Rose Petals
By Ruki Minamoto
Summary: Takeru becomes very ill after the fight with Devimon. Can he survive this ordeal?
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN DIGIMON!
Chapter 1: Beginnings and Endings
The rose petals flew gently away from a rose as it bended in the breeze. It slowly shed its blood red clothing in the summer heat. It was watered by a splash of water from a lake nearby where some children were playing.
"I'll get you for that, Kamiya!" Yamato Ishida shouted as he waded through the ripples that the children were creating. Although his current enemy was a brown-headed boy his age, he gazed over at the bank of the lake and checked on a younger boy. He sat there, rubbing the egg in his hands. Yamato forgot about the other boy and headed towards his little brother.
The 8-year-old looked up at Yamato. His blue eyes were pale and sickly.
"I'm not feeling well, Yamato."
Yamato used his top to wipe as much excess water from himself as possible and sat on the soft grass beside his brother. For some reason, he didn't think that the little boy was really sick.
"This has nothing to do with Devimon, does it?" Matt asked, putting a loving hand on Takeru Takaishi's shoulder. Although Yamato was normally cold and cruel, he had a soft spot for his younger brother by 3 years. Especially since they were separated by divorce many years ago.
Takeru shook his head furiously. Although he did feel sad and angry about what happened, he really did feel sick. He had since the fight against Devimon. Yamato pulled Takeru into a hug. The eleven-year-old kissed the young boy on his forehead.
"Just get some sleep. I think you might have the flu or stomach flu or something."
Yamato helped Takeru to his shaky feet and helped him to their camp. "Have a good nap."
Takeru nodded and lay down, almost crying because he felt so sick. He hoped that he felt better tomorrow - he didn't want to miss all the fun.
The next morning, Takeru awoke to feel even worse. He had a terrible stomach-ache, a headache as well as feeling like throwing up. He sat up weakly and ran his hand slowly along Patamon's digi-egg.
"Please hatch, Patamon. I feel so sick." Takeru curled back into a ball. He then realised that someone had put a blanket over him over night. Closer inspection revealed that it was Yamato's. Yamato was still asleep, but completely uncovered. Takeru smiled weakly and whispered "Thank you, Nii-san."
By midday, Takeru was wide-awake, although still unwell. Unable to stay in bed any longer, Takeru came out from his hideaway and approached Yamato who was sitting at the campfire.
"Nii-san…Thanks for giving me your blanket." Yamato turned with a start. He then realised it was only Takeru. Yamato let his eyes meet Takeru's.
Normally Takeru's eyes would be a bright clear blue, but right now - they were so pale they almost seemed white. Yamato felt frightened.
"Takeru…You're really sick. JYO!"
A skinny 12-year-old stopped and turned to face Yamato. He did look a bit sickly himself, but that was just Jyo.
"What is it, Yamato? Anyhow - there really isn't a need to burst my eardrums." Yamato didn't care for anything Jyo had to say about anyone but Takeru right now.
"Get over here! Right now! Takeru's really - and I mean really - sick!" Jyo raced over at a speed that Yamato had never thought possible from the boy. Takeru was watching Jyo come over. He had never thought that he could be so sick that Yamato would be scared.
But there was somehow fear in Yamato's clear blue almost child-like eyes.
"What's wrong with Takeru?" Jyo asked, looking to the 8-year-old who was a ghostly white. Jyo suddenly knew what Yamato meant. He put his hand to Takeru's forehead. The boy looked to his feet.
"Look at Takeru's eyes." Yamato advised. Jyo did as he was told and jumped back in shock. Takeru was very, very sick.
"We need a doctor." Jyo said as he turned away to the others. He walked over to them to gather them. Yamato hugged Takeru close to him and called after Jyo.
"JYO! Where are you going?"
Jyo stopped and turned to face Yamato, fear obvious in his face.
"We need to get home - or Takeru's life could be in danger." Yamato seemed surprised and even more scared by Jyo's words. It was only now that he truly realised that Takeru could die. He hugged Takeru closer to him.
"Nii-san…What's wrong with me?" Takeru seemed frightened, but not half as scared as Jyo and Yamato were.
Yamato only just dared to let his eyes meet Takeru's. He was scared that he would scream with the paleness of them. He saw fear.
"We're going to get home, OK? Then - we're going to a doctor's."
"Will I die?" Yamato tried to think of a suitable answer. Takeru sure wasn't beating around the bush with this question. Eventually - he settled for the truth.
"I don't know, Takeru. But I'll do what I can…We all will."
Takeru forced a smiled that seemed almost sincere and nodded.
"Don't be scared, Nii-san. Whatever it is - I'll fight it until the end. Like Angemon did."
Yamato sighed. Unfortunately, going home probably meant leaving the Digimon behind.
The next few days were horrible. It hurt Yamato to watch Takeru get worse and worse and not be able to do anything about it. It was day five after they started trying to find a way home that Patamon's digi-egg finally hatched.
"What was that sound?" Sora Takenouchi asked as she looked around. She had been trying to teach an unenthusiastic Mimi Tachikawa how to play soccer. Mimi flopped onto the ground.
"I don't care!" she whined. "Why doesn't Digiworld have any shopping malls?"
"Sure it wasn't your back, Mimi?" Taichi teased. Yamato had been sitting next to a sleeping Takeru who was curled up, holding the digi-egg. He jumped back.
"It's Patamon! The digi-egg is hatching!"
Takeru's sleepy eyes opened slowly.
"Nii-san…Why is everyone yelling?" Yamato pulled his brother into a sitting position and showed him the digi-egg. "PATAMON!"
"Yep." Yamato mumbled with encouragement for his sick brother. The egg finally vanished, leaving a small creature there.
"Poyomon. A baby Digimon." Koushiru said in the matter-of-fact voice. Takeru pulled the creature into a hug and curled back into a ball. Before long - he was asleep.
Yamato ran his fingers through his little brother's hat hair. Through the last five days, he had shown more emotions than he had in his whole life. It was his worry for his beloved brother. There was no way that he would let the Grim Reaper take TK without a fight. No way on Earth.
A week after Poyomon's hatching, Koushiru came up with the answer.
"Yamato!" The redhead's voice pierced his thoughts. He turned to Koushiru.
"What's up? Is it Takeru…"
Koushiru shook his head. There was a huge smiled plastered on his face. Yamato folded
his arms and glared at the 10-year-old. He had no time for guessing games.
"So…Why did you call my name?"
"I know how to get us home!"
Yamato froze. This was great! They could get Takeru to a doctor and hopefully get him better. Gabumon looked up from where he stood next to Yamato. The Digimon had been unsure of Yamato lately. He didn't know just how to talk to him at the moment. Not when Takeru was so sick.
"How? How long will it take?"
Koushiru sighed.
"That's the problem…We need to get to the Digiworld's equivalent of our North Pole. It
will be very cold up there, but there is a constant gate open there. If we can get there - we can get home without too much trouble. However…"
"However…" Yamato asked, waving his arms about.
"However - we won't be able to bring our Digimon with us. I know that it will be hard - but it's better than having Takeru die on us. We should be able to get back to Digiworld some day though."
Yamato felt his whole body plunge headfirst into confusion and terror. He gazed to his brother. Gabumon looked up at Yamato.
"So Yamato…" Gabumon asked. "What are we going to do?"
Yamato looked away from Takeru to Gabumon. As much as he hated the pure thought of leaving Gabumon - he hated the idea of putting his own happiness over Takeru's own life.
"I leave you behind so we can get Takeru to hospital. I'll miss you, but Takeru is my first priority." And with that, Yamato left Gabumon and Koushiru standing there in shock and worry. They didn't know what to say to him right now.
A week later, Takeru was so sick he could barely move without feeling like throwing up. This was so frightening for Yamato. But today was the day. They were going to go to the Digital North Pole.
"Do we have everything that we need?" asked Koushiru. This was his time to shine. He was the mastermind behind this operation. "Food?"
"Check!" Mimi cried from where she was holding a makeshift bag of berries and supplies that they had had since leaving summer camp so long ago.
"Blankets?"
"Check!" Yamato called from where he had a pile of blankets tied with a rope and Takeru wrapped up in a nice fleecy one.
"First aid kit?"
"Check!" Joe yelled from next to Yamato and Takeru where he quickly checked Takeru's soaring temperature. "Yikes!"
"Everyone has their DigiVices?"
"Check!" everyone, except Takeru of course, cried in response. It continued this way for several minutes before Koushiru had decided that they were ready.
"OK guys - we're gonna set off now. Taichi, Sora and I will pull - Jyo and Mimi will push and Yamato and Takeru will ride our sled." Koushiru instructed.
Even though they were in a nice warm summer place, they wanted to conserve their Digimon's energy for when they would really need it.
"If I had known what this would entail!" Mimi whined as she pushed. "My arms are gonna drop off!" This didn't at all impress the 10-year-old.
"Keep going Mimi." Yamato enthused. "For Takeru's sake if not for anything else."
Mimi felt guilty for putting her own wants over TK's needs and pushed harder, a look of determination on her face. Palmon looked up at Mimi.
"You're doing the right thing, Mimi." Palmon encouraged. Mimi smiled weakly and looked down at Palmon.
"Then why is it so hard?"
"I should have brought that jacket!" Sora moaned as she paused momentarily to rub her arms. She then noticed Yamato's fear-filled eyes and returned to pulling her rope. She knew that any amount of cold would be worth Takeru getting professional help for whatever his illness was.
Yamato watched Sora pulling, becoming very worn out. The cold was making her very slow and tired. She looked on the verge of collapsing.
"Sora…are you OK?"
"Fine." Sora said sternly. "Just fine."
Yamato frowned. He wasn't so sure - but he would have to take Sora's word for it.
Taichi pulled with enthusiasm. Takeru was a like a little brother to Taichi and he didn't
want to lose him. If there were something he could do…he'd do it.
Jyo fought down fatigue and the cold as the day and night wore on. This, for some reason, seemed more risky than fighting Devimon. Now - there really was a life on the line.
Koushiru pulled with one hand for a few seconds to flex the other. He seemed to be getting a cramp - but he didn't really care. Not when Takeru was in this position.
Twenty-four hours after they left, the group arrived at the exact point Koushiru had claimed that the gate would be open from.
"Takeru! We're here!" Yamato cried as he hugged Takeru close to him. The eight-year-old had been sleeping since they'd left and had only been awoken by Yamato's cry.
"Nii-san…what happened? What's going on?"
"We're going home!" Yamato cried again and kissed his brother. Takeru smiled genuinely and fell asleep again. Yamato let the smile vanish. Takeru was somehow slowly dying before his own eyes. It was upsetting.
Koushiru bent over and touched his toes to stretch. When he finished, he looked over the group.
"Right-o. Say goodbye and let's get going."
Yamato looked to Gabumon and Poyomon. He stood up carefully and pulled Takeru onto his back.
"Gabumon - look after Poyomon. I will come back some day. I'll bring Takeru along too if he's better." Yamato let his eyes meet Gabumon's. "I'll miss you, Gabumon."
"Me too, Yamato. Can you do one thing for me?"
"Anything."
"Look after Takeru. No matter what - make sure he's OK. My last wish…For now."
Yamato nodded - even though he knew that it happened to be a promise that he may not be able to keep.
"I'll do what I can. Just watch out for Poyomon." Yamato turned away before he began crying and watched the others finish up their teary farewells.
Everyone saw Yamato holding Takeru and finished up almost immediately. They watched each other before looking to colourful sky high above them. It was time. As sad as they all were - they were almost glad for Takeru to take their minds off saying goodbye to their Digimon.
"Ready?" Koushiru asked. Five nodding heads answered him. "Raise your DigiVices to the sky and let's go home!"
The Digidestined, minus Takeru, did as they were told and they were home before they knew it.
