartbreak. And he loved her for it.

"Subaru-kun," she began, her eyes shadowed by her hair, "you're so cru – "

"...to ore wa omotteta..." he overrode her. "Kedo, machigatteta..."

...is what I thought... But, I was wrong...

Her eyes, her majestic, beautiful blue eyes widened, and he stepped forth, until he was but an inch away from her. She looked up at him, her eyes tentative, scared, and a hint hopeful.

He raised a hand to cup the side of her face.

"Rem... I love you too..."

She took a breath, and her lip trembled. She bit her lip, the tears beginning to down her cheeks. He didn't wipe them away. Rather, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him so he could cry beside the demon he loved so much.

"I love you," he said. "I love you I love you I love you... I love you more than I've ever loved anything in my entire life... I love you so much I'd burn the world to the ground for you..."

"Subaru-kun -"

"I wanna be with you, Rem. I wanna be with you forever. I wanna buy a house with you... I wanna work with you... I wanna have children with you... I wanna..." His breath hitched, the tears running down his face. "I wanna..." He clenched his teeth, his heart aching in sweet joy. "Rem..." he said hoarsely. "Let's get married. Let's go to a church, and..."

Rem started. "R - Right now?"

He separated from her, pulling apart the slightest bit to look at her. "I want assurance that we'll never be apart from each other again."

"But..." She blushed, averting her gaze in shyness. "Rem wants to have a wedding," she admitted, "and wear a dress, and have Nee-sama there..."

I don't believe I've loved an anime character as much as I love Rem in my entire life. And I haven't hated an anime character as much as I hate Subaru in my entire life. Re:Zero is brilliant; it has both my most beloved and my most hated character of all time. Ohhh, Rem is so perfect. If I were in Subaru's place, I'd treasure her so much. I hate how he's using her. I don't read the LN - only watch the anime. After this Sunday's episode (episode 18 if you're reading this at a later date), I wrote an 800 word review of sorts (yep, it's longer than this entire fic, including this AN) psychoanalyzing Subaru's rejection of Rem, and in that I came to the conclusion that I hate him more than anyone else in any anime, including Itou Makoto from School Days. Went into a lot of depth in that one. In any case, please leave a review if you ship Subaru/Rem as much as I do. That's all from me. Sagashiteru out.

読んでくれてありがとう！

IMPORTANT: To the guest reviewer who bid me to read the LN before hating Subaru - Thanks for the review, but could you please not spoil something if you want someone to read it? (: I am writing fanfiction for the anime - I've made it very clear. I'm not "jumping to conclusions". I hate anime-Subaru because this is what anime Subaru does. I'm not interested in the LN. That is irrelevant. I am only talking about anime-Subaru. Please don't be force this purism onto everyone. :) This is a pure wish-fulfillment fic I wrote in ten minutes after watching that episode. I really don't care about accuracy. I wanted to imagine something better, and people seem to agree with me and enjoy it. We know it's inaccurate. That's the point. Not everyone is interested in the source material. I for one can't really afford to buy every light novel I want from Japan (since I read them in Japanese). Regardless, I appreciate your review, especially since we were able to have this discussion because of it. I really wish you weren't a guest so I wouldn't have had to inconvenience all my readers just to respond to you.