Disclaimer: I do not own any of the digimon characters….yada,yada,yada.
Author's Notes: This is supposed to be set during the Myotismon Arc. The digidestined are looking for the 8th child in the real world. This story is totally AU and the characters may be OOC sometimes, but have mercy on me, this is my first fic. I decided to use the human characters Japanese names, but I used the digimons' American names, mostly because I like Myotismon better than Vamdemon. Please R+R!
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"Natsuko, I can't take this anymore! I can't keep forgiving you. I…I love you, but it's obvious you don't love me. I've worked so hard to keep this family together, but damn it, you don't give a fuck about me, Yamato or Takeru!"
"How can you say that, Masaharu?" Natsuko reply in a voice that should have frozen him to the cold kitchen floor, " I love my sons! It was you that turned me away!"
"Once, I can forgive. Twice, even. But this! This is just a slap in the face. You disgust me," he yelled in unsuppressed rage.
"Aren't we forgetting about a certain secretary?"
"Leave her out of this"
"And how many nights last week did you spend in her bed?"
" Shut-up! This isn't about me. At least she listened to my wants and needs! I want a divorce..."
"Fine!"
"But I'm taking Yamato with me."
"You can't do that!"
"You're lucky I'm leaving you with Takeru. I'd take him too, but I know how court's work. You can be damn sure I won't let you corrupt Yamato though,"Masaharu voice was tinged with a dangerous anger.
"You can't have Yamato! You can't! You're not even…"
Natsuko's words were cut off as Masaharu slapped her in the face.
"Don't you dare say it. I'll be gone in the morning, with Yamato. You can expect the papers sometime next week."
Yamato slid down the wall of the kitchen door as he heard his mother's crying echo off the linoleum while his own silent tears mingled with the carpet.
Seven Years later"Gabumon!" Yamato yelled as he woke from his bed.
"What is it Yama-kun?" Gabumon replied in his gentle, soothing voice.
"It, it was only a dream. I dreamed that Myotismon found the eighth chosen before we could. She was killed, and so were everyone else, even you Gabumon, except he kept Takeru and me alive in endless torture."
"It was only a dream, Yamato. Go back to sleep. I promise we will find the eighth chosen before Myotismon."
Gabumon gently tucked Yamato back in, but thought to himself, 'She? Hmm, I wonder…' But the ravages of sleep quickly carried him off to the land of dreams.
"Yama, wake-up!" Mr. Ishida yelled, "Time for breakfast!"
Yamato's eyes fluttered open. He could smell the eggs and burnt toast from his room.
'I never thought I would have missed this so much.'
Yamato climbed out of bed and quickly dressed himself. He ran down the stairs, nearly running into his father.
"Well, I see someone's excited about Oeuvres a la Ishida," his father chuckled softly,
"I was thinking you weren't going to ever wake-up."
"Aww, Dad! I'm not that bad."
"Well, come on. I really wanted to eat breakfast together before I have to go to work. I missed you while you were at camp."
'Not as much as I missed you and your "Oeuvres a la Ishida"' Yamato thought to himself. While it had felt like months in the Digital World, only a few days had passed in the real world. Months apart can give you a new perspective on how to appreciate the thing you have, though his father would probably never know why he suddenly loved his burnt toast.
Yamato eagerly sat at the table and dug into his food.
"I'm glad I made enough to feed an army" his father smiled while picking up his coffee cup and glancing through the paper.
Yamato looked at him. He wrinkled his nose for a second. Jeez, he could smell the bourbon from here. While he loved his father, even the long stay away couldn't lessen some disgust for his father's bad habits. Yamato had never commented on this fact. His father had done this every morning since he could remember. He quickly pushed this though aside.
"So what are you going to be doing on this lovely summer day, Yamato?"
"Oh, I thought I'd hang out with Taichi," Yamato replied. 'And try to save the world from Myotismon. You know the usual.' Yamato stifled a laugh at the thought of telling his father this.
"Well, keep this evening free. Your mother wants you to come over to her apartment. She'll pick you up at 6. I…won't be back from work by then. We've been really busy lately and I have to put in some overtime. You know."
Yamato could sense the sadness in his father's voice, the same pain that reached it whenever he talked about his mother. He knew his father still kept a picture of the four of them in his sock drawer.
"Of course. I'll be home on time."
"Well, I've got to get going. See you later Yamato. Be good!" Mr. Ishida quickly drained the contents of his mug, picked up his briefcase, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Yamato could smell the bourbon on his breath, but still tried not to flinch under his kiss.
"Good-bye, father," whispered Yamato under his breath.
*****
"Yamato! You're 30 minutes late!" Taichi pouted as Yamato stepped into view.
"Not too bad if I say so myself," smirked Yamato.
"Awww! Come on we've got important things to do today! Jyou and Koushiro are searching east, Sora and Mimi are heading west, and we've got north. At 2 we're going to meet in Hibuku plaza and search south. You know how important this mission is!"
"I know, I know" Yamato sighed in exasperation. Of course he knew the stakes, but why did Taichi have to over-dramatizes things? "Let's go."
Gabumon and Agumon rested safely in the two boys arms as they wondered about the north side of the city.
"Do you guys feel any digital power fluxes?" Taichi asked the seemingly stuffed animals.
"Well, there is a constant weird presence in the air. It makes it hard to focus on specific digital frequencies. Even you guys give off a small digital vibe from being in the digital world for so long. It's hard to tell unless we are very close to another digimon." Agumon told his friend.
"Whaaaaat?! We give off a digital vibe?" Taichi couldn't believe it. He started patting himself all over trying to make sure he was a human and not digital.
"Hmph, it's only to be expected, Tai-kun. It's sort of like the way if you're cutting an onion how you'll smell like onion. It doesn't mean you're an onion." Yamato replied, his eyes twinkling at Taichi's response.
"He's right. Anyway it should wear off shortly. In fact it's nowhere near as strong as when we first arrived. It will be easier to sense them when you guys aren't so distracting." Agumon explained.
"Gabumon, are you all right? You haven't said a word since we started searching." Yamato asked his digimon.
"Hmmm, oh, I am fine Yamato. I am just thinking about this situation and trying to focus on digital energies." Gabumon told him. But what he didn't say was that he was thinking about what Yamato had said last night, "she". It echoed in his head and sounded right. He felt fairly certain that the eighth chosen child was a girl. He would keep it to himself for now. He still needed to ponder over this. And what Agumon had said about the vibes that the chosen gave off. It was very disconcerting, and he had a bad feeling about them.
"Are you sure?"
Gabumon nodded his head and smiled a toothy grin at Yamato.
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. At 2, they met with the other chosen children, whom had had the same amount of luck as they did.
"This is impossible!" Taichi exclaimed. "We've searched everywhere, and no sign of Myotismon or the eighth chosen."
"Perhaps we should search tonight. Myotismon's power will be greater during the night, and perhaps it will be easier to find him. Of course it will be more dangerous then too, "Koushiro pointed out.
"Koushiro, Agumon and Gabumon told us about digital vibes, and that we are giving them off. Do you know when the effect should wear off? It could help us in our search tremendously," Yamato told Koushiro.
"Hmm, let me see. By my computations on how quickly the vibrations are disappearing, I say within two weeks."
"Is there anyway you can speed this up? I mean we might not even have two weeks," Taichi asked.
"Well, I suppose I could construct something tonight and have it by tomorrow."
"Great, that's all we need," Taichi looked like this revelation had just won them the battle. The others, however, still looked dower.
"I think our time could be better spent if we half of us tried to make a strategy to defeat Myotismon, while the rest of us searched for the eighth chosen." Mimi informed the group.
Taichi thought about this for two seconds. "Sounds like a good idea! Ok, so me, Yamato, Sora, and, when he can, Takeru will search for the eighth chosen. Jyou, Koushiro, and you, Mimi, will try and form a strategy. We'll still need to search at night, but let's wait till tomorrow, so Koushiro can make his vibe eliminator."
Everyone nodded. It didn't seem like too bad of an idea to Yamato, so he assented.
"Well, I guess we can still all go looking through the south side together," Taichi said.
By 5, they had still found nothing.
"Hey, guys I've got to go. I've got a dinner date that I can't miss," Yamato informed the others.
"Ooooo, has Yama-kun got a girlfriend?" Taichi teased.
"No," Yamato blushed," It's with my mother and Takeru."
"Well, I think all of us should be getting home now anyway. See you guys tomorrow!" Jyou said as he started to run down the street with Gomamon in tow.
"See ya," Yamato replied to the dust cloud that had developed in the spots where the others had been standing. 'I guess everyone's as hungry as me.'
Yamato proceeded to run back to his father's apartment. He needed to brush and style his hair, change clothes, brush his teeth, look perfect for his mother.
"I'm sorry Gabumon, but I'm going to have to leave you here alone while I go to mom's. Dad should be back soon (drunk probably)."
"Will you be alright without me, Yamato?" Gabumon's sense of approaching danger had not lessened through the day. He felt that something big was about to happen.
"I'll be fine. Just don't leave the apartment ok? I'll be back soon." Yamato patted Gabumon on the head, relieving some of his doubts.
"I shall do as you ask, Yamato."
*****
Ms. Takaishi picked Yamato up at 6 on the dot. Yamato couldn't help but feel a sense of elation through the whole ride. His mother kept telling him how long it had been since she had last seen him, how much she had missed him, how much he had grown. The usual mom things.
A sense of peace washed over him as he entered the apartment. Mom, Takeru, and himself, all together. This was the way things should be. And though he knew it would be brief, this was what he treasured.
"I made your favorite!" Yamato's mother exclaimed with pride as she set the steak in front of Yamato and Takeru.
It was rare, just the way Yamato like it. The potatoes were great, and the peas couldn't have been better.
After the sundaes had been consumed, Yamato noticed his mother had a look of wanting to tell him something important. Before he could ask, his mother cleared the table.
"How has mom been?" Yamato asked his little brother.
"She's been acting weird. She goes out late a night, after tucking me in, with Mrs. Tsukino watching me. She looks happy all the time though, and that makes me happy." Takeru answered.
"Hmm. Has she said anything about Patamon?"
"She only asked where I got it and said it was cute. It was hard to explain that the camp had given away electronic talking stuffed animals."
"That's good," Yamato replied half-heartedly.
"Are you guys having any luck finding the eighth chosen? Patamon says the child in close but he is feeling as if something is preventing him from sensing them."
"Oh, I might be able to explain that…," Yamato proceed to explain it to his brother about the digital vibrations the chosen were giving off.
"Hey, you boys. Do you want to go see a movie?" Asked their mother.
"No thanks mother. I would prefer just staying here with you guys."
"Ok, well let's go sit in the living room and catch up."
Yamato proceed to tell her of what had been going on with school last year and how things were going with his friends, while Takeru went to his room.
"How's your father doing?"
Yamato noticed the same twinge of sadness that he had noticed in his father's voice. He could tell they still had feelings for one another, but his dreams of them getting back together had been smashed years ago.
"He's good. He's been very busy with work lately. How have you been mother?"
Ms. Takaishi blushed a little, "Oh, I'm well. I've been keeping busy as well." A dreamy look appeared on her face.
"Mother, is there something you want to tell me?"
" Oh Yama! I've been dying to tell you. Please don't be mad with me. I'm, I'm dating someone. He is so wonderful! You've got to meet him. I'm going to try and arrange something with your father. That might mean I won't get to see you for another year, but you must meet him."
Yamato just sat there. He couldn't believe it. So that was what his mother had been doing when she left Takeru. He clinched his teeth and his nails dug into his palm, even though his gloves. Apparently he hadn't totally given up on his dream of his parent's getting back together.
With his jaw clinched, he asked," Do you love him?"
"Yes, I do."
Yamato had to turn away so she wouldn't see the tears fall from his eyes. This was going to ruin everything! Now during his visits it wouldn't be just him, his mother, and Takeru. It would include mystery man now.
"Yama? Are you…angry with me?"
Yamato wiped his face. No, all that mattered was that his mother was happy. He'd given anything to see her and Takeru happy, no matter what it cost him.
"No, I'm glad you're happy." His hands were still in tight fists.
"Oh Yamato, you don't know how good it feels to hear you say you're not mad! I was so scared you would be. Well, I'll talk to you're father about you coming to see me next week. He is so wonderful."
Yamato thought his mother looked more like a teenager than he did, all giggly and red in the face. That would never be him, he promised himself. Did his mother once love his father like that? Anyway love only brought pain in the end, he was proof enough for that.
Yamato wandered into his brother's room. He needed to tell Takeru about this as well as speak to Patamon about his sensing the eighth chosen.
Takeru was playing with several action figures on his bed.
"Hey, Takeru."
"Hey!"
"Well, I found out where mom has been going."
"Where?"
"She has a," Yamato bit back his harsh words that he though should not grace an eight year olds ears,"boyfriend."
"Really?" Takeru's eyes were as big as dinner plates. He started bouncing on the bed. "Who is it? Will I get to meet him? I wonder what he looks like?"
"Shhh! We'll both get to meet him soon." Yamato said icily, but he could not stay mad when his brother exuded so much energy.
" I can't wait! yawn Oh this is going to be exciting! yawn I can hardly wait…"
It seemed as if all that excitement had tuckered Takeru out. Yamato just laughed at his brother's youth and exuberance. He wished he could see things like Takeru sometimes. Now however he had to find Patamon.
"Psst. Pssssst. Patamon!"
"What is it?" replied a groggy Patamon.
"I have to talk to you about the eighth chosen. Takeru said you said that you could feel like she was nearby."
"Well, I feel an intense presence of good nearby. How did you know it felt feminine?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said 'she'. Most of the other chosen refer to the eighth child as 'he', thinking it will be a boy. I didn't tell Takeru that. How did you know?"
"I don't know. It just felt right."
"Well, at least now I have confirmation that it is a girl. Now you can start to focus on who the eighth chosen could be."
"Patamon, have you felt Myotismon nearby as well"
Patamon's ears twitched slightly. "I was going to wait to tell you, but I definitely fell a dark presence nearby. It has come very close to the light, but has not found it yet. It feels closer to this place than the sense of good. I would recommend that you search near here in the future. I am very scared for all of you and Takeru."
"Don't worry Patamon. I'll tell the others to come here. We'll make sure that you and Takeru stays safe."
"I hope so, but I'm scared. It gets closer everyday. Something is going to happen. Everyone must be prepared."
"We will. Good-bye Patamon."
Yamato kissed his brother on the head and strode toward the door.
"Soon"
"What? Takeru are you asleep? What did you say?" Yamato walked back to his brother's bed and placed his ear to Takeru mouth.
"Sooooon," Takeru repeated in voice that was much raspier and deeper that his own.
Then Takeru rolled over and resumed a soft snore.
Yamato was shaken. What the hell was that? Now he really was scared.
"Yamato, time to leave."
"Alright, mother." Yamato said as he shook those thoughts out of his head.
******
Yamato opened the door, only to find his father passed out on the couch. 'Is this what you want your mother to live with.'' Shut-up' he told the voice in his head. As far as he cared, his mother and father were the only one's for each other. Each other or nothing.
He opened the door to his room and took off his clothes. He noticed the holes and blood on his gloves. 'Damn it. Ruined a perfectly good pair of gloves thanks to the unknown jerk' He went to the bathroom and put some bandages around his hands. At least the cuts weren't too deep, thanks to the gloves. And he could hide the injury with another pair. He went back to his room and crawled into bed.
"yawn Good-night Gabumon."
There was no reply.
"Gabumon?"
Yamato jumped out of bed. "Gabumon? Gabumon where are you? This isn't funny!"
His breaths started coming in short gasps. Where was he? He tore through his room. Had his dad found Gabumon and in a drunken rage, hurt him? Oh, God please no! Then he saw it. There was a patch of blood on top of one of Yamato's shirts. Next to it there was a note:
Don't worry Gabumon is in good hands. If you deliver the eighth chosen child to me, he will be returned. You have two weeks. His death will be on your hands."
-Myotismon
'Oh my God, ohmygod, ohmygod' Yamato fell to his knees. He couldn't give Myotismon the eighth child, but he couldn't let Gabumon die. He stared at the whirling script, wishing for the perfect calligraphy to be untrue. He knew this was a set-up, but he didn't know what to do. All he knew was that someone would die. And then Yamato knew no more as darkness claimed his shattered mind.