Chapter Six
Faith Is All It Takes
"Man, can you believe it? Koushiro finally gets a crush, and she a crush on him, and then she falls into a coma. Thank Kami, Jyou lives on campus and got her to the college hospital." Daisuke murmured sadly walking into the hospital with Ken.
"Yeah. Miyako told me that the team is really stretched thin. They can't find Touji and the wild digimon have disappeared. The only enemy they've run across is that giant tarantula." Ken told him.
"I wish Melina would talk to me like Yukina and Jyou talk to each other." Daisuke said sadly. "Ever since Motoko appeared back in the human world two days ago, Melina hasn't spoken to me. I've tried, but she never talks about it, or Motoko. Pawmon is supposedly going crazy and she and Lizmon have been taking care of him. She told me he can't sleep at night and she stays up with him. But Jyou told me Pawmon has been hanging with Yukina and Melina's been the one not sleeping at night." Daisuke sighed.
"Don't give up, Daisuke. Melina and Motoko were close. Miyako told me they lived together in the human world. Melina is an exchange student from America and Motoko's grandparents had been the parents chosen to take her in." Ken explained. They suddenly stopped talking as they reached the door 209.
They opened the door and glanced in. Their eyes saddened seeing Koushiro next to the bed. He was holding Motoko's hand and his head was resting on the bed, his eyes closed in sleep. Motoko was connected to a dozen machines, it seemed to the two teenagers, to help her breathe and make sure she stayed alive.
"Poor Koushiro." Said a voice behind them. They jumped, just barely remembering not to shriek aloud.
"Taichi!" hissed Daisuke under his breath.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya. I came here to bring Koushiro home. He's been neglecting his homework, not eating, and rarely sleeping. His parents are concerned, and so am I." Taichi explained with an abashed grin.
"Huh? I'm not leaving." Koushiro murmured sleepily waking up.
"You woke him up!" Daisuke scolded angrily.
"I shouldn't have been asleep anyway." Koushiro shot at Daisuke.
"Koushiro, Motoko's not going to been very happy when she wakes to see a distraught eighteen year old. Plus, you're in college. She'd probably kill you for messing up your future for a girl you knew only for three days before she got knocked unconscious." Ken said kindly placing a hand over Koushiro and Motoko's.
"But I can't leave her. What if she wakes? I need to be here to explain to her what happened." He glanced down at the comatose fifteen-year-old.
"No one can explain exactly what happened." Ken looked at her sadly. Her head was bandaged and the finger-like bruises on her neck stood out vividly on her pale skin.
"Besides Touji." Taichi whispered. Koushiro shook with the familiar anger.
"I'm going to eradicate that sadistic liar." He spat, rage making his vision go red.
"Whoa, Koushiro, stop it! Anger isn't going to make her wake up! And neither will murder. If anyone's got that right, Motoko does, not you." Daisuke said quickly, worried. Koushiro sighed running a hand through his messy red hair.
"Sorry, but I haven't been myself lately. I don't care that it has only been three days; she's...never mind. Let's go Taichi." Koushiro said abruptly changing the subject. "I've been falling behind in my studies too long. I need to catch up and apologize to my professors. Thanks you guys." He said with a small bow towards Ken and Daisuke.
"I hope Motoko gets better soon, if only for Koushiro." Daisuke murmured sadly putting his bouquet of flowers on the small table under the window. He filled a vase Ken had brought from home and put the bouquet up next to the several others. "So many people are touched by her. And yet none of them know what happened between her and Touji."
"And all of them agree she's never lied, even her grandparents have never had a problem with her lying. Even if she got in trouble for it, she'd still tell the truth." Ken said walking towards the door.
"But we all know she's lying about something. Something really important, too." Daisuke stated worriedly. "Let's just hope it doesn't affect the others in the digital world too much."
V V V
Miracles do happen, Melina. I have the Crest of Miracles, so there's a proven fact. If you give up, what's stopping Motoko from giving up? I'm your advisor, Melina, and my advice is to have faith in Miracles. Faith is all it takes.
From Daisuke
"Geez, we haven't heard from Koushiro for two days!" Melina cried out suddenly, snapping her D3 closed with a swipe of her hand across her face. The others turned, still walking.
"Why does that bother you? It means he's by Motoko's side for us." Shizuko snapped.
"Well, the others can't really explain what's wrong. Jyou hasn't had time to check on her because his schedule is hectic enough, and none of the others were allowed to hear the progno-thingie. Only Koushiro knows, and he won't leave the damn hospital!" Melina explained frustrated.
"We all want to know what is wrong. We all want to know when she'll get better. But Koushiro is pretty beat up about this. He needs time for what ever her prognosis is to sink in." Miyako spoke comfortingly.
"I know, I just miss her." Melina murmured.
"We all do." Yukina sighed.
"Don't worry, Koushiro will contact us soon. He's a practical, but sensitive sort of person. He's probably beating himself for not probing her more carefully about how she was feeling." Iori said trying to lighten the mood.
"He loves her." Tsubaki said simply. The others jumped. After the incident two days before, Tsubaki hadn't spoken at all. She hadn't made contact with Iori either. Iori had been feeling a little concerned and sad because he was now used to her quiet presence near him and missed it.
"But he's only known her for three days, well, now five..." Miyako said trailing off.
"I've never known Koushiro to have a crush, let alone fall in love with a boy-crazy girl in three days." Iori agreed.
"Because he's never loved until now." Tsubaki replied softly. Iori blinked, did a tear just fall?
"Well, that sucks for Koushiro. He's finally fallen in love and she's just about dead."
"Melina!" Yukina gasped. Shizuko walked up to her and smacked her. Melina just stood there unmoving, her face turned to the side from the force of Shizuko's slap.
"Don't you ever say that again! If we don't have faith in her, we might as well dig the hole right now." Shizuko seethed her eyes flaming red in rage.
"Faith doesn't exist." Melina whispered.
"What?" Miyako gaped confused.
"Shizu!" cried out a small voice. Shizuko looked down to see Quimon bouncing up and down agitated.
"Has Quimon ever spoken before?" Miyako muttered under her breath to Iori. Iori shook his head.
"What is it?" Shizuko asked worried.
"I found something! Upamon and me found digimon!" Quimon told her frenziedly.
"Where?" Iori asked quickly while the others gasped.
"This way! Upamon is still there." Quimon bounced ahead of them and turned the corner. They all gasped in awe. A large block sat in the middle on the road. A small opening was right in front of them and they looked through it to see the other side.
"What's the point for the tunnel?"Shizuko asked annoyed.
"It's not a tunnel!" said the squeaky voice of Poromon. They all turned to him to see him shaking in Miyako's arms. Quimon jumped unto Shizuko's shoulder and hid in her long hair, shaking in fright. She tugged on her bottom lip in worry. Nothing had scared Quimon before.
"Upamon, where are you?" Iori called out, an edge of fear in his voice. What ever was scaring the others' digimon partners might have his partner.
"Iori!" Upamon cried out, relief evident in his tone as he sailed up into Iori's waiting arms, trembling furiously.
"Upamon! You're okay!" Iori smiled hugging his partner in happiness. "Why did you stay behind if you were so scared?" Iori asked.
"Because then it'd vanish again!" Upamon explained snuggling into Iori's shirt.
"What? Vanish?"
"This building was invisible! You had to be searching for it to find it. If we didn't know it was here, we wouldn't be able to see it!" Quimon piped up.
"How did you know it was here?" Shizuko asked.
"Finmon." Quimon said as if that answered everything.
"What? Me?" asked Finmon confused.
"When Yukina's crest came out of the water, I was up in a tree, out of the way watching the commotion and when I realized something was glinting in the air. But nothing was there. I realized I was seeing the reflection of the Crest! But there was no mirror in sight! I told Upamon a couple nights ago, and we've been ahead of you guys trying to find the mirror. This was the mirror. The walls reflect the forest around it. And that's why there's a tunnel on the bottom, some we can walk right through it and not notice." Quimon said.
"But if it's a mirror, why aren't we looking at ourselves? And isn't it still invisible, so to speak?" asked Iori.
"It's a very messed up mirror." Upamon said brightly. Iori frowned.
"That's just the way it was programmed." Quimon said cuttingly.
"Sorry Quimon." Upamon said abashed.
"Well, how do we get inside?" Miyako asked putting her hand against the cold wall.
"Through the tunnel! There's an opening." Upamon said.
The group walked in and saw a ladder built right into the wall and Iori put Upamon in Miyako's arms before climbing up. His reached the top and pushed at the roof of the tunnel. A square disappeared and he almost fell.
"Iori! Are you okay?" Shizuko cried out alarmed. He looked down carefully; sweat forming on his forehead, his feet almost slipping off the rungs of the ladder.
"Yes. I just got surprised. I'll be right back." Iori assured the girls below before hoisting himself through the opening.
"If Motoko was here she probably point out that he's acting like a total macho guy and he's having all the fun." Melina said suddenly. Yukina and Miyako giggled and Shizuko smiled slightly.
"That's definitely sounds like my Moto." Pawmon said sadly.
"Get up here quick! You need to see this." Iori said, his head appearing at the square. Miyako threw Upamon at Iori and there was a muffled thud and Upamon crying. "Why did you do that?" Iori asked pissed.
"Because I need my hands to climb, take Poromon too!" Miyako said brightly throwing Poromon up.
"Miyako! How could you do that to me!" Poromon whined. Miyako giggled climbing up the ladder, and turning to catch the other girls' digimon to pass up to Iori. By the time Tsubaki and Baublemon (Baublemon had flown) reached the opening, the others were standing in shock at the sight before them.
"This is horrifying!" exclaimed Miyako, running forward. Cages lined the walls and in each small glass cage, an In-training digimon was shackled and linked to wires. Numbers and symbols that Koushiro might find familiar raced and beeped over the walls, floor and ceiling.
"We have to get them out!" Pawmon said scratching at a cage with his claw. He didn't even make a mark.
"We could have passed a dozen of these and not known." Yukina whispered. The others froze in horror.
"What's happening to them?" Shizuko murmured aloud, touching the cage of a Motimon.
BEEP!
"It's Koushiro!" Iori said pulling Motoko's D3 out of his pocket.
"What's wrong with Motoko?" The group cried instantly.
"She's in a coma."
"We know that!"
"It seems that she was bit by the tarantula and didn't tell us. The doctor found an opening on the inside of her cheek where it was inflamed and had traces of a strange secretion. She must've swallowed it without knowing. It got into her bloodstream and then into her nervous system. It worked itself into her brain and is keeping the neurons from sending messages to the rest of her body. She can't even breathe on her own. The strange thing is, it's not destroying her tissues, but just blocking her brain off from her body. It's mainly affecting her memory side of her brain. The doctors believe in a state of non-stop replays of her past." Koushiro told them a dead tone.
"So in other words, she's stuck in her memories?" Shizuko asked quietly. Koushiro nodded.
"She can think, but she can't wake up. And even if she does wake up, because of the brain's lack of communication to her body, it'll take awhile for her body to relearn how to receive messages from the neurons. She may have to relearn how to move, balance, walk, and even speak. And there's a chance that she'll never do any of those functions, including others, ever again." Koushiro added, his voice getting quieter.
"Kind of like a stroke?" Yukina asked.
"Yes, in some ways. Only there's a chance she'll be stuck in this coma for the rest of her life. They have no way of telling when she'll wake, or if she ever will. The bruises on her neck, the large bump on her head, nor the concussion on the base of her skull can heal without her brain sending the messages to tell the body to do so." Koushiro closed his eyes and breathed slowly, his fists clenching beneath the desk.
"In other words, if worse come to worse, we may have to pull the plug ourselves and kill her." Melina whispered.
"NO, WE WON'T! Motoko will wake up! I will find the way to get that poison out of her body myself. It came from the digital world, and I'm going to find it." Koushiro yelled standing up. "I'll not allow anybody to pull the plug and commit murder on a fifteen-year-old girl! Especially not a girl with so much life and talent. Have you found Miyazawa?"
"No." Iori growled, bristling. "But we will." Shizuko glanced at Iori.
"But we did find something strange." Miyako said suddenly.
"What?"
"We found some of the missing digimon." Yukina said. "And we have a feeling that they're in trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"You might be able to get something out of it, being the techno geek that you are." Melina said moving out the way as Iori held the screen up to the cages.
"Oh my god." Koushiro gasped under his breath. "Who did this?"
"We have no idea. Upamon and Quimon found this place. Maybe you can figure it out for us. We don't get it." Iori said.
"Hook a link into a computer outlet." Koushiro said immediately immersed in the mystery. They looked around and finally found one.
"There's always an outlet in this place. You could probably find one on a tree." Melina joked.
"It is the digital world." Lizmon said offended.
"Okay, now you have to send me this data through email." Koushiro told Iori. The girls walked over to the cages while Koushiro told Iori exactly what to do.
"So, do you think Motoko will wake up?" Melina asked nonchalantly.
"I believe in Motoko. I know she will." Yukina said holding her hand over her heart.
"I don't think so. She can't even heal herself. How the heck can you expect her to wake up?" Melina replied dubious.
"How can you say that?" Yukina exclaimed.
"Easy, it's true."
"Damn it Melina! Have a little faith!" Miyako snapped.
"Faith doesn't exist." Melina repeated.
"Get a hold of yourself, Melina! If we all had that attitude, Motoko will never get better!" Shizuko muttered lowly. She didn't want Koushiro to hear their conversation.
"And if we all had Yukina's attitude, Motoko would be dead." Melina shot. Yukina stiffened as if slapped.
"Be quiet, Melina! Just stop, right now! We aren't enemies. The only enemy we have if the jerk that did this to the digimon and Touji, who tried to kill her!" Miyako exclaimed.
"We don't know that for certain." Shizuko said weakly.
"The person here who's really hurting is that eighteen-year-old genius and her grandparents. We should be doing the best we can to track down and find Miyazawa." Miyako continued, pretending not to hear Shizuko.
"Why are you guys looking at me that way?" Shizuko snapped.
"You better not help that loser when we find him." Melina replied.
"And you better not fall down on your ass and whine that we're too weak when we battle him." Shizuko defended pissed.
"AH!" screamed Yukina and Miyako as the building started to shake.
"What happened?" Koushiro yelled from behind a blank screen.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Pawmon, watch the download. Come on Upamon." Iori said racing to the hole in the floor.
"Wait up, Iori!" Miyako yelled over the building's shaking.
"Holy cow." Gaped Melina.
A giant monster was stomping over the treetops. Suddenly, its eyes opened. It's more than two eyes opened. It had eyes all over its 'body' and out its pupils lasers shot at the block building. Some of the trees had crashed and fire was started to envelope the forest.
"Windommon, GO!"
"Norwhamon, get ready!"
"Four Winged Ty-AH!"
"Rampant Wat-UUGHH!"
"It's no use! Its eyes see everything!" Miyako yelled over the crashing and roaring of the burning forest.
"You'd have to be invisible." Whispered Melina.
"Melina! Your digimon can turn invisible!" Shizuko shouted.
"No, he can't. I've tried before. We all know he couldn't." Melina hollered.
"Yes, he could! You just didn't believe he could, that's the reason he couldn't. You two are partners. You have to have faith in each other to reach full potential." Yukina cried out as Norwhamon once again crashed into the ground.
"Faith never works!" Melina cried out. "How many times do I have to tell you to make you get it?"
"You'll never know if you don't try it!" Miyako yelped dived to the side as a tree crashed where she stood.
"I have tried it! My mother was sick with a brain tumor. She said if I had faith then everything would turn out right. For three years she held on and suffered!" she coughed diving aside as a laser crashed into the ground. "She held onthrough chemo and just got sicker! I never got to say good-bye because doctors took her away saying they might have a chance. She died on the damn operating table! That's what faith got me! A dead mother!" Melina's tears traced lines on her soot-covered face as she coughed. Her fingers dug into the dirt and tears fell creating dark spots on the ground.
"Melina..."
"After that I was given up for adoption and was adopted by a vacationing Hawaiian family who loved England. While I was in the orphanage, they tried to contact my family, but my family didn't want me. I believed someone would want me. I did just what my mum told me to do, and nobody wanted me. I had to be adopted by strangers! Don't you dare tell me to have faith! It does squat!" Melina shouted hoarsely.
"It got you a loving family. And me." said Iguanamon. Melina blinked. And remembered her email from Daisuke. Have Faith in Miracles...faith is all it takes...
"No, it takes more than faith. There's no such thing. There isn't! Why would my mother leave me if it existed? I prayed and believed so much. Was it all for nothing?"
"Nothing is for nothing. I have faith in you as my partner. Have faith in me, now." Melina's eyes widened.
"You're right, Iguanamon." She smiled. She closed her eyes. Have faith my little bird, everything will turn out for the best...have faith in miracles. "I believe in Miracles. I have faith in you, partner. Let's get 'im!"
"Iguanamon digivolve to Chamelemon!"
"Turn invisible, Chamelemon!" Melina cried out. Chamelemon fuzzed out and then disappeared.
"Tongue lash!" they heard Chamelemon yelled. The monster winced and then looked around wildly for the perpetrator. Windommon and Norwhamon tried to help, thinking to use the distraction, but they were immediately shot down.
"Chamelemon isn't a high enough level digimon to take on that thing! He has to digivolve!" Iori yelled.
"Chamelemon hasn't digivolved past Champion!" Melina yelled back frantically.
"He's going to have to!" Shizuko snapped.
"I have faith. Don't fail me this time, please. I believe." Melina muttered pulling out her digivice. "DIGIVOLVE!" Melina yelled. Light flared from the mini screen on the digivice. A symbol flared on Melina's heart and from the sky a crest zoomed down and hit the digivice screen. A tag and crest glowed around her neck.
"Chamelemon digivolve to...!"
A giant iguana on his hind legs stood ten feet tall. He had and outfit similar to WereGarurumon, but...he's a lizard. A light green scar was on his blunt nose and on his chest. "WereChamelemon! The Howling Lizard of Faith!"
"RIGHT ON!" shouted Miyako jumping up excitedly.
"Howling Scales!" yelled the invisible digimon. The bullet fast fist sized scales hit the monster in about six of his eyes. It yowled in pain. "Miraculous Punch!" they watched as the monster was beaten up, it's many eyes swelled up and puffy, by an invisible foe.
"Four Winged Typhoon!"
"Rampant Waters!" themonster shattered just like the tarantula had done and Norwhamon quickly distinguished the fire with a 'Tsunami Tail Whip".
"That's the third Crest!" Miyako exclaimed jumping up and down hugging a jumping up and down Yukina.
"Didn't that thing remind you of an old Greek myth?" Yukina murmured wonderingly to Miyako.
"You're right...it did. I can't recall the Titan's name though." Miyako agreed looking over to her pondering friend. Yukina was immediately lost in thought.
"YAY!" Shizuko laughed meeting Iori's eye. Shizuko stopped laughing and turned away, missing the hurt look on Iori's face.
Melina ran towards her huge WereChamelemon and laughed until tears ran down her face.
"You did it!" she said launching herself into his broad chest. He held her gently so not to hurt her.
"No, we did it, partner." His deep voice grumbled. She nodded wiping tears away and leaving the soot streaked over her face.
"Yes, we did. I have to email Daisuke and tell him thanks for not giving up on me." She said, sniffling. WereChamelemon de-digivolved and she ran towards the others holding Lizmon in her arms.
V V V
"And that's how I got my Crest. Thanks to you and my friends, we won!" Melina ended snuggling with Lizmon, who protested sleepily.
"Congrats, Mel!" Daisuke laughed. "But did you really have to wake me up at twelve in the morning to tell me this?"
"Well, we were so caught up in trying to find a way to free the digimon, that by the time we set up for camp, it was already eleven. And I wanted to wait until the others fell asleep.
"So you could wake them up too?"
"No, so I could be alone with you. I've been lying to you, and I wanted to apologize. Motoko always said to tell the truth. And I'll honor that from now on. I also wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"Your email." She said exasperated. "Didn't you listen to me? If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have gotten my Crest."
"Yes, you would have. You had faith in yourself all along. Even if I hadn't emailed you, your friends and the memory of your mother would've been enough to show you that."
"I guess you're right. But your email helped. I appreciate it." She blew him a kiss and winked. "Time for me to get my beauty sleep. Nighty-night, Miracles." She shut off her D3 and snuggled into the soft grass and fell asleep instantly.
"'Night, Faith." Daisuke whispered shutting his own D3.
V V V
