Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Peregrine ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

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Peregrine: adj.
1. Foreign; alien.
2. Roving or wandering; migratory.

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Summer Memory....

The thought itself was unbidden, unnecessary, yet present all the same. The blonde's brow wrinkled slightly with the recollection of the summer he lost one of his digital partners, the faint smile shifting unconsciously into a slight frown. The expression went unnoticed by the two Digimon romping in the yard a few meters away from the house, as Wallace Ford lay sideways on the porch swing, silently observing, as the breeze attempted to knock the rock holding a stack of letters away from its post.

It had only been a few years since the young man's mother moved the family farther upstate in New York, to a smaller town not too far to prevent her from commuting to the city, and the family would be guaranteed a yard for the growing boy and his hyperactive twin partners. The trio could not have been more pleased with the news, until Wallace had been informed of his enrollment at a specialized school for accelerated learning.

Summer vacation was a blessed time for the young man, to be away from the confines of the dormitory and its restrictions, as well as the ineptitude of the Residential Advisor who insisted that Wallace add classes to his work load to finish school ahead of his already hastened education. The concerns the young Ford voiced were neatly overlooked by this advisor, and left Wallace only a singular option to protect his sanity.

Expulsion was the greatest event of his life. The look on the Residential Advisor's face when he saw Wallace and his amour enjoying 'extra-curricular' activities in the sports storage room could be described as priceless. The proper begging had been done, resulting in his acceptance of the expulsion to "protect the innocent's standing". The venture with the underclassman had indeed paid off.

The time spent in that miserable institution had at least given him the advantage of bypassing a year of High School, allowing him to graduate at the age of seventeen. The year was spent reveling in the absolute mundanity of changing classes, dating, SATs, and homework. It was the purgatory he endured until the blessed day of his graduation, when he proudly accepted his honors diploma.

Summer Memory....

The thought remained, as it occurred to him every time he watched Lopmon playing with Terriermon.

They can't come with me on this journey. I know they realize it.

He recalled how they both latched to him and told him with teary eyes how they hoped he would have a safe journey, and take time to visit them in the Digital World.

I promise you both. I will miss you most of all....

Wallace reached lower, taking the letter from underneath the makeshift paperweight extracted from his mother's garden. He read the passage for what may have been the seventh time in the last two hours.

"My dearest nephew, I cannot begin to express to you how valuable your visit was. Since I lost the use of my legs in the war years ago, and my vision is increasingly impaired, I have regretted the opportunities I lost to enjoy the world around me. I would regret it more if you lost that chance."

"Take these credit cards, and purchase passports and tickets and whatever else you would need to travel. I expect to receive videos and letters of your travels, so that I may see the world through your eyes. Even if you do not leave the continent, please still travel for me, so that through you, I can hope to recapture what I've lost, before old age takes that from me in my final moments."

The typed letters on the simple yellowed stationary had been the only thing that inspired motivation from him, not even the electronic mails and rare letters from the friends of his childhood he had since grown distant from, and had lost hope of a reunion with.

The letter brought him hope.

Wallace made sure to hand-write the letter of positive response to his uncle, personally paying for the postage to send it by the fastest and most reliable overnight mail courier service he could afford. Within two days' time, a reply was received, with credit cards and instructions.

"Travel as far as you want, and remember, home is always in your memory. Your memory is in your heart."

The words puzzled the blonde, and even more so when a series of luggage tags arrived the day following the arrival of the cards, each with the words engraved in simple print on stainless steel attached to the expensive leather. The luggage tags were attached to equally pricey luggage.

Summer Memory is not in my heart. More like it's in the pit of my stomach.

Wallace frowned again at the thought and merely watched his partners play. Tomorrow would be the start of his travels.

Tonight was for the three of them alone.

Eyes slid shut, mind anticipating the warmth of snuggling close to the tired bodies of his partners for the final time that evening, when Wallace suddenly found his rear end painfully connecting with the water-sealed wooden floor of the porch.

"No frowning, Wallace!" Terriermon nearly squealed as his human partner picked both him and his twin up into a massive bear hug. "EEEEEEEEEEE!!"

"I was frowning because I'll miss you both." It was true that he'd miss them, but neither of them needed the worries that surrounded past memories.

"We'll miss you too!" Lopmon snuggled his face into Wallace's shoulder, bringing a smile to the young man's lips. The little Digimon tried extra hard to make up for the years of pain he inadvertently caused his friend.

"I love you guys." The admission was heartfelt, as was the smothering response of two Digimon snuggling into the embrace of the human who adored them.

"We love you too, Wa-ra-ssu!" The Japanese pronunciation of his name brought forth laughter. His partners had lost none of their accent, though the two had eventually developed a functional grasp of the English language, for the sake of Wallace's confused mother.

Mother. Holy shit. She's going to call my cell phone every day, I bet. The thought lasted though the entirety of dinner, confirmed by the request of his mother to "keep in touch", and to "write often". Even so, it would likely be the last his mother saw of him for a few years, at least. Allowing the contact was the smallest thing he could do for her in his absence.

Evening consisted of emulating pop stars of the past with a rather inexpensive karaoke machine Wallace had been presented at his fourteenth birthday. This occasion would not be spoiled. Even Ms. Ford did not peek her head in to interrupt the trio as they sang to the crowd of flowers cheering them from the wallpaper.

"So why don't you use it? Try not to bruise it. Buy time; don't lose it.
Why don't you use it? Try not to bruise it. Buy time; don't lose it.

The reflex is a lonely child. He's waiting in the park.
The reflex is in charge of finding a treasure in the dark.
And watching over lucky clover; Isn't that bizarre?
Every little thing the reflex does leaves you answered with a question mark."

"Karaoke Night" had not been a part of the nightly ritual for nearly two years prior to that particular evening, though it was the perfect occasion. It would be a pleasant memory of home, and the best expression of love the twins could show their partner, by sharing pure joy, and a loss of self in one moment.

The three fell into dreams to the wordless music pouring out of the karaoke device. The feel of the blanket went unnoticed when the elder Ford draped it around the slumbering trio, nor was the absence of light as she turned the switch as the Partners slept peacefully.

End Prologue.