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An earthquake.
It had hit hard, buildings were toppling over and roads had become unable to use.
Local communication towers and electricity had fallen out so contacting other pro-heroes had become second priority to evacuating everybody first.
It had destroyed most of the city, causing rock and landslides in surrounding areas and thousands of people to evacuate.
Ereaserhead and Present Mic had been concerned with aftershocks and maybe even a tsunami. They and the other, older heroes had taken up the job of communicating with the outside world, getting help and making sure that the others could focus on evacuating the people.
But one thing worried Ochako more than the whole situation. Momo, Mina, Kaminari, Jirou and Todoroki were missing, they had gone out that afternoon to do Christmas shopping for their whole building.
Class 1-A had stayed together mostly, buying an apartment building together and transforming it into a community living space. Now their home had come crashing down and Ochako feared her friends might be buried underneath one of countless fallen structures.
"Ochako!"
Deku, Bakugo, Tsuyu and Sero called over by a fallen building, Ochako saw the look on their faces and her fears were confirmed.
"This was the last spot they were."
Tsuyu said as they all stared at the enormous structure laying on it's side.
"I was supposed to meet them here later but...."
Sero put a comforting hand on her shoulder, all of them had been working for the whole evening and the sky was starting to get dark. They were tired and it showed on Sero the most, Mina was still gone and he had feared the worst for his girlfriend by now.
"Uraraka, I don't know if you can but if you lift up the building, I can secure it long enough for Deku, Bakugo and Tsuyu to get everyone out."
Sero told her gravely, Ochako was quick to assure him she would keep it up for as long as it took.
She may have been positive then but now, five minutes later, she wished for Sero to finish up quickly so the pressure that was weighing down on her would go away.
The building, that used to be a high end mall, had been laying on it's side was now almost upright once again.
In her six years as a pro-hero Ochako's quirk had evolved into a more telekinetic power, she was now able to decide the direction of the object she was floating and how hard it would descend down.
Yet it was hard to keep up a whole building by herself, the weight of the concrete and steel beams was weighing down on her. Her head felt like splitting and her muscles were tearing themselves apart with the strain.
She could hear Sero yelling at her that she could let go.
Ochako let her fingers tips touch slowly, letting the building be reclaimed by Earth's gravity. The structure groaned against Sero's tape but it held for now. She let out a relieved sigh, as the other motioned for her to rest.
Deku was quick to go down and get leftover debris out of the way, Bakugo helped him as Tsuyu tried to look at others spots for survivors.
It took some time before they came across a makeshift shelter, probably Momo's creation. Deku yelled back at the others that they had found them, making a hole in the shelter, letting out survivors that could still walk and climb, scrambling up to the surface.
Ochako waited for some kind of sign of her missing friends and finally saw Mina's pink hair stick out of the shelter, a sob of relief wretched itself from her body. Sero was quick to go down and get his girlfriend out of this mess.
But as soon as Mina was safe in Sero's arms and Ochako's hope had been raised, it came crashing down as she saw how pale Mina was and that she was crying, begging, yelling for Sero to go get help.
That's when Ochako saw the others, a banged up Todoroki with an unconscious Momo in his arms, blood trialing from underneath her hair over her forehead and a bloodied Jirou and Kaminari supporting one another.
They were making their way up slowly, Tsuyu helping with carrying Momo and Bakugo helping Jirou and Kaminari.
Deku was still down there helping some leftover people out.
Ochako went down to help, they were moving slowly out from under the building.
That was when her stomach dropped at the sound of something snapping in two. She stopped in her tracks, fear gripped her as she slowly looked up.
It was Sero's tape, she could see the building shifting in it's suspended state, it wasn't going to hold any longer.
Her mind went into fifth gear, most people were out of the buildings way, but her friends and a few other survivors weren't, they wouldn't be able to get out in time.
She had to act, without a second thought she sprinted into the wreckage, past the others and towards Deku, being yelled after by Mina and Tsuyu.
But Ochako didn't mind them, not when they were still in danger, not if she could get them to safety, not when innocent people were still down there.
"IZUKU!!!"
Ochako screamed his name, making him turn instantly.
"THE BUILDING!!!"
She pointed at the structuur over their heads while almost tripping on the way down.
Deku looked, his eyes going wide as he saw only two of Sero's tape pieces was holding it back, the third had already snapped and the building was slowly leaning further forward.
Deku looked back at Ochako as Bakugo, who had followed Deku's gaze, noticed it too, he was ready to blast his way out but he knew the debris it would cause and the harm it could do to them and the other people down there and knew his quirk was useless right now.
Ochako and Deku kept looking at each other, he knew she had a plan. The second to last tape snapped, the building shifting more noticeable now, the people still with Deku now noticing it too and screaming in terror at their impending doom.
"THROW ME!"
She yelled at him as she came closer and closer.
Deku knew what she was thinking of, it was reckless but it couldn't be done any other way.
He laced his fingers, pouring power into his arms and legs. He would have to apply just enough strength to throw Ochako up without actually smacking her against the side of the building.
Ochako believed in him and trusted him to hold back enough, he had become better at regulating the amount of power his quirk used.
It was with that thought in mind that she tried to brake into a sprint as best she could, avoiding the fallen concrete and shards of glass windows.
She stepped onto his hands perfectly, feeling herself being lifted up into the air, losing speed as she neared the building, hearing the last tape snap and seeing the structure careening towards her.
Her fingers brushed the surface of the concrete as she reached out, she fell back harder than the building getting caught by Deku, who let her stand immediately.
The building was still falling, with nothing but the power of her mind and the will of her soul, Ochako got it to be suspended in stasis once again.
That crushing feeling beared down on her again with full force, so much so that it brought her down to her knees.
"Get them out of here."
She grunted at Deku and her friends, the people already on the move, only a few more.
Only a few more moments.
Ochako felt her focus slipping, her body was trembling with exhaustion, the building was lowering slowly like it was slipping from her grasp.
She didn't know for how long she was there like that.
"Uraraka! Get out of there!"
She heard Bakugo calling as he was now out of the buildings reach, all of her friends were, only Deku wasn't.
He was already trying to get back in to help her but she realized she wasn't going to hold the building that long for them both to get out. She could see Sero trying to tape the building back up again.
Everything seemed to slow down.
Ice filled her veins as she realized she wasn't going to make it. Sero wouldn't be able to hold the building back fast enough or secure enough, she wasn't holding it that high for him anymore.
Deku wouldn't be fast enough even with his quirk and she wouldn't let him di.........
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, letting her reality sink in. She wasn't going to make this, after everything, she was going to die like this.
A wavering smile split her face in two, she felt insane at the moment yet deep within her there was a calmness.
She knew how this was going to end, the outcome was absolute.
There was no reason for her to panic.
She made the decision as she let her fingertips touch, apologizing to her friends who had to witness this and her parents who would have to find out later.
The last thing she saw was Izuku, he was screaming at her, behind him were her friends, most of whom she knew would make it.
They would make it.
The building came crashing down and Izuku was almost blown back by the force of the impact.
Dust and debris flew around in the air, before it settled he was already screaming Ochako's name as he tried to find a way for him to get to her somehow.
Stunned silence fell over the rest of them, only Izuku, screaming for Ochako could be heard.
-----------------
She was dead.
For a moment she was gone.
She had stopped breathing, her heart had stopped beating.
Izuku saw the look on the paramedics face before it happened, there was a flash of panic before they composed themselves and started to preform cpr.
Izuku was right at her side when it happened, she was bloodied and broken when he had carved her out of the building. It had taken hours of digging and breaking through the building's walls. His hands were cut open, his gloves fallen off as the fabric was torn to pieces. He had been elated to see she was still breathing in that moment but then he saw a piece of metal sticking into her lower back, it was a steel rod from the buildings reinforced steel.
He uncovered her more, seeing that her legs were broken in a few places.
It was a miracle she wasn't dead on impact. It was a miracle she had survived this long.
But she couldn't give up now!
Izuku took her hand in his as the paramedic did his work, she has never ever given up.
Not on herself and not on others, she wasn't about to give now.
"Come on, Ochako"
Izuku softly encouraged her, eventually her heartbeat came back and he broke down crying, still holding her hand in his.
Todoroki layed a hand on his shoulder as she was placed on a stretcher and pried Izuku's had lose from Ochako's, shaking his head at Izuku as he looked at Todoroki with a pleading look wanting to go with the paramedics as they rushed off with Ochako to get her to an ER that was still operational.
They had a job to do, both of them knew that, Ochako had known that.
So Todoroki helped him up and they went to work.
------------------
Heavy and dull was all Ochako felt as she came to.
Her surroundings were a blaring white and for a moment she feared she might be dead.
Then the sound of a heart monitor beeping reached her ears and the feeling of the needle of her iv in her arm became clear. She layed there for a while, hours, slowly blinking her haze away, getting her bearings.
Once she felt good enough Ochako began to sit up but something was wrong.
A hand went to her leg, the heavy feeling hadn't disappeared, she felt for any tingle in her legs and feet.
But the most she could do was wiggle her little toe.
A pure sense of dread came over her as she shook at her legs, trying to move them in any way.
It was no use, she could not move them, she could not feel them, she couldn't even feel the pain.
There was only pain in her back, at the base of her spine, it made tears roll down her cheeks and sobs wreaked her body as she tried to sit up again.
Soon enough doctors and nurses noticed she was awake and quickly went to calm her down and explain the situation.
It was a shock to hear that she had been kept in a coma for the past week as various healers had come by to heal her damaged spine and broken legs. It had been too severe to be healed with just one surgery.
Ochako asked how her friends were doing and what the situation was with the evacuation.
It was to be expected that evacuations were still going on and that there were still missing people. But most people had left the city and were being housed in hotels, gyms and other big empty buildings outside of the danger zone. People in city's that hadn't been hit by the earthquake were still told to leave for now in fear of land and rockslides.
As for her friends, it seemed Mina, Todoroki and Kaminari had recovered from their injuries quickly.
Momo had been out of it for a few days and was still healing from a head injury in the same hospital as her. Jirou was also there, her arm had been broken and her ankle was shattered, she was now rehabilitating and would be back on her feet soon enough.
She asked to see them but they told her she should rest and eat something first before her doctor would come and give her a check up before they would contact her parents.
It was late that day when her parents arrived, ugly crying as they embraced their daughter, thanking God that their daughter was alive.
Ochako was quick to tell her parents she would take care of the hospital bill, her mother looked like she was about to hit her own daughter.
She yelled at Ochako for even thinking about money at a time like this.
"But- I won't be able to work so I'll pay it from my emergency funds."
Ochako tried to smile as she gripped the sheets over her legs.
Her parents had tried to comfort her, telling her she would be able to get through this and go through rehabilitation and walk again.
They left after dark, letting their daughter rest for the night.
Ochako stared out the window of her hospital room, tears flowing freely over her face as she tried to contain her sobs, wishing for her legs to move.
--------
It was a day or two after she woke up that Ochako could go on a walk around the hospital in a wheelchair for the first time.
It felt nice to feel fresh air on her face as her nurse punched her around the hospital garden.
Staying as optimistic as ever, Ochako continously reminded herself that with enough training and resolve she would walk again.
Her doctor had told her the same as she said that recovery would take time but was achievable if Ochako kept at it.
So Ochako opted to stay determined and try to recover as fast as possible.
But now she was okay with just going outside for once and talk to other patients.
It was only her parents that had been allowed to visit her, her friends had been too busy with everything else going on and Ochako was happy to hear Jirou and Momo had fully recovered and were back into the field.
With the help from more outside heroes, Deku and the other's had been able to save most people from the catastrophe and rebuilding the city had already started on a small scale as there were still some missing people buried underneath the rubble.
Roads had been cleared and essential businesses had started up again for the most part.
UA had been left mostly unharmed, luckily, and it now functioned as a home for all heroes that were helping with the relief efforts. It was a communication hub and administrative center where updates of rebuilding and rescue were updated nonstop.
Ochako heard about how her friends and colleagues all were able to be of great help and wanted nothing more than to join them.
Yet every time she was reminded of how useless she was right now, she found herself wanting to get out of her wheel chair whenever she went to lay back into bed or use the bathroom but found herself unable to move from her seat.
Her legs still felt heavy and every day she did exercises with the nurses, moving her toes, than trying to move her feet.
It gave hope that she could feel pain whenever one of her caretakers would bend her knee for her or when they would turn her foot from left to right.
It hurt, but that meant she could feel them more and more everytime.
The pain gave her hope.
-------
Another week passed and Ochako was released from the hospital.
Her parents wanted her to stay with them, further away from the city and UA but Ochako declined.
She wanted to go back to help with anything she could, she could take up a job at communications or the administration. There was something she could do in this situation.
She had left with a wheelchair and a pair of crutches, her doctor had been kind enough to transfer her to a hospital closer to the city that had just been rebuild.
She would go to rehabilitation therapy there, it apparently had a swimming pool that could help her with learning how to walk again.
So Ochako ensured her parents that she would be okay and that she wasn't going to keep them busy any longer.
They said they wanted to take her in but they knew how their daughter could be, she doesn't like to be a burden to anyone.
So they promised to visit her as much as possible and call her every day to make sure she takes her painkillers and doesn't forget to do her exercises.
----------
UA had certainly gotten busier than usual is what went through Ochako's mind as she wheeled herself and a bag or two across campus seeing a black haired man with a silver haired kid at his side giving chores to do to some students.
"Mister Aizawa, Eri."
Ochako called out to him as she waved at him and Eri at his side.
The girls red eyes went wide as she spotted Ochako, running up to her to welcome her back and help her wheel over to her dad.
"Uraraka, what are you doing here? I thought they would've kept you longer?"
Her former teacher said as he lowered the clipboard in his hands, a surprised look was on the man's face as he regarded his old student.
Uraraka looked thinner and exhausted, the wheelchair also wasn't a good sign. He knew Uravity to be a hardworking soul, always an optimist but also realistic.
Her hand went to her neck and rubbed it awkwardly as she tried to laugh him off.
"Yeah, they did want to but I got transferred to a hospital close by so I could help out here."
Aizawa's eyebrows creased, she wanted to help out?
In her condition?
Her usually bright and round face was now hollow and grey. Her normally volumes chestnut hair was now consistent of longer flat, dull dusty brown locks of hair.
But he noticed the fire behind her eyes, her drive to keep going. He knew what had happened and knew the other's would be elated to see her again but having to see her in this condition was something else.
Yet he could not turn her away, not when she came all the way back here to help.
Aizawa sighed, Recovery-girl was going to have his head for this.
"It's good to see you are still the same, Eri can give you a place to sleep and I'll get you a job to do, sound good?"
He asked her as her face became a bit less hollow as she smiled at him.
"Thank you, yeah I'll be fine."
"But promise me you will put your recovery first, okay? I don't want you hurting on my watch."
Her lips twitched as her smile became softer.
"I will, teacher, don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."
Aizawa hit her over the head with his clipboard, making Eri snort and Ochako yelp and ask him what that was for.
"You taking care of yourself is what I'm worried about."
He looked at his clipboard, taking note of something.
"You can let others help you, you know. You can take your time and heal."
With that he turned and told Eri to bring Ochako to a spare room, racing down the hallways tethering with laughter.
A lot of dorms had been empty as most students had left for home, going back to their families to spend the holidays together.
Eri broughy Ochako to a room like the one she'd had when she was still a student, Eri helped her unpack.
The young girl would be joining the ranks as a student at UA soon as she already had her application for the coming school year ready.
Ochako smiled at how the girl had come out of her shell over the years and was now a vibrant and happy kid. It made her feel hopeful that she could be the same once she had recovered, it gave hope that she could recover.
They finished up fast and went towards the main school building where Ochako got a job assigned.
She was to work at communications, she would get messages through a comn line where hero's would give updates on how different areas in the city were progressing.
Ochako would mainly be focusing on rescue and search as some people were still missing, she would make sure paramedics were fast to arrive on scene and direct the heroes there to make sure everything went smoothly.
It would be stressful but Ochako could do it, she wanted to do something.
Something to distract her.
She was given her own desk space, other volunteers taught her the ropes and she was soon working on her own.
Throughout the late morning and early afternoon she worked smoothly and mostly things went as planned.
It was sometimes a bit stressful but mostly rewarding as most missing people were found alive and would be able to recover.
It was late when she took her last case for the day.
-----------
Izuku reached down, getting a steel beam out the way, the man underneath tried wriggle free again and crying out in pain, his foot was still stuck underneath something else.
He needed to call this one in, Iida, Mina and Kirishima were with him trying to somehow dig the man out from underneath the rubble.
Izuku put his comn on speaker so the others could hear it too.
"Team 3-B to communication hub, reporting from sector 7-F, we have an injured man trapped by a fallen building. His foot is stuck, it might be broken, requesting medical support. Over."
He waited a heartbeat for his message to be recieved, he heard a soft gasp before a familiar voice ringed through his ears.
"Communication hub to team 3-B, message recieved."
Uraraka
"Medics are on their way to you now, I repeat, the medics are on there way."
Ochako
"Can you confirm the victim's identity? Over."
She was back, she had recovered, she was out of her coma??
Izuku stared at Iida, Mina and Kirishima who were as flabbergasted as he was.
"Team 3-B, Deku, can you confirm the victim's identity? Over."
A beat of silence, Ochako feared their connection had cut out.
"Team 3-B? Are you there? Deku!?"
Izuku snapped out of his surprise finding his words as he awkwardly answered her.
"Yeah! Yeah I hear you! Uhh- over."
He rubbed his neck in embarrassment as if she could see him.
"It's good to have you back Ochako."
He said softly as the other welcomed her back too.
Ochako smiled on the other side of the line, she felt herself tear up a bit.
"It's good to be back."
She said with a wobbly voice.
---------------
"Team 3-B to communicationhub. Sector 7-F is cleared. Over."
"Good job guys, you can head back for today and debrief Ereaserhead when you get back. Over."
Izuku let out a sigh as Ochako disconnected their connection, the fatigue of the day had worn on him and the team.
The last month had worn him down to be honest.
Izuku let out a sigh of relief when he saw UA come into view, he and Kirishima went to debrief Aizawa-sensei.
Not long after they went to the cafeteria where they easily found their friends as they were the only big and loud group gathered there at this hour.
They were all gathered around a person, Izuku could guess who it was and felt a smile split his face as he heard her voice and saw her face as she smiled softly at Mina's over-emotional face.
Than their eyes locked and things seemed to slow down for Izuku as the others noticed him and moved out of the way for Izuku to see all of Ochako.
His grin got even wider as he got closer, both of them calling out to the other.
It was then that he noticed she wasn't standing but somehow still moved towards him. He looked down and his heart stopped for a second as he saw the wheelchair she was in.
Her legs weren't working?
Or was it just still the fatigue of staying in the hospital for so long?
It was so like Uraraka to push herself, why was he so surprised to see her out of bed so soon?
He tried to conceal his worries as he leaned down for a hug but Ochako knew what he was thinking.
'If only I had been faster, if only I had been able to get to you in time.'
He was still a worrywart and it pained Ochako to think he'd been blaming himself for what happened.
They'd need to talk about this as soon as possible but for now she just wanted to hug her friend and eat with him.
---------
Momo and Tsuyu had offered to help her get ready for bed and Toru and Tokoyami even offered to go take a walk around campus with her when she told them she wanted some fresh air.
Ochako brushed them off saying she was fine and could take care of herself.
"Uraraka, you can tell us if it's too much. U just got out of the hospital and you still need to recover-"
"I'm fine, Yaoyorozu you don't-"
"Don't pretend like you're fine with this, Uraraka!"
Sero had yelled, he had kept it in for some time now.
Ochako just smiled.
"You risked your life for us, now let us help you."
He almost pleaded with her, the guilt of not being able to hold the building that crushed her was weighing down on him everytime he looked at her wheel chair, if only he had done better.
But Ochako just kept on smiling at him.
"I'm fine, Sero, I can do most things on my own. If I ever need help I will get it."
They were empty words, everybody knew it, she would push herself and even Ochako was afraid she might push too much.
She needed air, she needed to be alone.
Before the others could protest, Ochako was wheeling away.
Momo and Tsuyu wanted to go after her but Tokoyami stopped them, it was best if she take some time to herself.
------
The air was cool outside the dorms and Ochako marveled at the stars she now could see twinkling in the sky. Most of the power grid was still down so the light pollution of the city didn't obscure the night sky as much.
She closed her eyes for a moment feeling the breeze around her and coming to rest.
She pondered Sero's words, the words everybody had told her from the moment she woke up.
"Take your time."
"Let us help you."
"You'll walk again."
They all said it with such conviction, so why didn't she feel any better hearing those words.
It was probably because she was still stuck in this chair, strapped to the ground. Once she'd healed, she would walk again and forget this ever happened.
"Are you okay?"
She turned to see Deku standing next to her, dressed in a warm hood and pajama pants.
Ochako wanted to reassure him but found herself mute as her throat had closed up for some reason.
With a bit of struggling she managed to get a few strained words out.
"I'm...fi-..ne."
Izuku didn't seem to notice her strangled voice.
"I heard you talking with Sero and the others just now."
Ochako stayed silent, ready to hear the same words come from him like from everyone else.
Izuku turned to her, their tired eyes meeting, his face that of pure agony and hers of defeat.
"You didn't just risk your life."
He took a deep breath as if to prepare himself for his next words.
"Ochako, you died."
Her breath hitched, this was the first she heard about that.
"You sacrificed yourself to save us."
Ochako tried smiling again, as nervousness clawed at her throat and this was the only way she could react.
She had died.
And now she was alive.
Keep it together, keep it together.
"That's just-....what-...we do, right?"
She slowly said as her voice crumbled down further.
Izuku reacted, now leaning down in front of her, taking her hands in his.
"We....We're heroes....afterall."
Ochako tried, she tried so hard to keep it in.
Even as Izuku hugged her and said,
"But we're not invincible."
Ochako had kept it in.
Even as a few minutes passed with her hands twisted into the back of his hoodie, she had kept it in.
Because what was the point of getting sad when she knew she was going to get better.
Izuku let her go for only a fraction so he stayed in her arms and could look at his face that still smiled at him softly with misty eyes.
"You will overcome this, Ochako. But you don't have to do this on your own."
She didn't keep it in after that.
---------------
Her first walk around the house was a confirmed success.
Ochako plopped back down on the bed as soon as she was done, her body sweaty with exhaustion as she had climed the stairs on her own, no matter how much Izuku had offered to carry her.
She felt her heart swell at the prospect of being able to walk up and down the stairs soon enough.
The bed dipped as Izuku layed down next to her and they went to lay against each other comfortably, Ochako propping up her legs to have a more comfortable position.
They were heavily scarred but the same could be said about Izuku's entire body.
It still didn't withhold him to trace the scars on her thighs with a sad look on his face as he was doing now.
He was blaming himself even now.
"It's not your fault Izuku."
"If had just been faster then........"
He let that sentence die as they both knew what would have happened if he had reached her. He would have been laying under that building with her and that was a thought Ochako never wanted to entertain.
She took his hand on her leg in her own hand as a way to reassure him as stubborn tears pricked his eyes.
"I'm still here, still in one piece."
She told him, as he huffed slightly amused at her optimistic tone.
"Yeah, I know."
She turned to him, a genuine smile on her face, one hand wiping the tears from his face.
Nothing more was said.
Nothing needed to be said.
All there was to do was to heal.
And just take it one step at a time.