Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Diminished Light: Void's Assault ❯ Concealed Secrets ( Chapter 18 )

Diminished Light: Void's Assault

Chapter 18

Concealed Secrets

By

Sailor Janus

 

 

The rain pelted harder down upon the drenched Chosen Children as they hiked through the dim forest in search of the secluded cave to rest in.

 

“I don't know when everything had gone so wrong,” Tani murmured, her head tilted towards the ground as icy rainwater dripped from the top of her head and ran down the back of her neck. She shivered slightly. “I just know it's my fault. I'm supposed to take care of them. I'm the eldest for crying out loud!”

 

Rosa glanced curiously at Iori as they trailed behind the group. “Is she talking to us or herself?”

 

“Shh,” he hushed the Mexican girl not wanting to interrupt the mysterious brunette.

 

“What happened?” Sora looked at Tani thoughtfully.

 

“I screwed up.” The twenty-one year old girl sighed as she led them towards the cave. “I thought everything was okay.”

 

“Why are you talking so cryptically?” The blonde haired musician narrowed his cool blue eyes inquisitively.

 

“Yamato!” Sora scowled at her boyfriend and sharply elbowed him in the arm.

 

Tani gave no immediate reaction to the question however. “My sisters.”

 

“Y-You have sisters?” Taichi sputtered peeling his eyes from his sneakers. “Y-You never told me!”

 

“It wasn't important.”

 

“But you met my sister.”

 

Yamato blinked. “Wait… she's met Hikari?”

 

Tani abruptly stopped walking and whipped her head to face the others, spraying water everywhere with her soaked locks. “I also met some boy with spiky hair…. One of Hikari's friends.”

 

“You introduced her to Daisuke?” The blonde glared at his best friend. “What? Are we not good enough to meet your girlfriend?”

 

Taichi lowered his head. “He was at the apartment when I brought her over. Hikari was tutoring him.”

 

“But why the hell did you keep her a secret?”

 

“Because I asked him to!” Tani's brown eyes flooded with tears as they stood out in the pouring rain. “I didn't want anyone to find out, especially my sisters.” She turned around and stomped away, leaving behind a bunch of flabbergasted Chosen Children.

 

“Nice job, you idiots,” Rosa snorted then she too sprinted off.

 

“Damn it!” The Chosen leader took off his backpack and threw it for all he was worth, sending it careening into an innocent tree. “DAMN IT!” He whirled around and narrowed his eyes at the blonde, his hands now clenched into fists. “Do you see what you have done? This is all your fault!” Taichi swung out and punched his best friend in the face, effectively nailing his cheekbone.

 

Yamato growled ignoring the pain then shoved the infuriated brunette backwards, pushing him to the ground. He tore his backpack off then immediately pounced on the young man and threw his fist splitting his target's lip. “Then you shouldn't keep secrets!”

 

Taichi kneed the blonde in the gut and wrestled him to the ground. Just as he was about to land another blow, something stung his cheek. He glanced up and saw Sora looking vehemently down at them, hot tears flowing down her cheeks. “Sora,” he blinked as if returning to his senses.

 

Without warning, she slapped him again. “KNOCK IT OFF!” She glowered down at the two boys and shook her head in disgust.

 

“Sora…” Her boyfriend began staring up at her completely stunned but was unable to finish his sentence.

 

“Why do you two always act like such children? It never changes. No matter how much you age, you still try to beat each others' faces in!” She sniffled loudly, with her arms stiffly at her sides and stomped her foot on the ground in frustration. “What has happened to us? Why is it all that we do is fight? I'm so sick of it!”

 

“Sora I-” Yamato tried once again, but she cut him off.

 

“You're all jerks!” Still sobbing she ran away from them.

 

“Sora! Wait! Come back!” Infuriated with the whole situation, Yamato threw Taichi off him, and took off in search of the red head.

 

“I think you all have some serious thinking to do if you want to repair your friendships,” Iori said softly making the Chosen leader jump in surprise. As usual, the teenager had the ability to blend in and watch from the sidelines, speaking only when he felt it was necessary.

 

“Iori…” Taichi touched his split lip and winced.

 

The Kendo expert shook his head and sighed. “It's just something to consider.” Then he too departed.

 

Taichi stared at where Iori had once stood then angrily rose to his feet shouting at the top of his lungs, “I HATE YOU ALL TOO! In fact…. I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOU!” He snatched up his bag in a huff and stormed away.

 

*~*~*~*

 

I'm sorry, Taichi. Tani wrapped her arms around herself as she walked sadly through the pouring rain. It was nearly dark out, and the storm did not make matters any easier. At least it was fitting for her mood as she continued to cry.

 

“What happened between you two?”

 

The young woman froze in shock at hearing someone's voice then spun around to find a curious Mexican girl with a sincere look on her face. Tani smiled weakly and bowed her head. “Things went wrong….but they had nothing to do with Taichi.”

 

Rosa however scoffed at that answer. “I highly doubt that. He's muy macho; too headstrong if you ask me.”

 

“That may be so, but it still wasn't his fault.”

 

“That would be a first,” Sora said bitterly as she joined the group. She pulled her hair out of the pigtails that Rosa had previously put it in when she was overly hot and shook out her drenched locks. “I've known him since we were kids and he always manages to put at least one foot in his mouth.”

 

Tani however shrugged. “He just has a bad stubborn streak, but…. it's hard to explain. He can be really sweet.”

 

“Oh my….you still like him…. I should have never said that,” the red head gaped covering her mouth in embarrassment. “I'm so sorry!”

 

A faint pink color tinted Tani's pale skin as she toyed with a strand of hair. “What makes you say that?”

 

“You're blushing for one and are fidgeting,” Rosa pointed out.

 

“And you defended him and called him sweet,” Sora giggled. “I also think he still likes you since I have never seen him turn into such a stuttering fool around a girl before.”

 

Tani chewed on her lower lip. “Maybe. But things can change.”

 

“Did you mean to fall on him?” Rosa inquired when suddenly she slipped on the muddy ground and fell on her butt. “OW!”

 

The two older girls turned and looked down at the teenager in concern. “Are you okay, Rosa?” Sora held out a hand to help the Mexican girl back to her feet as Tani stared down as if uneasy about something.

 

“I think I fell on a rock! It hurt!” The short girl groped the ground as she sat on her knees and pulled up a dirty gray stone that oddly glimmered for a second. Rosa quickly cleared away the mud and squealed. “I think it's a Power Stone! Look! It's got some sort of symbol that looks kind of like a ….triangle? I don't get it.”

 

Suddenly a strong wind picked up, throwing the three girls to the muddy ground as the rain became heavier, threatening to pound them into the ground as they screamed in pain and fear.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Catherine wanted to hide from the shadowy figure, but knew that it was a moot idea since they had already seen her. The best thing she could do was to try and determine whether or not they were a friend or a foe. “I-I'm sorry. You-you startled me… and I think I'm lost.”

 

“Just don't scream again,” the voice softly said as they walked closer into the dim lighting revealing a young woman who looked to be in her late teens or earlier twenties with choppy hair the color of India ink with a tiny tint of blue that fell in chunks around her face and above her green eyes. She was clothed in a sleeveless v-neck shirt layered over a long sleeved shirt with a thick stripe running down from her shoulders to her cuffs. She also wore loose fitting pants that flowed past the heel of her sneakers in a sporty style and strangely to Catherine, around her neck was a clear tag. The girl smiled in greeting. “Hi, I'm Asukai Akina.”

 

The French girl stepped closer, realizing that more than likely she was safe. “Hello. My name is Catherine Beaumont. I'm from France,” she said in return with a smile of her own.

 

“I didn't think you were Japanese. Bonjour, Catherine.”

 

“Do you speak French too?” The blonde gasped in surprise.

 

“Only a little bit but not enough to have an actual conversation,” Akina shrugged. “So did my deranged sister drag you here too?”

 

Catherine frowned as she studied the other girl's unreadable expression. “Deranged sister?”

 

“Yeah. She may act nice to your face, but don't let that fool you. She only thinks of one person and that is herself. If it wasn't for her, none of this would have probably ever have happened.” The Japanese girl turned on her heel and clasped her hands together behind her back as she began to pace. “Then again, maybe this is my fault after all. She always was the jealous type…. Always wanting attention. Mom and Dad tried so hard to divide the attention evenly, but she never saw it that way. She always went against the rules. Damn it. Why didn't we see this coming?”

 

“I'm sorry, but I still don't quite understand.”

 

Akina froze as if realizing that she had said her thoughts out loud. She grimaced and ran a hand through her tresses. “It's a long story which I don't feel like telling at the moment. Sorry.” The Japanese girl paused a moment in thought. “Didn't you say you were lost?”

 

“Yes. I was separated from the others. They are Chosen Children like us too.”

 

“How-how did you know I was a Chosen Child?” The young woman's eyes widened skeptically, almost if she were afraid.

 

“The tag around your neck,” Catherine pointed out. “It's the same as the other Chosen Children.”

 

Akina frowned, her eyes flashed slightly as she clasped her hands together. “Other Chosen? You mean there's more than just you here?”

 

“Oui. Four others to be exact not including us.” Her eyes saddened at the thought of a particular blonde haired Japanese teen that she believed hated her. “I got separated from them.”

 

“So there is just the five of you?”

 

“No. There are more but they are elsewhere.” The blonde thought for a moment as she calculated the number of people that she had heard from the others in her head. “Five in one and four in another with two missing elsewhere. One of which was the reason we came here to begin with. She had somehow lost her memories and everyone was going to try to find them….Well, I didn't know of that, I was brought here by my computer while checking my email. It was quite strange.”

 

“And were any of the others stuck here for let's say three years prior?”

 

Catherine blinked in surprise at the other girl. “No, the only ones that didn't come with the other Japanese Chosen were a Mexican girl and an American boy, but they arrived shortly before or after the others did. Why do you ask?”

 

Akina hesitated a moment then stuffed her hands in the pockets of her pants. “No reason. Just curious.” She walked towards the farthest wall in the cavern and slumped down to the ground. Pulling her knees to her chest she began to sob.

 

“What's wrong?” The French girl twisted her fingers nervously as she approached her seemingly upset companion. “Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No. I-I just think I've been here too long and it's kind of driving me crazy.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled. “I wonder if everyone has forgotten about me? Probably. I was never anything memorable. Just boring nothing-special me.”

 

“Don't be so hard on yourself,” Catherine said softly as she comfortingly touched the other girl's shoulder.

 

Akina looked up and shook her head weakly. “You don't need to be here. You probably have a very bright future ahead of you. Not like me the twenty-three, oh wait twenty-year-old nothing that I am.” She climbed to her feet and folded her arms over her chest. “I can't believe she… ugh.” Without a single glance at the French girl, she retreated to another corner to sulk.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“The nerve of him! Since when did Takeru become such a…a…asshole?” Mimi threw her hands in the air as she talked in disgust about the boy who she had known since their first adventures in the Digital World when he was only eight.

 

Michael shook his head as they trailed down the narrow corridors of the cave. “People change. Who knows, there may be a reason why he's acting the way he is.”

 

“Ha! That's a good one.”

 

“He still could be right,” Koushiro said quietly, flicking his flashlight around the cave as they walked. “Takeru is usually pretty mellow unless he's upset about something. Then it's a completely different story.”

 

“Yeah, but the jerk is the only one with a working D-Terminal!” The young woman sighed heavily and rubbed her head. “I think this is all giving me a headache and all I want to do right now is soak in a hot bath. Can't even smoke a cigarette here, damn it!”

 

“Mimi, you're whining,” the blonde American said with a slight tone of irritation.

 

“Oh, bite me! I'm tired and hungry. My feet are killing me. We lost Catherine and Takeru and are probably going to be cooked alive in this stupid volcano.”

 

The red head inwardly groaned, reflecting that Mimi's behavior was now very reminiscent of the first time they were in the Digital World. Fortunately her attitude had improved the longer they were there, even as their situation became increasingly dire. At the moment however, she seemed to be regressing back to the selfishness, something they could all do without. He instead focused on the structure of the cave. It wasn't something he'd normally study, but it was better than listening to the couple bickering again.

 

I don't remember this volcano in the Digital World. Could the world have been reformatted? If so then by who and why? In a way I have to wonder if we really are in the Digital World or if somehow we were transported elsewhere. Koushiro frowned wishing his laptop was still functioning, but no matter how many times he tried, he could not get the machine to boot up properly. If only I could ask Gennai. He dragged his beam of light from one wall to the next and suddenly stopped as something sparked in the distance. The computer expert narrow his eyes skeptically then headed in its direction.

 

Koushiro flicked his flashlight around the wall, hoping to locate whatever the object was, but couldn't find it. He looked up then cursed under his breath, discovering that Mimi and Michael were nowhere to be seen. “Good one, Koushiro. Now you're lost too.” He thudded his head against the wall, accidentally dropping the flashlight in the process. Grumbling to himself, he bent down to pick it up then stopped as his dark eyes fell on a small stone embedded in the floor. “A Power Stone?”

 

The red head dropped to his hands and knees, carefully pulling at the stone until it finally came loose. A small glint of light filled his gloved hand and quickly diminished in a blink of an eye. He curiously flipped over the stone and smiled at the sight of the symbol of Knowledge etched on the back. “Another piece of the puzzle.”

 

Koushiro pocketed the item then turned to leave when another flash of light caught his attention. He spun around and made a face at the small cavern that he could have sworn was not there a minute ago. After a moment of debate, he headed inside.

 

 

*~*~*~*

 

Catherine dug through her bag and pulled out two packages of crackers. She turned towards Akina and smiled kindly at her. “Would you like something to eat? I have plenty.”

 

The young woman glanced at the blonde for a moment then silently accepted the offer. She tore open the package and looked away as she began to eat. After a moment she looked back towards her companion and smiled. “Thank you.”

 

“You're welcome.” Catherine sat against the opposite wall as she too ate. She paused a moment, furrowing her brow as a thought struck her. “If you've been here so long, how have you been able to survive?”

 

Akina considered the question for a moment. “There are some berry bushes that grow outside and there's a stream not too far from here. Other than that, I don't really know. I should have died of insanity or something a long time ago from being isolated for so long, but I didn't.”

 

“Maybe if the others ever find me, you can come with us. I'm sure they won't mind.”

 

“I'll think about it.”

 

The two girls finished eating in silence, but it wasn't long after that they heard movement outside of their cavern. Akina bolted to her feet, her eyes wide with fear as she retreated to a shadowy corner. Catherine stared at her and turned back towards the entrance.

 

“It's okay. It's probably one of the others looking for me,” the French girl said reassuringly.

 

Just then a shock of red hair appeared around the corner. Two dark eyes blinked and stared in awe at the two girls.

 

Akina gazed back, gaping dumbfounded at the young man as she slowly stood up. She took a step back nervously then brought one hand to her mouth. “Shiro?”

 

*~*~*~*

 

Jyou sank down onto a rock across from the strange red haired girl. He stared at her for a moment, then began rummaging in his bag that they found a few feet along the beach before they had reached her cave. It was very dim and pretty much empty other than her own gray backpack and a sleeping bag bunched up in the corner. “This is uh, a nice place you've got here.”

 

Without warning, Ami burst into tears once again. “You're just saying that,” she sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It's horrible in here. I just wish something would come and eat me just so I won't have to deal with this anymore! BUT ALL THE DIGIMON ARE GONE!”

 

The med student found himself at a loss for words. Instead he continued digging in his bag and pulled out what appeared to be a bar of some sort of food. “Uh, nutrition bar?”

 

Blue-green eyes narrowed coolly. “You're just trying to be nice. Besides, you probably shouldn't waste your food rations on me.” She stood up and headed over to her bag, withdrawing a handkerchief then blew her nose.

 

“That's not true. I-I sort of understand how you feel. I came here to help a friend regain her memories, but then everything went wrong.” Jyou dropped his hands to his sides and shook his head. At that moment he missed Gomamon. The talkative water digimon would know how to cheer the girl up. Sadly it had been so long that he had seen his partner that he could barely remember what the digital monster looked like. The only thing that really stood out in his mind was the tuft of bright reddish-orange hair. “So, what kind of digimon do you have?”

 

Ami stopped crying and scrunched her nose as she looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

 

“You're a Chosen Child, right? That means you more than likely have a digimon partner.”

 

She stared at him a moment then titled her face down to her lap. “An Elecmon. He was like my best friend and always knew how to cheer me up. Even if it was just a stupid knock-knock joke.”

 

“Gomamon liked those types of jokes too. Then again, he did have a better of sense of humor than I did. Especially when I was kid.”

 

“Sounds like they'd probably get along well then.” The red head smiled lightly then rose to her feet and moved towards her sleeping bag. She blushed slightly and turned back to Jyou. “I'm kind of tired, but you're free to stay as long as you'd like. If you want to spend the night in here, that's fine too, just stay on the opposite side of the cave please.”

 

“That'll be fine. Thank you, Ami.” He nodded at her, returning the smile.

 

The young woman slid under the covers and curled up. “Good night, Jyou.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

Thin strings of sunlight danced through the branches of the trees as Miyako tiresomely yawned. She glanced towards her boyfriend who was carefully packing up his stuff as she stretched. “I could really go for a nice hot cup of coffee right about now.”

 

“Even Shoe Brew?” Ken teased using the name they had dubbed their University's less than palatable coffee.

 

The lavender haired girl made a disgusted face and suppressed the urge to gag in response. “Ugh, even I'm not that desperate. Besides I meant a good cup of coffee. Not something that tasted like melted shoe leather.”

 

Wallace raised an eyebrow at them then snickered. “I think I'd take that over the shit they serve at my part-time job. It'd probably make toxic waste taste good in comparison.” He shook his head and zipped up his backpack. “Man, this reminds of when Daisuke and I found our crests.”

 

The couple immediately froze then spun around to face the American. “Wait, did you say that you two found your crests?” Miyako gaped in shock as her boyfriend merely stared.

 

“Yeah,” the blonde shrugged pulling his bag over his shoulders. “Didn't he tell you guys?”

 

“When was this?” Ken's face remained emotionless even though it was evident that he was more than likely reeling at the fact that his best friend kept something as important as finding a crest from him.

 

Wallace scratched his head and grimaced. “Normally I'd have said a couple years ago, but since time seems to have gone back three years, it was when we were nineteen. I didn't even know he was there to begin with. We just kinda ran into each other.”

 

“So there really is a Crest of Miracles.”

 

“And a Crest of Fate…. but somehow I lost it. I don't even know how that's possible….but it's gone.” The blonde sighed as he adjusted his bag. “Maybe I'll find it again whenever we get out of here.”

 

Miyako glanced at her scowling boyfriend and gently put her hand on his shoulder. “What's wrong, Ken?”

 

“I'm just contemplating why Daisuke kept finding his crest a secret from us. I thought we were best friends,” he replied, his voice tinged with a slight hurt tone.

 

“I know, but Daisuke is well Daisuke. Sometimes he just does things on the whim.”

 

Ken narrowed his blue eyes towards his girlfriend. “Like not telling us about finding his crest? Do you call that a whim? That's not a whim or something that can just easily slip someone's mind, damn it. He intentionally didn't tell us!”

 

“Calm down-”

 

“I AM CALM!”

 

“NO, YOU AREN'T, YOU'RE YELLING!”

 

“SO ARE YOU!”

 

Wallace winced and backed away from the shouting couple. “Um, I uh, think I'll go over there. Just please don't kill each other.” Quickly he retreated to a group of trees.

 

The former Digimon Kaiser turned around and drew a deep breath. He refocused his gaze to the dirt on the ground, slightly shaking his head. “If he can hide something like that from us, it doesn't mean that he didn't hide other things.”

 

Miyako pursed her lips and gently touched his arm. “Well, if it makes you feel any better I'm Hikari's best friend, but I have a feeling that she has kept stuff from me too. You know that she doesn't say anything out of fear of upsetting others. No matter how much she may be hurting inside.” She paused a moment, a sad smile spreading across her lips. “For some strange reason those two understood each other, and now I think I know why.”

 

Ken glanced back at his girlfriend and sighed. “I just feel like we've been lied to. Daisuke, the one that seemed to be the most open…. I don't want him to make the same mistakes I did. We all really have screwed up. We've practically abandoned the Digital World and even each other.”

 

“Hopefully, we can fix this. But right now, we have a med student to find.”

 

“Right.” Abruptly he pulled Miyako into his arms and hugged her tightly. “Thank you.”

 

She returned the embrace and giggled. “Hey, you've put up with my stubbornness this long. If you didn't have me, who would you bicker with?”

 

“Myself I suppose,” he laughed as they parted. “Let's go grab Wallace and find Jyou. There is no telling what trouble he might get into.”

 

Miyako nodded and together they headed off in the direction the American Chosen Child had gone.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Daisuke's heart thudded heavily in his chest as he led Hikari through the flames. He gripped her hand tighter while they wove their way through burning trees, rock, and stone. There was one thing he was certain of and that was that this was definitely not natural. “You holding up okay, Hikari?”

 

“Yeah,” she panted in an odd voice.

 

“What's wro-” The teenaged boy paused at the sight of pain etched on her pale features as she pressed a fist to her chest. It was evident that she was lying through her teeth about being all right. “You're not okay.”

 

Hikari shook her head, narrowing her brown eyes at him as she released his hand. “Don't worry about me. We need to find place that is not on fire first or all will be lost.” Urgently she took off running, giving Daisuke no choice but to follow her.

 

Damn it, Hikari. You're doing it again. If you push yourself too much… He gritted his teeth, clenching his hands into fists and bolted after the brunette. “HIKARI!” He lost sight of her for a moment through the building smoke and threatening flames. It wasn't until he had passed a particularly large boulder did he finally catch sight of the girl leaned against it as she violently coughed. “Hikari…”

 

The teenaged girl's eyes widen with horror as white, hot pain flooded her stomach and chest as though she were being stabbed by a dozen sharp knives at random intervals. She let out a gasp of agony and doubled over, holding her breath as she clutched her eyes shut. Hikari whimpered and cried out the only thing she could, “Daisuke….”

 

Daisuke looked on in concern and immediately raced to her side. “Hikari? What's wrong? What happened?” He touched her shoulder comfortingly and peered down at her. His tanned face now a bit on the pale side as fear began to envelope him. “Talk to me!”

 

“Pain. In my stomach and chest... I don't know what's wrong,” she weakly replied as tears slid down her cheeks. Unable to stand the torment much longer, her knees gave out and she crumpled into a tiny ball.

 

The Chosen leader followed her to the ground and knelt next to her. He grabbed her free hand and squeezed it. “Breathe, Hikari. Take long deep breaths. It'll be okay.” He winced at her expression of pure agony and tightened his grip on her hand. “I'm not going to leave you here. I promise.” He ran his other hand through her hair in hopes of comforting her. He knew making jokes wouldn't help at a time like this, and the fact that he didn't know what was wrong with her had him even more worried. The fire which was snaking closer to them didn't help much either as she began coughing from the smoke again.

 

“It… hurts…so…much.” She cried out again, this time more severely.

 

Daisuke cursed then removed her backpack from her shoulders, throwing it over his own. Then he reached under the tortured girl's already bent knees and carefully wrapped his other arm around her back as he scooped her up, cradling her against his chest. “Hang on. I'm getting you out of here.”

 

Hikari however didn't reply, the pain was so intense that she couldn't focus on anything else. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his chest, holding on for dear life.

 

The teenaged boy gritted his teeth and began walking, trying his hardest not to jostle her too much. They were trapped in some strange place so how in the world was he supposed to find help? The first thing to do was find someplace that was not on fire. He sucked in a breath and found what appeared to be a cave out in the distance. Determination filled his dark eyes as he headed towards it as fast as he could. His only hope was that nothing dangerous was inside otherwise they would be screwed.

 

Finally the cave was only a few feet away as Daisuke released the breath that he was unaware of holding. He turned back then swore at the sight of extinguished flames that left behind nothing more than smoldered ash and smoke. “I'm glad I'm not one to think logically otherwise I might go insane here,” he muttered to himself entering the small cavern.

 

The teenaged girl winced as she was eased gently to the ground and immediately curled up into a ball. Sweat and tears dripped down her face as she hugged her knees.

 

Daisuke stared at her for a moment then quickly threw off both backpacks and began frantically searching for anything that might help before panic could fully set in. I have to keep a level head or she could… no! I'm not going to think like that damn it. Hikari is going to be all right. She just has to be. He pulled out a bottle of water and raced to her side as he removed the cap. “Hikari...” The boy set the bottle down and carefully turned her upper body towards him. He lifted her head up slightly and brought the plastic bottle towards her lips. She flinched and tried to move away, but Daisuke wouldn't let her, holding her as firmly as possible by the shoulders without hurting her in the process. “Listen to me. You have to try to drink this. It might help.”

 

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Hikari struggled to curl back up on her side again as the pain worsened even more. “JUST LET ME DIE!”

 

The Chosen leader froze, completely stunned by the girl's words which triggered a memory that wished to surface, taking all of his will power to push it away. “You don't mean that, Hikari.”

 

“Yes, I do,” she whispered, looking away from the teenaged boy. “I don't have anything to live for.”

 

“That's not true.”

 

“Yes, it is.” Hikari clenched her eyes shut. “I'm nothing. Absolutely NOTHING!”

 

Daisuke's breath caught in his throat then he roughly pinned the self-loathing girl to the ground and grabbed her by the face, squeezing it slightly to force her mouth open. He took this advantage to pour a small amount of the cool bottled water in her mouth, forcing her to drink it. He stared into her watering eyes through a pained expression then abruptly tore away, slamming the bottle to the ground and rose to his feet with a furious shout.

 

Hikari sputtered, choking slightly and sat up. Fear and shock shone in her eyes as tears streamed down her face once again. She wrapped her arms around herself and backed away towards the wall of the cave.

 

Her companion lowered his head then hit it against the opposite wall, silently cursing himself. He had hurt her in trying to help her. Now she was probably never going to trust him again and there was no way to redeem himself. And because of it, Daisuke hated himself more than ever. “I'm sorry.” Numbly he dropped to his knees and pressed his head against the cool stone. “I'm sorry, Hikari. I didn't want to hurt you, but you…. I'm sorry.”

 

“I know.” The teenaged girl dropped her gaze to her clenched fists, took a deep breath, and slowly relaxed them considering her words carefully. “What you did…. You were trying to help me. Not like Nitoni who…. who was trying to ….to kill me.” She flinched at her words and the memory. “The water did help though. I feel less pain…. in my stomach and chest…. and can actually breathe…. better. I guess I must be dehydrated or something.”

 

“We haven't really eaten anything either. Or had the chance to rest,” Daisuke began slowly as he turned back to face the girl he feared hated him.

 

Hikari nodded in agreement. “I know my brother can get kind of testy when he hasn't eaten in awhile or is very tired…. Maybe you're the same way so…food?”

 

He blinked in amazement at her. Did she just make an excuse for my thoughtlessness? The boy could barely believe his ears but silently nodded his reply.

 

“Good.” She glanced meekly down at her hands then back up at Daisuke. “Um, I don't really trust my legs at the moment…. so could you please get me some more water? I'd do it myself but…. I don't really want to chance falling flat on my face or something.”

 

“Sure.” Awkwardly he pushed away from the wall and retreated to his bag. Pulling out a fresh bottle of water he stood still a moment as if too ashamed to approach Hikari. Something in the back of his head was nagging at him, until he realized what it was; the fight they had the day she moved from Odaiba. Sharply, he shoved the memory away before it could try to eat him alive and approached the girl, focusing on his feet rather than her face as he handed her the bottle. “I-I really am sorry.”

 

Hikari held the bottle in both hands, and smiled kindly at him. “It's okay. You-you've saved my life several times already…. It doesn't make sense that you would stop now.”

 

“Besides, Taichi would murder me slowly by beating me to death with a soccer ball…. or turn me into one if I did intentionally hurt you,” he shrugged with a less-than-enthusiastic look on his downcast face.

 

The girl giggled, breaking up the thick tension in the small cave. “That really does sound like my overprotective brother. And speaking of him, we still haven't eaten a thing and I'm starved.”

 

Daisuke snapped his head in Hikari's direction to find that she was struggling between laughing and drinking. He raised his eyebrows at her and folded his arms over his chest. “So you really think that is funny? Gee, thanks. And here I've saved your butt how many times?”

 

“No! It-it's just the mental picture of it is. Not him beating you to death…” She snorted nearly choking on the water. “But the mere idea of it, even if it isn't you is funny. In fact I'd prefer if it was Nitoni as the soccer ball instead.” She paused a moment smiling nastily at the thought, then shook her head. “No, it'd be wrong, and I'm terrible to think such a thing.”

 

“I think we all wanted to at least hurt and maim him after hearing what he did to you.” The teenaged boy sank down to the ground next to the guilt-ridden girl. “But I think that's kind of natural. He hurt you so you want to pay him back by doing the same even if you're not the one doing the damage.”

 

Hikari lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep her tears at bay. “I don't want to remember him. I want to forget him. I want to trade those memories for the ones I had lost!” Her voice shook as she balled her quivering hands into fists. “He's haunting me in my dreams and it just won't go away. He won't go away. He keeps trying to hurt or kill me. I can't escape him.”

 

Daisuke said nothing and instead wrapped his arms comfortingly around her. He never envisioned during all their days as Chosen Children that things would wind up as they were now. Not when he was eleven and most definitely not when he was sixteen. It was like some terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake up from no matter how hard he tried.

 

After a moment the girl lifted her head and wiped her tears away. She sniffled slightly and gave him a meek smile. “I'm okay now. Thank you.”

 

He nodded as she slid out of his arms. He drew a breath and stood up. “Um, I could make some ramen if you want. I think I have an old school notebook in my bag we can burn to make a fire. The classes sucked anyway and there seems to be rocks around here so if you want to grab some, I can start a fire and heat up the water.”

 

“Okay.” Hikari rose to her feet and headed towards the back of the cave where there was a cluster of rocks in a pile. She rubbed her arms as a chill ran up her spine then reached out to grab a few, but stopped as her brown eyes fell upon a large shard of ice. “Ice?” She frowned a moment then moved her hand towards it. Suddenly it became encompassed with a bright white light. Hikari gave out a startled gasp, tearing her hand away in fright.

 

“What is it? Are you okay, Hikari?” Daisuke leapt over the backpacks as he rushed towards her, his eyes darting around in search for a possible threat then froze at the sight of the glowing light.

 

The girl however stared in awe as the ice melted to reveal a small stone. She moved her hand cautiously towards it and the light faded. Carefully she picked up the stone and gaped in bewilderment at the strange yet familiar symbol marked on its surface. Her breath caught in her throat as she showed it to her companion. “It-it's the same symbol that was sketched on the bag you gave me. What does it mean?”

 

“I-” Daisuke began, unsure of how to explain things especially since he didn't know what was going on himself considering he had a stone with the symbol of Miracles etched on its surface in his pocket. He studied the symbol of Light for a moment then took Hikari's free hand and pulled her to her feet. “I'll explain things later. But first we need to eat. There is no telling what's going to happen tomorrow.

 

Hikari slowly nodded in agreement. Together they gathered some rocks and prepared their dinner while in the back of their minds they questioned what really was going on and where exactly they were.

 

*~*~*~*

Author's Notes: So much for having an outline. Everything for this chapter went completely out the window. SJ crumples up yet another unused outline and tosses it in the garbage. This also marks my second longest chapter. I think the weirdest thing about this story is I'm practically writing it backwards. Bits and pieces of the characters' pasts come to me as I write to explain why things are the way they are. It's so strange. I may later on after I'm done with this particular piece, write certain events that had happened in the past in a sort of chronicle. Some of which are really amusing while others, can be heart-wrenching. Still haven't decided yet.

 

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the newest chapter. More is yet to come. (Expect this story to be roughly around thirty something chapters.) And thank you for the reviews.