Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Tamers, or the characters used.

Sinking

A Rukato/Rikato fic

In a city that had seen much destruction in the past, three teens meet in the center park of the city. The first was a young male of 16. He had short blue hair and dark brown eyes. He wore an orange sweatshirt with long black sleeves. He had his pockets in his jeans and his eyes closed as he walked next to another teen. The second was one year older and a spiky brown hair. He wore a striped red sweater and jeans as he walked up the steps of a hill. His sky blue eyes stared at the being waiting for them.

It was a girl, also 16, with orange flame hair and icy purple eyes. She wore a long sleeved sweatshirt with a symbol that appeared to a broken heart. She had worried on her face as her two friends came up. She was sitting on a large boulder among a large pile of ruble. It used to be a common meeting place for her and her friends, until it was destroyed in an incident.

"Hey Henry, Ryo," the girl said to the two boys. Henry being the blue haired boy and Ryo the spiky brown haired one.

"Hey Rika," Ryo answered as the two reached her.

"Hey, I guess you got my message then?" Henry asked. Rika nodded. "Then I guess we should start." Henry and Ryo each looked around the ruble and sat seperately amongst the debries.

"Okay," Ryo started, "now that we're all here, what's the meeting about? And where's Takato?"

"Takato," Henry answered, "Is what the meeting is about."

"Why? Did something happen?" Ryo asked sheepishly. Both Rika and Henry shot a surprised and infuriated look towards the teen.

"Have you forgotten already?!" Rika screamed out. Ryo thought for a moment and realized something. He dropped his hed and shook it side to side. Rika smirked and said, "I thought so."

"It seems so long ago," Henry began, "Yet it was only five months ago. We all met at Takato's house to celebrate our four year anniversery."

"Yeah, the anniversary of when we defeated the D-Reaper. Hard to believe it was that long ago." Ryo added.

"We were all having such a good time until…" Rika stated, but stopped when the memories returned. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered.

"Until the Anti-Tamers attacked." Henry finished, "They set a bomb in Takato's house and it blew the place sky high. We were lucky to survive." He scowled.

"We were," Rika muttered, "but Takato's parents…"

Ryo and Henry sat in silence as the memories returned to them aswell. Rika was still shaking, but managed to calme herself. "Takato," Ryo began to speak, gaining the attention of the other two teens. "He nearly killed himself trying to save us all."

"After the explosion," Henry continued, "we were all caught under a beam of burning wood, all except Takato. He single-handedly pushed to beam off and carried each of us one by one out of the burning building." He looked down at the ruble beneath him, thinking of something else.

"After he got all of us out…" Rika began.

But Ryo cut her off, "… He went back in to find his parents." The two stayed in silence as they thought more about the event. "But, the building collapsed before he could find them. He tried to find them, but in the end, they ware both dead. " Ryo finished.

"That's when it all started," Rika stated in a strong voice, "That was when Takato began to stray away from us."

"Not exactly," Henry corrected. Both teens were confused until Henry clarrified. "You both know that last year, Takato miraculously found a portal to the Digital World, correct?" The two nodded. "Well, while he was still in Guilmon's old home, a bomb blew up and the struture collapsed, nearly taking him with it." Ryo and Rika gasped, they never knew that part of the story of why the cage that once Takato's Digimon was now the ruble that they now sat on.

"Bu-But Takato said…" Ryo muttered.

"He only said that so none of us would worry. You know Takato always helps us but never asks for help himself. He's always thought of us first, he's never wanted to worry us with his own problems." Henry replied to Ryo.

Rika was now truly in shock. She knew that the death of his parents affected Takato, but it truly started when he was almost killed one year ago. "Who would try to kill Takato?" She asked.

"The Anti-Tamers, who do ya think?!" Ryo replied disdainfully. He was now in great rage. "Those lousy guys! WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE?!" He screamed.

"They blamed us for the events with the D-Reaper." Henry answered with closed eyes and crossed arms. "After we beat that monster, they formed a plan to kill us all, starting with Takato. At first, none of their plans truly worked, but as the years passed, they hatched more elaborate plans. The first one that worked was the one that nearly took Takato out here."

"But why Takato?" Rika asked compassionately.

"Because, since Guilmon was the first digimon to be seen in public, they felt he was the first cause of the D-Reapers destruction. They did not care that he truly defeated the D-Reaper, they blamed him for bringing the Digimon to our world." Henry answered.

"Now that we covered history," Ryo rebutled, "let's move on to current events."

Henry nodded at the statement. "Yes," he said, "We've all noticed Takato's recent attitude change, correct?"

The other two teens nodded. "He still tries to help us whenever he can but…" Rika stated.

"But he stays farther away from us. Even though he's been staying with me and my family, I hardly ever get to talk to him," Henry concluded.

"He's stayed away from all of us," Rika added. She felt a strong saddness within her heart. She always had a special feeling towards Takato, but never got the strength to admit it.

"Hasn't Jeri done anything, she is his girlfriend right?" Ryo asked. He received a strange look from both Henry and Rika. He gave back a confused look towards the two showing he was lost.

"You didn't know?" Henry asked, "After what happened to Takato's parents, she dumped Takato and moved away." Ryo was slightly shocked. He never spent much time with Jeri, so he didn't realize she had been gone.

"Worst of all," Rika added, gaining the attention of the two males, "She and her family called him cursed. They blamed him for bringing the Digimon and the D-Reaper. They especially blamed him because Jeri was captured, even after it was Takato that saved her!"

Henry closed his eyes and nodded. He then spoke, "That was the third strike. Even though the Anti-Tamers were caught by the police after the attack, they knew they only needed one more strike to break Takato."

The trio sat silently amongst the ruble that was once their meeting place. Ryo stared at the ground, thinking of how cruel Jeri was to Takato. Henry sat silently, thinking of a plan. Rika was the one most deep in thought.

She thought of the Takato she used to know. The one that managed to break the ice that covered her heart, and bring out the warmth she thought was lost. They often spent warm moments together, but never reached the level of Boyfriend and Girlfriend. She was sad that she did not get a chance to become Takato's girlfriend before Jeri did, but she was now infuriated that Jeri dumped him after saved all of them from his burning house.

She then thought of the Takato that they knew now. He did meet with them every now and again, but he hardly ever spoke and nearly never tried to make eye contact with the others. The only ones he ever spoke to were Rika and Henry. Takato also seemed less optimistic. In fact, he now appeared to be even a icier form of what she became so long ago. The idea of what he was now pained her. She never wanted him to become what she once was.

Rika got shaken out of her trance when Henry spoke, "One of us has to talk to Takato."

"Then let's go!" Ryo announced.

"No," Henry replied, "Not all of us. He'll know were trying to change him. We can't force him to do that when he may not be ready. One of us just has to try to get him to open up, then he may begin to recover from the events."

Ryo and Henry argued for a while about whether or not all of them or just one should go talk to Takato. They are stopped when Rika exclaims, "I will go."

"Are you sure Rika?" Henry asked.

Rika nodded and added, "He helped break the ice that covered my heart. This is my chance to return the favor."

Ryo and Henry looked at each other. They nodded their heads and faced Rika. Henry stated, "Very well, but call us if you need help."

Rika smiled and answered, "Alright, see ya." She ran out of the ruble and down the steps.

Ryo looked back to Henry and asked, "Do you really think she can help Takato?"

Henry smirked and answered, "I figured that if anyone could, Rika can." He then grew a serious face and added, "But if she can't help Takato, his lonelyness may be the least of our problems."

Takato was standing by the dock to the lake that rested inside the park. He had messy brown hair that had grown over the years. He stopped wearing his goggles after they were lost in the ashes of his house. His red eyes lost their glow and grew dim and his body grew slightly muscular over the years. He wore a long blue sweatshirt and pants. Next to him was a cinder block and a long rope.

'Is it really worth it for me to live any longer.' He thought in his mind, "All I am is a burden to my friends. They worry about me when I ask them not to. It'd be so easy to end their worry, to end this misery.'

He kneeled down and took the rope. He first tied it around the rope around a hole in the cinder block at tied it tightly. He then took the other end and wrapped it around his left foot. He made a knot not even a boyscout could unravell. Once he finished, he began to push the block slowly off the dock. It was halway off when he heard a voice.

"TAKATO!!!"

The cry scared him falfway to the Digital World. He looked up and saw Rika running towards him. The shock completely stunned him. He mumbled, "R-R-Rika?" before he took one step back. Unfortunately, his foot hit the cinder block and the block was sent into the lake.

Two seconds later, Takato followed. Rika was both in shock and horror. She began to run faster as she screamed, "TAKATO!!!"

Takato was struggling to come back to the surface of the water, but the cinder block only sank, taking him with it. As he struggled, he spotted a figure come into the water. He could not make out the figure, but he continued to struggle.

After a few seconds of trying to break free, Takato began to feel numb. He felt his body grow heavy as his eyelids began to fall. He slowly felt his consciousness drop slowly. The last thing he saw was a bright flash of orange hair before he fell to darkness.

Takato began to regain consciousness, but he could still only see darkness. He slowly began to open his eyes and was shot by a large blast of bright light. He tried to move his arm, but still had no feeling. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light and he could see whare he was.

He was on a light bed with machines on each side. His body was covered by a long bed sheet and he could see wires all around. "Whe-Where am I?" He managed to mutter.

"You're in the hospital," answered a familiar voice. Takato looked to his left and saw his friends: Henry, his sister Suzie, Ryo, Kenta and Kazu. They were all smiling at him.

"Wha-What?" he muttered again.

"Rika saved you after you nearly drowned yourself." Ryo answered.

Instantly, the memories began to flow into his mind. He tried to drown himself until he saw Rika coming to stop him. He stepped back and pushed the cinder block by asked himself and plunged himself into the water. The last thing he remembered was seeing a flash of orange hair coming towards him. He realized that the flash of orgage hair was, "Rika." He muttered.

Al of the Tamers except for Suzie who was asleep on a chair nodded at Takato. Tkato began to think for a while and asked, "Where is she?"

"Rika?" Henry asked. Takato nodded and Henry smiled. "She's outside. We'll tell her to come in." Henry went over to his sister and picked her up lightly as to not wake her up. He turned to the others and said, "Come on guys, let's let Takato have some time to talk to Rika alone." The others nodded and followed him out the door.

Shortly after, Rika entered the room. She had a week smile as she looked at Takato. Takato was releaved she was okay, but felt he left a scar on her. As she moved closer, Rika stated, "Hey Takato."

Takato showed a week smile. He then turned it to a frown and lowered his head. "I'm sorry Rika." He said, slightly shocking Rika, "I'm so sorry I scared you. I'm sorry you had to save me." He turned his head down and expected she was going to get mad.

She only smiled and went next to him. She put her hand under his chin a lifted his eyes to look at her. Her eyes were glowing with both saddness and relief. "I'm not." She stated simply.

Before Takato could mention another word, Rika forced her lips against his with great emotion. At first Takato was in shock, but eventually gave the same effort into the kiss. They stayed in that position for at least a minute and a half before gasping for air.

Takato stared into Rika's emotion filled eyes, amazed by her bravery. Rika came so close, both their forehead were touching. She then whispered, "Takato, I know what you're going through. I felt the same pain when my dad died, but please, PLEASE promise me you won't turn into what I was."

Takato was about to answer, but Rika continued, "I could never forgive myself if you turned into the same cold person I once was." She began to cry and dropped her head onto his shoulder.

Takato began to stroke her hair which was hanging down. She looked up and saw his face was filled with a happiness she thought was once lost. He whispered, "Thank You Rika." He held her close in an embrace and a tear escaped his closed eyes. Rika gave the same emotion in the embrace. Takato then added, "You know, I never did feel anything special between me and Jeri. She was nice, But I always liked you better. You made me stronger."

She smiled and let go of the embrace. "And you freed my heart from the ice that once held it shut. Thanks," She said to Takato. They stared into each others eyes with happiness and love. They then joined together in another kiss. This one lasted longer than the first.

When they released, they rested their heads together and Takato stated, "I promise. Not just to sink into the darkness, but I also promise I will never hurt you."

Rika smiled and said, "I love you."

"I love you two."

My first romance fic. Tell me what you think.