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- tsukiakari -

- chapter one -

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The light is blinding after being in darkness for so long.

My eyes aren't even open, but its blazing radiance pierce through my lids. I feel my cheeks squint and a sharp burst of air from my lungs and up my throat. The sound of beeping falls calmly on my ears, and when I think to turn my head, I realize that I'm lying against a soft pillow, my body sinking into a mattress, sturdy yet comfortable.

The moment I move, I feel as though a weight is pushing down on me.

"Easy, there," I hear a deep, soothing voice near me. "You've just woken up."

Slowly, I open my eyes, and all I see is a blur. My brain tells me to blink, but it takes a few moments for me to do it. As I do it the first time, the portrait in front of me begins to sharpen its focus, and the fuzzy shape of someone enters my view.

I blink twice, but immediately regret the harsh nauseating feeling that follows.

"Easy there, sweetie. Take your time."

The blur lessens gradually, and the portrait eventually takes its shape. I acknowledge that I'm in a hospital bed, where its head has my upper body raised in a sitting position. I'm in a gown, and the beeping is sounding off from the block machine on my right, but I gather it's from the wires on my chest, and the needles stuck in my arm.

I survey the brightly-lit room, and to my right, the fuzzy shape is now a blue-haired man in a pristine, white long coat. He sits in a chair next to my bed, and with a delicate turn to face him, I meet his dark, kind eyes behind his glasses. He appears calm and patient, and his lips curve upward into a warm smile.

I've never seen him before. So, why does he look so familiar?

I open my mouth to speak, but no more than a weak, raspy sound comes out.

"Wh… wha…"

Apprehension crawls into my mind the more I move my lips and no voice comes out. A new beat drums inside of my chest, and I feel my breathing grow heavier.

"It's okay," the man says. "Everything is just slowly coming back to you."

"Where... am I?" I finally breathe out. My voice sounds foreign to me, as though I hadn't heard myself talk in a long time.

"You are in Tokyo Medical Center."

"Why… Why am I this way?"

The man turns his head slightly, but doesn't faze. "You have just woken up from a coma. You've been asleep for a very long time."

"How long…?"

"For one year."

"One..."

One year. I blink as I try to reach into the darkness of my mind, the darkness I had just left. I go back and search for memories, moments of light before I submerged. I barely dip in before feeling something shooting up my throat.

The man is quick to throw a bag in front of me. I throw up into it just in time.

What the hell happened to me?

"Try not to push yourself," says the man, who is now rubbing my back gently. "I don't want to overwhelm you."

When I stop throwing up, I wipe my mouth with a tissue and move my long, red hair away from my eyes.

"I am Dr. Kido," he continues, taking the bag and tissue from me and swapping it with a glass of water. "You can call me Joe, if you'd like."

"Joe…" I take a few sips from the glass, but the name dances on my lips as though it wants to ring up a memory. As I dwell on it, I notice from the corner of my eye that Joe is watching me, still with the kind, patient eyes, but also as though he was waiting. "Dr. Kido…"

I draw a blank. I close my eyes to let the name disappear into the abyss of my mind.

"Just take it slow, okay?" Joe says, and I feel his hand place over mine. "It's just good to see you awake after all this time, Sora."

My eyes open at that, and I turn my head to look at him, confused.

"Why are you calling me that?" I asked, and he appears to freeze, his lips parting slightly.

"That's your name. It's Sora. Takenouchi Sora."

Sora…

I look over to a table on the side of my room, where I notice the name printed on a few of the cards. There's a teddy bear, and along with a bouquet of flowers. Somehow, I recognize the tulips of different colors in the assortment, and that they have been cut from their stems a few days ago.

"Your mother's been bring them from her shop since you've been in here," Joe explains. "Well, that was until Hatsumi offered. He's been visiting you a lot. Sora..?"

Dr. Kido must have noticed me lingering on the thought. I don't remember this person at all, but I am certain my basic Japanese knowledge hasn't left me. Hatsumi. Moon. Flower. ...Isn't it normally a female name…?

"You… mentioned 'he'."

"Yes. He brought these in yesterday. He said he was going to visit later today- Ah, speak of the Devimon."

'Devimon'? He meant 'devil', right?

I look toward the doorway and hear a voice, deep and warm. I see the step of his sneaker, and at first glance, I expect his hair to be long and messy, and his brown eyes lighting up with laughter I feel like I've been wanting to see for so long.

When he steps in front of the door, I realize his hair is brown, but short and combed neatly, much like Dr. Kido's. His green eyes look at me, glistening in the light, moreso with the tears forming in them.

"I don't believe it… Sora.. you're awake."

I try to register that name being mine as he approaches me and takes my right hand gently, but I can tell he is wanting to do more. He looks at me with worry, his eyes searching mine cautiously. I must be important to him, and I wish I knew how.

"H...Hatsumi?" I ask, my eyes slightly narrowing as I try to remember him.

"Dr. Kido must have told you about me."

"A.. A little…" I pause as the same thought from before remains stuck in my mind. "You have a strange name.. But, it's a pretty name."

Hatsumi laughed, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. "That's what you said the first time we met. Don't you remember? It was the first day of our third year in high school..."

"Who are you?" I ask. Hatsumi looks at Dr. Kido, his eagerness appearing to be held back by his hesitation. Dr. Kido looks back with a cautioning stare. Then, he raises my hand up between the two of us. That is when I realize there is a glint on my fingers - a diamond ring on one of them.

Hatsumi and I…

The blankness of my mind remains as I try to remember.

"You… we… bag…"

"Sora?" Dr. Kido says.

"Bag!" I call out more desperately.

A bag covers my mouth as I spill once again. Dr. Kido's hand rubs my back just like before. I wish I understood.

"Ta…" I wheeze as I collect my breathing.

The two dart looks at each other.

"Tai…" I say, looking to them as more questions form. I want more answers.

"You need to rest, sweetie." Hatsumi jumps in. Dr. Kido looks as though he wants to say something more, but Hatsumi is already in front of him. "Don't worry about trying to remember anything more. You just woke up, after all."

I stare at him, wanting to disagree, but decide he might be right. I know I don't want to have to ask for another bag.

I lay back, and he squeezes my hand.

"I'm so glad you're awake," he says. He looks so relieved. I smile at him, glad that he no longer looks worried. I can tell how much he cares and that he is just as important to me as I am to him.

He kisses my forehead. I relax even more as I close my eyes and breathe slow.

Tai…

Why can't that name escape me?

Sora.

The voice in my head calls that name. I swear I'd heard it many times before.

Sora.

Is that my voice I hear? It has to be.

My voice calls her, and she appears before me, the earth rumbling around us, but the wide amber eyes on her smile gives me a sinking feeling. She's about to do something that will change her forever.

Sora, are you sure?

She nods with determination. I want to stop her, but I stand by her, trusting her will to fight. The others scream at her in protest. The boy they call the fearless leader grabs her wrist, showing anything but fearless in his gaze.

She kisses the boy on his cheek, but I sense she regrets hesitating. His reddened cheeks tell me he feels the same.

I'll be by your side always, Sora, I remember telling her.

Together, she runs past the crashing boulders and the shaking earth as I hover above her, my flaming body and wings guarding her. I feel myself evolve, and she grabs onto me as I leap into the air and flap my wings.

"We have to save him, Garudamon!"

Everything else is a blur. I dodge attacks from a dark Digimon that looks almost human. A priestess in purple robes. A real human boy is with her. My human partner calls out his name. The boy flashes a malicious smile as the dark Digimon laughs, and suddenly I'm shot down on the ground.

Sora is held back, calling my name with desperation as the boy stands over me, his smile and green-eyed stare triumphant, and I hear myself cry out in pain before I am met with darkness-

"Nyokimon!"

I wake up to a familiar husky voice. I look up and see blue eyes as bold as the morning sky right at dawn. I recognized his red fur and purple stripes right away.

"Elecmon," I squeaked.

"Welcome, my little friend! You're the first hatch today. I'll get you into your crib with the other Fresh forms in no time-"

"S...Sora…"

Elecmon's smile disappears and his expression turn into horror.

"Did you just say… Are you…?"

"Sora!" I squeak louder. I know I have to find her. I have to know that she's safe. As much as I remember, our plan to defeat the dark Digimon and save her friend, the human boy… We failed.

I have to find her before Laylamon tries to kill her again.