One Week...
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
.........
Elle787: Daydreamer, you can't...! I would have thought you of all people wouldn't have done that to 'him' of all people... right???
RD: Patience, Elle!
Bi: Who're you texting?
RD: Elle787, my fanfic beta tester.
Bi [humming to herself] Don't you worry- about a thing-
RD: [smiling generously] ...Cos every little thing is gonna be all right.
Bi: Is it?
RD: You'll have to see.
.............
Long chapter! Dedicated to Elle for her constant badgering. Sorry, dropped hints. Persuasion. Whatever. Also- I'm again using * to denote a change of viewpoint, and ~ for thoughts, where I'd put italics if this confounded Fanfic.net system would let me. Hold onto your digital hats (even if they're as strange-looking as Yolei's), it gets hectic.
Also, anyone who's sharp ought to understand once I've been going for a while. Can you count?
...........
Part Eleven:
The Most Beautiful Week of my Life
The Digimon spoke in a triumphant voice, apparently unaware of our presence. He was gloating.
"At last the Digiworld is mine. I didn't think it would be so easy. The Digimon have obviously lost their faith in the Light. Although that's not so surprising, if you consider that the Light did nothing for them when the winter came... A lucky coincidence, that, to achieve my highest power in a Digiworld millennium winter, the coldest for a thousand years. And even after my digivolution device was stolen, I could crawl through the tunnels that honeycomb these mountains. Luckily I managed to get within the required distance to digivolve and become strong. So now I am at my most powerful and none of them will oppose me."
*
I started whispering to the others. "Spread out. Get out of his sight."
"What, precisely, are we going to DO?" muttered Joe, but he obeyed me. They all obeyed me. I guess I was back where I belonged, in a way, making snap decisions and leading the group.
We found hiding places, where we could see but hopefully not be seen. I crouched down in a clump of snow-covered bushes and listened to this digital maniac talk.
"Digimon of the world!" he shouted. I'd imagine they could hear him, too. From a long way off I saw Kari cover her ears with her hands.
"Digimon of the world, listen and attend. I will be your guardian now, since the forces of Light have left."
I suddenly had a terrifying picture of what the Digiworld would be like with this guy as its guardian. I shuddered.
"Listen," he boomed. "Do not try to tell me, or anyone else, otherwise. The Light no longer exists. In fact, it never existed. There was never any light or dark, just... weakness and strength. Today you will recognise that. I challenge you: is there anyone, any creature at all down there, who still thinks it believes in the Light?"
There was a still silence.
~I won't be making anything better if I let him know I'm here. The best thing is to stay here...~
...but suddenly I was being watched.
From a viewpoint eight years in the past, by a spiky-haired kid with goggles on his forehead and an orange-yellow lizard by his side. A kid who wasn't scared of anything. He was talking to me.
~Gonna let him act like that, Tai?~
~No way.~
I shoved myself up off the ground and cupped my hands around my mouth to shout.
"Hey, you up there!"
He looked down. I tried to keep my nerve. Now I'd got his attention, I had to say something. But what? Ah. The only thing I could say, really.
"I... believe!"
For one brilliant moment he looked like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. Not that I've ever seen a giant Digimon hit by a sledgehammer, but you know what I mean.
Strange... It felt like there was a slight weight against my chest. But it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt as though it was meant to be there.
*
I shivered as I heard Tai's voice. What was he doing? The crazy kid was sure to get himself killed.
Then I shivered again. As I realised how much I would think of that as the worst thing in the world. This was worse than I'd ever thought it was. I was crazy too.
~I've been hiding the way I feel from Tai- and the others. Somehow... I don't think I'm the only one. And now it's too late. And I'm trying to hide the fact... the fact I support the Light. Until it's too late.
Well, I've had enough of that. It's time to say what I truly feel for once.~
I brushed a pink-tinted lock of hair behind my ear and looked up. If Tai could do it, I could do it. I thought I heard my necklace clink against something, but I had no time for that. I was busy, doing what I thought was right.
"Yeah! So do I! I believe!"
*
Even though I felt scared, I smiled as I saw Mimi get to her feet. Suddenly, like a flash of blue lightning in the middle of a storm, everything made sense. I pressed the button on the databank and started making alterations.
Till... Courage and Sincerity... are linked forever, Till... Hope and Light are brought together, Till love becomes cruel and beautiful, But Love survives to fight another day...
Then the second part of the prophecy caught my eye. 'The Digidestined children must have faith... For darkness is destroyed by those who believe.'
~I guess that means you too, Iz.~
I shut the databank with a click and put it into my bag. I still had that torch. Flicking the switch, I shone the light up into the air.
"Count me in, Tai! I believe!"
*
I looked up at my brother, still inspiring everyone after all these years. I felt a little guilty for keeping so many secrets. Well, when we got home- if we got home- I'd tell him everything. But there were other matters in hand at the moment.
Should I? Shouldn't I?
~TK wouldn't like it if I got hurt. Especially not now.~
~But how can I not say I believe in the Light? I wouldn't be doing what I've always done. I wouldn't be... Kari.~
"Yeah! I believe!"
*
TK was by my side, crouching out of sight. He looked at me in disbelief as Kari stood on the snowy slope, staring straight at the monster. I looked back at him, not sure what to say.
~For once I can't help. Everyone expects me to help them and support them. Always have. I want to say, always will, but that's looking more and more unlikely.~
I couldn't take TK's expression.
~It's like he thinks... I'm the only person who'll know what to do. But... I can't. Because I've just realised something.~
"Sorry, TK. I can't help you right now. Because there's other people counting on me... Good luck."
I adjusted my glasses and thought for a moment about the university books I'd left in Sora's flat a million light-years away. None of them had any advice about what to do in a situation like this. I just had to work it out for myself.
"Hey, Tai! I believe!"
*
~I think I'm getting a headache.~
Well, I wasn't really. That was a deliberate thought, to give me a valid excuse for sitting in the shadows with my head in my hands. All I'd been through and now this. What on earth was I to do? Back when I was eleven, I'd always known which route I was going to take, whether to stand or retreat. But then I'd had friends beside me. Biyomon and the other kids.
~What would Biyomon do? She'd stand and fight. But I can't digivolve. I can't shoot green light out of my beak, or hurl meteors at the enemy.
What would Tai want me to do? ...Or does that not matter any more?
What would... Matt want me to do?~
I tugged on the straps of an imaginary lucky hat and looked at the sky.
"Matt! I believe!"
There was a sudden feeling of coldness on my chest, but I ignored it. I wasn't going to run away because of any stupid nerves.
*
As I watched Joe- the one who'd always been even more nervous than I'd been- I began to feel that there was something special here. We were all becoming different people. Like...
~Like, if Tai had thought about it eight years ago, this is the sort of person he'd probably hope he'd be when he grew up. All fearless and ready to save the world. And Mimi, always speaking her mind. I think... I think she's in love with Tai. I can tell. And Joe, always someone we can count on. Sora... I don't know. But Izzy, he looks like he knows everything now all of a sudden.
Is this who I'd have wanted to be when I grew up? Well, I'm going out with Kari. That's got to be something. And... that's about it. I've been sticking by my family lately, but... I can't do that any more. And Kari... is probably in real trouble. So what's left?
I still hope- no, I still THINK we can win this.
Just like I always did, back then.~
"Kari? Hang on! I believe!"
*
~It's weird, listening to them all. So close and yet so far.
Ironic, really. For once, I don't want to impress anyone. I don't want to be able to recite Shakespeare or move someone to tears with my words. All I want is... a few words. But my throat hurts. I can't manage more than a whisper, and that would take a lot of strength after days of darkness.
If I can't shout... maybe I don't have to. As long as I know that I WANT to. Two words. They'll probably wear me out even in a whisper, but then I made that decision what seems like a long time ago. I'm GOING to help. If I can...~
Deep breath...
"I... believe..."
My arm moved and hit rock. I lost my balance and fell.
Something wasn't right. There was a square corner, pressed against my cheek. It wasn't stone. Slowly I moved my hand and pulled it out from under myself.
Gradually my expression changed to a smile of amazement. This was about the only thing that could save me, and it was here. And all I had to do was... breathe.
*
I was standing with my hands by my sides, gazing at nothing in particular as I waited for a reaction from the huge monster. I wasn't sure whether to be triumphant or horrified. For one thing, there was Mimi. I hadn't been expecting that. And Kari, TK... Still, it had happened now.
Something caught my eye, lying in the snow by my feet. A glint of gold. I stooped and picked up the tiny item in my hand. The next moment I was tipping it from palm to palm, unable to believe it. The last fragments of snow melted away from the little golden telescope.
I was so busy studying the telescope, feeling like I'd been suddenly connected to the younger version of myself, that I hardly took any notice of a conversation going on a little way away.
"You're here, too? I wonder why..."
"I just felt like I ought to be here. Maybe there'll be others arriving. I thought that..."
Until it broke off into a sudden squeak of amazement.
"Tai??"
And I didn't need the telescope to know what that flash of orange scales meant. Across the slope, I saw a delighted Sora bury her unexpectedly lucky- hatted head in a bundle of fluffy pink feathers. I couldn't stop smiling as I threw my arms around a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.
*
I grinned as the little beetle-like creature came to sit on my shoulders. "I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "You don't do things by halves, do you? Tentomon and my old laptop turning up in the space of two minutes. What's next?"
"Well, don't think you're the only prophecy student around here," buzzed my Digimon. "Everyone seems to have got hold of something they held in the past. You've got the laptop- and no comments about it being clunky, please- and from what I can see, that looks suspiciously like a pink hat Mimi's wearing. According to what I've found out... once all the things we've lost have been found again, we're going to have.. Power. To defeat this thing."
"I hope these lost things turn up pretty soon," I told him with a glance at the monster.
*
I let Sora hug me. I'd missed her too, though by the sound of it she'd missed me even more. "Oh, Bi..." she whispered.
Then I heard a strange noise. It was like air being blown through tubes, echoing faintly in my direction. "Sora? What's that?" I was sure I'd heard it before. It wasn't hurting my ears... it was more melodic. But I wasn't expecting her to freeze like that. It was as though she'd suddenly turned to stone. "Are you OK?"
The next minute, she'd broken into a run. It was very hard to keep up with her.
*
The monster was still quivering with anger, probably contemplating what it was going to do to us in a minute. I held onto Gomamon and wondered why on earth I'd leapt before I'd had the chance to look.
I was brought out of my thoughts by a desperate shout. Sora's voice. "Give me a hand here! PLEASE!"
She was half-standing, half-kneeling on a snowless patch of rock, obviously damaged by a Spiral Twister or three. "Joe! Gomamon! You've got to help..."
TK ran towards us, Patamon flapping behind him. "Sora? What's wrong?"
That weird noise I'd heard was louder now. It was doing strange things to my ears.
But then I saw TK's eyes widen, and I suddenly knew what Sora was doing.
~No. surely not?~
The rocks looked loose and unsecure. I snatched into my bag with one hand while Gomamon started to scratch with his claws. I had a steel ruler, and a bottle of water somewhere. But I could improvise. I had to.
*
Izzy had come to stand with me. "Tentomon says we should be forming a kind of circle of power," he muttered. "And we aren't. Something's wrong."
I put my hands in my pockets and sighed. "Great. So we're taking on this guy with seven Rookie Digimon- oh, sorry, Gatomon's a champion. It won't make much difference either way. But we can't back off now and go 'Erm, it was a mistake. Sorry to have bothered you.'"
I looked at Kari. She seemed to look a little fragile standing there, Gatomon on her shoulder like a playful kitten. Perhaps she was sicker than I'd thought. If I ever got the chance, I'd have to have a word with that girl.
Then I heard Izzy shout triumphantly. "Yeah! We're in business!"
I could feel something change. It was like all my hairs were standing on end with electricity. "All right! I'm ready!"
It was a moment before I realised that Izzy wasn't looking at me, but past my left shoulder. I turned and found that, after all, not everyone else was down on the other side of the valley. It was good to know someone was here to help me out, even if he did look a bit exhausted and need his hair sorting out. At the back of my mind I was sure there was something wrong, but I couldn't work it out.
"Hey, Tai," he said with a wicked smile, and my jaw dropped at the sound of a voice I hadn't heard in more than a year. "Let's bring the house down."
*
That weight on my chest, and the chain around my throat. Could it be...?
Of course it could. We were back to what we'd once been, all of us.
And then... the fireworks.
"Agumon, warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!"
"Gabumon, warp-digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!"
"Biyomon, warp-"
"...What?"
"Prodigious!"
"I didn't know she could do that!"
"...Warp-digivolve to... Phoenixmon!"
"Tentomon, warp-digivolve to... HerculeKabuterimon!"
"Gomamon, warp-digivolve to... MarineAngemon!"
"Patamon, warp-digivolve to... Seraphimon!"
"Gatomon... Oh, I'm not used to this... warp-digivolve to...Mangadramon!"
This was amazing. We couldn't do anything but stare at six new Mega Digivolutions and how beautiful they were.
[RD: Elle- thanks for the names. That's another favour I owe you..]
And we didn't have to do anything as our Digimon ran, swam and flew towards the mountain and lit up the sky with a few fireworks of their own.
*
"We did it."
Mimi was incredulous, gazing at the sky as the last few pixels of dark data faded into the sunshine.
"Yeah. We did it."
Tai took Mimi's hand carefully, Sora took Matt's as he slipped the harmonica into his back pocket.
"I think I'll hang onto this," he said hoarsely. "It could come in useful again."
Kari linked TK's arm, then glanced at Tai. "Tai, we need to talk." She paused. "But maybe not now."
Joe looked around. "Well, it's finally better weather here. Should melt the snow before too long. Where's Izzy, you guys?"
Izzy turned out to be doing something complicated with wire and the old laptop a little way away. He looked up as Tai came over. "Know what this is?" The Digidestined leader shook his head. "This is our ride home."
He grinned as Tai looked a little regretful. "But this time... it's going to be the way it should have been eight years ago. It's going to be a two-way door, I've made sure of that. I'll stay with the Digimon until I'm sure it's stable, then we'll all come through to the real world. This is gonna change the way we think about the Digiworld."
Tai turned to the others. "Well, I. I don't know what to say.Man, I don't know about you, but I think this has been one heck of a long week."
*
I felt my eyelids flutter open. Where was I?
Oh... I was lying in bed with a crick in my neck, in the flat I shared with Tai. So it had been a dream then, all of it. Matt was a silent singer in a band, Mimi was just another ex-Digikid, Biyomon was still out of reach, and I'd be marrying Tai in seven days' time. I felt a tear in my eye.
There was a loud, persistent ring at the doorbell. I ran downstairs in my slippers and opened the front door on an anxious-looking policeman.
"Ah... Miss Takenouchi? Sorry to bother you, but we were worried for your safety. You see, we had a call from one of your neighbours..."
I looked past him, hardly daring to hope.
Seven morning newspapers, lying on the step. Fourteen bottles of milk, one for me and one for Tai, stacked up against the wall. Seven days' worth of mail in the letterbox. I started to laugh.
One week.
.................
There's an epilogue to come. Don't stop reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
.........
Elle787: Daydreamer, you can't...! I would have thought you of all people wouldn't have done that to 'him' of all people... right???
RD: Patience, Elle!
Bi: Who're you texting?
RD: Elle787, my fanfic beta tester.
Bi [humming to herself] Don't you worry- about a thing-
RD: [smiling generously] ...Cos every little thing is gonna be all right.
Bi: Is it?
RD: You'll have to see.
.............
Long chapter! Dedicated to Elle for her constant badgering. Sorry, dropped hints. Persuasion. Whatever. Also- I'm again using * to denote a change of viewpoint, and ~ for thoughts, where I'd put italics if this confounded Fanfic.net system would let me. Hold onto your digital hats (even if they're as strange-looking as Yolei's), it gets hectic.
Also, anyone who's sharp ought to understand once I've been going for a while. Can you count?
...........
Part Eleven:
The Most Beautiful Week of my Life
The Digimon spoke in a triumphant voice, apparently unaware of our presence. He was gloating.
"At last the Digiworld is mine. I didn't think it would be so easy. The Digimon have obviously lost their faith in the Light. Although that's not so surprising, if you consider that the Light did nothing for them when the winter came... A lucky coincidence, that, to achieve my highest power in a Digiworld millennium winter, the coldest for a thousand years. And even after my digivolution device was stolen, I could crawl through the tunnels that honeycomb these mountains. Luckily I managed to get within the required distance to digivolve and become strong. So now I am at my most powerful and none of them will oppose me."
*
I started whispering to the others. "Spread out. Get out of his sight."
"What, precisely, are we going to DO?" muttered Joe, but he obeyed me. They all obeyed me. I guess I was back where I belonged, in a way, making snap decisions and leading the group.
We found hiding places, where we could see but hopefully not be seen. I crouched down in a clump of snow-covered bushes and listened to this digital maniac talk.
"Digimon of the world!" he shouted. I'd imagine they could hear him, too. From a long way off I saw Kari cover her ears with her hands.
"Digimon of the world, listen and attend. I will be your guardian now, since the forces of Light have left."
I suddenly had a terrifying picture of what the Digiworld would be like with this guy as its guardian. I shuddered.
"Listen," he boomed. "Do not try to tell me, or anyone else, otherwise. The Light no longer exists. In fact, it never existed. There was never any light or dark, just... weakness and strength. Today you will recognise that. I challenge you: is there anyone, any creature at all down there, who still thinks it believes in the Light?"
There was a still silence.
~I won't be making anything better if I let him know I'm here. The best thing is to stay here...~
...but suddenly I was being watched.
From a viewpoint eight years in the past, by a spiky-haired kid with goggles on his forehead and an orange-yellow lizard by his side. A kid who wasn't scared of anything. He was talking to me.
~Gonna let him act like that, Tai?~
~No way.~
I shoved myself up off the ground and cupped my hands around my mouth to shout.
"Hey, you up there!"
He looked down. I tried to keep my nerve. Now I'd got his attention, I had to say something. But what? Ah. The only thing I could say, really.
"I... believe!"
For one brilliant moment he looked like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. Not that I've ever seen a giant Digimon hit by a sledgehammer, but you know what I mean.
Strange... It felt like there was a slight weight against my chest. But it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt as though it was meant to be there.
*
I shivered as I heard Tai's voice. What was he doing? The crazy kid was sure to get himself killed.
Then I shivered again. As I realised how much I would think of that as the worst thing in the world. This was worse than I'd ever thought it was. I was crazy too.
~I've been hiding the way I feel from Tai- and the others. Somehow... I don't think I'm the only one. And now it's too late. And I'm trying to hide the fact... the fact I support the Light. Until it's too late.
Well, I've had enough of that. It's time to say what I truly feel for once.~
I brushed a pink-tinted lock of hair behind my ear and looked up. If Tai could do it, I could do it. I thought I heard my necklace clink against something, but I had no time for that. I was busy, doing what I thought was right.
"Yeah! So do I! I believe!"
*
Even though I felt scared, I smiled as I saw Mimi get to her feet. Suddenly, like a flash of blue lightning in the middle of a storm, everything made sense. I pressed the button on the databank and started making alterations.
Till... Courage and Sincerity... are linked forever, Till... Hope and Light are brought together, Till love becomes cruel and beautiful, But Love survives to fight another day...
Then the second part of the prophecy caught my eye. 'The Digidestined children must have faith... For darkness is destroyed by those who believe.'
~I guess that means you too, Iz.~
I shut the databank with a click and put it into my bag. I still had that torch. Flicking the switch, I shone the light up into the air.
"Count me in, Tai! I believe!"
*
I looked up at my brother, still inspiring everyone after all these years. I felt a little guilty for keeping so many secrets. Well, when we got home- if we got home- I'd tell him everything. But there were other matters in hand at the moment.
Should I? Shouldn't I?
~TK wouldn't like it if I got hurt. Especially not now.~
~But how can I not say I believe in the Light? I wouldn't be doing what I've always done. I wouldn't be... Kari.~
"Yeah! I believe!"
*
TK was by my side, crouching out of sight. He looked at me in disbelief as Kari stood on the snowy slope, staring straight at the monster. I looked back at him, not sure what to say.
~For once I can't help. Everyone expects me to help them and support them. Always have. I want to say, always will, but that's looking more and more unlikely.~
I couldn't take TK's expression.
~It's like he thinks... I'm the only person who'll know what to do. But... I can't. Because I've just realised something.~
"Sorry, TK. I can't help you right now. Because there's other people counting on me... Good luck."
I adjusted my glasses and thought for a moment about the university books I'd left in Sora's flat a million light-years away. None of them had any advice about what to do in a situation like this. I just had to work it out for myself.
"Hey, Tai! I believe!"
*
~I think I'm getting a headache.~
Well, I wasn't really. That was a deliberate thought, to give me a valid excuse for sitting in the shadows with my head in my hands. All I'd been through and now this. What on earth was I to do? Back when I was eleven, I'd always known which route I was going to take, whether to stand or retreat. But then I'd had friends beside me. Biyomon and the other kids.
~What would Biyomon do? She'd stand and fight. But I can't digivolve. I can't shoot green light out of my beak, or hurl meteors at the enemy.
What would Tai want me to do? ...Or does that not matter any more?
What would... Matt want me to do?~
I tugged on the straps of an imaginary lucky hat and looked at the sky.
"Matt! I believe!"
There was a sudden feeling of coldness on my chest, but I ignored it. I wasn't going to run away because of any stupid nerves.
*
As I watched Joe- the one who'd always been even more nervous than I'd been- I began to feel that there was something special here. We were all becoming different people. Like...
~Like, if Tai had thought about it eight years ago, this is the sort of person he'd probably hope he'd be when he grew up. All fearless and ready to save the world. And Mimi, always speaking her mind. I think... I think she's in love with Tai. I can tell. And Joe, always someone we can count on. Sora... I don't know. But Izzy, he looks like he knows everything now all of a sudden.
Is this who I'd have wanted to be when I grew up? Well, I'm going out with Kari. That's got to be something. And... that's about it. I've been sticking by my family lately, but... I can't do that any more. And Kari... is probably in real trouble. So what's left?
I still hope- no, I still THINK we can win this.
Just like I always did, back then.~
"Kari? Hang on! I believe!"
*
~It's weird, listening to them all. So close and yet so far.
Ironic, really. For once, I don't want to impress anyone. I don't want to be able to recite Shakespeare or move someone to tears with my words. All I want is... a few words. But my throat hurts. I can't manage more than a whisper, and that would take a lot of strength after days of darkness.
If I can't shout... maybe I don't have to. As long as I know that I WANT to. Two words. They'll probably wear me out even in a whisper, but then I made that decision what seems like a long time ago. I'm GOING to help. If I can...~
Deep breath...
"I... believe..."
My arm moved and hit rock. I lost my balance and fell.
Something wasn't right. There was a square corner, pressed against my cheek. It wasn't stone. Slowly I moved my hand and pulled it out from under myself.
Gradually my expression changed to a smile of amazement. This was about the only thing that could save me, and it was here. And all I had to do was... breathe.
*
I was standing with my hands by my sides, gazing at nothing in particular as I waited for a reaction from the huge monster. I wasn't sure whether to be triumphant or horrified. For one thing, there was Mimi. I hadn't been expecting that. And Kari, TK... Still, it had happened now.
Something caught my eye, lying in the snow by my feet. A glint of gold. I stooped and picked up the tiny item in my hand. The next moment I was tipping it from palm to palm, unable to believe it. The last fragments of snow melted away from the little golden telescope.
I was so busy studying the telescope, feeling like I'd been suddenly connected to the younger version of myself, that I hardly took any notice of a conversation going on a little way away.
"You're here, too? I wonder why..."
"I just felt like I ought to be here. Maybe there'll be others arriving. I thought that..."
Until it broke off into a sudden squeak of amazement.
"Tai??"
And I didn't need the telescope to know what that flash of orange scales meant. Across the slope, I saw a delighted Sora bury her unexpectedly lucky- hatted head in a bundle of fluffy pink feathers. I couldn't stop smiling as I threw my arms around a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.
*
I grinned as the little beetle-like creature came to sit on my shoulders. "I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "You don't do things by halves, do you? Tentomon and my old laptop turning up in the space of two minutes. What's next?"
"Well, don't think you're the only prophecy student around here," buzzed my Digimon. "Everyone seems to have got hold of something they held in the past. You've got the laptop- and no comments about it being clunky, please- and from what I can see, that looks suspiciously like a pink hat Mimi's wearing. According to what I've found out... once all the things we've lost have been found again, we're going to have.. Power. To defeat this thing."
"I hope these lost things turn up pretty soon," I told him with a glance at the monster.
*
I let Sora hug me. I'd missed her too, though by the sound of it she'd missed me even more. "Oh, Bi..." she whispered.
Then I heard a strange noise. It was like air being blown through tubes, echoing faintly in my direction. "Sora? What's that?" I was sure I'd heard it before. It wasn't hurting my ears... it was more melodic. But I wasn't expecting her to freeze like that. It was as though she'd suddenly turned to stone. "Are you OK?"
The next minute, she'd broken into a run. It was very hard to keep up with her.
*
The monster was still quivering with anger, probably contemplating what it was going to do to us in a minute. I held onto Gomamon and wondered why on earth I'd leapt before I'd had the chance to look.
I was brought out of my thoughts by a desperate shout. Sora's voice. "Give me a hand here! PLEASE!"
She was half-standing, half-kneeling on a snowless patch of rock, obviously damaged by a Spiral Twister or three. "Joe! Gomamon! You've got to help..."
TK ran towards us, Patamon flapping behind him. "Sora? What's wrong?"
That weird noise I'd heard was louder now. It was doing strange things to my ears.
But then I saw TK's eyes widen, and I suddenly knew what Sora was doing.
~No. surely not?~
The rocks looked loose and unsecure. I snatched into my bag with one hand while Gomamon started to scratch with his claws. I had a steel ruler, and a bottle of water somewhere. But I could improvise. I had to.
*
Izzy had come to stand with me. "Tentomon says we should be forming a kind of circle of power," he muttered. "And we aren't. Something's wrong."
I put my hands in my pockets and sighed. "Great. So we're taking on this guy with seven Rookie Digimon- oh, sorry, Gatomon's a champion. It won't make much difference either way. But we can't back off now and go 'Erm, it was a mistake. Sorry to have bothered you.'"
I looked at Kari. She seemed to look a little fragile standing there, Gatomon on her shoulder like a playful kitten. Perhaps she was sicker than I'd thought. If I ever got the chance, I'd have to have a word with that girl.
Then I heard Izzy shout triumphantly. "Yeah! We're in business!"
I could feel something change. It was like all my hairs were standing on end with electricity. "All right! I'm ready!"
It was a moment before I realised that Izzy wasn't looking at me, but past my left shoulder. I turned and found that, after all, not everyone else was down on the other side of the valley. It was good to know someone was here to help me out, even if he did look a bit exhausted and need his hair sorting out. At the back of my mind I was sure there was something wrong, but I couldn't work it out.
"Hey, Tai," he said with a wicked smile, and my jaw dropped at the sound of a voice I hadn't heard in more than a year. "Let's bring the house down."
*
That weight on my chest, and the chain around my throat. Could it be...?
Of course it could. We were back to what we'd once been, all of us.
And then... the fireworks.
"Agumon, warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!"
"Gabumon, warp-digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!"
"Biyomon, warp-"
"...What?"
"Prodigious!"
"I didn't know she could do that!"
"...Warp-digivolve to... Phoenixmon!"
"Tentomon, warp-digivolve to... HerculeKabuterimon!"
"Gomamon, warp-digivolve to... MarineAngemon!"
"Patamon, warp-digivolve to... Seraphimon!"
"Gatomon... Oh, I'm not used to this... warp-digivolve to...Mangadramon!"
This was amazing. We couldn't do anything but stare at six new Mega Digivolutions and how beautiful they were.
[RD: Elle- thanks for the names. That's another favour I owe you..]
And we didn't have to do anything as our Digimon ran, swam and flew towards the mountain and lit up the sky with a few fireworks of their own.
*
"We did it."
Mimi was incredulous, gazing at the sky as the last few pixels of dark data faded into the sunshine.
"Yeah. We did it."
Tai took Mimi's hand carefully, Sora took Matt's as he slipped the harmonica into his back pocket.
"I think I'll hang onto this," he said hoarsely. "It could come in useful again."
Kari linked TK's arm, then glanced at Tai. "Tai, we need to talk." She paused. "But maybe not now."
Joe looked around. "Well, it's finally better weather here. Should melt the snow before too long. Where's Izzy, you guys?"
Izzy turned out to be doing something complicated with wire and the old laptop a little way away. He looked up as Tai came over. "Know what this is?" The Digidestined leader shook his head. "This is our ride home."
He grinned as Tai looked a little regretful. "But this time... it's going to be the way it should have been eight years ago. It's going to be a two-way door, I've made sure of that. I'll stay with the Digimon until I'm sure it's stable, then we'll all come through to the real world. This is gonna change the way we think about the Digiworld."
Tai turned to the others. "Well, I. I don't know what to say.Man, I don't know about you, but I think this has been one heck of a long week."
*
I felt my eyelids flutter open. Where was I?
Oh... I was lying in bed with a crick in my neck, in the flat I shared with Tai. So it had been a dream then, all of it. Matt was a silent singer in a band, Mimi was just another ex-Digikid, Biyomon was still out of reach, and I'd be marrying Tai in seven days' time. I felt a tear in my eye.
There was a loud, persistent ring at the doorbell. I ran downstairs in my slippers and opened the front door on an anxious-looking policeman.
"Ah... Miss Takenouchi? Sorry to bother you, but we were worried for your safety. You see, we had a call from one of your neighbours..."
I looked past him, hardly daring to hope.
Seven morning newspapers, lying on the step. Fourteen bottles of milk, one for me and one for Tai, stacked up against the wall. Seven days' worth of mail in the letterbox. I started to laugh.
One week.
.................
There's an epilogue to come. Don't stop reading.