…Strangely enough, although I am using the Japanese names for the kids, I will be using English ones for the Digimon. Why? Because the only ones I can remember are that Lobomon is Wolfmon and JagerLowemon was originally called SaberLeomon, and as I'm writing this I've been cut off from the internet so I can't look it up. So I'll be using the names I know…

As for my research…I've got a handy little computer to look it up on, plus my mama-editor's used to be an editor for a doctor's magazine, so she's got a lot of medical texts around the house that I could use. They're really useful.

Phew…you know, as much as I love the guy, it's kinda tough to write a fic focusing around Kouichi, 'cause he doesn't talk much. Even when he plays a prominent part, he still says about as much in a complete episode as Takuya does in one shot. I guess he's just kinda shy…

Disclaimer: I don't own Kouichi or anything involved with Digimon, save a D-Tector game I got for my birthday a year ago.

Life Is But A Dream…

Chapter Two: Haunting Shadows

"Snowboto. Snow-snowbota-bo?"

Kouichi groaned a little, squeezing his eyes shut a moment to try and mitigate the pressure. Then he cracked them open to find himself staring into two small, beady blue orbs.

He blinked and lifted his head a bit, feeling dirt and grass under him. The beady eyes were attached to a small, white form small enough to fit in his hand. Two small bear ears were on top of it, and there was a small, blue pacifier in the corner of its mouth.

It smiled when he sat up, still staring at it. "Snowbota-bo-bo!" it cheered, and jumped up into his arms.

He caught it, a bit surprised. "Snow…Botamon?" he asked, surprised.

The little, white thing looked up at him with a huge smile. "Snow-snowbo!" she piped at him, cuddling closer to his chest. "Bo bo snow bo…"

"Is that all you can say?" Kouichi asked, raising an eyebrow. Very young Digimon couldn't speak more than their names, Bokomon had told him that once.

Wait a minute…a Digimon?!

He sat all the way up, still holding the bubbling little Digimon. He was lying on the ground, in a clearing of a tall, lush, green forest. The sky above him was dark with night, and the three moons quickly showed that he was obviously no where near the human world hospital.

"The…Digital World?" he wondered out loud. "Guess that explains Snowy here… but how did I…?"

"Snowbota!" the little thing piped. "Bo-snow-bo! Snowbota!"

It hopped out of his arms and up to his shoulder, perching there like a parrot and dancing around to look behind him. "Hey…cut it out…" he tried to catch it…her…before she dropped. "Don't do that, you're gonna fall off…"

"Snowbo! Snow-snow bo-bo!" she shrieked, obviously trying to get his attention. "SNOWBO!!"

"What?" Kouichi turned, and froze, every muscle in his body suddenly rigid.

Coming at him from the shadows was an all-too-familiar figure…the same shadowed form he'd being seeing in his nightmares since his return. Tall, almost humanoid, and clothed in dark armor…armor that was covered with eyes. A long, curled red sword was in his hand, and he looked at him with a piercing glare.

"Kouichi…" he whispered in a dark, haunting voice that rattled the poor boy's very soul. "You've returned."

Kouichi stumbled back, the frightened SnowBotamon leaping down into his arms again, trying to hide herself in his shirt. Duskmon gave him a bland look, moving towards him.

"What's wrong? You remember me, do you not?" Kouichi took several more steps back, shaking slightly. "I see that you do. Come back with me."

"N-No…" he whispered, stumbling away. SnowBotamon let out a fearful squeak. "Leave me alone!"

With that, he turned and dashed away as fast as he could. But when running away, you really should try to look where you're going…

. . . . . .

Koji burst out of sleep with a strangled gasp. It took a moment to realize it was only a dream, another to figure out that he was lying on the floor and another two to exactly why he was doing so.

He was in Takuya's bedroom, staying the night because his home was in the same area as the hospital. In the morning, they'd be able to get to him in little to no time at all.

Takuya leaned over the edge of the bed beside him, rubbing his eye sleepily. "Koji?" he asked in mid-yawn. "What's wrong? Why're you up?"

Koji was breathing heavily a moment, then sighed and dropped his head down. "It's nothing." he muttered. "Just a dream…"

"About what?"

"I don't remember." Koji snapped, and rolled over to face away from his friend.

Actually, he'd been lying. He remembered all too well his brother begging for help, rushing through the darkness in frantic haste, gasping for breath as the dark shape closed in on him…

Takuya sighed, noticing Koji's involuntary shudder. He'd heard somewhere that twins, particularly those who had been seperated for long periods of time, had a very deep, almost psychic bond. If Koji was having nightmares this bad, did it mean that Kouichi was in pain…or worse?

. . . . . .

Kouichi drew in a startled gasp as the ground suddenly fell out from under him. For a moment his mind spun, and he realized that, in his haste, he'd dashed off the edge of a cliff, but that wasn't much comfort as he plummeted through the air…

The wind was suddenly knocked from his lungs, but he had not hit the ground. Whatever he had hit, it was gently supporting his head and legs, cradling him 'bridal-style'. The wind rushed past his ears as though he was still falling, he squeezed his eyes shut to protect them from the gust, and clutched the tiny baby Digimon close.

"Hey, buddy." a familiar, deep tenor voice spoke from just above him. "You really should watch where you're going."

Kouichi blinked and looked up, into friendly, masked brown eyes. He blinked, then did it again before it registered. "A…Agunimon?"

"Naturally." The Legendary Warrior of Flame grinned, setting him back on his feet.

Kouichi blinked at him, then turned and looked up where he had fallen. The cliff was, apparently, gone. He was standing on a long, white-sand strip of beach, with crystal blue ocean stretching one way, and lush green grass in the other.

"But…But how did I…?"

"Don't worry your little head about it, sugar." a southern-accented voice suddenly spoke. "You'll put lines in that pretty little face of yours."

Kouichi spun back in the direction it had come from, looking back out to the sea. For a moment there was nothing, then small, blue-and-green figure that was just a little shorter than him burst out of the water. She flipped in mid-air and landed in front of him with a lighthearted giggle.

"Ranamon?" he blinked.

"And who else would it be, sugar? Just how many Warriors of Water do you know?" she skipped forward, all smiles, and leaned to him directly in the eyes. "Oooh… It's really a shame I never got to meat you like this before, huh? Kazemon was right…you are kinda cute."

A bit of a red-tinted blush painted Kouichi's cheeks, and Agunimon burst out laughing. SnowBotamon looked at the three of them a moment, then let out a happy "BO!" of a cheer and leapt onto Kouichi's shoulder.

Agunimon laughed again, softer this time and raising a curious eyebrow. "Well well…" he grinned. "Looks like you've made yourself a friend."

"Looks like it." Kouichi shrugged, patting SnowBotamon on the head. She cooed and rubbed up against him affectionately.

"Oooh, don't you two make quite a cute little pair?" Ranamon giggled, patting the Baby gently. "Hi there, little one."

Agunimon smiled, but then his face grew grim. Ranamon, too, seamed to feel something ominous and her eyes narrowed.

Kouichi looked up when Agunimon set his hand on his free shoulder. "Come on." the Digimon muttered, keeping his voice low. "We better keep moving."

"What?" Kouichi turned to look at him. "Why? What's wrong…?"

"He's a'comin this way." Ranamon whispered.

A shiver ran up Kouichi's spine at the way she said 'he'. He knew which he she was talking about.

"I-I'm the one he's after…" he whispered, looking down at the sand. "But…I don't understand why…"

"Never mind that." Agunimon nodded towards the trees. "Just come on, we need to get going before he shows up again…"

. . . . . .

Takuya blinked at the dark ceiling. After a moment, he sat up and started to blink at the dark walls. Then he brought his hands up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "What the heck was that?" he thought.

The only reason he didn't say those last words out loud was because it had taken Koji an hour to get back to sleep after that nightmare or whatever it was he'd had, and he didn't think his friend would be to appreciative of being woken up once more.

Speaking of nightmares…What the hell had just happened? He racked his brain, trying to remember…

He pulled out a few foggy things…a small, blue-and-green creature that looked almost like a girl, Ranamon…A tiny, bubbly white creature…and a familiar dark-haired boy…

"We better keep moving…" Voices whispered in his head. "He's a'comin this way…"

"I-I'm the one he's after…" frightened, dark blue eyes looked up at him. "But I don't understand…why…?"

"…Kouichi…" he muttered in the near-silence, then rolled back over and fell back asleep…

. . . . . .

Kouichi let out a strangled gasp and stumbled, wrapping his arms around his chest. A wave of pain racked his body, dropping him to his knees. SnowBotamon fell off his shoulder and turned up to squeak "Bo-bo-snow-bo" worriedly.

"Kouichi, what is it?" Agunimon asked, turning back.

"I-I don't know…" Kouichi gasped. "It…hurts…"

A hand slipped under his shirt, drifting to his left side, where his fingers traced the outline of his tumor. It was the size of a golf-ball…

"It's…bigger." his mind raced in confusion. "I-It can't be…It can't…"

"We don't have time for this, sugar!" Ranamon warned.

"Right." Agunimon bent down and scooped up the struggling boy as well as the worried little Digimon. "Just hang on, buddy. We've got to get out of here…"

TBC…

Ideas are always welcome…and if anybody has any guesses at what's happening, I'd love to here 'em! Laterz!

GS