Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Someone to Forgive Me ❯ Second Chances ( Chapter 1 )

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Someone to Forgive Me

"…and Takeru said he was going over to Koushiro's after school to see if he's been able to shut down any of the Kaiser's stuff…"

"…"

It took several minutes for Patamon to realize his older companion wasn't paying attention to him. He poked her with one paw. "Tailmon, are you listening to me?"

Tailmon swore under her breath. Here she was, trying to sort through the events of the past few days, and Patamon would NOT leave her alone.

She turned to her friend, forcing a smile. "I'm just tired, that's all," she lied.

"Oh."

After a few minutes, Patamon smiled as he thought of an idea to cheer his friend up. "Hey, Tailmon, let's go to the cafeteria and get something to eat!"

"Why don't you go to the cafeteria and pick up something for both of us?" she responded almost instantly.

"Are you sure?" he asked, giving her a worried look.

She nodded, trying not to scream at the other digimon. He didn't know any better, after all…and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him what she was planning to do.

She was going to go over to that boy's apartment to see if he was okay. Oh, she knew he had been the Kaiser…but after the way he had looked out in the desert after that Wormmon died, he probably shouldn't be left alone.

Tailmon knew how he must be feeling now…she had wanted to kill herself after her best friend died, too. She had felt so guilty…

No one deserved to have to watch their best friend die before their very eyes…no one, not even the Kaiser…

Which brought her back to wondering how he was doing. He had looked so lost when he walked away from all of them…

Tailmon knew he had gotten home; she had watched the broadcast with Taichi and Hikari. But she knew that didn't necessarily mean he was okay. How could anyone be okay after that had happened? She knew she wasn't, even after three years.

She waited until Patamon had flapped out of sight over the school, then leaped from the tree they had claimed as `theirs' during the day while their partners were in class. As soon as she reached the ground, she took off as fast as she could.

***

Hikari frowned when Patamon told her and Takeru what had happened. "It's not like her to just leave without telling one of us where she's going." Her brows knitted together in worry. "I hope she's okay."

Pulling out her D-terminal, she typed up a short e-mail and sent it out to the rest of their friends.

-Everyone

I've got a bit of a problem; I can't seem to find Tailmon anywhere. Patamon said he went to the cafeteria to get something for them to eat, and when he got back, she was gone.

Have any of you seen her? If you have, let her know I'm looking for her.

Thanks.

-Hikari

***

Tailmon's sharp vision was perfectly adapted to dark places. As a result, she had no trouble making out the human-shaped form curled up beneath the blankets.

She frowned. *Has he been sleeping all this time? That's not good…At least he's still alive, though.* She tapped loudly on the glass to wake him up.

It took about a minute for the human boy in the bed to roll over and stare at the window in bewilderment. When he saw her, his eyes widened.

"Good, you're awake," she said. "Open the window."

The boy simply ignored her, turning away from her to face the wall again.

With a soft hiss, she raked her claws down the window-pane, quickly regaining his attention. "Open this window and let me inside, or I'll Cat Punch my way in."

The ex-Kaiser obviously believed her threat. Seconds later, he had unlatched the window, allowing Tailmon to enter the darkened room.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"To see how you're doing," she answered simply. "And to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you. You should just leave."

Tailmon folded her arms impatiently. "Not until you listen to what I have to say."

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

"I think there is."

Ken turned away and started to climb back into bed. Tailmon frowned and quickly darted forward, her paw clamping around his ankle.

The human who had called himself the Kaiser glared dully down at her. "Let go, or I'll…"

"Listen. You'll listen to me."

"You don't give up very easily, do you?"

Tailmon's whiskers twitched. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"You and your friends defeated me. You won; I lost. There. We've talked. Now go away." Ken pointed toward the open window.

She sighed in exasperation. "It's not that easy. If you want me to leave, you'll have to try harder then that."

"What else do you WANT?!"

Tailmon gestured at the bed. "Sit down. This is going to take a while."

Ken obediently sat down on the bed. It was obvious that the cat digimon wasn't going anywhere until he did what she wanted.

"Like you, I wasn't always a good person," she began. "I was a slave of the Lord of the Undead, Vamdemon. He tortured and beat me to force me to do what he wanted. And what he wanted was to lock away my memories of who I was."

Ken's eyes widened. "He…made you forget who you were?"

"He did. You see, he knew who I was as soon as he saw me."

"How?"

"He could see it in my eyes. I was prophesied as the one who would kill him. So he was afraid of me. In turn, he beat me to make me afraid of him. It was only through the help of my only friend at the time, Wizarmon, that I was able to remember who I was. And also who I was missing."

"The quiet girl with brown hair, right?"

"Her name is Yagami Hikari. And I would do anything for her, even die for her. I almost did."

"How did you find her?"

"It was very hard. Vamdemon brought his army through the Gateway to Earth, and sent out his strongest soldiers to find and kill her. It was during this time that Wizarmon helped me remember who I really was. We went to get the Crest of Light together, but Vamdemon came back early and caught us. Two days passed before the Chosen were able to bring Hikari and I together. Together, all of us were finally able to defeat him. But his defeat came at the cost of Wizarmon's death."

She stole a glance at the human boy to see if he was still awake, then continued. "So, you see, I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you. And I know that someone who's been bad can change, and become good."

Ken remained completely silent.

Tailmon sighed. "Come on, there's something I want to show you. Get your digivice."

The human blinked. "Why?"

"We're going to the Digital World. Open the Gate." She pushed on the backs of his legs to get him over to the computer.

***

The former Kaiser and the cat digimon arrived in a place full of bright colors and soft surfaces. All around them were brown cradles, each with a Hatchling digimon inside.

"Um…where are we?"

"The Village of Beginnings," Tailmon answered distractedly. "Now, where is he…?"

Their attention turned to one of the Hatchlings when it began to speak to Ken. "I know who you are-you're the Kaiser! Even without that outfit, I'd recognize you! Go away!"

"You're right…I WAS the Kaiser. And I did so many terrible things…It's MY fault that Wormmon's dead. If I hadn't been so blind to the truth, then he would still be alive now."

"You're a liar-you don't want to find him because you want him back. You want him back because you just feel guilty for his death. Do you really think Wormmon will come back to you just so you can hurt him again? After everything you did, we're not going to forgive you! You're not welcome here! Go away!"

"Wormmon…isn't coming back? Just like Osamu never came home after the accident. I'm not sure I can face this. Wormmon's not coming back, and neither is Osamu. I caused them both to die. I hated my brother for getting all the attention; and I hated Wormmon because I thought he wasn't worthy of me. But I was wrong; it's just the opposite: I wasn't worthy of him! My hands…my hands are covered with the blood of everyone who I killed. How could I have allowed this to go so far? If I only had a second chance, then I'd tell them I'm sorry. Wormmon…Osamu, I'm so sorry!"

"It's too late to ask for forgiveness. You can never go back in time and change what you did."

"You're wrong," Tailmon said. "Do you recognize me? I was a slave of Vamdemon, and I was able to change! I was given a second chance, and changed-just like Ken has-and the Chosen accepted me. So why can't you accept him now?"

"Because you were a slave, and Vamdemon forced you to do all those evil things! No one was forcing the Kaiser to do anything; everything he did, he wanted to do!"

"And again, you're wrong. He didn't force me to do ALL of those things. I chose to do many of them."

"But he made you forget who you were. And besides, you're one of the Chosen! You helped to save all of us, and our world!" The Hatchling turned back to Ken. "You can just crawl back under whatever rock you came from, and leave us and our world in peace!"

"Can't you let me start over? I know I've caused all of you so much pain when I was the Digimon Kaiser…but I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me! The cruel things I've done in the past won't ever leave me, but I've got to move on with my life. The memories I have of Osamu and Wormmon…I'll use them to do good instead of evil. Wormmon asked me to never forget who I am…but I broke that promise. I DID forget. I've spent my entire life trying to be someone I'm not. Whether I was the cruel Digimon Kaiser, or trying to be my brother…I've never really been myself! But now I'll be the person who Wormmon wanted me to be."

Tailmon watched in fascination as an unfamiliar Crest appeared in Ken's hands. He stared down at it in bemusement. "What's this?"

"That's a Crest," Tailmon replied. "I don't know what it represents, though…But if you have it, it must be yours."

"Are you sure it's mine?"

"Positive. Now, let's hatch your friend's egg." Tailmon leaned up and lifted the mottled egg out, keeping a secure hold on it. She then handed it over to Ken.

A few minutes passed before the egg began to hatch in Ken's hands. Both he and Tailmon watched as a small green digimon emerged. It squealed when it saw who was holding it. "Ken! I knew you'd keep your promise and come find me!"

He pointed down at the cat standing by his side. "Thank Tailmon. She's the one who brought me here."

Leafmon blinked. "She did? Thanks, Tailmon."

She nodded in reply. "Come on, let's go home."

"W-wait," Ken said hesitantly. "I have something to say to you. Thanks for making me listen to you earlier."

"Hey, someone had to knock some sense into you," she replied.

"Do you…" Ken swallowed. "Do you want to come over again sometime? I'd…like to talk some more."

"Of course." Tailmon nodded. "And I'd like to get to know this little guy better. He's so cute!"