Come back, Sora! Part 3: "A new Love…"
This happens immediately after the last part left off. This section will contain some Mira and Taira hinting.
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Ken looked at the display in front of him. Something about it was familiar, but he couldn't place it. He was about to ask Izzy, but Izzy beat him to the punch.
"Who! I think I got it," Izzy said. Even Yamato looked up at this.
Miyako and Ken looked at Izzy's computer screen. Izzy began running a program.
"What is this, Izzy?" Ken asked.
"I think what has happened is that the Digital World got too big, possibly from the virus. As more and more data accumulated, the Hard Drive that everything is stored on couldn't cope. So, as more data was written to the drive, the Digital World became fragmented, just like on people's PC's." Ken cut off Izzy at this point.
"So, if we run a disk defragmenter," Ken started.
"We can repair the Digital World!" Miyako finished.
"Exactly!" Izzy exclaimed. "I've already started a program on the Digiworld, but it is going to take a long time. There is a lot more data here than there is on the average computer HD." Izzy looked up at Ken.
"How much data is here?" Ken asked.
Izzy shrugged. "A few Terabytes, at least."
"Izzy, what if there isn't just one drive? Then we could select a smaller part and defragment that," Miyako said.
Izzy looked at his computer display, and then at the larger virtual display Ken had made. "I guess it's possible," he afforded at last. Izzy looked at the display, and started typing in a command. As he pressed the "Enter" key, something happened that would forever change the lives of all of the digidestined, including Ken.
Mimi was about to point out how pointless this all was, and how they all should move on for the sake of Sora, and it would be what she wanted. But before she could speak, a bright pink light started to shine. Takeru looked around, trying to find the source of the light. So did all of the others.
"What's going on?" Taichi asked nobody in particular.
"I don't know," Takeru replied. "I think it's from Sora, though."
All around the small group, spots of glowing pink light started condensing. As Mimi closed her eyes and let feelings of happiness and love flow through her, there was a huge explosion! Everything went dark, and all of the Digidestined and their Digimon were thrown across space.
Izzy looked up, seeing a bright light in the distance. The light got brighter, or closer, or both. Suddenly, everything went dark, and he felt himself being flung across space, and he heard the cries from his friends.
A dim light was shining in the distance. Taichi looked around himself, and saw all of the other Digidestined were with him. All, except of Sora, who was still missing.
"Is everyone all right?" He asked quietly.
"I'm okay, Taichi," Hikari said.
"Me too," Takeru said next.
"Where are we?" Mimi asked.
"I'm not sure," Iori said.
Izzy looked at his computer. His screen showed something unlike anything he had ever seen. There was an amazing amount of data being uploaded to his computer! As line after line scrolled past at a blinding pace, he called over Ken and Miyako. But before they could arrive, the lines of text stopped scrolling, and Izzy recognized an Ending and Executing command. His computer started processing, and suddenly, all around the group the essence of space itself began to fold, and merge. There was a blinding flash, and suddenly the group found themselves on File Island.
Izzy looked at his computer while everyone was gasping in shock. A new program was being compiled on his computer! It wasn't as big as the other program, but it was taking up much more processing power. Around them, the Digital World seemed to be "stuck". The ocean was a few hundred feet away, but the waves were still.
Miyako, I need to network our computers! The entire Digiworld is on my computer, and my computer can't cope with the massive amount of processing necessary to run a program the size of a world!" Izzy called.
Miyako walked over and connected her computer to Izzy's. As the two computer interfaced, the world around the group started to flicker, then steady and the ocean started moving like a normal ocean would.
"Well, I'll be darned! You did it!" Armadillomon said.
Iori looked at his Digimon partner. "But, what about Sora?" he asked.
Mimi looked even more depressed than before.
Izzy ignored the commotion around him, and concentrated on the program loading on his computer. His eyes went wide with surprise as he started recognizing what kind of program it was.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, but I need a very quiet place for this," Izzy said. Nobody noticed him, but that didn't matter. He entered a code into his computer, and a soundproof box appeared around him.
Inside of his box, Izzy got down to what he needed to do. As he reviewed the program on his computer, he noticed something was wrong with it. "Hmmmm… What's wrong here? Maybe if I did this… No, that's wrong. I need to enter this… A HAH!!" Izzy said as he started re-programming the code in his computer. As he got some of the code re-written, the code suddenly shimmered on his screen, and was completed for him. As Izzy watched, an image appeared on his computer.
Mimi wanted to know how Izzy felt about what she thought. She looked over to where he had been sitting, only to see a box.
Taichi and Yamato were having a disagreement, and arguing about it when Mimi interrupted.
"Where's Izzy?" she demanded.
Taichi looked up from Yamato. He looked at the box, and was about to ask much the same thing when the box disintegrated, leaving Izzy standing there.
Izzy had a pained look on his face as he looked at his computer screen again.
Mimi burst into tears and ran into the forest, away from the rest of the group. Taichi didn't blame her, and almost followed her.
With a heavy heart, Izzy pressed the Enter button on his laptop. As was expected, all hell broke loose.
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(Flashback to the day of destruction, from Sora's POV)
I held Biyomon close, not wanting to ever let her go. She hugged me back, and I could feel her tremble with fear.
"Biyomon…" I called out over the wind.
"Sora?" she called back to me.
I hugged her tighter. I leaned forward, and whispered into her ear. "Biyomon, I love you," I said, feeling a peace and serenity overcoming me. I relaxed, and felt Biyomon doing the same. Suddenly, a really strong blast of wind ripped through my body, and I felt myself tumbling into an abyss, Biyomon still in my arms.
I felt every part of me being torn apart as forces more powerful than I could conceive were ripping my body apart. Despite the forces, I held onto Biyomon. I could feel her being ripped apart, too.
"SOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA!!!" Biyomon yelled to me.
I looked at Biyomon, dissolving into millions of pieces. I felt a tear run down my cheek.
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(Present)
Mimi looked around, everything was dark again. She realized that it was dark out; night had fallen on the Digital World.
"Palmon?" Mimi cried quietly.
Off to Mimi's right, there was a rustling. Mimi got up to investigate it, wondering if Palmon was okay. As Mimi peeked through some bushes, she saw a shape laying face down on the ground, sleeping. The shape looked familiar, but Mimi didn't recognize who, or what, it was immediately. As Mimi got closer, she recognized that the figure was feminine. It was a girl, about the same height as Sora, and wearing the same school uniform as Sora.
"Sora?" Mimi asked gently. Mimi ran to the side of her friend, and what she saw shocked her beyond belief. Her friend had wings!
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(Present, from Sora's POV)
I felt something gently tugging at me, and then a weight press down on my body. As my head cleared, I could hear someone sobbing. I looked up, and saw Mimi.
"Mimi?" I asked.
"Sora!" Mimi cried, as she hugged me.
"Mimi, what's going on? Where am I?" I asked quietly. I felt very strange, like I was different. I looked down, and saw two pink wings sticking out of my sides!
I woke up after passing out to the sight of the open sky above me. Mimi was nowhere to be seen, and I guessed that she had run off to find the others. I quickly got up and started running, and the thought of the others seeing me this way. I couldn't let anyone see me! I couldn't let anyone see me! I couldn't let anyone see me!
I finally stopped running when I collapsed on the ground. I could feel my breath rasping in my throat. I sat up, and looked about. I recognized this place! This is File Island!
As I got up, I headed for a stream that I remembered. I was so thirsty! My mind kept running, and running. I kept thinking about the others, all of the hard times we have been through. I kept remembering how we defeated all of the evil Digimon that had stood in our path, starting with Devimon, and eventually ending with Myotismon. I felt tears running down my face, and I realized I understood so much more now. I could feel the love that had always been there for me, from me. I could hear the sounds of battle in my mind, the sounds of joy, the sounds of pain. I could remember everything, and somehow that was enough.
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(Present)
Mimi looked around, not knowing where Sora was. "She was here a moment ago," Mimi sobbed.
Izzy was able to read between the lines, and knew that what he had seen on his computer screen had become reality. As Izzy thought about it, the word "reality" had lost all meaning to him, as he remembered how he had loaded an entire world onto his seemingly small PC. Izzy staggered as a Paradox presented itself to him. He was holding his laptop, yet the world he was walking in was actually running on his computer. He was walking in his Hard Drive while carrying it at the same time! The logic of this, or lack thereof, made Izzy's head spin.
Izzy shook his head. He was getting himself all worked up over nothing. As he pulled out his PC again, he sighed. Miyako noticed he was going to work on his PC again and walked next to him, to make sure he didn't trip.
Sora looked down at herself. The feathers on her shoulders and back almost made her cry harder. Sora could feel her entire future going to waste, never to be experienced. Sora wanted Biyomon to be with her, to feel her love, to return that love… But, Biyomon was now a part of Sora, and that wasn't possible. Even more dread settled over Sora as she realized that she would never ever see her best friend ever again. Sora settled down on a soft tuft of grass and fell into a nightmarish hell.
Ken walked with the group of kids as they trudged along in silence. He knew that soon, the group would have to stop and rest.
"Taichi, we've made progress today, but we need to rest to find Sora," said a tired Takeru. Taichi knew he spoke for the group, and himself.
Taichi debated the pros and cons of continuing. "Okay," he agreed. "First thing tomorrow, we are going to find Sora," Taichi said, resigning to a soft spot on the ground, just like old times.
As Ken prepared for sleep, he felt something in his mind. He had felt it before, but not this strong, not this prominent. As he drifted into a deep, unnatural sleep, he found he knew someone better than he would have imagined. And he would be surprised that when he woke up, he would remember every part of it.
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(In Ken's dream)
Ken looked up, realizing he was in a dream. "Where am I?" he asked.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" a frightened voice replied.
Ken walked toward the voice. "Who are you?" he asked, a little scared himself.
Ken looked around, and only saw darkness. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. He picked a random direction and started walking. As he went along, he started hearing the sounds of someone crying. He finally saw a girl's face, but it was distant. He walked closer, and saw a girl that looked familiar.
"Sora?" Ken called out.
The girl looked at him. Her eyes went wide. Then she looked down, and away from Ken. Ken almost ran toward her, feeling strange. When Sora came into full view, she was chained down to a large rock. Her arms were stretched out to the side, and both of Sora's ankles were chained together. Her body was wrapped in heavy iron chains. Sora was crying, looking away from Ken.
"Please! Don't hurt me! Just leave me alone!" Sora cried out to Ken. Ken could see tears streaming down her face. Seeing her like this made Ken's heart ache.
"I want to help you!" Ken said to Sora. Sora didn't hear him, or ignored him.
As Ken watched, the chains turned into water, and the room filled with it. Sora was going to drown! Ken watched, unable to do anything. A part of his mind started to rebel, rebel against the notion that he could stand by and let this happen to Sora. Ken just watched as Sora sank into the water, disappearing from sight. He just stood and watched…
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As Mimi woke, she expected to be the last of the Digidestined to wake up. As she looked around, she found that she was wrong. She looked up and saw everyone gone except for Ken and Izzy. Izzy was still sitting in front of his laptop, tapping away. He hadn't slept at all last night, and was in terrible need of it. And the one that surprised her most was Ken. He was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning, and by the looks of the ground, he had been doing so all night. Mimi almost felt sorry for him, but remembered his past. He was the Digimon Kaizer, after all.
Sora woke up with a start. She heard something. It… It was her name!
"Sora!" the familiar voice called again.
Sora looked around, confused. She looked down at herself again, the two huge wings extending from the back of her body. She could feel more muscles in her body now, mostly for these alien wings.
"Sora! Where are you? I need you!" the voice called again, not so distant anymore. Sora ran toward the voice, finally recognizing it.
"Biyomon!" Sora cried out.
"Sora? Sora! I missed you so much!" the pink bird squawked as she hugged Sora. Sora hugged Biyomon back, savoring the feeling of her best friend's feathers on her skin again.
"Sora, you've… Changed!" Biyomon noticed, seeing the two wings folded up on Sora's back.
Sora blushed deeply, almost scared. "I… I thought you were gone, Biyomon…" Sora said, a tear in her eye.
Biyomon looked up into Sora's eyes. "You will never lose me, Sora, I promise!" Biyomon said. Somehow, there was sincerity so deep in what Biyomon said, Sora actually believed it.
For the first time in a few days, Sora smiled. Just seeing Sora smile made Biyomon feel really happy, and soon Biyomon was smiling as well.
Sora stood up and picked up Biyomon. Sora sighed. "Where should we go, Biyo?" Sora asked.
Biyomon thought for a moment. "Where are the others?" she finally asked in return.
Sora got "that look" in her eyes Biyomon so hated to see. "Sora? What's wrong?" Biyo asked.
Sora looked like she was going to cry. 'I can't let the others see me like this,' Sora thought to herself. 'I just want to be alone with Biyomon…'
Biyomon saw what Sora was feeling. "Sora, I think you look beautiful with wings!" Biyomon said, looking cute.
Sora was taken back. "Really?" she said, actually thinking about it.
Biyomon smiled. "Definitely!"
Daisuke was getting tired of walking. 'Man, we keep looking for Sora, but it would be faster if we all split up and looked for her…' Daisuke's thoughts stayed his own, and he realized that someone needed to stay with Taichi and Mimi.
"Hey, let's split up into pairs, that way we can search faster," Takeru suggested.
Taichi nodded to Takeru. "Okay, Takeru, you and Hikari will be a group. Mimi, you will be with me. Miyako, you Yamato and Ken will be a group. Iori, you go with Daisuke. Jou, you and Izzy will be a group." Unanimous nods from the group confirmed Taichi's orders.
Soon, pairs (and one trio) of kids and their Digimon were heading out into the sticks, looking for Sora.
Sora looked around. She felt like she was being followed. With a sudden burst of energy, Sora threw herself into the air, startling Biyomon, who was still in her arms. Sora extended the pink wings on her back out the their furthest. Sora flexed muscles that had never been used before, and with a huge but smooth jolt, Sora and her companion were hurled into the air. Sora looked down, and saw the treetops below her.
Takeru and Hikari were walking through the forest, feeling down. Takeru was about to say something when Hikari looked up suddenly. Takeru followed her gaze. He caught a glimpse of movement. He froze, and Hikari moved closer to him. As the two watched, Sora came into view. Takeru took a step closer to Sora, but a twig snapped under his shoe. Sora looked up and around, and then jumped high into the trees, and disappeared.
Taichi was walking on the beech, near the forest. 'Wow, Mimi's almost taking this harder than I am,' Taichi thought to himself. Mimi was walking in complete silence, whereas in the past she would have something to say.
Mimi was deep in thought about the past, about Sora. Mimi hardly even noticed Taichi looking at her.
Miyako was looking at Ken when her Digivice started beeping. She looked down at it and saw a dot indicating that someone was near.
Ken looked around. "What is that?" he asked, looking bewildered.
Miyako studied her D3 for a moment. "It's Sora! She's…" Miyako looked up at the sky. "There she is!" she said pointing.
Yamato looked up, followed a moment later by Ken. High above the group, a shape was visible. It looked like a person with wings. It was!
Ken closed his eyes, a smile on his face.
Miyako noticed the smile. "What's wrong with you?" Miyako asked, angrily.
"That's Sora. And she has Biyomon with her," he said.
Yamato's eyes went wide.
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(Sora's POV)
I looked down, and saw Ken looking at me. He smiled! Something in his smile was sincere, almost as if he was happy for her…
Sora shrugged off the feeling and kept flying. Biyomon nestled deeper into the crook of Sora's arm and fell asleep.
I was getting tired, and I could feel my wings burning for oxygen. I started to descend, looking for someplace to land. In the past few hours, I had flown very high.
In the distance, a speck of brown was visible. I could see that it was a part of the coast! 'I can't believe it… I just flew all the way across File Island!' I was about to come in to a final approach, but Biyomon stirred in my arms.
"Sora… Where are we?" Biyo asked sleepily.
I looked down. "We're almost to the other side of File Island," I replied.
Biyomon looked around. "Oh, I know where we are!" Biyomon said. She spread her wings, and stretched a little. "Sora! I want to show you someplace special!" Biyomon said to me.
"Are you sure, Biyomon?" I asked, feeling unsure.
Biyomon nodded.
Slowly, I grabbed Biyomon's sides and turned her face down. Then I lowered her a little, and dropped her. She opened her wings and fell about 20 feet before stabilizing her flight. A moment later, she was flying ahead and slightly to the side of me. I could feel a spot behind her where her wings made it easier for me to keep up with her.
After a few minutes, I realized that we weren't descending at all. In fact, we were going higher! Biyomon headed straight for a cloud, leading me on.
As we flew higher, I realized that it was easier to fly,
despite the lower oxygen content in the air.
"We're almost there, Sora!" Biyo called back to me.
"Where are we going?" I called back.
I could hear Biyomon giggle ahead of me.
'Uh, oh… This can't be good,' I thought scornfully to myself.
Soon we were high above the cloud, and descending. Biyomon stopped beating her wings and just glided down toward a spot on the cloud, and I had to turn a little to avoid her. As I got closer to the cloud, I noticed that it wasn't a cloud at all! It was a building, but it looked like a cloud.
I could see that there were several large square sections of what looked like concrete set out for large winged Digimon to land on. They were in sets of four, with about a foot of other material separating them. Biyomon was guiding me down to a set of concrete that was apart from the others, and a different color.
It felt really good to be standing on something solid again. I looked around, and noticed that there were a lot of big birds around. Most were landing, probably for someplace to spend the night.
"Sora, over here," Biyomon called to me.
I walked toward Biyomon, and found a set of stairs going down into the cloud. "What is this?" I asked feeling confused.
Biyomon giggled at me again. "It is a place for humans and small Digimon to spend the night. You will be welcome here!" she said, with a big smile on her beak.
I still felt uneasy about going into this strange place, but if Biyomon was with me, and she said it was okay, it must be okay.
As we went down the stairs, I folded my wings carefully. I was glad because if the stairwell wasn't as wide as it was, I wouldn't be able to fit with my wings.
There was a large door at the bottom of the stairs. Biyomon pushed it open easily, and let me into a large and well-lit room.
There was what looked like a bar, with various kinds of perches mounted on the front of it. There were even a few dozen Bird type Digimon sitting/perching at the bar. Some were eating what looked like birdseed, and some were eating something that looked more appetizing to me.
Biyomon walked over to the counter and hopped up on a perch next to a stool. She motioned me to sit down at the stool. I sighed and walked over to the stool and sat down.
The waiter walked over to me and looked at me. "What'll it be?" he demanded.
I looked up at the list of available food on the wall above the waiter. "I'll have some soup, I guess," I said, looking up at the board. I didn't feel particularly hungry…
After a short wait of about ten minutes, a steaming bowl of rice was placed in front of me. Shortly after that, a bowl of the house special soup was placed next to it. Just the aroma alone made me hungry! The waiter also brought some seed for Biyomon, and she greedily dug into it.
I smiled as I watched Biyomon eat. She looked happy, almost. I reached down with my spoon and got some soup. I tasted it, and it was surprisingly good!
After about 20 minutes, I was done with my soup. When I looked up, I noticed that there weren't many other patrons wandering about anymore. I was about to ask Biyomon why, but the sound of a door opening stopped me. Through the door walked Gennai!
I looked up at Gennai, feeling all coherent thought leave me temporarily.
He smiled at me. "Hi," he said to me.
I was still speechless. Luckily, Biyomon came to the rescue.
"Hi!" she said back cheerily.
"How was your meal, Sora?" Gennai asked me.
I looked at the empty bowl of soup and Rice. "It was great!" I said with a big smile.
Gennai kept smiling at me. "Good." His smile disappeared. "Sora, I have some important information for you," he said without preamble.
Biyomon hopped down from her perch; her bowl of seed was empty. I picked her up and followed as Gennai led me to the door he had used to enter the establishment.
"Wait! What about paying for the food?" I asked.
Gennai turned to me. "The food here is free. You don't need to worry about anything," he said in an official tone of voice.
I sighed and followed him through the door, still holding Biyomon.
I felt a shimmer go through my body as I walked through the door. The next thing I knew, I was standing in a large open room, with a really high ceiling. The light source was impossible to find. There was a nice comfortable looking chair in the middle of the room, facing a very fancy coffee table and couch.
I watched as Gennai sat down in the chair. He relaxed for a moment, while I looked at the paintings on the walls.
"This is your fish tank, right?" I asked, looking at a painting with Halibut on it.
Gennai leaned toward me, looking at the painting. "Why, yes it is," he said to me after a moment.
I walked over to the couch and sat down, careful to avoid hurting my newfound wings.
"What was so important?" I asked Gennai.
"Mmmm? Oh, yes, that," he said, reaching down next to his couch and picking up a laptop. He opened it and pressed a button. I could hear the laptop's hard drive revving up. A moment later, Gennai handed me the portable PC to look at.
"Do you recognize that?" he asked after a moment.
I looked down at the display on the laptop. There was a picture being displayed. It showed the crest of love, but the design had changed. There were more curves, and it looked smoother. I considered it a moment.
"It's the Crest of Love," I said slowly. "But it has been changed."
"Changed for the better," Gennai said from across the coffee table. "This is your new crest, Sora," he said. He handed me a small object. I looked at it. It looked identical to the image on Gennai's computer. "This new crest is more powerful than your last one. It will enable you to survive in the real world, as well as hide your wings," he droned on.
Gennai's words had more effect on me than I though. I felt my head getting light, and realized I was about to pass out. 'Does this mean I can go home? Does this mean, I can live a normal life now?' Thoughts raced through my mind, and my imagination kicked in.
"Does this mean I can digivolve past Ultimate?" Biyomon asked Gennai, startling me.
Gennai looked at Biyomon. He paused to consider. "I'm afraid not, the new crest is indeed more powerful, but not that much more powerful. Indeed, most of the changes to the crest affect Sora, and not you," Gennai paused and sipped out of a cup that had previously been on the coffee table.
Biyomon looked a little sad, almost. I put the Laptop down on the table and picked up Biyomon. I could feel her disappointment. My hand started feeling weird, and I looked down at the crest I was holding. It was glowing! I felt the small object start to get lighter, and it burst apart, into a million little pieces. It formed a little cloud, which floated toward me. I felt a little fear, but something more powerful came over me. I accepted the small pink cloud as it entered my body and my life.
Gennai smiled at me. "You are now the keeper of the Digital World," he said with finality.
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Taichi could feel a pain deep in him. 'Why was Sora running from us? She knows we all love her.' Taichi could feel a tear in his eye. He looked up toward the sky, seeing all of the stars come out one by one.
Taichi had gone for a walk, trying to clear his mind. After a day of traveling in the Digiworld, all of the Digimon had fallen asleep immediately. Taichi had waited until a small fire was blazing, with help from Yamato and Izzy. Mimi wasn't looking well, and had fallen asleep with the Digimon. Everyone else looked very tired, but didn't want to stop the search for Sora.
Holly looked up to the strange man, feeling frightened. "Wh-who are you?" she demanded, her voice dripping with fear.
"Please don't be afraid. I'm Gennai. Welcome to the Digital World," Gennai said with a chuckle.
~~~~~
So that's it for Ch 3. I'll be working on Ch. 4 later; so don't worry about not knowing the end. I have some plans for this fic, and I won't work on any other fics until it's done. I want to know if you liked the part in Sora's Point of View. If you really liked it, I'll do some more. I enjoy it; I can get into character a little better, I feel. So far, I have written 31 pages. (I'll keep a tally on the number of pages at the end of each chapter from now on. Ch1 was 20 pages, Ch. 2 was 7 pages, and this is 14 pages.)
Note to IC: Please send me the quote.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/biyofan/
~Biyofan