I'm done! This's it. I'm not as happy with it as I could be, I wish it sounded more like the beginning, but I'm too tired of it to work anymore. But I still like it! And please don't get mad at me for the ending, any devoted Takari and Dakari (is that right?) fans.
Everyone is forced to hang around the next day, because we can't travel with Daisuke. I can tell they're anxious--so am I.
"You know," Miyako's saying as we eat lunch, "why do we even bother sticking together like this? Wouldn't we cover a lot more ground individually?" Daisuke stops eating and gives her a pointed look. She doesn't notice.
"That's true!" Iori says.
"I didn't think of that," says Koushiro. He starts laughing and I join in, for no real reason. Taichi looks at me strangely for a moment, then he's laughing too.
Yamato stands up. "In that case, I'll just go."
"Bye!" Sora waves cheerfully.
"NO!"
Suddenly I feel like everything's spinning and I've been holding my breath for a long time, now finally letting it out. I look at Daisuke. "What did you say?"
"No one is leaving, Yamato!" Daisuke says in a firm voice.
I meet Taichi's eyes, and I remember what he said on the roof. "Yamato, stop," I say. He reels a little before sitting down again. I look up at the sky, and a chill runs down my spine. The sun is behind a cloud, sure enough, but even after it moves I'm still cold.
I wake up shivering, like someone stole the blankets from my bed. A cold wind whips through the air. The silence of night in the Digiworld seems loud and ominous as I stand, my eyes to the sky.
I hear a soft crackling in the distance, with some sort of rhythm to it. For a full ten minutes I stand, listening. Footsteps.
Don't be scared, Hikari, I tell myself. Just see what it is. Trying not to make any sound, I move a little in one direction. No, it's coming from over there. We are camped just on the edge of the woods, with open hills on one side and dense forest on the other.
My eyes confirm visual--someone is coming. All I can see though is that it looks human-ish, with somekind of lump hanging in the air beside it.
"Takeru, can we rest now?" says the lump.
I stifle a yelp. "Takeru!!!" I shout, running over.
He looks confused. "What--Hikari? What're you doing here?"
"Looking for you! Where have you been?"
"I'm on a mission," he says, "remember? The Numemon?"
I study his face. No cuts, no bruises, no dry and cracked lips. His skin is as healthy and tan as it was when he left, and all his limbs are intact. "Takeru, that was over a month ago."
"No it wasn't," he says. "It was like, three days ago."
"No, trust me, it was a month. Where have you been?"
Takeru looks at me, and his eyes slowly cross themselves, then even out again. He sucks air in through his teeth. "My head…."
"It's okay," I say. "Everyone else is over here." I lead him back to the camp, and Miyako is awake.
"Oh, there you are. Why did you---" she stops, seeing Takeru. "Ohmygosh! Takeru, you're back!"
He smiles, "yes I am. But if I knew you were worried about me, I would have come sooner."
"Of course you would," she says, hugging him. Then she starts poking the others with her feet, trying to wake them. At first they're reluctant, but all she has to add is "Takeru's back!" and they're up in a flash. I stand back, watching the happy scene. That weight that first began to lift when Taichi returned is now gone, obsolete. For the first time in a month, I laugh earnestly. They look at me strangely, but I just smile. Miyako looks from me to Taichi, to Takeru, to Daisuke, and she laughs too. Maybe the others don't get it, but we do, and we laugh so hard we're crying.
A sudden tremor goes through the ground, shaking our feet out from under us. It's proceeded by a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, one right after the other. That cold feeling washes over me again. Clouds move in to cover the moon, like a well-organized drill team, and I can't see any more of its light.
"Creepy," I mutter, before seeing the look on my brother's face. It's not just creepy to him, he's scared. "Taichi-kun, what's going on?"
He fumbles for my hand. Quickly, he pushes me into some bushes on the edge of the clearing, a little ways away from the others. "Stay here. Don't make a single sound, you understand me?"
"I understand," I whisper. He turns and runs back to the others. For a moment I can see Jyou hiding Miyako and Iori, before hiding himself. I'm scared now. Taichi spoke of danger, is this it?
There is another flash of lightning, and I see a figure silhouetted on a far hill. It looks somewhat human, I think as it comes closer. Two legs, anyway. It has a bandana or something tied over its forehead, and baggy clothes hang off thin arms. When I can see its face, though, I know it's not human at all. The eyes are red, perfect circles, and it has no nose.
It stops, maybe fifteen or twenty feet from the edge of the woods. It…smiles. "Yes, Iori, I am that secret," it says with a voice like sandpaper on a car hood. Secret? What secret? Did Iori say something? "Do you care to introduce me, Takeru, or should I do it myself?" I strain my ears, listening for a hint of voice. But I can't hear anything except thunder in the distance, coming closer again.
"Very well. For those of you who do not know--I am Nikaermon." He pauses. "I am a Digimon, yes. Do I still look human to you in the forest there?" No, I think, but I am closer than the others. Surely Taichi didn't mean for me to be here, only ten feet away.
Then, somehow, Nikaermon seems to start expanding. His thin arms pull off the shirt--and prove he is not human at all. Extra legs are wrapped around his stomach, writhing and untangling themselves to stand. He has not two eyes, but four, with two more under the bandana. A snakelike tongue whips in and out of his disgusting mouth. I can't quite say how, but just looking at him makes me want to vomit. The extra legs have far too many joints, or maybe none at all, bending this way and that like vines.
"Come out, Digidestined," he says. I watch and listen--no one moves. Nikaermon seems miffed. "I strongly suggest you do as I say. Do not think I cannot bring you out myself."
You couldn't if you tried, I think to myself, trying to build up my confidence. A little bee, I don't know where it came from, lands on my hand. I try to blow on it, but it just won't move and--now it seems to be angry.
"Ow!" I scarcely breathe the word when it stings, but when I look up, I know it was a plot. His threatening red eyes lock onto mine, and I feel as though I'm in a wind tunnel. I sway backwards. There's a cloud in my mind. It's raining information on my brain and hissing vile words. My knees buckle under me as I try to comprehend what I'm hearing. Orders, commands, coming so fast I can't make out the words. If they are words.
I stumble out of my hiding place, looking for familiar faces. No, everyone's hiding too well. "Taichi, where are you," I whisper, before something hits me from behind. And I'm falling…falling…even when I know I've hit the ground, still falling….
"I can manipulate you as I wish. No one is coming for you, Hikari," breathe the words in my mind. But they're not really in my mind; Nikaermon's head is hanging over me. I put all my strength into trying to push him away. He laughs.
"Do you see why I will kill you all…?" he casts the words into the air, and they seem to stay. Why, why is no one coming? Taichi…Miyako…. The next name that comes to mind shocks me, or maybe that was Nikaermon again. Yamato…. I am stung, again and again. With each jolt, I grow more weary, but the one name is somewhere in my throat, it screams to be said…or was that me?
"Yamato," I cry. "Help me."
"Come out!" Nikaermon orders. "Or will you let this one of you die?"
Don't let me die, Taichi.
Then I see something. Just enough to renew my hope: a small tuft of white fur. I remember Gatomon, that she was seriously risking herself by just coming, because she is the figurehead. Yet she was willing to give it all up. And I thought I would too.
Nikaermon waves one vine-like leg over my face. "Any last words, human?"
But I don't want to die, I think. There's something in my peripheral vision--I want to focus on it, but if I look, he will too. I won't let my eyes wander; I'll trust what I think it is. "I will do anything for this team," I say. "If it includes dying…so be it."
I manage to keep my eyes open long enough to catch Nikaermon's look of surprise at my words. And his dismay when MetalGarurumon bites down on one of his legs.
"Hikari…Hikari…can you hear me?"
A blob of orange is talking to me. No, wait, that's Koushiro. An honest mistake, because my eyesight is blurry and my head hurts like nothing I've ever felt before. "Koushi…" I start to say, sitting up, but he instantly pushes me back down. "Try and relax, Hikari. We've got you."
Twisting oddly, I try to figure out what's going on without getting up. Koushiro is typing, typing, typing. Iori, Takeru, Miyako, Sora and Daisuke are clustered a few feet away, tending to a very tired looking Oopamon, Patamon and Veemon. On the other side of me is Yamato, being treated by Jyou for a long gash running the length of his right arm. He smiles at me, but I can tell whatever Jyou's putting on it hurts. "What happened?" I ask, sounding like I have a mouthful of fuzz.
"We had to pull you out of there," Yamato says. "MetalGarurumon provided a distraction." That's when I notice Gabumon, panting and leaning against a tree. We're in the forest, but not far from the clearing. The sounds of battle are drifting through the trees.
"Hey Koushiro, have you found his weakness yet?" my brother asks, clomping over in his heavy shoes. Funny how much more you notice vibrations on the ground.
"I almost have it," Koushiro answers, never looking up from his laptop's screen.
"Well, hurry. Garudamon can't hold out much longer." He looks at Gomamon. "You'll be up next."
"Right," Gomamon says.
My backpack somehow inches itself over to me. I try to make sure no one sees its movement, then whisper into the partially open zipper, "Gatomon?"
"Oh, Hikari-chan, I'm so glad you're okay. I heard all these sounds but I couldn't figure out what they were…. What's going on?"
"We're fighting a Digimon named Nikaermon. Did you know about him?"
"No! Have we been fighting him this whole time? If he's that bad, why didn't anyone tell me about him?"
"I don't know. No one told me directly, either."
"Oh, I want to fight! I don't want to rule the Digiworld if it means I get left out of everything!"
Koushiro finally looks up as Biyomon walks in and faints almost right away. "Taichi? I've found something that might help us."
"What is it?" he asks. Gomamon's already ready, Digivolved and everything.
"Well, as far as I can tell, he has no simple weaknesses. Just a very good strategy and the strength to back it up. He's putting all of his power into defenses, see? So he uses less energy while our Digimon burn themselves out. One-on-one, WarGreymon would have been able to take him from the start--if only he struck back more often. Look at his power levels."
Taichi kneels down to stare at the screen. "Whoa, they're getting really low!"
"Exactly, he just doesn't show it. It's like leaving the lights on, so potential robbers think there's someone at home."
"What should we do?"
"Normally, I would say we fight fire with fire. Force him to strike out. But we've exhausted our resources," he finishes, looking at the weary Biyomon.
I look at Gatomon. "Are you up to it?"
"Are you kidding? As long as I'm not stuck in this bag for the whole trip home, I'll do it.
"Deal," I say as she climbs out and shakes herself. "Taichi?"
"Hikari, I'm kind of busy right--Gatomon?"
"What're you doing here?" Yamato asks.
"I came with Hikari," she says.
"You brought Gatomon? What were you thinking?" Jyou exclaims.
"No, wait! This is exactly what we need right now!" says Koushiro. "Gatomon, can you Digivolve into Angewomon for us?"
"Sure, done it a bunch of times. I'm not supposed to hit him though, right? Just not let him hit me?"
"Exactly. You don't even need to go any higher than Angewomon."
She nods. "Gatomon Digivolve to…Angewomon!"
And I watch our last hope take off, into the sky and past the trees. I try to sit up, but once again they make me lie down. "You've had a major shock to your system," Jyou says, "you need to rest."
Rest? I think. How in the world am I supposed to rest? I have to be there to know what happens! But before I know it, I've fallen asleep.
"Hikari-chan?" says my mother, "I have to go to the store, we're running low on vegetables. Don't leave the house, okay?"
"Okay," I say, laughing to myself. My house is probably one of the only places in Japan where we make extra trips to the store for vegetables.
And in case you didn't notice, I am home. We all made it back--each and every one of us. You know, when you're feeling really awful, especially if you've been feeling that way for a long time, it seems like it will never end. But I'm sitting on the couch, doing positively nothing, and I'm having a great time. Because I trust Taichi is safe, over at Sora's again. I trust Daisuke and Takeru are safe, playing soccer at the park.
Plus, there's someone waiting for me downstairs. I steal a peek out the window, and am pleased to see the blue jeep parked next to the curb. I pull on my shoes, and hope very much that he'll put his arm around me at the movies. My parents weren't happy that he's the same age as Taichi, but as long as I always come home by ten, they'll allow it, for now.
Yamato kisses me as I get in the car.
******
Yes, see, this was all just an elaborate Yakari--no, really. I hope no one gets mad at me, and I know there's almost no basis for a Yamato-Hikari relationship in the show, but there was in my story. So that's your ending. Go write a review. Go! This is my first finished fanfiction on FanFiction.net, and I really want some opinions! Otherwise, just go read something else now. ^_^