And so another week has gone by and it is time for another chapter update for this story. I somehow managed to write this along the week and balance my other papers for school. I have a 12 page paper due this Wednesday that I haven't started so I'll be doing that after this! Fun way to spend a Friday night...
Anyway some thank yous are in order.
Digi-fanCapp You always make me smile :D
Thanks to these awesome people for the follow/favorites!: lavenderkitten 322; Rina Dragonfly; liryla
^ You guys are the reason why I keep on writing my stories :) It makes me smile that you guys like the story enough to write reviews, follow, and or favorite. So have an extra thank you from Haru and me! ~Ganzyyy
Chapter 13: The Strength in the Light
"May it be a light to you in dark places,
when all other lights go out."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Haru returned to the keychain once again. She allowed Kudamon to enter her memories and see what was happening. He realized that the others were even worse off than he thought. They were no longer together. They had gone off in different directions. Tai, Izzy, TK, Sora, and Kari were one group, but the others were nowhere else to be found. And on top of that Kari was sick, and Tai and Izzy were in a tight bind because of Machinedramon.
He glanced over at Haru's resting spirit. He understood how much she wished she could be there for them especially Tai and Kari, but she couldn't waste her energy recklessly. And she understood that. It was why she returned and started to rest.
He could feel the belief that she had in Tai and all the others. She knew that they were going to overcome the obstacles placed on them. And when they were finished with Machinedramon, they would be coming to Piedmon and evidently to them. Kudamon could tell that Haru knew that she was needed most in their fight against Piedmon. There was a reason why he was the leader of the Dark Masters. He was the strongest of the four... easily. And he could feel her determination deep within her mind. She was ready. She was ready for freedom and revenge for the things Piedmon and the other Dark Masters had done to her and her friends.
Oh Rue... Kudamon thought to himself as he watched her float within the void of their key chains. The only reason they could see each other was through their unusual bond. He looked at her sleeping form. The white dress gently covering her fair skin. Her short blonde hair floating in every which direction in their weightless cage. Her face peaceful and her brown eyes closed in her slumber.
He wished that she could just stay that way - peaceful. He wished that she could remain worry free. She never had the time to mourn her parents' death. Kudamon understood that Haru thought she was weak because of the way she almost gave in to the darkness when she learned about her parents. But he knew... that if she was given the time, she would have bounced back one hundred percent.
He was actually worried about the consequences of the crest merging with her body. He had never actually seen that happen before. He knew that each of the DigiDestined held the attributes of their crests within them, but he wasn't sure about this. By placing the crest on her chest, he thought the power of it would simply chase the darkness away. He would have never thought it would join with her. He figured that her new found abilities had something to do with her crest joining with her heart. He wondered if the crest would cause problems for her in the future. He knew that she still needed to mourn, but he could tell that the crest was preventing her from doing so.
I hope I did the right thing... He thought to himself. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He wasn't about to let his worry become Haru's. That just simply wasn't an option for him. She already had enough worry when it came to her friends that he didn't need to add to it. I'll take full responsibility for whatever happens to you.
He continued to watch over Haru's sleeping form. Nothing seemed to change with her until she suddenly opened her eyes. Haru? Kudamon asked. He tried to touch her mind but he found it blocked off completely. Rue? He tried again, but again he was met by utter silence. It made him feel nervous. He looked closely at her brown eyes and he realized that her eyes were distant - blank. Her body began to glow a bright white color. The only strange thing about it this time was that Haru's emotions were empty when they should have been erratic. Rue! He called out to her but she was gone.
Haru was comfortable. She felt at peace while she slept. For the first few minutes of her rest, she could feel Kudamon sorting through her memories about what had happened when she was gone. She knew that he wouldn't look into anything she didn't want him to. And like she thought, almost as quickly as the searching started, it stopped.
She was left alone, but she wasn't afraid of the feeling. She noticed she actually felt a calm feeling in this void. It allowed her to just be. No worries, no responsibilities. It felt like the darkness of this key chain was caressing her, easing her tense muscles. She felt herself, for the first time in a while, fall into an extremely deep sleep.
Within the darkness, she saw a faint light far, far away. Like a moth to a flame, she moved toward it. The closer she got, the brighter and wider it became. "Haru..." The light called out to her. She recognized the voice, but who was it. "Haru." The name came again. "I need you Haru." Haru moved a little faster. Eventually the entire area was beautiful and white. She smiled at the warmth. It reminded her of the loving feeling that Kudamon showed her. It was like the light was hugging her. "Haru, I found you."
Haru turned around and looked into the eyes of the little girl she considered a sister. "Kari..." Haru whispered surprised. She noticed that Kari was wearing a similar dress that she was. Haru's white dress was plain. It had spaghetti straps and flowed down to her ankles. Kari's dress was shorter - to her knees - and the fabric covered up to her neck and down both of her arms. "Are you okay?" Haru asked wondering why the little girl seemed to be in a similar situation that she was in.
"Everything is fine." Kari said smiling causing Haru to relax. "My fever is going away, and I am almost better."
"I'm glad." Haru said pulling her into a hug. It felt good to hold the girl in her arms again. She honestly didn't want to let go.
"Haru..." She pulled back to look at Kari when she heard the worry in the young girl's voice. "I need your help."
"Anything for my little sister." Haru said making Kari beam brightly. "What do you need?" She asked getting to the heart of the matter.
"I need your crest." Kari said. "I need your strength."
Haru frowned slightly, unsure of what to say. "I don't have the strength right now." She said honestly. It was the reason as to why she had been resting until then. The strange thing was that she still felt that she was in that deep sleep. "Kari, what is this place?"
Kari looked around with curious eyes the same way that Haru did. "I don't know either." She said with a small laugh. "All I kept thinking was: I want to see Haru. And then this place just appeared and you came in as well.
Haru felt the place again. It felt like Kari. It was warm and caring. There was that righteous feel to it that Kari always portrayed. Maybe this was Kari's heart. Could it be possible that Kari wanted to see Haru so badly that her own heart had called out to Haru's?
"Why do you need my help Kari?" She asked the young girl curiously.
"I... I just feel like there is something..." She paused and thought. Haru watched as the young girl's brow furrowed in thought. "I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen soon."
Haru could feel the girl's worry. She didn't respond right away. She had to think this through. This place was odd, and so was this situation. When she looked over herself, she noticed that she wasn't giving up any energy. "Kari... I think I have an idea." She said catching Kari's attention.
"You believe me then?" Kari asked and Haru nodded. "Then what's your idea?"
"Kari... I think this place is your heart." She said honestly. It would make sense since the girl's crest was Light and that's what she could feel in this place. "I think you called me here because you needed my help." At this Kari nodded excitedly. Haru smiled softly at Kari's actions. "Usually I would be using up a lot of my energy doing this, but I think because I'm with you, my energy is actually growing."
"What does that mean?" Kari asked confused.
"It means I can stay and help you with your battles." Haru stated. "I can help you if something bad is going to happen." Haru saw Kari begin to get excited. "But you need to know," she cut off Kari's excitement, "I can't leave this place within you. You'll have to call on me when you need me and I'll give you my strength."
"Thank you Haru." Kari said happily.
"There's something else." Haru said causing Kari to listen closely. "I don't know what will happen to you with me being here."
"What do you mean...?" Kari asked slowly, almost fearful.
"You are light, and I am strength." She whispered as she looked around at the beautiful white light. "My spirit, my heart, is now in your heart. I don't know what it will do to your body."
Kari frowned but then smiled softly at the older girl she saw as a sister. "Don't worry about that." Haru shook her head. How could she not worry? "I feel no threat coming from you or your strength. In fact, my body feels better than ever."
Haru sighed, but a small smile graced her lips. "Then I will stay for the time being."
"Thank you, Haru." Kari said as her image began to fade. She was probably beginning to wake up, but that meant that she would have to leave Haru alone. At least this time she was surrounded by light instead of darkness.
"What's going on out there?" She wondered aloud. Her body floated as if she was in a pool. It almost felt like water was moving her body around.
She sighed as she flipped over onto her stomach. "Ugh... I'm bored..." She mumbled to no one in particular. This was worse than the keychain. At least there she had Kudamon to talk to. Haru frowned at the thought of her partner. He must be worried about her. She had disappeared again without telling him. She sat cross legged in the floating void waiting for Kari to call for her.
Suddenly Haru was overcome with sadness. She blinked several times as her vision began to shift between the white void and what Kari was seeing. Haru saw the Numemon being forced into labor by the WaruMonzaemon and she felt their pain along with Kari's sadness. It kicked her powers into overdrive, and she could feel her power seeping out into the space within Kari's heart. Everything began to glow and a warmth surrounded her. Her powers were mixing with Kari's and surprisingly she felt no weakness coming from her own body.
"Let's help the Numemon." Haru whispered to the air. She felt Kari's determination at her statement. They freed the Numemon from what Haru could tell, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Haru watched from behind Kari's eyes as the Numemon were about to be beaten. "No!" Haru declared seeing the attack coming. Her power burst forth again. "Queen Kari..." Haru whispered, her eyes turning distant again. "I shall be your knight... now together..."
They forced WaruMonzaemon back once the others were able to digivolve, but Haru's powers continued to mix with Kari's. Kari's love and devotion to the other Digimon were what kept Haru's powers going. Even if she wanted it to stop, she couldn't.
"Haru?" Haru looked up to see Kari standing there again. Her eyes became focused again. "Can you feel Tai and Izzy?"
Haru closed her eyes and nodded. She could feel the two DigiDestined not too far from them. She reopened her eyes. "Yes. I'll help you reach them." She responded as she felt the Crest of Light mixing with her Crest of Strength.
Kari smiled at her. "Thank you."
"No problem, Kari. Wherever you go, I shall follow." Kari smiled at Haru and disappeared, leaving Haru alone to her thoughts once again. It was odd. It was like Haru was in tune with Kari's emotions and the two's souls were connected. However, she couldn't focus too much on those thoughts because she needed to keep her focus on Tai and Izzy's presence, but her eyes widened in fear.
"KARI!" Haru suddenly shouted as she felt the presence of the Machinedramon. "He's coming! Get ready! I'll give you as much energy as I can!"
But everything just happened so quickly. Before she knew it, everyone was defeated despite her giving them energy. No... she thought. She couldn't help. She watched through Kari's eyes as the young girl started walking toward Machinedramon. "Kari? What are you doing?" But she could feel Kari's determination coursing through her body. She felt her energy begin to surge.
She looked out through Kari's eyes. She stared wide eyed as the Numemon attacked Machinedramon. They were trying to protect Kari. But to Haru's horror, she watched as the Numemon were destroyed. Haru felt like she was in a daze. Her eyes dulled as she was overcome with so many emotions. The pain Kari felt from losing a friend reminded her of Piximon's death. "NO!" Haru shouted as she let out a burst of energy similar to when Kudamon digivolved into his mega form. The surge caused Kari to faint, but Agumon to warpdigivolve into WarGreymon.
When Kari fainted, Haru was ejected from her body. She stood there beside Tai and Kari and watched as WarGreymon was able to slice through Machinedramon. She smiled knowing that there was only one more Dark Master left to take care of. Slowly the mega dissolved into data and the area began to fall apart and reconfigure. She turned and watched the others.
"Thank you Haru..." Kari mumbled. Tai looked down at Kari confused.
Haru gently touched the young girl's cheek and kissed her forehead. She felt an evil feeling crawl up her spine. Piedmon... She growled as she returned to see him laughing with excitement.
"And so it begins..." He said with an excited smirk as he held her keychain up in front of his face. "It's almost time for the Big Finale!" Another laugh escaped his lips. He was giddy for some sort of action.
And so another chapter has been added to The Strength of the Heart. See you all next Friday 3