Future Dreams

Disclaimer: *sigh* I've said this over a million times! Do I really have to repeat myself?!? *readers nod* Fine then. I don't own digimon! Happy?

A/N) This was a very hard story to write, mostly because I couldn't concentrate. I have some many ideas for new stories that I can't write this one!!! But the point is that I finished it, and it posted for you guys to read! It's pretty long and I think I'm going to keep writing them this long for the time being…

Well if you've been reading this since I started it about a month and a half ago, you will probably realize something… I changed all the Japanese names into English! And I'm sorry for anyone I get confused in the process. I have done this with ALL of my chapters, because I've decided it's just easier that way. I was planning on just using English names for digimon and then Japanese names for Tamers, but that would get everyone even more confused, so this is the way it's going to stay for the rest of the story. English for everything! Sorry again ^^"

Chapter Seven

******

Eurara was still slightly mystified about what had just happened before her. What had started out as a peaceful meeting, had turned in to something she could describe… All that she could say was that one of the girls that had walked out of the building, looked seriously pissed off. From the look on the girls face, Eurara didn't think anyone within a 15-meter radius of her would be safe from her rage.

Nevertheless, the other sickly looking boy had followed after her, and Eurara was worried that in his current health, he would not fair out so well against this anger driven girl.

The other girl in the group must have thought exactly the same thing, because once after he was clearly out of sight, she had followed, probably to stop any fights that started.

But what totally confused her was that the girl came back only a few minutes later. With a smile on her face to say the least! Eurara could only wonder what had happened to make her be so happy.

Of course she would be one of the last ones to find out what had happened between Takato and Rika. For now she's just have to use her imagination.

She looked down at her computer screen again, she was determined to finish something today, and the D-Reaper program was the key thing. But her files weren't opening! Every time she typed in her password, the files refused entry, and she was sure it was the right one, hell, she had been typing it in everyday for the last week! So far she had gone from typing in her password, to trying to hack into the system (something she often had to do, to get what she wanted), but still, the error sign showed up on the screen.

Other people around her seemed to be having the same type of problems, and complaints were heard from as far as across the room. She was ready to get up and find someone like Yamaki or Megumi for help, before she felt a feathery like substance brush against her nose. She could help it, she giggled, before looking up into the green eyes of a tamer.

He smiled at her, "I see you've meet MarineAngemon."

"She's so pretty…" She touched one of his wings, soft skin rubbing against beautiful pink wings. "Where did you find her?" She asked the green haired boy, softly.

He gave her another soft smile before beckoning his digimon back so that it rested by his shoulder. "Well… I guess you can sorta say she found me… When we were in the digital world everyone found their partner before I did. I had basically accepted that I wasn't a real Tamer. But then she showed up." He pointed to his partner. "When we met I guess it just clicked, and we because partners. I'm lucky to have found her, She's the best digimon a kid could hope for."

Eurara smiled at both of them. *Megumi was right about them have a bond…* She thought. *They seem to be best friends…*

"Hey?" He asked out of the blue. "Your new here aren't you?"

She turned a faint pink. "Yeah, I just started working here last week."

"I thought so, I've never seen you around here before." The boy commented, he looked as if he had finally run out of things to say.

"What's your name, anyways?" Eurara asked looking for conversation.

"Oh, I'm Kenta." He pointed to the other Tamers. "That's Kazu over there." He pointed to the boy with the visor. "That's Ryo." The boy with the purple dinosaur… "And there's Henry and Suzi, their brother and sister." He added, as he pointed to the blue hair boy who seemed to be watching the younger pig-tailed girl. "Rika's the one who flipped out and ran outside… She doesn't do that very often… Or I don't think she does anyways… The boy who followed her was Takato, I guess you could call him our leader."

He pointed over to the girl who was sitting by herself now, and Eurara immediately recognized her as the girl who had just come in. "That's Jeri, she's a Tamer too." He looked thoughtful. "Well she was… I'm not sure if you could call her one now, considering she lost her digimon…"

"She lost her digimon?"

He sighed. "Jeri's digimon was Leomon. They were really close friends, but Leomon got deleted in the digital world by a digimon called Beelzemon… He didn't stand a chance… Takato almost got everyone killed that day… But I guess he really did mean to… I mean he just wanted to avenge Leomon… "That's when Takato biomerged with Guilmon."

"Biomerged?"

"Yeah Takato was the first… Guilmon and himself ended up digivolving together, into a holy knight digimon, Gallentmon. He was really strong and ended up kicking Beelzemon butt." He smiled, remembering.

"But before Takato could delete him, Jeri told him to stop… Even after Beelzemon killed her digimon she wouldn't let Takato get rid of him… I still don't understand that… I mean, if some one hurt MarineAngemon, I'd sure want revenge… But I guess Jeri different that way. She's more forgiving, which I guess is good for Beelzemon. He's on our side now, after helping fight the D-Reaper and all… We also found out that he has Tamers!" He continued on happily. "So I guess you could say he's one of the good guys." He finished, before looking over too one of his friends.

"Well, I'm going to go hang out with Kazu until we figure out what were doing about Reapmon, you know, you should talk to Jeri, I think she'd like you."

Eurara smiled as she watched him leave, before her smile turned into a frown. All this information just made her more confused about digimon… And Tamers… Maybe she would talk to Jeri…

But right now she had more important things to do. Standing up she decided to go talk to Yamaki. She had a feeling he wouldn't be too happy with the news she was bearing. *Just another heavy weight forced on to our shoulders…* She though bitterly, as she headed for his office.

******

"So… Now what?" Rika asked out of the blue, breaking the silence that had held for we over 15 minutes

"Well… I… Uh…" Takato was at a loss for words.

She was starting to get angry, of course this was a usual for her, but this time she had a different reason for her anger. She had just kissed him! Make a complete fool of herself and all he could do was studder!

She sighed, the worse part was… If she had the chance to fix her mistake, to go back in time, she would have done the same thing all over again…

Well… Maybe with a little more grace… She wouldn't call it one of the best kisses in the world, but it wasn't a bad kiss either… Hell, what did she know! This was the first time she'd ever kissed someone before!

Takato was still staring at her, probably thinking it was up to her to make the next move.

She blushed, what was she suppose to say? It wasn't like she could just confess her true feelings for him, what if he didn't like her the same way?! *Rika, you idiot…* She told herself, *Of course he likes you! He did didn't object to the kiss, did he?* It looked like she would have to answer her own question, *Well no… I guess not, but it didn't exactly look like he liked it either.*

Truthfully she couldn't really explain the emotions that had come from the kiss. They had changed so quickly. First from surprise, and confused, and then he seemed to give in, had she even seen a little bit of lust, in that look? She shook her head. Takato wasn't like that.

"Well, so what does it mean?" She asked finally.

"Huh? What does what mean?" He replied, confused.

"The kiss, what does it mean?" Rika asked again. "Are we still just going to be friends, or… More than that?" Was it just her, or did she actually sound hopefully? She frowned at the very though.

"Well, I don't know… What do you think?" He replied.

"Uh… I…" Now she seemed to be the one at a loss for words. Finally she lowered her head. "I guess I really don't know either…"

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe we don't need to know now…"

She looked at him funny. "What do you mean?"

Smiling, he leaned up against the wall behind her. "Maybe we can just wait and see what happens, and decide later." He suggested. "For now there's no rules, it's up to us how we think and feel about each other."

She smiled back at him. "Goggle-head, that has got to be the smartest thing you've said all day."

"Yeah I guess I've been acting pretty stupid, huh?

"I guess so." She agreed with him, "But since you were acting on impulse, you're forgiven."

He smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." She replied, smiling again, but soon that smile turning into a frown, as she suddenly realized how pale he was. The conversation immediately turned to a darker subject.

"Hey!" He asked, startled. "What's wrong?"

She decided to speak her concerns for him. "Your so pale…"

"Well, yeah." Takato replied bitterly. "That's what happens, when you haven't had a descent night's sleep in over three days."

"What do you think he wants?" She asked.

"What? You mean Reapmon?" He asked, confused. "Revenge, what else?"

"I don't mean it like that." She stated, another frown appearing on her face. "I mean, why you? Reapmon could have picked any of us if he had felt like it. So why did he choose you, instead of me, or even Henry?"

Takato had figured this out quite a while ago, though he hadn't really mentioned it to anyone. Not even Jeri. "I delivered the final blow…" He stated quietly. "We all fought the D-Reaper together, but when it came to battling the J-Reaper, it was Guilmon and me who dealt the final blow, and since Reapmon obviously hasn't been able to reach Guilmon, he's come after me instead." He finished.

Rika paled slightly, mostly out of worry for Takato… But one question was on her mind… When Reapmon was done toying with Takato, would he come after the rest of them? She immediately wanted to hit herself for thinking such a stupid thing, they would stop the Reapmon before he got another change to hurt Takato, she would make sure of that.

"Rika?" He asked hesitantly, she had obviously started to space off again.

"What?" She asked softy.

"We can beat him… Right?"

*I don't know…* "Right. Why wouldn't we?"

He sighed, before shrugging he shoulders. "I guess the last few days had sorta drained me of my confidents. I don't know what to think anymore…"

She grasped his hand, something she wouldn't have dared to do before. "We can beat him." She stated. "Maybe not alone, but with our friends, and digimon like Renamon, and Guilmon, how can we lose?" She asked, sounding quite determined.

Takato squeezed her hand slightly. "Yeah," He smiled. "I guess your right."

They walked back inside together, quickly untangling their hands before walking in the door; they both seemed to decide against telling the other Tamers for now.

Everyone looked up ask they entered the room, but they both ignore the staring Tamers. Takato walked quickly over to Guilmon, while Rika took her original seat by Jeri.

Rika settled her self into a good position, before closing her eyes. She had a lot to think about… But what was really bothering her was Takato's words: "We can beat him… Right?"

She had told him they could, but what if they couldn't? She didn't want lose someone like Takato, someone she might actually like as more than a friend…

*Still… Will I be able to protect Takato, like he tried to protect me?*

******

Takato sighed, as he headed for Guilmon, would he be able to gain forgiveness from his partner? Guilmon looked to be asleep, as he approached, but his eyes seemed to snap open, as her smelt his Tamer drawing closer. Takato sat down on the small couch beside him.

"So your not angry at me boy?" Takato asked softly.

Guilmon looked up, confused. "Why would I be, Takatomon?"

Takato sighed again, had he even been listening before?

"Guilmon, I betrayed your trust. I didn't tell you about something that could have gotten you hurt, or even dead. It would have been my fault if something bad had happened to you, because I didn't warn you…"

Takato wondered why he was bothering to explain all this, wouldn't both of them be better off if he didn't understand? But it was to late to turn back now, Guilmon had already stated to speak.

"You had a good reason, didn't you?"

"What?" Takato asked, shocked by his reply.

"You had a good reason for not telling me." He said again, lying back down in the process. "I know you would never want me to get hurt, so there has to be a good reason for you not telling me." He stated simply.

Takato remembered Jeri's and his talk from earlier.

***Flashback***

"You want to protect them right?"

He smiled. "Yes, I have to, there my friends, and if this is

something I can solve on my own I want to, I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. That's friends do right for each other right?"

She returned his smile, though it was a sad one. "Yes I guess your right."

***End Flashback***

Takato looked down at the big red dinosaur before him. *You know Guilmon...* He thought to himself, *Your smarter than I thought.*

"You were brave."

"What do you mean Takato?" His digimon asked, confused.

"Well in my dream you stood by me. You refused to run away when I gave you the chance to. You protected me... Thanks boy."

"Your welcome Takatomon..." Guilmon muttered sleepily, head rested in his arms. Takato watched him as he fell into a deep sleep, before sighing. Could things really start to be looking up for him and the other Tamers, or was this just beginning? For once Takato wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Like Guilmon he drifted into sleep.

******

"What!?" Yamaki cried out in both anger and confusion. "You know as well as I do, nothing can penetrate that firewall we have set up!"

Eurara bowed her head. "Yes I know, but someone must have managed it because no one in the entire building can access their computer. It's either a virus or..." She trailed off.

Yamaki frowned, "Or what? What else could have ripped it's way through our firewall like that?" He demanded an answer.

"Reapmon." She stated, her voice barely over a whisper. "I don't know exactly how, but mostly likely he found out about the program we we're using against him, and he forcefully put a stop to it, taking the rest of the computers along with it."

"Damn...." Yamaki knew that was only thing that was keeping Takato safe from Reapmon at the moment, and without the computer's help they we're at a major loss.

Eurara seemed to notice their loss as well, because she spoke up, "What are we suppose to do now? Do you think it would be possible to ask the digimon for help? Do you think they could find Reapmon? Maybe even the source?"

"Maybe..." He though about it for a moment... It might be possible, they'd have to ask the digimon to be sure... "But we have already found the source."

Eurara looked shocked, then happy. "Really? Well that solves a few of our problems. If we can get some of the computers up and running again, all we'll have to do is dest-"

Yamaki cut her off, "It's human."

She went back to looking shocked. "B-But how is that possible? There's no way that Reapmon could have managed to advance that much to adapted to human energy. Besides you know we can't kill a human being…"

Yamaki didn't reply to that statement. He knew just as well as she did they couldn't kill Takato. But if Reapmon became that much of a threat... He didn't want to think about that. He stood up. "We'll worry about that when the time comes. But right now we have more important things to do."

She frowned. "Like what?"

"As you stated before the digimon might be able to sense Reapmon's presents, but the only way of finding out would be to asked them."

Eurara nodded, "I understand. Megumi and I try hacking into the computer's systems. Maybe some of my program is still savagbul…" She didn't sound very hopefully.

Both of them left his office, their hopes lower than ever before.

******

Rika sighed, Jeri wasn't as clueless as everyone else around her.

"I knew you liked him!" She giggled.

Rika rolled her eyes. "It nothing like that..." She trailed off, knowing she didn't sound very convincing.

Jeri frowned. "Why does everyone around here, take me as stupid? Of course you like him Rika, just like he likes you."

"I don't know..." She sighed again, looking over to where Takato slept. "What if he doesn't really like me?" She shifted, uneasily. "What if I'm just someone to lean on, when he's not at his best?"

Jeri's look hardened. "Rika you know Takato's not like that! He likes you because of who you are, he always has..."

Rika seemed to wrap her arms around herself, as if cold. "Still... It's hard to believe it, I mean no one has ever thought of me like that before..."

Now Jeri sighed. "That's because you've put a wall around yourself. People have to search to find the real you, not many people have bothered, but Takato did. He found the REAL you, despite all your fighting to hide it from him. Can't you just accept that he wants to be with you? Just like you want to be with him…"

Rika shrugged, hesitates still there. "I guess."

******

Jeri gave up, she knew there was no way she could force Rika to accept something she didn't want to accept. She just hoped that after they had dealt with Reapmon, things would go back to normal, except for one thing. Rika would have Takato, and Takato would have Rika. It was that simple. And either way, Jeri knew they needed each other.

She looked over to Takato and Guilmon, both of them curled up together safe and secure. Of course she didn't know what was gone on in their minds at the time…

******

Takato felt cold. Not the cold that feel after stepping out of your nice, warm, house in to a winter blizzard. It was different. This was the kind of cold that seemed to wash over someone in waves, like it was doing to Takato now. It was so cold that it penetrated the skin, digging deep down into his mind and soul, drawing itself around him like a blanket. A blanket that seemed to cut off his breathing… He had just noticed it, his breaths were uneven and forced, and he knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer.

But what seemed to be the worst thing about this place was it didn't feel like a dream. Sure, his dreams had always felt really to him, very really. But this… It was almost too real. But if this wasn't a dream, what was it? Surely it couldn't be Hypnos, he'd never seen anything like this in his reality.

The digital world maybe?

It was dark, he couldn't even see his hands in front of him, and it scared him. He remembered Jeri telling him about one of her times she babysitting her little brother. She had been reading a story to him, the power had gone out, and he had disappeared. She had been scared that something bad had happened to him, and it didn't help much when a few moments later he had jumped at her from behind, both angering and scaring her.

That's what Takato felt like now. Something horrible was going to jump out at him, and he doubted it to be something like Jeri, cute little brother.

Suddenly a noise sounded behind him, and he jumped startled. He turned, to see nothing but darkness… He heard it again to his left, what was that?

Then from directly in front of him. What ever it was, growled loudly, deep in it's throat. Takato wasn't sure if he wanted to know what the thing was, so he waited. Whatever it was, eventually came to him. Still growling, it stepped up to him slowly, it's yellow eyes, glowing like headlamps in the darkness. Takato closed his eyes, afraid of what was to come.

That when the growling stopped. Still afraid, Takato opened one eye, the bright yellow ones glazing back at him blinked. And then the creature did something else, slowly and carefully he spoke:

"Takatomon?"

******

=( Sorry I had to end the chapter there… But if I had kept going it probably would have ended up longer than my last one. ^^ So, anything I planning for this chapter that I didn't add, will go into the next one!

In a few days I'm going on vacation! Two whole weeks! YAY! While I'm gone I will try and get some writing done, but it will be hard with me spending most of my time both swimming and shopping (No computer! God, I wish I had a laptop!). So when I get back I will try to quickly type it up and post it, k? Two weeks isn't too long, is it?