Skuag, this story is dedicated to you. Thank you for being so dedicated to the Digimon fandom in general and to the Sorato ship in particular. I love knowing you enjoy reading these stories. I will work hard to update The Lonely SeeSaw soon!
A Shoulder To Cry On
They had been stranded in that strange world for fifteen days now.
Fifteen days which had been spent endlessly walking with no true destination. Their only goal was to find some means of returning to the camp site they mysteriously disappeared from.
But Sora Takenouchi was done trying to figure things out, at least for what remained of that day. It seemed that the more she thought about their situation, the more hopeless she grew in ever finding out a solution.
They had finally settled in a wooded meadow for the night after a day of traversing marshlands. They were tired, confused, sleepy, and hungry.
And lost. They were utterly and completely lost.
The Digimon that had greeted them since their first moments in that world were the only ones who kept an energetic and carefree attitude. And why not, after all, this was their world. It was not like they were lost in it.
Sighing, Sora kept walking off into the woods in search for kindling, aware that the cheerful pink Digimon was following closely behind. Since that first day, Piyomon had never left her side, and it still took Sora off guard. The bird-type Digimon had seemingly become an extension of her shadow.
She is here to guard me…She thought, her mind going back to the moment the rookie Digimon had evolved into a magnificent red bird a few days ago when the children had stumbled across the Yokomon village.
She bent down and started picking up a few dry branches, smiling softly as she saw her Digimon partner doing the same.
She was grateful for her presence and that of the other digimon. Without them, they would have been seven defenseless children with no way to combat the sometimes violent Digimon that attacked them.
Having gathered enough kindling to fill her arms, she called out to Piyomon and started walking back to the campsite. Already, the strange twilight of this world was fading away and she was anticipating a warm fire to keep of the chill of the night. When one was stranded in an unknown place, something as simple as a camp fire was able to bring some comfort.
Walking through the trees she stopped when she heard a noise.
"Takeru, you okay?"
Recognizing the voice of the Digimon called Patamon, she hurried in their direction and saw the young boy lying prostate on the forest floor, small branches of kindling lying in front of him some distance away.
"Takeru-kun." She called to him as she approached. He was still attempting to get up, so she could not see his face.
Seeing her, Patamon took no time in explaining.
"We were walking back to the others, but Takeru tripped on a rock a fell."
Placing her stack of kindling next to her, she bent down and gently helped the blond boy sit up from the floor. Due to the fall, his clothes had been dirtied in the front and it seemed he had skinned his knees a bit.
She studied him closely before assessing that he was not seriously hurt, but frowned as she noticed that he was hiding his face from her.
"Takeru-kun" She called him gently, touching his cheek until he looked at her.
The cherubic face before her succeeded in dismissing all her doubts and worries and awakened tenderness in her.
It seemed that the youngest member of the group of lost kids was attempting his best to conceal his tears.
Kneeling down to his level, she felt her heart go out to the little boy. As hard as this journey was for her, she could not imagine how this little boy might feel, lost and hungry, and away from his mother.
The only link to his family being his older brother, who thankfully doted on him as much as a parent would. She had observed throughout the days how the older Ishida brother kept close to his brother, like a worried parent. Sometimes she thought that he behaved more as an adult would than a regular eleven year old boy.
Slowly, she started to brush away at his clothing, trying to get the dirt away and aware that despite his best efforts, fat tears were starting to roll down his face.
"Are you crying because your knee hurts?" She asked him, bringing her hands to his face to wipe away his tears.
He shook his head, still not saying anything.
She ran her hands through his fair and started to pull away the dry leaves that had settled there, realizing that his hat must have fallen off when he tripped. Spotting it a meter away, she reached for it and grabbed it before putting it on his head.
"Are you crying because your clothes are dirty?"
Again, he shook his head, even as more tears obstinately fell down the slopes of his cheeks.
"Takeru, why are you crying then?" Patamon's voice cut through the moment, reminding Sora that their Digimon were watching the scene.
Again, Takeru shook his head, apparently not wanting to make a sound.
Understanding dawned on Sora.
Gently grasping the younger boy's shoulders, Sora spoke to him, hoping to convey the tenderness she felt at the moment.
"Takeru-kun" She called to him softly, looking into his teary eyes. "You can cry."
His lips started quivering, but he held onto his resolve to not cry.
"In front of me you can cry. I won't let anyone see."
At those words of reassurance, the little boy finally succumbed to his desire to cry.
Hugging him to her chest, Sora held him and patted his back, softy whispering reassuring words as the youngest Digi destined clung to her and cried into her shoulder.
"You have been so brave, Takeru-kun." She did not even notice that there were tears falling down her own cheeks. For fifteen days the young, cheerful boy had tried to be brave and not cry. But there is only so much hunger, fear, and tiredness a little boy is supposed to take before he snaps.
Minutes passed and night descended upon them. Unperturbed, Sora kept whispering words of comfort to Takeru, not aware of the blond boy watching them from a distance.
Gradually the sobs diminished into silence, and Takeru's steady breathing alerted Sora that the young Takaishi had fallen asleep. Smiling fondly, Sora could not blame him. Crying hard had a way of zapping away any energy left in the body. But at least now Takeru should feel much better. Putting a finger to her lips, she motioned for the Digimon to keep quiet so as not to disturb him.
She was considering the best way of carrying the little boy when she heard the sound of someone approaching them. Looking up, she was met with the face of Takeru's older brother.
"Yamato-kun." She felt caught off guard with Takeru still resting against her shoulder.
"I'll carry him."
Yamato kneeled down next to her and gently extracted his brother from her and into his arms. The young Takeru did not even react to being jostled, so deep into slumber he was.
With Takeru now sleeping in Yamato's arms, Sora stood from the floor, wincing as the blood crept back into her legs.
"You okay?" She heard Yamato ask her.
"I'm fine." She told him, bending down to gather the dry branches on the ground. " Ill grab the kindling and head back to the camp site. You should take Takeru and let him sleep."
"I'll wait for you."
She smiled gratefully at him.
With the Digimon guiding them through the dark, Sora and Yamato headed back to the others. The sleeping Takeru cradled gently in his brother's arms.
"Thank you for what you did for Takeru"
The words were said so low that at first she thought she had imagined them. But as she looked to the blond by her side, she could see him looking straight at her.
She blushed, feeling embarrassed at having been caught crying with a seven year old.
She was about to reply when a voice interrupted them.
"There they are!" Taichi exclaimed. "Took you long enough! We can't start the fire without any kindling."
Looking at Yamato beside her, she rolled her eyes playfully at him, content when he gave her a small smile in return. It was not much, but at least she was getting to know her fellow Digidestined slowly.
With that, they joined the group, looking forward to another dinner of smoked fish and mushrooms.
In his sleep, the youngest didi-destined smiled. Since that day, Sora Takenouchi had become the older sister he never had.