For The Love of a Gatomon
Chapter 1: The Plan
It was about 11:00PM and Veemon and Davis were fast asleep. Davis was, as usual, snoring really loudly and Veemon woke up for what had to be the third time that night. He looked over with disdain at the snoring, drooling, mess that was his partner. It was times like these that Veemon really wished he had a camera. Davis was wearing only his boxers and seemed to be having some sort of soccer-like dream. He was thrashing around wildly, apparently landing goal after goal since he celebrated with a pronounced "Yea for me!" after each kick. Veemon rolled his eyes and got walloped right out of the bed by a side kick from Davis.
"Ouch!" he cried, landing with a thud. He rubbed his tummy where the kick had landed and, grumbling, went off to find somewhere else to sleep.
He moved from the bedroom into the living room and hopped up onto the couch for some rest.
"At last," he thought, "Some sleep." He got comfy and rested for a bit. A few minutes passed but he just couldn't go back to sleep. Something was missing. He sat up and looked around, as though to see if anyone was watching. Veemon got a pillow from one of the chairs and wrapped his arms around it, lying back down on his side on the couch.
"Gatomon....," he murmured, slowly falling to sleep. Yes, it was pathetic and he knew it, but Veemon couldn't help himself. Telling Veemon that Gatomon would never be his was like telling a bear it wasn't allowed to hibernate. Veemon only clutched the pillow harder as a small tear dropped from his eye. It was always a challenge to keep his feelings a secret. If any of the other digimon found out how cowardly he was when it came to talking to girls, he'd be a laughing stock. He WAS after all supposed to be the digimon of courage. Finally, his eyes shot open.
"That does it! No more of this for me!" he said, sitting up, "I'm finally gonna do it! I'm going to give her a call and ask her out right NOW!" He hopped off of the couch and picked up the phone from the wall. Veemon took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and dialed up the Kamiya's telephone number. He waited patiently. Finally, an exhausted voice picked up on the other end. It was Tai.
"Hello?" he asked, sounding like he'd just been hit with a bat.
"Uh hi, is Gatomon there?" asked Veemon, suddenly nervous.
"Wah? Who's this?" asked Tai.
"This is... this is... Uh...." said Veemon, having forgotten his own name, "No one. I'vegottagogoodbye!" He yelled, quickly hanging up. Veemon slumped down against the wall. He whimpered and put his hands over his eyes.
"I can't believe I'm such a dork," he said aloud, "No! No more of this! I'm gonna call them right back and demand to speak to her!" With newly-found courage, he grabbed the phone and started pushing buttons again.
******Back at the Kamiya Residence******
Kari sleepily looked over at Tai who had just hung up.
"Who was that on the phone?" she asked.
"A guy with a wrong number. He said he was looking for Gatomon," said Tai.
"Oh," sighed Kari, falling back into sleep. Just then, the phone wrung again. Tai grumbled and walked back to the phone.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Tai? This is Veemon. I'd like to speak to Gatomon please!" Veemon said, as bravely as he could.
"Oh ok," said Tai, "Hey Gatomon, you've got another call. It's Veemon this time." Gatomon yawned and got out of bed. She took the phone from Tai who went back to his bed.
"This had better be important," she grumbled, to herself, "What is it Veemon?"
".....Uh..." he said, forgetting everything after hearing her voice.
"..Well??" she asked, ticked off.
"Um.. how's it going?" he asked.
"......You called me up at 11:00 at night just to ask me how I'm doing?" she asked, her right eye twitching.
"Um... yes?" he asked, unsure of how to respond.
"Rrrghhh!!! It's the middle of the night, you creep! Don't call me again unless.. unless you're dead!" she yelled.
"You mean I can call you again?" asked Veemon, completely missing the point.
"GET SOME SLEEP, YOU DIMWIT!!!" she yelled, slamming the receiver down. Kari looked over at Gatomon from her bunk.
"Gatomon, that wasn't very nice," she mumbled.
"Well, I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep," she said, grouchily, "He should have known that." Gatomon got back into bed with Kari. Everyone sighed deeply, thankful for the silence. All of them, but Gatomon, closed their eyes and fell asleep. She just lay there, wide awake.
"The nerve of that guy, you know?!" she barked out, waking everyone else up again, "I can't believe he thinks it's okay to just call us up in the middle of the night to ask me how I am like a moron. What the heck is wrong with him anyway? What sort of jerk would deliberately keep his friends awake while all they're trying to do is have some piece and qui-mph!" Kari cupped her hands over Gatomon's mouth before she could finish.
"Go to sleep," she said, glaring at Gatomon. Gatomon shut up and Kari took her hand away. All was quiet for a few brief moments when the phone wrung again.
"I'll get it," said Gatomon, grouchily. She climbed over Kari and went to the phone,
"Yeah?" she said into it.
"WOoaaahhhhh Gatomon, I'm deeeaaadddd," moaned Veemon in a ghost-like voice. Gatomon's face twitched angrily.
******Back at the Motomiya Residence******
Veemon stared into the receiver.
"Disconnected?" he thought, confused.
******At the Kamiya's******
Gatomon walked out of the room, dusting her paws off on each other, the tattered remains of the phone lying crumpled and sputtering in the waste basket.
She entered the TV area of the apartment and sat down on the couch. Bored out of her mind, she turned on the TV and started watching some infomercials. The one she was currently watching was for some sort of pillow that could fit the shape of anyone's head. She looked over at one of the pillows on the couch with disdain.
"Why can't he ever show me more than just friendship?" she thought, "Maybe he's just shy. I guess that's why he never tells me he loves me. Or maybe my dream mon just has his eyes on someone else. Patamon....." She looked back at the TV. They were now talking about a vibrating, electric, earwax remover. Gatomon sighed and turned the TV off. She glanced over at the pillow. Agumon was sitting on it and staring at her.
"Waahh!!" she yelled, "When did you get here, Agumon?!"
"Turn it back on! I was watching that!" he demanded.
"....How long have you been there?" she demanded back, incredibly embarrassed, as though he could read her thoughts.
"Not very long," said Agumon, "What's wrong with you tonight? You're really upset and it doesn't seem like it's all Veemon's fault."
"So what are you now, my therapist? Go bug someone else," she said, annoyed.
"I might be able to help, ya know," Agumon insisted, "C'mon, tell me what's making you so mad."
"Look, it's a girl thing, okay? You wouldn't understand," said Gatomon.
"Is it that time of the month already??" asked Agumon, backing off.
"Veeeery funny," said Gatomon, "It involves complex relationships that you couldn't possibly grasp."
"You're talking to the one mon who's seen more Soap Operas than any human alive," said Agumon, proudly, "If I can't figure out a solution to your problem, NO one can."
"FINE," she said, exasperated. Gatomon took a deep breath and relaxed for a second.
"I'm in love with Patamon and I can't get Veemon to leave me alone and Patamon doesn't think of me as a girlfriend so I have to get rid of Veemon and find a way for Patamon to like me or at least find out WHY he doesn't LIKE like me instead of just simply liking me, get it?" she asked.
"...Uh.. I think so," said Agumon, "You know, I saw a soap where the same thing happened to Barbara. I know exactly what you should do." She leaned in closer and he began whispering into her ear.
******The Next Night******
Veemon and Davis were fast asleep in Davis's Room. They were hugging each other, romantically.
"Oh Gatomon, you feel so soft," moaned Veemon.
"Kari, you're so good at this," moaned Davis back. Their faces moved closer together, a kiss clearly eminent.
"Oh Gato," said Veemon.
"Oh Kari," said Davis. The phone wrung. Their eyes opened.
"Oh JEEZ!!!" they both yelled, letting go of each other. Veemon fell out of the bed and Davis leaped away, holding his chest.
"What were you doing??!" yelled Davis.
"I was having a dream about.. Wait, what were YOU doing??" retorted Veemon. The phone wrung for a second time.
"Never mind," said Davis, "Just get the phone." Grumbling, Veemon picked up the phone.
"Hello?" he asked, upset, "Gatomon! Hiya!"
"Veemon, listen up," she said, "I'm coming over to your place. I'll be there in one hour. Meet me up on the roof, got it?"
"The roof, one hour, got it," said Veemon, "Tah Tah, my sweet!"
"Ugh," she said, hanging up. Veemon turned to Davis.
"Davis! Guess what??" he said.
"You're meeting Gatomon up on the roof in an hour?" asked Davis, sarcastically.
"Yeahhhhhh," he said, sighing and sliding onto the floor.
******At the Kamiya's******
Gatomon hung the phone back up. She turned to look at Agumon.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" she asked, skeptically.
"Trust me!" he said, giving her the thumbs up sign, "This plan worked perfectly on the show."
"But what if..?" she began.
"Don't what if me," said Agumon, "On the show, Barbara pretended to have memory loss from a blow to the head. Then she asked Johnny to go out with her so he'd think that she liked him. Then she dumped him and got Craig to comfort her in her time of loss. Johnny finally left her alone because he saw that even though they got off to a fresh start, she still went to Craig. See? It'll work out the same way with you and Veemon."
"I sure hope you're right, because I'm not sure I understand this plan myself," said Gatomon, brushing her fur with her paw, "How do I look?"
"Um.. What do you care? You're not supposed to be trying to impress him," said Agumon.
"Well I'd hate to go out for any reason no looking my best," she said, proudly tidying up herself. Agumon rolled his eyes and walked back off to the bedroom.
******Fifty-five minutes later******
Veemon was waiting for Gatomon up on the rooftop of Davis's apartment complex. He was wearing a snazzy jacket and carried a cane in one hand and flowers in the other. He looked at the watch he was wearing. Pikachu's big hand was on the eleven.
"Just five more minutes and she'll be here!" thought Veemon, "I can't believe she's finally gonna go out with me! I wonder where we should go for our first date. Maybe dancing! No wait, I can't dance. Maybe we could go get a bite to eat! Wait, I don't have any money. Hoo boy, I didn't plan this very well."
"Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!" wrung his watch.
"Jeez! This is the last time I borrow a watch from Davis!" he said, smacking the Pokémon watch.
"Piiiikkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaa," the watch sputtered as it died down.
"Now I just have to wait for her to show up," he giggled to himself.
"Ahem," came Gatomon's voice from behind him.
"Yikes!" he said, spinning around, "Oh, hi toots!" Without warning, Gatomon slapped him hard across the face. The sudden blow knocked him off of his feet. He looked up at her, his confidence lost and a look of fear replacing it.
"W-what was that for?" he asked timidly.
"THAT was for waking me up in the middle of the night, Veemon," she said sternly.
"B-B-but," he started.
"Don't 'B-B-but' me!" she retorted, "What's the matter with you? Why are you all dressed up?! Did you think this was some sort of date?"
"Well.. I..," he stuttered.
"Well guess what, you jerk, I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last mon alive. Don't you get it?! I'm in love with Patamon. Understand?!" she yelled. Veemon's lip began to tremble as he scooted away from her. Gatomon walked past him and hopped up onto the edge of the roof. Veemon couldn't tell, but Gatomon was peering down at the sidewalk below with a look of fear on her face.
"Uh oh," she thought, "Maybe this is too high. I'm a champion digimon, but still..... Oh well, here goes nothing!" She spun around to face him.
"And if you ever bother me again, I'll make sure you never walk st..st.. woa woah woah! WOAH!" she said, losing her balance. Veemon gawked in horror as she fell backwards off of the roof.
"Gatomon!!!" he yelled, racing over to the balcony. He looked down but couldn't see her very well. Being a reptile digimon, it looked like a sea of blackness to him.
"Oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez," he said to himself as he ran down all the stairs of the building to the sidewalk where she would have fallen to.
There she lay, belly up on the hard cement, doused in dirt and debris. Veemon gasped to himself and ran to her side. He knelt down by her side and put his ear on her chest. Gatomon, not really unconscious, wanted to smack the crap out of him for trying to touch her breasts while she was out cold. Fortunately she realized he was just checking for a heartbeat and stopped herself. Not knowing anything about what to do in an emergency, Veemon slowly picked her up. He went back to the apartment building and got onto the elevator with her still in his arms. All the way up, he kept looking into her face for any signs of consciousness. Gatomon did a good job of playing possum.
"So far, the plan is working perfectly," she thought, "Still... I do kinda feel bad about doing this to him. He's really concerned. I'm just glad that tree was there for me to rebound off of, otherwise I probably wouldn't be conscious right know. Well, I'll wake up soon enough. Hee hee!"
They reached their floor and Veemon carried her off of the elevator. He had left the door partially ajar so he pushed it open with his foot. Gatomon was relieved to feel the change of temperature from the cold exterior to the warmer feel of the Motomiya residence. Veemon shut the door behind them and laid her down on the couch. He knelt down by her side, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm so so sorry, Gatomon," he sniffled, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't annoyed you, you never would have come over here to yell at me and you wouldn't have fallen and gotten hurt. I promise that if you come out of this okay, I'll never ever EVER bother you again. Just please, *sniff* wake up." On cue, Gatomon vibrated her eyelids slightly. Veemon's eyes widened at the sight of her movement.
"Gatomon?" he asked quietly. Her eyes slowly opened as though experimenting with their capabilities.
"W-w-what's going on?" she asked, timidly, "Where am I? What happened? Who are you?" Veemon now looked just plain confused.
"Gatomon, are you feeling okay?" he asked, worried.
"Have we met?" she asked.
"Oh no! You've
lost your memory??" he asked.
"I dunno," she said, "DID
I? Who are you? Are you my boyfriend?"
"Y-Your what?" said Veemon.
"Are you? Are you my mon?" she asked, hope in her eyes. Now Veemon may not have been a very dishonest digimon.... but he also wasn't an idiot.
"Yes," he said, surprising himself, "We've been going out for a week, er month."
"Wow.. I'm sorry, but I just can't remember any of this. It's like I remember everything but you," she lied.
"So then you know about Patamon and Kari and Agumon and everyone?" he asked.
"Uh huh," she said, "But it's like I've never met you. Why can't I remember who you are?"
"Well, maybe it's only partial memory loss," he speculated, "In any case, how do you feel? You DID just fall off of a roof."
"Um.. my head sorta hurts," she replied.
"Oh right! Wait here and try not to move," he said, racing off into the kitchen. Gatomon stretched out and relaxed on the couch, cool, calm, and confident.
"Ahhh. Everything's going according to plan. And in just a few days, operation 'Get Veemon Off My Tail' will be complete," she foresaw. Gatomon resumed her previous position quickly. Veemon was back soon with an ice pack. He handed it to her.
"Here, just put this where it hurts," he said.
"Thanks Veemon. Or do I just call you Vee?" she asked, slyly tickling him under his chin with her tail, "Or is it Veedly-deedly?"
"Umm *gulp* you just call me Veemon," he said, feeling twice as guilty as before.
"You sure I can't at least call you Vee?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, "Pretty please?"
"Okay," he said, practically floating on air. Gatomon put the ice pack on her head where it 'hurt' and laid back. She closed her eyes and tried to get some rest. Veemon took this as his cue to leave. He rushed into Davis's room. Gatomon opened an eye. Once she was sure that he was gone she dumped the ice bag next to the couch.
Back in Davis's room, Davis was lying awake in his bed, reading a comic book.
"No! Don't go in there, Captain Groovy!" he said, reading intently, "It's probably a trap set up by the evil Dr. Disco!" Davis's eyes darted up and down the page.
"Davis, you've gotta help me!" Veemon said, coming back into the room.
"Captain Groovy?? Are you speaking to me???" he asked the comic book, putting his ear on the pages. Veemon stared at him blankly.
"Yes Davis, It is I, Captain Groovy. I need you to help me save the world," he said, deadpan.
"I knew it!" said Davis, getting excited.
"Davis!!" yelled Veemon.
"Huh?" said Davis, just noticing him, "Veemon, did you hear? Captain Groovy wants me to help him save the world!"
"....You know, I came in here to ask for your advice, but I think I'll just skip it."
"No no no! Try me! I'm real good at giving advice," said Davis.
"..Well...... okay. Davis, I did a really bad thing," said Veemon, "I got Gatomon hurt, she lost her memory, and then I lied to her about being her boyfriend. Now she's lying on the couch with an icepack on her head, probably delirious, and thinking she's in love with me. What should I do?"
"....Celebrate?" suggested Davis.
"CELEBRATE?!" yelled Veemon, "Why the heck should I be celebrating?!"
"Number one, she's delirious. Number two, she's in love with you," said Davis, "You're chances for being her guy have skyrocketed!"
"But I don't want our relationship to be one big lie!" said Veemon.
"Ohhhh you want an honest, meaningful relationship?" asked Davis.
"Exactly," said Veemon.
"Sorry, bud, can't help ya," said Davis, "Hot, short-lived relationships are my specialty."
"Oh for crying out loud," Veemon asked, holding his face in his palm.
"Ok ok, so you're feeling guilty, huh? Try reading something. That'll help take your mind off of it for now," said Davis.
"Well, I could give that a try I guess," said Veemon, "On another note, could I have a blanket?"
"What for?" asked Davis, "You know Mom likes to keep the AC on at night. It'll be like a meat locker in here."
"I know I know," said Veemon, "Just one, please??"
"I need all the blankets I can get, Veemon," insisted Davis.
"But it's an emergency!" Veemon insisted right back.
"There couldn't be any emergency worse than Mom's love of sub-zero temperatures," said Davis.
"Okay then, I'll speak in 'Davish' so you can understand," said Veemon, "Ahem. Yo, dude! You'll never guess what's happened, man! Gatomon's gonna spend the night with me. WINK WINK. Know what I'm sayin'? So could I cop a blanket? I don't want my baby to get all frosty when we get our fires BURNING! C'mon, help a fellah score here!"
"Woah! Way to go, man!" said Davis, grabbing some blankets, "I knew there was some of me in ya; tell me all about it in the morning, okay?"
"You got it, bro!" said Veemon, walking out with blankets.
He closed Davis's door behind him.
"Wow, no wonder Davis has so much trouble getting a date," he thought, "Talk about a one track mind, sheesh!" Veemon headed toward the living room.
Gatomon's teeth chattered like mad. Her eyes peered upward to look at the air conditioning vent which was right above her.
"It's p-p-past midnight," she stuttered, "Why the heck d-d-do they have the air c-c-conditioner on?" Even her tail fur was frizzed out as Gatomon curled herself up as tightly as she could. Veemon, no longer donning his fancy duds, hopped onto the couch by her feet.
"Cold?" he asked. Gatomon's ears wiggled when she heard his voice. A muffled, 'Uh huh' was heard from inside her little furry cocoon. Veemon scooted next to her, between the back of the couch and her back. Gatomon felt something warm and scaly put its arm on her. She slowly uncurled and saw Veemon's arm wrapped around her. She looked back to see him staring at her. He took his arm off of her and pulled the blanket over the two of them. Once it was covering them, he slid his left arm underneath her neck and draped it up and over her right side. His right came under her right arm and rested on her tummy.
"I don't believe the nerve of this guy!" she thought, "He lies to me and then tries to feel me up! Grr! When this is over, he's gonna GET it!" Gatomon slowly stopped frowning. Veemon was already fast asleep. He was making noises that a fuzzy chipmunk would make. Gatomon smiled at this, in spite of her feelings. A few moments passed and she looked at the outline his arms made in the blanket. He wasn't holding her tightly or roughly. It was more like he was afraid that if he was too forceful, he'd break her. Instead, he was touching her like she was a piece of fine china, something to be treated with care and respect. Gatomon thought back to when she had been held that way before. She suddenly realized that she couldn't at all. Everyone treated her either like a fierce warrior to be feared or like a house pet to be taken care of. Gatomon blinked a few times, surprised by her thoughts.
"You're doing this for Patamon. PATAmon," she thought, reminding herself of her purpose. In his sleep, Veemon hugged her gently and whispered 'Goodnight, Gatomon.' She found herself whispering 'Goodnight, Vee' right back.
To be continued...