A/N: Yep, now I can put Kouji's next chapter in.

.

.

Wish Journeys 1.1
Three Brothers

Chapter 7/Takuya

.

Luck was on their side that day. They found a train passing by the edge of the forest and it was so happy to find commuters that it didn't worry Takuya was lacking a ticket.

And Takuya was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the train could talk and think and…was a sentient being.

The train dropped them off in the middle of a desert.

And then its wheels screeched as it went back the way it came.

They didn't quite understand until they found themselves knee deep in sand.

'Quicksand!' Takuya yelped, grabbing Bokomon by his pink band and yanking him out. Neemon was actually doing a good job staying afloat but Bokomon was sinking fast.

He was sinking fast too, but there was more of him to sink.

'There must be a sphere here,' Bokomon coughed.

'What? Why?' Takuya couldn't see anything guarding one.

'Sand can't run!' Bokomon replied.

Takuya could argue that trains didn't talk, but he guessed that wasn't the point.

.

The sword could float. Takuya only realised that when he was up to his elbows in sand and trying to draw it. It could float, and they could stand on it and ride it like a scooter.

In other words, it was a lifesaver.

A cool looking life-saver because it had fiery wings to go along with its new function.

'I want to get off,' Bokomon moaned.

Neemon seemed to be having fun though.

'In the quicksand?' Takuya sceptically asked.

'Well…no.' Bokomon took a deep breath. 'But I don't think I like flying.'

.

They found the cause of the quicksand eventually. A gigantic sand-worm like thing burrowing around. There were a few cacti running away. Which would have looked ridiculous if the cacti weren't real creatures.

'Cut that out!' he yelled at the sandworm instead, waving his empty hands.

The sandworm dove at them. The sword-turned board carried them higher.

And Takuya wondered how he was supposed to fight with the sword carrying them.

All he could think of was driving the sword in –

He paused. The cacti had stopped some distance away, were watching.

Did that mean the sandworm and cacti had been happily living together until the train had come?

Had they been the ones to frighten everyone?

He angled the board and flew a safe distance away. Where the sand didn't sink.

.

'Why did we fly away?' Neemon asked.

Bokomon would have normally responded, but he was quiet. Takuya noticed he opened his mouth though. And then closed it again.

He was probably thinking about the mage Chosen as well.

Takuya realised then another reason why he'd seen Shinya in Neemon.

Because he saw himself in Bokomon.

.

He talked about his brother. It had seemed out of the blue and a little forced at the beginning, but then it became natural. Shinya who followed him everywhere whether he wanted him to or not. Shinya who he loved but could at times still be the most annoying kid on the planet. Shinya who he'd snapped at and teased and swatted and now he wished he'd been nicer, when Shinya was like a doll tucked into bed.

Neemon wasn't really listening. He was having fun in the sand. But Bokomon was.

And neither of them really knew what they were supposed to do.

'You'll try and protect Neemon, if it comes to that,' Takuya asked, 'won't you?'

'Of course.' And, from his tone, it was never a question. 'But..' He looked at his paws. 'I'm only a book-keeper. I can't really fight.'

'And I'm just a foolish kid who thinks he can fight bullies but couldn't protect his little brother,' Takuya responded. 'I wished it wouldn't happen. That Shinya wouldn't fight alone; that I'd be there to protect him. That I'd always be there to protect him. But…maybe…I'm not supposed to fight all the time after all.'

He looked at his sword. It was almost funny how it had changed, became almost like a surfing board and, with that, changed its meaning. It wasn't a weapon. It was a means of transportation. Of dodging. Of leaving the battlefield.

He wouldn't have thought about that if he hadn't noticed the cacti.

Maybe he wouldn't have noticed if Kouichi hadn't said what he had.

Or if he hadn't seen the forest with his own eyes.

He wasn't going to make a scene like that for his wish. He wasn't.

That would be as a good as making a wish with blood.

It would be just…wrong.

.

'So what to do?' Takuya leaned on his hands. The sand was dry, but not burning hot. Or maybe that was just because he had the fire sphere.

He thought he was probably right. The sandworm hadn't chased them. Hadn't even noticed them until he'd yelled at it. And if the cacti were fleeing right then, something must have disrupted their normal way of living.

'Maybe we should talk to them,' Neemon suggested.

Takuya could have hit himself on the head after that. It was the obvious solution. And a good one. So long as the cacti didn't poke holes into them like pincushions.

.

They proceeded slowly in search of a cactus and finally found one. Once they found that one, they could see others too, but the one they aimed for was the nearest.

It blinked down at him. 'You're…remarkably small.'

Takuya wasn't sure if it – sounded female actually – was talking about Bokomon and Neemon, or counting him as well. The cactus was just a little taller than an adult human. Then again, Bokomon and Neemon weren't even up to his knees, height-wise.

'Uhh…hi,' Takuya said.

The cactus bent over a little. 'You're an odd looking thing,' she said.

'Uhh….'

He hadn't realised talking to a cactus was so hard.

'I'm Togemon.'

Of course, introductions. 'I'm Takuya. And this is Bokomon and Neemon.' He pointed to each in turn. 'We're looking for a sphere about this big…' He cupped his hands. 'That's in the desert somewhere over there.' He pointed behind her. She turned and looked, then turned back to him.

'I know the sphere,' she said. 'But to us it is no different than other stones in the desert. Is it valuable to you?'

'Yes.' And, though she didn't ask for the information, he added: 'It'll help me make my wish come true.'

It didn't seem like she knew about the Chosen. 'Your wish? How is that?'

Takuya showed her the hilt of his sword. 'By putting the five spheres in here, I can go to the Tower and meet the Goddess of Fortune. Then she can help my little brother. He's in a coma.'

'Coma?' Togemon repeated.

'It means he's asleep and no-one knows when he'll wake up.'

'Hmm…' Togemon straightened and gazed at the sky. 'And that hilt and these spheres can make anyone's dreams come true?'

'I don't know.' But she didn't sound like she planned to snatch it from him. She was just curious. 'I don't know why I've been given this chance either.' Then, on a whim, he asked: 'What would you wish for? If it could be unconditionally granted to you?'

She hummed. 'I like my life now,' she said finally. 'The sun shines. Everything's peaceful. The sandworm keeps the soil soft enough so we can drink what little water we need from it. But he frightens easily – though I wouldn't give that up either. It would be boring otherwise.'

It did sound like a nice balance.

'And if we don't give you the sphere,' Togemon continued, 'will others come for it?'

'Probably,' Takuya confessed. 'If you say no, some might leave it alone. But others will do anything for it. They're desperate to have their wish fulfilled.'

Togemon looked down at him. 'Are you not desperate?' she asked.

'I – ' That question nudged at the guilt he carried. The guilt he could almost but not quite forget. 'I've been thinking it's not right for other people to get hurt because of me trying to fix my mistakes. Or…because of me at all. Because I've regretted…'

He'd regretted a lot of things.

Togemon nodded. 'Very well,' she said. 'I like your words, strange little creature. And that sphere is of no value to us. You shall have it, and we shall continue this peaceful life without fear that somebody else will try and take it away from us.'

.

Takuya fit the earth sphere, swirling brown, into the hilt of his sword. It sat next to the fire sphere, leaving three empty holes.

Just three more, he thought. And he was happy, because he hadn't needed to fight for this one. It had cost no-one nothing. And that was good. It shouldn't cost other people. He'd decided that. He would stick to it.

He would change himself. Become a better person. Get what he wanted without fighting. Try to understand more.

Maybe, if he'd understood Shinya's feelings before, Shinya wouldn't be a prisoner of his own sleep now.

Just three more.

And then you'll be able to wake up, Shinya.