After they had witnessed Hikari's disturbing behaviour during the funeral
the other Digidestined decided to help her. They wouldn't just stand near
by while one of them was in trouble and Hikari was definitely in trouble.
Sorrow and pain were quickly clouding her mind and separating her form her
friends and family. She was still struggling with her emotions but it was
obvious that she would probably lose the battle soon and then it might be
impossible to tear the curtains apart which separated them.
But they were determined to prevent that from happening. They were not
going to just stand there and watch while their friend needed help. It
didn't matter if Hikari wanted them to help her or not. All of them knew
that they had to do something and quick before it was too late.
All of them understood the importance of the current meeting when they arrived at the park. They had decided to meet there and discuss their next steps. One after another they arrived and the meeting began. Sora and Mimi were sitting on one of the countless park benches with Joe standing next to Mimi. Takeru and Koushiro were sitting in the cool grass at their feet. Even Yamato had showed up and was now standing a little apart from the others, his silhouette mostly hidden by the long hanging branches of the willow tree which he was leaning against. There was an uncomfortable silence as they were waiting for the first one to speak. Some minutes passed without a spoken word until Sora couldn't take it any longer and broke the silence.
"I ... I guess I don't need to tell you why we are here today. It might already be too late but... I think we should try to help Hikari." Her voice was shaky and barely loud enough for them to understand the words but she continued anyway: "It's hard for all of us but I guess no matter how close we felt to Taichi..." She had to stop for a moment to whip some tears from her eyes and to gather her voice to go on. "Still, we could never be as close to him as his little sister. That's why we have to help her. She probably suffers more than we can imagine from Taichi's.. death."
Having used up all her composure she sat down again and cried silently. Mimi who was trying to comfort her friend was the next one to speak. "It's okay Sora. You don't have to persuade us to help Hikari. We all feel the need to help her through this time and we are not going to let her down now, no matter how much we might be affected our self."
"I think we all agree on that but has anybody of you thought any further. I mean it's only natural that friends don't let each other down but have you ever thought about how we are going to help her? You can't comfort a person who keeps pushing you away. Hikari is already drifting away from us and we can do nothing but watching from the outside if she doesn't change her mind and lets us get through to her."
They stayed silent for a few minutes and let Joe's words sink in. All of them had known it before but they ignored these problems which they knew would only bring more pain. Only Joe, responsible and reasonable as always, reminded them that there was more to do than just to promise their help. The words come easily but actions have to follow and that's far more difficult.
Takeru was the first one to break the growing silence. "Joe is right. It might be difficult to reach her but it can't be impossible. No matter how hard it may be we have to keep trying. Hikari would do the same thing for us." In his mind the train of thought went on. 'Actually she always does such things for us and nobody every found it worth to mention.' But he never spoke these words out loud.
While they kept trying to ensure each other, Yamato who had been silently listening all the time, turned his back on them and left without anyone noticing as the nearing rain clouds began to darken the horizon.
*
The distant sound of rolling thunder could be heard and the world around her was slowly fading into ghostly shapes and forms in the twilight of the late afternoon sun as the night was slowly rising. The faint light of the stars was standing out against the darkening sky only to be soon again hidden behind the approaching clouds. Hikari paid little attention to her surroundings but it was near impossible not to notice the upcoming storm. 'Maybe the rain could wash away the pain. The planet has been tainted by humanities presence and they say that God sent the rain to clean Earth from our sins so why shouldn't it work on me too? But when you think about it if God was kind and forgiving like they say he wouldn't have taken Taichi away. In fact it seems to me that this so called "God" is nothing but cruel. How could he kill my oni-chan and at the same time let me here alone to suffer?'
She looked up from her feet to see if anyone was around. She had returned to the small park for various reasons but mainly because none of the other Digidestined knew this place. After making sure that nobody was following her she went over to the bench she had discovered when she was here for the first time and sat down. The wind was constantly getting stronger and carried the noise from the busy streets up to the sky and away from her. She was alone in the park only the whispering of the wind as it brushed through the trees around her and took some dry leafs with him was there to keep her company. But that's what she wanted.
To her it seemed like it was better this way. If the others were here now they surely wouldn't know what to say or what to do. There would be this terrible, uncomfortable silence between them and they would try to start a conversation and it would just end up in an even more embarrassing loss of words. No, it was better to be alone. Not only now but perhaps always. Yamato did it all the time and he was ok, wasn't he? Life would be so much easier without always considering other people's thoughts and feelings. Until now she always tried hard to live up to the expectations of the people around her but did it bring her happiness? Was she happy with her current life? Her face hardened at the thought and she felt like crying but she didn't. She knew if she let the tears come now she wouldn't be able to stop them again.
So she just sat there, the wind blowing some dry, dead leafs around her feet. She was so caught up in her thoughts of misery and self-pity that she was completely oblivious to her surroundings. That's why she failed to notice the person watching her from the shadows of a group of willows just a few meters down the path. Even for an attentive person it wouldn't have been easy to see the dark, slender figure of a young blond man hiding in the dark spots between the trees. And Hikari was nowhere near attentive, so she never acknowledged the presence of her silent observer. They stayed this way for some time until the shadowy figure finally decided to leave. He turned around and disappeared in the shadows between the trees just as quietly as he had come leaving the young girl behind, alone with her grief. That's why he never saw her flickering like a static TV before she finally faded away completely.
All of them understood the importance of the current meeting when they arrived at the park. They had decided to meet there and discuss their next steps. One after another they arrived and the meeting began. Sora and Mimi were sitting on one of the countless park benches with Joe standing next to Mimi. Takeru and Koushiro were sitting in the cool grass at their feet. Even Yamato had showed up and was now standing a little apart from the others, his silhouette mostly hidden by the long hanging branches of the willow tree which he was leaning against. There was an uncomfortable silence as they were waiting for the first one to speak. Some minutes passed without a spoken word until Sora couldn't take it any longer and broke the silence.
"I ... I guess I don't need to tell you why we are here today. It might already be too late but... I think we should try to help Hikari." Her voice was shaky and barely loud enough for them to understand the words but she continued anyway: "It's hard for all of us but I guess no matter how close we felt to Taichi..." She had to stop for a moment to whip some tears from her eyes and to gather her voice to go on. "Still, we could never be as close to him as his little sister. That's why we have to help her. She probably suffers more than we can imagine from Taichi's.. death."
Having used up all her composure she sat down again and cried silently. Mimi who was trying to comfort her friend was the next one to speak. "It's okay Sora. You don't have to persuade us to help Hikari. We all feel the need to help her through this time and we are not going to let her down now, no matter how much we might be affected our self."
"I think we all agree on that but has anybody of you thought any further. I mean it's only natural that friends don't let each other down but have you ever thought about how we are going to help her? You can't comfort a person who keeps pushing you away. Hikari is already drifting away from us and we can do nothing but watching from the outside if she doesn't change her mind and lets us get through to her."
They stayed silent for a few minutes and let Joe's words sink in. All of them had known it before but they ignored these problems which they knew would only bring more pain. Only Joe, responsible and reasonable as always, reminded them that there was more to do than just to promise their help. The words come easily but actions have to follow and that's far more difficult.
Takeru was the first one to break the growing silence. "Joe is right. It might be difficult to reach her but it can't be impossible. No matter how hard it may be we have to keep trying. Hikari would do the same thing for us." In his mind the train of thought went on. 'Actually she always does such things for us and nobody every found it worth to mention.' But he never spoke these words out loud.
While they kept trying to ensure each other, Yamato who had been silently listening all the time, turned his back on them and left without anyone noticing as the nearing rain clouds began to darken the horizon.
*
The distant sound of rolling thunder could be heard and the world around her was slowly fading into ghostly shapes and forms in the twilight of the late afternoon sun as the night was slowly rising. The faint light of the stars was standing out against the darkening sky only to be soon again hidden behind the approaching clouds. Hikari paid little attention to her surroundings but it was near impossible not to notice the upcoming storm. 'Maybe the rain could wash away the pain. The planet has been tainted by humanities presence and they say that God sent the rain to clean Earth from our sins so why shouldn't it work on me too? But when you think about it if God was kind and forgiving like they say he wouldn't have taken Taichi away. In fact it seems to me that this so called "God" is nothing but cruel. How could he kill my oni-chan and at the same time let me here alone to suffer?'
She looked up from her feet to see if anyone was around. She had returned to the small park for various reasons but mainly because none of the other Digidestined knew this place. After making sure that nobody was following her she went over to the bench she had discovered when she was here for the first time and sat down. The wind was constantly getting stronger and carried the noise from the busy streets up to the sky and away from her. She was alone in the park only the whispering of the wind as it brushed through the trees around her and took some dry leafs with him was there to keep her company. But that's what she wanted.
To her it seemed like it was better this way. If the others were here now they surely wouldn't know what to say or what to do. There would be this terrible, uncomfortable silence between them and they would try to start a conversation and it would just end up in an even more embarrassing loss of words. No, it was better to be alone. Not only now but perhaps always. Yamato did it all the time and he was ok, wasn't he? Life would be so much easier without always considering other people's thoughts and feelings. Until now she always tried hard to live up to the expectations of the people around her but did it bring her happiness? Was she happy with her current life? Her face hardened at the thought and she felt like crying but she didn't. She knew if she let the tears come now she wouldn't be able to stop them again.
So she just sat there, the wind blowing some dry, dead leafs around her feet. She was so caught up in her thoughts of misery and self-pity that she was completely oblivious to her surroundings. That's why she failed to notice the person watching her from the shadows of a group of willows just a few meters down the path. Even for an attentive person it wouldn't have been easy to see the dark, slender figure of a young blond man hiding in the dark spots between the trees. And Hikari was nowhere near attentive, so she never acknowledged the presence of her silent observer. They stayed this way for some time until the shadowy figure finally decided to leave. He turned around and disappeared in the shadows between the trees just as quietly as he had come leaving the young girl behind, alone with her grief. That's why he never saw her flickering like a static TV before she finally faded away completely.