Next chapter! I have you've all enjoyed your holidays! I, certainly, did, although I had to do lots of school work, preparing a book report, writing essays and so on. School follows me everywhere :P. Well, okay, I won't keep you longer from reading the next chapter since you're probably anxious to know what happens next.

By the way, I always seem to forget Veemon when I write...I'm really sorry for that. I think he appears for one line in this chapter, and that's really not much! It's just that I find it so hard to write him and I like it more to concentrate on Jun and Davis, since they are my favourite characters. *sighs* I try to improve and remember him, but I can't promise anything....

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS! *g* Actually I wanted this chapter to be out on christmas, but it's a bit late for that...so it will be a welcoming chapter for the new year! Enjoy! (This chapter is extra long...I think.)

Important Note: I'm not a doctor. I don't know if the progress Daisuke makes is correct, nor do I know if Dr Katashi does the right thing. It's just my imagination; I've read quite some stuff about this topic, but the healing process is never described very detailed, so I'm sorry if I offend someone with it. It wasn't my intention.

Broken Wings

by Kaeera

Chapter Seven: White Feathers


"I would really prefer it if you would speak to me instead of staring out of the window," the woman spoke softly, looking at the boy who avoided her gaze successfully.

Dr. Katashi, the psychologist, sat in front of her new 'case', as the authorities liked to put it, and absorbed every detail she could gather. The pale face of the young boy and the worn out expression on his young features, as if some ghost was haunting him. The ducked way of sitting, as if trying to back away. And the eyes, never meeting hers, but shifting around, anxious and full of fear.

Daisuke himself didn't feel comfortable. He hadn't like the idea of consulting, and even when Jun had talked with him, he had disagreed. But unfortunately his opinion didn't count, and so he found himself in the bright room with the warmly colored walls and the colorful paintings on it. He had to admit that it didn't resemble a hospital room, more a...a living room in a normal household. And he realised that this was intentional, a try to give the patients a little bit of security.

However, he didn't feel secure at all. Daisuke didn't want to talk about his problems, mainly because he feared the memories which would come to the surface during this process. He just wanted to go back to his room and to curl together in his bed.

So he kept silent, ignoring the attempts of the doctor, trying to start a conversation.

"It might be helpful right now to keep your mouth shut," she continued calmly, "But you soon will notice that you can't go on like that. It will kill you."

He grabbed the chair harder and stared on the ground. Don't believe her, a tiny voice in his head whispered, She will make you talk and then she will turn away. It will hurt you - again!

"Daisuke, you need help. The things you had to endure are not easy to deal with, and they are certainly not there for be dealt with alone. I know what happened to you. I've read your files. I've talked with your sister. And now it's my job to talk with you - to make sure that you can find a way to deal with this, because right now, you aren't dealing with it - you're running away. And it's my job make sure that you fully understand that none of this is your fault."

She saw him flinch and immediately knew that she had touched a soft spot. Tamara Katashi sighed. It was always the same. Sixty percent of abused children believed that it was their fault, that they were weak, and it had been correct to punish them. Obviously Daisuke Motomiya belonged to this category.

Daisuke pretended not to listen and fixed his gaze on a picture on the wall, showing some flowers. Thoughts were whirling through his mind, more thoughts than he wanted to hear, but the flow didn't stop. He just wished that he could cover his ears with something, so that the soft and gentle voice of the woman couldn't come to his brain.

I don't want to talk, b'cause when I talk it'll get worse and I don't want...

They say it so easily...they say I hafta face my memories. I don't want these memories. Can't I live without them? Please...

If I have to deal with them, I fear I will break...

"You don't understand," he finally croaked out, staring with dull, brown eyes at the doctor.

"Oh yes, I do," She softly replied. "You may think that nobody can understand you, but that's not true. I think your sister understands you very well, and your friends will know - if you speak with them. You are not alone in this, Davis. You are not alone."

He wanted to believe her. He really did. But this nagging voice inside his mind wouldn't let him; would always tell him nasty things. How could he trust anybody? How could he trust anybody when the person he had trusted the most - had loved - had betrayed him that cruelly?

"No," he shook his head, still not looking up.

Dr.Katashi sighed softly. "Alright." Then she stood up and walked towards a small desk in the corner of the room. Many sheets of paper and books were piled on it, resembling more a dustbin than anything else. She dug through the pile and finally produced a few pencils and a white sheet of paper. Walking back to Daisuke, she placed the items on the table in front of him and sat down on her chair.

Daisuke peered curiously at the wooden pencils, finding this whole ordeal really odd. The first time since this lesson had started he looked openly at the woman. She smiled at him and pointed towards the pencils. "If you don't want to talk....I want you to draw."

Confused he glanced at the pencils, frowning. "Can't draw," he then finally said, somewhat hesitatntly. "Don't want to."

"Well, what is it now, can't you draw or are you just not in the mood for it?" The doctor asked smiling. Carefully she took one pencil - a green one - and drew a short line with it. "I certainly don't expect any artistic creations out of you." She started to explain. "But drawing is good for your soul and your heart. You don't have to tell me anything, you just let the pencils fly over the paper and paint whatever comes into your mind."

Daisuke shook his head, huddling together in his chair.

"Won't even give it a try?" Dr.Katashi folded her hands and tilted her head. "It can't hurt, and you haven't tried it before - it might help, and if not, nothing's lost, or?"

He stared at her, wondering where this woman took the patience from and finally grabbed for a pencil, not really caring what color it was. If she wanted him to draw, well, then he would draw. She'd probably interpret stuff into his picture and then put him into a nuthouse, but hey, it was better than sitting with her.

Rather forcefully, the boy scratched with the pencil over the paper, eyebrows knitted in suppressed annoyance. When he was finished, he shoved the sheet towards her and folded his arms, staring at the wall again.

The doctor took the picture and smiled watching at it. Daisuke was still fighting against her, but at least he had used the pencil and it was a beginning. Although he wasn't drawing what he thought, but what he thought about was the thing she wanted to see.

Tamara Katashi stood up and walked around the table. "For now, our meeting is over, Daisuke," she spoke softly. "I believe that your friends are waiting for you. But we will see each other again tomorrow, and I hope you will think a bit about the things I told you." She led the boy to the door and they both walked through the hospital, back to his room. Davis didn't look at her. Not once.

******************

She stared into the mug of coffee and inhaled the welcoming smell of it. It gave warmth to her fingers and made her relax. Jun sighed deeply and looked around in the cafeteria she was sitting in. Daisuke was gone, visiting the doctor, and she had used the free time to eat something and drink a cup of black coffee. The girl had the strong feeling that she would need it.

There was also another reason why she was sitting here; a few of Daisuke's closest friends were allowed to visit him, and she had advised them to meet her in the cantina first, to speak about his current state and the correct way to approach.

While she took another sip of the hot drink, she found her thoughts trailing away, bringing back memories she hated. Every time when she had a minute of her own this happened, and Jun grew tired at it. It was as if these pictures were haunting her, never leaving her alone, not even in her dreams.

As Jun entered the apartment, she immediately knew that father wasn't....in a good mood. It was always visible, the mood in the rooms seemed to be gloomier than the usual, nearly frightening. The girl quickly went to her room, hoping that his bad mood was the only thing that happened to day, but she already sensed the harsh reality.

She had just settled in her room, playing with a pencil, as the door opened again and her brother returned home. The soft steps told her that he also felt the mood change and feared the worst. She grabbed the pen until her knuckles were white under the skin, desperately praying that today would be *normal*, that today nothing would happen, that father would leave Davis in peace...

Then she heard Davis cry out in pain and immediately knew that it wouldn't be okay.

Within seconds the girl leapt to her feet and stumbled towards the living room. She met her mother who fled to the kitchen, eyes on the ground, and Jun's heart ached. This woman, whom she had once loved, let everything happen to her youngest child and could still wear a smile on her face. A pang of guilt caught her as she realised that she was doing exactly the same; leaving her brother alone because she was too frightened to help.

As she entered the room, she saw the same disturbing scene she had witnessed so many times and had tried to prevent, but to no avail. Her father, grabbing the younger boy by his neck and shaking him, hitting his head with the balled fist....Davis' lip was already bleeding and his face was tearstained.

"Stop it," Jun whispered hoarsely, and then repeated a bit louder: "Stop it!"

Her father looked at her, evil glinting in his eyes which had lost all love a long time ago. "Why?" He smiled sickly. "I'm just giving him what he deserves...."

Jun's horrified glance wandered from her father to the scared eyes of her brother. "You are hurting him," she shouted, "Don't hurt him! How can you act like that? You are our father, you...you...." She cried now and inched backwards as her father's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I do what I want," he hissed, following her and jerking the boy with him. "And if you don't pay attention, young lady, you will get the same punishment. After all I just spared you because *your* grades were at least a bit decent!"

The man turned around, hitting Daisuke's face once more. The painful cry was all Jun needed; immediately the girl jumped forwards and grabbed her father's arm: "If you do love us, how can you act like that?" She sobbed, not giving free his arm.

The blow hit her hard and she was thrown across the room. "Do not interfere!" Was the only answer she got as she stumbled to the ground. Her shoulder's shook of suppressed sobs as she stared wide-eyed at the scene, frozen in shock and horror, one hand on her cheek where her father had slapped her.

Jun didn't know why this hell had started, or when, but she just wanted it to be over. She just wanted to go away with her brother and find peace, protect him from this madness. But she was unable to do something, because this man held all the power, and so the only thing the girl could do was weep and try to collect the broken pieces.

Again she felt tears dwell up in her eyes and the weight of grief and guilt on her shoulders. If she had...If she just had talked with someone...if she just had summoned enough courage to do that...then it wouldn't have come this far, then all this wouldn't be needed and...

If, If , If....it was useless, and she knew that, but these thoughts never left her.

"Hello," someone greeted and Jun looked up, startled. In front of her was Ken, whom she recognised as the best friend of her brother, Hikari and this one guy who always hung around with Matt. What was his name once again? Tai?

It cost her a lot of strength to bring a weak smile on her face, but she managed it. "Come on, sit down," Jun motioned towards some empty chairs and cradled the coffee cup closer to her body.

The three followed her plea and sat around the table, worry visible on their faces. They had, in a meeting of all the friends, decided that it would probably the best if just a few of them went to the hospital; and from the beginning it had been clear that Ken would be one of them since he was Daisuke's best friend. Hikari was the next to be chosen, because the goggle boy had always seemed to like her and Taichi had been something like an older brother of him.

"How is he?" Ken asked softly and glanced at Jun, noticing how tired and...old the girl looked.

"Well...at least he talked," Jun sighed and shook her head. "Talking, that he is, but not much and only single words or syllables. It's nearly impossible to get one full sentence out of him, and he's terribly frightened." Her hands balled to fists and opened again. "Right now he's talking with a psychiatrist who's specialised on such cases. They say that he isn't dealing with his memories, and that this will cause him to crash down sooner or later. He didn't even cry a lot. Just once. It's not right. He's suppressing his emotions because he is afraid. And he doesn't trust anybody. Not even me. Maybe Veemon. But even that I don't know."

The others exchanged worried glances. "Is it okay when we see him?" Hikari wanted to know.

Jun laughed miserably. "Okay? Hell, nothing is okay these times...but I guess it can only make things better, huh? Maybe he talks with you. Or maybe he freaks out. I really don't know." She looked on her hands, tears in her eyes. "I'm always scared that I have lost my brother, every time when I see him and he stares at me with these wide, dull eyes. He is talking, yes, but I fear that it was only the first step and many more must follow."

"But if one can manage, it's Daisuke," Ken smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure of that. It wouldn't be the first time that he surprises us, would it?"

Hikari laughed slightly. "Yes. There's more behind these eyes than one might assume."

Jun sniffed. "Ahh, well, I guess you're right," slowly the girl stood up and took the cup in her hands. "I will bring this back and then I will show you the way to Davis' room, okay?" She didn't wait for a reply, but immediately hurried to the other side of the cafeteria and placed the mug on the glass vitrine, nodding a thanks towards the young man who was working behind it. Then she returned to the others, leading them out of the room and through the hospital.

Taichi felt really uncomfortable. He couldn't stand the hospitals, and the last time he had been here, Daisuke had backed away from him with a fearful expression on his face. He would never forget this moment; and the leader of the digidestined had never imagined that once one of his friends would be...scared of him.

And although he knew that the boy hadn't been particularly scared of *him*, but of all individuals, it hadn't helped much. These brown eyes which looked at him with the absolute horror...no, even when he became old and grey he wouldn't forget this look.

It didn't take long until they finally stood in front of Daisuke's room.

Jun turned around. "I think it's better when I stay outside. I will wait here," she nodded towards a single chair which was standing on the corridor, "The doctor said that you may have 30 minutes." With these words she sat down and motioned them to enter the room.

Ken opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Hikari. Taichi stayed behind, frowning at Jun and wondering how she did manage that...

She cares for her brother all the time...but who cares for her?

He shook his head and followed the two younger teens, the thought never leaving his mind. And he promised himself that, even if he didn't like her that much, he would make sure that Jun wouldn't have to go through this alone. Nobody deserved this.

******************

Daisuke glanced up as the three visitors entered his rooms. He was sitting on his bed, back pressed against the wall, and had spent the last fifteen minutes with staring out of the window. His mind rotated when he recognised the three, and his first intention was to jump up and run away. It took all his will to stay in the bed.

Worst of all was that he didn't even know why he wanted to flee. In his head were battling two voices; one of them screaming that he should get away, the other one trying to tell him that these persons used to be his friends, the people he felt closest to.

"Hi Davis," Ken greeted his friend and smiled shyly. "We came to visit you. I hope it's okay with you?"

The question hung in the air, waiting for a response, while Daisuke tried to find one. Was it okay for him? Nothing was okay. This whole thing wasn't...okay. He wasn't okay. But...he didn't want to hurt them either, so he finally nodded.

Go away....leave me alone....don't want to see anybody

Hikari looked at her brother, unsure what to do. She had never experienced such a situation before and felt totally lost. But the confused look on her brother's face told her that he didn't know what to say, either. What did one talk about with an abused friend?

Luckily Ken wasn't stopped by such thoughts, which surprised Hikari, because he normally was the careful and serious one. It seemed that he had made the decision to help his friend with all his power.

The indigo haired boy sat down on the bed, always keeping the soft smile on his face, for he didn't want to scare the boy any further. He noticed the distress in his friend's face and it hurt him to see Davis struggle like that.

Make it stop...

"You gave us quite a scare, do you know that?" His expression changed to serious as he tried to bring the boy to talk. "We thought that you would stay like that forever, and nobody of us liked this possibility! I'm glad that you've decided to come back."

Daisuke looked down, not meeting Ken's gaze. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, not noticing the surprised and relieved gasps his answer brought out of his friends. True, they had known that he had spoken, but between knowing and actually hearing it oneself was a big difference.

"You don't have to be sorry," it was Hikari's turn to speak. "Everybody would have reacted like that."

"Didn't want to worry you," Davis tried to explain, but realised that he couldn't. The memories of the past days were still blurry and painful.

hurts...

"No, you probably didn't want to," Ken agreed, "But what happened to you would cause everyone to break down, like Kari said, so there's no need to feel sorry - or ashamed. It's a hard time for you, but I - we - want you to know that we'll be there for you; that we will stay your friends no matter what happens."

Daisuke stared into the sincere eyes of his friends and felt the sudden need to cry. Didn't they know? Didn't they know what happened to him? How could they...still want to be friends with a loser like him? How....

He grabbed the blanket and turned his head away, caught in his upcoming emotions. He was worthless, wasn't he? He had been brought here because his father didn't want him anymore. It was all his fault, all his fault...

My fault...

"What's wrong?" Taichi whispered to his sister.

Hikari just shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered back, equally concerned. "Maybe he's remembering something...." Her voice trailed off at this imagination. She knew which memories would cause their friend such distress, and it made her heart break.

"Davis?" Ken asked worried, touching slightly the shoulder of his friend.

Daisuke gasped and took his arm away, flinching as if he had been hurt. Tears were flowing down his face, leaving silver stains on the pale cheeks. "I...." he stammered and tried to wipe the tears away with his sleeve. He bit his lower lip, feeling embarrassed for his way of acting and inwardly scolding himself.

He was right...I'm weak. Pathetic. Can't even control my emotions.

"Nothing," he finally croaked, unable to meet the concerned gaze of his friends. "Just...a memory."

"Davis, if you want to talk about this...," Ken started, but was interrupted by a loud "No!"

Davis smiled excusingly and sniffed one last time. "Thanks...a lot. But there are things you can't help me with. Things I have to deal with....alone."

Taichi shook his head at this statement and walked closer to the bed until he faced the smaller boy. "No," he said forcefully, "Let me tell you one thing, Davis: it's never good to face things alone. Especially something big like that. You are no superhuman, Davis, nor are you strong enough to keep this up. Believe me, if you won't accept help, it will destroy you. I...speak out of experience!"

Daisuke's eyes narrowed at this. "You sound like the psychiatrist they make me to attend." He crossed his arms and stared determined at his former idol.

"Well, maybe I do, but that only proves that I'm right!"

"It just proves that you are annoying me!" Davis snapped back.

"Just because you can't accept the truth, that's it!" Taichi was becoming angry, and Hikari stared worriedly at her brother, trying to calm him down. "Tai, remember where we are..."

"It's my life after all, isn't it?" Daisuke shouted. "So leave me the hell alone!"

Ken watched the exchange between the two, half-annoyed and half-amused. He shook his head and motioned Hikari to stay silent.

"It may be your life, but we are your friends and we are worried about you! You could at least listen to us!" Taichi threw his hands in the air.

Daisuke glowered at him and looked away. "I believe your time is over," he then growled angrily.

Silence fell over the room, until Tai finally replied. "Fine." The teenager turned around and left the room, followed by Ken and Hikari.

Outside he leaned against the wall and sighed in frustration. Hikari smacked her brother on the head. "Just what the hell where you thinking?" she hissed angrily. "You can't act like that! He's ill! He's going through a heavy time, and doesn't need you to make it any more difficult!"

Tai looked guilty. "I know, but...I guess my temper ran away with me."

Hikari snorted. "Oh, I know, it's always your temper, one should think that you had finally learned a bit of patience, but no..."

Ken stopped the upcoming fight. "I personally think that it wasn't that bad," he said and smiled at Taichi.

"It wasn't?" The older boy blinked.

"No, because, if you haven't noticed, Daisuke acted for the first time like himself. He was angry, and he was shouting at you, just like he used to do before. I think that's far better than the empty shell he was before. I mean, he was showing emotions! That's a big improvement! And another thing..." The eyes of the former digimon kaiser twinkled in merriment as the other two stared at him questionably.

"What?" They both asked curiously.

"He talked more than single words and syllabi, like Jun had proposed. I would call that an improvement!"

Hikari opened her mouth and closed it again. "You're right..." she then said slowly, letting go the arm of her brother.

"You mean..." Taichi scratched his head, "If we get him riled up it will get better?"

"No," Ken raised his hand, "I mean that we should act as if he's the normal Daisuke. No tiptoeing, no being overly friendly. It won't help him to come back to his old self; he must accept that *we* accept him as the person he is and that we aren't troubled by what happened to him."

He smiled at the two and jumped in shock as soft clapping could be heard behind him. He turned around and saw a woman standing behind him, wearing a thick dark green pullover with a name tag on it. She was clapping her hands and beamed at him. Jun was standing beside her, giving her and odd stare.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," the woman explained her applauise and stretched out her hand. "May I introduce myself, I'm Dr. Katashi, the psychologist of Daisuke Motomiya. And you are his friends, I might guess?"

They nodded slowly and Kari was the first one to regain her composure. "I'm Hikari Kamiya, pleased to meet you," she smiled and pointed to her brother. "That's my brother Tai."

"And I'm Ken Ichijouji," Ken said politely and shook the outstretched hand.

"What you said, my boy, was very correct," the doctor nodded, "It would be wrong to handle Daisuke like a broken doll. He might look - and even act - like that, but if you change your habits around him, it will only make things worse. He needs his friends, and he needs the friends he knew for such a long time...and not a stranger."

"Hey, I did something right," Taichi was positively surprised. "Although I think that he's brooding now," he sceptically glanced at the closed door.

"Let him brood," Jun waved it off, "Every brooding is better than the mood he was in before, I assure you."

"Well, if you say that..."

They laughed softly. Dr. Katashi turned slightly around. "I would like to speak with you about this a little bit more intensely; shall we go to my room? It's much more comfortable than here." She didn't wait for any form of agreement, just started to walk in the knowledge that the others would follow.

Jun just shrugged. "She's a little bit weird," she told the others and started walking.

"She is, indeed," Taichi agreed, curious of what was to come

*********************

He hugged his knees and stared at the wall. What was Taichi thinking? Talking with him like that...Shouting at him and...

The boy sniffed, confused. What was happening? He could always feel the different sides in him; screaming that this all was his fault, that it was him who was weak, then another, angrier side who told him that he should go out and beat Tai, and then the third one, tiny and nearly unheard, sobbing.

Davis was torn apart and didn't know what to do.

"Are you okay?" Veemon asked, who had stayed silent through the whole ordeal. He knew better than to interfere when Davis got angry, and it had surprised him a lot *that* he got angry. He had just gaped at the duo.

Daisuke waved with his hand, motioned the digimon to be silent. Veemon let out a frustrated sigh. Right now the boy didn't want to talk with anyone, so lost was he in his thoughts.

I'm so weak and useless and pathetic, and yet I acted like the king...

His head started pounding and he just wished that it would go away, all the pain, all the sorrow. At night it was worst, when nobody was there and the medication didn't work, he would often find himself lying awake for hours, unable to escape the dark thoughts which entered his mind. When would it stop?

Would it ever stop?

Davis didn't know. And it frightened him. Long, long time ago he had believed that he had his life under control. And he had enjoyed living. But no such feelings were existent now; everything slipped under his grasp, had started slipping on this fateful day his father had slapped him in the face for the first time. The boy could still fill the shock he had endured, the shock and the pain and the rage. But soon the rage had disappeared, replaced by the immense feeling of helplessness. The words of his father had worked their way into his brain and wouldn't leave; never.

He was in jail now, Daisuke remembered. The idea scared him. It was because of him that his father was sent to prison; he would be so angry and kill Daisuke if he ever got free! The boy shuddered at the thought and clenched his eyes shut. The future didn't look very bright right now; only Jun and he were left, and their fate was to live in an orphanage. All dreams had died....

Voices screaming at me

Telling me things, so many things

each of them sounds so right

and so wrong

I'm in the middle of this

I'm in the middle of the shattered pieces

Trying to find myself

Trying to find a way

But I'm blinded

by the reflecting light

And I don't know what to do.


He buried his head in his arms, cursing his luck which put him through that. Images of his father flashed through his mind, and once again he didn't know what to think - should he hate his father?

No, it was your fault! Screamed one part of his mind. You were too weak, you were a loser and he was just trying to help you. No father would beat his children, he wouldn't do that if it wasn't necessary, so it was totally your fault!

Despise him, answered the other part with raging hate, He's the one who hurt you, who brought you here and made your sister cry. Hate him, wish him death, because it's his fault, his fault that you are like this, that you and Jun have lost your home....

Both side were strong, trying to convince him. Daisuke just lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if he had gone mad, or if it was normal to hear such voices. Surely it wasn't normal, because he had never experienced it before...

He turned around and covered his ears, as if to block out the unheard voices. His chest hurt, a dull aching pain where his father had put the knife into his body.

"Stop it," he whimpered, the short fight with Tai long forgotten, "Make it stop..."

But nobody was there to hear his pleas and the voices sent him tumbling in a whirl of confusion and fear, until he cried himself to sleep.

"Mummy...can I have some ice-cream?" 5-year-old Daisuke pleaded, eyes huge in anticipation.

"Hmm...I don't know..." His mother pondered, "Only nice little children get sweets, ya know."

"I am nice! I have cleaned the dishes!" Davis protested.

"Oh yeah, and you destroyed three plates, I remember that clearly, my son." The woman shook her head and sighed. "But since it's such a wonderful summer day and I'm in a good mood, you can get one." She took out her purse and called for her daughter. "Jun? We are buying ice-cream, you want one, too?"

"Of course!" the girl squealed delighted and ran towards the duo.

Out of the shadows an older Daisuke watched, sorrow etched on his face. "Long time ago my life was lucky..." he whispered and wiped a single tear away. "Why not now? What happened?"

"Nobody knows," answered another voice, which startled the boy. He looked around and finally noticed Veemon, sitting in the green grass and smirking up at him.

"Veemon?" he asked confused. "What are you doing here? It's a dream!"

"Well, dude, you're dreaming that I'm here, so I'm here. I'm dream-Veemon!" the digimon flashed a grin and looked at the scenario once more. The little boy had now received his ice-cream and was eating it happily, only here and then disturbed by his sister who tried to tickle him so that his ice would fall to the ground. Veemon chuckled at this sight. "It's peaceful," he announced.

"It *was* peaceful," Davis corrected and sat down on the ground beside his friend. "Unlike it is now. I just wish I could go back in time and live here where everything is okay, where nobody wants to hurt me. I don't understand it, Vee, why did he do that?"

His friend and partner sighed and shook his head. "This is the question I asked myself every time I saw him beating you. And believe me, I never could find an answer. Miyako said that sometimes things like that happen, and that it is nobody's fault without the person who does it. That people can change, or that one event brings out the evilness which is in them. Perhaps your father was like an evil digimon, possessed by a dark spirit."

Daisuke frowned slightly. "Maybe..." he said absently and traced with his fingers on the ground. The laughter of the children echoed through the park and a warm summer sun was shining down on them.

Veemon looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You know, it's much easier to speak with you in your dreams than in real life," he stated and cocked his head.

His reply was a smile. "Well, maybe that's because I'm just dreaming you, and that means that you're actually a part of me, and so nobody will ever know the things I tell you. And...when I dream, I can put the dark sides of me behind, these voices which never stop shouting at me. Here's the only place where I can find peace. Nobody is disturbing me here." Daisuke sighed and looked at his younger self once again.

"I wonder," his voice trailed off, "I wonder if I will ever be able to laugh like that again - freely, without any grief and worry weighing me down..."

To be continued...


*chuckles* My poor Daisuke...so confused...well, I'm quite curious which side will win. *smiles*

By the way, some of your reviews were that nice that I just *had* to write answers^^

Satan Herself - How I do it? Well, that is difficult...I really don't know. I just started writing and then it happens...Broken Wings was actually first a poem and I never thought of making a story out of it, but then I started liking the idea and here I am...O.o Another thing is practise, I guess. I just recently read my first stories, and boy, they are BAD!...Maybe I should remove them, but then again, it's somehow interesting too see an improvement in my language.

Zentina - Wow...now that was a review which raised my spirit! Thanks a bunch, you don't know how much you helped me with it; I immediately started writing after I read it. It's really like...well, your day is bad and then you start the computer and reach such a computer - and immediately everything is okay again and you start smiling. Really, thank you! And I'm sorry that you cried...well, I'm happy that I managed it to get the emotions right, but I didn't anyone to cry...Thanks again! I can't say it enough, I mean, I love your review!! Wow....

Skywolf - Guilt on Yamato and TK? Hmm, I think all the DD's would feel a certain amount of guilt. After all, it happened right in front of their nose and they didn't notice it! But if I put every single reaction in it, the story will be 20+ chapters long, and I don't want that to happen...We'll see.

SnowTiger - Thanks for the kind words; it's actually a great relief when reviewered don't put more pressure on you by yelling 'The next chapter! Fast!'. I must admit that I did it more than once myself, but still...it's nice that people understand that sometimes chapters can't be written in a rush...

A.I. - Same for you^^ Thanks for the kind words! I just love Davis and Jun fics, because their characters are so...interesting!

Rukato Fan - Yes, angst is my favourite genre, along with drama^^. I can neither write pure romance nor humour, and it saddens me deeply. I have great ideas for humour stories, but when I out the words on the paper, it isn't funnay at all *sighs*

And thanks to everybody else who has reviewed - you make my day, really! Can't tell how glad I am about every single review*beams*