I do not own Digimon. I never thought I would be into it enough to write a story for it, but, well, here we are. Italics, as I normally use them in my other stories, symbolize thoughts and dreams. I do not own Apple either. I suppose at this point, that would be kind of obvious. I'm only saying it because there is an iPod or two involved. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: The First Night Terror
Gatomon was not sure where she was. It was nothing like the Digital World, Real World, or the Dark Ocean. In fact, it was darker than the Dark Ocean. Everywhere the feline Digimon looked, there was pure darkness. To her left, to her right, in front of her, behind her, above her, and below her. Unsure where she was, she shivered. That place was uncanny. She called out, "Hello? Is anyone out there…? Kari…?"
There was no answer. Through the darkness, her sharp eyes were able to make out a sinister, yet familiar silhouette. She recognized the silhouette and gasped in horror. Gatomon screamed, "No! That's impossible! G-get away! You can't be here! You were destroyed! Twice!" There was still not answer. Dark tendrils coiled around Gatomon's ankles and wrists. She tried to pull her appendages away, but with a lack of success. Suddenly, the black tentacles turned into an attack that she knew all too well and dreaded just the same: Crimson Lightning. She started screaming and thrashing wildly.
"Gatomon! Gatomon, calm down! Please, you have to wake up!" a faint, disembodied voice called out to the cat Digimon. It sounded just like Kari's voice. "Gatomon!" Kari sounded very upset, but Gatomon could barely hear her over her own screaming.
"Kari, out of the way!" another faint voice ordered. It sounded like Tai.
End of the nightmare…
The next thing Gatomon knew, she was completely soaked with cold water. Dripping wet, she was in Kari's room. On the bed, next to her, was none other than Kari. A few feet away, Tai and Agumon stood. All eyes were on Gatomon. Tai was holding an empty bucket. Gatomon glared at Tai and yelled, "Was that really necessary?!" She couldn't have described how close she was to attacking him.
"Kind of," Tai nodded. His tone was firm and serious.
"Thank goodness you're awake!" Kari exclaimed and hugged her Digimon tightly. She sounded terribly worried. "You were just having the most awful night terror."
"Night terror…? What's a night terror…?" Gatomon asked, the term "night terror" being totally foreign to her.
"It's when you're having a nightmare and can't wake up, so you start screaming and thrashing in your sleep," Agumon explained. "At least, that's what I think it is. Up until now, I've never seen anyone have one before."
"What time is it…?" Gatomon asked softly. She looked over at Kari's alarm clock. It was…
"Four in the morning. You sure are lucky that my dad's away on business. You woke us all up with your screaming," Kari explained, hugging Gatomon a little tighter.
"Sorry…" Gatomon apologized, feeling guilty to cause such a disturbance.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're okay, and that's all that matters. Besides, Tai was supposed to wake up and get ready for school in an hour anyway," Kari gave her Digimon a sunny smile of reassurance.
"On the bright side, it's a Friday, so Tai and Kari don't have to go to school tomorrow," Agumon smiled and pointed out.
Gatomon forced a small smile, but inside, she was deep in thought. Even after the DigiDestined from around the world defeated him, I still see him in my nightmares… Why can't he just go away?!
"Is everything alright?" Kari and Tai's mother came in.
"Yeah, Mom," Tai assured, "cold water did the trick."
"That's a relief. Kari, I'll change your sheets. Just go dry off Gatomon," Mrs. Kamiya sighed in relief.
"Okay. Thanks, Mom," Kari nodded, picked Gatomon up, and carried her into the bathroom. With a fluffy pink towel, the human began to dry her Digimon's wet fur. "Do you want to tell me what your nightmare was about? It sounds like it must have been very scary."
"I was alone," Gatomon began to explain as Kari rubbed the towel on her, "in some dark, eerie place. Then, I saw the silhouette of…of…" Then, she lost her nerve to speak, and started having a teary emotional meltdown.
"Oh, Gatomon…" Kari hugged Gatomon once again. It felt like her heart had shattered into a million pieces when she was trying desperately to wake up her partner. To hear her scream with such terror in her voice was awful enough. It gave Kari a sinking suspicion of whose silhouette it was. To think about being in Gatomon's fur sent shivers down Kari's spine.
"I'm so lucky to have you…so blessed…" Gatomon sniffled and hugged Kari back. Kari gave her all the love, care, and affection a Digimon could ever dream of, and then some. In Gatomon's opinion, out of all the millions of DigiDestined in the world, Kari was the greatest, hands down.
"Are you sure you'll be okay without me for a few hours? I can stay home with you today if you want," Kari offered.
"No, you shouldn't. I don't want you to miss school for my benefit. Then, you'll get behind on work. You go to school. I'll be fine. I promise," Gatomon raised her right paw and promised. She'd feel even guiltier if Kari played hooky for her sake.
"Okay," Kari nodded. She was reluctant to leave Gatomon alone. "I'm not leaving for another few hours. We could play a game if you want, or we could listen to music."
"M-music sounds nice," Gatomon said softly. "Please?" Kari smiled, nodded, and took Gatomon back to her room. Like her mother promised, the wet bed sheets had been exchanged for dry ones. Kari reached for her night stand. Her D-3 and her pink iPod sat on it. She pinked up the iPod, plugged her ear buds in, and placed one ear bud in one of Gatomon's ears, and the other ear bud in one of her own ears.
"Any requests?" Kari asked as she scrolled through her playlists.
"Surprise me," Gatomon managed a genuine smile and requested. Kari smiled and picked one. The two of them spent the next hour and a half cuddling in Kari's bed, listening to music.
Tai was about to leave for school. "I think I'll leave Kari and Gatomon be for a while. Bye, Mom. Later, Agumon!"
"Have a good day at school!" Mrs. Kamiya bid him a fond so-long.
"Bye, Tai!" Agumon waved to his partner.
When Tai was gone, Mrs. Kamiya sighed and said, "They grow up so fast."
"I know what you mean, Mrs. Kamiya. He's really grown up from when I first met him," Agumon nodded in agreement.
