A/N: For all you people who have minds that have gone down the gutter and the only reason you're reading this fic is to hopefully see something rated NC-17 in it... I'll have to tell you ahead of time: No matter how this chapter SOUNDS... it will NEVER be (however you put Henry and Takato's names together)... now a Rukato.. might be something I'd write... Maybe even hook up Kazu and Kenta if I was REALLY bored...Ryo and Rika have a better chance then any of those, but anyways Leeki is what I write... so this fic is STAYING this way!
"Takato! Phone!"
Takato ran through the hall and down the stairs of the bakery his parents owned and grabbed the phone from his mother, then when the person on the other end started to talk, Takato was half tempted to just hang it up before he got into any more trouble.
"H-hi Henry..."
"Rika and R-Renamon, huh?"
"Yes, yes I did sorta--"
"Well look I didn't mean to--"
"I know I promised you I'd--"
"My goodness will you just let me finish one sentance?!" Takato shrieked, flailing his arm like Henry could see him. Silence followed and Takato sighed. "Thank you."
"Look, Henry, she needs to know, Renamon was like, her life. You couldn't hide it forever." Takato twisted the phone cord nervously around his hand, hoping Henry would understand.
Henry narrowed his eyes and glanced over at the small balcony outside his window where Rika and Renamon stood, obviously talking about the past by the red eyes Rika had from crying.
"I know I couldn't have, but she's JUST remembering me, she really didn't need that to make her life even more complicated." Henry groaned, laying back on his bed and putting his hand over his eyes in a stressed motion.
Takato balanced the phone on his shoulder and placed some fresh bread on the glass counter for his father.
"Tell me this then, look at her right now if you can, does she look like her life is complicated?"
Silence followed and Takato smirked. "That's what I thought." he said in a voice no-one would have expected out of Takato Matsuki.
"I'll say it again, Renamon was her life..."
"Yeah well so was I..." Henry choked out, almost in a whisper.
A click, then a tone followed, and Takato lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it. Henry didn't normally hang up on people unless it was a telemarketer, or someone of that sort.
With an agitated sigh, Takato slammed the phone on the wall unit and marched back up the stairs to his room, yanking open his bedroom door furiously, and stomped into his room, sitting down quickly on his chair at his desk.
"Why am I so angry?" he suddenly asked himself, a blank look crossing his face.
The next day was relatively cooler than the past weeks, tempatures only reaching eighty degrees, which pulled the tamers out their front doors, and down towards the park known now for it's headquarters.
Rika strolled down the sidewalks of the Shinjuku area, past shops, bakeries, and apartments, in a pair of white jeans and a loose ocean-blue t-shirt, hair dangling around her shoulders.
Her hands jammed in her pockets, she walked briskly through the city, not really watching where she was going as she stared down at the sidewalk, pieces of green grass peeking out from the cracks, and a few stray ants scurried across, but Rika never noticed anything, not even that her wrists were brushing against her silver glitter belt, scratching them and leaving the sparkly remains there too.
She didn't even notice the very object of her deep thoughts backing out of a brick building right in front of her, until a collision sent both her and Henry Wong blinking in shock as they sat on the ground, trying to remember what happened.
"Rika!" Henry said rather quickly, jumping to his feet, and offering his hand down to her.
Rika still a bit in shock, softly took his hand, and was pulled gently up.
Henry smiled at her. "Sleep well last night?"
"I fell asleep against a fox..." Rika remarked sharply, just as a flash of Renamon's voice went through her head, and she laughed. "Sorry Renamon."
Henry laughed. "You'll get used to them knowing all and seeing all soon enough."
Rika brushed down her shirt. "I better... it's driving me crazy."
"Ow....."
Rika's attention went to Henry's backpack, which Henry had originally landed on.
"Did that ju--"
"HENRY LET ME OUT OF HERE BEFORE I DIE PLEASE!!"
Rika jumped back in shock as Henry took off his backpack, unzipped it, and a small white and green creature jumped out, rubbing his back with his small little paw.
"Uh.... oh..."
Terriermon spotted the wide-eyed Rika, and winced, slowly looking up at the teenage boy holding him, the one with the irretated and angry look across his gray eyes.
"Terriermon...." Henry groaned through his teeth.
"Don't give me that Terriermon stuff!" Terriermon insisted, putting his small little hands on his hips.
"It's not my fault you had to just go after I told you to hide from Ri--"
Rika's hand, that had gone up to her mouth in shock, was now just covering it to keep back small giggles, but they escaped anyways, causing Henry to stop mid-sentance and look up at her, smiling.
"Oh boy." Terriermon rolled his eyes.
Henry tightened his grip, knocking the air out of the little digimon's stomach as he kept a plastered smile on his face.
"So where were you going?" Henry asked through his teeth, trying to keep the smile on his face.
Rika just giggled harder at the look on his face, pushed past him, and kept on her journey.
"Oh yeah nice going, bub." Terriermon snorted, watching Rika walk away, in stitches.
"Terriermon!"
"What?"
"We're already together.. I don't need to impress her anymore than before." Henry smirked, tempted to stick his tounge out at his little digimon.
"Yeah, yeah I hear you.." Terriermon sighed, crawling up on Henry's head and letting his ears dangle.
Henry sighed and sprinted into a run, seeing Rika was almost a quarter of a mile away already.
"Rika!"
Rika clasped her hands behind her back and smiled as she stepped into the small diner, and up to the bar, taking a seat and looking up at a brown-haired girl, dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt with the word 'Angel' written across the front.
"Hey, uh..." Rika held up her hand and closed her eyes, putting the other on her forehead. "No.. no don't tell me.. I can think of it..."
"Cary.." she said looking up, pointing at the hazel-eyed girl.
The girl laughed and shook her head, wiping down the wooden bar with a rag. "Jeri." she corrected, looking up at the bell on the door ringing again as Henry stepped in.
"Hey, Henry."
"Jeri.." Henry nodded in acknowledgment, sitting beside Rika as Terriermon jumped off his head and down on the next stool over.
Jeri gave Henry a look out of the corner of her eye, and continued to wipe down the counter. "I see Rika knows about Terriermon." she said simply.
Rika nodded a responce for Henry, leaned forward on the counter to look at Terriermon.
"Not like I meant for her to.." Henry shrugged and grabbed one of the menus in front of Rika.
"What's the special today?"
"What do you think we are, a bistro?" Jeri almost snapped, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Henry laughed, scanning his eyes across the menu.
"Can I get you anything, Rika?"
"A soda will be fine.." Rika shrugged, looking over at Henry, putting elbows on the counter and setting her chin in her hands.
"Any specific type?" Jeri raised one eyebrow, backing up to open the refridgerator.
Rika shook her head without taking her eyes off Henry.
"Nah...."
Jeri shrugged, and took out a can of orange soda, closest to where she stood and set it down in front of Rika, then looked over at Henry. "Well?"
Henry set the menu back down and sighed. "Just get me a sandwich, whichever is convienient."
"Coming right up." Jeri grinned and turned to start up the meal.
Rika sighed, running her finger down the cold can of soda in front of her, then looked over at Henry, lowering her voice so Jeri couldn't hear.
"Do you think.. I'll ever get my memory back?" she whispered rather hoarsly, trying despratly to fight back any tears trying to force their way up.
Henry sent his attention to the auburn haired girl, and smiled as sweetly as possible.
"Sure you will, I have faith in you..."
"Faith can move mountains, Henry... but can it help me?"
Rika's eyes shifted back to the soda as she edged her fingernail under the tab and pulled it up.
Henry fell silent, watching her. He turned his head back forwards, and took the soda Jeri had set in front of him also.
Rika took a sip of hers, and continued.
"I mean, if I can't remember anything, like my memory never comes back, it's going to kill me the rest of my life."
Henry rested his elbows on the counter, holding the soda up a few inches off the counter.
"I know, but you'll get it back."
"I hope so..."
~~~A/N: K I don't own The Calling.. or have anything to do with their tour plans, if any as of this moment, but I'm using it anyways because I LOVE the group and.. okay so just read.~~~~~
Weeks flew by faster than Henry and Rika could keep track, memories creeping back into Rika's mind one by one as she tried to piece together her lost past.
She remembered digimon battles, how much she had hated her mother, how much she had longed for her father... her first kiss.
But one of the most vital parts of her life was still missing, the entire months leading up to the September after Henry had professed his love to her were a blur, she couldn't remember any of it. Renamon told her stories of the adventure they had, the night she and Terriermon had turned into human forms, over and over again, and Rika never tired of hearing it. It all seemed like a mystical fairy tale to her, she couldn't believe that it had been her life half the time. Stories of wanting to go to the digital world, battling a few devas, and Jeri's adventures with Leomon flooded in from every other source, may it be Henry or Kazu, she got them all, wide-eyed with amazement as she listened.
But at this exact time, she sat on a rock, looking over at Guilmon who sat just inside the small headquaters, explaining the first time Renamon had digivolved to the ultimate level to her, in his squeaky little voice.
Rika still held the look of a five-year-old being told about a princess in a far away castle, even with Guilmon telling the story.
"And she became Taolmon." Guilmon finished, popping a piece of bread in his mouth and going back to his usual buisness of digging up as much dirt as possible.
"Wow..." Rika whispered, then looked down at the blue and white device attached to her glittery jeans.
Guilmon popped his head out of the hole, ears perked up. "It's not as cool as Takatomon digivolving me.." he remarked, then ducked back under, and yelled, an echo coming from the deep hole. "... Takatomon is the best tamer EVER!" he boasted proudly of his brown haired tamer.
Rika stood up from the rock and walked in, peering over the edge of the hole. It was too dark to see anything, but she could faintly see dirt flying from the small claws of Guilmon.
"Aha!!" he exclaimed happily, a large box flying out of the hole. Rika darted backwards in one jump, with a small shriek, as the box landed exactly where she had been standing.
"Sorry!" Guilmon yelled, then scurried up the side of the dirt wall with much small groaning as he pulled his weight to the top. "Takatomon has to stop bringing me peanut butter.." she heard him groan under his breath as he pulled himself up out of the hole. His attitude changed however, having set his eyes on the blue plastic box.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Guilmon pointed to it with his claw and jumped towards it, lifting the lid.
Now this box was like a plastic shoebox, one of those you'd get at a store like Wal-Mart, and was clearly from one of the tamer's rooms.
"This is Kenta's box..." Guilmon laughed. "Takato told me he stole it."
"Oh." was Rika's only responce as she ducked from the flying top as Guilmon threw it backwards.
Guilmon pushed the box towards Rika. "Here.. look at it all... it maybe will help."
Rika picked up the box, and carried it outside in the spring sunlight, back out onto the rock all the tamers had carved their initals in, Kenta having the bright idea to have Takato put his over Jeri's and then have Rika right the & symbol in between them. They never let them off the hook for that one, even now.
Rika sat down on the rock and started going through the what appeared to be hundreds of photographs that sat inside.
Rika lifted about twenty out, and set the box back down at her feet, going through them, smiling at most being Suzy and Henry playing in the park. She kept on filtering through them. Pictures of her and Jeri, Jeri and Takato with a heart painted around it with the pink nailpolish Rika's mom had bought for her, and Rika had used just to get on Takato's nerves. She flipped to the next picture, one of Takato, Henry, and herself in one pose, the pink nailpolish used again to make horns and a beard on Takato. Rika giggled and kept going.
Pictures of all the tamers, most of which Kenta had snapped, filled the box. To Rika's surprise, she remembered most these shots, as if just holding the pictures brought back the memory.
Then she found the picture lined with silver tin foil, easy to see had been attached on by Suzy and decorated with pink glitter and small pink confetti hearts.
Inside the homemade frame created by the little girl's hands, was a picture of Henry, Rika, and Suzy, all fast asleep on the couch in Henry's apartment.
Rika ran her fingers over the picture, the memory of something of that sort running back into her mind as if pleading to be let back in.
She dropped the picture to the ground just as Henry rounded the corner and smiled at her.
"Hello Rika." he said in his normally cheerful voice.
"Henry.." she nodded, smiling back.
Henry looked down at the blue-colored box at Rika's feet and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "What's that?"
A flash of Suzy went through her mind at the way he asked the question, that caused her to smile again. "Some photographs."
"Can I see?" Henry asked, sitting down beside her on the rock and leaning down and picking some up without an answer to the question.
Rika stayed silent as he fingered over the same picture she had. "Wow... Dad must've taken this picture." he whispered.
Rika just nodded and slid over on the rock enough to sit right up against him, looking over his shoulder.
"I can remember that."
Henry smiled. He was used to hearing that remark from her now, as he told her stories of their adventures, a blank look crossing her face as she struggled to bring back a foreign thought to her, and suceeded moments later with the 'I can remember that' remark. But then, it was always bright and cheerful, like a little child who finally learned to tie her shoelaces, but now, her voice was soft, gentle, and calm.
Henry wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled. "Good." he responded to her in the same matter she had remarked in.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Renamon's helping this too.. the doctor said I should have all my memories back within a week at the least." she slurred the last words together quickly in hopes for them to skip over Henry's attention, but they didn't.
"At the least?" he asked almost in a horrified voice.
Rika shook her head side to side. "We're not sure if I'm going to remember everything.. but Henry, look... I remember this." she touched the photograph gently with her fingertip, and just as Henry turned his head to look at it, she kissed his cheek. "I don't need to remember every digimon battle, every remark I ever threw at Takato... I just need to remember us.." she moved her hand to his knee and gently ran her fingers across it. "..and I do."
Henry turned his head back towards her, murmured her name, and leaned forward to kiss her.
"DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YET?!"
Both tamers looked up quickly at Guilmon yelling from inside the small headquarters.
They both laughed timidly and stood up, hand in hand. "No... you stay there..." Rika smiled, laying her head on Henry's shoulder.
"Oh.. okay!"
A loud gasp echoed around the circular booth in the diner when Takato stood in the walkway flashing a few tickets to a concert in his hands.
"How the heck did you get your hands on those?!" Kazu exclaimed, standing up in his seat which was in the middle of the whole curved seat, setting his hands firmly on the table to hold himself up.
Takato smirked. "Jealous?"
"Com'on Takato, answer his question..." Kenta urged, pulling Kazu back down in the seat by the back of his shirt.
"Yeah..." Jeri chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in the seat.
"Oh fine, you take all the fun out of it." Takato sank into the red leather seat beside Jeri and tucked the tickets back into his pocket. "I won the radio contest the other day. I got four tickets to the concert and I have to figure out who to take."
Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta exchanged glances with each other, then looked back at Takato.
"Well, what about us?" Kenta asked as smoothly as possible.
Takato frowned. "That's just it... if I take you I have a feeling Rika and Henry will feel left out."
"So what? Com'on Chumley, you know well enough that they are going to do nothing but stare into each other's eyes throughout the whole concert anyways." Kazu snorted.
Takato chuckled. "Yeah.. true."
"So what? He and Jeri would do the same thing too..." Kenta nudged Kazu in the side, and both laughed.
A bolt of red shot through both Jeri and Takato's cheeks, and Takato rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Well... I didn't know if Jeri wanted to go or n--"
"What? Of course I wanted to go! It's the first time The Calling has been on tour over here in Japan and I listen to their music everytime I'm at Rika's house."
Takato just looked at Jeri a moment with a blank expression on his face, then raised one eyebrow. "Well that settles that I guess."
"Wait.. you're taking her just because she heard the music at Rika's house?!" Kazu exclaimed loudly, causing a few heads to turn in the small resturant.
Takato glared at him, a signal for him to shut up. "No." he snapped. "Because I want to. I won the tickets, not you. It's my decision, okay? You have a problem with that?"
"Well yes I d---" Kazu was pulled into the seat again by both Kenta and Jeri just as Henry and Rika walked into the resturant and spotted them.
"Don't make me look like an idiot in front of them.." Kenta growled in his ear.
"Dude, we already do look like idiots in front of them..." Kazu growled back, and immediatly tried to think of a way to grab those tickets from Takato.
The light of the TV screen flashed a blue color across the sofa Rika and Henry sat on in the dark, crashes from planes echoing in the living room of the Wong apartment.
Another parental date had been set that night, and Rika's mother was at a fashion shoot, so both Rika and Henry were stuck with Suzy-watching duty, which neither really minded. She usually just sat back in her bedroom playing dress-up with digimon, usually having them parade around in pink skirts, or whatever she dug out of her mother's closet for Renamon to wear, mostly causing Henry and Rika to burst into fits of roaring laughter, a rush of red going across the digimon's faces, Renamon in particular.. and Suzy knew it'd make them laugh, so she threw up to four hats on each and used up all the fake lipstick she had received for Christmas.
But now, it was past eleven at night, and Suzy was well off into bed, Henry about there too by the nodding of his head Rika saw out of the corner of her eye.
"Go to sleep, Henry..." she said simply, smiling at him.
"No.. no I'm not going to leave you out here alone."
Rika almost laughed at the sudden remark he made. "It's your house, Henry.. not a digital field.. I'll be all right." She pointed towards a sleeping orange cat curled up in one of the chairs. "And that's Mittens, not a deva..."
"I get the point..." Henry sighed, summoning all his strength to stand up, and still letting out a slight groan.
"Goodnight Henry.." she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the sofa as he bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight Rika..." he responded, then vanished around the dark corner leading down the hall.
Rika settled herself back in the couch again and stared at the TV, making her eyes ache from the flashing light, and soon she flipped the channel off the violent movie to a calmer show, and flipped a single light on, sending a soft glow across the room, and soon the silence was broken by soft footsteps coming from down the hall.
Rika looked up from her seat at a small child rubbing her eyes with her fist, clutching a stuff pink bunny to her chest with one arm.
Rika smiled warmly at Suzy, and extended her arms to the child, a gesture for her to come towards her.
Suzy was soon pressed against Rika's side, wrapped in a throw and half asleep.
The volume of the TV was turned down drasticly, and was barely audible, and with a slow turn from Suzy, a silent remark to Rika that she was still awake, Rika ran her fingers up and down the small child's back and started to hum a soft song that seemed to be coming off from the top of her head.
She soon broke into nothing more than 'la's, singing the same tune over again until the small girl fell sound asleep, but she kept on singing, a sense of peace washing over her own self from the tune.
Henry lay awake in his bedroom, his bed on the same wall as Rika sat on the opposite side, and he listened to the soft song being sung, and rolled over, drifting off to sleep himself.
"Takato! Phone!"
Takato ran through the hall and down the stairs of the bakery his parents owned and grabbed the phone from his mother, then when the person on the other end started to talk, Takato was half tempted to just hang it up before he got into any more trouble.
"H-hi Henry..."
"Rika and R-Renamon, huh?"
"Yes, yes I did sorta--"
"Well look I didn't mean to--"
"I know I promised you I'd--"
"My goodness will you just let me finish one sentance?!" Takato shrieked, flailing his arm like Henry could see him. Silence followed and Takato sighed. "Thank you."
"Look, Henry, she needs to know, Renamon was like, her life. You couldn't hide it forever." Takato twisted the phone cord nervously around his hand, hoping Henry would understand.
Henry narrowed his eyes and glanced over at the small balcony outside his window where Rika and Renamon stood, obviously talking about the past by the red eyes Rika had from crying.
"I know I couldn't have, but she's JUST remembering me, she really didn't need that to make her life even more complicated." Henry groaned, laying back on his bed and putting his hand over his eyes in a stressed motion.
Takato balanced the phone on his shoulder and placed some fresh bread on the glass counter for his father.
"Tell me this then, look at her right now if you can, does she look like her life is complicated?"
Silence followed and Takato smirked. "That's what I thought." he said in a voice no-one would have expected out of Takato Matsuki.
"I'll say it again, Renamon was her life..."
"Yeah well so was I..." Henry choked out, almost in a whisper.
A click, then a tone followed, and Takato lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it. Henry didn't normally hang up on people unless it was a telemarketer, or someone of that sort.
With an agitated sigh, Takato slammed the phone on the wall unit and marched back up the stairs to his room, yanking open his bedroom door furiously, and stomped into his room, sitting down quickly on his chair at his desk.
"Why am I so angry?" he suddenly asked himself, a blank look crossing his face.
The next day was relatively cooler than the past weeks, tempatures only reaching eighty degrees, which pulled the tamers out their front doors, and down towards the park known now for it's headquarters.
Rika strolled down the sidewalks of the Shinjuku area, past shops, bakeries, and apartments, in a pair of white jeans and a loose ocean-blue t-shirt, hair dangling around her shoulders.
Her hands jammed in her pockets, she walked briskly through the city, not really watching where she was going as she stared down at the sidewalk, pieces of green grass peeking out from the cracks, and a few stray ants scurried across, but Rika never noticed anything, not even that her wrists were brushing against her silver glitter belt, scratching them and leaving the sparkly remains there too.
She didn't even notice the very object of her deep thoughts backing out of a brick building right in front of her, until a collision sent both her and Henry Wong blinking in shock as they sat on the ground, trying to remember what happened.
"Rika!" Henry said rather quickly, jumping to his feet, and offering his hand down to her.
Rika still a bit in shock, softly took his hand, and was pulled gently up.
Henry smiled at her. "Sleep well last night?"
"I fell asleep against a fox..." Rika remarked sharply, just as a flash of Renamon's voice went through her head, and she laughed. "Sorry Renamon."
Henry laughed. "You'll get used to them knowing all and seeing all soon enough."
Rika brushed down her shirt. "I better... it's driving me crazy."
"Ow....."
Rika's attention went to Henry's backpack, which Henry had originally landed on.
"Did that ju--"
"HENRY LET ME OUT OF HERE BEFORE I DIE PLEASE!!"
Rika jumped back in shock as Henry took off his backpack, unzipped it, and a small white and green creature jumped out, rubbing his back with his small little paw.
"Uh.... oh..."
Terriermon spotted the wide-eyed Rika, and winced, slowly looking up at the teenage boy holding him, the one with the irretated and angry look across his gray eyes.
"Terriermon...." Henry groaned through his teeth.
"Don't give me that Terriermon stuff!" Terriermon insisted, putting his small little hands on his hips.
"It's not my fault you had to just go after I told you to hide from Ri--"
Rika's hand, that had gone up to her mouth in shock, was now just covering it to keep back small giggles, but they escaped anyways, causing Henry to stop mid-sentance and look up at her, smiling.
"Oh boy." Terriermon rolled his eyes.
Henry tightened his grip, knocking the air out of the little digimon's stomach as he kept a plastered smile on his face.
"So where were you going?" Henry asked through his teeth, trying to keep the smile on his face.
Rika just giggled harder at the look on his face, pushed past him, and kept on her journey.
"Oh yeah nice going, bub." Terriermon snorted, watching Rika walk away, in stitches.
"Terriermon!"
"What?"
"We're already together.. I don't need to impress her anymore than before." Henry smirked, tempted to stick his tounge out at his little digimon.
"Yeah, yeah I hear you.." Terriermon sighed, crawling up on Henry's head and letting his ears dangle.
Henry sighed and sprinted into a run, seeing Rika was almost a quarter of a mile away already.
"Rika!"
Rika clasped her hands behind her back and smiled as she stepped into the small diner, and up to the bar, taking a seat and looking up at a brown-haired girl, dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt with the word 'Angel' written across the front.
"Hey, uh..." Rika held up her hand and closed her eyes, putting the other on her forehead. "No.. no don't tell me.. I can think of it..."
"Cary.." she said looking up, pointing at the hazel-eyed girl.
The girl laughed and shook her head, wiping down the wooden bar with a rag. "Jeri." she corrected, looking up at the bell on the door ringing again as Henry stepped in.
"Hey, Henry."
"Jeri.." Henry nodded in acknowledgment, sitting beside Rika as Terriermon jumped off his head and down on the next stool over.
Jeri gave Henry a look out of the corner of her eye, and continued to wipe down the counter. "I see Rika knows about Terriermon." she said simply.
Rika nodded a responce for Henry, leaned forward on the counter to look at Terriermon.
"Not like I meant for her to.." Henry shrugged and grabbed one of the menus in front of Rika.
"What's the special today?"
"What do you think we are, a bistro?" Jeri almost snapped, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Henry laughed, scanning his eyes across the menu.
"Can I get you anything, Rika?"
"A soda will be fine.." Rika shrugged, looking over at Henry, putting elbows on the counter and setting her chin in her hands.
"Any specific type?" Jeri raised one eyebrow, backing up to open the refridgerator.
Rika shook her head without taking her eyes off Henry.
"Nah...."
Jeri shrugged, and took out a can of orange soda, closest to where she stood and set it down in front of Rika, then looked over at Henry. "Well?"
Henry set the menu back down and sighed. "Just get me a sandwich, whichever is convienient."
"Coming right up." Jeri grinned and turned to start up the meal.
Rika sighed, running her finger down the cold can of soda in front of her, then looked over at Henry, lowering her voice so Jeri couldn't hear.
"Do you think.. I'll ever get my memory back?" she whispered rather hoarsly, trying despratly to fight back any tears trying to force their way up.
Henry sent his attention to the auburn haired girl, and smiled as sweetly as possible.
"Sure you will, I have faith in you..."
"Faith can move mountains, Henry... but can it help me?"
Rika's eyes shifted back to the soda as she edged her fingernail under the tab and pulled it up.
Henry fell silent, watching her. He turned his head back forwards, and took the soda Jeri had set in front of him also.
Rika took a sip of hers, and continued.
"I mean, if I can't remember anything, like my memory never comes back, it's going to kill me the rest of my life."
Henry rested his elbows on the counter, holding the soda up a few inches off the counter.
"I know, but you'll get it back."
"I hope so..."
~~~A/N: K I don't own The Calling.. or have anything to do with their tour plans, if any as of this moment, but I'm using it anyways because I LOVE the group and.. okay so just read.~~~~~
Weeks flew by faster than Henry and Rika could keep track, memories creeping back into Rika's mind one by one as she tried to piece together her lost past.
She remembered digimon battles, how much she had hated her mother, how much she had longed for her father... her first kiss.
But one of the most vital parts of her life was still missing, the entire months leading up to the September after Henry had professed his love to her were a blur, she couldn't remember any of it. Renamon told her stories of the adventure they had, the night she and Terriermon had turned into human forms, over and over again, and Rika never tired of hearing it. It all seemed like a mystical fairy tale to her, she couldn't believe that it had been her life half the time. Stories of wanting to go to the digital world, battling a few devas, and Jeri's adventures with Leomon flooded in from every other source, may it be Henry or Kazu, she got them all, wide-eyed with amazement as she listened.
But at this exact time, she sat on a rock, looking over at Guilmon who sat just inside the small headquaters, explaining the first time Renamon had digivolved to the ultimate level to her, in his squeaky little voice.
Rika still held the look of a five-year-old being told about a princess in a far away castle, even with Guilmon telling the story.
"And she became Taolmon." Guilmon finished, popping a piece of bread in his mouth and going back to his usual buisness of digging up as much dirt as possible.
"Wow..." Rika whispered, then looked down at the blue and white device attached to her glittery jeans.
Guilmon popped his head out of the hole, ears perked up. "It's not as cool as Takatomon digivolving me.." he remarked, then ducked back under, and yelled, an echo coming from the deep hole. "... Takatomon is the best tamer EVER!" he boasted proudly of his brown haired tamer.
Rika stood up from the rock and walked in, peering over the edge of the hole. It was too dark to see anything, but she could faintly see dirt flying from the small claws of Guilmon.
"Aha!!" he exclaimed happily, a large box flying out of the hole. Rika darted backwards in one jump, with a small shriek, as the box landed exactly where she had been standing.
"Sorry!" Guilmon yelled, then scurried up the side of the dirt wall with much small groaning as he pulled his weight to the top. "Takatomon has to stop bringing me peanut butter.." she heard him groan under his breath as he pulled himself up out of the hole. His attitude changed however, having set his eyes on the blue plastic box.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Guilmon pointed to it with his claw and jumped towards it, lifting the lid.
Now this box was like a plastic shoebox, one of those you'd get at a store like Wal-Mart, and was clearly from one of the tamer's rooms.
"This is Kenta's box..." Guilmon laughed. "Takato told me he stole it."
"Oh." was Rika's only responce as she ducked from the flying top as Guilmon threw it backwards.
Guilmon pushed the box towards Rika. "Here.. look at it all... it maybe will help."
Rika picked up the box, and carried it outside in the spring sunlight, back out onto the rock all the tamers had carved their initals in, Kenta having the bright idea to have Takato put his over Jeri's and then have Rika right the & symbol in between them. They never let them off the hook for that one, even now.
Rika sat down on the rock and started going through the what appeared to be hundreds of photographs that sat inside.
Rika lifted about twenty out, and set the box back down at her feet, going through them, smiling at most being Suzy and Henry playing in the park. She kept on filtering through them. Pictures of her and Jeri, Jeri and Takato with a heart painted around it with the pink nailpolish Rika's mom had bought for her, and Rika had used just to get on Takato's nerves. She flipped to the next picture, one of Takato, Henry, and herself in one pose, the pink nailpolish used again to make horns and a beard on Takato. Rika giggled and kept going.
Pictures of all the tamers, most of which Kenta had snapped, filled the box. To Rika's surprise, she remembered most these shots, as if just holding the pictures brought back the memory.
Then she found the picture lined with silver tin foil, easy to see had been attached on by Suzy and decorated with pink glitter and small pink confetti hearts.
Inside the homemade frame created by the little girl's hands, was a picture of Henry, Rika, and Suzy, all fast asleep on the couch in Henry's apartment.
Rika ran her fingers over the picture, the memory of something of that sort running back into her mind as if pleading to be let back in.
She dropped the picture to the ground just as Henry rounded the corner and smiled at her.
"Hello Rika." he said in his normally cheerful voice.
"Henry.." she nodded, smiling back.
Henry looked down at the blue-colored box at Rika's feet and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "What's that?"
A flash of Suzy went through her mind at the way he asked the question, that caused her to smile again. "Some photographs."
"Can I see?" Henry asked, sitting down beside her on the rock and leaning down and picking some up without an answer to the question.
Rika stayed silent as he fingered over the same picture she had. "Wow... Dad must've taken this picture." he whispered.
Rika just nodded and slid over on the rock enough to sit right up against him, looking over his shoulder.
"I can remember that."
Henry smiled. He was used to hearing that remark from her now, as he told her stories of their adventures, a blank look crossing her face as she struggled to bring back a foreign thought to her, and suceeded moments later with the 'I can remember that' remark. But then, it was always bright and cheerful, like a little child who finally learned to tie her shoelaces, but now, her voice was soft, gentle, and calm.
Henry wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled. "Good." he responded to her in the same matter she had remarked in.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Renamon's helping this too.. the doctor said I should have all my memories back within a week at the least." she slurred the last words together quickly in hopes for them to skip over Henry's attention, but they didn't.
"At the least?" he asked almost in a horrified voice.
Rika shook her head side to side. "We're not sure if I'm going to remember everything.. but Henry, look... I remember this." she touched the photograph gently with her fingertip, and just as Henry turned his head to look at it, she kissed his cheek. "I don't need to remember every digimon battle, every remark I ever threw at Takato... I just need to remember us.." she moved her hand to his knee and gently ran her fingers across it. "..and I do."
Henry turned his head back towards her, murmured her name, and leaned forward to kiss her.
"DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YET?!"
Both tamers looked up quickly at Guilmon yelling from inside the small headquarters.
They both laughed timidly and stood up, hand in hand. "No... you stay there..." Rika smiled, laying her head on Henry's shoulder.
"Oh.. okay!"
A loud gasp echoed around the circular booth in the diner when Takato stood in the walkway flashing a few tickets to a concert in his hands.
"How the heck did you get your hands on those?!" Kazu exclaimed, standing up in his seat which was in the middle of the whole curved seat, setting his hands firmly on the table to hold himself up.
Takato smirked. "Jealous?"
"Com'on Takato, answer his question..." Kenta urged, pulling Kazu back down in the seat by the back of his shirt.
"Yeah..." Jeri chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in the seat.
"Oh fine, you take all the fun out of it." Takato sank into the red leather seat beside Jeri and tucked the tickets back into his pocket. "I won the radio contest the other day. I got four tickets to the concert and I have to figure out who to take."
Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta exchanged glances with each other, then looked back at Takato.
"Well, what about us?" Kenta asked as smoothly as possible.
Takato frowned. "That's just it... if I take you I have a feeling Rika and Henry will feel left out."
"So what? Com'on Chumley, you know well enough that they are going to do nothing but stare into each other's eyes throughout the whole concert anyways." Kazu snorted.
Takato chuckled. "Yeah.. true."
"So what? He and Jeri would do the same thing too..." Kenta nudged Kazu in the side, and both laughed.
A bolt of red shot through both Jeri and Takato's cheeks, and Takato rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Well... I didn't know if Jeri wanted to go or n--"
"What? Of course I wanted to go! It's the first time The Calling has been on tour over here in Japan and I listen to their music everytime I'm at Rika's house."
Takato just looked at Jeri a moment with a blank expression on his face, then raised one eyebrow. "Well that settles that I guess."
"Wait.. you're taking her just because she heard the music at Rika's house?!" Kazu exclaimed loudly, causing a few heads to turn in the small resturant.
Takato glared at him, a signal for him to shut up. "No." he snapped. "Because I want to. I won the tickets, not you. It's my decision, okay? You have a problem with that?"
"Well yes I d---" Kazu was pulled into the seat again by both Kenta and Jeri just as Henry and Rika walked into the resturant and spotted them.
"Don't make me look like an idiot in front of them.." Kenta growled in his ear.
"Dude, we already do look like idiots in front of them..." Kazu growled back, and immediatly tried to think of a way to grab those tickets from Takato.
The light of the TV screen flashed a blue color across the sofa Rika and Henry sat on in the dark, crashes from planes echoing in the living room of the Wong apartment.
Another parental date had been set that night, and Rika's mother was at a fashion shoot, so both Rika and Henry were stuck with Suzy-watching duty, which neither really minded. She usually just sat back in her bedroom playing dress-up with digimon, usually having them parade around in pink skirts, or whatever she dug out of her mother's closet for Renamon to wear, mostly causing Henry and Rika to burst into fits of roaring laughter, a rush of red going across the digimon's faces, Renamon in particular.. and Suzy knew it'd make them laugh, so she threw up to four hats on each and used up all the fake lipstick she had received for Christmas.
But now, it was past eleven at night, and Suzy was well off into bed, Henry about there too by the nodding of his head Rika saw out of the corner of her eye.
"Go to sleep, Henry..." she said simply, smiling at him.
"No.. no I'm not going to leave you out here alone."
Rika almost laughed at the sudden remark he made. "It's your house, Henry.. not a digital field.. I'll be all right." She pointed towards a sleeping orange cat curled up in one of the chairs. "And that's Mittens, not a deva..."
"I get the point..." Henry sighed, summoning all his strength to stand up, and still letting out a slight groan.
"Goodnight Henry.." she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the sofa as he bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight Rika..." he responded, then vanished around the dark corner leading down the hall.
Rika settled herself back in the couch again and stared at the TV, making her eyes ache from the flashing light, and soon she flipped the channel off the violent movie to a calmer show, and flipped a single light on, sending a soft glow across the room, and soon the silence was broken by soft footsteps coming from down the hall.
Rika looked up from her seat at a small child rubbing her eyes with her fist, clutching a stuff pink bunny to her chest with one arm.
Rika smiled warmly at Suzy, and extended her arms to the child, a gesture for her to come towards her.
Suzy was soon pressed against Rika's side, wrapped in a throw and half asleep.
The volume of the TV was turned down drasticly, and was barely audible, and with a slow turn from Suzy, a silent remark to Rika that she was still awake, Rika ran her fingers up and down the small child's back and started to hum a soft song that seemed to be coming off from the top of her head.
She soon broke into nothing more than 'la's, singing the same tune over again until the small girl fell sound asleep, but she kept on singing, a sense of peace washing over her own self from the tune.
Henry lay awake in his bedroom, his bed on the same wall as Rika sat on the opposite side, and he listened to the soft song being sung, and rolled over, drifting off to sleep himself.