Gomababe:sighingOur Digimon seem to have goe missing, so we'll have to do the disclaimer ourselves
Lar-Lar:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! cries
Gomababe:if anyone can tell us where Aquamon and Chrystamon are please get back to us as soon as possible.
Aquamonfrom hiding placeshhhh!!! our lives depend upon this.....please remember to review once you're done thank you...
Chapter nine-Calm Determination
Alana watched her friend worriedly as she settled down next to Izzy again. Chrystamon kept a close eye on her partner to make sure nothing went wrong, TK watched everyone closely,
"Don't worry 'Lana, Lucy will be OK." he said cheerfully, "You wait and see, she'll have Izzy back and better again in no time!" Alana had to smile at the young boy's innocence,
"I'm sure she will TK, I'm sure she will." she said, rubbing TK's head affectionately. Matt looked up and smiled as TK bounded off to play with Kari, Patamon and Gatomon,
"I didn't know you were that good with kids." he noted, Alana shrugged,
"I've got a younger brother of my own, a year younger than TK here, so big sister instinct just took over." She sighed as she looked over towards the back of the church where TK and Kari were playing 'Tag', Matt noticed a saddened look on her face,
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, deciding to be friendly to the Scots girl since she had helped out in the desert with Tai. Alana looked at Matt, then back at TK,
"Well," she sighed, "I actually miss Paul, for once in my life. We've never gotten on too well, we're always bickering about something or another and he always tries to get me into trouble for things I never did." she explained. Matt cocked his head to the side, he had never been like that with TK, 'But then again.' he thought, 'I never seen TK often enough, especially after my parents divorced.' When he next looked up at Alana, her gaze had shifted towards her best friend again, her brow furrowed in concentration. Joe was the first to notice the surprised expression on Alana's face,
"What's wrong?" he asked in a worried voice, causing the others, bar TK and Kari and their Digimon to look over again. Alana shook her head,
"I'm not sure," she muttered, "Lucy's getting herself all worked up over something though." Aquamon frowned and looked to Chrystamon, who was still sitting next to her partner, not moving.
"Maybe she can't hear Izzy or something." she suggested, "I mean it must be since she seems to be panicking about something." Alana nodded,
"Yeah," she said slowly, "Maybe."
Lucy Stumbled about in the dark, helpless trying to focus on Izzy's voice as it became quieter and quieter. She could feel the panic rising inside of her once again, tears stinging her eyes as she tried not to think about it and to keep on going.
"Come on Koushiro, You can do this, keep fighting, don't let go." She muttered, to make herself fell better more than anything else. A sharp, searing pain pierced her head, making her eyes sting even more as she struggled to breath through the intense pain but at the same time, she felt reassured that if Izzy was still feeling this, he had to be alive and fighting still. She followed the pain, making turns that caused it to become stronger until finally, she found what she had been looking for. A twelve year old boy sat just in front of her, hunched over and holding his head in pain. She was so relived she forgot about her own pain for a moment, and ran towards him shouting his name. He looked up as she came crashing to a stop just beside him. He offered her a weak smile.
"You found me then." She smiled back, her tears spilling over now.
"Sure I did. Champion at hide and seek me." She tried to laugh but it came out wrong. "How are you doing?" She asked, in all seriousness this time, not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer.
"I don't think I can keep this up much longer Lucy." He told her honestly, he looked so tiered, so worn out. She wanted to tell him to close his eyes, to rest and soon it would all be over but she knew that 'all over' would truly mean that. She shook her head, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You can't give up now mate, everyone's out there somewhere waiting for you. We need you." Izzy blinked, to Lucy, his eyes seemed to stay closed for an eternity and when he opened them again, the seemed glazed over.
"But I can't. It's hopeless, I'm so tiered I..." He paused, yawning and closing his eyes again. Lucy felt a wave of that familiar panic wash over her again, she grabbed the boy by the shoulders and shook him awake again, her tears falling faster now.
"No! I will not let you give up! It's not hopeless! NOTHING is ever hopeless! You can't give up hope! That's we have!" Her words were coming out fast now, she was not sure if they were making much sense anymore but she just kept on, refusing to give up. "Listen here Koushiro, you are important, VERY important. And not just to Digi-world but to our world too. And to your family and your friends you cannot give up! Have you any idea what they will have to go through if you let go now? Have you any idea how much it hurts to lose someone like that?!" She had not realized she was yelling at him until she stopped, she stared dumbly at him for a moment, her brain slowly telling her hands to let go of his shoulders. "I'm so, so sorry, Kou." She whispered, feeling herself calming down but feeling sick with it. "I...Didn't mean to yell, I just made things worse, I..." She paused, at least his eyes were open and focusing now. "I'm so sorry." She slumped down next to him, leaning against whatever it was he was leaning against, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Izzy watched her for a moment, unaware that his own pain was reseeding as he did so.
"It's Okay Lucy, I'm the one who should be sorry." Lucy looked up, her eyes red raw from tears and her features drained of all colour.
"I'm a moron." She told him simply. "Open mouth, insert foot. That's me." She sighed. "I was just trying to help, that's all I thought..." She trialed off, shaking her head.
"Go on." He asked. "What were you going to say?" She looked at him uncertainly for a moment before going on.
"Well, I thought if I could make you mad at me, then you'd scream and yell and be okay again." She shrugged, but before she could continue speaking, another serge of pain hit her. Izzy stared at the girl as she held her head in her hands, he tried to move to help her but his sick body would not allow it. "Alana?" She asked. "How...?"
The large group of children assembled in the church silently waited as Lucy and Izzy remained unconscious as the sun finally sank below the horizon.
"Oooh, look at the sunset, isn't it beautiful?" Mimi breathed as she watched the sun sink lower out of the window. Palmon stared at the spectacle too, nodding her head slowly. TK and Kari sat in the pews behind the older kids, heads nodding as they tried to stay awake, Alana looked at them both tiredly,
"Go on to sleep you two," she suggested, "You look shattered, no one will mind." She didn't need to say any more as the two youngest Digi-destined children fell asleep where they sat. Tai nodded his thanks as did Matt, both too tired to say anything. Alana smiled in understanding. Suddenly a wave of worried anger washed over her, with Lucy's signature. Alana snapped out of her half conscious state as she laid a hand on her friends shoulder,
"Calm down Lucy." she muttered, "I thought you were the one with the crest of Calm, no' me." She yawned, letting her eyes flutter shut only to wake with a start soon after as she heard Lucy's voice inside her head, waking Aquamon and Chrystamon, who were both sleeping beside the Digi-destined Child of Determination.
"Alana, what's going on?" Aquamon mumbled, while Chrystamon yawned. Alana just blinked,
"I'm not totally sure what happened....I thought I just heard Lucy ask me something."
What in the world is going on here?‡ Lucy's voice echoed, Alana tentatively tried to talk to the girl.
"Lucy, hen, is that you?" she asked, trying to make sure she wasn't going insane.
Yeah it's me, what the H-E-L-L is going on? Came the voice, sounding just as surprised as Alana felt. Aquamon looked at her human with a puzzled expression,
"What's going on 'Lana?" she asked worriedly, Chrystamon decided to answer,
"I think Alana can hear Lucy talking to her telepathically. The fact that Alana told Lucy to calm down and laying her hand on her shoulder must've triggered it off somehow." the little purple caterpillar explained. Aquamon could only nod as she listened to Alana talk again,
"I think I might have shaken you out of whatever flunk you were in." she said, laughing lightly, "you weren't exactly happy with something, what was it?" She listened intently as Lucy explained what had happened to make her so upset. As Lucy talked Alana nodded in understanding, adding "ohs" and "hmms" every so often until, "Lucy, I want to try something out, is that ok?" she asked as she felt Lucy tiring from the effort of keeping the link up.
yeah what is it? Lucy asked tiredly, telling Izzy to keep his questions to himself for the moment. Alana laughed before continuing,
"How about you let me talk to Izzy through you? It'll let you get a rest as well as letting me talk to the guy." she explained. Silence followed as Lucy thought for a few seconds. Finally she conceded,
All right then, if you think it'll help. She said, stepping aside so Alana could use her to talk to Izzy. Alana smiled at the two Digimon who were looking at her with worry,
"Don't worry guys, I'll have Izzy back before you know it." she said confidently before shutting her eyes and letting the darkness wash over her.
The first thing Alana felt was peace as Lucy let her in to the strange in between world. It was not as dark now, and she could see Izzy clearly, sitting there staring at her, or at Lucy rather, his eyes still rather glazed but more alert.
"Izzy?" She asked, not knowing who's voice it would come out in. She was rather surprised to find it was her own. Izzy looked puzzled.
"Lucy? What's going on?" Alana breathed a sigh of relief as she noted Izzy has noticed the change in her friend's voice. "Izzy?" He asked while she was still thinking. Even better! She thought, he's realized Lucy never called him by his nick-name too. Izzy was still in there somewhere.
"It's not Lucy anymore." She began, talking slowly. "It's Alana, do you remember me?" Izzy frowned for a moment, then nodded slowly. He remember chatting to her a few times and Lucy had spoken of her often.
"From Scotland, right?" He asked. Alana clapped her hands together excitedly, it was all she could do not to hug the boy to death.
"Yes! That's right!" She took a deep breath before going on. "Lucy was tiered, her soul needed to rest but I'm here now and I'm going to help you, okay?" Izzy just nodded, she cold almost see the cogs of his mind whirling into action.
"Okay. I need to get out of here." He told her, trying to move again and this time having more luck. Alana took his hand, helping him to his feet.
"You're not wrong, do you have any idea which way it is?" The boy shook his head.
"Sorry." Alana smiled, not to worry, we'll work it out."
Follow the voices Something echoed around the space. The voices will lead you out. Alana grinned as she recognized her friend's voice calling to her, even from wherever she was now.
"Thanks hen." She muttered, before returning her attentions back to Izzy. "This way." Alana strained to listen out for the voices Lucy had told her about, only just hearing them, "Just how far did you get Izzy?" she asked, still feeling slightly weird about being in her best friends body. Izzy shook his head,
"I'm not sure." he muttered, "I was pretty out of it for a while there, so I've got no idea." Alana sighed as she turned to her right, following a faint voice, dragging Izzy with her. Izzy strode to her side, beginning to feel slightly better now that most of the voices in his head had managed to cease,
"Alana, how did you figure out how to get to me through Lucy?" he finally asked, as Alana turned to her left for what seemed like the hundredth time. The Scots girl paused for a few moment, thinking about the question,
"Mostly through guesswork and a bit of luck." she answered thoughtfully. She suddenly grinned, "If you thought it was through plain logic, forget it. My best subject may be science but I'm far from logical." she laughed. Izzy smiled as he continued to listen for the voices that were supposed to lead them out of this place. Suddenly both pre-teens could hear harmonica music, that got louder with every step forward they took. 'Alana' and Izzy looked at each other and grinned as they ran towards the music, now hearing the soft voice that was singing along with it, Alana recognized the tune, but for the life of her could not remember the words. She shook the thought out of Lucy's head for the moment, "Ok hen, your body's all yours again, thanks." she thought to Lucy. Lucy grinned as she stepped forward again,
"You're welcome, now let's get out of here." All three Digi-destined nodded as Alana went back to her own body, while Lucy and Izzy began to wake up to consciousness once again, Lucy staying with the red-head until Izzy crossed the line first...
Izzy coughed slightly as he forced his tiered eyes open. He blinked a few times, looking around as much as he could without standing up. Alana had already come over to see how he was doing and grinned happily when she saw his eyes were open.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." She greeted with a smile. Aquamon grinned too and went to fetch the others.
"Izzy! Dude, you scared us half to death!" Tai said, unable to hide the relieved look on his face. Izzy smiled slightly.
"Sorry I worried you." He croaked causing Tai to roll his eyes but only smiled, there was need to say anything more. "Is Lucy okay?" He asked, noticing she was the only one he could not see, he tried to sit up but Matt pushed him back down.
"You are staying right here." He ordered. "Hey Joe? You got those aspirins?" Joe nodded, the pills already in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Izzy rolled his eyes but complied, taking the pills and swallowing them as he was told.
"There you are mate." Came a new voice, Izzy turned and smiled as best he could when he saw Lucy and Chrystamon standing there. "Much nicer this side of the abyss huh?" She added, with a grin.
"Thank you for helping me." He told her, before turning to Alana. "You too. All of you, thank you." They all smiled, happy to be at full strength again, or at least all conscious.
"Isn't this great?" Mimi asked, smiling before something else caught her attention. "And look, the sun lovely through these windows is so pretty, It's just like a rainbow..."