The Return of the Beloved Son

10 Years Later

BBRRRRIIIINNNGG!

Subaru slammed his hand on the alarm clock, silencing it. He rolled into his back and opened his eyes. For the fifth time this week he had a pleasant dream where he lived a happy life with the girl he most wanted to be with.

He threw his legs over the left side of the bed and yawned. He looked at the number panel next to the elevator by the bed. It said 'B-1'. This meant Michael was in the lab.

What happened 10 years ago was something Subaru didn't keep secret. He had felt like his whole world was meaningless then. He told Michael Okabe's true motives and how he died while on the other side of the portal. He believed him.

After 10 years, so much had changed. Subaru finished high school with good grades and got accepted to the University of Tokyo, where he took business as a major. Michael got accepted to the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he studied engineering and technology. After college, Subaru got hired into a big company. He used his money to buy Okabe's house and worked with Michael to remake what Okabe worked on so many years ago. He lived there for the remainder of the 6 years up until this day.

Michael already knew the basic fundamentals that worked the portal and much of the science behind it, thanks to Okabe's lessons, but he still needed to learn about the construction of the gateway and what exactly made it work. Luckily, Okabe left his blueprints and notebooks about the portal in his lab. Michael used these to fill in the holes.

What took Okabe an unknown amount of years to think of, plan out, and create the portal, took only 6 years for Michael to do, with the plans and everything at his disposal.

What started the recreation of the portal was when Michael realized that both gateways were still giving off signals. What Okabe had thought would destroy the portals had only subjected them to a state of near destruction, and not total breakdown. The signals were still going, connecting the two.

The only problem was the mana storage for the gateway. During the shutdown, the storage in the gateway on Subaru's side had been destroyed, disposing of all the mana. The storage's job was to collect mana from the air and it would keep it there until a portal was ready to be created. Subaru and Michael weren't sure if Rem's gateway mana storage had also been destroyed. The only way to find out was to finish the gateway and hope it creates a portal.

The day to find out was today.

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Subaru walked to the restroom and shaved off what little hair he had on his face. He browsed his small closet for what he should wear for the occasion today. He settled on his track suit. Perfect.

He made a short stop to the kitchen to get an apple and returned to his room to call up the elevator.

When it came up Subaru got in, it was big enough to fit two people in it now. Small changes were made to Okabe's house under Subaru's ownership. The elevator was bigger, the lab was colored a shade of green, the door for the gateway room no longer needed a keycard, and other changes that Subaru made to make it easier for the procedure of his plan, some were of only his taste though.

Subaru reached the lab floor and walked to the control room. Michael was typing at a computer, the light from monitor reflecting off his glasses. Strewn around the table were crushed cans of Red Bull and empty coffee cups.

Subaru walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You gotta stop these all-nighters, man. We both know it was going to be ready today so why'd you do it again?" Subaru sounded concerned.

Michael yawned as he stared at the screen, "Had to be sure I got all the numbers right. Can't risk miscalculating even a single digit."

Subaru chuckled and pat his friend on the back before moving over to the gateway room. The machine was identical to the one Okabe had designed.

It was only an hour later that Subaru and Michael had finally activated the construction of the portal.

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Subaru walked out the other side of the portal. His eyes were red from crying when he saw the portal open. Michael came next, a giant tool bag in his hands.

"Holy crap. This is actually happening."

As soon as he made it across, the first thing he did was go over to the computer and turn of the portal. With it closed he was able to finally look around the room, one of the walls had a huge hole in it.

Subaru and Michael walked up to the hole, down below at the base of the tower was a small city. It must have been made in during the past 10 years. Surrounding the city was the vast Graden Forest.

Subaru looked out at the bright, blue sky and said to Michael, who was looking around in amazement, "Welcome to Kararagi."

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Michael said he would stay in the tower and fix up the gateway so they could return to Japan in hopefully a week.

Subaru thanked him for everything, for giving him hope in life, "I'll be back. If you need me, call Rem." He handed Michael his metia. "Because that's who I'll be with." He smiled before heading towards the doors that led to the staircase.

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Subaru made it down to the city below and asked for directions to the nearest town. He pulled out the currency of Kararagi that he kept for 10 years when this moment came, and purchased a ride to his home. He made sure to tell the driver to go as fast as they possibly could. He was shaking with excitement, the whole way there.

He walked to the familiar front door, the biggest smile on his face. The noon sun shined brightly on him as he knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock

He stood there, waiting for his little Rem to answer the door. He wanted to see the look on her face as she opened the door and saw him on her doorstep. Her beautiful face would cry and smile and laugh as he hugged her. They were pleasant thoughts that he couldn't wait to happen.

A minute went by when Subaru decided to knock again.

Knock Knock Knock

This time Rem's angelic voice rang out from inside the house. "Coming!"

Hearing her voice made Subaru's heart melt, building up his excitement even more than he thought possible.

The door opened and there stood Rem herself, wearing her night gown, and her hair slightly disheveled. Subaru watched as Rem stared at him in disbelief, reaching out to see if he was real. When her hand brushed against his chest, Subaru softly grabbed it, holding it tenderly.

Feeling him, Rem put her other hand over her mouth as she started to cry. When she slowly dropped to her knees, Subaru followed her. He removed her hand to cup her face, and pulled her into a kiss.

When they pulled apart, Rem looked at Subaru with happiness in her eyes, and laughed.

Subaru enjoyed the sight of her happy tears falling down her pink cheek, hitting his hand, "On Valentine's Day, I told you, Rem. I told you I'd never leave you behind, that was a promise."

Rem continued to cry out of happiness, it seemed the dream she had 10 years ago came true.

"I love you, Subaru-kun."

For the second time in her life, Rem felt she was the happiest girl in the world.

THE END

"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for."

-Tom Bodett