Chapter 18:

Which is worse: beginning to do something without knowing what you're doing, or, in the middle of something, realizing that you've forgotten what you're doing? (Tough call. Personally, I wouldn't take either choice.)

The Little Teenaged Geek (not that he would know anything)

Veemon stirred from his nap and noticed that there was a small change in the world around him: it was quiet…too quiet… He opened one eye, and found that the television set had blinked off. "Huh? Davis, how come the TV set isn't working?"

There was no answer.

Veemon looked over at Davis. He was staring blankly at the inactive television screen. "Davis?"

Still no answer. Davis wasn't even breathing.

"Aw, great! This always happens the minute someone turns off the TV in front of his face…" Veemon got up and took his helmet off. He began smacking it as hard as he could with his fist, and sounded like a bell and made a terrible racket.

Davis blinked twice, started breathing again, and looked at Veemon. "Uh, Veemon, what's going on?"

"The boob tube died on you. Blackout."

"…Again?"

"Yep. Cooked your brains, too."

"Wow. Thanks for snapping me out of it," Davis sighed. He stretched. "So, was I missing anything?"

"No. Except maybe oxygen---"

Davis's digivice suddenly blinked. He looked down at it. "Huh?" There were a few blips on the radar screen. "I wonder what those are?" He walked over to Yolei and pointed out the blips to her. "What do you make of this?"

"Look like digi-eggs to me. You take Veemon with you and check them out."

"Oh, great. Exercise. C'mon, Veemon."

So they walked for ways into a field full of tall grass. Much to his surprise, there were, sitting in front of him, the digi-eggs or courage and friendship. There were also the digi-eggs of love, sincerity, the golden egg of kindness, and one digi-egg he couldn't identify. It was yellow, and had a brown, arch-shaped crest on it that reminded him of a rainbow or a smile. He could only lift the digi-eggs of friendship, kindness, and courage, of course, so he decided that he'd have to get Yolei to come back for the other three. On their way back, Veemon tripped over something. "What'd you step on?"

"I dunno," Veemon answered, "But I'm sure glad this helmet is padded." Looking down at it, they discovered that it was a digivice. It was like Davis's, except that it was colored a deep rust-color where Davis's was colored blue. Next to it lay a datacube. "Who do you think these are for?" Veemon asked.

"Beats me. Maybe the datacube has some answers on it, but we won't be able to use it until the power comes back on." Davis put both items in his pockets. "C'mon. Let's get back to the house."

Yolei had an incredulous look on her face when Davis told her about the other digi-egg and the digivice. "You mean to tell me that there's another Digidestined around here that the digivice and egg are meant for?"

"That's what it looks like," Davis answered. "I don't see what else it could be."

Little did they know whose adventurous ears were picking up that conversation: Tina wondered, Could that Digidestined be me? ...Hey, I'm the daughter of two Digidestined! Whatever genes make my parents Digidestined would have to be in me, too. She snuck downstairs, scooped up the digivice off the counter, and ran to the field, following the trail of pushed-aside grass that Davis had made coming back from where the digi-eggs had been. She looked at the three digi-eggs that were still standing there. Davis had mentioned that the unknown digi-egg had been yellow, and there was only one egg that fit that description. She reached for it and picked it up. It was so weightless that she wondered if it wasn't hollow. A burst of rust-colored light filled the air. The light blinded Tina, so she shut her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that a digimon had appeared. It was large for a rookie-level digimon, and it looked like a small dragon. It had tan-colored scales, wings, and a long neck.

"Are you…my digimon?" Tina asked.

The digimon answered in a high, youngish, feminine voice, "Well, you moved the digi-egg of adventure, didn't you?"

"If that's what this one is, then yes," Tina answered, holding up the marigold-colored egg.

"That's the one! I've been waiting in status for you to pick me up for---I don't know how long. Thanks for moving it!" The digimon shook off her scales. "It feels great to be out!"

"Wow. Wait 'til I show Mom! C'mon!"

The digimon followed her. "Uh…where're we going?"

"To my house. It's not far. …By the way, what was your name?"

"Youngdramon."

"Hmm. But---how exactly does the digi-egg work?"

"You just hold it up and yell, 'digi armor energize!' "

"Cool! I'll try it! Digi---"

"Hold it, hold it!"

"What?"

"Save it for when there's some actual fighting that needs to be done!"

"What!" Tina was overjoyed: there was going to be some actual fighting, some real conflict, some special attack-wielding, shooting, cutting, blasting, and all that! It was going to happen! WOW!

It was a while before they arrived at the house. It had gotten dark since then; clouds had rolled in and covered the full moon and the stars. Tina was overjoyed and said to Yolei, "Mom, meet Youngdramon, my digimon! The digivice Davis found was mine!"

"What! You!" Yolei had found it enough responsibility to be a Digidestined herself, but to have a daughter in the line of fire along with her? No way!

"Yes, me!" Tina was confused why her mother wasn't happy for her.

Yolei slammed a fist down on the table and, half speechless, spat, "Tina, you are never to go out on your own again!"

Tina was shocked: here this was, a happy occasion, pulled off without a hitch, and her mother was scolding her! "Mom?"

"We were worried about you! I sent Davis out to find you before it---" thunder interrupted Yolei, and it immediately began to pour outside. She finished "---starts to rain. …Now, what if you had been out there?"

"So I'd have gotten a little wet, big deal!"

"Tina, you could catch a cold out there!"

"You're too overprotective, Mom!"

Yolei sighed. "Tina, you're not to go out alone again. That is final. It's not safe for a girl your age to be out there by yourself."

"This coming from a girl my age?" Tina spat.

"Now, that's enough, young lady!"

At that moment, Davis burst in, and he was soaking wet. Looking at Tina, Yolei said, " 'A little wet' you said? I'd say that's more than a little wet…hey, wait a second! Davis, why are you all wet?"

"Because it's raining out! Duh!"

"…I knew it was going to be raining out, that's why I gave you a folding mini-umbrella. So why didn't you use it?"

"Uh…because…I…put it in my pocket and forgot it was there."

Yolei covered her eyes and shook her head.

Tina giggled without covering her mouth. Youngdramon circled her ears with her finger and shot back, " 'Duh!' "

"Now you shut up!" Davis spat, pointing at Youngdramon. "Uh…who are you, anyways?"

"Youngdramon."

"Myy-yyy digimon!" Tina happily answered, stroking Youngdramon's head.

"You! A Digidestined? …Oh, no! If you're a Digidestined and the Digidestined are supposed to save the world again, then everyone's in deep trouble!"

Tina rolled her eyes. "I need to get myself a Digidestined outfit, like the rest of you always had. But a cool outfit, not like the ones you guys are wearing---"

"Hey!" Davis spat.

She scampered up the stairs, stayed up there for fifteen minutes, and came back down in the exact same clothes she'd had on earlier.

"So, that's your cool outfit, huh?" Davis asked, still drying off.

"No! I decided that I'd have to see what Youngdramon's armor form looks like before I could decide what I would look like. My hat and her armor form would have to match."

"What! I don't wear a hat to match Raidramon or Flamedramon! …Or Magnamon, for that matter."

"No duh. That's why you look geeky. …And there's other reasons, too. But, anyway, I'll wait with the outfit until later."

Kari had an interesting idea: if everyone in the camp was having problems getting food and keeping warm---and dry, for that matter---then everyone else that they might find in the city might be, too. There was no telling how far the problem had reached. So she got the idea to take some of the clothes, blankets, food, water, and humanitarian gear that were stockpiled in the camp and load them into backpacks for them to carry on their way to the city. No one objected to that idea, so they set out. But they only set out on foot after considering every other alternative: "Do you think I should digivolve and carry you guys?" Biyomon offered.

Agumon shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't think that's a good idea, Biyomon. The wind resistance on your back would blow more rain at us, and it'd be even worse than walking."

"What about the truck?" Tai asked.

Kari looked out from inside the cab of the truck and shook her head. "It's out of gas. Besides, I'm the only one of us with a driver's license, and---in this body, since I'm a kid and not an adult, I'm too short to reach the pedals and see out the windshield at the same time."

"Great. I guess we don't have much choice, then," Tai muttered. "Oh, well…the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be there."

So they walked…for a long time. Finally, Sora nudged Tai. "Tai, I think it's time we got some sleep. Did…you happen to pack a tent?"

"No. Did you?"

"No."

"Kari?"

"What?"

"We're thinking it's time to set up camp. Did you pack a tent?"

"I might've. I think I did." She took off her backpack and began searching. "…and here it is!" Tai and Sora let out a sigh of relief: the thought of having to sleep outside in the rain was awful. Unfortunately… "Oops…wait, this is a package of Red Cross blankets. Never mind, I'll keep looking." Tai and Sora looked at each other with a pair of uncertain gulps. Kari kept rummaging. "Okay, here it is! …No, wait…these are rainsuits for the Red Cross workers. Never mind." Drops of either sweat trickled down the backs of Tai and Sora's necks. Kari kept rifling around for the tent. "Okay, finally. Here it is…" Kari sighed. "Nope, these are the blankets, again."

Gatomon snarled. "All right, all right…leave this to a pro," Gatomon dove into Kari's backpack headfirst. As Gatomon dove, the bits and pieces of stuff in Kari's bag seemed to move and wiggle. But suddenly, they stopped wiggling.

"Gatomon?" Kari, Tai, and Sora asked in unison. There was no answer.

"Gatomon, this isn't funny," Kari said.

"No kidding," a muffled answer came. "I have the tent, that's the good news."

"What's the bad news?" Tai asked.

"I'm stuck in here!"

Kari rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Let me see if I can get you out." Kari reached into the backpack, seemed to have grasped something, and pulled.

"A-aaaaaaa-aaahhH!" Gatomon shouted as Kari yanked her out of the backpack by the tail. "Will you stop that?" Gatomon asked.

"Sorry…" Kari set Gatomon down. "And now the real challenge," Gatomon sighed, shaking herself off.

"Uh-oh…what's that?" Sora asked.

"Setting it up," Gatomon sighed.

After a few minutes of work, they were inside at last. They took off their drenched raingear and Sora pulled a towel out of her backpack. She dried herself off and offered it and a couple more towels to the digimon and to Tai and Kari. They were exhausted from worry, uncertainty, and a lot of walking. Tai, Kari, and the digimon were asleep before long, but Sora wasn't asleep so soon yet. She whispered, "Biyomon, are you asleep?"

Biyomon groaned. "Sora? What is it?"

"It's…I can't get to sleep."

Biyomon got up on her hands and knees. "Why not?"

"I'm just scared that I won't wake up here. …I'm scared that the next time I open my eyes, I'll end up in some other world and you and Tai won't be with me." Her voice sounded like it had tears mixed in with it.

Biyomon quietly crawled up closer to Sora until they were nearly touching. She remembered that, while Sora was wallowing in guilt in the Digiworld after Demidevimon had been lying to her, Sora had also had trouble sleeping, worried with the idea that she'd never know what it was to care for someone. One rainy afternoon, she and Biyomon had taken shelter under the roots of a tree. At the time, the rain seemed to illustrate the landscape of Sora's heart: miserable, sad, and unpromising. Sora finally burst into tears, and Sora had explained to Biyomon how lonely and afraid she felt. Then, too, they had both been exhausted, and the solution that came to Biyomon's mind was for Sora to fall asleep holding her like a teddy bear, so that she'd know she wasn't alone even when she was asleep. Biyomon hoped the same solution would work now: "Sora…you're not alone. We're in this together. And I'm not going to leave you all alone. Sora, maybe it'll help you go to sleep if…if you went to sleep holding on to me. It worked before."

"Before?"

"It's…it's something Tai left out when he was telling you about what happened after we beat Meramon. There was this digimon called Demidevimon that was servant of that evil digimon Myotismon. To make a long story short, Demidevimon told you that you'd never be able to care about anyone, and that you'd never be able to love anybody, and...well, the way he said it, he got you to believe it. You were scared, then, and it was raining then, too. And you couldn't sleep. So I told you to go to sleep holding onto me so that you'd know you weren't alone even when you weren't awake. And it worked."

"You'd…you'd do that for me?"

"Of course, Sora!" Biyomon nuzzled her shoulder. "You don't remember it, but we went through a lot together."

"Thanks," Sora barely whispered. Sora wrapped her arms around Biyomon, shut her eyes, said her prayers (with enthusiasm), and tried to sleep---with some success.