Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I don't own "All You Wanted" by Michelle Branch. Heck, I don't even own a house, so please don't sue. Also, I don't make any money from these insane ramblings. Unfortunately. (Oh, and the name Cherith belongs to some Star Wars author or another.)

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"All You Wanted"

Chapter 3

If you want to, I can save you

I can take you away from here

So lonely inside, so busy out there

And all you wanted was somebody who cared

Ken looked down dispassionately at his lunch tray. He didn't feel like eating. He didn't really feel like doing anything but going home and staring at the wall of his room, or maybe beating up on some helpless Digimon.

He say Cherith walk by with her tray. She didn't stop. His head sunk down a little lower, and he closed his eyes.

"Are you alright, Ken?" said Cherith's voice.

Ken's head came up. She was standing across the table from him, a look of concern in her blue eyes. "Yes, I'm just a little depressed," he responded tiredly.

Her eyes softened with compassion. "Anything specific, or just life in general?"

"Life," he answered with a sigh.

She smiled slightly and sat down across from him. "I know the feeling. What frustrates me is when my parents try to make me find a reason for it. They just don't understand." She glanced around the table. "Why don't you sit with your friends?"

He looked at her. "I don't have any friends."

She looked taken aback for a moment, but then she smiled. "That's not true. Unless you consider me to be just an acquaintance."

He felt surprised by this, but also grateful. "Thank you," he said softly.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, then she said, "Do you think you could help me with something?"

He glanced up at her and said, "What is it?"

She gave him an embarrassed smile. "Well, when I was quite young, I saw this huge green parrot-looking monster, and somehow I knew that it was a Digimon. What I don't know is how I could have thought up that word at six years old, let alone know what it was. Do you have any idea how that is possible?"

He frowned slightly. "Not really. The only explanation I can think of is that you are Digidestined, and that the fact that you were so young allowed your native intuitions to be expressed before your rational mind could squelch it. However, I'm not at all sure about that."

She smiled. "It's better than anything I have." She heard her name and glanced over her shoulder to see Davis motioning for her to come. She smiled again and said, "My master calls me. I must go. Davis," she added at his look of surprised skepticism. "You don't mind if I leave, do you?"

Davis. He felt his depression settle back over him like a cloud. He managed a smile. "Not at all. See you around."

She started to leave, but turned back, seeming to pick up on his mood. "Look, if you want, we can go to the Digital World after school." He took a moment to think, and she added, "But only if you want."

"Of course I do," he answered, "but how will I pull it off? I can't worry my parents like that, not the next day."

She gave him a mischevious smile. "Don't worry about that. I'll explain on the way home from school." With that, she walked off to her friend's table.

He smiled slightly to himself. Well, now I actually have something to look forward to. It occured to him as he left the cafeteria that the excursion was already helping his mood. Not half an hour ago, he had been depressed and moody. Now he was happy, looking forward to when school would get out. His mind began wandering to what she might be planning to get them to the Digital World.

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Cherith grinned at Ken's amazed look. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"Well, I had two study halls today, and I got all my homework done, so I had plenty of time to think about it. Speaking of, you don't have any homework, do you?" she asked.

"Nope, I got it done."

"Good. That would have complicated things." She frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "I told you my telephone number, right? In case it doesn't work out?"

He smiled. "Yes. Now stop worrying."

"All right, all right." I really hope I didn't forget anything. She stopped on the sidewalk leading to her apartment complex. "See you in a couple of minutes," she said cheerily, and headed toward the large building in front of her.

She unlocked the door and walked down the front hallway to the living room and over to the phone. She dialed her father's work number and waited as it rang.

"Hello. Shinjouku Technology, how may I help you?"

"I would like to speak with Mr. Tenshi. I'm his daughter," she added, remembering the runabout she'd gotten the first time she had called. She hadn't said that she was closely related to him, and they hadn't been going to let her speak with him.

"One moment, please."

She waited a little while, and then her father answered. "Mr. Tenshi here."

"Hey, Dad," she said brightly. "You know the boy whose house I ate at yesterday? He's offered to show me around town a little. Is there any problem with that?" She had called her dad because he didn't worry about her too much, and he thought she should get out more.

"Well," he answered slowly, "we were going to eat out tonight. What will you do for supper?"

"I guess I could bring some of my allowance and eat somewhere. Would that be okay?"

"Sure, honey. Just be home by 8:30."

"Okay, no problem. Hey, when will you guys be back from supper?"

"Probably around seven. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering. Well, see you by 8:30."

She said goodbye, and sat down with a book to wait for Ken. After a couple of minutes, she heard the doorbell and answered the door. Ken stood there in a sweater, carrying his digivice. "Any problems?" she asked.

"Nope, I just have to be home before nine."

She made a face. "Eight-thirty for me. Listen, my family is going out to eat tonight." She ushered him in and began leading him toward her room, where the family's computer was. "They will get back at about seven. So, if we come back around 6:45, we can go to town and eat, you can show me around so our story will work, and be home by 8:30. Sound good to you?"

"Yep." He looked at the computer for a moment. "I'll have to set up the program that links this world to the DigiWorld on your computer." He worked quickly enough that she found it hard to follow. After a moment, he said, "There. When you put your digivice near the computer, the program pops up automatically. Other than that, it is impossible to find." He frowned and hit a few more keys, then said, "All right. Let's go."

They pointed their digivices at the computer and passed through. Cherith managed not to fall this time. She looked around, noticing vaguely that Ken was not in his cape-and-glasses outfit. That suits me just fine.

They seemed to be in a sparse forest in early spring. There was just enough chill in the air to make them appreciate their sweaters. Ken chose a direction, and they began walking. Suddenly, Cherith stopped and hit her forehead. "A clock. How will we know when we need to leave?"

Ken smiled at her and pressed a couple of buttons on his digivice. Showing it to her, he said, "Don't worry, it's programmed into the digivices."

She made him show her how to access it, and tried it on her own digivice. Satisfied, she moved on. They made small talk for a while, and he told her some stuff about the Digital World. Then he fell silent, as though he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to bring it up.

"Cherith," he said after a couple of minutes, "it was very nice of you to do this for me. I really appreciate it."

She smiled. "Like I'm not getting anything out of this? Look, Ken, that's what friends do. It's because I care about you. You're important to me."

"Thanks," he said softly.

Cherith was about to say something to break the spell when she saw a flash of red above and in front of them. "What was that?" she asked, pointing.

He looked up and saw a Digimon perch on a branch nearby. "That is a Tentomon."

Her eyes shone with excitement. "Wow, this is really cool."

"You're the Digimon Emperor, aren't you?" Tentomon said in a high-pitched male voice.

"Who did you expect, Santa Claus?" Ken responded mockingly. "Let's see what you can do against my Snimon when your friends aren't here to save you."

Cherith broke in. "Ken, I am taking you on a short vacation. That means you will be relaxing, not fighting."

Ken turned to her angrily, but seemed to reconsider. "Vacation, huh? All right, whatever--"

"Who are you?" Tentomon interrupted.

Cherith regarded him with mild surprise. "I'm Ken's friend. We're here on vacation for the afternoon." She smiled at the red insect-like Digimon. "This is all new to me, so he's showing me around."

Tentomon huffed, "You should be more careful who you hang out with. You might end up getting attacked by accident." With that, he turned and flew away.

Cherith turned to Ken with an apprehensive look on her face. "I'd say that's a definite warning. You still want to stay here in the Digital World?"

Ken frowned. "Well, if I can't fight..."

Cherith smiled. "There is a difference between fighting and defending, you know."

"Well, then," he replied, "we'll just be careful."

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What do you think? Please review. *falls onto knees* Pretty please?