Terrie (striket@stu.beloit.edu)
Author's notes: Sequel to my piece "The Sowing of the Seed". More Myoken/Kensuke.
Ken sat atop a hill overlooking Primary Village, his knees tucked under his chin, arms wrapped around his legs. The others had gone back to the Real World. If the children here had become Digidestined, who knew what had happened there. Only Wormmon had stayed behind. The tiny bug Digimon was curled up at his side, watching him with worried eyes. Ken sighed. "I told you, Wormmon, I'm fine."
"If you're okay, how come we didn't go back with the others?"
"I just needed some time to think."
"About what happened to Owikawa?" asked Worrmmon.
"No. I mean, yes."
"Which is it?"
"Partially what happened to Owikawa. But also what happened to Myotismon. BelialMyotismon."
"He was evil."
"He just wanted to go home, Wormmon."
"He would have taken over the Digital world."
Ken stood up and looked out across Primary Village towards the setting sun. "I had the same goal, once. What does that say about me?"
"You did evil things, Ken, but you were never evil. I always knew you had something better within you."
"Maybe the same could have been said about Myotismon. We never exactly tried to find out, did we?" Before Wormmon could say anything, Ken started down the hill towards Primary Village. "Well, you coming, or are you going to stay here?"
After a short moment indulged in staring at Ken in incomprehension, Wormmon hurried after his partner. "Ken? Where are we going?"
"To Primary Village. There's something I need to take care of."
"Ken, wait up!" Wormmon hurried to keep up to the boy. Ken lead him to the center of Primary Village. Wormmon lay down at his feet, panting to catch his breath. "Ken, what are we looking for?"
"I'm not sure. But I'll know it when I see it."
"I don't understand."
"It's not like your egg. Then, I could hear you calling out to me. Even through my pain, I could hear you. It's not like that this time. But I know, I just know, that I'll recognize him when I see him."
"Recognize who?"
Ken looked down at Wormmon and kept his face carefully blank. "Myotismon."
"What?"
"I don't expect you to understand. Just realize that I have to do this."
"Do what?"
Ken walked among the Digital Eggs, examining each one. "Rescue him, maybe. Make sure he's all right at the very least."
"But you fought against him."
"I fought to protect people I cared about, not to destroy Myotismon." One egg caught his eye and he headed towards it. "Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, Myotismon wasn't trying to reach the Digital World. Instead, he was trying to reach the real world. And he made it."
Ken looked down at the Digital Egg. It was white with thin double stripes of blue and green. "He came seeking.... Well, I'm not sure what his ultimate goal was, but among other things, he was looking for a child."
Ken crouched down, his hands hovering over the egg. "I was in Odaiba that night. My parents were out of town, and I was staying with a friend of theirs. So when they came for the children, they took me along with the others."
"Who took you?"
"The Bakemon. They were his servants. But I wasn't afraid. I was the boy who had killed his own brother. What did I have to fear? And then he came."
"Myotismon?" Ken nodded. Wormmon asked, "What did he do to you?"
"He was kind to me. For the first time in... maybe forever, someone took the time to just be with me."
"And he made you into the Digimon Emperor."
"No. He offered me the choice, but I made the choice. No one else will take the blame for what I did. Everything that I did, I did of my own free will."
In the distance, he could hear someone calling, "Ken.... Hey, Ken..." He smiled and, scooping up the egg, stood. "Come on, Wormmon, let's go."
Daisuke came barreling down the hill, Veemon slipping and sliding behind him. He came skidding to a halt right in front of Ken. "You will not believe it! Everyone -- And I mean everyone -- has Digimon now. Jun got a Gazimon and she keeps looking at it like she has no idea what to do."
"Sounds great."
"Yeah, but it would be even more great if you were there." Daisuke slung an arm over Ken's shoulders and kissed his cheek. "C'mon. It's time for the biggest victory celebration the Digidestined have ever seen."
Ken gave a weak smile in response to Daisuke's enthusiasm. "I'm not feeling up to a celebration."
"Why not?" Daisuke caught sight of the object in Ken's hands. "Hey, what's that?"
Ken blinked at his sudden shifting of topics. He looked down at the egg in his hands and then back at Daisuke. "It's a Digital Egg."
"I can see that. But why do you have it? It's not Wormmon's egg, because Wormmon is right over there."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Hey, despite what my dad told you that one time, I'm not that dumb."
"It's not that." Ken sighed. "I mean, you know I don't believe that. It's just that this is the kind of thing where you have to live it to understand."
"If you say so. Doesn't make any sense, though, if you ask me. It'll be fine if you just leave it here. After all, we just saved the Digital World. Again. Can't imagine a better place to be right now."
"I just want to take extra-good care of this one."
"What? Going to try and replace Wormmon again?"
A pained look crossed Ken's face. "No! Never again. Wormmon is the best Digimon I could ask for and then some. But this one is special in its own way."
"Cool. Who's egg is it?"
Ken took a deep breath. "It's Myotismon's."
"Why do you have that?" Daisuke gave him a suspicious look. "Hey, you're not evil again, are you?"
"No."
"Okay then. So, if you're not evil, why the egg?"
"You know that night that Myotismon rounded up all the kids in Odaiba?"
"Sure. I was one of them."
"So was I." Ken leaned his head against his boyfriend's shoulder. "And whatever else happened that night, he was kind to me."
"Makes sense." When Ken looked at him in confusion, he smiled back. "You're the Child of Kindness. You're not just kind to others, you bring out the kindness in them. Of course he was kind to you."
"So you understand why I have to do this?"
"Nope. Not in the slightest." Daisuke hugged Ken to his side. "But I won't tell the others. They probably won't believe that you when you say you're not evil again."
"Thanks. I think."
"Besides, maybe there's some kid out there waiting for his or her very own evil Digimon and it's our job to make sure he gets there."
