The Christmas Shadow

Author's Note: Okay, I thought of something to write, which is kind of why I'm updating, because I wouldn't be if I didn't. Also, I have another new review. So, thanks jess, I'll keep your questions in mind and try to answer them. There are some answers in this chapter, and I'll try to get the rest in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my character.

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on for hours, even though it was only a few seconds. When Shadow couldn't take it anymore, she averted her eyes.

"I hate you," she suddenly blurted. "I hate you so much." Jack didn't say anything, so she continued. "I never trusted you, but you just couldn't leave me alone, could you?" She didn't give the chance to answer. "You irritated me, you lied to me, you hurt my friends, you tricked me, and you used me. And still, I actually tried to like you, but you just used that against me. I hate you." She finished her rant, breathing hard.

"I know." Shadow grabbed him by the collar and her tone became almost desperate.

"So why can't I stay mad at you?" Their faces were already so close. Jack closed the distance between them. Shadow held him close for a minute before shoving him away. "I don't want to love you."

"I know, I'm sorry." Shadow turned away and crossed her arms.

"It's not your fault, it's mine." She let out a shaky breath. "Just, leave me alone for a while, okay? I need to think." She skated to the side of the ice rink and took her skates off. Then she left, forgetting that Kisa was standing on the other side of the rink, watching.

After Shadow left, Kisa slowly skated over to Jack and looked at him, but didn't say anything. Jack started getting creeped out by her staring. Kisa then sighed and started talking,

"Just so you know, as Shadowmon's best friend and tamer, I feel I should inform you that if you break her heart, I will break your face and take great pleasure in doing so."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good to know." As she turned to leave, Jack couldn't keep the questions buzzing in his mind contained.

"So, how exactly did you two meet?" Kisa turned back to him and raised her eyebrow.

"She's my Digimon partner. She came to me when I got this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a device the size of her hand. "It's a digivice. It keeps her powers in check and lets me know where she is at all times." She put it back into her pocket.

"How exactly does that work?" Kisa gave him a questioning look.

"I thought you knew about this stuff?"

"Not really. I mean, I know about Digimon, how they were made, and when they were almost destroyed, but that's about it."

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Can you tell me?" Kisa hesitated.

"I think it would be better if I showed you." She held out her hand toward him and it was engulfed in a black flame. Jack was surprised and took a few steps backwards. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Didn't Shadowmon tell you? I'm a demon. Not like you hear in religions, like servants of Satan or anything, we're actually quite peaceful."

"She might have mentioned that…" He still didn't step closer. Kisa rolled her eyes, stepped in front of him and pushed her hand against his forehead.

Jack suddenly couldn't see Kisa or the ice rink they had been standing on. What was in front of him was a mostly empty room, save for a couple of computers in one corner and about five people crowded around them. Suddenly Kisa was right next to him, and he jumped back, startled.

"Where are we?"

"A college in Japan, where those students," she gestured to the people in front of the computer. "first had the idea to create an artificial intelligence. There was no real purpose to the project, just to prove it could be done. But the project lost its funding and was shut down before it was completed."

The scene changed to a much larger room, filled with many more larger computers. "The project was picked up by scientists two years later, but for much darker purposes. They rewrote the program, gave the Digimon powers and near invincibility. They were to be used as weapons of war, hence the name, Digimon: digital monsters. Those horrible people made them into monsters. However, that project, too, was shut down."

The scene changed again, this time showing a large forest. Suddenly, from out of the trees burst Shadow, being chased by five other Digimon. One was an orange lizard, about half Shadow's size. Two others were the same size as the lizard, but looked like they were made out of rocks. The final two were much smaller, pink fluff balls that were floating.

At first, Jack thought that Shadow was about to get into a fight, but suddenly, the five others tackled her to the ground and they all rolled around, laughing.

"Who are they?" When he looked to Kisa for an answer, she had a sad, distant look in her eyes.

"The lizard is Agumon, the rock-creatures are Gotsumon, and the small ones are Kuramon. They were Shadowmon's best friends, and the closest thing to a family that she had."

"Were?…" He let the question trail off as the scene, once again, changed. They were inside a cave, watching as Shadow was curled up against Agumon in the I middle, sleeping. The others were sleeping up against the wall. Suddenly, Shadow stirred. Her ears visibly twitched and she stood and went to the mouth of the cave.

Jack followed her, and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. The forest was gone, leaving only barren land stretching in all directions. The look in Shadow's eyes was one of absolute horror. She rushed back into the cave and woke her friends. When they saw what had happened, they too stopped and stared. Then Agumon started running, and the others looked startled for a moment before giving chase.

Then, Jack found himself on another stretch of land, the same barren desert as before, but clearly in another area. Shadow was kneeling on the ground in front of Agumon, who appeared to have fallen. Three men in thick suits and holding guns were in the distance. Suddenly, Agumon started to fall apart, his data disappearing into the air.

"What's happening?" Kisa looked at him expectantly.

"He's being destroyed. The scientists that created them decided that they were potentially too dangerous, so they ordered them destroyed. All of them. Obviously they didn't succeed, but the damage was done. I thought you said you knew about this?"

"I did. But I never imagined it like this."

"Yes, it was a very painful procedure. It was like having every cell ripped out of your body, one by one. Pure agony." When Agumon had disappeared completely, Shadow stood up, shaking. Then, Jack saw one of the men aim a gun at her and fire. He was shocked when the other four Digimon pushed her and she landed back on the ground. The blast of the gun hit them and they all collapsed.

"Why did they do that?" He couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"They cared about her so much, that they were willing to give their lives for her. They thought that her life was worth more than theirs, so they died in her place. She's never gotten over that and she blames herself." After the four disappeared, Shadow's black irises suddenly shrunk, revealing that they were actually her pupils, and her eyes were really a striking green color.

"In case you were wondering, that only happens when she gets really mad. It's some kind of blind rage thing. I guess they thought they were being funny when they thought that one up."

"I've seen her mad, and I've never seen that before."

"Then she wasn't really mad. As much as you may have thought she was, she wasn't. Look." She pointed to where the three men were standing. Jack first glanced back at Shadow, or at least, where Shadow had been before. He then looked to where Kisa had been pointing just in time to see Shadow pounce on two of them, cutting into the backs of their heads with her claws.

"You can probably guess that Shadowmon was a little sore at them for killing her friends. They were always very protective of each other." That's when realization hit him. Shadow was so protective of Lucy because she never wanted to feel the pain of losing a friend ever again. That thought caused Jack to develop a guilty feeling that was overwhelming.

The other man had turned and dropped his gun when Shadow attacked him, cutting him across the chest area. The three men fled and Shadow dropped to her knees and let out a cry of sorrow that was painful to listen to. When Jack looked at Kisa, he saw that she was crying too. She noticed him watching her and she wiped her eyes.

"It hurts me to see her in pain," she explained. "Partly because of our mental connection, but mostly because she's my best friend." Jack followed Kisa's eyes as the scene changed again. Shadow was laying alone in the cave, unmoving.

"She wanted so badly to die, but she couldn't or that sacrifice would have been in vain. She was alone for ten years before we met." Then the scene showed Shadow, walking on all fours, sniffing the ground. "She's looking for food. Digimon eat data, but there wasn't any left that was edible in this area after the attack. About a third of the Digital World was destroyed, almost all of the Digimon living there were annihilated."

The ground beneath Shadow suddenly opened up and she looked panicked before falling though. Kisa sighed. "The digivice called to her, but I think that somebody could have come up with a better way of going about it." She looked up, so Jack did too. He saw the sky, not of the Digital World, but New York City. Shadow fell from the sky and hit the concrete, hard.

"That looked like it hurt."

"I don't doubt that it did." Then, Kisa walked up to Shadow, but she was also standing right next to Jack. He looked confused.

"This is when we met for the first time." Shadow struggled to a kneel and glared up at the other Kisa, who stuck out her hand.

"Need some help?"

"Not…from…a human." Jack was surprised at the hostility in her voice. Kisa seemed very calm.

"I never said I was human."

"Then...what are you?"

"I'll tell you…when you learn to trust." Shadow thought about it for a minute, then allowed Kisa to help her up. The scene disappeared and Jack found himself back at the ice rink. Kisa looked at him.

"Are you okay? You look like you're going to puke." He didn't answer, but instead ran off, leaving Kisa standing there, confused.

"You're welcome." She called after him. He didn't turn around, or even stop, but raised his hand as a thanks. Kisa rolled her eyes and wandered off to find Shadowmon.

A/N: Okay, so this was a really weird chapter, but I felt it was important for Jack to know about Shadow and Kisa's relationship. Also, he now has some information that will help him the next time he tries to talk to Shadow, and maybe it will work out better between them. I'm not sure what I'll be writing next, but when I know, you'll know, because I'll update.