Digimon 3: Lost Prophecy
Part One: "It's okay, daddy, I'll be back"
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8 years ago…
"Daddy? Will mommy be okay?"
Silence answered the girl's question as she watched her father sigh and stare at his hands. He wondered what he should tell his 6-year-old daughter. The truth? No, that would hurt her. A lie? But, that would be an insult to Mai's memory. Why hadn't Jon listened to Katrina? The girl was rambling for hours about how something bad would happen to Mai, but he ignored her.
He ignored the Digimon Goddess.
And it cost him a life.
Not his life, but his wife. His wife; nice, sweet, pretty Mai Tenaiko-Strauss who would hurt a soul. Why did this happen to her on the night that digivice showed up? Was it really that important? Did the digital world need Katrina so soon?
"She's only a mere child, damn it!" Jon cursed out loud. A few people in that waiting room stared at him, his daughter among them.
"Are you okay, daddy?" Katrina said, her large violet eyes staring at him. Mai's violet eyes. Jon turned away from her.
"I'm fine," Jon said as a doctor walked down the hall towards them. Jon abruptly stood up; Katrina remained seated in her fuzzy pink pajamas, and faced the doctor.
"I'm not sure how to tell you this," the doctor said. "But, we tried our hardest."
"And?" Jon said, a flicker of hope rising in his chest. "How is she?"
The doctor shifted uncomfortably. "We tried our hardest, but…Mai Tenaiko was pronounced dead at 9:00 pm. I'm sorry for your loss."
Jon eyes immediately flickered to the clock. It read '9:30.' A smile crept on Jon's lips.
"She's been dead for 30 minutes, and you idiots refused to inform me?"
"Sir," the doctor said, now angry. "You have to understand, there's nothing we can do-"
"Get your ass in there and bring her back!" Jon shouted, grabbing the doctor's neck. The other patients jumped up and pulled them apart.
"Security!" the shaken doctor said.
"You listen to me," Jon said, three people were holding him back. "I hope for every person you kill you think of this, got it? I hope for every kill you do, you sink that much lower in hell, got it? I'll leave, but this won't be the last you see of me, you got that?"
"How did she die?"
"Katrina, I'm not in the mood," Jon said. Katrina walked to the shutters and opened them. She sighed at her father.
"Tsk, tsk, dad. You've been drinking again. Mom's only been dead for a year."
"Why are you so cheerful?" Jon said, rubbing his eyes painfully.
"Someone has to have the energy to pick up after you," Katrina replied, harshly. Jon stopped rubbing his eyes to look at his daughter.
"Just the other day you were acting like a three year old. Now you act like your 16."
"I'm very mature for my age," Katrina said, picking up beer bottles and disposing them.
"You know the meaning of that word?" Jon said, getting off the couch and limping to the bathroom mirror. His daughter was right, he was getting sloppy.
"Don't you?" Katrina said, skipping into the bathroom. She grabbed her father's razor and shaving cream and put it on the counter. Jon grinned at his daughter and started covering his face with shaving cream. Katrina watched eagerly from the toilet.
"Ya gonna me the whole time?" Jon said, watching her from the corner of his eyes. Katrina nodded.
"Daddy, when can I shave?"
"When you're old enough," Jon said, shaving his face.
"Okay," Katrina said. Silence ensued until Katrina cleared her throat. "Where do babies come from?"
Jon almost slit his lip with the razor. He looked at Katrina to make sure she was serious.
She was.
"No," Jon said, resuming his shaving. "You cannot have a boyfriend until you're 17."
"Daddy!" Katrina cried out. "You changed the subject."
Jon sighed as he put down the razor. He had been changing a lot of subjects recently, especially the ones about her mother. Jon washed the remaining shaving cream off and he turned to his daughter.
"You can ask me any question," Jon said. "Except that one. I'll tell you on your seventh birthday."
"Cool!" Katrina squealed. "Okay then, where and when did you meet mom?"
What did I get myself into? "Well, we met a long time ago, when your mom and some friends and I all did some great adventures together. After those adventures ended, I never saw your mom again until I divorced Chantal and met Mai in Kyoto that summer."
"OK," Katrina said. Jon walked out of the bathroom door and into the messy kitchen. He busied himself with dirty dishes before Katrina walked over and plopped on the dining room table.
"How did mom die?" Katrina whispered softly. Jon put the pot he was holding onto the kitchen counter a little too hard, making a loud 'bang.' Katrina jumped.
"What was it you were screaming?" Jon asked. "Demon's going to kill her?"
"I don't remember," Katrina said. "It seemed…I was just shouting stuff."
"Just after that, you were sucked into a portal. But, you came back not long after that. Do you remember what happened?"
Katrina shook her head. "I don't remember much about those two days. That's why I'm asking you."
Jon nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're here."
"Promise me you'll stop drinking?" Katrina said, walking over to the drawer to get the silverware. "I mean, I know it's only every once in awhile, but it's not healthy."
Jon smiled as he dried the pan and turned the stove on. "Okay, but only if you stop playing 20 questions with me. It's quite annoying."
Katrina smiled at him as she reached into the drawer. "Deal. Oh, what's this?"
Jon turned away from the stove and gasped. Katrina was clutching…a digivice.
"Katrina? Give it to me."
"Something weird is going on," Katrina said as it flashed. "I'm suddenly seeing the night mommy died."
"Katrina?" Jon said, turning the stove off. He inched to his daughter. "Katrina, honey? Look at me."
Katrina looked at him, and he jumped back in shock. Her eyes were grey, and she looked terrified.
"Daddy, make it stop!"
"Give me the device," Jon said, holding out his hand. Just as he touched it, a portal opened up above them. Katrina started floating up.
"Katrina! Stop! Don't take her!"
The last thing Jon remembered were Katrina's eyes turning back to violet, and her last words:
"It's okay, daddy. I'll be back."