Concurring Overite
Data Fragment 32: Paradox
Didn't Ryo offer her freedom?
She couldn't remember the initial conversations all too well, and that bothered her. That wasn't even the only thing she couldn't remember well. But she remembered the crippling, debilitating, pain that now was a distant echo, but now she couldn't even feel when she bumped against a wall or clipped her wings on the roof.
She barely remembered how it felt to walk on her own two feet, they feel so disconnected now.
And her friends, the other Chosen… why did it feel like her heart was being ripped in two somewhere outside her body.
She saw Takuya's pseudo-ring and how it was a measure of trust that was later thrown in their face through no fault of their own… Or rather, they were given up for gone. Yet Takuya was still Takuya and JP was still JP, even if Takuya and his brother were trapped in the ruins of their home and JP was locked in a research lab by his well-meaning father. And Tommy, Tommy had taken to his newfound awakening like a duck to water… or, should she say, a polar bear to ice? He'd found such a lovely big sister as well –
And some part of her twisted enviously at that. Another part of her didn't care at all.
And that was the part she was growing to dislike. She didn't like this being at war with herself and that was what Ryo's little gift of freedom had done. How was this freedom? It held her back, gave her more questions than answers…
And then there were the twins. She'd followed both of them, one at a time, and was no closer to unravelling the mess that had become. She could have used the time to dig Takuya and Shinya out, instead, but they at least were safe, at least until she chose what to do. Tommy was also safe. But the world wasn't safe; it was broken – or being made to break.
Ryo had lost the war with himself a long time ago, she thought, and now he'd taken on the rest of the world.
But she'd also made a decision a long time ago, that she wouldn't sacrifice herself, who she was. Even though she flew now, even though she could summon cutting winds with her palms and could banish any pesky memory from her mind, she didn't want to.
She didn't want to forget being a powerless human being, even though she had power now.
And she didn't want to forget the weight of emotions that didn't seem to fit into the heart of this new form of hers.
Or maybe she just had to choose her heart.
She flew up, up into the sky because the sky always meant freedom, didn't it? But here, the sky meant the Digital World. Meant finding Tommy laughing in the snow and Sora watching over him with an indulgent expression. Meant sometimes finding another boy with them: a young blond boy with a Patamon – and sometimes, that young blond boy was one with Patamon, and she knew they were like her, like she could be – or, rather, were her after they'd cast something away.
Should she hang on stubbornly to that past self or throw it away?
Should she accept the current state of things or rage against that fate?
She dropped back down, through the layers of the Digital World and into earth. She could still hear the music: Koji's violin and Matt's harmonica, and the resonance of metal against metal that always burned her ears when she got too close.
She knew what that meant.
"You're stuck too, huh."
The shadows, unformed, settle next to her.
She laughed at that. It wasn't like any of them to be bashful after what they'd gone through together. But at least they'd gained an understanding at the end.
"This form isn't as pretty as it looks, you know. My mind's being torn in two and I hate that."
And as soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, the glow in her palms vanished and the wings settled into her back.
Huh, guess that was the decision made. Or part of it.
And hers wasn't the only one. The shadows rose, until it was a dripping lion-wolf with sorrowful red eyes and a red band around one ankle.
"He told me I can't change the world."
But neither of them need to. They just need to rescue a few friends and slap fate away from them… assuming it goes that smoothly.
