A Friendship Like None Other
Thick, dark clouds filled the western skies. The sign of a storm was approaching and everyone prepared for the rainfall. Everyone except Ken, that is. Still hidden away in the Digital World, he had no idea of what was happening in the real world. So why would he have to worry? Unfortunately, the Digiworld itself was having a storm. But, it was minor. Something that Ken rather enjoyed actually. The rain wasn't too hard and there was the occasional burst of thunder and/or flash of lightning. It was his idea of a perfect day.
"Ken-Chan…" Wormmon rubbed up against his master's leg.
"What is it?" he asked, his mind focused on his work.
The worm-like digimon was surprised; for once he wasn't yelled at or kicked away. So he kept cuddling up to his leg. "Aren't you worried about those who you left behind?"
Ken looked down, "Who? My family? The ones who you'd think are my friends?"
"Uh huh?"
"No." He replied quickly.
"But, Ken-"
"Go away, you're disrupting my concentration." Ken said, pushing the little digimon away.
"Gatomon," Hikari turned in her seat.
The cat digimon was jumping towards the light rays shining off a prism that caught the beams of light from the sun. The sun itself was beginning to be covered with clouds.
"Meow," Gatomon replied, "what is it, Hikari?"
The girl laughed while she watched her digimon's tail twitch before she pounced on the miniature rainbows. "What are you doing?"
Gatomon's voice was low with a hint of childish ways, "I'm a cat, 'Kari. And our attention turns to anything if it's interesting…" Again, she batted at the light with her gloved paw.
Hikari reached up and put her hand in front of the prism. The lights on the ground and walls disappeared.
"Meow?" Gatomon sat up and cocked her head to the left. "What happened to it?"
Hikari giggled. "Come on, silly. Let's see if Taichi bought some food."
"Pata-Pata-Patamon," the winged digimon flew in front of a mirror, simply fascinated by his reflection. He hovered to the right, then to the left. He suddenly dropped, then found himself flapping to keep his balance. The little digimon was amazed with the way he looked. Whether it was funny or not!
Takeru walked through the door and saw his friend practically running into the mirror. "Patamon," he laughed, "are you okay?"
"Pata-What? Of course I am, Takeru." He said in his squeaky voice. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've been staring at yourself for over an hour. Way longer than my brother has." Takeru joked.
Patamon flapped his wings (or ears? Whichever. O.o) and spun around to see the blond. "It's just funny how humans come up with funny things to make digimon look funny. This reflection of me makes my ears look big."
Takeru laughed again. "They're always that big."
Patamon frowned and placed himself on the boy's head. "So?" He whined. "It doesn't mean you have to rub it in."
Both of them laughed a little.
"Hold still, Poyomon!" Miyako struggled to keep her flying digimon from runner, rather flying, away.
The poor little digimon squeaked and said in it's cute muffled child-like voice, "Miyako, Miyako! I don't want to be a dress up Poyomon! Please, Miyako, please!"
"Come on! It's just a hat. Please?" She begged.
His heart sank a little as he flew down from the corner of her room. He bounced onto the bed and waited for his friend to stick the itchy hat onto his head.
"Now," she said, adjusting it so it looked just right. "That isn't too bad."
Poyomon looked up at Miyako with his big, glossy eyes. "Speak for yourself," he thought. Secretly, the little digimon had an actual crush on the girl. It was probably because of her ways of persuasion. "Ha," Poyomon laughed at himself; "Miyako always gets her way."
"You look adorable!" Miyako dashed out. Within ten seconds, she ran back in with a camera in hand.
"No, Miyako! Please!" Poyomon pleaded and fluttered into the closet.
Miyako frowned. "What else am I supposed to do on a rainy day?"
Poyomon poked his little beak out of the darkness and said, "Do what you always do. Talk on the phone. Anything but this!"
Miyako giggled wildly at her cute digimon.
Iori sat in his room with the covers pulled to his chin. It was early, but he had caught a cold and his grandfather told him to get as much rest as possible.
"And drink prune juice!" He remembered his grandpa's words.
"Iori," Upamon bounced into the room, dragging a basket full of prune juice.
"Upamon! What are you doing out and around like that?" Iori climbed out of bed and knelt down beside his digimon.
"Your grandpa said to drink a bunch of prune juice." He answered.
Iori laughed and took a container of the juice. He sat down and sipped it slowly.
"Iori?"
"Yes, Upamon?"
"Can you tell stories as well as your grandpa?" Upamon bounced onto his lap.
"I could try."
The digimon closed his eyes and rubbed against his friend, "Can you tell me one?"
Iori thought for a minute then remembered the storm. "Would you like to hear one about the rain?"
"Uh huh!" He answered enthusiastically.
"Okay, here it goes." Iori started, "Everyday, a town received over three inches of rain, per night. They townspeople wonder what was going on with the heavens. And then… One fair and young lady showed up, claiming that she…"
Daisuke sat in front of his window, watching the rain start to fall. Chibimon (or DemiVeemon…I choose NOT to use that…I hope you understand…) was on his lap, almost asleep. The sun was now hidden behind the clouds and the rain started to get heavier.
"Daisuke?"
"Yeah?"
"What ish with the rain?"
"What do you mean?"
"Some people hate it, but some people like it. Why?"
Daisuke looked down at his friend, "It's mainly because people like different things. I, for one, don't like Takeru's attitude. But other people…"
"Do."
He smirked uneasily, "Yeah."
"But… the rain?"
"Did you ever hear the story of the Rain Goddess?" Daisuke asked his friend and plopped down onto his bed.
"No. Don't think so."
"Well," Daisuke lifted his digimon up, "it all starts when this town gets a whole lotta rain. They start to worry about their town and food and junk. And one day, this girl comes, not just any girl… A beautiful, breath taking girl! And she claims t'be the Rain Goddess. A villager walks up to 'er and asks, "Well, if you're the Rain Goddess, then make this rain stop!" And that's what she did. The rain stopped. Weeks afterwards, there still was no rain. The townspeople were in trouble."
"Daisuke?" Chibimon interrupted.
"Yeah?"
"You tell stories really well."
Daisuke chuckled and continued, "And then…"
Ken spun around in his chair in boredom, he was acting rather childish because of such boredom. Wormmon thought he was coming down with a fever.
"Ken?" he asked to break the silence.
"What?"
"Do you know any stories?" Wormmon asked and crawled onto his lap.
Instead of batting away the digimon, he let him stay. "Yeah, I do. Have you heard of the Rain Goddess?"
"No…"
"Well," Ken said, his eyes glancing upwards. "My mother told me this story when I was younger…"
A minute(ish) later…
"Everyone in the small village panicked because of the rain shortage. Again, the Maiden of Mystery showed up one evening." Ken kept telling the story, "She saw all the destruction that the people had done. Not because of the drought, but because of their anger. That one villager was seemingly to blame… When she asked a towns person what happened…"
"Hikari," Gatomon swung her tail from the girl's bed. "I am a poor, bored, li'l digikitty."
"I'm bored too, Gato'." Hikari leaned against her desk.
Gatomon let out a yawn.
"Would you like to hear a story?"
"Sure, 'Kari. You know I love hearing your stories…"
"Well, it's about the Rain Goddess." She started.
Minutes later…
"That strange person who called herself a goddess asked a young man what happened." Hikari said, stroking Gatomon's head gently, "He ran away from her, screaming out "Witch! Witch! The witch is back!" And the villagers grew around this woman who didn't know what was going on.
"You took away our rain!" one said.
"More or less, you took away our lives!" another screamed.
"You've got it all wrong!" The beautiful girl cried out. "You disagree, you fight… you do everything but get along!"
The screaming and yells quieted down and…"
Takeru was on his back on top of his bed, tossing a basketball up and down. Patamon was on top of the ball. They were talking about how they liked the rain and all the lightning.
"But," Patamon admitted, "rain isn't all that fun."
"I agree." Takeru sighed, "You can't do much on a rainy day.
"Let's listen to the radio…" Patamon flew off the ball and dived towards the power button. Before he got there, the lights went out. He smacked into the box. "Ouch!" He cried out.
"You okay, Patamon?" Takeru asked, sitting up in the dark. He searched for his flashlight, knowing he would have needed it sometime that evening, and turned it on.
"Just peachy." Patamon pouted and flew back to Takeru.
"I could always tell you a story."
"Yeah! A story! That's good!" Patamon exclaimed and landed on his friend's chest when he lied down.
"It's about this really pretty girl, the Rain Goddess…"
Minutes afterwards…
"So they quieted down to listen to her side of the story." Takeru propped his head on his arms and continued, "She said something like, "I must confess I am not the Goddess of the Rain." And the people got even angrier. The girl started to tell the whole story… of how she was found as a baby in a cottage alone. And how she grew up with complete strangers, never learning their language. Then when she was a teen, they banished her from their town, calling her a sorceress because of her so- called "abilities." But, the girl was only a …"
Miyako held Poyomon up to the window, letting him watch the rainfall and the lightning flash.
"Isn't it great?"
"If that's what you think." Poyomon shivered. "It kind of scares me."
"There's nothing to worry about the rain, though."
"How do you say such a thing?" Poyomon buried himself against Miyako. "It's scary if you look at it. And the thunder!"
"But," Miyako protested, "haven't you heard of the story?"
"Story? What story?"
"The Rain Goddess…"
Yup, you got it… Minutes later…
Miyako cradled the digimon like a baby and expressed the story in different tones of voices and volume, just for fun, "She claimed she was a normal girl. But people refused to believe that. When people asked for what they wanted, she gave it to them. If it was the rain to stop, she'd stop the rain. If it was one to fall in love with another, she'd grant that. But, she never found the bad outcomes of it all. She moved like the wind, a city to a village, a village to a town. She never stayed more than a day or two. This town was different, however…"
"What an upsetting story." Poyomon whispered, "It's the rain's fault, I tell you..!!"
"Shush, I'm not finished yet." Miyako laughed.
Iori pulled the blanket over him and his friend. Upamon was sipping some prune juice, enjoying the story.
"This girl was curious about why people despised her. She thought she did good. But, people said she didn't." Iori yawned and started again, "So this beautiful girl asks what happened… When she hears the story, she apologizes.
"I only wanted to stop the rain for you." She said.
"Well, you certainly did THAT!" A man yelled.
She hung her head, "I see what I do…"
A little girl tugged on her arm, "Miss? What do you do?"
"Every where I go…" She started…"
Daisuke picked up the story from where he left off before he grabbed a snack… "She claimed that everywhere she went, something followed her. Like a shadow. 'Cept this shadow was more like bad luck."
"Opposites!" Chibimon jumped up and down.
"Yeah!" Daisuke nodded, "She said that something bad always happened when she delivered good. So she goes and makes it rain… And as she guessed, the rain started to get heavier and heavier. This beautiful chick was now furious. Everyone was upset with her for something she didn't do.
"Good luck comes with bad. Complete opposites. Don't you get it?" one voice asked from far above."
"I was right! Opposites!" Chibimon cheered.
"Yeah, again!" Daisuke laughed, "So then the girl tries to figure out who this person is…"
"And," Ken said, his eyes were still in the same place as they were when he first started the story. Wormmon was still on his lap, very comfortable and happy. "This girl, the Maiden of Mystery, the Rain Goddess, the Witch or Sorceress… She starts to cry, wishing that whoever was following her, would show his or herself to everyone. Her wish was granted. Another heavenly girl walked towards the other. They looked exactly alike! Twins, they were. The only difference was that the Maiden of Mystery had soft blond hair and bright blue eyes. The other had black hair and dark blue eyes. They stared at each other and then…"
"They began to cry," Hikari said, almost over emotionally, "they were the twins of luck. One good, one bad. They were never supposed to be separated. But they were! When they were born, they were taken away to be held from each other. Because their friendship was so grand. So great and strong. The sisters embraced for the first time in their lives. The friendship between them seemed to lighten the rain and make everything seem better. Finally…"
Takeru closed his eyes, he had heard a different version of the same story. "So her lover, this guy that had been causing the bad luck, told her he loved her. She felt confused because she had never actually been in love. She had thought everyone had hated her. When she asked why he hadn't shown himself before… He said that he was put under a curse. A curse that held him back from seeing her. They were destined to be together. And finally, they were…"
Miyako was telling Upamon the same version Takeru heard, "Their friendship bloomed incredibly fast. I mean, really, really, really fast! It was as if they knew each other for a long, long time. Now that's what I call a relationship! Anyway, this Rain Maiden finally found her other half. And her bad luck suddenly disappeared along with the curse." She giggled like a young child, "And they lived happily ever after, you know why?"
"No." Poyomon blinked. "Why?"
"Because friendship and love can conquer over anything." Miyako hugged her digimon tightly, "That's why."
"I like that story a lot!" Poyomon said, "I don't think I'm afraid of the rain any more."
A loud burst of thunder filled the silence.
"Eep!" Poyomon tried to hide himself, "But I still hate the thunder!"
"And so the sisters reunited," Iori started to finish the story. "Everything balanced out, their friendship destroyed the spell put upon them and they lived as Sister of the Luck for the rest of their lives."
"Wow, Iori." Upamon bounced happily, "That was really great! You tell stories just as great as your grandpa! Really you do!"
Iori smiled, "Thank you, Upamon."
The two reached for another container of prune juice and started to drink it, listening to the rain spill onto the earth.
"The sisters balanced the earth again," Hikari finished, "and they were forever known as the Sisters of Luck and Love because it was their bond that broke the spell."
"Hikari?" Gatomon purred.
"Hmm?"
"We have a bond just as strong as theirs… right?"
Hikari smiled and hugged her life-long friend, "Right. And nothing could change that."
"So," Daisuke sat up to finish the story, "she and her dad, (he heard yet another version of the story) broke the spell because they loved each other so much. She was a Daddy's Girl. And that's what people called her, the Rain Goddess or Daddy's Little Rain Girl."
"Great story, bravo, Daisuke! Bravo!" Chibimon hopped around his friend in short distant hops.
They both laughed.
"And she and her sweetheart lived together after that." Takeru finished. "They were known as the Opposite Lovers. Or, the Light… and the Dark. Because she brought the light, he brought the dark. Get it?"
"Uh huh!" Patamon nodded then he waited.
"What?"
"It's not over yet." Patamon insisted.
"Yeah, it is…"
"No… you didn't say the last two words!"
Takeru chuckled, "Oh, yeah… The end."
"Better."
"The twins lived as the Bearers of Luck. One held the good, one held the bad. But both of them combined their fortunes to balance the outcome." Ken paused, a tear was in his eye, "The family was reunited once again…"
Wormmon saw that tear and asked in a calm and steady voice, "Ken-Chan… Would you like to go home now?"
"Yeah," Ken whispered as the tear rolled down his cheek, "I would like to come home…"
The end.