Hehe. Once again, this chapter's had a slight, little edit to make it
better. Gomen people. I'm really tired and stupid recently. But Alan has
given me a brilliant idea for what to do for the next chapter, so . . .
thank him for demolishing the writer's block! ^_^
Ack. I know I said this would be the last part of the story, but I'm really battling to write the big Yagami-reunion on which the story ends and don't think it's fair to keep you waiting any longer while I'm bashing through that particular writer's block. So, I hope you don't mind having two shorter chapters rather than one longer one . . . . If you do, the solution is dead simple - just wait until the last one is posted and read them together. ^_~
A STORM OVER BLOSSOMS CHAPTER 22 WHEN MORNING COMES
When she woke, Hikari knew for certain that the previous night had been a dream and she was still in Y'ha-nthlei. She would open her eyes and see the ceiling arching white above her like the ribcage of an enormous monster. Beside her bed, there would be a new kimono in the colours of the sea and a tray with breakfast on it, both set out by Takeru's invisible servants. Her fiancé would soon come to eat with her too, watching her across the table with his unsettling, predatory gaze. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and curled up into a ball beneath the covers, not wanting to get up and begin another day in the underwater kingdom. . . .
Gradually, however, she became aware of other sounds around her, sounds that were no more part of Y'ha-nthlei than she was. She could hear cars going past in the street, their swish punctuated now and again by the blare of hooters. A bird began its dawn song, repeating its two notes. And nearby her there was the sound of someone sleeping, their breathing rising and falling in a regular rhythm.
Hikari slowly opened one eye, as if whatever had happened to her would be easier to take by stages. A white wall met her gaze, smooth and quite unlike those of Y'ha-nthlei. She sat up in the bed, staring at her surroundings in amazement. Piles of paper and books on the table and chairs. More books and manga lining the walls. A basketball rolled into a corner. A screensaver turning circles on the computer screen. A poster of The Teenage Wolves. A photo of her and . . .
"Takeru . . . I'm in Takeru's room . . . But that means . . . ."
Leaning over the edge of the bed, she saw Takeru sleeping on the floor with a thin blanket thrown over him and his team-jacket for a pillow. His arms were stretched out behind his head, and his one foot stuck out from beneath the covers. He was muttering something to himself about Patamon, but she couldn't make out exactly what it was.
Now that she had a chance to look at him more closely, she was shocked by how much he had changed in the months they had been apart. She had not known that their separation would affect him that badly. Takeru was thinner and somehow harder, with muscles in his arms and shoulders that she did not remember. He reminded her strangely of Yamato the first time she had met him, distant and alone.
Watching him sleep, Hikari felt a strange protectiveness rise within her. She wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything would be okay, because she was home, Dagomon was dead and she would never leave him alone again. She settled for reaching down a hand to brush some stray hair out of his face.
His eyes opened to look at her, and they were as blue and beautiful as ever. She snatched her hand away, heat rising in her cheeks.
"I . . . ."
Sitting up among his bedclothes, Takeru didn't seem to notice her embarrassment. He stared at her in amazement, as if he could not quite believe what he was seeing. His hair was ruffled into little spikes and his one cheek was crisscrossed with lines from the jacket on which he had been sleeping.
"Hikari! You're . . . It wasn't . . . I hoped but . . . ." he stammered, "Hikari! You're back with me!"
"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling slightly awkward beneath his intent gaze, "I mean . . . "
"I'm fine," he sounded dazed, "But I'm the one who should be asking you that question, Hikari-chan."
"I'm . . . ." she trailed off, not knowing what to say to him. It felt so unreal to be sitting in Takeru's cosy, cluttered room and talking about the horrors of Y'ha-nthlei, as if everything had happened to a different Yagami Hikari whom she only dimly knew. It could not have been her who had lain in bed listening for Dagomon's footsteps, who had crawled weeping through the blood and water on the floor, who had watched him burn through blue fire, "I'll be okay. I'm home now."
He stood, "Home! Hikari-chan, we have to phone your family! They'll be so happy to have you back!"
"Takeru," she clutched at his arm and he looked at her in confusion, "Not yet . . . I need . . . Just not yet . . . ."
"What's wrong?" he sat down beside her on the bed.
"I . . . I don't know what I'll say to them, Takeru," she confessed, "If you were my mom and dad, would you believe that . . . that I was kidnapped by a Dark God to be his . . . his . . . ." she broke off, unable to say the word, "Well, would you?"
"Hikari-chan, our parents have seen us sucked into the Digital World by a beam of light," he replied earnestly, "They will believe you. I promise."
"And, even if they do, how . . . how can I tell them about . . . about what Dagomon tried to do to me? They'll think . . ." her voice cracked, "Takeru, they'll think I'm dirty."
All the pain and fear and shame of the previous night came rushing back to her with those words. She could almost feel the touch of Dagomon's hands running up her legs, his lips trailing kisses on her neck, his tentacles wrapping around her ankles. And it no longer felt as if it had happened to another Hikari; it was she who was filthy and could never be clean again. She could scrub off all her skin and his touch would still be on her.
Hot tears rose in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks; her breath came in quick gasping sobs; her heart drummed in her chest. A little awkwardly, Takeru put his arms around her and rubbed her back. She nestled closer to him and buried her head in his t-shirt, breathing in his clean, sweet scent. He smelt like home, like safety, like everything she had thought lost in Y'ha-nthlei.
"No, they won't," the words were a little unsteady and she could tell he was trying to keep from crying too, "They'll think you're the strongest and bravest and best person they know, just like I do. Because they love you as much as . . . ."
She looked up at him in astonishment, a golden smudge through her tears, "You do?"
"I-I do."
"I'm . . . not . . . ." she stuttered, "Takeru, you . . . you saw what he did to me. How . . . can you still . . . ?"
"I also saw what you did to him. . . . I saw how you fought and . . . how you didn't give up and . . . how strong and brave and good you are. You're my hero, Hikari-chan, and I love you."
"Me too," she whispered and rested her head on his chest again. He wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her closer to him, planting a kiss on top of her head, "And . . . thank you."
"For what?"
"For what you said. I'm not sure if I . . . I can believe it yet, but . . . thank you for saying it."
His arms tightened around her, "I'll be here for you. I'll help you believe it, Hikari-chan."
"Takeru-chan, time to wake up," a woman's voice suddenly called from the hallway, "I've brought you some tea."
Before either of them could move away from the other, the door opened and Natsuko appeared in the gap, wrapped in a fuzzy blue dressing-gown and carefully carrying a cup of tea.
"A girl!!!"
The cup fell from her hand, splattering liquid everywhere, and rolled across the carpet. Hikari quickly pulled away from him, realising how they must have looked to his mother. Takeru was still in the boxer shorts that he wore to bed, and she . . . she was only wearing one of his old shirts over her underwear. Colour spread across her cheeks, mostly at the thought that he must have dressed her in it while she was unconscious.
"Takaishi Takeru! Was this why you missed the . . . " Natsuko cut herself short, her eyes widening, "Hikari? But I thought you . . . And Takeru couldn't have faked . . . . Exactly what is going on here, you two?"
Hikari looked at Takeru, silently imploring him to explain what had happened to his mother. She knew she would break down again if she had to speak about what Dagomon had tried to do to her.
"Errr," he began hesitantly, "You know the Digital World, Mom? There's a place in it called the Dark Ocean . . . Well, we think it's part of the Digital World, but it might not be . . . Anyway, Hikari was kidnapped by its king and held captive there for months. Last night, I was able to get to her and I brought her home."
Hikari was grateful that he had left out Dagomon's attempted rape of her in his brief explanation. She knew she would have to tell the others about it some day, but she was not brave enough to do so yet. Even if it had not been her fault and there was surely something more she could have done to resist being pulled into the Dark Ocean, it would change the way the others saw her. They would look at her and they would see his touch on her, polluting her in the same way that oil spread through clean water. And that would be harder than anything she had gone through that night.
Even so, a worried frown had come to Natsuko's forehead during Takeru's explanation, and she was plucking at a loose thread in her dressing gown.
"So it wasn't just the fever that night? It really happened?"
"Yes, it did."s
"And what about this king? Is Hikari safe?"
"Yes, the king is dead . . . ." Takeru replied, rubbing his eyes, "We . . . she . . . dealt with him."
"God. I sometimes wonder if the Digital World will ever leave you children alone or if we'll keep on having to deal with things like this. No parent should have to . . . ." she shook her head dismissively, "But that's beside the point for the moment. The main thing is that you're back and safe, Hikari- chan. We really should get you home as soon as possible. Your family has been so worried about you," she looked at her son, "Takeru, you do have some clothes to lend her, because we can't take her to her family dressed like that?"
"Yes," Takeru nodded, jumping off the bed and going to his closet. He came back with a pair of tracksuit pants and a t-shirt in his arms. The shirt had an Odaiba Junior High crest on it and she realised that he would have started at the new school in her absence. It seemed strange to think that his life had continued without her, that everything had gone on as normal while she had been in Y'ha-nthlei, "They might be a bit big, but they're probably better than what you're wearing."
Hikari felt her cheeks grow warm as she took them from him, "Thank you, Takeru-kun."
"Once you're dressed, I'll drive you to your apartment," Natsuko smiled at her, "And, Hikari, your family is going to be so glad to have you back. . . ."
"I hope so," she replied, unconvinced.
TO BE CONCLUDED! (REALLY!)
Ack. I know I said this would be the last part of the story, but I'm really battling to write the big Yagami-reunion on which the story ends and don't think it's fair to keep you waiting any longer while I'm bashing through that particular writer's block. So, I hope you don't mind having two shorter chapters rather than one longer one . . . . If you do, the solution is dead simple - just wait until the last one is posted and read them together. ^_~
A STORM OVER BLOSSOMS CHAPTER 22 WHEN MORNING COMES
When she woke, Hikari knew for certain that the previous night had been a dream and she was still in Y'ha-nthlei. She would open her eyes and see the ceiling arching white above her like the ribcage of an enormous monster. Beside her bed, there would be a new kimono in the colours of the sea and a tray with breakfast on it, both set out by Takeru's invisible servants. Her fiancé would soon come to eat with her too, watching her across the table with his unsettling, predatory gaze. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and curled up into a ball beneath the covers, not wanting to get up and begin another day in the underwater kingdom. . . .
Gradually, however, she became aware of other sounds around her, sounds that were no more part of Y'ha-nthlei than she was. She could hear cars going past in the street, their swish punctuated now and again by the blare of hooters. A bird began its dawn song, repeating its two notes. And nearby her there was the sound of someone sleeping, their breathing rising and falling in a regular rhythm.
Hikari slowly opened one eye, as if whatever had happened to her would be easier to take by stages. A white wall met her gaze, smooth and quite unlike those of Y'ha-nthlei. She sat up in the bed, staring at her surroundings in amazement. Piles of paper and books on the table and chairs. More books and manga lining the walls. A basketball rolled into a corner. A screensaver turning circles on the computer screen. A poster of The Teenage Wolves. A photo of her and . . .
"Takeru . . . I'm in Takeru's room . . . But that means . . . ."
Leaning over the edge of the bed, she saw Takeru sleeping on the floor with a thin blanket thrown over him and his team-jacket for a pillow. His arms were stretched out behind his head, and his one foot stuck out from beneath the covers. He was muttering something to himself about Patamon, but she couldn't make out exactly what it was.
Now that she had a chance to look at him more closely, she was shocked by how much he had changed in the months they had been apart. She had not known that their separation would affect him that badly. Takeru was thinner and somehow harder, with muscles in his arms and shoulders that she did not remember. He reminded her strangely of Yamato the first time she had met him, distant and alone.
Watching him sleep, Hikari felt a strange protectiveness rise within her. She wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything would be okay, because she was home, Dagomon was dead and she would never leave him alone again. She settled for reaching down a hand to brush some stray hair out of his face.
His eyes opened to look at her, and they were as blue and beautiful as ever. She snatched her hand away, heat rising in her cheeks.
"I . . . ."
Sitting up among his bedclothes, Takeru didn't seem to notice her embarrassment. He stared at her in amazement, as if he could not quite believe what he was seeing. His hair was ruffled into little spikes and his one cheek was crisscrossed with lines from the jacket on which he had been sleeping.
"Hikari! You're . . . It wasn't . . . I hoped but . . . ." he stammered, "Hikari! You're back with me!"
"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling slightly awkward beneath his intent gaze, "I mean . . . "
"I'm fine," he sounded dazed, "But I'm the one who should be asking you that question, Hikari-chan."
"I'm . . . ." she trailed off, not knowing what to say to him. It felt so unreal to be sitting in Takeru's cosy, cluttered room and talking about the horrors of Y'ha-nthlei, as if everything had happened to a different Yagami Hikari whom she only dimly knew. It could not have been her who had lain in bed listening for Dagomon's footsteps, who had crawled weeping through the blood and water on the floor, who had watched him burn through blue fire, "I'll be okay. I'm home now."
He stood, "Home! Hikari-chan, we have to phone your family! They'll be so happy to have you back!"
"Takeru," she clutched at his arm and he looked at her in confusion, "Not yet . . . I need . . . Just not yet . . . ."
"What's wrong?" he sat down beside her on the bed.
"I . . . I don't know what I'll say to them, Takeru," she confessed, "If you were my mom and dad, would you believe that . . . that I was kidnapped by a Dark God to be his . . . his . . . ." she broke off, unable to say the word, "Well, would you?"
"Hikari-chan, our parents have seen us sucked into the Digital World by a beam of light," he replied earnestly, "They will believe you. I promise."
"And, even if they do, how . . . how can I tell them about . . . about what Dagomon tried to do to me? They'll think . . ." her voice cracked, "Takeru, they'll think I'm dirty."
All the pain and fear and shame of the previous night came rushing back to her with those words. She could almost feel the touch of Dagomon's hands running up her legs, his lips trailing kisses on her neck, his tentacles wrapping around her ankles. And it no longer felt as if it had happened to another Hikari; it was she who was filthy and could never be clean again. She could scrub off all her skin and his touch would still be on her.
Hot tears rose in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks; her breath came in quick gasping sobs; her heart drummed in her chest. A little awkwardly, Takeru put his arms around her and rubbed her back. She nestled closer to him and buried her head in his t-shirt, breathing in his clean, sweet scent. He smelt like home, like safety, like everything she had thought lost in Y'ha-nthlei.
"No, they won't," the words were a little unsteady and she could tell he was trying to keep from crying too, "They'll think you're the strongest and bravest and best person they know, just like I do. Because they love you as much as . . . ."
She looked up at him in astonishment, a golden smudge through her tears, "You do?"
"I-I do."
"I'm . . . not . . . ." she stuttered, "Takeru, you . . . you saw what he did to me. How . . . can you still . . . ?"
"I also saw what you did to him. . . . I saw how you fought and . . . how you didn't give up and . . . how strong and brave and good you are. You're my hero, Hikari-chan, and I love you."
"Me too," she whispered and rested her head on his chest again. He wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her closer to him, planting a kiss on top of her head, "And . . . thank you."
"For what?"
"For what you said. I'm not sure if I . . . I can believe it yet, but . . . thank you for saying it."
His arms tightened around her, "I'll be here for you. I'll help you believe it, Hikari-chan."
"Takeru-chan, time to wake up," a woman's voice suddenly called from the hallway, "I've brought you some tea."
Before either of them could move away from the other, the door opened and Natsuko appeared in the gap, wrapped in a fuzzy blue dressing-gown and carefully carrying a cup of tea.
"A girl!!!"
The cup fell from her hand, splattering liquid everywhere, and rolled across the carpet. Hikari quickly pulled away from him, realising how they must have looked to his mother. Takeru was still in the boxer shorts that he wore to bed, and she . . . she was only wearing one of his old shirts over her underwear. Colour spread across her cheeks, mostly at the thought that he must have dressed her in it while she was unconscious.
"Takaishi Takeru! Was this why you missed the . . . " Natsuko cut herself short, her eyes widening, "Hikari? But I thought you . . . And Takeru couldn't have faked . . . . Exactly what is going on here, you two?"
Hikari looked at Takeru, silently imploring him to explain what had happened to his mother. She knew she would break down again if she had to speak about what Dagomon had tried to do to her.
"Errr," he began hesitantly, "You know the Digital World, Mom? There's a place in it called the Dark Ocean . . . Well, we think it's part of the Digital World, but it might not be . . . Anyway, Hikari was kidnapped by its king and held captive there for months. Last night, I was able to get to her and I brought her home."
Hikari was grateful that he had left out Dagomon's attempted rape of her in his brief explanation. She knew she would have to tell the others about it some day, but she was not brave enough to do so yet. Even if it had not been her fault and there was surely something more she could have done to resist being pulled into the Dark Ocean, it would change the way the others saw her. They would look at her and they would see his touch on her, polluting her in the same way that oil spread through clean water. And that would be harder than anything she had gone through that night.
Even so, a worried frown had come to Natsuko's forehead during Takeru's explanation, and she was plucking at a loose thread in her dressing gown.
"So it wasn't just the fever that night? It really happened?"
"Yes, it did."s
"And what about this king? Is Hikari safe?"
"Yes, the king is dead . . . ." Takeru replied, rubbing his eyes, "We . . . she . . . dealt with him."
"God. I sometimes wonder if the Digital World will ever leave you children alone or if we'll keep on having to deal with things like this. No parent should have to . . . ." she shook her head dismissively, "But that's beside the point for the moment. The main thing is that you're back and safe, Hikari- chan. We really should get you home as soon as possible. Your family has been so worried about you," she looked at her son, "Takeru, you do have some clothes to lend her, because we can't take her to her family dressed like that?"
"Yes," Takeru nodded, jumping off the bed and going to his closet. He came back with a pair of tracksuit pants and a t-shirt in his arms. The shirt had an Odaiba Junior High crest on it and she realised that he would have started at the new school in her absence. It seemed strange to think that his life had continued without her, that everything had gone on as normal while she had been in Y'ha-nthlei, "They might be a bit big, but they're probably better than what you're wearing."
Hikari felt her cheeks grow warm as she took them from him, "Thank you, Takeru-kun."
"Once you're dressed, I'll drive you to your apartment," Natsuko smiled at her, "And, Hikari, your family is going to be so glad to have you back. . . ."
"I hope so," she replied, unconvinced.
TO BE CONCLUDED! (REALLY!)