Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. TOEI Animations, Saban, Bandai, FoxKids and others do. I translated this fic from German to English. It is a Rukato One-shot Songfic to the beautiful ending and in-between theme of the sixth Digimon movie The Runaway Digimon Express, "Yuuhi no Yakusoku". It is set directly at and after the end of TRDE, and is marked by a VERY big fluff factor. If you don't like corny fics, better not read it. If you do, enjoy, and maybe you even want to R/R
This is dedicated to all Rukato fans out there, and especially to GtaJake, for encouraging me to post my older works despite their inferior quality. I hope he doesn't regret this now ;)
We'll be together forever, forever, because we promised that setting sun
Kazu. Who else but Kazu, the person for whom- except Ryo, maybe- Ruki cared for the least. She should sing too, had he said, since she sung so beautiful…
Of course, he had gotten to know that from Takato- from whom else? Renamon would have never talked about it, and Guilmon… well, Guilmon spent all the time the party was lasting with eating the table empty.
She should be mad at him for his indiscretion, but- as much as it amazed her- she couldn't.
Something told her that Takato never had had the intention to hurt her, and this realization made it totally impossible for her to develop rage or fury towards him- even less, when she thought about the look on his face when he had picked that blow-out out of her hair before.
Involuntarily, almost unwillingly, a smile appeared on her face. Sometimes he was so clumsy she just had to amuse herself about it, even though she was angry at the same time- and sometimes, on the other hand, he was almost alarmingly mature. Takato had many aspects to him, of which she only knew a fraction, that was for sure.
Like of her father…
She hadn't really known him as well. Only that song he had taught her was omnipresent inside her: Yuuhi no Yakusoku.
It was that song she had sung while Parasimon controlled her, that song which obviously had touched Takato deep inside- and when she was honest to herself, this wasn't the only thing connecting her to the boy anymore.
You kindly wrapped up the things that hurt a little
So often had he been there for her, without any acknowledgment from her side. Today alone, he had saved her life three times. First as Dukemon, killing the Parasimon that had captured Ruki, later as Dukemon Crimson Mode, finishing off the rest of the invaders, and finally as neither Dukemon nor Dukemon CM but just as Takato, holding Ruki and preventing her from falling off the top of the train.
For the very first time since she knew him he had called her "baka" when she had told him to let go so he wouldn't fall with her.
Even though she had refused to see it for a long time, it was almost obvious by now that the ever-chaotic gogglehead slowly but steadily tried to become a man.
Thinking of the word "man" brought the memories of her father back, and Ruki winced for a moment- but really just for the blink of an eye. She knew perfectly well that Takato was different, that she could trust him blindly and that he would never let her down. He had risked his life for her on Locomon's roof, and this new, strange sensation that suddenly started to spread across her body now told her that he would do it again any time…
Slowly, she rose to her feet again, catching a last glimpse of the sun, which was about to disappear as a great fiery disc behind the horizon; and it almost seemed as if the star would shine in an especially bright orange for an instant, like it wanted to illuminate the way to the girl's true feelings…
Ruki shook her head. Pathetic nonsense- or was it?
However, she decided to return to the party nonetheless.
Rumiko had just finished performing "My Tomorrow", and thus Ruki remained unnoticed by everyone in the upstarting frenetic applause- everyone but Takato, who was standing near the entrance together with Renamon. Looking to the ground, he walked up to her and muttered, barely audible, "I'm sorry…"
Ruki frowned. He'd better be sorry, actually…
'…well? What had he done anyway?'
Ruki could not find an answer to that question, due to the simple reason that there was none. He hadn't done anything wrong, quite the contrary, she had exaggerated like usual, she had tried to repress the hurtful memories she connected with that song…
"Ruki…?"
The girl scared up from her thoughts, but didn't make it apparent. She hadn't even given Takato an answer yet…
"Huh…? Oh yeah, it's alright… It wasn't your fault…"
Amazing… Scarcely had she said something like that, and never with so little effort.
Takato grinned broadly. "That's good to hear. I mean I would never hur…" He stared to the ground again, his ears flushing like mad.
"Yeah…?" Ruki watched the gogglehead, slightly confused.
"I… uh… nothing…" He looked away uneasily, and seemed to blush even more. "Ruki… what you said today, when you nearly fell off of Locomon's roof… that I should let go of you…" Suddenly he rushed towards the girl and hugged her tightly, finishing the sentence in a throaty voice, "…that was an incredibly stupid thing to say… baka… Don't you say something like that ever again." He let go of the totally perplex Ruki and looked at her with eyes shimmering from humidity. "I… I need you, Ruki…"
He sobbed audibly and, noticing how a single tear already made its way down his cheek, turned around quickly and stormed outside, muttering "Sorry…" in a voice already half choked from tears.
Inside, there remained a more than confused party crowd who had noticed the conversation only partially, and an equally confused Ruki…
"Why did you stop me when I wanted to talk to her before?" Takato sobbed, shaken by his crying. "Finally, I found the courage, but you…"
An expression of astonishment appeared on the kitsune's face, since Takato had noticed Renamon's presence even though she had not materialized yet.
"She had to be alone, just for a few minutes… Can't you understand that?"
Takato cleared his throat. "Sure… Of course… But now she thinks I'm an idiot… if she hasn't thought that before already..."
"I doubt that." Renamon tried her best to comfort the sobbing boy and carefully placed a paw on his shoulder before continuing, "You just have to give her some time, young Takato. She is not even half as uncaring about you as you might think." She smiled. "And you proved more than once today that you care about her as well…" With a hasty glance towards the door, Renamon suddenly turned around and literally faded away.
"Look after her, Takato…"
The boy turned around with a baffled look on his face, and just in time to see Ruki leave the house. She had been reluctant at first, but suddenly, it was so easy… It was her turn now…
Slowly, she approached him and offered the cowering boy her hand.
I squeezed that warmth into my outside pocket- do you want to go walking?
Totally automatic, the brown-haired boy took the girl's hand and let himself be pulled to his feet. Slowly and silent, they walked up and down the street leading to the Makino residence, and it took quite a while until Takato started to speak.
"I… I didn't intend to… It's just that I…" Ruki moved her hand, showing him to be silent.
"I know Takato… I…" A hurtful smile appeared on her lips for the blink of an eye, "I should have said something… because…" She hesitated, stood still all of a sudden and now looked directly into the boy's wet eyes- and almost it seemed like that view would give her the final motivation to end the sentence, "because I need you too, Takato…"
We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun
In lonely times, we can look at that lengthening orange
That setting sun will whisper, "It will be okay"
I want to see you soon, Please convey that feeling
Silence, almost creepy silence, was all around them. Only the last faint sunrays illuminated the scenario- and they were both grateful for that, since it prevented the respective other one from noticing the slight blush that had appeared on both of their faces.
Something was happening… something that was impossible to define, something magical that had been sleeping between them for long, but now made its way to the surface, something that was burned in both their hearts, eternally and indelibly, at the latest since today, the day that had connected Takato and Ruki even closer, the day that now was about to end, indicated by the red, radiant disc of fire that was about to disappear behind the horizon.
A smile appeared on Ruki's face. A smile that had scarcity value, which made it worth even more- especially for Takato, of course. And Ruki herself, despite realizing that she was smiling, suddenly was overflowed by an oddly comforting sensation. Could it be…?
So that I can meet you with your very favourite
My best smile, I'll hang in through every day
"I…" Ruki hesitated. What she had to say now was by far the most difficult thing she ever did.
"I didn't even thank you yet, Takato… for saving my life…"
The boy looked at her, puzzled.
"But that was natural… You mean so much to me…" He grimaced as he painfully bit his lower lip. He probably acted like the biggest idiot on Earth right now…
"Takato… same."
There. She had said it, and even though she didn't hear Seraphim choirs or the sun suddenly reappeared backwards, she still felt incredibly relieved. She went on.
"I care for you as well- and that's the reason why I don't want to throw my life away just like that anymore…" She looked down herself, smiling. "That's one of the reasons why I wear this T-shirt, and it's the reason I…"
She did not finish that sentence. Instead, her lips met Takato's, all of a sudden, as if directed by an invisible and irresistible force. Just a few seconds did that first clumsy kiss last, seconds and yet eons, saturated by bliss and euphoria, accompanied by the hammering staccato of those two young hearts.
We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun
It might seem discouraging but we'll embrace the beautiful orange
"It will be okay" is what that setting sun taught us
If I really believe, that feeling will definitely reach you
Panting heavily, Takato and Ruki broke the kiss. Nothing and yet everything had changed…
"Ruki, I'm so sorry," Takato stammered. "I…"
"No…" Ruki interrupted the boy. "It's alright… I found it… beautiful…" Her voice sounded astonishingly calm and quiet, yet trembled a bit with excitement. Never had she felt something like this before, a kind of comfort and love not even her father had been able to give her. Maybe she couldn't comprehend the feeling in its entire extent yet, but she knew she had fallen in love…
"I found it beautiful too…" Takato answered now. "Ruki… I think I…"
"I know." Ruki's smile reappeared. "Me too, Takato… me too…" Now, a bright cheerful smile made its way on Takato's face as well. He had been afraid of Ruki's possible reaction, but apparently, it had been unnecessary. Ruki shared his feelings, and right now, Takato thought, it was literally impossible for anyone on Earth to be happier than he was. And really did his joy increase even more when Ruki took him by the hand again and pulled him back towards the party.
"Come- I think there's something we have to tell the others…"
We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun
Even if we are far away, We'll still feel that same orange
"It will be okay" Because that setting sun connects us
Don't cry anymore, In the light of the love in our hearts
In the light of the love in our hearts
OWARI
A/N: Thanks to all readers, and special thanks to all who review, as well as animelyrics.com for providing the English translation of the Yuuhi no Yakusoku lyrics. As I said, it's purest fluff, and probably horribly OOC, but I tried my best with both the fic and the translation, as far as my fluff addiction allowed it
RUKATO ITSUMADEMO!