AN: Ahh... after this, just the epilogue... I don't know what to think.
I love writing this, but some of the scenes have been hell to do... I can't
write action worth a crap. And it'll be nice when I finish... ::shrugs::
I'll see how I feel after the epilogue. No use in worrying before time.
A lot of people have commented about this being a bit confusing... Sorry.
That's only partly deliberate... and I don't have a good spot to explain
in the fic itself until the epilogue rolls around. Brief help-thing: Takeru
and Hikari are 00 digidestined. At the end of 00, they were told to report
to Gennai's friends. They disappeared. What they were told will be in the
epilogue. It will explain everything that's going on, but I can't say it
here because it'll spoil the rest of this fic (what little is left to spoil,
'teny rate). The dreams both TK and Kari have been having are based on 00
before they meddled. That's different from the 00 that actually happened—that's
based on the changes TK and Kari made, (or will make, depending on how you
look at it,) while in Takeru and Hikari's minds. Hope that helped... although
with my luck it probably just confused you more. Maybe if you re-read the
prologue it would help... that has a lot of background-ish stuff in it.
I'm a bit surprised that no one figured out where the TK and Kari within
their counterparts' minds came from—A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle. If you've read it, that might clear up some things
too... I took a lot from that, sort of unconsciously, and just the other
day I realized, "Hey! 'Memories' is a lot like "Planet!'"
Once again, the lyric translation to "Ashita Wa Ii Hi Ni Naru" is not mine,
as I only understand a few random words of Japanese. It was done by those
wonderful people at http://www.onewingedangel.com/suzaku. It's a very pretty
song; you might want to download it or something.
As the Deramon turned, Takeru looked frantically on the ground for some implement
he could use to defend himself. No luck; the dirt floor of the maze-compound
was swept hard and clean. Patamon desperately Boom-Bubbled, but there were
so many arrayed against the two that his efforts did little.
"Pata! JUST RUN!" Takeru screamed, while following his own advice. Patamon
followed him, ear-wings flapping frantically. The Deramon pursued them, surprisingly
quickly considering their short stubby legs. Too quickly for running to be
the only answer.
They fled to another part of the maze, where the dirt floor gave way to crude
stone paving and hedges to catacomb-like tunnels. Hoping to lose their followers,
they deliberately chose the twistiest, least logical path they could, randomly
taking or not taking the various alternate tunnels they encountered. Soon,
the catacombs darkened as they fled further from outside light, and still
the bush-encumbered penguins followed. Then light began to once again splash
on the dark stone walls. It was no longer the pale white moonlight of the
tunnels' entrance, however. It was the warm welcoming gleam of a torch.
Takeru's mind, though panicked, managed to remember that fire was a weapon.
He yanked the torch from its holder and brandished it at the Deramon horde.
Suddenly, the tables were turned and it was now the Deramon who strove to
put as much distance as possible between themselves and their intended victims.
Takeru, relived, allowed them to do so and put his mind to a much harder
task—reconstructing the path they'd taken and getting back out of the
catacombs.
_____________________________
Hikari curled up fetally, her back against a tree. There had been no sign
of Takeru for the past few weeks. This lack was apparently a good sign; according
to Gennai, since they'd never seen Takeru's dead body there was a fair chance
he'd been kidnapped. If that was a good thing.
Where are you now? she sadly wondered. Some prison cell? Some shallow
grave? I want you back, TK—Takeru. Who's TK?
Come back. I... I... oh, admit it to yourself, Ka—Hikari. You've fallen
for him.
She untucked her crest from where she kept in under her shirt and stared
at it. The starlike symbol faintly shimmered, almost in reflection of the
stars above her. Almost in a singsong, she recited, "Starlight, star bright/First
star I see tonight/Wish I may, wish I might/ Have the wish I wish this night."
She began to wish on her crest, first thinking out what she wanted. ...that
you escape from Lucefremon, Takeru. That you're alive, and that you'll be
free.
Then she put her wish in words, to make sure that whatever higher power
handled these things heard her plea. "I wish... oh, I wish..." and something
other than herself seemed to put words in her mouth. Her voice came out slightly
differently, not quite as the same person's. "...that TK and I will be together
again, someday soon."
Once again, Hikari wondered who that TK person was.
She began to sing once more, that last song she'd sung for Takeru. And this
time it was to comfort herself.
"Ibara no mori o aruite kita ne Through a forest of thorns we have come walking
Kokoro ga tadori tsuku bara no tame ni To where the heart is struggling for the sake of a rose
Kenage ni ikiru ai o mamorita mae The love that
bravely lives must be protected
Hakanaki hana tachi no yume ga saku you ni… So that the transient flowers' dreams will blossom…
'Ashita wa ii hi ni naru' nando mo sasayaku wa "Tomorrow will be a good day" I whisper repeatedly
Anata ni furi tsumore kyou saigo no oinori Showering down and piling up on you is today's last prayer
Takeru... we've gone through so much together. All to protect, to save
this world that we don't even belong in. We've tried to save everyone else...
what about us? What makes us so special, such a perfect sacrifice for the
Digiworld's future? ...oh, stop it, Hikari. Stop being so bitter, so complaining.
This is our duty. We're the only ones who can. After all, isn't the highest
moral purpose, the most altruistic thing, making the world better for others
at the price of yourself? ...but I don't want to be this perfect altruist!
Yes, I know it's what makes me me. But sometimes I don't want to be myself.
Sometimes I wish I had a good healthy selfish streak... then I could have
persuaded the others to look for you at first. Still, hindsight's futile.
Sometimes all one can do is pray. So God, if you have any power in this world
of data, use it. Bring Takeru back.
"Kanashimi tachi mo nemuri tsuku yoru Even all the sadnesses arrive at sleep
this night
Anata no sugu soba de danro ni naru Immediately by your side I become a fireplace
Kibou no tane ni chikara ataeta mae To the seeds of hope please give power so that
Namida mo itsu no hi ka niji ni naru you ni… Even tears on some day will become a rainbow…
'Ashita wa ii hi ni naru' kokoro wa sou negau "Tomorrow will be a good day" my heart wholly
desires
Anata to iru ima o aishiteru Now when I am here with you I love it
So now you're delusional, Hikari? Still, were you with me, Takeru, I would love it. Aishiteru, Takeru-kun. I wish, with all my altruist's heart...
that someday our sadness will sleep forever, that I'll be beside you once
more... I pray, with all my love, not just for you but for everyone in this
world... that Hope's Guardian will have power to guard the hopes of all
for a bright future, that this dank sadness will one day turn to colorful
joy... I hope, with all the power of my crest... that tomorrow will be a good day... I wish, I pray, I hope...
"Inochi aru mono subete ni sachi aru you ni…" May everything that is alive be happy…
_____________________________
Takeru looked confusedly at the seven near-indentical corridors of this branch
in the catacombs. He was relatively sure he'd come from the third on the
left... but some force within him was lobbying to go down the one on the
far right. Or rather up, as it appeared steep enough that a staircase may
have been more apropos than a ramp. A shortcut, perhaps? He had descended
in his flight...
Why not? I can't get any more lost then I already am...
So he ascended the steep right tunnel, and kept going even when it seemed
he'd been walking for hours. After quite a while, it opened out onto a broad
balcony that Takeru was dead certain he'd never seen before in his life.
Okay... this definitely isn't the way I came...
Still, he walked out to the balcony's edge. And instantly regretted it. He
discovered that he was near the top of a Very Tall Tower, almost at the edge
of the maze's compound. Not quite at the edge, unfortunately. Otherwise,
he'd be home free.
Takeru had never been closer to despair than at that moment. Just barely
far enough from freedom... just barely too far. And he knew that if he descended
the ramp again he'd only get lost in the tunnels once more...
At that moment, he heard a faint echoing melody. "Kibou no tane ni chikara
ataeta mae/Namida mo itsu no hi ka niji ni naru you ni…" (To
the seeds of hope please give power so that/Even tears on some day will
become a rainbow…)
"Hikari?" he whispered wishingly.
"...were you with me, Takeru, I would love it. Aishiteru, Takeru-kun.
I wish, with all my altruist's heart... that someday our sadness will sleep
forever, that I'll be beside you once more... I pray, with all my love, not
just for you but for everyone in this world... that Hope's Guardian will
have power to guard the hopes of all for a bright future, that this dank
sadness will one day turn to colorful joy... I hope, with all the power of
my crest... that tomorrow will be a good day..."
"I wish... I pray... I hope..." he said with her.
Then an idea came to him.
"Patamon."
"Yes, Takeru?"
"Fly out there. Just beyond the barrier." Patamon did so. "Now digivolve,
and go. Even if I never get out of here, at least then everyone else will
be saved."
"Takeru? You want me to leave? I'll stay, Takeru. Even if it means we both
die."
"If you go, I'll be the only one dead. If you don't, we'll all die."
...So don't face it alone. Kari, if you feel you have to do this, at least
let me help...
"Okay, fine. Digivolve, but don't go. Not yet." Patamon complied with
this request. "Now hold out your staff."
Takeru sighed within himself. This would be hard... but few easy things are
worth doing. He backed up almost to the corridor he'd emerged from. Then
he ran back toward's the balcony's edge, in the fastest sprint he'd ever
run. As he reached the half-wall at the end, he placed his hands on top of
it and vaulted off the balcony.
Takeru fell... but he also traveled forward. Reaching out his hand to its
fullest limit, he just barely caught Angemon's staff. He secured a firmer
hold on it and said,
"Now we go."
_____________________________
"...this final evil. Then you're done. Permanently, in all likelihood."
"Where...?"
"Lucefremon ought to be pretty easy to find. An evil as deep as his poisons
the entire area around him. Just flying over it, the very land should look
unhealthy. Now go, Hikari. You're the only one left."
"Takeru..."
"Is almost certainly dead, and even if he's not it's very unlikely that he'll
get out in time. Hikari, you and Angewomon might not be enough, but you'll
have to be."
Gatomon digivolved. Hikari seized her hand and they flew...
They came to a patch of the Digiworld that could only be described as...
sickly. All matted brown grass and spider-branched leafless trees and scorched
earth.
...Lucefremon ought to be pretty easy to find. An evil as deep as his
poisons the entire area around him. Just flying over it, the very land should
look unhealthy. Now go, Hikari. You're the only one left...
They swooped down and began battle, but it was a losing one from the start.
Lucefremon was one of those Digimon past Mega, and a demon Digimon besides...
and Angewomon, though a powerful angel digimon, was a mere Ultimate.
_____________________________
Angemon and Takeru flew frantically over the Digiworld until they came to
that battle of titans. They too swooped down, to help.
"Hikari!"
"Takeru!"
The pair's happy reunion was cut short by the necessities of battle.
"Angemon, digivolve to Magnaangemon!" As the angel's voice echoed over the
plain, feathers swirled around him, eventually coalescing into two new wings.
Armor, a holy purple, encased his body, and his staff turned to a sword of
pure light.
He joined the fray by swinging that sword in a great circle.
"Gate of Destiny!"
A golden gate appeared midair, its edges defined by the sweep of the sword.
Around those edges symbols gleamed, in that strange language known as Ancient
Digicode.
"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon yelled, and a great cross of pink light sprang
from her hands. It hit Lucefremon, and although he was mostly unharmed it
drove him back a little. Enough that he was pulled back further, and still
further, by the great wind that sucked evil into the vast vacuum of the Gate.
Its duty done, the Gate closed and dissolved into golden bits of data.
Hikari and Takeru stared at each other.
"We've won..." breathed Hikari in awe. "I thought we never would... especially
after you disappeared. But you came."
"Yes, Hikari. You called me, and I came."
They stepped slowly towards each other, and tenatively embraced. They were
about to kiss, when a cough sprang behind them.
"If I may interrupt?" said a gleaming ball of light to them mentally. "While
Lucefremon is gone, there is still one more task for you to do, to ensure
the Digiworld's future."
TO BE CONCLUDED...
AN: I'm planning a freetalk/appendix/assorted-AN section for after the epilogue, and there I'll attempt to answer the questions that doesn't and talk about this fic in general. If you have any questions about this fic, ask now to have them answered there.