Okay so everyone needs to thank Camp Nano for the sudden updates again but here we are so I hope you all enjoy this lovely chapter. Also, no, I don't think Sora is a liar but I do believe she's the type to repress her feelings for the sake of others.
Chapter 10: Shades of Grey
Tai had to admit he was curious on what Gatomon had to tell them about Davis and why she was being so cold to him. He had been acting strange sure – but had he actually done something wrong? Once they were a bit further away from the group, he turned to the feline digimon.
"Gatomon what's going on?" Tai asked softly. "You were pretty cold to Davis back there. Did something happen that we don't know about?"
Gatomon sighed. "I don't have much faith in anything right now and you not realizing the truth back there, Ken made me feel further that friendship is just an illusion. Kari made me realise that isn't true but you failed Davis. You, TK, Yolei, Cody…all of you failed him when he needed you the most. The only reason Veemon played along was because the imposter could cause something worse to happen but once he's distracted, he's planning to…"
"Gatomon, slow down," Kari interrupted her partner. "You're not making much sense right now."
Gatomon exhaled a bit. "The real Davis is still trapped with Erika."
"What?" Ken said, eyes widening. "I mean I felt something was odd about Davis not wanting Veemon to fight and our heart beats not being in sync…was I right about that?"
"You managed to guess that much Ken," Gatomon said, sounding a little sad. "Yet you still escaped with the others?"
"Guys," Tai interrupted them both. "Who the hell is Erika and what in the digiworld is going on? We have enough problems without the two of you talking in riddles."
"Erika is a digimon-human hybrid creature," Ken said, his knuckles have become white upon Gatomon's words. "She said she was going to make sure that a miracle would never happen. She was really interested in Davis and when we were captured, she took him hostage. Veemon, Patamon and Gatomon freed Wormmon, Hawkmon and Lunamon and then helped free us. I thought Davis had somehow escaped on his own and was just shaken but…"
"That wasn't the real Davis," Gatomon continued. "After helping Patamon find Veemon and Wormmon, I left them to it because I really didn't want to work with the others and I caught sight of Erika with Davis. I overheard her telling Davis that no one would come to save them and about the imposter. I stayed and watched them for awhile…" She shut her eyes. "K-Kari, she…she raped him."
The reaction was instantaneous. Ken's hands had begun shaking while Kari's eyes filled with tears as she pulled Gatomon close for comfort. Tai, on the other hand sunk to his knees as he heard what had happened with Davis. No, no, that kind of thing couldn't happen to Davis…I let him down, I should've been there, he needed me, he needed us and he's still there. He's still trapped there with her while we're here with this fake. I'm so sorry Davis. We'll save you I promise. No matter what. He moved over, subconsciously wrapping an arm around his little sister and squeezing her shoulder.
"Gatomon," Tai said quietly. "If that's true, shouldn't we tell the others?"
"No, we can't let the imposter know that we know the truth," Gatomon said nuzzling Kari to comfort her. "Otherwise he may try and keep us from reaching Davis."
"Then what can we do?" Ken said voice soft although his expression and demeanor didn't quite match his look. He looked about ready to faint and he was clutching his unconscious partner so tightly that Tai was glad the little guy wasn't awake to feel discomfort from that.
"When we get back, we pretend we were talking about Davis and Erika but nothing about the impostor," Gatomon said softly. "Tai, we'll need to split up again but some of the group will need to lead the fake Davis away from here, maybe to search for the other missing digimon, I don't know but whatever happens, he can't get in the way or know what we're up to. We don't know how powerful he is yet after all but if he's anything like Erika, he won't be easy to deal with."
"I want to be with the group who goes to find Davis," Kari said softly having managed to stop crying for which Tai was glad. "I let him down once. I won't do it again."
Tai bit his lower lip. "I understand that Kari but he may not want you to see him in that state."
"And if I don't go, he may take it the wrong way," Kari pointed out gently. "He may think I've abandoned him even though it isn't his fault. His crush on me may have died but he's still one of my closest friends."
Tai sighed. "Alright. Let's head back then."
Ken trailed behind Tai and Kari, his gaze averted to the floor. What kind of best friend was he, not being able to tell a real from a fake? He didn't deserve to even be called Davis's best friend. Because he hadn't trusted his instincts – because he had dismissed his gut feeling, Davis had gone through hell. He had been raped – who knew how he was doing right now? But Tai and Kari were right too – this was no time to blame himself. He needed to be strong for Davis, like he had been strong for him many times in the past. He forced himself to pay attention, not wanting any of the others to become suspicious.
"What did Gatomon want to tell you guys?" Davis asked him and Ken managed a smile at the fake. He was a good actor after all and since they didn't want him to know what they knew, they needed to sound convincing.
"Gatomon had some information about Erika and the hybrids," Ken explained. "She was telling us a bit about the powers."
"Yeah, so some of the digimon are still missing," Tai took over, being the main leader at the moment. "While the ones we've found are in need of rest, well some of them at least. Patamon looks a lot better and Gatomon is too so TK and Kari will come with me to search for the others. Matt, Ken, Izzy, you'll come with me as well. The rest of you need to stay back in the village to help the digimon heal from their wounds and all."
"Tai, I want to come help save Palmon," Mimi insisted and Tai sighed, glancing at her.
"We're not going back to that place yet Mimi," Tai explained. "We aren't nearly prepared enough for that but not all of the digimon are captured so we're going to find the ones that aren't even if they aren't our own partners and all. The more help we can get against The Hollow, the better. I know how you feel Mimi. I'm worried about Agumon too and as much as I want to focus on him, this is all much bigger than him. I can't afford to be selfish about this otherwise saving Agumon could mean nothing if his world isn't safe."
Ken had to admire Tai saying that because he didn't think he would be able to make such a decision if Wormmon was in Agumon's position still but he had a feeling Davis would have been able to. Well, he supposed that's why they were the leaders after all.
"So we're supposed to sit here and do nothing?" Davis said, sounding a lot like the real Davis and Ken had to force himself to stay calm. They certainly had decent actors in their lot at least but he would have to play his role too – just like Tai and Kari were. His best friend's freedom might depend on it after all.
"You're not doing nothing Davis," Kari said turning to him. "All of us can't fight all the time and Ken told me you chose not to fight earlier since Veemon was too injured and you were shaken from whatever Erika did to you so don't you think it's better if you guys rest so when we have to fight the main enemy, The Hollow, you guys can be ready for it? Tai and the rest of us have caught a glimpse of this enemy and we can't go in unprepared. It's too dangerous so we need to be careful and be fully recovered." She turned towards Yolei who had been complaining as well and grasped her best friend's hand. "I know you hate sitting around and doing nothing but this is necessary right now. Trust me."
Ken saw the questions in everyone's eyes but was glad Yolei bit her tongue for once because they couldn't answer her questions in front of the fake Davis without leading to a bad situation so he was glad when Yolei nodded.
"Okay, just be careful you guys," Yolei said softly.
The groups separated then and the group that was resting gathered around in the village. Sora could see the distance between the digimon. Biyomon wouldn't talk to anyone and Hawkmon stuck close to Yolei while Gomamon was too quiet for his own good. Sora saw how downtrodden Joe looked and moved to sit by him.
"You ok?" Sora asked her friend, knowing he tended to worry a lot more than he always showed.
Joe managed a smile. "I don't know but I'm trying to be for everyone else. Even though I'm worried about how quiet Gomamon is, at least he's with me and not trapped somewhere. Seeing Mimi and the others so worried about their partners makes me thankful about that. But…sometimes I feel I failed him. That the reason my crest stopped glowing isn't only Gomamon but a part of it is me as well. I was never there for you guys. I wasn't even going to come to Tai's game and I never knew what was happening with Gomamon. A reliable friend should have…"
Sora bit her lower lip. She wanted to encourage Joe but similar doubts plagued her about her own Crest. While she was in a very happy relationship with Matt right now, his fangirls and general people who knew about their relationship were always going on about how she wasn't affectionate enough with Matt.
"If we were dating that handsome lead singer, we'd shower him with affection every minute of the day and her…I've never even heard her say I love you to him in public, talk about arrogance."
Could, like Joe said they be a reason themselves also for their Crests failing to shine? Matt always knew she loved him but she was never as openly expressive about her feelings towards him public but he wasn't either. Neither of them liked the attention and preferred to be a bit more subtle about their feelings and Sora had never understood the time when Tai had feelings for her so maybe Joe did have a point.
"Sora?" Joe said snapping her out of her thoughts. "Is everything ok?"
Sora realized Joe had been waiting for her to answer him and put a smile on her face, something she always did. His needs came before hers after all. "I don't think that's true at all, Joe. We're growing up, we have our own lives. Just because you have the Crest of Reliability doesn't mean you're not allowed to get busy or can't look at your own needs. I think the fading away of the Crests had more to do with the digimon than they did with us. I mean look at Kari and Gatomon. Once Kari was able to bring Gatomon out of the darkness, their Crest began to glow again so it seems to have to do more with them than it has to do with us."
Joe sighed. "I suppose you're right. Although Kari isn't really as open about her feelings either so who knows what was going on in her head?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah, but let's not assume ok? And do the best we can." She gently stroked Biyomon's feathers as the digimon shifted closer to her, feeling a twinge of guilt. I'm a liar. I want to evade responsibility that there could be something wrong with me. That while my issues with Mom have faded away, I still have trouble expressing my feelings. It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose but Joe needed the reassurance. She could deal with her own feelings about this later. Now wasn't the time.
"Don't do that, Sora," Biyomon said too quiet for Joe to overhear.
Sora blinked. "Do what?"
"It's alright to have trouble with love," Biyomon said quietly. "It's okay to have doubts. You don't have to tell anyone but I can tell. I don't really believe in love anymore but if Matt's anything like his partner, he probably doesn't love you. Gabumon doesn't love anyone after all. Other than himself."
Sora had to wince at Biyomon's words about Gabumon but also felt a bit lighter that she had noticed her thoughts. "True love does exist Biyomon. I promise. I know you don't think so right now but I know Matt loves me."
Biyomon just nodded. "If he does, he'll know. Don't hide how you feel from him. If we were all more honest with one another, we wouldn't have so many problems."
Sora hated to see her digimon in such distress so she continued to stroke her feathers gently. "I'll be honest with him, Biyomon. I promise." It wouldn't be easy but in order to help Biyomon believe and for herself, she would try to express her feelings to Matt. It wasn't that she didn't think he would understand, more that she had no idea where to even begin.