Wow. Reviews. Wow. Reviews. Wow. Rev-
Mute: Snap out of it!!!
Me: Sorry…must…refrain…from…gazing…at…reviews…must…write…story…
Mute: What she's trying to say in thank you to all the wondrous human beings who reviewed. She's eternally grateful.
Me: Yes indeed. Okay since the last chapter focused on just Renamon and Takato this one's gonna look more closely at Rika and Icedevimon, though the strange bond between Rika and her mother is going to come into play too and-
Mute: Hold yer horses dearie, ya got questions…
Me: Ahhh! Thanks for reminding me!…what's up with the accent…
Mute: It's called having fun…
Me: Ohhhh…right, questions! Let's see…basically you want to know about bio-merging evolutions…
Mute: And the romance, don't forget the romance!
Me: Right, Renamon will not turn into Megidramon and I did some research to find out who Gulfmon was…got really freaked out by the picture…and thought maybe…Decided on Rika's and Icy's bio-merged form (but I am not telling you who it is!). What about romance? At first I was thinking one between the goggle boy and the kitsune but of course some people might get majorily upset…oh dear. Love's a very delicate subject, isn't it? Well nothing's definite yet so anything could happen!
Mute: What about Takato's bio-mersion with Renamon?
Me:………..Damn…..
Mute: What about Valkyrimon?
Me: Oh yeah, like that would go down well…
**************
Rika held the dress up against her body, surveying the view in her mirror thoughtfully. The moonlight danced over the white linen and the many frills that the garment possessed, making it shine with a silver tint as though it had a life of its own. It was a little creased though and Rika's battle-trained eyes spotted this immediately. Frowning slightly her slender fingers caressed the abused material, smoothing it over in a few rippling motions. Her next act was to sigh deeply and bury her head into the silky fabric; there she inhaled exotic spices, lively, vibrant, exciting scents. A harsh contrast to the calm, docile-looking dress.
Rika raised her head to gaze back at the purple orbs staring distractedly back at her in the mirror's pale glass. True, the dress was beautiful; but beautiful things could also be deadly.
With a snort of contempt, Rika carelessly tossed the dress to the floor and was about to purposely tread it into the ground when she hesitated. Unlike the countless other dresses her mother had given her in order to make her 'more like a girl' this one was special. Instead of being another expensive, designer label product, specially imported from Paris her mother had actually made this by hand. Rika could remember the last two strange weeks when her mother had practically barricaded herself in her room, locking the door and refusing to work overtime at the studio. Indeed they had even run up after her, demanding her presence. For all fourteen times it had been Rika answering the phone and telling them bluntly to f*** off. This had made Rika very annoyed at her mother. She had better things to do with her time than be her personal sectary!
It had only been yesterday that Rika had finally lost her cool when the studio had rung up again. She had let an angry scream of frustration and rage causing the poor soul at the other end to lose 70% of their hearing and hang up. Needless to say her mother had burst out of the bedroom in a panic, thinking that some slave traders had captured her little girl and were planning to despatch her to Africa. Instead she was greeted by a young, thin hand flashing towards her cheek at incredible speed.
SLAP!
The model gasped in shock as a stinging sensation nestled itself into the place where the hand had made contact. But before she could collect her wits, the wailing banshee attacked her again…and again…and again…
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
It was only when the blonde woman attempted to fend off the wildcat with her hands that the assault stopped. Tears staining her inflamed cheeks Mrs Nonaka looked at her headstrong daughter who was staring, not at her face, but at her hands. And even as the older of the two shifted her gaze down to the objects that the younger was focusing on she already knew why.
The hands were smothered in bandages, wound tightly round and round the palms. Blood was running through the seams and plasters decorated the fingers at various intervals.
"How?"
A thin-lipped smile graced the slapped face. A hand fumbled around in a pocket before producing a needle and twirling it artistically between two undamaged, limber fingers.
"With this. My grip kept slipping while I was…working. Although I had to use a fairly sharp knife in order to cut the material down to size…"
Mother's hand gripped daughter's wrist before dragging her to the bedroom and flinging the door wide open. And there, spread out in all its glory was the dress…and now it lay in a crumpled heap on the bedroom floor of its owner…
The expression in Rika's eyes softened slightly as she bent down to retrieve the dress from its undignified place on the floor. She hated feminine clothing like this, yes, but all the effort her mother had put into making the dress struck a chord within her heart. The fact that her mother had slaved for a fortnight on this though when she was usually such a selfish person had Rika wondering. Was her mother hiding something from her?
Flashback**********
"Rika!"
The urgency in the blonde's voice made Rika snap her head up. Rumiko's eyes had an alarmed and desperate sort look to them and Rika felt worry flood her. She immediately tried to quell the feeling rising within her heart. How could she possibly feel anything for such a bimbo who made a living out of flaunting her body and pursing her lips? God, she worshipped that damn camera, cared for her looks more than she cared for anything else!
Yet deep down, Rika knew that she loved her mother. The world is a confusing place and works in mysterious ways; we can't choose our parents and they can't choose us. But despite the arguments and personality clashes we still love them all the same. And Rika was not immune to this rule. Why should Mother Nature bypass one single girl?
"Rika please take the dress. Think of it as an apology for not being there for you when I should have…"
'No, no, no! Stop it please! I don't want to be weak! Stop making me feel weak! I'm strong, I'm the Digimon Queen! I hate you, I hate you! It's too late! I don't want to be you, mom! I want to be ME!'
Rika thoughts were jumbled but they froze as they reached the one simple conclusion Rika had been aiming for her whole life.
"I want to be me", she whispered.
"And you can be, you will be. But I want you to take this dress to remember me, even if I am not near…"
Rika grabbed the dress and turned to go. Then she paused.
"You're never near, mom, which is why I'm going to take your silly dress!"
Rika fingernails dug into her palm deeply in the already tightly-clenched hand. Very deeply.
The troubled teenager left the room in a stormy silence.
On the floor glistened a few drops of cerulean blood. And they didn't belong to the human wearing bandages…
End Flashback***********
Rika dropped the cherished garment to the floor, understanding dawning in her eyes. It wasn't her mother who was deceiving her. It was herself!
Pearly-white fingernails harshly bit into the skin again as the girl's form shook violently like a helpless autumn leaf caught in a fierce gust of wind.
"I just want to be me…"
Her head rocked onto her waiting, raised palms in an action of despair.
"...but I don't even know who I am…"
"I know who you are, angel."
'Angel?!?'
Rika viewed the newcomer with disbelief.
"Trust me, snowman, I'm no angel."
"Compared to me you are", he stated quietly.
Silence. Icedevimon hated silence. It made him feel like he was losing control. He unfurled his wings in an attempt to rid the murky atmosphere of it. The slight rustling caused Rika to narrow her eyes.
"Alright then, who am I?" she challenged, her voice settling heavily on the air, compressing it into submission. Unfortunately the one who the challenge was directed at was not one to be easily cowed.
"You are the strongest tamer with the most powerful Digimon", he commented airily, watching her expression carefully for any unforeseen reactions. Though he would never admit it, last night had scared in a way he could not explain. It was the first time he had ever felt compassion for another living creature. And that terrified him more than the prospect of facing a mega level Digimon who could delete him with ease. Which was wrong. Very wrong. Digimon existed purely for battling purposes and becoming more powerful. So why on earth was there a little voice inside his head telling him that perhaps there was more to life than that craving for strength that had been with him since the day he had first come into being?
Unaware of the inner turmoil taking place inside the Digimon's head, the teenager felt heated anger coursing through her skull. How dare he patronise her with the obvious! He had merely told her what she was not who she was! An entirely different concept altogether! What a blockhead!
Cold fire smouldering in her eyes, the Digimon queen opened her mouth to make a heated retort when she was checked by a torrent of beeping being emitted by her D-Power.
"Another one! Good, I've wanted to burn off some calories since I ate Mom's rock-and-broccoli stew…urgh, such health hazards wouldn't exist if grandma was here. Why did she want to go on vacation anyway? What's so great about Kenya? Nothing but stupid giraffes and boring elephants!"
Rika chattered to Icedevimon aimlessly as she snatched a few modify cards off the table and pocketed her sunglasses. Then she burst out of the house in a flurry of passion and excitement, the fallen angel following in her wake.
"Well then, my dear, it's a good job, indeed that I'm not a giraffe or an elephant, now is it?" he murmured to himself as he glided above her, using the air currents to defy gravity.
"Or even a fox…"
*****************
Renamon sprang to the window sensing a bio-merging and leaving a sleeping Takato to rouse himself from his slumber. A short hiss escaped from the barrier of teeth lining her mouth.
"Renamon, what is it?" asked the sleepy boy rubbing his eyes with the back of his pyjama sleeve.
"A wild one has bio-merged" came her fluent reply.
"Huh?"
"You remember your dream?"
Her audience nodded, listening intently. The speech-giver sighed.
"Well…" she started, preparing to explain the work Digimon and tamer are expected to do.
******************
Rika smirked, a self-satisfied one, as her partner absorbed the data of the losing Digimon. It had been a rookie for goodness sake! Hardly a struggle…
"I hope there will be more of a challenge next time…"
"Relax, snowman, there will be plenty more fights to come and we'll be ready and waiting for them when they arrive!"
"And then one day I will finally reach my ultimate form…and become truly unbeatable…"
At this statement, Rika's head whipped up as a new thought occurred to her.
'When you do become…'unbeatable'…will you leave? I've become accustomed to your company…of course you'll leave…everybody else has…even my mother can't bear to spend too much time with me…'
And convincing herself that she really was unlovable, Rika walked away, away from her partner who watched her go…both trapped in their own thoughts…