For They Shall Be Filled
By:
Vain (Vainglorious696) 5/31/2001
__________________________________________________________
Vain: I don't own anything or one so please don't sue.
Kaiser: Or you'll have to deal with me.
Vain: R & R, please!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~ "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes
through dry places,
seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says,
'I will return to
my house from which I came.' "
-Matthew 12: 44 and 45
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cody Hida brought
his Kendo stick down onto the open air with a discipline uncommon for a child
his age. Upomon watched his partner
with concern. Cody executed another
move, grunting with restrained strength. He was control. He was
focus. He was centered.
"Cody?"
He was
control. He was focus. He was centered.
"Cody?"
He was
control. He was focus. He was centered.
"Cody?!"
"Huh?" the boy pulled
off his helmet and blinked owlishly at his friend in the early morning
light. "What's up, Upomon?"
"What's wrong?"
Cody put down his
Kendo stick and began to remove his practice garb. "Nothing. Why do you
ask?"
"You've been
unhappy ever since yesterday and I was wondering what's wrong. Is it about what Gennai said about the Dark
One?"
" . . . No."
"Is it about Ken?"
". . ."
The little
in-training correctly assumed that his partner's silence was an answer. He waved his large ears and bounced up and
down. "Why don't you like him? Davis, TK, and Kari don't seem to have such
a big problem with him and even Yolei's working to give him the benefit of the
doubt. You heard what Gennai said: we
need him."
Cody sighed and
closed his green eyes. "I know, but
there's just so much that we don't know about him. You saw the way he reacted to Gennai. He's got history in the Digital World—and frankly, I'm not so
sure he's not just manipulating us. He
has his own agenda, he even said so."
Upomon frowned. He could understand what Cody was saying and
he didn't really know how to help. He
suddenly smiled as a new thought occurred to him. "Why don—"
"Cody," his mother
called. "Breakfast!" The small boy turned and looked at his
partner with his serious and steady gaze. "I'll bring you something to eat after breakfast. Do you think that I should talk to TK and
Yolei on the way to school?"
Upomon
grinned. His human was so smart.
**************
Ken liked scalding
hot showers. There were few things that
the boy found more relaxing than turning up the hot water and standing in the
steam until it was all gone. So, when
he woke up extra early that morning feeling groggy and rather disgusting,
Wormmon timidly suggested that he indulge himself in this particular past
time. The boy readily agreed and that
was how the two of them ended up in the Ichijouji bathroom inhaling the steam
while Ken leaned his forehead against the wall and let the water untangled his
knotted muscles. Wormmon sat on the
toilet lid and listened to Ken's even breathing.
"So how bad is
it?" Ken asked over the water.
"Is what?"
"My face." After feeling the tight ache along his jaw,
Ken had been loathe to look in a mirror.
"Um . . . part of
it's kinda purple. It matches your
hair," Wormmon offered.
The boy in the
shower chuckled dryly. "Thanks. At least I'm now color coordinated."
The little rookie
laid his head down miserably. "Sorry,
Ken. I was only trying to help."
"That's
alright. It was a bad joke."
The smell of
juniper filled the steam as Ken began to shampoo his hair. "I had a dream last night, Wormmon."
The small green
head arose, blue eyes sharpening with acute interest. "Really? Is that why
you're in a good mood today?"
"I don't know. I feel like—I don't know. I was on this beach trying to build a sand
castle. But I wasn't me, I was a little
kid again. I kept trying to build this
sand castle, but the waves were knocking it down. Then I saw Sam. He told
me that I still hadn't gotten the balance right and that I was only making
things harder by doing it all myself."
"Then what
happened?" Wormmon asked curiously.
"Then I saw
Davis. He had this bucket with the
Crest of Courage on it and a shovel with the Crest of Friendship. He sat down in the water next to me and
began to help me. Then I woke up."
"That's it?"
"That's it,"
replied Ken. He leaned back under the
stream of water to rinse out his hair. "I guess it's kind of stupid, but that's the first dream that I've
really remembered in . . . years. I
feel like I'm getting close to something. Kari said that the dreams were warnings, but I think that they may be
the key to everything."
Wormmon was silent
as he absorbed that bit of information. "Do you think that this could be what we've been looking for?"
"I hope so, my
friend. Maybe we're finally moving in
the right direction. . . What do you think, Wormmon? Should I really give those Digidestined a chance?"
"They could help
you find your memories again."
"Hmm . . .perhaps. Either way, it's better than sitting on my
hands. Besides, I think that Gennai and
I will need to have a long talk before this is all over."
Ken sighed and
finished rubbing conditioner into his scalp. But first, he thought, I need to talk to someone else.
Oddly enough, he
didn't regret what he had said to his father last night, but he definitely
regretted being such a . . . an ass about it. He and his parents would definitely have to sit and discuss some things. They had all agreed to try and work things
out, but never moved beyond the words. Maybe this incident would force them to really talk about things for the
first time in . . . well, ever.
Hmph, or maybe
you just need someone to whack some sense into you once a month to stop him from
coming back to the surface. He grimaced slightly at that thought. He knew that it was stupid of him to attempt
to dissociate himself from his former life by looking upon it as a separate
entity, but he couldn't help himself. It made things easier. But
it's stupid and probably self-destructive, his conscience chided him. You are the Emperor and the Emperor is
you, Kenny-boy.
He also found it
slightly alarming that his conscience sounded suspiciously like Osamu.
"Ken?" Wormmon's
voice broke into his reverie.
"Hmm?" Quick fingers smoothed the conditioner out
of his hair.
"You should hurry
up if you want to talk to your father."
He turned off the
water and stepped out into the cool air, reaching for the towel that Wormmon
held ready for him. "Thanks," he said
absently.
Ken wrapped
himself up in the towel and gently lifted up his partner.
"What are you
going to do now?" the creature asked, stifling a yawn.
"First, I'm going
to get dressed."
"Then?"
"Then . . . into
the mouth of the beast."
"Hey, Ken?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we have
breakfast first?"
**************
Cody watched his
mother retrieve the rice cakes as he listened with half an ear to her
conversation with his grandfather.
Maybe Upomon is
right, the boy thought as he
played with his chopsticks. Maybe I
am being too hard on him. But he
tortured hundreds of innocent digimon! Gomamon, Agumon, Biyomon, Gatsumon, Bakemon, Dark Tyranomon . . . how
many more have suffered that we don't even know about? How can he ever justify his actions? How can he ever redeem himself?
Cody sighed. Maybe I really am being too judgmental .
. . but I just can't trust him.
**************
After sneaking
Wormmon some food from the kitchen, Ken waited patiently for his mother to wake
up and leave her bedroom. She was
usually the first one awake and the boy had been depending on his family's
absolute predictability this morning. Ken didn't know when his father went to bed, but now as he stood in the
doorway of his parent's bedroom and watched the older man sleep, he tried to
think back to the last time they had spent any real time together. There were soccer games to win, interviews
to respond to, cameras to smile for, and fans to sign balls for . . . And then
his father had his job.
Ken sighed, a
subtle exhalation of air. This was an
absolute mess—granted, most everything was a mess these days, but this
certainly ranked up there on Ken's list of "The Top Ten Things That I Have
Screwed Up."
That thought
caused his conscience to perk up. Wallowing
in self-pity again, Kenny-boy?
You shut up, he snarled back internally. I am not in the mood to deal with you
right now.
Well you were.
Shut. Up.
A groan sounded
from the bed and Ken stiffened in the doorway. After a brief moment of hesitation, he entered the room and sat down on
a chair next to the bed. He silently
thanked his lucky stars that he had had the foresight to brush his hair over
the damaged portion of his face. His
father rolled over to face him and his eyes fluttered open.
Ken tensed as
recognition slid through his father's sleep fogged brain. His words came out like a sigh. "Good morning."
Tsu sat up in bed
and regarded his child awkwardly. "Morning."
"How did you sle—"
Ken cut off sharply
as his father extended his hand and gently cupped his chin in his hand. He tilted the boy's head back slightly and
examined his face in the morning light. A large purple welt crossed the pale right cheek, terminating at the
mouth. His lower lip was split on the
right side.
Tsu dropped his
hand and closed his eyes in pain. "Ken,
I—I am so sorry. Please—"
"Father . . .
don't. I'm fine; besides, I was way out
of line last night. I had no right to
say what I said."
"Ken . . . I have
wronged you."
"What?" Indigo hair slid away from Ken's face as his
head snapped up in surprise. "No. This is my fault, not yours."
"I expected too
much—and I expected all the wrong things. I looked at you and saw your brother. I looked at your brother and saw opportunity. And I don't know how to change that. I love you both so much . . . and I miss Sam. Ken, I have hurt you in the worst way—I failed
to acknowledge you for who you are. All
I saw, all I wanted to see, was how I thought you should be. And for that, I am so sorry."
With this apology,
all Ken's words flew right out of his head and he stared at his father for a
moment without comprehension. He
swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. "Then we'll learn together."
Tsuyoshi looked
confused.
"I'm trying to
figure some things out, Father. My
disappearance . . . well, let's just say it was a real learning
experience. It gave me quite a bit to
think about. I think I've been lost for
a very long time now. I need to take
some time—I don't know—get my head together. I think I have quite a bit to learn."
Abruptly Tsu stood
and wrapped his arms around his fragile-looking son, gathering the boy in a
strong embrace. "We both have a lot to
learn, son."
Ken stiffened in
surprise and then relaxed. He wrapped
his slender arms around his father and rested his head on the older man's broad
shoulder. Maybe, just maybe, there's
something to be said for this whole cooperative learning process after all . .
.
**************
Cody's small legs
worked rapidly to keep up with the longer appendages of TK and Yolei. Naturally, they had slowed their pace to
help the smallest of the Digidestined keep up, but Cody still had to work extra
hard.
"I'm not really
sure," Yolei responded when he asked her why she trusted Ken. "I don't really trust him, but I'm not quite
ready to throw him out on his ear either. I guess I'm just trying to do what Mimi would do—but don't think that
I'm ready to just up and forgive him."
Cody frowned at
the ground. "What about you, TK?"
"Hmm?" The taller boy blinked rapidly. "What? I'm sorry; I was thinking about something."
Patamon wiggled
restlessly in TK's book bag. His voice
was muffled as he chided his partner gently. "Cody wants to know why you trust Ken all of a sudden."
The Child of Hope
looked down at the Child of Knowledge and Reliability with a small crease of
displeasure wrinkling his forehead. "Is
that what you think?" he asked, looking slightly distressed.
"I didn't mean to
offend you—"
"No," the other
shook his head. "I'm not offended. I'm just—well, what do you think of Ken,
Cody?"
Emerald eyes
blinked owlishly. "Me? I don't really know him." Cody's eyes squinted slightly as he
considered his response. "I think that
he did something wrong and he should be punished."
"How?"
Cody frowned at
the question and Yolei's eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"I don't know,"
the small Digidestined said.
"Exactly."
"Okay, TK,"
declared Yolei, throwing her hands up in the air. "You have officially lost me."
"Listen guys,"
Takeru explained patiently as he checked the traffic. "Even if he should be punished, how could we do it? It's like Davis said at the picnic: we can't
exactly give him to the police." He
stepped out into the street, still looking for traffic. "What would we say? He's an evil megalomaniac with a penchant
for sadism and control?" He shook his
head. "I think he's changed and that's
the honest truth, but I also think that he could change back."
"Then why trust
him?" protested Cody, still confused.
"Because he needs
help."
"Well, you're
right on that point," agreed Yolei. "Ken needs help. Specialists. And lots and lots
of medication."
TK sighed and
closed his eyes. "That's not what I
meant, Yolei." He bit his lip
thoughtfully. "Cody, when we were in
the Digimon Emperor's base and I got into that fight with him, I asked him if
he always resorted to violence when he ran out of things to say. He gave me the weirdest look, kind of like a
little kid who had gotten lost and wasn't really sure how. He looked at me and said, 'I guess so.' I never really thought about it until
yesterday, but I get the feeling that Ken's just . . . I don't know—lost, I
guess. And no, Yolei, I don't mean
crazy, I mean like his soul is lost. And I want to help him find it." The Child of Hope shook his head again. "Maybe you think I'm crazy, but I think he'd make a great ally—probably
even a better friend. And I definitely
don't want to face him as an enemy again."
Cody's mouth
twisted slightly and his brow contracted. "But he doesn't deserve our friendship."
"Then neither do
Matt or Gatomon."
Two sets of eyes
widened. "What?!"
"But you two never
consider that, do you?" The corners of
TK's mouth tightened in irritation. "You trust them both with your lives. People CHANGE, guys. That's kind
of our line of work."
Cody looked
agitated. "But that's different!" he
cried while shaking his head in conviction.
"Really? How so?"
Yolei appeared
equally upset. "Cody's right! They've proven themselves—"
"And how can Ken
prove himself if we don't give him the chance?"
"…"
"…"
They completed the
walk to school in silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
