Partner no more?
Part II
by Christian "Sid" Lang
Three days have passed since the incident in the school corridor.
Since there have been no Digital Fields during those days, Ruki didn't have an urgent reason to call Renamon.
And although she had done so often in the past, she refused to call her to talk or train.
Renamon was probably the only one who actually felt happiness during these days.
She spent most of the time with Daniel, who had become a close friend by now.
Everything seemed to be just right when he was around.
But nobody around her seemed to understand...
Ruki is walking through the streets, praying to some higher force for help.
"Uh, Ruki?" Lee asks her, running to catch up with her.
Gods must have a twisted sense of humor.
"What." she asks flatly.
She stops walking and looks at Lee.
Just then, Takato also closes in. He looks even more worked out than Lee.
Oh. Great. Mojo and Jojo coming to the rescue.
"We're sorry to disturb you, but we have noticed that you are kinda... down..." Lee tries to explain.
"I don't need your pity, you little.. little..." Ruki tries to find a snappy answer.
"See what we mean? You even lost your edge." Takato tells her.
"Oh, so now I'm a weakling just like you?" Ruki almost shouts.
"Ruki. What's wrong? We haven't seen Renamon for a while, maybe-" Lee starts to say.
"Leave me alone with this Renamon-stuff! All right?" Ruki suddenly yells.
Without waiting for a response, she turns around and starts to run.
She runs at top speed so that none of the two boys can catch up with her.
So that none of them can see her tears.
Lee is staring after her, frowing.
Takato seems to be quite excited and is unable to stand still.
"Come on! We may still be able to-" he eagerly starts to propose.
But Lee just shakes his head.
"No. I think we're not getting through to her." he tells Takato.
Then he takes a quick look around.
The street they're standing in just happens to be empty.
"Terriermon!" Lee shouts at the sky.
Seconds later, his little Digimon floats towards him.
Quickly Terriermon assumes his normal position on Lee's shoulder.
"Come on." Lee tells Takato as he starts to walk.
"Where are you going?" Takato asks the blue haired boy.
"The park. Guilmon should not be left out of this one."
On their way to the park, Lee explains what he has planned.
"You're crazy." Takato simply comments the plan.
"We've no other choice." Lee corrects him.
"The plan is still dumb." Terriermon tells Lee.
Galileo Galilei, Christoph Columbus, Albert Einstein. I'm in good company. Lee tells himself and sighs.
After having met Guilmon in the park, the party stays at the lizard Digimon's hiding place.
"Plan stinks." Guilmon says after Lee tells him his plan.
Hearing that, Terriermon just snickers.
"So, does anybody of you have a better idea?" Lee finally asks.
The forest clearing becomes instantly silent.
"Yep. Almost thought so." he says after a while.
"Well, it's you plan, so you do it." Takato tells him.
Lee sighs and calms himself.
He quickly checks that his D-Arc and his cards are at their usual places, should anything go wrong.
The others form a triangle around him. A large triangle.
As if performing a ceremony, Lee stands in the middle of them and stares at the edge of the clearing.
Then he closes his eyes.
"Renamon." he firmly says.
He waits.
After several seconds, he repeats the name.
Just after the third call, he can hear a familiar voice.
"You don't give up, do-" Renamon says, appearing right in front of Lee.
Then she realizes that she has been called by Lee.
"YOU? YOU DARE TO CALL MY NAME?" she yells down at him, using her size to her full advantage.
She has already lifted her arm for a blow when she notices the others.
"You lucky day." she hisses, vanishing again.
And although Lee feels like dropping dead, he finds the strength to speak.
"No! Wait! Please!" he shouts.
Slowly, Renamon appears again, snarling at him.
"You're stressing your luck." she whispers.
"Please." Lee tries to calm her down, gesturing at a park bench.
Renamon just sighs and sits sown on the bench.
The others now dare to come closer, too.
Lee quickly tells Renamon what they already know.
Then he mentions that Ruki is feeling miserable.
"So? Did anybody care about my feelings? Do you think I always enjoyed this?" Renamon defends herself.
When she sees four blank faces, she continues.
"Do you actually think that it's easy serving a girl that doesn't even treat you as a living being?"
"Come on now, Rena. Don't-" Terriermon starts to answer.
The answer is interrupted by Renamon fiercely grabbing the smaller Digimon.
"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. Rena. Got that?" she hisses.
Then she drops the Digimon again.
"OK. Renamon then. Don't you think that you are overreacting?" Terriermon finally manages to ask.
"Tsk." Renamon just mutters.
"We don't serve them. They're our friends." Guilmon says.
Renamon looks at the young and naive lizard Digimon, giving him a weak smile.
She leans forward and puts a paw on his shoulder.
"Takato is your friend. Lee is Terriermon's friend. But Ruki..." she tells him softly.
"Oh." Guilmon says, understanding Renamon's point.
Renamon sighs, feeling completely miserable again.
She misses Daniel. His kind nature.
Or maybe Ruki. Then she could at least be angry.
But these four? They just pity her. But why?
"See? That's why I like Daniel. He cares about me." she finally tells them.
When she sees four blank expressions again, she knows she has talked too much.
"Who's Daniel?" Takato voices the question that is written on each face.
Renamon curses her big mouth, but she knows that she has to tell them now.
Feeling even worse than seconds ago, she tells them about Daniel.
How he cares for her. What he told her.
She even mentions the little gifts he gave her. Flowers mainly.
And I thought this was something that could be fixed by talking to both sides.
Lee shakes his head in disbelief.
Renamon's in love. If Ruki knows only half of what we now know-
This leads him to another question.
"Does Ruki know all this?" he quietly asks Renamon.
The Digimon looks at him, thinking.
Then her eyes widen.
"Don't tell her! Please! I guess she merely suspects something. Please-" she quickly begs.
She actually kneels in front of Lee with a desperated look on her face.
Slowly, Lee drags her back onto the bench.
"It's all right. Calm down. We won't tell anything." he tells her, soothing her nerves.
Then he looks at Terriermon.
"Yeah, I know. I'll stay inside your room for some days..." the Digimon instantly tells him.
"Thank you." Renamon whispers, surprising the whole group.
When nobody said anything for a while, Renamon decided to depart.
"If you need to talk, you know where to find us." Lee tells the fading Digimon.
The fox nods in appreciation.
"So... This is it?" Takato asks, unsure about the last turn of events.
Lee wanders in circles, thinking.
"I still have a very bad feeling about this." Terriermon adds.
"The whole situation is a huge bomb just waiting to explode." Lee finally states.
"Well, maybe it'll just work out. If Ruki doesn't even know-" Takato starts.
Lee just gives him a look.
"Ruki isn't dumb. She knows about that man and she has seen Renamon's behaviour."
"So you think she already knows about... them?" Takato asks.
"I hope I'm wrong, but I guess so."
"But we can't do anything about it." Guilmon mutters in frustration.
"If only there was somebody who could keep an eye on them." Lee talks to himself.
Takato thinks about it.
"I guess it can't be any of us." he tells Lee.
Lee just nods.
"Nobody of us has the skills necessary to watch them without being seen." he says.
"But we don't know anybody who could do this." Takato sighs.
"Well... I think I know somebody..." Terriermon whispers.
Everybody stares at the Digimon.
"I have the feeling that I won't like your suggestion..." Lee supposes.
He should be proven right.
Part II
by Christian "Sid" Lang
Three days have passed since the incident in the school corridor.
Since there have been no Digital Fields during those days, Ruki didn't have an urgent reason to call Renamon.
And although she had done so often in the past, she refused to call her to talk or train.
Renamon was probably the only one who actually felt happiness during these days.
She spent most of the time with Daniel, who had become a close friend by now.
Everything seemed to be just right when he was around.
But nobody around her seemed to understand...
Ruki is walking through the streets, praying to some higher force for help.
"Uh, Ruki?" Lee asks her, running to catch up with her.
Gods must have a twisted sense of humor.
"What." she asks flatly.
She stops walking and looks at Lee.
Just then, Takato also closes in. He looks even more worked out than Lee.
Oh. Great. Mojo and Jojo coming to the rescue.
"We're sorry to disturb you, but we have noticed that you are kinda... down..." Lee tries to explain.
"I don't need your pity, you little.. little..." Ruki tries to find a snappy answer.
"See what we mean? You even lost your edge." Takato tells her.
"Oh, so now I'm a weakling just like you?" Ruki almost shouts.
"Ruki. What's wrong? We haven't seen Renamon for a while, maybe-" Lee starts to say.
"Leave me alone with this Renamon-stuff! All right?" Ruki suddenly yells.
Without waiting for a response, she turns around and starts to run.
She runs at top speed so that none of the two boys can catch up with her.
So that none of them can see her tears.
Lee is staring after her, frowing.
Takato seems to be quite excited and is unable to stand still.
"Come on! We may still be able to-" he eagerly starts to propose.
But Lee just shakes his head.
"No. I think we're not getting through to her." he tells Takato.
Then he takes a quick look around.
The street they're standing in just happens to be empty.
"Terriermon!" Lee shouts at the sky.
Seconds later, his little Digimon floats towards him.
Quickly Terriermon assumes his normal position on Lee's shoulder.
"Come on." Lee tells Takato as he starts to walk.
"Where are you going?" Takato asks the blue haired boy.
"The park. Guilmon should not be left out of this one."
On their way to the park, Lee explains what he has planned.
"You're crazy." Takato simply comments the plan.
"We've no other choice." Lee corrects him.
"The plan is still dumb." Terriermon tells Lee.
Galileo Galilei, Christoph Columbus, Albert Einstein. I'm in good company. Lee tells himself and sighs.
After having met Guilmon in the park, the party stays at the lizard Digimon's hiding place.
"Plan stinks." Guilmon says after Lee tells him his plan.
Hearing that, Terriermon just snickers.
"So, does anybody of you have a better idea?" Lee finally asks.
The forest clearing becomes instantly silent.
"Yep. Almost thought so." he says after a while.
"Well, it's you plan, so you do it." Takato tells him.
Lee sighs and calms himself.
He quickly checks that his D-Arc and his cards are at their usual places, should anything go wrong.
The others form a triangle around him. A large triangle.
As if performing a ceremony, Lee stands in the middle of them and stares at the edge of the clearing.
Then he closes his eyes.
"Renamon." he firmly says.
He waits.
After several seconds, he repeats the name.
Just after the third call, he can hear a familiar voice.
"You don't give up, do-" Renamon says, appearing right in front of Lee.
Then she realizes that she has been called by Lee.
"YOU? YOU DARE TO CALL MY NAME?" she yells down at him, using her size to her full advantage.
She has already lifted her arm for a blow when she notices the others.
"You lucky day." she hisses, vanishing again.
And although Lee feels like dropping dead, he finds the strength to speak.
"No! Wait! Please!" he shouts.
Slowly, Renamon appears again, snarling at him.
"You're stressing your luck." she whispers.
"Please." Lee tries to calm her down, gesturing at a park bench.
Renamon just sighs and sits sown on the bench.
The others now dare to come closer, too.
Lee quickly tells Renamon what they already know.
Then he mentions that Ruki is feeling miserable.
"So? Did anybody care about my feelings? Do you think I always enjoyed this?" Renamon defends herself.
When she sees four blank faces, she continues.
"Do you actually think that it's easy serving a girl that doesn't even treat you as a living being?"
"Come on now, Rena. Don't-" Terriermon starts to answer.
The answer is interrupted by Renamon fiercely grabbing the smaller Digimon.
"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. Rena. Got that?" she hisses.
Then she drops the Digimon again.
"OK. Renamon then. Don't you think that you are overreacting?" Terriermon finally manages to ask.
"Tsk." Renamon just mutters.
"We don't serve them. They're our friends." Guilmon says.
Renamon looks at the young and naive lizard Digimon, giving him a weak smile.
She leans forward and puts a paw on his shoulder.
"Takato is your friend. Lee is Terriermon's friend. But Ruki..." she tells him softly.
"Oh." Guilmon says, understanding Renamon's point.
Renamon sighs, feeling completely miserable again.
She misses Daniel. His kind nature.
Or maybe Ruki. Then she could at least be angry.
But these four? They just pity her. But why?
"See? That's why I like Daniel. He cares about me." she finally tells them.
When she sees four blank expressions again, she knows she has talked too much.
"Who's Daniel?" Takato voices the question that is written on each face.
Renamon curses her big mouth, but she knows that she has to tell them now.
Feeling even worse than seconds ago, she tells them about Daniel.
How he cares for her. What he told her.
She even mentions the little gifts he gave her. Flowers mainly.
And I thought this was something that could be fixed by talking to both sides.
Lee shakes his head in disbelief.
Renamon's in love. If Ruki knows only half of what we now know-
This leads him to another question.
"Does Ruki know all this?" he quietly asks Renamon.
The Digimon looks at him, thinking.
Then her eyes widen.
"Don't tell her! Please! I guess she merely suspects something. Please-" she quickly begs.
She actually kneels in front of Lee with a desperated look on her face.
Slowly, Lee drags her back onto the bench.
"It's all right. Calm down. We won't tell anything." he tells her, soothing her nerves.
Then he looks at Terriermon.
"Yeah, I know. I'll stay inside your room for some days..." the Digimon instantly tells him.
"Thank you." Renamon whispers, surprising the whole group.
When nobody said anything for a while, Renamon decided to depart.
"If you need to talk, you know where to find us." Lee tells the fading Digimon.
The fox nods in appreciation.
"So... This is it?" Takato asks, unsure about the last turn of events.
Lee wanders in circles, thinking.
"I still have a very bad feeling about this." Terriermon adds.
"The whole situation is a huge bomb just waiting to explode." Lee finally states.
"Well, maybe it'll just work out. If Ruki doesn't even know-" Takato starts.
Lee just gives him a look.
"Ruki isn't dumb. She knows about that man and she has seen Renamon's behaviour."
"So you think she already knows about... them?" Takato asks.
"I hope I'm wrong, but I guess so."
"But we can't do anything about it." Guilmon mutters in frustration.
"If only there was somebody who could keep an eye on them." Lee talks to himself.
Takato thinks about it.
"I guess it can't be any of us." he tells Lee.
Lee just nods.
"Nobody of us has the skills necessary to watch them without being seen." he says.
"But we don't know anybody who could do this." Takato sighs.
"Well... I think I know somebody..." Terriermon whispers.
Everybody stares at the Digimon.
"I have the feeling that I won't like your suggestion..." Lee supposes.
He should be proven right.