.Fragile.
After Daemon attacked.
There she stood by the open patio door of her apartment. The wind blowing her white dress that she used as her nightgown. The sound of a piano playing was coming from the right side of the living room. On the couch was a white pillow and a small blue blanket. As her long brown hair blew, some of the blonde streaks hit her cheek. She, of course, didn't take notice of them. As always, the girl of enthusiasm was lost in thought. The breeze stopped and she slowly looked up to Odiba's starry sky. Many memories then raced through her head, all of the digital world.
There was a gentle knock on the slightly cracked front door. She left it a bit open for them to come in so she didn't even take notice at the knock. Her hazel eyes started to fill with tears, as she was lost in her thoughts of her digimon. Another knock was heard, this time louder, and then another, this one was hard enough that it opened the door so that the boy there could look in. He stood taller than the others behind him; his hair was a dark brown hue and everywhere. Behind him stood an older-looking boy with glasses who had a medical bag in his hands and next to him, a short boy with laptop. Then there were two others, a boy and a girl. They both looked to the one with glasses who looked to the boy who opened the door. "Go on Tai. She doesn't look very happy." "Aren't you guys coming too?" he asked the small group. "We don't know her very well, besides you and she are friends and well we don't want to make her more depressed." Tai rolled his eyes. "Fine Izzy, I'll go ask her if she's ok and if she's ready, then I'll come back and tell you what's up."
They all nodded to him and he quietly walked through the living room to the patio door where he found her, looking down to the ground with tears in her eyes. "Meru?" he said softly as he stopped in front of her, he noticed that they were standing inside but there was a nice breeze from the open patio door. "Meru?" he asked her again. Her arms started to shake as she just stood there, not daring to look up to him. He studied her and sensed something was wrong. She's shaking and close to tears he thought as he extended his right hand towards her face. He then placed his hand under her chin and gently moved her head up to where he could see her eyes. She looked at him scared, her eyes so watery she could barely see who it was. As she looked into his chocolate-covered eyes, she felt safe. She blinked and a tear rolled down her right cheek. Oh how he hated to see any girl like this-Kari was bad enough and now…when she looked at him, he remembered when he first saw her eyes, they were a happy amber color. Now they were dark and tear filled-a sad sight to see.
"Meru, what's wrong?" he whispered. Seeing this girl in such a state was hurting him more and more each second. As he waited for her reply, he studied her. She looked so fragile, weak, and even slightly feminine. Odd, he thought, I never thought of Sora or any other girl as fragile or weak. She blinked again and another tear fell down the right side of her face. "I…" She didn't know what to say but she knew she was breaking down. Her head turned from looking up to looking straight at his chest. She fell into him, grabbing part of his blue shirt with her right hand and her left hand in a tight fist by her face. His arms were kind of open anyway. Since Andrew's not here to be my shoulder to cry on, he'll do. He's too tall to be my shoulder anyway, she thought. Well my arms were open…he thought, moving his arms slowly around her waist. As he did that, he felt how small she was. Fragile…he thought, how she fits so…so…her sobs broke his train of thought. They were getting louder and he could feel his shirt getting wet. He pulled her closer and with that, she stopped. Now he was holding her, his left cheek on the left side of her head. Perfect…closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply. Pina Colada, reminds me of the beach…the scent of her shampoo filled his nose.
Her heart fluttered as he pulled her closer. The thoughts of warmth and love filled her. She breathed in his shirt. No, past memories flooded her, how her parents never embraced her like this, no one did. Love? Her heart was hard now from the outside world. But he…she closed her eyes, lost in thought. For a moment there was nothing but them, the breeze, the stars, and the sound of the piano playing. Quickly, she opened her eyes and pushed out of his hold then headed toward the couch. Stunned, Tai just watched her. "M…" "I'm ready," she told him, sitting down on the couch and holding her left arm out. He just stared at her then, "Oh…" and went to the door to let the others in. "Hey Meru, how are you doing?" Joe asked as he wrapped the blood pressure pump around her arm, and then hooked it up to Izzy's laptop. Kari looked to her brother worried, "Are you ok Tai?" he seemed to be lost in thought, staring at the stars. "I'm doing better Joe," she struggled to tell him. T.K. had wandered into the spare bedroom that Andrew used. "Hum…" looking around, hoping to find anything interesting."Well all your stats are back to normal. Human and digimon wise," Izzy spouted with a smile as he closed his laptop and stood up. "Yup, just get some sleep," Joe said taking Izzy's lead. It was late; they had had a long day. "Come on T.K." Kari called to him, still looking at Tai. The four headed to the door, still waiting for Tai. "I need to talk to Meru alone," he told them, "See you at the house Kari." They exchanged worried looks. Meru got up and forced a shy smile; "It's just about my practice tomorrow. Thanks for coming, I couldn't have recovered without you all, send my best to the others." "Hope you get better soon," they replied in unison, smiling and leaving, T.K. pulling Kari's arm. She couldn't help but stare at Tai, who was still staring at the stars.
Meru shut the door after them and slowly walked towards Tai. "It's a nice night out," she said to him, looking to the stars. He nodded then looked to her. "I know something's wrong and I know you won't tell anyone, but I'm here if you want to talk," he said, taking a step towards her. She looked up to him with a lost expression on her face. Staring into his eyes she felt like he knew or wanted to know everything she had to say. No. Well, not yet anyway. I want to go back first, to see Morphimon and swim again. She dashed off to the bathroom and closed the door. He stood there in shock again. She's always running away. She doesn't realize how badly I want to help her. I know she's weak; she may break…The door opened as she walked past him and went into her room. Then she turned around and faced him. "I need you to do me a favor." "Sure, what is it?" good, she's letting me help a bit. "Come by tomorrow morning and check to see if I'm awake. I just haven't been sleeping well…oh and don't worry; the door will be unlocked. I just need to go to practice tomorrow." "So you haven't been sleeping well and you want me to check on you?" he was confused. She sat on her bed; "I just took one of my mom's sleeping pills." He stepped towards her and watched her carefully. "After practice I'm going to the digital world. I have to find Morphimon again," she looked down to the ground, afraid he would be mad at her for wanting to go. "I'm coming with you tomorrow no matter what, you just recovered!" She nodded, yawned, and then closed her eyes. Oh no…she fell asleep sitting up. He smiled at her peacefulness then inched over and lowered her down completely on her bed and covered her up.
"Tai…it's 7:30…" Kari pulled on her older brother. Groaning, he turned over, and then it clicked in his head. Meru! He sprang up and ran into the bathroom, got ready, and grabbed his cup of coffee on the way out. Just as she said, the door was unlocked. Placing his cup in the kitchen he then tiptoed into her room. Still asleep…she was just as he left her. Giving a sigh of relief, he looked around. She has just as many trophies as I-he grinned. Then something caught his eye. On her desk was a D-Terminal. What…Little was known about Meru and Andrew Tobajoji but Tai and the others thought they were the only ones in the world with those. Next to it was a small necklace, a small orange notebook, and on top of that was some yellow paper for notes. Practice at 9am it read. Well it's only 7:30; I'll just let her sleep in. The necklace suddenly gave off a bright orange light. Huh? Meru stirred. Tai walked back over to her and knelt down at the bed. His shaky hand rested beside hers. Without warning, Meru sat up and stared at the necklace. "It burns," she said weakly. "What does?" he looked at her and said softly. There was a sharp pain in her chest, oh how it burned. Morphimon! Tears started to fill her eyes but stopped as she felt Tai sit next to her and move his hand closer to hers. "My crest…it's hurting me."
She pointed to her crest and tag. Tai quickly got up and grabbed it off the desk. "Why do you have one?" it gleamed a faint orange now, its markings clear. He handed her the crest. "I'm not sure, why do you have one?" He pulled out a necklace with his tag and a crest inside it, fake though. "We released ours to protect the digital world but kept these as just reminders." A faint red light came from his. "What the? It's never done that before." She put hers on as he sat next to her, staring at his crest. "Ah!" the burning got worse. The lights of the crest shone brighter. "Meru!" That's when it happened, he grabbed her hand tightly. Visions surged through her. The digital world-Morphimon! As clear as day she saw her partner. Then, she snapped out of it and started at Tai. "What happened?" he asked her, seeing her eyes fill with tears. "Oh Tai I saw her, I saw Morphimon just as I see you now. Something is wrong I just know it." Tears now fell like a stream. She pulled her knees up to her chest as Tai moved closer. "I saw Agumon…I saw them all," he told her as he reached for her. Their crests had stopped glowing now. "What's going to happen to them Tai? What about me?" Sorrow filled his eyes. How I wish I knew the answers. "I'm not sure…but I know everything will turn out ok, it just has to." His left hand reached out and grabbed her right side, pulling her closer to him. "Everything will be fine, I promise."
She leaned on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I wish I were as brave as you." Her tears had stopped now, along with the burning. "Shhhh…" he told her. She is brave…I think she's just tired and worried about Morphimon. "My crest is that of enthusiasm. It doesn't really suit me at times but it's supposed to be a strong crest." Fragile, weak, he thought. "Meru, everyone is weak sometimes, it's ok, that's what friends are for. We pick each other up when we fall," he smiled and gently stroked her hair, the faint smell of pina colada still hung on it. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him tight. Friendship, love, so this is what I've been missing. "Thank you Tai," she whispered in his ear, giving a very sincere smile. Tai, now at a loss of words, just sighed. I feel her enthusiasm returning, maybe that's why the crests were glowing, she needed courage to be what she is and get through this. Since Sora and Matt are together now, those crests are stronger…and they're supposed to be together, I mean love and friendship go hand in hand. Meru and I are just friends…but is there something between us? Remembering last night, he said, "Perfect." Yes it is perfect holding her. He smiled. "Oh that's right! Practice!" Meru hopped up and over Tai, dashing into the bathroom. Good thing she thought I said practice. He smirked.
Tai walked her all the way to the pool. "Have fun. I'll see you later I guess," he looked to the ground. "Thanks for everything Tai," she smiled at him then grabbed him for a quick hug. "Later!" She shot a peace sign at him and went in for swim practice. A little confused at what had all just happened, Tai stumbled all the way to meet Sora, rethinking the morning.
It was so natural for her to walk into the locker room and go to her locker. In it were pictures of all her friends, basically the whole team. Grabbing her suit and some black wind shorts, she went to the showers and changed then stood under the shower head and scrubbed herself. His scent still lingers on me…tears filled her eyes again as she stopped the useless scrubbing and walked outside. It's so weird yet comforting, I feel as if I need him right now…she sighed and started to warm up for practice.
He pedaled as fast as he could to the apartment complex, ran up the stairs, and knocked on the door. "Meru! I'm here!" The short boy wearing cargo pants and a teal shirt banged on the door. His sandy brown hair gleamed in the bright sun, it was almost time. "Come on! Open up!" He fumbled with the doorknob and it opened. "Stupid door doesn't work," he mumbled under his breath as he walked in. It was his nature to barge into his sister's room, so he did, but didn't find her. "Where is she now? I thought she was sick…" as his eyes darted around the room, they stopped on something yellow. "Practice at 9am" it read. "Oh it's already 9:30!" As quick as he came, he left for the pool.
"Be very quiet Agumon. We can't let her know we're here." Tai informed his digimon as they trailed a young girl who had been infected by a dark spore earlier. He and Sora were to keep watch on her and then report back to the others. "I am being very quiet!" Agumon yelled. "Well you're not being very invisible. Get back here!" Tai snapped back, pulling the orange digimon back behind a house. "Humph. Being a spy would be easier if we didn't have to do so much spying," Agumon smarted back. The spying was getting kind of boring to say the least. Tai sighed and looked at his watch, hoping it would be time to end this shift soon. "So Tai, what took you so long to catch up with us? Agumon said you left him really early this morning." Sora nudged him, wanting to know what was up; he wasn't exactly a morning person. "Oh um that…" His cheeks turned slightly pink as his eyes shifted from Agumon and Sora, both wanting to know the scoop. "I was just checking in on Meru this morning. She's sick and her brother lives out in Kyoto so I was kind of elected to go see her." He told them in a rushed voice. Sora didn't really know how to respond back. She was amazed that he was talking to another girl and opted to just keep quiet.
Meru hopped out of the pool after five laps of swimming freestyle, not really able to concentrate. She had a weird feeling that something was about to happen and decided to get dressed and try to contact her brother. She didn't even have to try since he was holding her towel as she got out. "Listen up sis! Those spore children are trying to open the gate to the digital world! We've got to do something don't you think?" The small boy failed his arms around wildly, over dramatizing the whole situation. "Well I don't think this is our fight Andrew. I'm a little more concerned about our digimon. This is our first time without them in the real world." She sighed and began drying off with her towel. "Why don't you stay with me and once we hear word on when we can go back, we'll go together. The digi-destined are our allies now." Andrew sighed and stretched his arms out. "I suppose. I just hate this waiting game. But you are right that this isn't our fight. We need to find a way into the dark ocean and destroy Daemon once and for all." "Agreed but we can't tell the others. He's our problem and we can handle him ourselves." They nodded in agreement and Meru left to change, leaving her brother to tend to his bike.