Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Next Level ❯ Episode 2: Memories of a Time Long Ago ( Chapter 2 )

Rika's eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring at the ceiling in her room. She raised her head and saw the full moon through the window. Dropping her head back onto the pillow, she cursed softly. Had she dreamed the whole night's events?

"You really shouldn't curse all the time, Heartbreaker," a voice from the corner of the room said. "Makes you sound like a sailor."

Rika froze at the sound of her old nickname, her eyes wide open. Only one other soul knew that pet name, which meant…

"If this is a dream," she said, "let it be one I'll never wake from. Renamon…"

The fox digimon in question sat down beside Rika, laying her head on Rika's chest. Rika stroked Renamon's cheek with one hand, noticing silver streaking the gold fur. The fox digimon noticed Rika's attentions and smiled.

"Time changes all things," she explained, "Digimon included. I was afraid you had forgotten about me."

Rika sat up, locking her fingers behind Renamon's neck, pulling her in closer. Renamon tilted her head, and they kissed longingly, lovingly.

"I could never forget you," Rika said, nuzzling Renamon's cheek with hers, feeling the soft warm fur. "You are my other half, my soulmate, and the soul never forgets true love."

"Ahh, Rika," Renamon sighed happily, "you always were the romantic type."

"Shhh!" Rika joked, laying a finger over her lover's mouth. "I don't want that to spread. Whatever will people think?"

"Let them think what they will," Renamon breathed, trailing a claw through Rika's shoulder length hair. "That's just one of the many reasons I love you so. You don't let others thoughts control you."

"Oh, Renamon," Rika said wistfully, "I was deathly afraid that I'd never see you again."

"I feared the same thing," Renamon told her, "Every night I prayed that you would survive until I returned. I continually wished that you would be able to move on with your life, yet I always hoped you wouldn't moved too far."

"These past years have been a personal hell for me," Rika admitted, wrapping her arms around Renamon's shoulders. "Nothing I could do could fill the void in my heart, no human was able to give me what I desperately needed. You."

Renamon pulled aside the blanket, lying down under it next to Rika. They pressed their bodies together, Renamon's silky fur on Rika's nightgown, sharing the warmth they had missed the past few years.

"Now I'm back, and I don't plan to ever leave again," Renamon whispered, blowing gently into Rika's ear. Their mouths met again in a passionate kiss before they began exploring the changes that both of their bodies had gone through.

******

Rumiko stood just outside the door to her granddaughter's room, listening to the conversation being carried on inside. When it was clear that the time for talking was over, she walked back through the house to her own room. The grandchild she had known and loved several years ago was back, and she couldn't be happier for her.

******

Rika woke up still intertwined with Renamon, the digimon's fluffy tail wrapped around Rika's bare hips. The sun was just coming up, its light pooling on the floor. A ray of sunlight struck Renamon's fur causing it to shine brilliant gold. Renamon stirred, looking into her lover's eyes.

"I've missed you so much," she said, kissing Rika's neck.

Rika smiled happily, letting out a soft sigh.

"You don't know how much I've missed you," she responded. "What have you been doing all this time? What was up with that Tyrannomon? How did either of you get here?"

"So many questions," Renamon said smiling, "but I'll try to answer them all. After the gates were sealed, I spent the following year mired in an endless depression. Thinking me easy prey, I was attacked by many wild digimon. I fought tooth and nail just to survive. I grew strong, stronger than ever before, but my depression grew deeper.

"As it always has been in the digital world, no matter how strong you think you are, there's always someone out there stronger. That someone found me. Try as I might, I couldn't win. I could feel my chances of returning to you slip away. I would have died, had it not been for a passing Shurimon. He took me in, nursed me back to health. For a while, I found a measure of happiness with him. He was kind and gentle, a rare find in such a cruel world. Unfortunately, those aren't desirable survival traits.

"One day, a Musyamon challenged me to a battle, hoping to prove his might. I was still weak, so Shurimon took my place. He held out for quite a while, but Musyamon's strength was too great. Before my eyes, Shurimon was killed and absorbed. I was too weak to attack, and I could only watch as the Musyamon took all the food and water, leaving me to die. Once again, I traveled alone through the desert, emaciated and dehydrated. Eventually, I stumbled upon a large city."

"A city?" Rika asked. "In the digital world?"

Renamon nodded. "Yes, it was truly a wondrous sight to behold. It was the first city built there, and it was founded by someone we're both quite familiar with."

"Who?" Rika wondered, trying to figure out whom Renamon could be talking about.

"Takato," Renamon answered, watching Rika's eyes widen. "Apparently, he's made quite a name for himself in the digital world. He founded the city to allow those digimon with the desire to live in peace do so. I collapsed in the Town Square, and awoke to find myself in a soft bed in Takato's estate."

"Goggle-head has an estate?"

Renamon chuckled at Rika's old nickname for Takato. Some things never change. "He's quite popular over there. There were plenty of digimon willing to help out in exchange for his protection. It's almost as if it were just yesterday. I remember, Takato was sitting next to the bed…"

******

"You all right, Renamon?" he asked, smiling. I tried to get up, but I was too weak to move.

"Don't worry," he told me, "you're safe here. I guarantee it. God, it's been a long time since everything happened. I wasn't totally sure you'd still be alive."

Just then there was a knocking on the door and Takato went to open it.

"Is she all right, Takato? I hope she's going to make it," a familiar twangy voice said.

"Guilmon," I managed to say, and the little red lizard beamed happily.

"Don't worry, Guilmon," Takato said, reassuring his old friend. "She's going to be as good as new in a couple of days."

"Physically, maybe," I said with a sigh. "Mentally, I don't know."

"You miss her, don't you?" Takato asked, smiling knowingly. "Rika, I mean."

"Of course, she was my best friend."

Takato shook his head softly. He chuckled, a surprisingly deep tone. "No, I know it's more than that."

Guilmon looked up at him quizzically, and Takato patted him on the head.

"I don't know what you mean," I told him. Takato only chuckled once more.

"Oh come on," he gently chided, "you two always did underestimate me. I saw much more than you gave me credit for. It wasn't that hard to notice the looks you two tended to give each other. I'd been given similar ones. But, I digress." He waved his hand idly. "No sense dredging up too many old memories. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you, Takato," I said, taking hold of his hand, "but I can't impose. I really ought to repay you."

"Well," Takato said, his brow furrowed in thought. His eyes lit up and he grinned. "There is one thing I have in mind that you should be perfect for, but that can wait until you feel better. Come on, Guilmon, let's let our honored guest get some rest."

He patted my hand and turned, leaving the room. I lay my head down on the pillow, wondering what he had in mind for me. He'd really matured in the past years. Being 13 and without any other humans around in a strange world tended to force one to grow up quickly. I gave up on thinking and let my exhaustion take over, falling into a heavy sleep.

When I woke up, it appeared to be only the next morning. I got out of bed, stretching my muscles, feeling sore all over. I took a walk around the house, marveling at what Takato had accomplished. Soon, I came across a beautiful garden and found Takato staring into a pool of water. Spotting me, he stood up and smiled warmly.

"Good, you're up. Took you a couple of days though."

"How long was I asleep?" I asked wearily.

"Just two days. You're a fast healer it looks like. Feeling better?"

I nodded, feeling a couple cricks in my neck pop.

"I'll survive. Now, you wanted to tell me what I could do to pay you back?"

"This city," Takato told me, standing up and encompassing the entire area with his arms, "is founded in peace. I planned for this place to be a refuge from the endless battles one faced living in the wild. It turned into a huge success in the process. Unfortunately, some digimon simply weren't satisfied with this. They try to bring their fights into the town, stealing what they want, terrorizing the populace. The majority of those who came to live here did so because they weren't strong enough to survive for long alone, and thus we don't have many powerful defenders. Gallantmon can't take care of everyone himself. That and I swear this city would fall apart without me. That's where you come in. I need you to track some criminals down for me, arrest them if possible, dispose of them if necessary."

I closed my eyes, thinking about his offer. The thought of more battle, I admit, thrilled me a little. "Dangerous work," I said. "And if I'm not strong enough to defeat them on my own? What then?"

"Ahh, then we bring in the trump card," Takato said, chuckling at some joke I didn't get. "Come on, I have a present for you, one that will help should you take my offer."

Takato got up, and beckoned towards a set of double doors. I nodded and followed him towards them. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad next to the door and I heard a loud click. Pulling open the doors, I caught a glimpse of a vast room at the end of the long hallway. Takato instead led me down a short hallway off of the main one, pausing at a safe in the wall. Entering the combination, he opened the safe and pulled out a strange device. It was a blue wristband with a strange device in the center.

"This," Takato said, holding up the thing, "I call the D-Band. It's still in the experimental stage, but its technology was derived from my own D-Power, so it should work."

"What does it do?" I asked. And why would it use technology from a digivice?

"Hold out your left arm," he ordered me. Not knowing what else to do, I complied, and he strapped the bizarre thing to my wrist over my glove. It looked like a vastly oversized wristwatch with a large rectangular screen and a slot at the top.

"Now, take this," Takato said, placing something else into my right hand. It was an old Hyper Speed card. Odd. "And slash it through the slot."

I shrugged my shoulders and did what he said, pulling the card through. The screen flashed three times, and something weird happened. I could feel a tremendous rush of energy flowing through my body, focusing in my legs and arms.

"Tankmon!" Takato called out, and a door lifted open revealing said digimon. "Machine Gun Arms!"

The Tankmon pointed its twin machine guns directly at me. As I started to hear the guns fire, I quickly circled around to dodge. In less than the blink of an eye, I was behind the Tankmon. A sharp kick to the back of its head sent the machine crashing to the ground. Strangely enough, it stayed down.

"What was that about?" I sneered, turning to face Takato. He quickly held up his hands.

"First of all, those were blanks. See?" he said gesturing to the wall. There was not a single blemish on it that hadn't been there already. "Second, in order to truly display the power of the D-Band, a situation as close as possible to a real fight was necessary."

I relaxed my guard, giving the Tankmon one final kick for good measure.

"A remarkable device, really," Takato said, grinning widely. "All the powers of the original D-Power, minus the need for a Tamer. And it'll be yours should you accept my offer."

"And if I don't?"

"Well, if you don't, you don't," he shrugged. "There's no way I'm gonna force you to leave, but if you feel you must pay me back, this is the best way. Now, I've only got a few cards, but they should be enough to take on most of the bounties that need collected."

"Where am I supposed to store these cards? It's not like I have pockets or anything."

"You see, that's part of the beauty of it," Takato said, the smile still plastered on his face. "The D-Band has a memory, albeit a limited one. It can store the data contained on three cards at a time and access them instantly, eliminating the need to carry them around."

"Only three? Not very versatile if you ask me."

"Well, of course you can also use any cards you are able to carry and slash them like normal. We're working on increasing the storage ability now."

"We?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Takato laughed nervously. "Uhh, that's a story for later," he waved away the thought. "Will you be my bounty hunter?" Takato asked simply.

"Looks like you got yourself a deal," I nodded, shaking his hand. It would give me something to do at least.

"Perfect. Now, tomorrow, if you're back to full health, I'll give you your first assignment."