by Blackjack Gabbiani
The news came from the real world early in the morning. Cody Hida, the last remaining of the DigiDestined that had fought against darkness on that fateful day many years ago, had died in his sleep at the age of ninety-eight.
Word spread fast in the Digital World, quickly reaching the base of the Guardians.
**
Gennai stared at the screen. It was nearly impossible to believe, but he had to. The final Child was gone.
"How are you going to tell him, Mr. Gennai?" a small voice asked from behind him.
He sighed. "I don't know, Dati...he was particularly close to Cody..."
Datirimon jumped up on the console. "Yukio's not gonna take this well, is he? Mr. Cody was his friend..."
"Right...We have to tell him gently..."
"There's no need." The third Guardian, Yukio Oikawa, had entered the room. "I already know."
**
The forest was quiet for once, almost like every creature sensed the man's need for silence. "That's the worst thing about being a Guardian..." he whispered. "You outlive everyone you care about..."
He came to rest against a tree, and closed his eyes tight, letting a few stray tears leak out. "Now they're all gone...and for Cody to be the last one..." He chuckled, a soulless sound. Through all those years, Cody had grown to be almost like a son to the forlorn man. And losing him, in its' own way, hurt worse than losing Hiroki.
When Hiroki died, so did Oikawa's soul, or so he felt.
Now it was dying all over again.
"Am I really supposed to continue on like this?" he wondered aloud. "Am I cursed to lose everything dear to me? Will I have to say goodbye to Dati? Or to Gennai?" He inhaled sharply, and realized he was sobbing.
I can't even tell when I'm crying...maybe I really am dead inside, just like when--
"HIROKIIIIII!!!!!" he screamed at the top of his voice, and collapsed on the ground. "Oh GOD! Why couldn't I have gone with you?"
And why do I stil feel this way after so many years?
**
He trudged through the forest, not caring where he was going. He just had to get AWAY...
"I know it had to happen...I knew he was an old man now...but to me, he'll always be the little boy who gave me one last chance, the child who led me to my destiny..." He stopped. "I haven't changed. Not in body, and not in mind, either. After all this time, why does it still feel like it did when I made the wish?"
If only I could have died then, for real. I could have healed the world with a wish, and gone peacefully...
"Hey there!" a strange voice called from behind him. He whirled around to see a small girl smiling at him.
"H...hello..."
"Hey, I know you! You're the Guardian, Oikawa, right?"
He nodded, trying to maintain some semblance of composure. "And you are...?"
She extended a hand. "Fatima, of the Tokyo DigiDestined! Um...so I suppose you've heard about Mr. Hida by now, right?"
Oikawa took a step backwards. "Hiro-kun," he whispered, then shook his head. "Yes...about Cody...he was always Cody to me..."
"Is that why you're crying?"
He raised a hand to his face. The tears kept coming. "Yes..."
Fatima flopped down on a nearby log and gestured for the Guardian to sit next to her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
**
Oikawa wasn't sure why he opened up to this girl. Perhaps it was the opportunity to talk to someone besides Gennai or Datirimon, or perhaps it was her cheerful nature. Either way, he felt a little better.
"...and so he came every year, on the anniversary of his father's death, and we'd talk for hours...He wanted to remember better, I think. He never really knew Hiroki..." The Guardian sighed deeply. "And he came every year on December Thirty-First..."
"The date of the great victory, right? History's kinda gotten away from me..."
He couldn't help but laugh slightly, a genuine laugh. "History? You're a DigiDestined, you're going to have to know these things."
"Somehow I doubt there'll be a quiz on that. You know, other than the occasional having to save the world from something or another." She smiled at him. "But yeah...for all her nagging after me, I can't imagine life without Damselmon..."
"Well...I certainly hope you never need to."
An uncomfortable silence. "Are you feeling better now?" Fatima asked.
He paused. "Actually...yes." He was surprised at his answer, at how such a simple thing could change him.
"Because I gotta go home now. But if you need me again, I'll be here." And she skipped off, humming.
**
He watched her leave; open the portal to the real world. Maybe I'll never really get over it...but there's always the future to look towards.
"Keep the past with you wherever you go," he whispered. "Without it, we'd be lost."
He closed his eyes, letting himself remember.
"But always behold the future, because our hope lies therin."
Oikawa smiled.
I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet...but someday, I can let them go. They're alive in my heart, I can feel that. For now...the pain of loss is difficult, but I'm glad I knew them. Thank you, Hiroki. Thank you, DigiDestined.
"...and thank you, Fatima."
And thank you all for reading this! Sorry if the ending is a little rushed. I wanted to do something for the one-year anniversary of 02 Final (May 19th, 2001) besides just sulking and crying. Yes, after all this time, it still affects me deeply...but I thank you for your time and compassion. The spirits of those we have lost live on in us.