Chapter 52: Forgotten Birthday
An ordinary day, two weeks after Patamon and Gatomon got engaged. Neko woke up in his cave. He was smiling for some reason. This was no ordinary day for him, no. It was one of the most important days in his life. His birthday. "Aah..." He mumbled. "Today, I'm one year old." Neko quickly climbed out of his bed, and went to the kitchen. "I wonder if anyone else knows..." He thought. "I've been giving them hints the whole week... Ah well, what am I worrying about? They're my friends, I'm sure they'll remember it." Neko took a cup, and drank some water. "At least Patty should remember. What with her being my girlfriend and all..." Neko was thinking about everything that had happened during the year: How his parents were slaughtered when he was just a little baby, how he first met Patty, how they together defeated Diaboromon, how he was accidentally ran over by a snowball, how he was stuck in a cave, how they rescued Wendy and Paguya while the adults blocked the volcano, how they went to the other side of the Digital World in search of DeeDee...
Neko chuckled with content. "Yeah, I've been through a lot." He stated. "But I would've never made it without my friends..." He stood up, and walked out of his cave. "I wonder if they've planned any kind of surprise party for me..." Neko took a deep breath of fresh air. "Aah..." He sighed and smiled. "Looks like it's gonna be a nice day. I wonder if Patty's home..." Neko started walking towards Patty's home. Patamon and Gatomon were both outside: Patamon was mowing the lawn and Gatomon was reading a book. "Oh, hi Neko!" Patamon said after spotting Neko. "H-hello, Mr Patamon." Neko replied. "I, uh, came to see Patty." "She went to play in the woods with DeeDee, Moshi, Wendy and Vera." Gatomon stated. "Oh, well, I'll get going then. Thanks." Neko said. "Err...
Do you know what day is today?" He asked Patamon and Gatomon, who looked confused. "Umm..." Patamon muttered. "Let's see..." Gatomon said quietly. "No idea." They said. "Oh." Neko said quietly. "Well, see you later!" "Bye, Neko!" Gatomon farewelled him. Patamon sighed a little. "I hope everything goes according to our plan..." He said to Gatomon.
"So Patty hadn't told her parents..." Neko thought. "Well, fair enough. At least she should know what day is today." After a while of searching, he eventually found his friends, discussing about something. "Uh-oh, he's here." DeeDee whispered. They quickly started playing again. "Hi, Neko!" Patty said, and gave him a hug. "Hiya, Patty." Neko replied and smiled. "We were wondering where had you been." Moshi stated. "So what shall we play now?" DeeDee asked. "Hmm... How about good old Tag?" Wendy suggested. "Or we could go on a journey around the Digital World." Vera said. "Yeah, or..." Moshi said. "What do you think, Neko?" Patty asked. "Well, I don't really care what we play." Neko replied. "Everything's fine for me. Tag, Hide 'N Seek, Capture the Flag...
anything." "Well, I guess Tag it is then." DeeDee said. "Fine. TAG!" Vera exclaimed, and tagged DeeDee. "Hey, I wasn't ready yet!" DeeDee said angrily. "Too bad!" Wendy replied, and everyone ran away and laughed. DeeDee decided to use her wit: She climbed up a tree. "Hey, where's DeeDee?" Patty wondered. "I dunno." Moshi replied. Everyone gathered under the very tree DeeDee was hiding in, and she jumped down.
"HA! I got you all!" She yelled victoriously. "That was clever..." Moshi stated. "Everyone, GET HER!" Patty yelled, and she, Vera, Wendy and Moshi leaped at DeeDee. "EEEEEK!" DeeDee screamed. "You're our prisoner now!" Vera stated. Neko looked from a small distance, and chuckled a little. "Hey Neko, are you okay?" Wendy asked. "I-I'm fine." Neko replied. "I'd want to ask you guys something." "Well, go on." Moshi said. "Do... Do you know what day is today?" Neko asked. Nobody said anything in a while, but soon, everyone looked very thoughtful. "Let's see... Isn't it Wednesday now?" Wendy asked. "Nope, it's Friday." DeeDee replied. "It's Thursday, you dummies!" Vera stated. "Is it the Opposition day?" Moshi asked. "What?" Patty wondered. "You know, a day when you say everything's exact opposite." Moshi explained. "Like if I said that I hate DeeDee." "Aaw, thank you..." DeeDee said. "...Not." She added, and Moshi smiled. "Naah, I don't think it's today." Vera said. "Well, I'm stumped." Wendy stated. "Me too." "And me." "Me four!" "Well, I guess me too. What day is it then, Neko?" Patty asked, and turned around. However, she spotted that Neko was running away. "Oh no..." She sighed.
Neko eventually stopped fifteen minutes later, and was crying hard. He couldn't believe it: No-one had remembered his birthday. "My friends... Even Patty... Everyone forgot..." Neko sobbed. "Is that how insignificant I am?" Neko tried to wipe his tears, but why to bother. "Nobody cares about me... Didn't I give enough clues to them? Or maybe they didn't care to begin with..." Neko sniffled, and still kept wiping his tears. "Ah, this is ridiculous..." He muttered, and stood up. "Fine. If they don't care that it's my birthday, then fine. I'll have my own party!" Neko looked a little more excited. "Yeah! I can have fun on my own, I don't need my friends for that!" He grinned deviously. "That'll teach 'em a lesson!" After coming back to his cave, Neko started to look for ingredients to bake a cake. "Let's see... Flour, sugar, milk... I'm out of eggs." Neko muttered. "Well, guess it's time to go... Shopping." He chuckled a little, and rushed outside. "Dum-di-dum-dam-dam..." Neko hummed, and climbed up a tree. "Aha, a bird nest!" He thought, and climbed right next to the nest. However, as soon as he grabbed the nest, he fell down the tree. "Whoaaaa!" Neko screamed.
"Oof!" He grunted when his back hit the ground. A second later, the eggs in the nest hatched. "Oh man..." Neko sighed. He climbed back up the tree with the nest in his hand, and placed the nest back from where he took it. "There, little buddies." He said quietly, and jumped down. "Well, looks like no eggs then." He thought. After he started going back to his cave, he spotted a berry bush. "Hmm..." Neko muttered, and picked a handful of berries. "This should be enough..." He went back to his cave, and started combining the ingredients. "That should do the trick..." Neko said, poured the cake dough into a mould and placed it over a geyser. "Now just to wait for it to cook-" However, Neko suddenly remembered something. "I haven't got any candles..." He stated. Neko went back outside, and looked up. "Maybe there's a beehive nearby..." After a while of looking, Neko eventually spotted a beehive. "Okay, here goes..." Neko thought, and climbed up the tree. He hit the beehive with a rock, and quickly hid in the leaves. As the bees angrily came out of the hive to see what disturbed them, Neko laughed and muttered "Suckers..."
Neko carefully jumped right next to the beehive, and took out some beeswax. "Here, this should be enough for me to craft my own candle-" Neko stated, however he carefully turned his head when he heard a loud buzzing soud. "Uh-oh..." Neko said quietly: The bees had returned, and were really, really mad. "AAAAAAA!" Neko screamed as he ran away from the bees. Neko took a sharp turn, and managed to mislead the bees. "Phew... That was a close one- OOUCH!" Neko yelled: A bee had stung his rear. Neko hissed and glared at the bee, and held his bottom. "Well, at least I got my candle." He said optimistically. "Now to-" He noticed that smoke was coming out of his cave. "Oh nuts!" He shouted, and quickly rushed back inside his cave. Neko coughed a little, and quickly took the cake off the geyser. "Oh man..." Neko sighed as he looked at the burnt cake. "Try to think positively, Neko..." He thought. Neko put the 'cake' on a table, and decorated it with the berries he had picked earlier. "There, now it doesn't look too burnt and distasteful..." Neko said and chuckled nervously.
"There ya go..." Neko said after he had crafted the candle. He placed it on top of the cake, and smiled lightly. "Looks really nice alright..." He grabbed a torch from a wall, and lit the candle with it. "Who wants any dull birthday parties when you can organize everything yourself, eh?" Neko asked himself. "Here you go Neko, I got you a present. Really? Oh, thank you." Neko grabbed a rock that had a ribbon tied around it. "Now, let's sing, shall we?" Neko asked himself. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Neko, happy birth... day... to... to..." Images of his friends flashed in Neko's head, and he started sobbing again. "...To you..." Neko fell on the floor, and started crying uncontrollably. He repeadetly hit the floor with his fist. "I'm... I'm so pathetic..." He sobbed. Neko stood up, went over to his secret room, and grabbed a picture of himself and his parents. Neko started crying even harder: He wished he was dead, he wished everyone else was dead... Then it occurred to him. "Of course." Neko muttered, stood up, and went back to the kitchen. He looked at the candle on top of his cake. "If wishes come true..." He started. "I... I wish I was never even born." Neko took a deep breath, and was prepared to blow the candle.
Suddenly, Neko heard a clanking sound coming from the cave mouth. "Who's there?" He asked, and took out his claws. "Show yourself!" He ordered. A small figure stepped out of the shadows, and was revealed to be "P... Patty?" Neko asked surprisedly. "Uuh... Hi, Neko." Patty greeted him. "...What do you want?" Neko asked, and glared at Patty. "I-" "Wait, I don't even want to hear." Neko interrupted. "Neko, this is impor-" Patty started, but Neko covered his ears. "I'm ignoring you..." He said and hummed a tune. "Neko, please-" "LALALALALALA..." Neko sang loudly, went into his room, and rolled the boulder over it. "Neko!" Patty yelled. "Move this boulder aside right now!" "Or else?" Neko asked. "Or else... Or else..." Patty started. "...Or else I'm gonna break up with you!"
Neko immediatly rolled the rock away. "Fine." He said quietly. "Now tell me your business and scram." "Tie this over your eyes." Patty said to Neko, and gave him a blindfold. "What the-" Neko started, but Patty yelled "Now!", and Neko did as he was told. Patty grabbed Neko's arm, and guided him somewhere. "Where are you taking me?" Neko asked after a while of walking. "There." Patty said, and opened Neko's blindfold. "Open the door." Neko hesitated at first, but slowly opened the door.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled, and Patty turned on the lights. "Whoa!" Neko shouted. He soon noticed where he was: Patty's home. Patamon, Gatomon, DeeDee, Moshi, Wendy and Vera had all gathered together. "Happy birthday, Neko." Patty said quietly. "You... You remembered..." Neko muttered. "Patty told us that today's your birthday." Gatomon explained. "And you gave us way enough hints during the past week." Moshi stated. "Guys..." Neko muttered, and was nearly going to cry again. "Don't thank us." Patamon replied. "You should thank Patty." "Well, I dunno..." Patty said and blushed. "Hey, you organized everything, Patty!" Wendy said. "But we did all the work together." "Patty..." Neko muttered, and sniffled. He couldn't control his emotions anymore: He gave Patty a huge kiss, and hugged her. Patamon looked a little shocked, but eventually smiled. "Thanks, Patty." Neko whispered. "Anything for you, Neko." Patty replied, and smiled cheerfully. "Well, now that the birthday boy's here too, I guess we can begin." Patamon stated, and everyone exclaimed "YAY!"
This was one of the best days in Neko's life. There was cake, juice, different kinds of cookies, candy and chips("Mama did all the baking." Patty stated). Neko got plenty of presents: A music box and a kiss from Patty, a bubble blower from Wendy, a wristwatch from DeeDee, a football from Vera, and a pair of sunglasses from Moshi. However, arguably the best present Neko got from Patamon and Gatomon. "It's... A real bed..." Neko uttered. "Yup." Patamon replied. "We thought that the usual beds in your house aren't comfortable enough." Gatomon stated. "I... Thank you." Neko said, and bowed a little. They played lots of different games, such as Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Simon says, and Hide 'N Seek. Eventually, DeeDee & Vera, Moshi and Wendy were picked up by their parents. "Thank you!" Neko farewelled them. "Phew... I had such a fun day..." "You actually thought I would forget YOUR birthday?" Patty asked a little hurt. "I..." Neko started, and sighed. "I'm sorry." "It's okay." Patty replied. "Well, I think I should go home now." Neko stated. "You're not going anywhere." Patty replied and giggled. "What does that mean?" Neko asked. "It means that you're staying here for tonight." Patamon replied.
"Good night, Patty." Gatomon said, and gave Patty a kiss to the forehead. "And you too, Neko." "Thanks. Good night." Neko replied. "Good night, Mama." Patty said. "And you, little guy." She added, and patted Gatomon's belly. "...Thank you." Neko said to Patty after Gatomon had left. "Hey, it was nothing." Patty replied, and held Neko's hand. "I love you." "Love you too." Neko replied, and kissed Patty before the two fell asleep.
