Having Faith: The Saga of Hope & Light:  Chapter 1

Prelude to Darkness I:

Within Evil's Grasp

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Disclaimer:  I do not own Digimon, because it belongs to Toei.  It is not a wise idea to sue be, because it will be like trying to draw blood from a turnip:  futile.  I am a college student which is synonymous with being monetarily broke.

Author's Note:  No, you are not having déjà vu. this IS what you think it is, but in a way, it isn't.  I've decided to revamp the entire story up to the point where I left off in chapter 14 (not finished at time of my decision to pause and revamp).  The biggest difference you'll see is . . . . well, I won't spoil anything for those reading this for the first time.  Just have faith (ok, ok, I give in, it was a bad pun :p) in my abilities as a writer.  This story needed revamping . . . badly, in my opinion, and I hope you'll enjoy the new, better (though darker and far less initially sappy) approach I'm taking.

~Sir Brass of the Pen

Additional notes for all readers:  I'll be using the Japanese version names of the characters.  Therefore, for you 02 dub viewers who don't know the Japanese names, Takeru= T.K., Hikari=Kari, Daisuke=Davis, Miyako=Yolie, Iori=Cody, Ken is just Ken, Yamato=Matt, Taichi=Tai, Koushirou=Izzy, Joe's and Mimi's names did not change between the original Japanese and dub versions.  Also, Taichi and Hikari's last names are NOT Kamiya, they are Yagami.  Also, the Japanese way of saying names is Last name then first name.

******

            The warm breeze made its presence known to the world, spreading the small, pink petals of the cherry blossoms.  In the park, a lone pair of figures walked, enjoying the peaceful evening in each other's company.  Takaishi Takeru looked down at the smaller figure of his best friend, Yagami Hikari.  To him, she had not changed much over the years, though, if anything, she had become more beautiful.  Happiness and pain filled him both when he looked at her; happy in that he could be so close to her as a friend, yet pained  in that he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he truly felt.  Truth be told,  he'd fallen in love with her slowly since they began their second adventure in the Digital World when they were only in fifth grade.  However, he didn't want to risk their friendship.  If he lost that, he knew he would lose a vital part of himself; a part so dear that not even the reuniting of his broken family couldn't bring that piece of him back.  Yet, at the same time, he knew that vital part of himself was his love for her, even if she never saw it herself.  Even so, tonight was a fateful night; Takeru could feel that to be so, and he knew what he needed to do . . . to say.  Too long had he lived in the limbo of joy and pain at the thought of one person.

            Takeru stopped walking and turned to face Hikari.

            "Takeru-kun, what's wrong?" Hikari asked, slightly concerned at his sudden halt.

            Takeru met her worried gaze with a soft one of his own.  "Nothing is wrong, Hikari-chan," he said as calmly as he could, trying to suppress the nervousness he felt.  "Its more that everything is . . . right."

            "Takaishi Takeru-kun, what in the world do you mean?" she asked sternly.  Takeru would have almost believed that she was genuinely annoyed by his somewhat cryptic answer had it not been for the small grinned that cracked her facial façade of annoyance.

            She looked so cute, so wonderful, and so . . . Hikari in that moment when she could no longer hold back a giggle, and Takeru couldn't hold back any longer.  "It's . . . it's that .  . . It's that I love you, Hikari-chan!"

            Instead of relief, the next feeling he felt was fear; fear that he had said too much too soon, because Hikari now had her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide in shock as she took a tentative step back.  However, they softened as his words began to seep in more deeply, and a tear leaked out of a corner of her eye, and she stepped closer to Takeru.  As he gently brushed away her tear, the breeze began to blow and the cherry blossoms danced around once more, and in those precious seconds, Hikari threw her arms around Takeru's neck and kissed him gently on the mouth.  Takeru's pain now melted completely away.

***

            A bitter cold blast of air jolted the slumbering Takeru awake.  "Damn, it was just a dream.  But that cold air . . . what the hell was that?" he thought as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.  He looked around and saw his open bedroom window.  The fact that it was open didn't bother him.  He was on the next to last floor of one of Tokyo's high-rise apartments, and knew that no crook would try and sneak into his room through his window nine stories up from street level.  Besides, it was supposed to be summer, so what was a cold wind doing blowing into his bedroom?  Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was; all that he knew was that he had felt this same feeling many years before, especially when . . . "Help me, Takeru!" . . . .  That was it!  When Hikari had been whisked away into the Dark Ocean!  Takeru dashed over to his phone and punched in Hikari's number as fast as any speed dial.

            "Moshi Moshi," a familiar voice answered, to Takeru's complete relief, in the standard Japanese greeting.

            "Hikari-chan, it's me . . .," he was going to say more, but for some reason, his words caught in his throat

            "Takeru-kun, I wasn't expecting you to call me so early.  I thought we weren't going to breakfast until at least a few hours from now."

            "I . . . uh . . . just thought we could have breakfast early."

            "Takeru-kun, is something wrong?"  she asked, her voice sounding concerned.

            "I'm fine, Hikari-chan.  It's just that . . . are you ok?"

            "Of course I'm ok, silly!  Why wouldn't I be?"

            "Umm . . . never mind." He responded, a tad embarrassed.  "Hikari-chan, I'll just get myself ready and then come on down."

            "Sure, I'll go on and unlock the door.  Just come on in when you get down here, ok?"

            "I'll be down in a moment.  See you in a few minutes Hikari-chan."

            Takeru hung up the phone, and told that little voice inside his head – the one that told him that something bad was still going on - to shut up.  He grabbed a clean pair of boxers, and walked into the bathroom, lazily scratching his rough morning stubble.  "Great . . . I have to shave as well.  Don't want to look like a slob, even though she knows I'm not," he grumbled, forgetting that that hushed voice in his head had never been wrong in the past.

***

            Hikari hung up the phone and sighed in amusement.  Ever since he made that promise to protect her, Takeru had always been there for her when she needed him and even sometimes when she'd really hadn't.  For a time, she'd tried to ignore it and act as if she were ok on her own, but her experiences with the Dark Ocean eight years ago had taught her otherwise, and she'd grown to appreciate his annoying tendency to be a bit over-protective.  Even though she knew they were just close friends, no more, she wondered if his need to protect her didn't just stem from his nature and a promise.

            She shook away the thought as quickly as it came to her mind.  "Don't think such a ridiculous thing, Yagami Hikari!" She thought to herself, "He thinks of you as only a friend.  Besides, it's only a silly infatuation with him.  He's cute . . . ok, more than just cute, he's irresistibly handsome, but even so, he's just your irresistibly handsome best friend.  You should be happy that he's your best friend, anyway."

            As she was thinking these things, she went to her door and unlocked the chain, deadbolt, and button lock.  It was then, as she was walking into the bathroom, that she realized that she was still wrapped in her bath towel and robe.  "Oh, geez!  He's going to be here in a few minutes and here I am one layer away from being completely naked!  Ack, Hikari, just WHAT were you thinking?!"

            Hikari quickly hooked up the blow dryer and dried her light-brown hair.  Normally, that would've been it, but Takeru was taking her to breakfast, and that constituted a date in her book.  This required just a little bit of touch-up.  Never one for makeup, a little eyeliner, eye shadow, and lipstick, and that was enough for her.  Normally too much, but this was a date after all, a date with her best friend.  "And that's all you and he will ever be . . . but is that what you really want?  Oh hell, I don't know!  I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it."

            "Hikari-chan?  It's me.  May I come in?"

            "Ack!  How much time have I wasted just thinking?" she thought realizing she was still in her bathrobe, with only her hair dried and a bit of makeup on. 

            "Of course, Takeru-kun, come on in.  I'll be out in a bit."

            "Good thing I already have my clothes laid out.  I'll have to thank Mimi sometime for giving me some fashion sense."

***

            Underneath the waves of another world, in a city the location of which was known only by those who lived and were imprisoned there, rose a mighty fortress.  Its walls mightier than the strongest steel, and the stench of decay stronger than one hundred dead bodies rotting in the unrelenting August heat on Earth.  A watch tower at each point of the wall's pentagonal star arrangement, each rising hundreds of feet from the ocean's floor, and harpoon sniper slits covered its sides.  In the center, an even more massive structure rose at least three times higher than its watch towers, balconies along every level, and battlements of its own marked the outside of the menacing Keep.  However, the place would have seemed not as menacing were its Master not there.  For what struck true fear into the hearts of all who knew of it, was not Saibin-Drago's appearance, but who occupied such a place of evil .

            Once a lowly servant whose power was measurable by standards of the Digimon, Saibin-Drago's master now possessed power far beyond any ever seen before in this world, the digital world, and most certainly in the human world as well.  Oh his throne made of the bone's of sacrifices made to him, Dagomon sat, his tentacles each resting on platforms of skulls, each watching upward in awe, as if the spirits who had occupied the bodies still visited their dead corporeal forms.  In a viewing portal conjured up by his own evil magic, the Lord of the Undersea watched.  She had SPITED him.  Rejected his proposal!  He would have freely given her power nearly equal to his own.  He would have truly treated her well as his Queen, but she had spited him when he'd offered!  Now the time had come for her punishment.  All the planning was now complete and its execution had already begun.

            He watched as she dried her hair and put on her makeup.  He wondered what she was thinking behind those chocolate eyes of her's.  He wondered just what she'd really be thinking when his servants slit her throat with the sacred blade of Ibin-Drago.  What she would think when she realized that her blood was being soaked in by him and would make him infinitely stronger than he currently was.  Just what were her thoughts?

            "Hikari-chan?  Its me.  May I come in?"  He heard a voice say, a familiar voice, one that caused in him feelings of fear mixed with uncontrollable hatred.  He had only felt this very few times before, thought it had only been when messengers of his lord's nemesis had tried to bring him down.  They had all failed, and their bones had been made into powerful blades only wielded by his very best warriors.

            "Of course, Takeru-kun, come on in.  I'll be out in a bit."  She said, somewhat surprised.  Dagomon kept watching as she hurried into her bedroom and stripped down to change.  He wondered what she would think if she knew that he was watching her while she was stripped bare.  His unquenchable desire prompted him to find out.  He placed a spell of affecting on the portal, and used his telepresence to reach out through the portal.

            "What do you feel like, my lovely sacrifice?  What do you feel like in the pure flesh . . . ."

***

            "Women . . . they always take forever to get ready."  Takeru thought whimsically as he sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable.  Since he and Hikari had graduated earlier in the year, they'd been studying together for their entrance exams for college.  Usually, they'd be considered ronins, but unlike ronins, they hadn't applied to universities and been turned down; they'd just not applied anywhere.  They both had decided to take a year off and prepare for the entrance exams without the stress of school weighing on them as well; that was just a secondary reason, however.  The main reason was a matter of money.  College was expensive, and since they both had older brothers, it had been their older brothers who got the majority of the financial support from their parents.  Simply put, even with the money that their parents could afford to give them (and not reduce financial support of their older brothers, that is), they still couldn't afford tuition without jobs.  So it was that they were taking a year to work and earn some money to help pay for tuition without having to take out too many student loans.  Since their decision, they'd moved out and gotten apartments of their own, though in the same building.  Living so close gave them even more time to spend together when they weren't working, whether they were just studying or just having fun together.  Within the last month, their families often joked that they each had the same two phone numbers, so much time they spent at each other's places.

            Now the pair, who many sometimes mistook for a romantic couple, were both itching to get out of Tokyo and go somewhere for a bit.  Go someplace they'd never been before; someplace Hikari could take some unique pictures for her scrap book, and Takeru could get some new ideas for another of his short stories.  The place they decided on?  Kyoto.  Takeru always had had a slight interest in the place ever since he and Iori had been aided by Professor Takenouchi during the whole sequence of events which lead to their showdown with Demon.  Now he wanted to see this place with so many wonderful tales.  Hikari, on the other hand, wanted to go because of the scenery itself, which she had heard about from Miyako after her class trip there.  Now they were getting to go there, just the two of them; and Takeru felt like he was on top of the world.

            If he'd asked himself just a month ago if he could bring himself to tell Hikari about just how he felt about her, he would've told himself  "No, not yet."  However, it had taken a talk with his mother a few weeks before to change his mind.  He was telling her about how he and Hikari were going to Kyoto for a week, and that he was excited that he would have an entire week just spending time with Hikari, and his mother had asked him a question he had never seen coming.

            "Are you finally going to tell her how you feel about her?" she'd asked him casually as she brought in some fresh green tea.

            "Mother!  She's my best friend!  I don't want to risk that just for something I'm not certain about!" he'd responded, slightly shocked at the bluntness of her question.  Though on reflection afterwards, he should've expected it.  His mother was a journalist after all, and she had a habit of not beating around the bush, and getting straight to the point.

            "Takeru, since you graduated and then moved out, when you and Hikari haven't been working, you two have been either out somewhere together or at either your place or her's.  Now, don't you tell me that you aren't sure of your feelings now." She'd said sternly, but she neither looked mad or annoyed.

            "But mother, this has only made me even more uncertain!  I love the time I get to spend with her now and I know that I love her, but I don't know whether I should just let her know and risk our whole friendship, or to just be content with the way we are now!"

            "Dear, do you seriously think that she'll totally reject you if you tell her you love her?  You and I both know you're not that dense."

            "No, but I feel that there's a real possibility that it definitely won't be the same.  Will she still be able to confide in me?  Will we still be able to pal around like we used to in elementary school?  That's what I'm worried about."

            She'd looked thoughtfully at him, finally getting what was holding her son back.  "Well, son, that is the decision that you have to make.  Its up to you whether you decide to stay silent and guarantee that you two can stay as close as you are now, or whether to take the chance and either lose some of the closeness you two share, or become even closer to her.  I took that risk many, many years ago, and I've never regretted it."

            "Even though you and dad divorced?"

            "Yes.  Because even though it didn't work out in the end, I now have you and Yamato in my life because of it, and your father and I are still on good terms as well.  I do not regret my decisions one bit."

            "I love you to, mom," he'd said, getting her point.  "And, thanks.   But I have to go, now.  I need to confirm Hikari's and my reservations at the hotel in Kyoto, plus I've got some thinking to do."

            "Well, I'm glad you still feel like you can come and talk to your little old mother," she'd said, giving her son a motherly hug; she feigned shock that Takeru stood about a foot taller than her.  "My word, I still forget that my baby is now so big!"

            "I'll see you again when we get back from Kyoto, mom.  And don't worry, we'll be fine."

            Takeru sighed as he replayed his conversation with his mother in his mind.  He let his eyes drift across Hikari's apartment and his eyes settled on a picture she had on the table right in front of the couch.  He picked it up to look at the picture even closer.  It was of him and Hikari right after graduation at their favorite restaurant, seated right next to each other.  He was grinning like a fool, and she was smiling her cute contented smile-though to him, any of her smiles was cute.  Below it was a small phrase written completely in Chinese.  Hikari had always had an interest in the Chinese language, which was probably why the phrase was in Chinese kanji1 instead of Japanese kana2.  Luckily, Takeru got the gist of the phrase, "Best friends forever"

            Takeru glanced at his watch, wondering what was taking her so long, but only realized that he'd been there for about a minute.  "Calm down, Takeru, you two are just going to breakfast together before getting packed and heading down to the train station to catch the afternoon train to Kyoto.  Just cool it."

            However, he didn't get a chance to calm down, as at that moment, Hikari's shriek tore through the air.

***

            Hikari hurried, not wanting to keep Takeru waiting.  She kept berating herself for her stupidity as she sloughed off her bathrobe.  As she was putting on her undergarments, she felt what seemed to be an ice cold tentacle caress her chest.  She gasped as she jumped back, startled and more than a little bit frightened.  She looked around quickly trying to see who was in her bedroom.  Seeing no one, she hurried even faster to finish getting dressed.   It was as she was slipping on her top that it happened.  She felt the same icy touch run down her arms and move across her face.  Startled, she moved closer to the door, closer to safety, closer to being beside Takeru, closer to the phone so she could call Taichi, just somewhere else.

            "My, my you do startle easily for such a confident and lovely young woman." a cruel being yet unseen laughed, his voice as icy as an arctic blizzard, and his laughter filled with ill-will and lust that disgusted her more than even Vandemon had when he captured her and Tailmon over ten years ago.  The voice also sounded familiar . . . too familiar.

            "Who are you?  What do you want?" she asked, trying not to sound scared, though the truth was that she was terrified beyond her wildest dreams.  Because as she began to search through her memories, she realized who the voice belonged to.  Was he trying to call her back?  What did he want her for this time?  What was he going to do to her?

            "Oh, I shouldn't have to introduce myself," he said in a manner too casual for Hikari's liking, "I should never have to introduce myself.  Because those who face me should already know my name.  I know you have heard it, my lovely Hikari.  Now it is time for you to give me your power!  Your sacrifice shall be glorious, and Baal shall be most pleased with his most high servant now!"

            "NO!  Stay away, Dagomon!"  she said, not trying anymore to cover her fear.  "Get away from me!"

            "I think NOT, my lovely.  You see, you have no choice in the matter!  Try and flee to the Digital World and my servants shall hunt you down and bring you back to me.  Flee to the arms of your champion, and I shall strike him down!  Flee to your family, and they shall be sacrificed to me as well!  You have NO options!  Now, COME!"

            Black tentacles darker than the sky in the wilderness under a new moon came forth and tried to grab at Hikari.  She ducked and screamed.

            "HELP ME!"

            She made a dash for the door, but one of the tentacles caught her around her waist and began to drag her towards a black portal that had just appeared.

            "LET ME GO!  TAKERU, HELP ME!"

***

            Takeru already had his hand on the door when Hikari screamed again, though this time for him.  He threw open the door, and he thought his heart was going to jump straight into his throat.  There she was, being dragged by tentacles as dark as a lightless void, towards a portal of steamy mist.  She was struggling to get free, and Takeru, almost without thinking, leapt to grab onto her and prevent her from being pulled in.

            "LET HER GO!"  he yelled, grabbing a hold of her outstretched hands and pulling.  "RELEASE HER NOW!"

            "Oh, I think not, human!" snarled a voice, which sent ice shooting down Takeru's spine.  "Neither of you have any choice in the matter!  She will be sacrificed to me, and you cannot stop me!  Now, let go of her before YOU taste the Hellfire!"

            "GO BURN YOURSELF!"  Takeru kept his grip on one of Hikari's arms and with the other one, he grabbed onto the tentacle that was holding her tightly restrained.  He dug his fingers in and squeezed.  Instead of jolting in pain, as it should have done, the creature's tentacle burst into flame.  Takeru needed only a moment to see what was going on, and he began grabbing onto and strangling other tentacles.  Eight tentacles later, the creature released its grip on Hikari, shrieking in pain, and retreated into the closing portal.  His sudden release of Hikari and Takeru's constant pull resulted in them both collapsing one on top of the other.

***

            Dagomon broke the connection to the human world almost immediately and closed the view portal.  What was that man who had interfered?  A mortal human he obviously was, but he had been able to cause such pain to Dagomon as only a Holy warrior could do.  Dagomon looked at his eight tentacles and was shocked to find that each had severe burns on each of them, the most severe being in the shape of a hand, exactly where the man had grabbed his telekinetic self.  Dagomon growled in pain and slight humiliation that a mere human could do such damage to a demi-god such as he.  He was also slightly worried that he couldn't bring the woman to his newest realm for sacrifice as his master had ordered.

            "Drink her blood, ravage her body, and do whatever other things you wish to her, but her soul's energy is to remain untouched.  THAT is the reason you are to sacrifice her, Dagomon.  I can do nothing about her soul, as that is a realm the enemy still has, but after I have her spirit, my goal will be within reach.  Do this, my servant, and you shall become even MORE powerful."

            Dagomon looked around desperately for the owner of the voice, so he would be able to show submission to him.  The voice, the sound that was its voice sounded like the screams of countless sacrifices in the midst of pain as well as pleasure.  Looming above him, in the form once known as Demon, was Baal, a Hell Demon and often called a god by the beings who worshipped him.  The god of rape descended to the floor of Dagomon's throne room, though his form still towered above the demi-god which served him.

            "Master, I am doing what I can to capture her.  I shall have her and sacrifice her."

            "See that you do, Dagomon.  Or else it shall be YOUR spirit and soul that comes to me for use as well as her body and spirit shall come to me for my pleasure.  Do NOT fail in your task, Dagomon."

            "I understand, Lord Baal."

            "See that you still understand the next time, Dagomon.  I do not tolerate weakness among my servants.  Also, continue preparation for the invasions.  Aside from the woman Hikari, they are of paramount importance for you."

            With that, the Hell Demon's form disintegrated into a massive column of fire and rose through the deep water and away from Hell from which it had come.

***

            "Hikari-chan, are you ok?" Takeru asked once they had become disentangled from one another.

            "I . . . I'm fine," she said, looking exhausted.  "Thank you, Takeru."

            Takeru smiled, and helped Hikari to her feet, and lead her into the living room.  "I think we should just have breakfast here," he said quietly.  "How does that sound to you, Hikari-chan?"

            "Sounds fine to me, Takeru." she said, her voice distant, and Takeru could tell that she was still frightened.  He just wanted to sit down right beside her and hold her till she felt safe again, but that wouldn't be right.  It would be too intimate for just two friends, even though he thought of her as far more than a friend.  Still, maybe now wasn't a time for thinking about what society saw as proper or improper, and start thinking of what was best for Hikari.

            Takeru went into the kitchen and began preparing some green tea.  He fixed two cups and walked back into the living room and sat down beside Hikari.  She took the cup he offered her, and took a small sip of the hot herbal tea.  They sat in silence, till Takeru finished his tea and set the cup down on the table.

            "Hikari-chan?"

            "He . . . he tried to take me again, Takeru," she said, her voice numb from the recent events.  "And it's not like last time, where I was vulnerable.  This time it was right out of the blue and . . . and in the place where I should be able to feel safe!"  She looked straight into his eyes with a tears of  fury, rage, hurt, and confusion beginning to spill out.  "He tried to take me to sacrifice me!  He said it himself!  No matter what, he said I'd be sacrificed to him!"

            "Well, he isn't now, Hikari-chan," Takeru said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder like did eight years ago when Dagomon's servants had tried to take her.  "And he ISN'T going to take you, not without facing me to the very last, that is."

            "Takeru . . ." the fear in her eyes began to shift to something he had never seen in her before.  He wasn't sure what he saw in her eyes, but whatever it was, he hoped he could see it again.  He liked the look she had.  " . . . but why, Takeru?"

            Takeru gave her a look which said 'why do you ask?' and stood up, determination and fire burning in his eyes.  "Because you are my closest friend, Hikari, the best friend I have ever had, and I'll be DAMNED before I let some demented thing such as Dagomon , at least I think that's who that thing was, take you without going over my dead and decayed body first!  That evil thing has effectively signed his own death warrant as far as I'm concerned, and I'm more than willing to carry it out should he try something like that again.  I promised eleven years ago that I would protect you no matter what, and I will, under no circumstances, break that promise.  You mean too much to me for me to do anything less."

            "Takeru . . . I . . . I don't know what to say except Thank you." Hikari said, as if she couldn't find the right words to say, which was indeed, the truth.  Her heart began to pound like it never done before.  Something told her that she never wanted to be far away from him, and that thought which she had believed ridiculous less than an hour ago now didn't seem ridiculous as it did then.  "Could I be . . . falling in love with him?  Falling in love with my best friend?  It's supposed to sound ridiculous, but, now I don't know.  Right now it doesn't sound so ridiculous.  Maybe it's just because of what I just went though . . . yeah, that has to be it.  Yes, I'm just becoming a bit infatuated with him because he came to my rescue.  The same thing happened last time Dagomon called to me.  But it was just the mixed emotions afterward that made me think that.  Besides, it's in his nature to want to protect me."

            Takeru just smiled back, and sat down again, and collected the empty tea cups and took them back into the kitchen.  As he was washing them out, he decided it best to try and get Hikari's mind off of what Dagomon had almost been able to do to her.  "You know, Kyoto sounds like an even better idea that it already was at first," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, as he put away the now clean cups.  "The train leaves in about four hours, so we better go on and get packed.  When do you think we should start heading for the train station?"

            "I guess as soon as we're ready.  I don't feel safe here anymore, so getting out of here as fast as possible is what I want to do," she responded calmly, and Takeru breathed a small sigh of relief that she was getting her usual nerve back.  Now he didn't have to put himself in an awkward position for her sake, though he would do so in an instant if it meant protecting her; however, he wouldn't do so until the time was right.  He felt the ring in his pocket, and wondered when the right time would be to ask.  He knew his initial answer and also knew that he could no longer accept its usual "not at the moment" response.

            "Whatever you want to do, Hikari-chan," he said, beginning to head for the door.  "So, how about you meet me up at my place as soon as you're ready.  I've decided that I'm going to bring along a few extra things."

            "Umm . . . Takeru?  Could you stay for a bit?" she asked with more than a slight hint of nervousness.  "I don't really want to be back in my room alone just yet.  I don't want him coming after me again."

            Takeru simply nodded.  If it were for her sake, then he would do it with no questions asked.  He also didn't blame her for wanting some company, since Dagomon probably waited till the person was alone and vulnerable before making his move.  It had been the same eight years ago, when everyone was too busy with their school work to notice any subtle changes in her, and they wouldn't have if he hadn't sensed the darkness around her, trying to take her.  And Dagomon had gotten her again when she was leaving school alone, except that Tailmon had spotted her at the last moment, though still too late to stop Dagomon from taking her to the Dark Ocean anyway.

            Takeru sat down in the chair closest to her room, and kept an eye on it as she went in.  She also left the door wide open as well, probably so that she could just dash out if anything happened again.  Less than half a minute later, Hikari popped her head out the doorway.  "Takeru, I wouldn't mind some company in here, either."

            "But . . . but . . .," he stammered.  She was asking him to come into her room!  That hadn't happened before, and now it was Takeru's turn to feel nervous.  Instead of showing it, he hid his nervousness with a comment that was meant to be funny.  "Scared of monsters under the bed, Hikari-chan?"  he asked with a playful grin on his face.

            Wrong move.  Her relatively calm face became one of hurt, because of his words.  "Baka!3 Think of what you're going to say before you make witty remarks!" he thought, mentally berating himself for his idiocy.  He immediately got up and went to Hikari.  "I'm sorry, Hikari-chan," he apologized, hoping that even though he immediately reopened a wound in the very early stages of being mended, that she would hear the sincerity in his words.  "I didn't mean it like that."

            "I know, Takeru.  I . . ." she said, as if she were apologizing as well.

            "Hikari-chan, don't apologize," Takeru interrupted.  "I should've thought about what I was going to say before I said it.  I don't mind giving you company while you pack."

            "Watch your words next time, Takeru no baka!  She's still very vulnerable, so be very careful!"

            Takeru kept his eyes averted as Hikari packed her unmentionables, even though she teased Takeru that they were just clothes and nothing to be embarrassed about seeing.  Takeru still preferred to keep his eyes averted.  Ever since they had moved into their apartments and began spending much more time together, Takeru had started to hear people talk; some were nice comments and some were nasty, but all were off the mark.  Most were either along the lines of "what a nice couple" or "see those two young love birds?  Ugh, scandalous."  Hikari had somehow managed to never notice the remarks, or if she did, she never mentioned them.  Takeru acted like he ignored the comments, but the remarks got to him, and ever since, he tried to not be as familiar in private so he could prove to himself that he and Hikari were still just best friends no matter what the other tenants said.  It wasn't that he didn't want to be romantically involved with Hikari, but he did find it unnerving if nearly complete strangers saw something between them that they themselves did not see.

            Takeru and Hikari chatted about what to do in Kyoto for the short week that they were going to be there, and realized that they'd need more than a week there to do all that they wanted to do.  So, a somewhat radical idea came to Takeru's mind.  "Hikari-chan, why not stay two weeks?  Your boss is laid back enough to go along with it, and mine said that I could take a whole month off if I wanted to when I mentioned that you and I were going together.  Besides, it'll give you more time to get your mind off of things.  Or maybe even three weeks!  I have enough saved up to cover the extended cost."

            Hikari's eyes lit up with excitement at Takeru's plan.  They both knew that an extended vacation was what was needed, and would allow them to really get away from all their normal stresses as well as the not-so-normal stresses.  Takeru also knew it would give him more time to find the perfect moment to tell Hikari of his feelings for her.  "You really mean it, Takeru?  Three weeks!   Really?"

            "Yeah, I don't see why not, Hikari-chan."

            She clapped her hands in delight at just the thought, and hurried to finish packing.  She figured that she could do laundry a few times in Kyoto, so she just made sure she brought detergent along as well.  She closed and locked her travel suitcase, and grabbed her purse, basically all ready to go.  "Well, now to get you packed, Takeru."

            "Huh?  Oh!  Yeah, come on up to my place.  We'll get moving when I'm finished."

            As they headed for the door, Hikari stopped as if she forgot something, then set her things down and went back into the living room.  "You go on, Takeru, I just have to get one last thing before I leave.  I won't even be a minute."

            Takeru nodded and went on outside and waited for her.  About a half minute later, Hikari appeared with her suitcase, purse and apartment key.  She locked both locks and then she and Takeru both headed up to his apartment several floors up.

***

            Where Hikari's apartment had shelves filled with pictures, Takeru had bookshelves.  Takeru had his books arranged according to where they came from and their age.  On one shelf he had the works of the great Haiku writers of ancient Edo Japan.  On several others he had select collections of western greats ranging from Shakespeare all the way up to hardback copies of Clancy's novels.

            All the foreign were translated into Japanese, though Takeru had become quite adept at speaking, as well as reading and writing English.  Even his prized hardback single volume copy of Lord of the Rings was completely translated into Japanese kana.  However, there was one book case which held more than just books.  This was Takeru's favorite bookshelf, as it held his manga collection (only series which he had finished, though) as well as his very large anime collection.  These took up all the room on the bookshelf except for a shelf in the middle, set right at Hikari's eye level. Here, Takeru kept his pictures.  Four pictures only, however, but they were pictures which Hikari knew that he treasured.

            One picture was an early portrait during a time when his family had not been split.  He was only a toddler in the picture, but he refused to put in a newer family picture because it was the last one ever taken before his mother and father began having marital problems.  Another picture was fairly recent.  It was of him and his brother several months back.  Both were laughing and palling around, and it was the picture which had always made Hikari grin.  The third picture was one which always managed to bring a wave of nostalgia, as it was the picture that was taken of the original eight digidestined right after their final battle.  Gennai, before he de-aged, was sitting in his Mechanorimon mecha with Andromon beside him.  Ogremon was standing behind the eight Chosen Children, grinning like a fool.  The others were standing in front of Ogremon, but what managed to bring back the Nostalgia to Hikari was seeing herself of eleven years ago holding a newly hatched digimon in her hands.  She moved onto the fourth and final picture.  This picture was actually a collage, but the pictures which made it up were of only two people, herself and Takeru.  Pictures from all kinds of places and from various times during the eleven years that she and Takeru had known each other.  At the bottom in gold kana was written "Cherished memories."  Hikari truly loved this particular picture, because she could always think about it and know that at least somebody cared about her even when she felt like no one did.

            Takeru went into his room to pack, and Hikari stopped looking at his pictures, and followed Takeru into his room.  She looked around the room, noticing how it contrasted with the rest of the apartment.  While the living room/kitchen area looked like the apartment had a writer of very avid reader living in it (and Takeru was both), with the bookshelves, anime, decent TV and home theater system, two-person couch and a recliner; Takeru's room made it seem like a warrior lived in the apartment.  A simple, but comfortable bed, and beside it a nightstand with phone.  His closet held all his clothes and travel gear, and a desk in the corner was where he did some of his writing, and also served as a place where he kept a small picture of himself and Patamon.  The walls were bare except for a very beautiful katana which hung in its scabbard from horizontal support hooks which kept the katana securely in place, but easily retrievable if so desired.  All in all, the whole apartment seemed very much like Takeru himself.  Hikari had noticed long ago that Takeru had two distinct sides to his personality.  The one which was most prominent and which everyone saw was the writer part of himself.  Friendly, passionate, kind hearted, and very creative, that was his prominent side, the one everyone took him to be.  However, only those very close to him had seen his other side, the one which actually guided his life, his warrior side.  Protective, selfless, humble, and practical were parts of himself not so easily seen, but where the guiding traits in his life.  He usually kept the two parts separate from each other, always choosing to show his writer side, though letting his warrior side guide his life.  However, when the two halves mixed, the best of both sides combined to show a very scary result.  On at least two occasions, the two pieces that made up Takeru had mixed, and when they did, he'd managed to frighten her once with it as well.

            Hikari sat down on the edge of his bed as he pulled out his suitcase and began packing.  As he was doing so, a question popped up in Hikari's mind that she wanted to get off her chest.  "Do you ever plan to get married, Takeru?"

            Takeru, who was bent over packing his clothes, shot straight up, caught off guard.  "I . . . uh . . . um . . . well, I think I … uh . . . I guess I do, Hikari-chan.  Why do you ask?"

            "I was just wondering," she said wistfully as if daydreaming of a time in the future.  "What if we're constantly haunted by these enemies from our past?  Wouldn't that give our enemies more ammunition to use against us?"

            "Yes, but better to give them weapons only rather than an automatic victory.  If I don't get married because of that fear, then my enemies have already won.  I don't plan on giving them that satisfaction.  Also, I want someone who I'm close to and can share my world with, and also be able to pass on my heritage."

            "Same here, Takeru.  I just don't know if the man I love could ever love me back."  She gave a regretful sigh.

            "Hikari-chan, if you were able to really fall in love with him, then I'm sure that he's perfectly willing and able to love you back.  All you need to do is let him know how you feel."  He gave a small pause as he shut and locked his suitcase.  "There, I'm ready.  Just one more thing I need."

            Takeru reached under his bed and pulled out a solid black case, and opened it.  It's inside was lined with red velvet and had a place for what looked like a katana.  Takeru grabbed his katana from above his bed and drew out the blade.  Soon after their second adventure in the Digital World, Takeru had decided to start learning martial arts, and decided on kenjitsu.  It allowed him to release pent-up anger and also learn a defensive as well as offensive art besides regular brawling which most boys knew how to do instinctively.  It had become his outlet instead of basketball.  Instructed personally by a true kenjitsu master, Takeru had caught on well to the art, and in eight years he was almost ready to be given the title of master as well.  So, as a graduation gift, his mother, father, and brother had all pitched in and ordered him a custom forged katana.  This katana he now drew not to practice, because that is what his bokkens were for, but to test the blade once again before packing it up in its case.  He felt its balance and took a few swings with it from the different guard positions.  Like the waves on the sea, his blade flowed, and sliced through the air with lethal speed and absolute control.  Satisfied, he sheathed the katana and placed it with both katana and scabbard in the case, shut it, locked it, and picked up it and his suitcase.

            "Ready to go now, Hikari-chan?"

            Hikari nodded, "Lets go, Takeru."

***

            In the middle of a lake on the continent of Server, a hermit who looked and felt much younger than he really was, looked up at the storm in the night sky.  The storm clouds rolling in were devoid of any color other than the total blackness of evil, and the lightning was a haunting blue-white of unnatural hues.  All this the hermit watched with worry and went inside to check a document he had been reading earlier.

            "I had hoped this day would never come," he said to two smaller beings beside him.  One a flying pig-like digimon who was orange on top and white on the bottom, and a white cat digimon with gloved front paws and an extremely wise and intelligent look in her feline eyes.  "I had hoped that the prophecies would have been incorrect.  Those hopes are now in vain."

            "Gennai-sama, what are we going to do?"  The feline digimon asked.  "How can I protect Hikari-san?"

            "Don't forget Takeru-san as well, Tailmon," the flying pig digimon said.

            "We fulfill our part of the prophecy," Gennai said.  "I'm sorry, Patamon, Tailmon, that being reunited with your partners had to come under the absolute worst of circumstances, especially for Hikari.  We must protect her carefully.  The coming battle will be over her."

            "You mean . . ." Tailmon began.

            "Yes, Tailmon," Gennai said, "Dagomon's war horn has sounded.  Darkness like no other is soon upon us."

TO Be Continued . . .

1.  Kanji is a set of ideogramatic characters in Chinese, each symbol has a meaning in and of itself.  There are several thousand kanji characters, but only some are used in Japanese for special sounds.  It is important to not that kanji is Chinese, and that the kanji in Japanese is borrowed from Chinese.  Also, there is some kanji that the japanese have invented themselves, called 'waji.'

2.  Kana is the Japanese syllabary which is composed of hiragana and katakana.  Hiragana and Katakana each contain 46 characters.  They are used to represent the same sounds, though a character in hiragana which has the same sound as a symbol in katakana look totally dissimilar to someone who does not know the kana syllabary.  This is a much smaller and structured character system than the thousands of kanji characters that the Chinese use.

3.  Baka, is a direct and informal insult, making it sting even more since the Japanese culture is very formal by nature.  If referring to oneself, 'baka' is a truncated form of 'Watashi wa baka desu.' which means "I'm an idiot."  If referring to something or someone else, the word 'watashi' is replaced with the name of the person, appropriate pronoun, name or place, or name of object to be called an idiot or a fool.  In this instance, Takeru is really coming down hard upon himself for his poor choice of words, as opposed to when he says 'Takeru no baka' which basically means 'Dumb Takeru.'  This is appropriate to his nature as he places Hikari's well being above his own.