Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Den-O, it belongs to Shotaro Ishinomori who created it and to Yasuko Kobayashi and Shoji Yonemura who wrote it. This is simply for my own entertainment, and I make no money off of this.
AN: This came to me randomly last night when I was attempting to fall asleep. It's Ryuta's thoughts during the last episodes.
Warnings: Minor spoilers for everything before the very last fight with Kai.
Scared
Ryutaro's rubbed his arms, trying to get ride of the strange feeling he got every time he started to fade, like having ants crawling all over his skin. It was so disturbing to see and feel the sand that made up his entire being in some ways disappearing. Wrapping his arms tightly around his legs again, he rocked back and forth, trying desperately to pretend things were back to normal. To pretend everyone wasn't gone.
It kept replaying in his mind. He could see as Kuma-chan stepped off the train to help Ryotaro, and suddenly having his own physical form. He could still picture the other imagin fighting alone, telling them to go. Telling Ryotaro that, since all he had was time, he would prefer to go out protecting the now. He could hear his own horrified, pleading cries as Kuma-chan got smaller and smaller before disappearing entirely as the Den-Liner headed back to the future. The empty feeling that came after still hadn't left.
Then Kame-chan started acting oddly, pretending to be siding with the bad guys, and he believed it. They'd been left in a different time without Kuma-chan or Kame-chan. Then Kame-chan came back and fought Momotaros before Naomi-chan brought the abandoned train back. He could see Kame-chan as he fought off the bad guys alone, his own true allegiance revealed, and he too was left behind, not jumping on the train as it took off while Momotaros couldn't stop it. It was like reliving a nightmare, only this time it was Kame-chan who disappeared as the Den-Liner headed back to its proper time. The empty feeling from before got worse and felt like it would swallow him whole.
Now Momotaros and Ryotaro are out fighting, and everyone is gone. Everything is so strange, and he is so scared, terrified, and doesn't know entirely why. Naomi-chan said it was normal to be scared, but he shouldn't be. Last time he and the others were disappearing he wasn't scared, it hadn't really made any difference. He had gone on like it wasn't happening. Sure they had come back, but they hadn't known they would, and he hadn't been scared.
But last time they were all together. Kuma-chan and Kame-chan weren't stuck in the past fighting Kai's imagin despite disappearing. Momotaros, even, had been there along with Ryotaro, not out fighting to protect the now they all loved even if it lead to a future where they didn't exist. They had all been together, so he hadn't been alone. He didn't want to be alone again, like he had been before he'd contracted with Ryotaro. He didn't want to be scared.
Then he felt it. Ryotaro was fighting, and he was in danger. He hesitated. He was scared, but he didn't want to be scared anymore. He didn't want to make onee-chan cry, and, more importantly in some ways, he didn't want to lose another member of his family. He didn't want to be alone.
As Ryutaros leapt up and ran off the train – not even noticing as Naomi-chan called after him – he remembered what Kame-chan and Kuma-chan had said. It was true that they only had time, but as long as he had time, he was going to make the most of it like everyone else was. He refused to be left alone, to lose someone else. He was going to fight. He wasn't going to be scared anymore.
AN: So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Please let me know! Reviews feed the muse!