This was originally published as a standalone before it was moved into Stories of the Chosen Ones. Now it's back to being a standalone again

Anime Universe: Digimon Adventure 02

Characters: Daisuke, Ken, Wormmon/Leafmon

Summary: Wormmon dies in a terrible fight against Daemon, leaving Ken in a terrible depression. Ken feels broken inside. Will he ever feel whole again? Will Wormmon return to him this time? One-Shot [Ken x Leafmon/Wormmon]

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship

I Will Never Leave You

Ken was sitting on his desk like he did every day. A small picture was in front of him. The picture was smaller than the one of his brother, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

Ken stared at the small picture. The picture showed him holding his Digimon. It was a Christmas present from Daisuke. He looked so happy then, but not now. Ken could never be happy again. Wormmon was gone. He was not coming back. And that hurt most of all. Ken realized that he did not care anymore. Ken was here; Wormmon was not. It was as simple as that.

Ken could not stop this pattern he found himself in; the constant pattern of staring and hurting. From the start of the day, Ken would go to school and then come home. When he comes home, he would do his homework mindlessly and then would stare at the small picture for the rest of the day. There were at times where he didn't eat at all. His parents panicked when the school sent him home when he passed out from not eating. They were upset, yes, but they never punished him or yelled at him for his actions.

His parents knew that he was not eating because of what happened. He was depressed, very depressed. That was what the doctor said and nothing they did helped him get out of his state. They should stop trying, though. Nothing they did would help. Over the past five months, Ken had stopped all communication with the other Chosen Children or anything that involved the Digital World in general. They didn't need him anymore, nor did the Digital World. He was Digimon-less. He was useless. Ken died when Wormmon died. Why should they care?

Yet they kept trying. They called the house, but he did not answer. They emailed him, but he did not reply. A couple of times, Daisuke appeared at the school. He waited until Ken got out and walked home with him. Daisuke tried to get him to talk or to at least get him to come to the Digital World. But Ken did not talk; he did not listen to his friend. Ken felt dead inside.

Daisuke did this every day for the past four and a half months. Why he kept doing it was beyond him. Ken didn't want to be reminded of his loss. Daisuke always had Chibimon with him. Every time Ken saw him, every time he squeaked a hello, Ken's heart would break.

Broken.

Yes, that was what he was. He was simply a broken shell of himself.

When Ken lost Wormmon the first time, he promised he would be the kind person that he was. In return, Wormmon - no Leafmon - said that he would never leave him, that they would be together, forever.

Fate was against him. Just like when fate took his brother, it took his friend, his other half, the piece of his soul.

Yes, he was broken and it was all Demon's fault.

Ken sobbed as he remembered what happened that day, five months ago. It would forever be the day that Ken Ichijouji died for the second time.

It happened three months after they defeated BelialVamdemon. On that day Gennai called them about Demon escaping the World of Darkness. Ken freaked out when he heard that, but bottled up his fears because Demon was attacking the Digital World. The other Chosen Children didn't seem to notice that he didn't want to go. They were preparing and planning what to do. The Older and the Younger Chosen all made plans on how to defeat Demon once and for all. They didn't notice how terrified Ken was on the inside, except Daisuke of course. Daisuke tried to comfort him and tried to get him out of the front lines.

The others were planning to have him, Daisuke, Taichi, and Yamato on the front lines with Imperialdramon and Omegamon. The others thought it was a good plan and turned down Daisuke's request to remove Ken from the front line against Demon.

Ken wiped away a tear. The battle was terrifying. They won in the end, but at a terrible price. Demon attempted a final attempt to grab Ken in hopes of using the Dark Seed to give him victory. All the Digimon were tired and were helpless to stop him. Ken's fears and determination, along with Wormmon's love for him, allowed him to digivolve to his Ultimate form, GranKuwagamon. GranKuwagamon managed to protect him and defeat the evil Digimon, but at a price. GranKuwagamon sacrificed himself in the end, much like how Angemon did for Takeru all those years ago.

Ken hugged the small picture to his chest and cried as he remembered his partner's last words to him.

"Ken-chan…"

"GranKuwagamon?"

"The evil is gone…you are safe now…"

"GranKuwagamon…don't go…please…"

"Don't be sad… remember our promise…we will meet again..."

"GranKuwagamon! WORMMON!"

GranKuwagamon - no, Wormmon - had died in front of him for the second time in his life. He had broken down when that happened. Everyone tried to comfort him. Tried to convince him that Wormmon would return to the Village of Beginnings. But he never did. Ken knew that he wouldn't. Fate was against him and had refused to give him a third chance at happiness.

He never returned to the Digital World. Nor did he go to the Village of Beginnings. He knew Wormmon would not be there and he was not going to give himself false hope. Instead, he locked himself in his room and at school. After the incident when he passed out, his parents made sure he ate and slept. Ken didn't want to worry them to death. He was broken inside; he didn't need them to cry or fuss over him or to even share his pain. They didn't need that burden, no.

When they wanted him to do something, he did it. When they wanted him to eat, he did; slowly, tentatively, but he did. When they wanted him to sit and watch TV with them, he did. He didn't pay attention to it, though. He stared at it and waited for it to end and left when they dismissed him. Ken did everything they asked, not because he wanted too. All he wanted was for Wormmon to come back to him, but that would never happen. No one was lucky three times. Ken felt broken and sad inside, but as long as his parents had some sort of happiness and fun then it was worth it. They deserved to live their lives. They didn't need to feel the extreme emptiness that he felt.

The sound of the phone knocked him out of his self-misery. He ignored it and waited for the answering machine to answer. The only people that called now were his parents, people calling for his parents, or his best friend.

"Ken, pick up the phone!" There was a pause. "Come on dude! I know you're there! Just pick up the damn phone!" Ken didn't move, nor did he give into Daisuke's demands. There was a sigh on the answering machine. "Fine don't pick up, but don't be surprised if you see me walking in. Your mother gave me a key anyway. I have something for you and don't even try to lock your bedroom door or leave the apartment to avoid me. This depression of yours is ending RIGHT NOW! Later dude." The answering machine beeped, signaling that Daisuke hung up.

Ken sighed softly to himself. Daisuke has been very persistent for the last week and a half to get him to go to the Digital World. Ken had felt no need to go to the same place that had ripped his friend away from him. Ken had stopped going the moment his partner died. He hid his D-3 in his draw so he wouldn't have to look at it, followed by hiding his D-Terminal when he felt himself detaching from the others about a week later. Ken closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms on the table.

Why was Daisuke still trying anyway? It was not like he mattered anymore. The Ken Ichijouji that was the Kaiser was dead. The Ken Ichijouji that befriended Daisuke and the others were dead. The Ken Ichijouji that retrieved his partner after he found his heart was dead and buried. The Ken Ichijouji that witnessed his partner death at the hands of Demon cracked, cried, and torn into two. That Ken Ichijouji died with Wormmon, leaving nothing but a lifeless shell.

Ken remained motionless as the sound of a click could be heard. His mother must be home. Ken didn't move when the front door opened and closed. Nor did he move when the sound of footsteps coming toward his room was heard. He just sat there and waited for his mother to check up on him, asked him if he wanted anything to eat, and then leave. His mother did that every day; even when he said he wasn't hungry, she still made him something to eat anyway. He expected her to do just that, but what he wasn't expecting was the small, childish, familiar voice to echo in his head.

"Ken-chan! Ken-chan! Come find me!"

Ken's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight in his chair in shock. It sounded like Leafmon. No! It couldn't be, he's dead! It must be the lack of sleep. He was hearing things.

Ken spun around in his chair as someone knocked on his open door, followed by the childish voice calling him again. At the door was his best friend, Daisuke Motomiya. Ken felt fresh tears roll down his cheeks as he spotted a Digitama with pink hearts and the Crest of Kindness on it. Daisuke smiled watery at him and walked towards him.

"Wormmon's Digitama appeared last week. Since I couldn't get you to come to the Village of Beginnings, Elecmon told me I could take him to you and hopes you would consider coming back to the Digital World. He says he misses your help with the babies."

For the first time in five months, Ken felt his depression fall from his shoulders. He felt lighter and happier. Ken smiled softly as Daisuke places the egg in his lap. Ken could feel his partner within the egg. Ken sobbed joyfully as he touched the egg and it glows. The egg disappeared and in its place was a small, green blob with a leaf on its head.

"Le-Leaf-mon?" Ken's voice cracked with emotion. Leafmon's eyes watered as he cried his name.

"Ken-chan! Ken-chan! Ken-chan!" Ken pulled his Digimon into an embrace as the two of them sobbed. Daisuke pulled the two of them into a hug as he and Leafmon sobbed.

"Thank you…thank you…" Ken wasn't sure whom he was saying it to. He wasn't sure if he was saying thank you to Daisuke for reuniting him and Leafmon, or if he was thanking Leafmon for coming back to him.

"Ken-chan, I told you I will always come back to you," Leafmon sobbed. He was right. Leafmon did come back to him. After five months of depression, Ken finally felt like himself again. It felt as if the missing piece of this soul that was missing since Wormmon's death had returned. He finally felt whole once again.