Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Another memorial. ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Our crests, they were our strength, weren’t they? Courage, friendship, love… Those things bring happiness, right?

I wish I could still think that way… Once, long ago, I was sad that none of us had ever come to love each other, that no two chosen had ever been that close…

If only I had known…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Rival, enemy, leader… Taichi-san... What was he to me?”

“Maybe I should say 'is,' maybe it’s not too late…” he added, mumbling to himself, his brother’s trait not entirely gone even in these dark times. “We were chosen, right? Adventuring together and all, I was friendship, he was courage… Maybe that’s why it’s so painful, maybe friendship’s just weak, maybe it’s always forgotten when people think of love…”

Yamato shook his head, his thoughts still jumbled and confused. Wasn’t he the one that went with Sora, wasn’t Taichi the one to be envious, pining for a friend in the arms of another? And wasn’t Gabumon always stronger than Piyomon, wasn’t he the one whose digimon always fought so well? And weren’t the crests meaningless now?

“So why then? Why is Taichi so distant, why am I in so much pain? Friendship… Does it always turn into this, is it always doomed to be swept aside by love? Just as I was destined to become a chosen, was I destined to see my best friend care so much more for another, destined to see our friendship never become anything more?”

He paused after that, still always feeling the need to hold back his tears…

“Does Gabumon feel the same way, do I make him this sad when I think of Taichi? I don’t even know… What friendship is anymore, and even though I was happy with Sora, once… Love… To those around someone, to their close friends, does it always bring pain?”

As the spiky-haired bishounen looked up at the ceiling, for all Gabumon had done, for all the battles he had fought in to save both worlds… It seemed that as long as love was around, as long as his friends kept finding it, or pining away for some random girl that would never feel the same way… It truly did seem that friendship led only to crushed souls, and love was the instrument that brought about such sorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evolution… The phrase means different things in different worlds, and it was an odd word to use for the transformations digimon go through.

Still… If this were to be a real adventure… It wasn’t just their ones either, the others they had heard of… Face it, none of them had their first new evolution on the fourth day, as far as tales in the digital world go, a few random battles with the main villain didn’t seem like much…

Where were the random encounters, the rampaging wild digimon manipulated by an evil master? When were their traits being made to shine, sending their digimon to the next level to save their partners?

It still felt false, even if those past few days had been with those same chosen, in that same place, and with more than enough sadness and angst for a saga of the digital world. A new evolution, even just a simple change of form to make it seem more real… That certainly would have gone a long way.

Of course, it wouldn’t happen, there were so many things wrong with this so-called adventure, and even if it was a bit fun, it could still never match up, even if it brought about so much more sadness…

Still… It was an adventure, and they knew that someday, if it ever ended, they would look back on it with happiness… After all, it was the sort of thing that brings meaning, and those days, for all the sadness they brought… The battle in Andromon’s city, the whole day of memory, the lead-up to Palmon’s death… Those times, they were poisoned, sure, but what part of their adventures weren’t?

And for that reason, they would continue on… And maybe, just maybe, this battle would be the one to make the goggle-boy’s digimon reach a new stage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were walking together again, walking on the green savannah of the digital world, Goburimon bounding through the grass, making stomping noises as they moved, timid Alraumon afraid to run into them… And the chosen, their paths once more leading to them walking there, searching the digital world in hope of something, just as they did when it began…

A Kuwagamon, that’s how it happened, the same as three times before… On their first arrival, as they screamed and ran in sheer terror, in the desert of server, after Greymon’s disastrous first attempt to evolve, Taichi too afraid to fight it off…

And then, that third time, when they returned to the digital world… It was a quite creepy one then, caught between dimensions, its attack paralyzing all it touched… How did it end, then, did it fly out of the way of the chosen, wreak havoc until the dark masters were defeated?

There was a gap there, a small one sure, but… Ken had an adventure in the digital world too, once, one he had managed to forget, then recover, then spend eight months trying to forget… So even the slightest gap in memory was meaningful, even forgetting this one simple bit of their past was just that bad…

That said, the buzzing noise or the sharp claws of the stag beetle digimon, that wouldn’t easily be forgotten.

Whoosh! The wind whipped by them, the Kuwagamon flew overhead, and Yamato looked up, his hair standing enough from that dodge that he could have been the leader, still knowing how close he was to decapitation…

“It wouldn’t be a bad way to go,” Yamato spoke, smirking, that look that had been gone for so many years from the angst-filled bishounen’s heart… Thinking more on it, it really wouldn’t, the heroes that die fighting never deal with this boring world, trying to go back to a normality that meant nothing…

“But… Taichi… I don’t need him beating himself up any more, especially without me to pull him out of it.”

And then Yamato stood, more than willing to die, caring enough for that adventure, but still living for the sake of those who had shared those common memories… And a few seconds later, after moving his head sharply to the left to avoid decapitation, he held out his digivice and called for Garurumon.

“Gabumon, shinka! Garurumon!” For the first time in months, the false wolf digimon spun around again, then grew taller, more doglike, with mithril fur and jaws of steel, and poised to send the insect digimon to the village of beginnings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a place distant from there, a base, call it, though most bases didn’t float in the air… The Digimon Tsarina was bored…quite bored. Bored enough to watch that silly battle with a random Kuwagamon, and wondering if her fate would simply be to overlook the digital world and lose a few battles every now and then…

But be it Oikawa or any of the chosen, humans involved with the digital world aren’t exactly good at accepting fate. And… Horrified as she would have been a couple months ago to treat Penmon in this way, the bird digimon was loyal to her, and that loyalty could prove…

Well, at least it would let her escape. The thoughts of the price Devimon’s arm brought the thoughts of how it drove Ken mad or how Chimeramon couldn’t be controlled… If it could be, that would prove she was no mere imitation. If it couldn’t be, then she’d have to find another way… Finding another way, that wouldn’t be easy, but she’d have to, she at least had to know…

And somewhere, somewhere deep in the part of Noriko that still felt her digimon meant she was a chosen child, not just some calculating Tamer, somewhere in her optimistic self that still believed love and kindness mattered… A horrible scream was let out, the sort of scream that comes only from the most brutal of pains.

Her Tsarina side, though, the conquering empress she had now become, young as she was… That side was snickering in that evil manner villains have, again feeling that joy only a sinister plot could bring… But dark as it was, even if the plan was fated to bring the digital world to its knees… That feeling, that feeling it brought her, that was still happiness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The battle resumed, bluish wolf and a red beetle, the two digimon facing off like they belonged in a monster series, that’s what their adventures were, ultimately… They stood against each other, well, the wolf stood growling, the Kuwagamon just buzzed in the air, and then…

“Scissor arms!” The beetle dove, sharp arms of death awaiting the blue-fire digimon. A quick jump, and soon the canine digimon was soaring through the purple skies, turning his head to face his insectoid foe.

“Fox fire!” Blue flames, so light and concentrated that they could be mistaken for ice, shot from Garurumon’s toothy mouth at the insectoid digimon.

Kuwagamon was burned…badly burned. But, Kuwagamon have never been the species to easily lose out to chosen children…

“Power Guillotine!” The clawed arms, held together this time, in such a fashion that it looked like one head-chopping, X-shaped blade, once more lunged at the wolflike digimon.

But… Suffice it to say charging directly at anyone using a beam attack and aware of your presence and location can often be painful.

“Fox Fire!” And with that, the insect fell, lacking even the consciousness to continue fighting, and victory was theirs.

Victory… A digimon was wounded, probably just a hungry insect looking for something to eat… Yes, it was self-defense, but they wanted that battle anyway…

Battle… Wasn’t there something wrong about finding enjoyment there? After all, battles always bring pain and all…

But they were chosen children, ultimately, destined to be bonded to their digimon… Admittedly, they were chosen, not tamers, they cared more about saving the world than raising digimon to fight…

Ultimately, though, this was part of them, and it was part of their world… It might have been before they had come, but digimon had always been known to fight… And it was in their blood, too, part of the nature of their adventure.

So they couldn’t say it didn’t make them happy… They couldn’t say they didn’t like it; they did, and it finally felt like their life had meaning, that their adventures of old had finally resumed...

The adventure, though… When humans and digimon mixed, be it in that world where the digital world was brutish and they were tamed by humans, or in the one where humans turned into digimon, or in this one… Digimon was always a bittersweet tale, the sort where the greatest victories always come so close to their worst defeats…

And as happy as Sora was, sometimes, as much as she kept them together… When one mixed humans involved with the digital world with love, the result was almost always heartbreak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taichi Yagami and Sora Takenouchi… A perfect couple, weren’t they? The hero and the lead female, so close to each other and caring…

Sora had been growing closer to Takeru and all, as of late… But he was younger, so much younger, and even if it did feel like a betrayal… She did have feelings for Taichi, she had them for long, and even if it was just that she felt it was right for her to date a fellow chosen… When he asked, she said yes as enthusiastically as if she was asked that by her true love.

So there they were, by that now-peaceful lake where they had once fought Seadramon, the water’s soft ripple, the gentle green treetops surrounding the beaches, it was all very soothing…

“Taichi-kun…” Sora spoke, gently taking the goggle-head’s hand, if only because she wanted to feel some part of him, to touch the other chosen she had once cared so much for... Taichi stammered and blushed, a hero, maybe, but nervous just the same… After all, wasn’t he the one who didn’t ask her out all those years, who simply backed away and looked forlorn when she came to be with his best friend?

Sure, it would have just screwed things up if he didn’t and all, but… He still felt like a coward, thinking about it back then, and he wasn’t even comfortable enough not to blush when he felt Sora’s soft palm on his own…

“Sora-chan…” Taichi began his response, blushing, until his foot caught on something and he began to slip.

“Even now it’s the same, the last time we held hands like this, he was trying to keep me from falling… But…” Sora continued, smiling, her many sorrows forgotten. “I like it a lot better this way.”

“Don’t fall like that! You scared me…” Taichi smiled in response, regaining his footing and stepping away from the water’s edge.

“I didn’t want to make you worry…” he responded, his voice timid, trailing off, so different from his usual self… Was it Sora’s influence? He didn’t know, didn’t have a clue, but still… He had liked her for so long, and just being out on a date with her… Leader or not, even if he was gazing on this part of the digital world for the last time until Noriko brought it ruin… He still couldn’t help but smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where’d Sora go?” Miyako thought aloud, wondering.

“Taichi’s gone too… He’s the leader, he should be more responsible,” Jou answered calmly, still so able to criticize….

“Taichi… and Sora?” Yamato spoke, talking as if he had just realized something surprising. Takeru’s look was similarly forlorn, for that matter, though they might just have been imagining it…

But while Mimi was gone, it was always the bearer of purity’s role to be the matchmaker, and indirect as it was, well… Takeru did seem into Sora lately, and the less competition she had, the better. (Of course, if she could get him with Daisuke, that would be perfect, but she’d take what she could get.)

“They’re our friends! We have to check up on them, see how they’re doing… Besides, Taichi-san and Sora-chan aren’t right for each other!”

“They’re not? They always seemed close to me…” Koushirou, this time, the computer geek confused by Miyako’s words.

“Kou-kun, you just don’t understand anything. Chosen children, onward!”

Though a few of them were shaking their heads… They couldn’t say they weren’t envious of Miyako’s energy, and they were friends, right? Besides, though the chosen all had different secret romantic inclinations, whether Taichi and Sora ended up together did have some importance in their grand schemes…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They saw it easily enough, it wasn’t a shock or anything... No one was going to take a brief glance at it and fade away in horror or anything, and much as it conflated their own desires…

“How many times has one of us suffered silently? Compared to what we’ve gone through, this is nothing, I’ll be happy for them somehow…” Yamato’s voice was saddened, it would have been tearful, if he’d ever let himself cry, but… He was determined, at least, he’d be fine for now.

The secret loves of the chosen children, how their hearts pined for one another, even on that adventure… Or something like that. Either way, Miyako would take whatever chances she could get.

“Awwwww… It’s sweet, Hikari-chan… Shouldn’t more of us be paired up by now?” Miyako spoke, hugging the younger girl, still trying, always trying…

“Yeah, it should be...” Hikari spoke, gazing at the saddened Takeru, wondering what sadness lay in her best friend’s heart... “Miyako-chan… Forgive me, please forgive me…”

Perhaps knowing, her heart still close to the brown-haired girl even if their digimon could no longer jogress… Hikari hadn’t spoken or anything, sure, but… Miyako let go sadly, and the other girl still walked over to Takeru just the same…

“Takeru…” She said softly, launching into something that was as much a collapse as it was a hug…

Takeru looked at her, smiling, and put his arms gently around her, some things never fade… “It was meant to be for so long… Hikari… I love you.”

The bearer of light looked up cutely into Takeru’s gentle blue eyes, and for all her duties, for all the resurgent darkness, her heart was finally at peace… Others were watching, sure, Miyako was probably crying by now… But this was the sort of love that was destiny, right? It felt like it was always meant to happen, from the tunnels beneath Mugen Dramon, how cute they were then, to the time with the dark ocean… And yet none had said anything more to each other than “I’ll protect you,” even though there were times when it seemed perfect to put, “I care too much about you!” into one of their mouths…

It seemed perfect, destined, Taichi with Sora, Takeru with Hikari, so soon after this new adventure started. They should be happy for them, feel complete or something, help their friends out and everything, right?

Right?

If only it were that easy… If Yamato wasn’t feeling Taichi become so far from him, wondering if friendship could do anything against love, or even if his feelings were still mere friendship… If Miyako could just be comforted by Daisuke, if Sora could take her mind off Takeru, if Koushirou understood this stuff better or was more willing to see his team fall apart…

Then again, digimon and happiness rarely go together, if at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed, like it tends to do, Noriko seeming oddly absent from the digital world, Deathmon not appearing since Palmon’s death, and Miyako only got sadder and sadder… Should she go with Daisuke or something? He was a bit stupid, and he seemed distant from the digital world and all, and as immature as any goggle-boy… Still, he was kind, brave, courage had ended up with love before, right? “Yeah, that’s what started all this, even if they did seem a little happy together… I should be able to withdraw… But I’ve never been like that at all!”

“Still… Is Daisuke as sad as I am now? He let go so easily, when Ken came around, and hopefully he’ll be able to let go of him too, if it comes to that… I need to talk to someone right now... But I won’t let even Hawkmon see me this pathetic.”

So saddened as she was, she just closed her eyes and tried to sleep, hoping that somehow she’d be herself again tomorrow…

“Hikari-chan… I miss you… I wish it was me, not Takeru… Being with you, even as seldom as it was… When we held hands and that light engulfed us, those days when we fought Black War Greymon together… Hikari… It was… fun…”

And with that, Miyako slept, hoping at least she could happily dream of her jogress partner, if only to escape from reality…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noriko cared little for the romantic struggles of the chosen children, and was utterly ignorant of them. If she knew something, she didn’t act on it or anything, she had… Bigger plans. But for now, all she would do was watch.

Penmon cared equally little for such things, but as she was, the blue penguin digimon had far greater concerns, that one request her human partner had given her…

The whirlpool was a creepy one. It seemed silly for a penguin digimon to be concerned about cold temperatures, but there was something oddly cold in there that made even the arctic digimon shiver…

What was it her partner had wanted with Devimon’s arm? Such a creepy object, such a horrible digimon, and what was with her gathering the limbs of digimon anyway? She gazed out at the water, spinning and so darkened, feeling as if it would rip her apart if she entered…

It didn’t matter, though. She was the digimon of a chosen child, and she would not allow herself to fail Noriko. Maybe she wouldn’t gain any gifts, maybe the girl would continue that coldness she had seemed to have shown as of late… But even still, it wouldn’t matter, she would truly do anything for that girl who now fancied herself empress, if only to see her look a bit pleased…

So there the flightless bird swam, reaching into a whirlpool that seemed to possess evil’s very self inside… Her small, flipper-like arm was limp, shivering, almost as if her body was telling her mind it was making a huge mistake… Penmon told her blue and white body to stand firm, to not be beaten by the waves, and with her legs thrashing about, somehow she broke through…

“Noriko!” Screaming her partner’s name, her voice somehow reverberating across the water, her words clear even in the sky… The penguin digimon held her scanner amidst the raging waters, a red light running upon the arms of the digimon sealed within the pool, the data transferring to make the Tsarina’s plan complete…

And as the information entered the young girl’s aerial fortress, that final bit needed to make her plans complete… It didn’t even matter what Penmon wanted from her in exchange, and she was thankful enough that she truly would do it, whatever it was, servants like that don’t come easily…

Hadn’t Ken been cruel to his partner? Then again, Ken also fell for that very reason, if this slight compromise brought her victory, all the better.

Turning to the video-screens of her base, she saw the image finish loading, in all its twisted glory… Angemon’s and Airdramon’s wings, Garurumon’s and Monochromon’s legs, Kabuterimon’s head, Greymon’s body, Metal Greymon’s hair, and topped off with Skull Greymon’s, Kuwagamon’s, and Devimon’s arms. And looking at the form of the composite digimon, clichéd as it was, Noriko couldn’t help it.

“Mwahahahahahaha!”

And after that laugh, even the holy beasts were shaking…but that suited her just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day, the first one in so long Hikari could spend without sadness in her eyes… A date in the digital world, it really would be perfect, as if their lives were going on the right path again, the path that two adventures had laid out for them… Besides, she’d be with Takeru, that alone was enough to make her happy.

Sleepily, she got out of her bed, glad her outfit changed when she entered the digital world, she didn’t want to stall even the slightest bit… “Digital gate, open!”

Hikari Yagami was tired, and she hadn’t seen much today, so the scenery didn’t seem that odd… It wasn’t a particularly familiar place or anything, just a soft digital meadow, the sort that might come into being, if you listened to Koushirou’s theories, because of nice, cute websites with soft layouts, websites dedicated to some cute anime couple.

“Takeru! You’re here!” To say that Hikari did not yell much would be an understatement, but she was excited. Excited enough that she was acting more like Miyako than herself, for that matter, she was supposed to be constantly on the verge of collapse and held gently in hope’s strong arms. “Takeru…”

“Hikari…” Takeru spoke, his voice gentle as he opened his arms, while Patamon and Tailmon watched over from afar… Watching like angels, the two of them like angels, for that matter, angels with interlocking wings.

They were silent for a while after that, just happily staying in the arms of the other, a love of the innocent holders of those two world-saving traits that was always meant to be…

“I love you.” Hikari’s words were muffled as she put her face into Takeru’s smooth skin. Takeru paused after hearing this, wondering how he’d be if it were Sora he were holding, or perhaps Angemon, how much more happiness it would make him feel, thinking of the memories he shared with each of them, how understanding the orange-haired girl had been these past few days, how many times his winged digimon protected him through it all…

Still, Hikari was his friend, his closest friend, perhaps, even if they had drifted apart a little. And neither Sora nor Angemon would ever feel the same way, after all, and he should at least try… Besides, with all that was going on, Hikari deserved some happiness, and it did warm him to see her smile that way…

“I love you, too,” Takeru responded, unsure if he meant it, but determined to at least try, if only for her sake… And as Hikari nestled into his firm body, as Takeru noticed the sparkling happiness in her eyes, he couldn’t help but feel engulfed in her light.

From far away, through a telescope so much like the one Taichi once used, a purple-haired girl peered out at the couple, noticing that look of elation on Hikari’s face… And she couldn’t help but feel crushed, happy as she should have been, she was only jealous and feeling her dream would never come true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mimi Tachikawa was not a chosen child. Not anymore, at least, not when her digimon was dead and she was desperately trying to forget that she had ever been a part of that world. No, she was just using her computer, chatting with some of her friends, without the computer pulling her in and sending her on some RPG-like quest to save the world.

This was why, when she got smacked in the head with an oversized tadpole flying out of the computer, she felt quite surprised.

As she moved her pink hair out of the way to take a look at the Otamamon, ready to yell at it for bugging her in this world… Looking at the tadpole, she saw that it was in very bad shape. Its purplish-blue skin was marred by crimson wounds and looking awfully swollen and red for an Otamamon, and she could tell by the gasps it let out that the frog was barely even managing to breathe.

“It’s wounded, barely even breathing, and it came to see me… Wait, don’t digimon not get reincarnated if they die in this world? What the hell is it doing?”

“We were attacked… Even Shogungekomon was powerless… We need your strength, Princess.”

“My strength?” Mimi gazed at the amphibian digimon, a forlorn look clear in her beautiful face. “It’s come all this way to see me, I’m sure… Portals aren’t easy to find, and it was so hurt, and still it went, hoping I could save them or something… But look at me, I can’t even tell male and female Otamamon apart, and it’s not like I have a digimon or anything else to act as a source of power…”

“My digimon was able to reach perfection-level, true. But she was killed in battle, so I won’t be able to help you or anything,” the human girl spoke, trying to hold back tears and remain composed. Royals aren’t supposed to cry, after all.

“I’m sorry…” she added quietly, almost as if it were a telepathic message and not a spoken one, hoping her apology could mean something, not like anything she did could mean anything to someone who had lost everything and chased so hard after a false hope. But she truly was sorry, so sorry.

“You’re a chosen child, aren’t you?” the Otamamon yelled, then turned withdrawn, ashamed at his outburst, especially to royalty… “You should be able to save us…”

Mimi could only shake her head sadly. “A chosen without a digimon is nothing. And besides, I’m not exactly a child anymore… I didn’t go last time, it was only luck that let me keep Lilymon for so long...”

“You can’t just stop being chosen, it’s not that easy,” the Otamamon replied calmly, but certainly, knowing he was right. “Be needed less, sure, and you have to enter it first at that age, but… The digital world is a part of us, all who’ve lived in it, and you of all people deserve to be chosen… Half the world is people’s dreams, we can’t just kick you out or anything.

"You’re needed too, for that matter. We need chosen in dark times.”

Mimi couldn’t help but smile a bit at that, even with all that had happened, even with no Palmon to shout in agreement with her as she held up her digivice and prepared to save both worlds. “A chosen without a digimon is nothing… That’s still the case.”

The Otamamon shook his body, unable to simply shake his head like most would. “I see a chosen child and a digimon willing to protect her.”

“He’s so young, I wish I could still think that way… But what did Tailmon suffer for, if it could just be any digimon? I mean, Palmon didn’t go through anything bad or anything, but I’ve seen the others, it couldn’t be anyone… And why were there even special digitamas? I should try, at least, try until I come back, hold up my digivice, and the Otamamon stays in its current form… But if I take another digimon, won’t I just be saying goodbye?

She looked at Otamamon silently, the small tadpole digimon obviously so desperate, hoping she could somehow save them… The girl hung her head in her hands, wishing she could do something, but too paralyzed to even move much.

It was then that the phone rang. Mimi muttered to Otamamon to be silent and moved to pick it up, still acting out of obligation, even with all that was going on…

“Did you hear what happened?” The voice on the other end was sad, worried, and unmistakably Sora’s.

“I haven’t been paying much attention, since… You know. What was it?” Mimi’s response was curious, concerned, and eagerly awaiting Sora’s every word.

“I didn’t want to tell you about the digital world, with what happened and all, you did leave it… But I think you should know this.” Her tone was foreboding, trying so desperately to be tactful, at least tact was something she had… “Yeah, even if I’d sooner run away than confront anyone about my problems.”

“What is it?” Mimi shouted frantically, very concerned.

“The Otamamon were attacked.”

“I know. One of the refugees escaped here.”

“So you’ve heard about the slaughter… The Tsarina’s showing no mercy, she doesn’t care what that monster of hers does…”

“The Tsarina? How are you guys holding out?” Mimi asked, concerned.

“We… Haven’t found her yet. Whatever she has, it attacks too quickly for us to even find it. And with the devastation it’s caused… It reminded Takeru of Chimeramon.” Her voice was scared, at least a little, though Sora didn’t exactly scare easily.

“Chimeramon? And they’ll attack the Gekomon village again?”

Sora could only shrug. “They’ll attack the whole digital world, if they aren’t stopped. But yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised, Noriko’s stubborn, and she didn’t manage to erect a dark tower there, somehow… You really should come back, the Gekomon need their princess, and besides…” Sora spoke, her voice taking a conspiring tone. “Jou will be there.”

At this, Mimi couldn’t help but sweatdrop. “It’s not like that!” she shouted, the noise rushing quickly over the phone line and causing the auburn-haired girl to pull the phone away from her ear. “If they need me…” she said, sadly muttering into the telephone, not at all wanting to return to the world Palmon died. But they would need her presence, if nothing else, and she had failed to save them…

So there was no other path she would allow herself to take. “Let’s go, Otamamon… Digital gate, open!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Betrayal, hope, panic, light, death courage, love… So much had gone on lately, this August of memories, the adventure resumed… Takeru’s unnoticed treachery, Hikari’s torn heart, Sora’s wish…

And there they stood, the chosen, bruised as they were… All of them, save Ken and Iori, at least, with all their sorrows and unrequited loves.

Mimi had received quite a welcome from the Gekomon. They were prepared to fight and die for their princess; she turned out to be the only leader they had… Her suggestions of letting her abdicate and holding elections (Influenced by her now-American life, no doubt) had only reaffirmed their support for her, and at least for the rebuilding and keeping them from panic, she was indeed a valuable princess.

But for fighting… He was coming. The dark chill sent up Armadimon’s lonely shell, the deep sadness of Takeru growing evermore, that anger of old returning, but directed only at himself… Hikari’s confused look, still unrealizing, though one such as herself would certainly learn soon enough. It was clear that the mix-and-match digimon was coming, and Mimi wouldn’t be able to do even the slightest thing to stop him…

Yamato stood there, gazing still at Taichi, wishing that somehow the other boy would feel love for him, or at least lust, lust and a bit of perversion would be enough, he could at least pretend that way. Gabumon looked the same way at Yamato, Miyako at Hikari, then turning towards Mimi, hoping that her Utena-based dream actually meant something, even if her feelings had subsided. Koushirou was looking only sad and forlorn, but not for some unrequited feeling deep in his miniscule, anti-logical, non-cynical part, only for the sorrows his friends felt, and courage and love began a gentle embrace…

Their words turned to their enemy soon enough, Takeru oddly silent in terms of planning… Hikari turned to him, wondering what was wrong in her love’s voice, what it was that prevented him from speaking… The first time, and with Black War Greymon, Takeru should have at least given an inspiring speech and a never-give-up attitude, even if he had nothing to offer tactically.

But the bishounen’s mouth was shut, his blonde hair falling gently into his light, gentle blue eyes, his face so smooth and warm, his mouth locked shut. Yeah, he was cute, really cute, but that didn’t explain his silence to Hikari, and she couldn’t help but worry, hoping it was simply nostalgia so close to that day, reliving so much of the adventure he had perhaps lived for, once, and nothing more…

When it was Sora looking at Takeru, even if only slightly, wondering what was going on with him… Those past few days had meant much, and even if they had once been distant, at least she knew.

Not like she could bring herself to tell Hikari, though. Besides, even if it were Takeru she’d rather have been with, though of that she couldn’t be sure… (Though she did remember those times with him so fondly, and those past few days she had enjoyed so much...)

She would try to be happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When it came to bringing happiness… Unspeakable evils aren’t generally high up on the list of things that can cause such a thing. Chimeramon wasn’t unspeakable, per se, but he was evil, and very, very powerful.

Battling like this, facing a horrible evil again for the fate of both worlds… It was fun, on some level, it truly was, and these were indeed times she would treasure, she was a chosen… And Taichi would be with her, leading them, so even if it was odd to be happy then, even if it was disrespectful to her torn and broken friends and the many digimon that were dying, the digimon that would soon be killed if she failed, and maybe even if she succeeded… This was her adventure, wasn’t it? And she was with another chosen, finally, just like she wished… So when he came, Sora couldn’t help but smile.

Until the air began to melt and the yellow cone headed straight for her. “Heat viper!”

Sora tried to move, truly wanting to live, wanting to see this adventure through, no matter how boring life would become afterward… “Thank you… It was fun, digimon, please forgive me.”

“Sora, move!” A tackle, a body throwing itself against her back, knocking her over to the ground and away from melting in that horrible strike…

“Takeru?” Her reaction was instinctive, but it was those same words, it did seem so much like that time when the Snimon attacked, at the beginning of that second adventure that brought so much false hope…

It wasn’t Takeru, though, not this time… She turned and saw Mimi laying on the ground beside her, wondering how she could have mistaken her voice for that of the bearer of hope… “Mimi…”

“Meteor Wing!”

“Mega Flame!”

“Fox Fire!”

She glanced up, three different colors of flame exploding against the chimera’s dinosaur body, then turned to watch his insectoid head fail to even flinch in pain. “It can’t be won…”

“Don’t say that!” She heard Takeru’s voice carrying on the wind, then turned and saw him flying silently with Angemon, clearly not having spoken a word…

It was then that she saw Koushirou, typing furiously on his laptop, cursing as it began to slowly load… As their digimon fought on helplessly, as Takeru was too broken to hold much in the way of hope… “Perhaps there is a way. Can you take a look at this, Miyako-san?”

“Yeah, it should be right,” she answered, her eyes peering across the screen. “But… Are you really willing to do this to Kabuterimon?”

Koushirou shrugged. “He’s been through it before. And even if this works, it’ll take a miracle to stop him…”

“But…” Miyako began, unsure what to say. Something about how he’d hurt his digimon? Or how one of the others should be the one to do it, or about how he never wished for this adventure and it wasn’t right for Kabuterimon to suffer?

The bearer of curiosity gazed at her, a knowing look in his eyes. “I’m a chosen child. And since the others are in no condition to have their digimon be evolving, I’m the one who should fight.”

“Koushirou…” Miyako muttered silently, as the boy hit the “enter” key on his Pineapple and his digimon began to molt…

“Kabuterimon, shinka! Ookuwamon!”

“Ookuwamon?” Miyako spoke, puzzled and trying to think… “Kabuterimon usually become Atlur Kabuterimon, right?”

“Kou-kun, what’d you do?”

“I hacked into his data to make it possible for him to reach perfect-level again… It’s a Skull Greymon-style evolution, so it could backfire, but…” His voice was calm, the sort of calmness that baffled Miyako, as the grey Kuwagamon recolor stood to face that grotesque chimera, the two insects battling, the victor to bring so much pain afterwards…

Koushirou watched them, unflinching, prepared to save both worlds, even as he saw his friends so broken and destroyed… This was his destiny, this was his role as a chosen child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Penmon’s loyalty… How long had it been since she had swam through the dark whirlpool for Noriko’s sake? It wasn’t the sort of thing she could doubt…

“This isn’t a betrayal, this isn’t a betrayal… Whatever he does, it’s to save her, and I won’t let him bring her pain…”

The penguin digimon waddled through the streets of Tamachi, staring down at a map as she walked. The others, well, they weren’t staring at a map… The worlds were closer now and everything, but digimon walking through any part of Tokyo weren’t exactly an everyday occurrence, it wasn’t Kyoto or anything. So they watched the Penmon walk, each wondering what the heck it was doing there, each ignoring it’s presence and hoping it wouldn’t attack… The same with the apartment she went to visit, the doorman said nothing, no one on the elevators said anything, it was like she was just another human, albeit one everyone hid from…

Her destination, though… A near-empty apartment, only one person there, sitting in a darkened room at the end of the hallway… And he didn’t react the same way, from his attitude, it didn’t even look like the dark seed had left.

“What’s one of your kind doing here?” The former Kaiser asked, contemptuous, hoping to wrap himself in hatred just to escape his memories.

Penmon stuttered, unsure how to respond, how to phrase what she needed to say, fearing whatever words she spoke would just be given some angry, sarcastic rebuttal and then she’d be ignored, ignored and powerless… Well, she was already powerless, that’s why she came here.

“It’s Noriko…” The penguin said, his birdlike eyes turned towards the ground in sadness. “I know you don’t want to help or anything, but…”

Ken shrugged. “If it’s blossomed, the world’s in danger… I owe them that much.”

“Don’t go, if you’re just doing it for that reason! I want her to be helped, I don’t want her to destroy both worlds… But not if you’re going to be like that about it!” She wanted to say, wanting to convince him to have a better attitude, to realize he couldn’t abandon the digital world…
But like her partner, the blue digimon could also be calculating, and Ken’s emotions didn’t affect her one way or the other, if it would work… Nothing she said would matter, she knew that, from Wormmon’s experience if nothing else, but…

If Ken could do it, that was what mattered. And she couldn’t afford to care about his reasons, if it would stop her partner from falling down that same path…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The battle continued, the two insects fighting ferociously, not caring in the slightest what was destroyed in their path… Attacks slammed into Gekomon houses and even the royal palace, each digimon continuing on their battle, not even noticing the destruction they wreaked upon the land of the frog digimon…

“Koushirou, lead them away from here!” Mimi snapped, a couple extra-loyal Gekomon putting their horn-like instruments in what could be called a persuasive position, in the sense that “Do this or I’ll blow your head off” is a method of persuasion.

The computer geek stumbled, thinking, wondering why he failed to take into account the possibility that the Gekomon would be angry and prepared to use force. “Does this place have any explosive weapons?”

“Yeah, bombs in the royal palace… Why?”

“Throw them as far as you can from this place. They’ll hear it and fly over to battle, it should lure them away from here,” Koushirou answered, glancing at the palace, wondering if it would work...

Instinctively, Sora whispered something to her partner along the lines of, “Birdramon, get us some firepower,” and the phoenix digimon began flying quickly in the direction of Shogungekomon’s lair...

Miyako looked at Koushirou as he spoke, trying to have some admiration, or something, it would be easier that way… Koushirou’s knowledge and command would shake her, or they’d grow closer as fellow computer geeks, something to take her mind off Hikari…

“Hikari…” The purple-haired girl sighed, hanging her head in her own hands, wishing, still wishing, in no condition to fight… Koushirou didn’t like this, and it was far too common, what was he doing acting as the general, wasn’t that Taichi’s job? Though even happy as Taichi was, he was more concerned with Sora than leading them…

And he was the only one in condition to fight… To fight and hope that somehow, Chimeramon was just another perfect, and that the battle could be won.

An impressive shot by a Gekomon, an explosion in the distance, and his corrupted, hacked digimon partner, along with the monstrosity of a chimera, flew beyond his scope of vision, continuing their epic clash.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Scissor arms Omega!”

“Hybrid arms!”

The giant stag beetle swiped his thick, crushing arms at the multicolored digimon, which struck back with six arms of his own… Skull Greymon’s, not quite as devastating to an ultimate, but certainly a great wound. Kuwagamon’s, no big deal, just a much weaker version of his own attack, Ookuwamon wasn’t worried.

Devimon’s, though… Those were different, powerful, deadly. When they hit his silvery exoskeleton, they were piercing, blood oozing from the wound, a strange, horrible pain growing inside his body…

But though he battled not out of loyalty, but out of bloodlust, but though he only reached that phase because of a bit of hacking and being viewed as the lesser of two evils… He was still a warrior, and if he lost, he’d be sure to take his opponent down with him, or at least bring him great pain so whoever came next could finish him off.
And so… “Destructive impulse!” A beam of yellow light, a beam fired from the perfection-level digimon’s two-pronged horn… It rushed towards Chimeramon, the composition digimon screaming as it did, and then flying away, too wounded to continue.

Thankfully for all involved, Devimon’s touch was painful, and Ookuwamon wasn’t any better… Koushirou’s gamble had paid off, at the very least, and when he rushed to watch… He saw only an unconscious Tentomon with an odd, black-glowing cut piercing his shell-like wings.

At least for now… We’re safe, if nothing else…

Koushirou turned to face his fellow chosen children, a somber look on his youthful face. “We won.”

“You call this winning?” Koushirou turned to Mimi, prepared to give the innocent girl a cold-hearted response on the nature of war, but the voice was much heavier than Mimi’s, so he cast a look Sora’s way…

Sora? Takeru looked at her too, thinking something along the lines of, “That can’t be right, she wouldn’t say that.”

“We only drove Chimeramon off, we didn’t kill him or anything. The shogun’s palace is destroyed, and I’m sure there were plenty of Otamamon and Gekomon that didn’t make it out alive…” Sora looked as pained to speak those words as Koushirou was to hear them, but she couldn’t just stay upbeat and happy when bringing this much suffering, happy as she was for these times…

“Yeah…” Koushirou answered, nodding sadly, looking at how crushed most of the other chosen seemed to be even without a battle. “Sora, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

And with that, they left, the others absolutely clueless as to what was going on, even Taichi having no idea what Koushirou was getting at…

If he did, he’d be saddened, but it would have to be this way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sora-san 230;” Koushirou began, a grave look on his face. “I have a request to make of you. And it’s not a pleasant one, though it might be needed for the sake of us all…”

“Huh?” The bearer of love answered, though it could have been “What?” or “Eh?” It didn’t matter what it was, though, she was still baffled.

“If someone asked me to give up my curiosity… Well, someone did, once, and I wasn’t myself at all without it… But it was physically removed back then, it wasn’t like I was asked to stop finding things out with my mind still working. So I’m not sure… If I can even ask this of you.”

“You want me to stop loving, is that it?” Sora asked, at least knowing what was meant, though still with no clue as to his reason.

“Have you noticed how the others have been lately? I don’t think they’re all in love with you…” He began, muttering something like, “Though some of them might be” under his breath. “Miyako, Yamato, Mimi, even Takeru, and probably Jou as well… They’re not themselves, it’s like a huge weight was just dropped on them.”

“So…” the girl began, wondering if every deed of hers would bring sadness, yet still so happy simply to be adventuring in the digital world… “You want me to dump Taichi-san?”

“Well, yeah. Or at least pretend to and hide it from the others. At least when none of us were together, all of us could hope…”

“It wasn’t like Taichi was someone I dreamed of being with…” Sora began, wondering why she was being so open to Koushirou, though the fact that he alone among that first group had never shown any interest in her might have had something to do with it… “I just wanted to date a fellow chosen child, it wasn’t right for us to have been so far apart… I would have been fine with Takeru, or Yamato, or even Mimi…”

At this point, had they known each other reasonably well, instead of having this conversation account for more talking than they did during that last adventure, Sora might have collapsed tearfully into Koushirou’s arms.

She didn’t, though, and instead simply resolved to dump Taichi and try to pair him up with Yama or something, maybe end up with Takeru, have Miyako go with Hikari… If only it were so easy, if only, in this tangled mess of love called the chosen children, there was some mystic combination that would have brought them all happiness…

There wouldn’t be, though, it would always be bittersweet. That said, there had to be a better way then this, and she did pine for Takeru…

So there was still hope for love…Though it might take some courage in the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day ended soon after, and as it did, the chosen dispersed, each going where their travels in the human world had taken them…

Sora continued her silence, not yet having the strength to tell Taichi, even when she looked at the pained faces of the others… This would be painful too, so painful to say, even if it would be best for all of them.

Even if… Was there another way? She didn’t see it, at least, and maybe… Takeru…

Still, Taichi would be sleeping soon, and… So should she do it now, now that it would just have been two days? Would it hurt less to tell him after it was just a short time, make it like she wanted to bring him a couple days of happiness? Or would it be better to at least give him another night when he could sleep happily, looking forward to a time that would soon be broken…?

She had to reach him, so she looked over to the phone, then stopped, it would be painful enough just to type it, she wasn’t sure if she could even speak those words…

Taichi-san. Whatever was between us, it has to end… I can’t leave the others like this.

I’m sorry.

~-Sora-chan-~



Her typing finished, she hit one of the red buttons on the D-terminal, hoping that somehow, someway… All of them could be happy.

Though she couldn’t shake the feeling that if it had been Takeru or Mimi she was going with, even if the others were just as sad… She wouldn’t have been able, or perhaps willing, to do even that, to do what little she could to salvage their happiness…

As she went to her bed, prepared to sleep, a beeping noise came from her D-terminal… She expected it to be sad, if not bitter, how many of them had she broken now? And Taichi wasn’t the sort to just walk away with a false smile, he was gutsy, and he never hid his feelings well, he wasn’t going to leave some nice, heartwarming message, of this she was sure.

But instead… As a tear fell from her face, as she opened the grayish device to see what message he had sent…

Sora…

It was fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Notes:

(Yeah, I finally have them, and I’m putting them at the end of the fic… A departure from what I’ve done before, but the greats do it this way. Or something like that.)

This fic, at least in its intent, was written as equal parts tribute to those who care for that series and continuation of adventure… I threw in plenty of references, of course, most to the series it’s based on, but a few to the fandom as well...

I’ve gotta do something for Odaiba Memorial, right? ^_^

That’s what this chapter’s mostly about, a tribute to the couplings, the love dodecagon that lives in the minds of digimon fans…

Of course I advanced the plot a bit, and that battle earlier with the Kuwagamon was intended for different reasons, but had to go somewhere. So I put it in this tribute-y chapter to make it properly bittersweet for digimon and attempt to salute the games and the monster-raising aspect that everything grew out of. ^_^ (Note the Digimon World reference in there. You don’t see Goburimon and Alraumon in 01’s depiction of File.)

(No, this isn’t the end. I can’t end it Takari. Don’t worry, I have… Plans.)

Though pretty much all my chapters would make a decent enough ending. Just in case I suddenly die or something. XD

(Though this is the sort of fic that might never be meant to truly end, it was inspired by the boredom that ending brings…)

And here’s to all the fans, their flamewars, their shrines and all, that made digimon romance as fun as it is. ^_^