In the Darkness
Beady, black eyes snapped open. Disoriented, the owner of the eyes tried to survey the room he lie in, but much to his dismayed he was unable to see anything. Pitch black was all that greeted him; darkness. He noticed his breathing was shaky and he was sweating. In a rush, the details of why he awoke so suddenly returned to him. Nightmare; pain; fear; anger; screaming. The beady, black eyes squeezed shut, but were unable to stop tears from escaping.
He huddled against what he was lying on, growing more scared by the minute. He was in an unfamiliar, soft place and still very disoriented. His sleep encrusted mind had yet to inform him that he was only half conscious, he was falling asleep again already, and yet he was still awake at the same time. Between sleep and awareness. He was in a place that was soft and dark and unfamiliar. He was awake enough to be afraid. Where was he?
He noticed then, that something was holding him down on the surface of...whatever it was he was on. This revelation jolted him fully awake. The thing holding him down moved, just slightly. The beady, black eyes snapped open again and he began to struggle, to get out from underneath the thing holding him down. Suddenly, the thing was gone. He sighed in relief. Short lived relief. The surface underneath him began to quake.
He whimpered.
Something warm wrapped around him. He winced as light flooded his vision and shut his eyes again.
"Minomon?" A soft, concerned voice spoke to him. Arms hugged him, held him. He opened his eyes again, letting them adjust to the light. The voice belong to a pale boy. Dark circles under the boy's eyes testified to a lack of sleep on his part as well. The boy's indigo hair was damp and limp with sweat.
"Ken-chan?" the small digimon whispered hopefully.
"What's wrong Minomon?" the boy responded. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yeah.."
The boy hugged him tightly.
"I did, too," he confided in a whisper. "Was yours bad?"
"Yeah..."
"Well," the boy said slowly, purposely not asking what the nightmare was about, "you can go back to sleep, okay? Nothing's going to hurt you, I promise."
"You can go back to sleep, too, Ken-chan," the small digimon said. "I'll protect you."
The boy looked at him for a moment. The digimon was afraid the boy would make fun of him, but instead he smiled.
"You always protect me, don't you?"
The digimon nodded vigorously.
"Thank you," the boy whispered. He reached upwards and turned the reading lamp that lit the room off. Again, the digimon was surrounded by darkness. The boy settled down into the blankets and closed his eyes, still holding his digimon. He seemed greatly comforted by the presence of the small creature in his arms and feel asleep.
The digimon however was unable to rid himself of the visions of his nightmare. They came back to him to moment he closed his eyes.
A new though occurred to him then; what if this was the dream? What if smiles and hugs were just something his desperate mind conjured? What if the pain and horror was the true reality? It seemed plausible enough, that had been his life for so very long. He was a fool to believe it would change. But, then, the change had been all he had hoped for, all he had wanted in that time.
The small digimon pressed himself against the one who held him. The boy seemed real enough.
"Ken-chan?" the digimon asked, his voice at normal volume. "Ken-chan, wake up," he pleaded. The digimon moved in the boy's grasp. Jolting him awake. The digimon held his breath as one of the boy's blue-violet eyes cracked open.
"What is it, Minomon?" he asked. Exhaustion was in his voice, as was kindness, caring, concern.
"Ken-chan, are you real?" the digimon replied, trying to voice his questions on the subject of dreams versus reality.
"Yes," the boy answered uncertainly.
"Or are you a dream?" the digimon clarified.
"No, I'm real," the boy stated. "Your nightmare was a dream. It can't hurt you, Minomon."
The digimon considered that for a moment.
"Do you mind if I call you 'Ken-chan,' Ken-chan?"
"Of course not. You can call me whatever you want," the boy answered. In the darkness, a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. He relented and grinned, knowing the digimon couldn't see it.
"Can I call you 'Ken-chan' forever?"
"Forever," the boy affirmed. "And you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because you're my best friend."
"You're my best friend, too, Ken-chan," the digimon said, trying to return the boy's hugs.
"I'm sorry I make you have bad dreams, Minomon," the boy softly.
There was no reply. The creature in his arms was asleep. The boy smiled and settled down once again. Yet, in the darkness his haunted blue-violet eyes remained open.
~*~*~
A/N: So, how many of you remember Wormmon's line "He still has nightmares, mine are worse, though." Inspiration in obscure lines.
Disclaimers: I do not own Digimon or anything related to it. This is a work of fanfiction and no money is being made from it. Toei, Saban, FOX and possibly Bandai if memory serves correct do, however, make money from Digimon.