Disclaimer: I can comfortably say that I don't own Digimon.
Unbroken Hearts: Chapter 2
"Aw, man," groaned Takato. "It got away. Guilmon, do you think you could track it, boy?"
The crimson dinosaur sniffed the air but shook his head. "Sorry, Takato, but it hides its smell well."
"Aw… nuts." Takato's shoulder's slumped for a second before he straightened them out again. "Well, I guess that we'll have to let it go for now. Seeing as how it's late we'll try and pick up the trail tomorrow." Takato's face suddenly lit up with a grin. "What do you say, Guilmon? Looking forward to some dinner when we get home?"
"YAAAAY!" Exclaimed the large reptile before promptly launching into yet another round of what everyone had now deemed as the Guilmon Bread song. Takato sighed and shook his head, that same grin still plastered on his face.
"You never change, you know that?"
Guilmon laughed playfully and nuzzled his Tamer. "Not unless you drew me different recently, Takato."
Takato now joined his partner in his laughter before finally turning to look at Rika. She was currently looking away from him and rubbing her shoulder, a strange look was on her face that looked like embarrassment. Renamon stood next to her and was eyeing her carefully. Takato drew a little bit closer to the hotheaded Tamer, his face now set with a serious look.
"Rika?" He asked, his voice practically dripping with concern. "You okay?"
Rika's face snapped up, and she attempted a glare. "Of course I'm okay you stupid, Gogglehead! Whatever made you think that I… uh…" Rika halted in her berating of the goggle-wearing Tamer when her eyes locked with his. Her face lost all of its harshness, and she began to stutter over her next choice of words. Takato cocked his head in confusion while Guilmon just sniffed the ground, not at all paying attention to the sudden difference in Rika's tone of voice.
Takato looked at Rika while she seemed to fumble over her sentences, while Renamon looked at her with a mixture of worry and concern. Shrugging his shoulders, Takato forced his grin back onto his face.
"Hey, take it easy. I know that you don't like it when people show you that their worried about you, but I thought that I'd ask, 'cause earlier when Guilmon and I were coming through the digital field I thought I saw you fall, like you had been hit by something."
"She had been…" began Renamon only to be cut off by her Tamer.
"Let me get one thing straight with you Gogglehead. I'm… fine. And I don't need your help either; I can handle things on my own just perfectly. I don't need you to be charging in like some stupid knight in shining armor…"
Even though I do become a knight when I biomerge with Guilmon, thought Takato as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but he decided now was not the time to bring it up. Rika was on the warpath right now, so it was best to roll with the punches and wait for it to be over. But there was something strange going on, Takato felt. Some of the things that she was saying were almost reminiscent of the old Rika, only without the spite and cold edge to her words. Oh, well. That was Rika being… well… Rika. That just seemed to describe everything just perfectly. Takato took a back seat mentally and waited for her to be done so that he could get home.
Actually that didn't take that long since Renamon had chosen that exact moment to lay a paw on her partner's shoulder, interrupting the red headed Tamer from her ranting. Rika halted and looked at her partner before returning her gaze to Takato. Rika blinked a few times as though she was trying to tear her gaze from off of the Gogglehead's face, but wasn't able to. Almost as though there was something about it that… entranced her. Finally, after what seemed like an uncomfortable eternity, Rika looked away with an expression on her face that felt alien to her. Shyness. Takato of course, did not even notice.
"I… I'd better go…" muttered Rika as she turned around, hoping desperately that the warm feeling that she felt in her cheeks again wasn't a blush.
"Oh, okay," said Takato cheerfully, grateful that Rika wasn't going to pound him into the dirt or anything. Not that she ever did or would mind you, but she had threatened it often enough in the past (and given her own attitude) that every time she said she would it sounded very much like a promise rather than a vague threat. With that thought soaring through his mind, Takato and Guilmon turned around and took off, Takato taking only a brief moment to look behind him and wave goodbye to Rika before tripping on the ground and falling to the dirt with a cry. Rika, who hadn't seen the unfortunate accident, but heard it, laughed lightly as she walked away, listening to Guilmon asking his never ending questions and Takato's exclamations of pain.
After a while, Renamon phased into view next to her Tamer, even though they were right in public. Renamon reached out and stopped Rika from her journey.
"Rika, are you sure that you're fine?"
Rika frowned at her partner. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Did you forget that you had been shot by a digimon?"
"No, Renamon. I didn't forget, but it didn't hurt so why bother worrying about it?"
Renamon seemed perplexed. "It didn't… hurt?" That couldn't be right. A large majority of digimon had attacks that were almost always lethal in one form or another. Even Kenta's partner, MarineAngemon, could be threatening with those hearts of his.
"No, now can we please just drop the subject now? I'm very tired, and I want to go home."
The vulpine digimon nodded. "As you wish Rika. Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?"
Rika shook her head. "I'm not that tired, Renamon. I just… need to clear my head for a bit."
Renamon nodded and phased out of view again, leaving Rika alone with her thoughts as she resumed walking. Even though she had said that she was fine, she knew that it was sort of a lie, and chances were Renamon knew it but didn't want to push the envelope until she was sure it was necessary.
Something happened back there, Rika thought as she strode down the streets. But what? What did that crazy digimon do to me? And just what kind of digimon was it anyway?
No answer came to her, at least none that she could think of right away. Passing a few stores on her way home, Rika found her gaze drawn to one of them and she stopped. Renamon appeared next to her to see why, half expecting whatever it was that caught her eye to be some new digimon card, but the game shop wasn't even on this street, so what…?
Renamon's eyes went wide with surprise as she suddenly saw the answer to her unspoken question.
The store that they were now standing in front of had a display for all to see as they passed by so that everyone could window shop. If something didn't appeal to them they walked on by and were none the worse for wear, but if something did catch their attention, then either the object would quickly be bought, or said customer would beat themselves up over it as they continued on with their daily lives. Now the store in question was something of the everyday sort, nothing special or fancy about it, and if Renamon could recall correctly (unless she somehow wound up in the wrong universe that is), its contents were of the sort that Rika had claimed that she wouldn't be caught dead in. The contents in question contained garments of the kind meant best to express femininity in a person, depending on their tastes. It was all one piece, made of various kinds of fabric. Some were colorful while others were soft, dark, or a combination of all three. But all were made to be beautiful and catching to the eye.
Let's be brief, shall we?
Rika was admiring a row of dresses.
After some time of not saying anything, Rika finally spoke. "Hey Renamon? Do you think Takato would notice me if he saw me wearing a dress?"
Renamon had to fight the urge to faint. Battle hardened as she was, used to strange sights and oddities, she had to admit, this was one curveball that she never expected to see coming. Well, maybe when Rika had grown a little older, but this? Renamon quickly looked up at the sky to see, as Terriermon would have put it, if pigs were indeed flying.
There weren't. Good. Must be a joke, thought Renamon. But whether on Rika's part or the universes remains to be seen.
"Rika, did I just hear you ask me if I thought that Takato would notice you if you wore a dress?"
Rika seemed to start at her partners question before turning a light shade of red. Closing her eyes, Rika shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It seemed to work.
"Never mind Renamon. I must be more tired than I thought. On second thought, why don't you just take me home? I think that I might need to go to bed early tonight."
Renamon tilted her head to one side in confusion, but nodded and did as she had been bid.
Later that evening, Rika got underneath the covers of her sleeping bag and sighed in contentment. Looking at the ceiling of her bedroom, the image of Takato's face flittered across her mind and she closed her eyes, a small smile forming on her face. At any other time, she might have wondered why she was thinking of Gogglehead at a time like this, and in a way that surprised her, but for now she felt too tired to pursue the reasons as to why or how. She just needed to rest. That's it… rest…
"Takato…" Rika whispered unknowingly to herself as she drifted off to sleep. Over in the corner of her room, Renamon jolted to attention as she heard the name emerge from her Tamers lips before settling back down.
I must be hearing things, the kitsune thought.
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Under the light of the full moon, a figure with angelic wings stared out over the city from his place on the Hypnos towers.
So much pain out there, it thought. And I'm going to heal them all…
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