Till The End Of All
By CyberDracomon
Chapter 11 of 26 - Knights
Back in the real world, Kari and Davis were eager to get started with TK. Despite having to practically drag him most of the way, they managed to get to the park rather quickly. In the Digital World the sun had long since set, but in the real world the sun had just finished setting, giving them enough time to try and get TK into a better state of mind. By the time they arrived at the park TK had only mildly started walking on his own free will, probably only because he had little other choice. The Digimon were following behind with all this going on, luckily the streets and park were all but dead tonight and had no problem hiding from the one or two people passing by.
Kari stopped when they reached a spot beside the usually crowded lake, now free of anyone but themselves. She would have taken him to their spot beside the quiet, smaller lake, but she didn't want to risk reminding him of all the times the two had met there. In all honesty she was worried of reminding herself of that same thing, fearing she'd lose her will to keep to the quest.
"So, now that we're here, what do we do?" Davis asked, keeping to a whisper only Kari could hear. She was between Davis and TK, holding TK with one arm to keep him going. She released her hold, letting him go on his own.
"TK just needs time to think." Kari whispered back. "At least that's what I hope. We'll just let him have as much time as he needs, we'll only be there for comfort, so no trying to talk him out of this." Davis nodded, understanding that was out of the question.
"So what should we do?" Patamon asked, hovering up to Kari. That was something she had been thinking about since they left the Digital World, she hadn't been sure of their Digimon's role in all of this.
"Well..." She began, not sure about her answer. "I don't mean to leave you out, I know how close you and TK are... but I think it would be better if you stayed behind, Gatomon and Veemon, too. I don't want TK to feel overwhelmed by all of us and if there's someone in the park we wouldn't have time to hide all three of you." Patamon couldn't help but feel disappointed despite Kari's reasons, he was hoping he would be able to help his companion.
"You're sure?" Patamon asked. "You could bring just me, I can fly away from anyone that might see me." Kari shook her head, trying to stop him before he got his reasons together.
"You'll be going home with TK, anyway, you'll have all the time you want then." She pointed out. "Besides..." Kari gave a quick look down at her partner Digimon, who was looking TK over, as worried as the rest of them. "I'd rather you stayed here with Gatomon. She talks about you a lot, and she says she feels best when you're around, anyway. If I have to leave her, I wouldn't leave her with anyone but you." Patamon felt his heart suddenly beat twice as fast at the news, causing a slight blush that made Kari giggle a little.
"Well if that's the case then I'll stay behind." Patamon said, a smile on his face as he agreed to her terms. Kari was glad he did, she had always had a feeling Davis's crush on her translated over to his Digimon and had yet to see his Digimon's crush weaken. She felt better with Patamon keeping an eye on things.
"Thanks, Patamon." Kari said, smiling down at him. She turned to Davis, who was still watching TK. "Davis, let's go. I think we need all the time we can get." Davis looked over at Kari and nodded, agreeing. The two walked over to TK, gently guiding him to go with them as the two started down the only trail that lead in and out of the area they were in, keeping TK ahead of them at all times. It took a while before TK's slow walk lead them out of the area, leaving the three Digimon to their own devices.
**********
Patamon was quick to find that their human partners had picked a particularly boring part of the park to set them down in. Sure, they had a great view of the lake, but it did little good with just the shore to watch from. There were no trees, none that could be climbed, anyway. The whole area was fences off with tall bushes that were too loose for even him to stand on. The center was just a flower bed that stretched out from the center to the sides, covering half the length between both sides, and along the wall of bushes were benches except for the shore of the lake. There were a few random rocks for decoration but that was hardly worth looking at.
He instead found more interesting sights in what his friends were doing. Veemon was testing his Vee Headbutt against the largest rock in the area, but didn't seem to be getting much from it except a headache. Gatomon, on the other hand, was looking through the flower bed, quite content in the activity. Patamon decided not to bother her and instead made his way over to Veemon, who had conceded defeat to the stone in front of him.
"You're probably just rusty." Patamon said, alerting Veemon. "It has been a long time since you had to use that move and it never really got you anywhere in the first place." It was joking honesty, which Veemon had to agree with.
"The rock's just harder than my head, that's all." Veemon said. "So, what did Kari want with you? I couldn't hear but it looked important." Patamon hadn't realized anyone else might have been watching when Kari called him over, but he guessed with all of them there it was unavoidable. He gave a quick look over at Gatomon, still sniffing flowers, blushing a bit as he remembered his duty.
"Oh, no special reason..." Patamon replied, his eyes still locked on Gatomon. Veemon was quick to notice Patamon's sudden interest in the feline Digimon, smiling a bit as he did.
"Patamon, what are you looking at?" Veemon said, deciding there was some fun in luring Patamon into revealing something. Patamon quickly broke his lock on Gatomon and looked back at Veemon, smiling nervously.
"Oh, nothing at all!" He said, quick in his reply. "Just.... the flower bed!" Veemon couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, admiring his friend's quick thinking. He never was good at lying, though.
"Okay, fair enough." Veemon said, still smiling. "But since when does the flower bed have white fur?" Patamon suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his gut, not realizing he had been so obvious in his actions.
"...It was that obvious?" Patamon asked, relenting. "Guess I need to be more careful about it from now on." Veemon again laughed, glad Patamon had taken it well instead of being upset.
"Just takes some practice, that's all." Veemon replied. "If it makes you feel better, I've had a crush on Gatomon for a while, too." This was news to Patamon, though he didn't like referring to what he felt for Gatomon as "a crush". That hardly covered it, though he decided that was better left unknown to Veemon.
"I didn't know that..." Patamon admitted. "Do you know what she thinks of you?" Unfortunately Veemon was fairly sure of that answer. He mainly just daydreamed Gatomon's feelings for him, remembering his favorite one of dancing with Gatomon.
"Don't know, to be honest." Veemon said, stretching truth a bit. "What about you?" Patamon had hoped he wouldn't ask that, of course Patamon wanted to know what Gatomon felt, but strangely at the same time he was terrified of the answer. So many responses she could have and there was only one possibility he wanted to hear.
"Guess I don't know, either." He finally said, taking longer to answer than Veemon had. The blue Digimon started to get an idea in his head, if he could work a response out of Patamon so easily, why not Gatomon?
"Tell you what, how about we both find out?" He offered. "Maybe there's a way we can get her to say how she feels without being too direct about it." Patamon wasn't sure what Veemon had in mind, or if he even trusted one of Veemon's schemes. If he could do it, though, it would be a nice thing to know.
"You think you can get her to say?" Patamon asked, still doubting this claim. "She's not the kind to reveal secrets, you know." Veemon knew very well how true that was, but still he really wanted to know and somehow knew Patamon did, as well.
"It's at least worth a shot." He replied. "We both want to be Gatomon's knight in shining Digi-Armor, right? If it doesn't work, you won't be any worse off than you are now." Patamon hadn't thought of that, at worst then the plan would fail and he'd be back to square one, anyway.
"...What did you have in mind?" He asked, deciding it was at least worth trying. Veemon stepped closer, whispering something in Patamon's ear. As Patamon took it in, it sounded like any other half-baked plan of Veemon's but it was better than nothing if it would do what he promised.
**********
Gatomon had finished what seemed to be her tenth lap around the long flower bed, now well aquatinted with every sight and smell it had to offer. There seemed to be little else to do, though, just wait and sniff flowers. She would have tried talking to Patamon, but he seemed to have run off with Veemon for the moment. That and the fact they would probably be no better off with conversation than they were earlier that day in front of the gateway.
"Hi, Gatomon!" She suddenly heard behind her. Gatomon turned quickly, seeing Patamon behind her, smiling widely at her. In his hands was a makeshift cup made from one of the deeper flowers in the flower bed, filled with water. "We've been here a while, I thought you'd want something to drink." She actually wasn't thirsty, but accepted the water, anyway, not wanting to be rude.
"Thanks, Patamon." She said before taking a small sip. As soon as it made it down her throat she had to hold back an urge to wretch, the water tasted terrible... It took a moment for her to regain her composure. "Patamon, did you just scoop this water out of the lake?" Patamon's smile faded as he nodded innocently.
"Well, yeah." He replied. "I picked out all the little bugs and leaves and things, though." Now Gatomon wasn't sure what to do, one more dose from the water-filled flower and she'd have to knock off one of her nine lives.
"Well thanks, Patamon, that's sweet..." She said half-heartedly. She set the makeshift cup down in the flower bed, propping it up between a pair of stiff flower stems so it wouldn't fall over.
"Gatomon!" She again heard behind her. Gatomon turned to now see Veemon, who wore the same grin that Patamon approached with, which kind of creeped her out. "I thought you might be hungry so I brought you something." Gatomon looked down in his hands, holding onto a hot dog. Unfortunately it was half covered with dirt and bits of leaves and rocks.
"Uh... Veemon, where did you find that?" Gatomon asked, worried about the answer. The hot dog appeared like it had been buried in the ground for days.
"From a hot dog vender going around, where else?" He responded. "Of course I don't have any money so I had to scare him into dropping one. I got it off the ground fast, though, five second rule!" Gatomon wasn't sure what worried her more, the hot dog or the fact he was so proud of getting it. Reluctantly she accepted it, but set it down beside the water cup right away.
"Well I'm not hungry right now, but thanks." She said. "Maybe later..." Patamon was starting to doubt this plan again, this was more like endless sucking up rather than anything helpful.
"Anything I can get you, Gatomon?" Patamon asked, still smiling widely. This was starting to get overwhelming, she didn't know what had gotten into the two but it was now really starting to get weird.
"No thanks, I'm fine." She replied. Stepping back from the two a bit. It didn't do much good, though, both of them now able to look on at her at the same time, both still grinning.
"You sure?" Veemon asked. "Anything you want, leave it to us." Gatomon had enough, this was just too much to bear any longer. Whatever the two were thinking, they had to be out of their minds.
"Okay, what's wrong with you two?" She asked, eager to end whatever was going on here. "You're both acting weird suddenly, it's creepy." Patamon dropped his grin, trading it for an annoyed look that he directed at Veemon, who was now suddenly very nervous.
"Foolproof, huh?" Patamon said, folding his arms, awaiting an explanation. Veemon couldn't figure out which accusation to address first, he was panicking about both of them. He looked over at Patamon, figuring it would be safer to deal with him.
"Well I thought it was..." Veemon replied. "I thought my hot dog was pretty good!" Gatomon was starting to get irritated, she wanted to know why the two were being so weird and she was losing patience.
"Veemon, Patamon, tell me what's going on, now." She said, a slight anger in her tone. Patamon looked over at her, suddenly feeling guilty for even agreeing to such an idea. Veemon looked over at him, silently pleading for him not to tell her what was happening, but Patamon knew it was too late.
"...Me and Veemon wanted to know... which one of us you liked better." He replied. "He thought if we were nice enough to you then we could find out without actually asking you." Veemon dropped his head, ashamed of the situation, also disappointed Patamon didn't stick with him in defending themselves. Gatomon, on the other hand, didn't know how to take the situation.
"So all of that was just some dumb way to trick me?" She said. "You two just wanted that one answer out of me? Did it even occur to you how I'd feel about all of this?" To be honest she didn't even know how she felt about this, she felt angry, confused, upset... Meanwhile Patamon was feeling even worse about all of this and didn't see any way out.
"I'm sorry, Gatomon..." Patamon said. "We just... wanted to know..." Veemon stepped back a bit, trying to pull himself out of this situation before it got worse.
"Patamon, you should know better than anyone!" She said, her angry tone only getting worse. "We've helped each other, we've hugged each other... We've even kissed! And you had to try and trick that answer from me?!" Patamon wished she hadn't brought up that memory, as invalid as it was it still burned in his mind. Veemon, on the other hand, was now completely thrown out of the loop with Gatomon's last comment.
"What about the kiss?" Patamon said, his own voice now showing some temper. "You said it yourself, it was an experiment, it wasn't meant for us to do. The kiss was meaningless" He didn't like to say that, it was a lie, but it was what they had agreed. Gatomon looked back on that moment and wished Patamon had used any other word but that one.
"Meaningless..." She whispered to herself, bringing a slight tear to her eye. She turned around, putting her back to Patamon, to hide her tears and to keep from looking at him. "Just leave me alone, Patamon, okay?" Patamon looked on, now scared that he accidentally hurt her.
"Gatomon..." He started, now regretting even thinking about agreeing with Veemon's stupid plan. "I didn't mean it like that..." It was too late, though, the damage was done and Gatomon was not in a forgiving mood.
"I said leave me alone!" Gatomon screamed, spinning around. She brought her claws to bear, swiping them across Patamon's cheek, throwing his head to the side and leaving three scratches in his skin. Without looking back Gatomon bounded off toward the bushes, ripping a hole in them with her claws as she ran through them. Patamon watched as she left, in disbelief about what had just happened. He stood there for a minute in sheer shock, not even feeling the sharp stings of the scratches.
"Uh... Patamon..." Veemon said quietly. "What just happened...?" Patamon couldn't answer, still shaken up. It took a few seconds longer to shake himself out of it, realizing what ha had just done.
"...The worst mistake of my life..." Patamon replied, feeling worse than he could remember ever feeling. This had gone so fast and was already out of control, he had to salvage something. If he was ever going to have a chance with Gatomon, this kind of thing was the last thing he needed. Without a word to Veemon, Patamon ran off in the direction Gatomon went, bounding through the hole she had left behind in the bushes. This left Veemon alone by the lake, not sure what to make of it all.
"She kissed him..." Veemon said, still stuck on those words. "Patamon gets all the luck... Hmm, maybe it's the wings... Girls must have a thing for wings..." Veemon turned and walked back to a small stone he had made into a seat since Davis left, now wondering if he could get a pair of bat wings to strap to his head.
**********
Patamon raced down a small trail, trying his best to catch up to the feline Digimon. He couldn't believe she would scratch him like that, even if she was mad at him. With the wind rushing at him Patamon could feel the stinging from the marks on his cheek, but he didn't care right now. All that mattered was finding Gatomon, he had to straighten things out before they got any worse.
After a while Patamon came to a small foot bridge at the end of the path, overlooking a small, but still steadily flowing stream. He looked up to see Gatomon, looking over the edge with her gloved paws on the railing. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like she was... crying? Patamon had to be seeing things... But she was, he could even make out the small splashes in the stream as her tears hit the water... He slowly stepped forward, each step more unsure than the last... Eventually he made it onto the bridge and got within a foot of Gatomon, who barely acknowledged his arrival. Unfortunately seeing the scene that close up, Patamon didn't know what to say now.
"...I'm sorry... if I upset you that much..." He said simply. He wasn't sure how to explain himself, he could at least say that much, though.
"No, it's not your fault..." Gatomon said, still looking into the water. "I got mad, I reacted, I..." She choked on her own tears for a second, then wiped her eyes dry. "Patamon, you're the last one I'd ever want to hurt, I hate that I even did that to you..." Patamon walked to the edge of the bridge, standing up to lean on the railing himself.
"It's alright, I know you were mad." He said, turning to look at her. "You don't have to be so hard on yourself just for that, though." Gatomon shook her head, refusing the idea.
"You don't understand, it's all my fault..." She said. She turned her paws upward, looking down at the palms of her gloves. "These stupid claws... Thanks to these I ended up doing something I'll always regret..." She clenched her eyes shut before grabbing one of her gloves, pulling it off. With her ungloved paw she grabbed both gloves, pulling her left hand free from the one she was still wearing. Patamon watched as she took both gloves in her right hand and threw them forward, over the railing and into the water. Both watched as they floated down the stream away from them, eventually watching them sink before getting too far away.
"Gatomon, why did you do that?" Patamon asked, just now getting over the sight. "You can't even attack without those..." Gatomon returned her eyes to the water below, her tears slowing a little but not stopping.
"Relax... I'll get another pair next time I digivolve..." She explained. "I just... I just had to get rid of the pair that hurt you, I didn't want them a part of me anymore..." Patamon was amazed by her words, he never realized she was so upset over this... He looked at her now naked paws, now noticing something new. The back of her right paw featured a pair of scars, crossing each other. Patamon had never seen her without her gloves and never knew about it before...
"...Gatomon, what happened to your hand...?" Patamon didn't know why he was suddenly curious about it... Maybe it was just better to get onto a different subject for a while.
"...Reminders..." She answered, looking down at her paw. "Gifts from Myotismon to remind me of how weak I was... I thought those would be the worst days of my life, I guess I was wrong..." This was going nowhere, she was too fixed on how upset she was... As much as he blamed himself, Patamon knew this was his fault, if he had been honest in the first place this wouldn't have happened...
"...Gatomon, look at me." Patamon said, hoping to get a better reaction face to face instead of talking to the back of her head... Very slowly she turned, raising her head to make eye contact with him.
"Patamon..." She looked on at him, then at the scratches on his cheek. She slowly reached up, touching her hand to his cheek, very gently running her fingers along the scratches. Patamon could feel the sting from them, but barely. He had felt her touch so often but without the glove her hand was amazingly soft to the touch. He reached up, almost taking her hand into his, instead Gatomon closed her eyes, turning away form him quickly. "Patamon, I can't! I hurt you, I don't deserve to look at you..." Patamon couldn't believe what he was hearing, but this couldn't keep going or she'd never get any better.
"Gatomon, stop!" He said, putting a paw on her shoulder. She tried shaking it off, but Patamon pulled on her, forcing her to turn back in his direction. He quickly took hold of her head, keeping their eyes locked. She still kept her eyes closed, trying her best to keep her head down.
"Patamon, don't!" She pleaded. Patamon nearly released her just by her request, but this was for her own good and remained holding her, knowing this wouldn't end if she kept trying to avoid it.
"Listen to me..." Patamon said. "I... I wasn't honest before... It wasn't just an experiment... Gatomon, that kiss... it meant everything to me, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Gatomon stopped her struggling and opened her eyes, but didn't raise her head.
"Patamon, you don't expect me to just believe you, do you?" She said. "What if you're just trying to make me feel better?" He knew this was going to happen, Patamon had to pick the right words now...
"You have to believe me..." He replied. "As bad as you felt about scratching me... I feel worse because I lied to you... I only want to make you happy and I messed up before I even had that chance..." Gatomon looked up, tears still welled up in her eyes. A moment of silence passed before Gatomon suddenly embraced Patamon, taking him by surprise. She was still crying, but much less than before. He held her as best she could with his smaller arms, trying to comfort her.
"Patamon..." She said, almost in a whisper. "I'm... so sorry..." Patamon smiled slightly, holding her a little closer than before.
"No more apologies..." He said, trying to add a sense of comfort to his voice. "Let's just put it behind us now..." Gatomon kept her hold on Patamon, which he found a sense of security in.
"I know..." She replied. "I just... I just never wanted to... hurt someone I loved so much..." Patamon was surprised to hear those words, but overjoyed at the same time. He pushed her away to look into her eyes, but kept hold of her waist.
"Gatomon, you really mean that?" He asked, not believing it. She nodded slightly, a slight blush forming on her face. Patamon didn't think it was possible, but it had happened, Gatomon really loved him...
"If... you don't feel the same way, though... I wouldn't blame you." She said. Patamon felt a little hurt, hearing her doubt his returned feelings. He tried to think of the words to respond, but instead smiled slightly before pulling her closer. Before she could ask what he was doing, Patamon put a hand to her cheek and pressed his lips gently to hers, this time genuinely kissing her. Gatomon didn't know what to do until instinct took over, renewing her embrace and closing her eyes, kissing back. The kiss deepened, sending jolts down both Digimon, both overwhelmed by it. Patamon couldn't get his arms around Gatomon to embrace properly, but instead wrapped his wings around her, holding her as tightly to himself as he could, forcing Gatomon to get a better hold on Patamon to return the embrace. The kiss continued, now as passionate as possible, making it hard to tell where one of them began and the other ended. The two never wanted the moment to end, but it eventually did, both forced to separate from a lack of breath but not letting go. It took a minute for both Digimon to regain their senses, both completely overwhelmed.
"...I do feel the same, though." Patamon finally replied. "More than anything, Gatomon, I love you." Gatomon's eyes suddenly regained their glow that they had before she started crying, a smile returning to her face as well. She soon closed them, though, resting her head against Patamon's chest, finding comfort in their embrace. Patamon closed his eyes, as well, moving one arm to hold her head against him, just enjoying the moment while it lasted, knowing the two would have a lot to explain when their partners returned.
End Chapter 11
Coming Next: Chapter 12 - Lessons
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By CyberDracomon
Chapter 11 of 26 - Knights
Back in the real world, Kari and Davis were eager to get started with TK. Despite having to practically drag him most of the way, they managed to get to the park rather quickly. In the Digital World the sun had long since set, but in the real world the sun had just finished setting, giving them enough time to try and get TK into a better state of mind. By the time they arrived at the park TK had only mildly started walking on his own free will, probably only because he had little other choice. The Digimon were following behind with all this going on, luckily the streets and park were all but dead tonight and had no problem hiding from the one or two people passing by.
Kari stopped when they reached a spot beside the usually crowded lake, now free of anyone but themselves. She would have taken him to their spot beside the quiet, smaller lake, but she didn't want to risk reminding him of all the times the two had met there. In all honesty she was worried of reminding herself of that same thing, fearing she'd lose her will to keep to the quest.
"So, now that we're here, what do we do?" Davis asked, keeping to a whisper only Kari could hear. She was between Davis and TK, holding TK with one arm to keep him going. She released her hold, letting him go on his own.
"TK just needs time to think." Kari whispered back. "At least that's what I hope. We'll just let him have as much time as he needs, we'll only be there for comfort, so no trying to talk him out of this." Davis nodded, understanding that was out of the question.
"So what should we do?" Patamon asked, hovering up to Kari. That was something she had been thinking about since they left the Digital World, she hadn't been sure of their Digimon's role in all of this.
"Well..." She began, not sure about her answer. "I don't mean to leave you out, I know how close you and TK are... but I think it would be better if you stayed behind, Gatomon and Veemon, too. I don't want TK to feel overwhelmed by all of us and if there's someone in the park we wouldn't have time to hide all three of you." Patamon couldn't help but feel disappointed despite Kari's reasons, he was hoping he would be able to help his companion.
"You're sure?" Patamon asked. "You could bring just me, I can fly away from anyone that might see me." Kari shook her head, trying to stop him before he got his reasons together.
"You'll be going home with TK, anyway, you'll have all the time you want then." She pointed out. "Besides..." Kari gave a quick look down at her partner Digimon, who was looking TK over, as worried as the rest of them. "I'd rather you stayed here with Gatomon. She talks about you a lot, and she says she feels best when you're around, anyway. If I have to leave her, I wouldn't leave her with anyone but you." Patamon felt his heart suddenly beat twice as fast at the news, causing a slight blush that made Kari giggle a little.
"Well if that's the case then I'll stay behind." Patamon said, a smile on his face as he agreed to her terms. Kari was glad he did, she had always had a feeling Davis's crush on her translated over to his Digimon and had yet to see his Digimon's crush weaken. She felt better with Patamon keeping an eye on things.
"Thanks, Patamon." Kari said, smiling down at him. She turned to Davis, who was still watching TK. "Davis, let's go. I think we need all the time we can get." Davis looked over at Kari and nodded, agreeing. The two walked over to TK, gently guiding him to go with them as the two started down the only trail that lead in and out of the area they were in, keeping TK ahead of them at all times. It took a while before TK's slow walk lead them out of the area, leaving the three Digimon to their own devices.
**********
Patamon was quick to find that their human partners had picked a particularly boring part of the park to set them down in. Sure, they had a great view of the lake, but it did little good with just the shore to watch from. There were no trees, none that could be climbed, anyway. The whole area was fences off with tall bushes that were too loose for even him to stand on. The center was just a flower bed that stretched out from the center to the sides, covering half the length between both sides, and along the wall of bushes were benches except for the shore of the lake. There were a few random rocks for decoration but that was hardly worth looking at.
He instead found more interesting sights in what his friends were doing. Veemon was testing his Vee Headbutt against the largest rock in the area, but didn't seem to be getting much from it except a headache. Gatomon, on the other hand, was looking through the flower bed, quite content in the activity. Patamon decided not to bother her and instead made his way over to Veemon, who had conceded defeat to the stone in front of him.
"You're probably just rusty." Patamon said, alerting Veemon. "It has been a long time since you had to use that move and it never really got you anywhere in the first place." It was joking honesty, which Veemon had to agree with.
"The rock's just harder than my head, that's all." Veemon said. "So, what did Kari want with you? I couldn't hear but it looked important." Patamon hadn't realized anyone else might have been watching when Kari called him over, but he guessed with all of them there it was unavoidable. He gave a quick look over at Gatomon, still sniffing flowers, blushing a bit as he remembered his duty.
"Oh, no special reason..." Patamon replied, his eyes still locked on Gatomon. Veemon was quick to notice Patamon's sudden interest in the feline Digimon, smiling a bit as he did.
"Patamon, what are you looking at?" Veemon said, deciding there was some fun in luring Patamon into revealing something. Patamon quickly broke his lock on Gatomon and looked back at Veemon, smiling nervously.
"Oh, nothing at all!" He said, quick in his reply. "Just.... the flower bed!" Veemon couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, admiring his friend's quick thinking. He never was good at lying, though.
"Okay, fair enough." Veemon said, still smiling. "But since when does the flower bed have white fur?" Patamon suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his gut, not realizing he had been so obvious in his actions.
"...It was that obvious?" Patamon asked, relenting. "Guess I need to be more careful about it from now on." Veemon again laughed, glad Patamon had taken it well instead of being upset.
"Just takes some practice, that's all." Veemon replied. "If it makes you feel better, I've had a crush on Gatomon for a while, too." This was news to Patamon, though he didn't like referring to what he felt for Gatomon as "a crush". That hardly covered it, though he decided that was better left unknown to Veemon.
"I didn't know that..." Patamon admitted. "Do you know what she thinks of you?" Unfortunately Veemon was fairly sure of that answer. He mainly just daydreamed Gatomon's feelings for him, remembering his favorite one of dancing with Gatomon.
"Don't know, to be honest." Veemon said, stretching truth a bit. "What about you?" Patamon had hoped he wouldn't ask that, of course Patamon wanted to know what Gatomon felt, but strangely at the same time he was terrified of the answer. So many responses she could have and there was only one possibility he wanted to hear.
"Guess I don't know, either." He finally said, taking longer to answer than Veemon had. The blue Digimon started to get an idea in his head, if he could work a response out of Patamon so easily, why not Gatomon?
"Tell you what, how about we both find out?" He offered. "Maybe there's a way we can get her to say how she feels without being too direct about it." Patamon wasn't sure what Veemon had in mind, or if he even trusted one of Veemon's schemes. If he could do it, though, it would be a nice thing to know.
"You think you can get her to say?" Patamon asked, still doubting this claim. "She's not the kind to reveal secrets, you know." Veemon knew very well how true that was, but still he really wanted to know and somehow knew Patamon did, as well.
"It's at least worth a shot." He replied. "We both want to be Gatomon's knight in shining Digi-Armor, right? If it doesn't work, you won't be any worse off than you are now." Patamon hadn't thought of that, at worst then the plan would fail and he'd be back to square one, anyway.
"...What did you have in mind?" He asked, deciding it was at least worth trying. Veemon stepped closer, whispering something in Patamon's ear. As Patamon took it in, it sounded like any other half-baked plan of Veemon's but it was better than nothing if it would do what he promised.
**********
Gatomon had finished what seemed to be her tenth lap around the long flower bed, now well aquatinted with every sight and smell it had to offer. There seemed to be little else to do, though, just wait and sniff flowers. She would have tried talking to Patamon, but he seemed to have run off with Veemon for the moment. That and the fact they would probably be no better off with conversation than they were earlier that day in front of the gateway.
"Hi, Gatomon!" She suddenly heard behind her. Gatomon turned quickly, seeing Patamon behind her, smiling widely at her. In his hands was a makeshift cup made from one of the deeper flowers in the flower bed, filled with water. "We've been here a while, I thought you'd want something to drink." She actually wasn't thirsty, but accepted the water, anyway, not wanting to be rude.
"Thanks, Patamon." She said before taking a small sip. As soon as it made it down her throat she had to hold back an urge to wretch, the water tasted terrible... It took a moment for her to regain her composure. "Patamon, did you just scoop this water out of the lake?" Patamon's smile faded as he nodded innocently.
"Well, yeah." He replied. "I picked out all the little bugs and leaves and things, though." Now Gatomon wasn't sure what to do, one more dose from the water-filled flower and she'd have to knock off one of her nine lives.
"Well thanks, Patamon, that's sweet..." She said half-heartedly. She set the makeshift cup down in the flower bed, propping it up between a pair of stiff flower stems so it wouldn't fall over.
"Gatomon!" She again heard behind her. Gatomon turned to now see Veemon, who wore the same grin that Patamon approached with, which kind of creeped her out. "I thought you might be hungry so I brought you something." Gatomon looked down in his hands, holding onto a hot dog. Unfortunately it was half covered with dirt and bits of leaves and rocks.
"Uh... Veemon, where did you find that?" Gatomon asked, worried about the answer. The hot dog appeared like it had been buried in the ground for days.
"From a hot dog vender going around, where else?" He responded. "Of course I don't have any money so I had to scare him into dropping one. I got it off the ground fast, though, five second rule!" Gatomon wasn't sure what worried her more, the hot dog or the fact he was so proud of getting it. Reluctantly she accepted it, but set it down beside the water cup right away.
"Well I'm not hungry right now, but thanks." She said. "Maybe later..." Patamon was starting to doubt this plan again, this was more like endless sucking up rather than anything helpful.
"Anything I can get you, Gatomon?" Patamon asked, still smiling widely. This was starting to get overwhelming, she didn't know what had gotten into the two but it was now really starting to get weird.
"No thanks, I'm fine." She replied. Stepping back from the two a bit. It didn't do much good, though, both of them now able to look on at her at the same time, both still grinning.
"You sure?" Veemon asked. "Anything you want, leave it to us." Gatomon had enough, this was just too much to bear any longer. Whatever the two were thinking, they had to be out of their minds.
"Okay, what's wrong with you two?" She asked, eager to end whatever was going on here. "You're both acting weird suddenly, it's creepy." Patamon dropped his grin, trading it for an annoyed look that he directed at Veemon, who was now suddenly very nervous.
"Foolproof, huh?" Patamon said, folding his arms, awaiting an explanation. Veemon couldn't figure out which accusation to address first, he was panicking about both of them. He looked over at Patamon, figuring it would be safer to deal with him.
"Well I thought it was..." Veemon replied. "I thought my hot dog was pretty good!" Gatomon was starting to get irritated, she wanted to know why the two were being so weird and she was losing patience.
"Veemon, Patamon, tell me what's going on, now." She said, a slight anger in her tone. Patamon looked over at her, suddenly feeling guilty for even agreeing to such an idea. Veemon looked over at him, silently pleading for him not to tell her what was happening, but Patamon knew it was too late.
"...Me and Veemon wanted to know... which one of us you liked better." He replied. "He thought if we were nice enough to you then we could find out without actually asking you." Veemon dropped his head, ashamed of the situation, also disappointed Patamon didn't stick with him in defending themselves. Gatomon, on the other hand, didn't know how to take the situation.
"So all of that was just some dumb way to trick me?" She said. "You two just wanted that one answer out of me? Did it even occur to you how I'd feel about all of this?" To be honest she didn't even know how she felt about this, she felt angry, confused, upset... Meanwhile Patamon was feeling even worse about all of this and didn't see any way out.
"I'm sorry, Gatomon..." Patamon said. "We just... wanted to know..." Veemon stepped back a bit, trying to pull himself out of this situation before it got worse.
"Patamon, you should know better than anyone!" She said, her angry tone only getting worse. "We've helped each other, we've hugged each other... We've even kissed! And you had to try and trick that answer from me?!" Patamon wished she hadn't brought up that memory, as invalid as it was it still burned in his mind. Veemon, on the other hand, was now completely thrown out of the loop with Gatomon's last comment.
"What about the kiss?" Patamon said, his own voice now showing some temper. "You said it yourself, it was an experiment, it wasn't meant for us to do. The kiss was meaningless" He didn't like to say that, it was a lie, but it was what they had agreed. Gatomon looked back on that moment and wished Patamon had used any other word but that one.
"Meaningless..." She whispered to herself, bringing a slight tear to her eye. She turned around, putting her back to Patamon, to hide her tears and to keep from looking at him. "Just leave me alone, Patamon, okay?" Patamon looked on, now scared that he accidentally hurt her.
"Gatomon..." He started, now regretting even thinking about agreeing with Veemon's stupid plan. "I didn't mean it like that..." It was too late, though, the damage was done and Gatomon was not in a forgiving mood.
"I said leave me alone!" Gatomon screamed, spinning around. She brought her claws to bear, swiping them across Patamon's cheek, throwing his head to the side and leaving three scratches in his skin. Without looking back Gatomon bounded off toward the bushes, ripping a hole in them with her claws as she ran through them. Patamon watched as she left, in disbelief about what had just happened. He stood there for a minute in sheer shock, not even feeling the sharp stings of the scratches.
"Uh... Patamon..." Veemon said quietly. "What just happened...?" Patamon couldn't answer, still shaken up. It took a few seconds longer to shake himself out of it, realizing what ha had just done.
"...The worst mistake of my life..." Patamon replied, feeling worse than he could remember ever feeling. This had gone so fast and was already out of control, he had to salvage something. If he was ever going to have a chance with Gatomon, this kind of thing was the last thing he needed. Without a word to Veemon, Patamon ran off in the direction Gatomon went, bounding through the hole she had left behind in the bushes. This left Veemon alone by the lake, not sure what to make of it all.
"She kissed him..." Veemon said, still stuck on those words. "Patamon gets all the luck... Hmm, maybe it's the wings... Girls must have a thing for wings..." Veemon turned and walked back to a small stone he had made into a seat since Davis left, now wondering if he could get a pair of bat wings to strap to his head.
**********
Patamon raced down a small trail, trying his best to catch up to the feline Digimon. He couldn't believe she would scratch him like that, even if she was mad at him. With the wind rushing at him Patamon could feel the stinging from the marks on his cheek, but he didn't care right now. All that mattered was finding Gatomon, he had to straighten things out before they got any worse.
After a while Patamon came to a small foot bridge at the end of the path, overlooking a small, but still steadily flowing stream. He looked up to see Gatomon, looking over the edge with her gloved paws on the railing. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like she was... crying? Patamon had to be seeing things... But she was, he could even make out the small splashes in the stream as her tears hit the water... He slowly stepped forward, each step more unsure than the last... Eventually he made it onto the bridge and got within a foot of Gatomon, who barely acknowledged his arrival. Unfortunately seeing the scene that close up, Patamon didn't know what to say now.
"...I'm sorry... if I upset you that much..." He said simply. He wasn't sure how to explain himself, he could at least say that much, though.
"No, it's not your fault..." Gatomon said, still looking into the water. "I got mad, I reacted, I..." She choked on her own tears for a second, then wiped her eyes dry. "Patamon, you're the last one I'd ever want to hurt, I hate that I even did that to you..." Patamon walked to the edge of the bridge, standing up to lean on the railing himself.
"It's alright, I know you were mad." He said, turning to look at her. "You don't have to be so hard on yourself just for that, though." Gatomon shook her head, refusing the idea.
"You don't understand, it's all my fault..." She said. She turned her paws upward, looking down at the palms of her gloves. "These stupid claws... Thanks to these I ended up doing something I'll always regret..." She clenched her eyes shut before grabbing one of her gloves, pulling it off. With her ungloved paw she grabbed both gloves, pulling her left hand free from the one she was still wearing. Patamon watched as she took both gloves in her right hand and threw them forward, over the railing and into the water. Both watched as they floated down the stream away from them, eventually watching them sink before getting too far away.
"Gatomon, why did you do that?" Patamon asked, just now getting over the sight. "You can't even attack without those..." Gatomon returned her eyes to the water below, her tears slowing a little but not stopping.
"Relax... I'll get another pair next time I digivolve..." She explained. "I just... I just had to get rid of the pair that hurt you, I didn't want them a part of me anymore..." Patamon was amazed by her words, he never realized she was so upset over this... He looked at her now naked paws, now noticing something new. The back of her right paw featured a pair of scars, crossing each other. Patamon had never seen her without her gloves and never knew about it before...
"...Gatomon, what happened to your hand...?" Patamon didn't know why he was suddenly curious about it... Maybe it was just better to get onto a different subject for a while.
"...Reminders..." She answered, looking down at her paw. "Gifts from Myotismon to remind me of how weak I was... I thought those would be the worst days of my life, I guess I was wrong..." This was going nowhere, she was too fixed on how upset she was... As much as he blamed himself, Patamon knew this was his fault, if he had been honest in the first place this wouldn't have happened...
"...Gatomon, look at me." Patamon said, hoping to get a better reaction face to face instead of talking to the back of her head... Very slowly she turned, raising her head to make eye contact with him.
"Patamon..." She looked on at him, then at the scratches on his cheek. She slowly reached up, touching her hand to his cheek, very gently running her fingers along the scratches. Patamon could feel the sting from them, but barely. He had felt her touch so often but without the glove her hand was amazingly soft to the touch. He reached up, almost taking her hand into his, instead Gatomon closed her eyes, turning away form him quickly. "Patamon, I can't! I hurt you, I don't deserve to look at you..." Patamon couldn't believe what he was hearing, but this couldn't keep going or she'd never get any better.
"Gatomon, stop!" He said, putting a paw on her shoulder. She tried shaking it off, but Patamon pulled on her, forcing her to turn back in his direction. He quickly took hold of her head, keeping their eyes locked. She still kept her eyes closed, trying her best to keep her head down.
"Patamon, don't!" She pleaded. Patamon nearly released her just by her request, but this was for her own good and remained holding her, knowing this wouldn't end if she kept trying to avoid it.
"Listen to me..." Patamon said. "I... I wasn't honest before... It wasn't just an experiment... Gatomon, that kiss... it meant everything to me, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Gatomon stopped her struggling and opened her eyes, but didn't raise her head.
"Patamon, you don't expect me to just believe you, do you?" She said. "What if you're just trying to make me feel better?" He knew this was going to happen, Patamon had to pick the right words now...
"You have to believe me..." He replied. "As bad as you felt about scratching me... I feel worse because I lied to you... I only want to make you happy and I messed up before I even had that chance..." Gatomon looked up, tears still welled up in her eyes. A moment of silence passed before Gatomon suddenly embraced Patamon, taking him by surprise. She was still crying, but much less than before. He held her as best she could with his smaller arms, trying to comfort her.
"Patamon..." She said, almost in a whisper. "I'm... so sorry..." Patamon smiled slightly, holding her a little closer than before.
"No more apologies..." He said, trying to add a sense of comfort to his voice. "Let's just put it behind us now..." Gatomon kept her hold on Patamon, which he found a sense of security in.
"I know..." She replied. "I just... I just never wanted to... hurt someone I loved so much..." Patamon was surprised to hear those words, but overjoyed at the same time. He pushed her away to look into her eyes, but kept hold of her waist.
"Gatomon, you really mean that?" He asked, not believing it. She nodded slightly, a slight blush forming on her face. Patamon didn't think it was possible, but it had happened, Gatomon really loved him...
"If... you don't feel the same way, though... I wouldn't blame you." She said. Patamon felt a little hurt, hearing her doubt his returned feelings. He tried to think of the words to respond, but instead smiled slightly before pulling her closer. Before she could ask what he was doing, Patamon put a hand to her cheek and pressed his lips gently to hers, this time genuinely kissing her. Gatomon didn't know what to do until instinct took over, renewing her embrace and closing her eyes, kissing back. The kiss deepened, sending jolts down both Digimon, both overwhelmed by it. Patamon couldn't get his arms around Gatomon to embrace properly, but instead wrapped his wings around her, holding her as tightly to himself as he could, forcing Gatomon to get a better hold on Patamon to return the embrace. The kiss continued, now as passionate as possible, making it hard to tell where one of them began and the other ended. The two never wanted the moment to end, but it eventually did, both forced to separate from a lack of breath but not letting go. It took a minute for both Digimon to regain their senses, both completely overwhelmed.
"...I do feel the same, though." Patamon finally replied. "More than anything, Gatomon, I love you." Gatomon's eyes suddenly regained their glow that they had before she started crying, a smile returning to her face as well. She soon closed them, though, resting her head against Patamon's chest, finding comfort in their embrace. Patamon closed his eyes, as well, moving one arm to hold her head against him, just enjoying the moment while it lasted, knowing the two would have a lot to explain when their partners returned.
End Chapter 11
Coming Next: Chapter 12 - Lessons
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