Love Has No Boundaries
Part Five: Final Kiss
A/N: The end! It's the end of the series! I don't know whether to be happy or to break out the Kleenex. Thanks to all of you who read this and enjoyed it. It's been wild.
It had been a long, hard journey, and now it was about to end. There were days of torment, nights of anguish, loneliness and heartache the best friends one could have at times, but it was all about to change. At long last, after so much hurting, Gatomon could finally be reunited with Wizardmon, her one true love. She had faced the demons of her past and become a stronger person by dealing with them, now it was time to end the long nightmare.
She was slightly surprised to find that for once, she was not in a sparkling white room or one shrouded in darkness. This room was slightly in between. The floor was cold stone, gray and uncomforting. There were no walls to speak of, only a colonnade of marble pillars, wrought-iron candelabras stationed between every two pillars, wax candles burning low over the holders, lumps of drippy wax catching on the metal, leaving twisted corpses and tiny pinpricks of light. The ceiling was nonexistent as well, only the dark, blue-black velvet of night, studded with countless glistening stars draped over the places where columns reached up to emptiness. A stone altar stood in the middle, draped with a linen cloth the color of pure fire. Gatomon stepped boldly towards this altar, her grip still tight on the staff of the one she held so dear.
"Finally. Thank goodness this will all be over soon," she sighed aloud, kneeling before the stone altar.
Someone shrouded in robes, their face hidden by a deep hood, appeared almost instantly. Gatomon looked up in question, hoping the figure would provide her with the answers she sought.
"You must release the powers of the Wisdoms," the figure intoned.
"Yes, I know. But I don't know how to do that," she replied.
"You must break that item in your hands."
"What? The staff? Oh, I couldn't do that! It's all I have left of him, and it means so much to me."
"If you cannot break the staff, you cannot release the power of the Wisdoms, and the spirit of whom you desire will be lost in Dark Eternity."
A tear slid down Gatomon's cheeks, catching on her whiskers. She wanted to bring him back, but part with the staff, his loving gift to her?
~*~
Gatomon sat
in contemplation for almost an hour, staring at the staff that she held. What
to do, what to do? He gave this to me, as a sign of his love. How could I
destroy it, even if it meant bringing him back? I'm so confused. What should I
do?
As Gatomon stared at the nine symbols engraved on the staff, she knew the answer was plain to see, even though it broke her heart. She stood, placing the staff on the altar.
"Forgive me, Wizardmon," she murmured. "Lightning Paw!"
Wood splintered, metal shattered, bits and pieces flew everywhere. The fragments of what once belonged to her love glowed in a multitude of color and levitated themselves back to the altar. The scraps circled the stone at a rapid speed, the colors whirring together, the light blinding Gatomon. She shrieked and fell to her knees, covering her head with her paws.
"You have done well, Gatomon," the mysterious voice that constantly provided her with insight and clever verses called above the whipping of the wind in the cold stone room. She trembled in fear, praying it would all be over soon enough.
Why did I ever make this journey in the first place, if I
was just going to die anyway?
~*~
The light dimmed down, the howl of the wind quieted, and Gatomon ventured to look up. The same shrouded figure was still there, now sitting on the altar.
"And now, Guardian of Light, you have earned what you have searched for," he said, in the same voice as the mysterious benefactor. Gatomon stared at the hooded creature carefully, still on her knees. The figure threw his hood back and fell to the floor, sobbing her name. The little digimon brought her paws to her face, gaping at the being before her in open-mouthed shock, ragged sobs catching in her throat.
"Oh…oh…oh Wizardmon!" she wept, throwing her arms around him.
"I knew you would save me, Gatomon, I knew it."
"I never stopped hoping, I never stopped."
She stared up into his eyes, that perfect shade of emerald. He drew her into his arms, cradling her tiny form close to him.
"You…you were that annoying voice that kept bothering me?" she questioned, her tears dropping like rain.
"I promised myself I wouldn't let you do this on your own, so I did everything in my power to help you. Gatomon, I love you with all my heart."
"I love you too, Wizardmon."
He drew his cloak away from his face and kissed her, holding her and silently promising to never leave her side.
~*~
They finally left the stone temple the next morning, after a long night of talk and love. The area of the Digital World that they emerged into was one very familiar to both.
"Well this is ironic," Gatomon sighed.
"The very same place we first met. Gatomon, take a look at that."
"What?"
Wizardmon pointed to a small stone in the middle of the dirt pathway, an inscription lovingly carved into it.
"In this place, in a time some years ago, the Guardian of Light would find true love. Hey wait; this is Kari's writing. Humph. She and T.K. must have put it in when I wasn't looking."
"Kari? You've seen Kari?"
"Wizardmon, I live with her. C'mon, there has to be a digiport around here somewhere. I'll fill you in on the last four years."
~*~
Tai peered into the room, noticing her sister was in the same position she had been in for quite some time. Lying facedown on the bed, her arms wrapped around a pillow, weeping miserably, Kari had lost all appetite and did nothing more than cry herself to sleep over and over again. Not even her boyfriend could elicit a smile from her.
"Why did she go away, why?" she whimpered.
Tai couldn't take much more of it. Kari was his sister; it was his job to look out for her. But seeing her in this state was heartbreaking.
"Come on, Kari, you're making Mom and Dad really upset. I'm sure Gatomon had good reason to go off and leave you, and I'll bet she's going to be home really soon," he said, coming into the room.
"S-she w-won't. Izzy couldn't even f-find h-her, so what's the use?"
Just then the computer screen started glowing. There was a flash of light, and two figures tumbled onto the floor.
"I hate those re-entries. We'll have to see if Gennai will fix those for us one of these days," Gatomon sighed, getting to her feet.
Kari looked up in disbelief. "Gatomon?"
"Kari!" Gatomon jumped onto the bed and hugged her Chosen Child tightly. The other figure stood as well.
"I'm sorry for stealing Gatomon away, but I knew you of all people would understand."
"Wizardmon! Oh my God, Tai, it's Wizardmon!"
"But how?" Tai questioned.
"A miracle!" Gatomon yelped. "Oh Kari, I'm so sorry for leaving, but I had to bring Wizardmon back and I didn't want you to come with me because it was so dangerous and I didn't want you to get hurt and oh, Kari!"
"The others are going to be shocked when they hear about this," Tai muttered. "Welcome back, you two."
"Thank you."
"Wizardmon and I are going off for a while, I thought we'd go see what Patamon was up to and get the others and go get a pizza or something."
"Just be back by curfew," Kari teased, smiling once again.
~*~
And now,
I can stop hurting, for I have ended my long journey and brought my love back.
Love has no boundaries, and we certainly proved that.
~*~
The end. I'm sorry
this is shorter than the others and it took longer to write, but I had a major
case of writer's block and a lack of creativity. Special thanks to my digimon
for letting me keep him dead for some time. I know, I owe you big, Wizardmon.
What? No, I'm not dumping Matt! Just because you're overprotective and jealous
that doesn't mean I'm dumping him! You have your own girlfriend!