Disclaimer:I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Hi everybody. Sorry for taking so long with this. There was a moral dilemma when this chapter came along and well, I erred on the side of bad.Don't worry, you'll know what it is when you read it.
Seven Years Earlier
'So, mission finally over,' Hikari thought as she walked the empty streets of the city. 'All that trouble for just a little scrap of information. Hopefully, it works out and we can free Ken before Daemon does any permanent damage.'
Her eyes slid of their own accord to the boy walking beside her. He had been silent ever since they had woken up next to each other. 'Probably trying to deal with last night in his own way.' She remembered last night, his body underneath hers and the touch of his hands on her skin. It was fortunate that one of them had had some self-control. She had been prepared to go all the way with not one thought as to the consequences. Even now she could not help but think on how to keep him by her side. As the gates of the city came into view, she decided to break the silence that had developed between them.
"Will you come with us to rescue Ken? Our destination is the same so it makes sense. We could use another DNA Digivolved Digimon." She made a face. "Try saying that five times fast."
He was silent a long time and then he finally said, "I can't face the others just yet. To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I approached you." He took a deep breath. "Our destination may be the same but my path to it will be different. I'm sorry Hikari."
"I understand," she replied sadly.
As they crossed the gates, he surprised her by pulling her into his arms. She stared up questioningly as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead.
"One last kiss?"
She smiled and pulled his head down. It lasted an eternity yet ended too soon. As he pulled away, she saw tears running down his cheeks. He was crying, the big softie. She thumbed away the tears.
"Take care of yourself."
He nodded. "You do the same."
And then he turned and left, disappearing into the swirling sands.
Present Day
Takeru groaned and opened his eyes. His hand throbbed painfully, joined in its eternal drumbeat by his head. His condition had worsened since leaving Ellum. In retrospect, he probably should have held back some of his power. Now, he did not have a single drop of healing energy left in his body and it would take quite a while for him to recharge. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Then again, perhaps his excessive use of energy was why Ken had remained unconscious so long. Whatever the reason, that was the only thing that had gone right for him so far. He was not prepared to resume the old argument if Ken woke up.
Yamato had told him that the Chosen would gather at the Citadel in Rayne after striking one final blow against the Dark Ocean. If he was lucky, that had already happened. He could not be sure of the time since he had drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the trip. For all he knew, the Chosen had lost and he was flying into enemy territory.
The dashboard suddenly beeped, signaling that he was nearing his destination. A moment later another device on the dashboard beeped. Takeru looked down in surprise and pressed the button that operated the aircraft's microphone.
"Unknown aircraft, you are entering Laguna Citadel's 'no fly' zone. Please identify yourself.'
The communication surprised Takeru. They must have been feeling real confident to send a communiqué like this. Either they had soundly beaten the Dark Ocean or security had gotten lax. He pressed a button and responded, "This is Takeru Ishida." His voice sounded weak and thin even to his own ears. "I have Ken Ichijouji with me but he is injured. Please direct me to the Citadel's landing strip."
There was a moment of silence and then the voice replied, "Proceed to 35 degrees 2' N, 122 degrees 3' W."
"Understood," Takeru said as he entered the coordinates into the dashboard. Afterwards, the only thing left was to sit back as the autopilot did all the work. The Artificial Intelligence routines Koushirou and Ken had written for the aircrafts were a work of genius.
As the aircraft touched down, he unstrapped himself. Trying to actually stand proved to be a far more difficult task. A wave of dizziness washed over him as he rose to his feet. He reached out to steady himself and ended up using his damaged hand. With a hiss, he withdrew it quickly. The resultant stab of pain rid him of the dizziness and allowed him to focus on the task at hand.
As he got out of the aircraft, he noticed the men gathered around it. All of them were armed and it seemed they were all waiting for him. A man from their ranks stepped forward as he stepped onto solid ground.
"Takeru Ishida?" He asked.
Takeru nodded his head.
"I am placing you under arrest." He motioned to someone and Takeru suddenly found his arms being twisted backwards. Whoever it was, did not notice his injured hand and only aggravated it further. Manacles were slapped on his wrists and then they began to march him away.
Takeru dug in his heels, stopping the men that were taking him away. "Wait, Ken, you have to…"
"We are attending to him."
Takeru glanced at the aircraft and noticed several men lifting Ken out of the cockpit. With a sigh, he turned back to the man who had spoken to him. "He needs medical attention. I don't know why he has not woken up yet."
The man nodded. "All right."
"By the way, are Taichi or Mimi here yet?"
He didn't even see the blow that knocked him unconscious.
Seven Years Earlier
Perched atop the branches of a tree, Takeru studied the ancient Castle, which lay before him. A slight shift in the tree's branches alerted him to a presence behind him. Sensing no malice, he continued to study the Castle. However, curiosity finally made him turn and see who had come.
'How… unexpected.'
Ken Ichijouji regarded him with a tranquil gaze. "You don't seem surprised."
"I've learned to mask my emotions. Did Daemon send you to deal with me?"
"Daemon does not know of this meeting. I came to make you an offer."
Takeru smirked. "Go ahead."
"I want you to join me. Together, we can conquer this world and perhaps even the other."
"What makes you think I will go along with you? Remember what happened before."
"I remember it well. You have a killer right hook. But," Ken's voice grew sly, "that was before you lost Mommy and Daddy."
"Careful," Takeru warned.
"Ah, there's that fire I remember. But, it's a lot darker nowadays, isn't it? We are a lot alike, you and I. All that anger, all that resolve but in the end it will lead to nothing. We will just end up being used by beings that are a lot more powerful then either of us. So, why not join together? You don't have to go through what I did."
"I can do this by myself."
"That is a lie and we both know it. Tell me, what have you accomplished in the last year? You went to the Guardians and I bet they haven't given you one single lead that you did not have to struggle for. I can tell you right now that Daemon has nothing to do with the man you are after. And I bet it was Gennai that told you that he did. You are already being used."
Takeru stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. It might be possible that Ken was not telling the truth, however, his story made far too much sense. Was he just being used? He had given it his all in the last year in the hopes that the Guardians would help him but had that all been for nothing? After all this time, the only things he really knew about Sumeragi were his power. He still had not found a means for locating the man.
Ken smiled upon seeing his internal struggle. "I have done some research on the man you are looking for. I have not been able to track him down yet but it is just a matter of time. If you join me, I will hand over that data to you."
Takeru thought for a long time and then he nodded his head. "Take me in. I will join you."
"Good, but first, I have something in mind."
Present Day
When Takeru opened his eyes, he found himself staring into the mouth of hell. The blow to his head had left him woozy and the guards on either side held him up. However, it was the cell that made him panic. It was completely dark, all beams of light from outside the cell deflected away by the darkness.
"Wait," he slurred, trying to resist the two guards that held him. "Please…"
A hand curled suddenly in his hair and pulled his head back savagely. He found himself staring into a pair of green eyes.
"How many of your victims pleaded with you in the same way, murderer? I bet you've heard all of those words before."
A swift kick to his back and he stumbled into the cell. He struck the far wall with force, his hand exploding in pain. The darkness was all around him now and he couldn't get away. He tried to hold on for as long as he could and knew that he was going to lose that battle.
'They have not closed the cell door.'
Upon that sudden realization he pushed back against the darkness enveloping his mind and tried to shout a warning. However the words froze in his throat. He could not let them out no matter how much he tried.
'Oh gods, I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…'And then just like that, he was gone.
Seven Years Earlier
The battle between the Chosen and Daemon had gone on for nearly three hours and it had been a stalemate for most of the fight. After Daemon had been noticeably weakened, Takeru gave Angemon the order to take him out.
"It's done," he commented as the drama played out on the computer screen.
"Good. Now for my end of the bargain." Ken opened the file on the data he had compiled on Ryo Sumeragi. "I'm not too far but…"
A blow to the back of the neck incapacitated Ken. He fell to the floor and Takeru quickly tied him up. He examined the file Ken had opened and copied the information to his Digivice. There was very little there but it was a starting point.
"Why?"
"Awake already?" Takeru said as he pocketed his D3. "I am impressed. A lesser person would have been out for hours."
"You double crossed me."
"Yes, I did."
"Why?"
Takeru shrugged. "I have no illusions about the path I have to walk. But, I will not betray my friends just to achieve my goals."
"You naïve fool."
"Maybe, but so were you for trusting me. I suppose you were right, we are not all that different anymore. But I hate myself and I could never tolerate working with someone just like me."
Ken glared at him but said nothing more. The alarms inside the compound suddenly started wailing.
"Time for me to leave. It was fun, Digimon Emperor."
He encountered no resistance on his way out. That was a relief because he had many things to think about.
Present Day
Sora slowly opened her eyes as the soft chime filling her ears faded. The room she was standing in now was small and bereft of any furnishings. What was surprising though was that not one person had been there to greet them. It was also a little too quiet. Sora shot Miyako a look and read the same concern in the other woman's eyes.
"Trouble?" The Aal who had brought them to Rayne questioned.
Sora shrugged. "Probably nothing. I just have a feeling."
"Check it out using your powers." Miyako recommended. "This is Taichi's stronghold. I doubt it's anything serious."
Sora nodded and closed her eyes. The gray void of thoughtscape replaced her surroundings as her consciousness left its body. She traversed the Citadel and tried to pick up on whether anything was wrong. A faint sense of something from the bottom most portion of the Citadel attracted her attention and she proceeded to move towards it. As she got closer, a flood of emotions suddenly buffeted her. There was desperation and fear but rising above it all was madness and rage. 'So much rage.'
Sora quickly returned to her body and opened her eyes. "I have to get down to the dungeons fast. Wait for us here Tak'rul."
"What is it?" Miyako questioned.
"Something bad." Sora replied as she hurried towards the exit. "I'll explain on the way."
Miyako hurried after her. To her surprise, Sora actually began to run as soon as they left the room.
"Go to the command center." Sora yelled back at Miyako. "They are probably coordinating their assault from there. I'll keep the telepathic link open. Let me know what's going on."
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Miyako made her way to the command center as fast as she could. When she arrived there, she found only one person manning the ten terminals that controlled the Citadel. He was watching a video stream on the main terminal.
"What's going on here, Ralph?" Miyako questioned as she peered at the computer screen in front of him.
"A murderer got loose in the Citadel. Sorry, we couldn't organize a proper welcome. Where's Miss Sora."
"She's headed for the dungeons. Who is it?"
Ralph shrugged. "Don't have a clue. Somebody arrived here this morning with Lord Ichijouji. Adam had him arrested and then suddenly complete pandemonium."
"Ken is here. But that means…" Miyako's suspicions were confirmed seconds later as Takeru's picture flashed on screen. He was covered in blood and sat slumped in one corner of the hallway.
"He slaughtered fifteen people. Strangest thing I've ever seen. It seemed like he was using matter transformation to bend space around himself."
Miyako closed her eyes. 'Sora, it's Takeru. He's the one they are fighting against.'
'I know.' The reply came back tersely. 'I'm looking at him right now.'
There was blood everywhere. It covered the hallway like some giant crimson shroud. Quite a bit of that shroud covered him as well. He could feel it in his hair and on his face. Sanity had been far too slow to return.
His hand had ceased throbbing but he could feel the incomplete healing that he had forced upon it. The nerves had not been treated with the care they deserved. He would probably never regain full use of that hand.
The doorway at the end of the hall creaked open. He tensed but then relaxed. There was nothing he could do now. Just trying to stand would require far more energy then he could muster at the moment. Perhaps, this finally was the end for him. He just wished he could have seen Hikari one more time.
As the sound of footsteps neared his position, he realized that there was only one person. He looked up as the sound stopped and saw a lone woman standing before him. Images flooded his mind: him, springing to his feet, twin knives carved out of thin air, one plunging into her stomach while the other carved her face, the look on that face going from surprise to horror to agony.
Takeru took a deep breath and forced the images back into the darkness that had spawned them. He forced himself to meet the woman's eyes. The same emotions that he had long grown accustomed to were framed there. It was always horror, shock and disgust. Anger would follow soon after.
'Unfortunate. She was a good friend.'
To his surprise, she knelt down and took his hands in her own. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
"Why," he murmured after a long while, "why are you all such big fools?"
She ignored him. "Can you get up?"
"I don't think so."
"All right, lean on me." She took his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. He tried to push her away and she wrapped her arms around his body. "Don't be difficult," she snapped. "You need my help."
"The blood," he protested lightly.
"It's not the first time I've had it on me."
He gave in and let her pull him to his feet. A wave of dizziness struck him at the sudden movement and he sagged heavily against her. She managed his weight with ease and after he had regained some equilibrium, they left the dungeons.
As they walked, Takeru lost himself inside the haze of his mind. Everything was suddenly very numb. He could only concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other but soon even that feeling vanished.
Sora spoke suddenly, her voice coming from far away. "Takeru, what happened?"
He heard himself reply, his voice slurred,the sound coming from far away. "I was lost, an eternity of agony that seemed to have no end. At the beginning I wished for a savior but when none came, I realized that the one who would free me would not be my savior. He would be my betrayer."
"Takeru, please, I can't breathe."
With a start, he came to his senses. Sora was lying underneath him, her hands clenched around his wrists, trying desperately to pry his hands away from her throat.
"No," he groaned. "Stop, please stop." He tried to move his hands but he could not control his actions.
'This is what you are.' The darkness within him whispered. 'This is what you will always be.'
Sora's eyes began to close. 'no…NO!' He would not allow this. "Your shield," he grated. "Use your shield, you fool." And then he realized that even that would not help. There were swirls of electricity dancing around his arms. She had used her shield but the damage it did was being healed as quickly as it came. He had tapped into his life energy again and it would sustain him far longer then Sora's powers would sustain her.
Something struck him at the base of his neck. It broke his concentration and Sora's shield tossed him backwards. He struck the far wall, his head rebounded and finally he sank into blissful oblivion.
Amongst the pouring rain and surrounded by tombstones, the girl clutched him in her arms. Her body molded against his back and arms entwined around his chest were not an altogether unpleasant feeling. However, it was the rain he remembered most. It had been falling so hard, the droplets of water hammering his body.
"Let go," he said to the girl.
"No," she sobbed, "I won't. Can't we just stay together? Nothing has to change."
"Even after I killed your father?"
"I.. Ican't forget that but if I let you go, you will only end up killing again. I can't let that happen. Takeru, I love you."
He began to turn, was still turning when she suddenly slumped against him.
Takeru eyes opened and his memories faded back into the recesses of his mind. The room he was in was lit by sunlight that streamed in from a nearby window. He tried to move his arms and encountered resistance. A quick glance revealed that his hands and legs were strapped tightly to the bed he was laid out on. With a sigh, he sagged back into the bed. His mind felt much clearer. His stomach rumbled loudly as a remainder that not all maladies could be so easily cured.
"Hungry?"
Takeru closed his eyes. "Hey, Mimi."
"You sound pretty calm for someone who has done what you did."
"It wasn't even the worse thing I have ever done. Is Sora…"
"She's fine. Thankfully Miyako got to you just in time. There will be consequences but for now, you are safe. All we want at the moment are some questions answered."
"Ask away."
"What did you do to Ken? All of his vitals register as normal but he has remained in a comatose state since you brought him here yesterday."
"If he still has not woken up then the struggle is internal. I used my powers to disrupt the Dark Spore. It would have caused him pain and quite possibly, it was enough to wake up the old Ken."
"The old Ken? What are you talking about?"
"I can't tell you everything. All you need to know is that he is fighting himself. It is a mental struggle and you need someone who knows him very well to go in and pull him out."
"What are you hiding from me?"
"I have pieced together some bits but that information is not mine to give out." Takeru opened his eyes and fixed the woman sitting at his bedside with a steady gaze. "Just like your secrets are not mine to divulge Tachikawa, Mimi."
Her eyes narrowed and she held his gaze. Takeru sighed and turned away. "I won't give away your secrets Mimi and I won't give his away either. You guys need someone who can hold this burden for him and you need to find that someone quickly. The longer he is unconscious, the harder it will be to get him out."
"I will relay the information." Mimi was quiet for a long time and when next she spoke, her voice was subdued. "How much do you know about me?"
"Everything, including the contract you issued against the Coda. I assume that was because of Michael's death?"
"Yes, it was. You don't mind that I used you like that?"
"No, if you had not asked for me by name, I would have been killed by the Assassin's Guild. Your contract allowed me to make some very powerful allies. For that alone I am in your debt."
"So the Coda necklace you used in Kroy meant nothing?"
"Of course, I only used it because the woman I took hostage was Coda."
"Oh, I see. Does Hikari know about me?"
"I have not told her but she has poked around in my mind a lot. She may have seen some things. I would also guess that Yamato knows since he was hiding in my head all that time."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that."
Takeru hesitated a moment. "Has Hikari arrived yet?"
"She'll probably show up late afternoon today. When she gets here, we will decide what to do with you."
"How bad is it going to be?"
"You slaughtered fifteen people Takeru and you almost killed Sora. Worse yet, the security cameras picked up everything. The footage is not easy to watch."
Takeru sighed and closed his eyes. "And will you be the ones who judge me."
"Unfortunately no. Since you are Chosen, the Council will pass judgment."
"The Council? You mean the various Outpost Commanders you made deals with?"
"Yes, most of them are Outpost Commanders although a few just act as observers for the rest. Catherine, for instance, is one of them. The man who arrested you was another. He exceeded his authority. Neither Taichi nor I gave any such order."
"What was his name?"
"Adam Frost."
Takeru shook his head. "Does not sound familiar but he talked like he knew me."
Mimi shrugged. "We will think about that later. Right now, I want a complete report about your mission from beginning to end. Don't leave one single thing out."
"What's the point? I accomplished the mission objectives. That should be enough."
"The details of the mission are important. They will be a main point when you are brought before the council. I can help you prepare a stronger case for yourself."
"Don't bother. I will handle this myself. You and the others need to distance yourselves from me. A scandal like this will only drag you down too."
"And here I thought Hikari had finally gotten through to you." Mimi sighed. "It's been a long night and I don't have the strength right now to slap you around like she does but…"
Takeru heard her rise to her feet and opened his eyes. He gasped in shock as she leaned over him and covered his mouth with her own. Her tongue slipped into his mouth before he had a chance to do anything. She flicked her tongue teasingly against his own, gradually drawing him out against his better judgment. He made a mental note to think up another excuse for Hikari.
A few moments later, Mimi pulled away. "Hmm, more submissive then I'm used to although I suppose Hikari would enjoy that." She took in his flushed features and grinned mischievously. "Calm down Junior, it was just a kiss."
"What the hell was that?" He wanted to shout but the words came out far more subdued then he had wished.
"A lesson! The bonds we forged so long ago cannot be broken so easily. We are not going to abandon you so stop trying to push us away."
"I almost killed Sora."
"And she would be the first to forgive you. Since your little rampage, she has tried to round up as many sympathetic council members as she can. The others have been helping her. You at least have a chance. Are you just going to turn your back on their hard work?"
"How… why…" Takeru sighed. "Why are you all such big fools? Didn't she understand why her powers would not work on me?"
"We understood all too well." Mimi gently caressed his face. "Personally, I'm surprised you've managed to hold on by yourself for this long. Now that you are back with us, we will not let you go through this alone."
Takeru's stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. Mimi chuckled and then surprised him by unfastening his bonds. "I will have some food brought in and while we eat, you can tell me about your mission. Okay?"
Takeru looked into her eyes and then after a long while, slowly nodded his head.
Before her stood a lone castle. Spires, towers and walkways lined it, sometimes continuing in the oddest directions. There was even a stairway looping around one of the towers as it continued up and up and up into the cloudy, gray sky. Long streaks of lightning lit up that sky, accompanied by roars of thunder.
"What a lovely greeting," Miyako muttered under her breath. She took a deep breath, gathered her resolve and entered the castle through the large twin gates that served as its entrance.
Inside, the only illumination was provided by two parallel rows of torches that led deeper into the castle. Beyond the torches was an inky blackness that the light could not pierce. She began to walk the path the torches illuminated until she could no longer tell how long she had been walking. Her perception was being warped which was an alarming thing.
"Sora," she whispered quietly, "you still with me?" A reassuring presence at her shoulder made her whirl around but there was nobody there. "Right," she muttered and then continued on her way.
After a long walk, the row of torches finally came to an end at a small ordinary looking door. Miyako took a deep, calming breath and opened the door. A faint bit of light illuminated the interior of the room. Her eyes sprang of their own volition to a figure slumped against a round dinner table. His head was cradled in the crook of his arms but from his profile, she could tell that it was Ken. She hurried over to him, calling out his name.
The chair suddenly clattered backwards as he shot to his feet. A sword whirled out of nowhere into his hands and he swiped it at her. Miyako cringed but the sword passed safely through her body. Ken stood there, stared at her for a moment and then sighed.
"Figures. You've probably got one of those teep bitches with you. Well, this is fun and all but you're not going to accomplish anything here. So, why don't you just run along."
"K…ken." His vehemence surprised her but then she suddenly remembered the information Mimi had relayed. "No, you're not Ken."
"Bingo! Give the woman a prize." Ken turned away, his school uniform flowing around his body until a purple cape flowed off his shoulders. His shirt and pants changed color to purple as well. New to the outfit was a hand cannon fixed to his right arm.
"Where is Ken?"
The Digimon Emperor shrugged. "Don't have a clue. Don't really care either but since you're here, let's take a journey."
The room suddenly shifted and grew brighter. Another smaller version of Ken appeared at the table. He appeared as he had when he was sixteen years old. Miyako watched as he worked diligently, jotting down different numbers on a piece of paper. A fly buzzed around him and suddenly he snapped out his hand and caught the fly by its wing.
"Keep watching," the other Ken said, his tone full of malicious glee. "Now it gets good."
Miyako saw the younger Ken set the fly down on the table and he meticulously began to tear off its wings.
"Do you see now? No matter how much you try, I will always be here. I will always be a part of him."
Miyako turned around and rolled her eyes. "It was a stupid little fly. If that's the extent of your control, I can live with it." She smiled at him. "When I find Ken, I'm going to have him stuff you so far down his psyche that you won't ever be able to get out."
The younger Ken sitting at the table stiffened suddenly.
"Stupid little bitch." The Digimon Emperor glared down at her. "Go ahead then, try to find him. You won't succeed. He'll kill himself before he talks to you."
"It would be so simple for you if I did, wouldn't it?"
Both Miyako and the Digimon Emperor turned in surprise as the younger Ken stood up from the table. His features slowly aged until he looked like his older self. "Sora, get her out of here. This is between him and me."
Before Miyako could respond, darkness engulfed her.
Three Years Ago
Hikari endured the images as they flashed before her eyes. It was the only thing she could do. After what seemed like eternity, the images finally stopped and she stared up at Yamato. He gazed back at her evenly.
"Any second thoughts?"
Hikari drew in a shuddering breath. "All I see is that he needs my help more then I had ever imagined. Take me to him, please."
Yamato nodded. "I will but there is one final thing that you need to know. Have you ever wondered why Takeru fell in love with you?"
After a long moment, Hikari shook her head. She had never wondered why he loved her. All that had ever mattered was that he did. They had confessed their feelings to each other but they had never had the time to fully explore those emotions.
"My brother has only ever looked up to two people," Yamato continued. "The first one was me and the second is you, Hikari. He fell in love with your strength, your spirit, and your never quit attitude. Thoughts of you have sustained him since all this began but a man cannot survive on memories alone. In his condition, those feelings for you became twisted. He still reveres you like a Goddess but he also believes that he is unworthy of you because of everything he has done."
"He's put me on a pedestal?"
"Yes, he isolated himself from you guys and only had his meager ideals to cling to. And then, he gave even those up. He needed something; someone to believe in and you were it. After his ordeal with Sumeragi, those feelings were twisted so far that what he feels for you now isn't exactly love, it's more like hero worship."
Hikari closed her eyes. "Take me to him. We need to talk."
"You're sure about this? Even knowing how he feels about you."
"I will deal with it."
Yamato shrugged. "All right!"
Present Day
Striding into the Cantina, Hikari was surprised to find it nearly deserted. That was surprising considering that just about every single VIP in the Digital World had come to Rayne and all of them had brought their own security. Along with the refugees from Kroy, it was a sizeable number of people.
Hikari marched to the counter and ordered one of her favorite drinks. After it was prepared, she retired to a small out of the way table from which she could observe the whole Cantina. Another perk of the location was that she remained unobserved and undisturbed. There was a lot of thinking she needed to do considering the quagmire that had greeted her when she arrived at the Citadel.
Perhaps the recent events, which had caused that quagmire, had kept most of the citizens from venturing out into potentially hostile territory. She could not find any particular fault with that reasoning since there were still rumors that the, 'killer of fifteen men,' had not been caught.
The continual circulation of the rumors was due mainly to mismanagement although she could not really blame either Mimi or Tai. Takeru's rampage had been very public and even though they had been able to conceal his identity, they had not been able to do the same for his actions. The conflicting information had created quite a few disastrous rumors and the overall mood in the Citadel was subdued.
All of her plans concerning Takeru had become obsolete the moment she had set foot in the Citadel. She had been planning on giving him a hard time and then forgiving him after he had groveled significantly. However, with the current situation she needed to reassess her approach. She had nearly forgotten all that she had seen and been told three years ago. This situation was a wake up call that had sadly come too late.
She heard footsteps approaching and looked up. Daisuke gave her a slight nod before taking a seat. "I thought you would have gone to see Takeru the moment you got here."
"Our situation is a little complicated right now. Besides, from what I was told, he is cooperating with Mimi. I'll go to him after the Council is done with him." Hikari suddenly frowned. "I have questions for you. Just where in the hell were you when Ken was running loose on Ellum? Why didn't you stop him?"
"Because he made sure I was out of the way before we got to Ellum. You can read my report."
"Why didn't you use the telepathic signal?"
"I did but no one responded."
"Hmmm, odd." Hikari lapsed back into silence, staring down at her drink. A moment later Daisuke coughed in an obvious attempt to get her attention.
"I wanted to ask you about Takeru," he said hesitantly.
"Go ahead," she replied, taking a sip of her drink.
"What he said to Sora, what did that mean?"
"You haven't talked to the others?"
"I got here as late as you did and everybody else is busy."
Hikari sighed. "All right, I suppose you might as well hear this from me." She took a small sip from her cup and looked up. "Did you wonder why Sora did not simply use telepathy to stop him?"
"I figured he surprised her and she was too flustered to concentrate."
Hikari shook her head. "If only it was that simple. No, Sora tried her hardest to get into his mind but she could not."
"Why? Is his mental defense that good?"
"Yes and no. He is exceptional when dealing with mundane telepaths but against us three, he would be as helpless as anybody else."
"And yet Sora could not get into his mind."
Hikari grunted. "When we were with the Guardians, we submitted ourselves to a series of tests. During those tests, we discovered that there were three types of organisms that we could not affect telepathically. The first set were plants, the second set were animals and the third set was composed of humans who were pathologically insane."
Daisuke, in the midst of taking a huge gulp of his drink, choked on it instead. After he had recovered, he stared incredulously at the woman seated on the opposite end of the table. She looked calm, her eyes seeming to stare inwards as if she was thinking about something else.
"Y…you have to be joking."
Hikari shook her head. "It has something to do with all the random thoughts and images in their heads. We can't get a hold on them like we can with a normal person."
"But, I have talked with him. We sparred together."
"And he was perfectly sane?" Hikari finished for him. "He is sane most of the time. Only extremely dark and confined spaces make him lose control and even then only if he is too weak to put himself into a meditative trance."
"How did this happen? How did he get this way?"
"He partitioned his mind to escape Sumeragi's torture. A clever strategy but he could only save a part of himself and the part he left behind was twisted by that torture."
"It always comes back to that bastard. What did they do to him?"
"At first it was just mundane torture but they could not break him. Shortly after, they discovered what he had done. Since they could not get to him, they decided to leave behind as many scars as they could. He was forced into a small box and kept there for nearly a week. Meanwhile, they employed psychic Digimon to assault his mind constantly. They skewed his perception of time. A mere week turned into an eternity."
Daisuke had to force himself to relax the white knuckled grip he had on his glass before it shattered. He could not imagine how Hikari could stay so calm.
"Not being content with that, they began to corrupt his memories. He would sleep and dream and they would twist those dreams. He must have escaped that dungeon millions of times only to wake up and find himself back inside his prison. They even used our images in those dreams and one by one we all betrayed him. It went on so long that he began to believe that he deserved to be in that place. That was what he was talking about when he spoke to Sora."
"How can you be so calm about this?"
"I have made my peace with it." Hikari sighed. "Look, you have your answers. If you don't mind, I would like to be alone for a little while."
Daisuke nodded sympathetically and stood to leave. He hesitated for a moment, feeling that he should say something but one look at Hikari made him decide against it. She already looked like she had withdrawn even further into herself. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and did the only thing he could do.
Hikari slumped forward onto the table after Daisuke had left. 'You stupid, noble fool. You should have left me to Sumeragi.'
Someone pulled out the chair Daisuke had been sitting in. The sudden movement startled her. She had not heard anyone approach. A familiar voice suddenly said, "You did not tell him the whole truth. He is not sane all of the time. In fact, his grip on sanity is tenuous at best. I bet if you ask him the reason why he went on this mission, you will get a half dozen different answers."
"What do you want Yamato?"
"I just wanted to ask whether you had reconsidered what we talked about three years ago?"
"I won't abandon him."
"Even after knowing that he may not love you? You certainly are a dedicated woman."
"He does love me. What you called hero worship, I see as respect. His insanity may twist some things but underneath, his feelings are pure."
"But you haven't checked, have you?"
Hikari kept silent, her face hidden.
"No, I don't suppose you would have done that. Ignorance is bliss after all."
"If you have a point, get to it."
"Well, an interesting dilemma occurred to me just a little while ago. Your powers have grown a lot these last few days. I wondered whether your love for him had grown along with them."
"What are you talking about?"
"I know what it's like for you better then anyone else. How every single moment is a struggle to control the energy flowing through your body. That struggle is probably why your are the way you are. To control the light requires a strong, authoritarian hand and that same methodology has defined your life."
"I know all this." Hikari pushed herself up and glared at Yamato. "If you are implying that my powers affect my feelings for him, you are wrong."
"Oh really," Yamato said as he rose to his feet. "I suppose that's a nice ad lib at least."
After Yamato had left, Hikari downed her drink in one huge gulp. She ordered five more and had begun to feel slightly tipsy when the summons from the council arrived.
The Darkness all around her, the pitter patter of her feet ringing in her ear and then in between one blink and the next Miyako found herself inside her own body. The sudden shock disoriented her and she gripped the edge of Ken's bed to keep from falling down. His body was still laid out on the bed, his eyes closed. She whirled around on Sora.
"Why did you pull me out? He still needs our help."
Mutely, Sora pointed behind her. A little cough from Ken's bedside made her whirl around again. His eyes were open, a small smile on his face.
"I stuffed him as far down as he would go."
"Ken!" Miyako started forward but Sora's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Is it you?" Sora asked as she stepped past Miyako.
"Yes," Ken nodded tiredly. "You can probe my mind as deeply as you want."
"Ken, what happened?" Miyako pushed past Sora and knelt by his bedside. "How did you…"
"I heard what you said to him. It helped, oddly enough. I'm sorry I took so long to wake up. I didn't want you to get hurt while I took care of him." He looked past her to Sora. "You can begin any time."
Sora shook her head. "I'm finished. You check out for now but I would like to run some deeper tests with Mimi and Hikari."
"I understand." Ken stretched out on the bed and winced in pain.
"What's wrong?" Miyako said, taking his hand in her own.
"My legs, they've gone numb. It's probably a side effect of the Dark Spore's destruction. I should be able to heal them but it will take a while. Can one of you make me a wheelchair? I'd like to catch up on everything that I've missed."
"Of course." Sora closed her eyes and concentrated. The air in front of her swirled and reformed into a metallic, silver wheelchair.
"Looks just like the one you had when you were fifteen," Miyako remarked.
"Yeah, I formed it out of memory."
Both women helped Ken get out of the bed and into the wheelchair. As they were doing this, a teenage boy came into the room. He waited patiently until Ken had been seated in the chair and then came forward.
"Yes, what is it?" Sora questioned.
"The council is ready to begin now. They request your presence."
Sora nodded. "All right, we will be there soon."
The boy bowed and left the room.
"A council meeting?" Ken looked up at Sora. "What is it about?"
"We will explain on the way," Sora said as she began to wheel Ken out of the room. "They might want to question you as well."
Hikari looked down at the crowd of people milling below the balcony she stood on. She wondered how they would take it if she threw up on them. The energy in her body was enough to burn most of the alcohol but she had consumed far too much. The effects were making themselves known and she was feeling slightly dizzy with a bad headache.
A hand suddenly clamped on her shoulder and squeezed. "Hey little sis," her older brother said in greeting as he came to stand next to her. "How are you holding up?"
"Ok, I guess."
Taichi sniffed tentatively. "You've been drinking," he said in mild reproach.
"Just a little. I didn't have enough to get really drunk."
"It's not that bad. They're not going to sentence him to death or anything like that."
Hikari grunted. "It is still going to be a bad deal. I heard from Jyou that they wanted him removed from our group."
"I put an end to that talk."
"You don't care that he almost killed Sora?"
"How can I when she doesn't." Taichi grinned ruefully. "She talked me down actually. I would have been much harder on him."
A change in the tone of the crowd below signaled that the proceedings were about to begin.
"Where are the others?" Hikari questioned.
Tai pointed to the other balconies, which ringed the giant room. "They're watching from their own vantage points. You looked lonely so I decided to come over to this one."
Hikari made a soft noise and leaned against him. "Thank you."
"It's going to be alright." Taichi said as he put his arm around her.
"Maybe," Hikari replied softly. "I hope so."
Below, Takeru was ushered into view. Hikari was surprised at how thin and weak he looked. She felt the first stirring of anger when she saw how he had been treated. His arms were pulled up high behind his back and bound tightly with chain. His legs were similarly chained with only enough slack to allow him some mobility. It had to be extremely uncomfortable especially in his condition.
"Was all that necessary?"
"They would not accept any less even with all of us in the same room. The way he used matter manipulation was something none of us have ever seen. It would require a tremendous force of will. Just getting them to leave their own guards behind was a struggle."
The lead speaker began to speak. "The purpose of this inquiry is to determine whether the actions taken in Kroy were in our best interests. Furthermore, we will examine the events behind the tragedy that occurred yesterday. The accused in both circumstances is Takeru Ishida. If you would like to say anything in your defense, now is the time."
Takeru merely bowed his head. After a moment, the man continued, "Very well, we will first begin with your mission in Kroy. You detailed a plan to Taichi Yagami and it was approved, however, you later changed this plan without consulting anyone else."
"Yes," Takeru replied, "I did."
"You idiot, stop posturing," Hikari muttered.
The speaker continued, "And why did you?"
"Before we arrived at Kroy, I learned that the mission might have been compromised. It was then that I began to think of a new strategy. However, it was not until I spoke with the Guardian, Corwin Calstrom, that I finally devised this strategy."
"You infiltrated the Dark Ocean's Embassy in Kroy. How was this accomplished?"
"I learned that the embassy was headed by the men Aidan Black and Jonathan Stark. I knew of them and infiltrated the Embassy disguised as one of their friends."
"That seems rather hard to believe. No disguise is that good."
"Not any of the conventional ones. I underwent a process six years ago, which allowed me to shift my features. I would demonstrate but I was hurt badly in my escape and I seem to have lost the ability."
"Can you describe the process?"
"No."
"Did you know about this?" Taichi asked Hikari.
She shook her head, concentrating on the drama below.
"We have a report of the plan you communicated to Ambassador Le Moigne. Knowing of this power of yours explains some things but it does not explain everything. You could not have done all that you did, alone. Who was helping you?"
"I have been a resident of this world far longer then any of you, far longer then even any of the other Chosen. In that time, I have made friends. It was only a matter of contacting one of these friends."
"And when did you have the time to do this?"
"I sent my Digimon partner in my place. He contacted them for me and instructed one of them to meet me in Kroy."
"You little bastard," Hikari hissed under her breath.
"What was that?" Taichi questioned.
"Now that I think about it, I can't believe I didn't realize it before; Black and Stark were both Sumeragi's henchmen. He went on this mission because of revenge."
Taichi grunted and turned back in time to hear the Speaker say, "Much of what you did seems premeditated. Were you planning on changing the original mission right from the start?"
"I was. I knew the two men in charge of the Embassy in Kroy. I would have gone after them on my own eventually. This mission was just one excuse to do so."
"I see." The speaker was quiet for a moment and then continued. "All right, you contacted your friend and got him to work with you. However, when it came to the night of the assassination, what went wrong?"
"My identity was compromised somehow. Only the Chosen had known that I had returned but somehow the Ocean's spies knew of it as well. Since the only new person who had shown up in Kroy that week was I, naturally they suspected me. My friend and I were rounded up and thrown into a dungeon. We made an escape, rounded up one of the Ocean's men, snuck into the main Citadel and accomplished the objectives."
"Was the murder of Cain's son one of those objectives?"
"No, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"And that was reason to kill him?"
"He had seen my face and my description is well known to most of the hierarchy in Kroy. The plan would have failed if he had talked."
"But you said earlier that you disguised your features."
"When I killed Caine, I dropped the illusion. It is part of my own personal philosophy. If you must kill a man, you should look him in the eyes."
"And through your reckless actions, an innocent boy was killed."
"He was not the first and he will not be the last."
"So we should be killing innocents now?"
Takeru sighed. "Consider this, the average age of a soldier in this war is 16 years. There are a large number of twelve-year old boys fighting for the Dark Ocean and quite a few fighting for us. How many orders have you given that have led to the deaths of these soldiers? Or do you prefer to leave those decisions up to the Chosen?"
"Those men are soldiers. They chose to be in this position."
"Oh really. How many of you actually chose this path? You were stranded here after the gates to Earth were closed and had to make do as best you could. Those soldiers are no different and neither am I. The objectives of a mission come first, before anything else."
"That is an extremely simple way to view the situation."
"I would rather not let morality get in the way of the objectives."
Taichi groaned. "What the hell is he doing?"
"He's taking the blame for his actions." Hikari replied grimly. "Probably not what you planned with Mimi, was it?"
"All right, we shall now move on to what occurred after you were taken to the Dark Ocean. How did you escape and how did you manage to retrieve the information that you eventually passed on to us?"
Takeru shook his head. "I cannot divulge those secrets."
"Why not?"
"Much of what I am is a reputation that I have worked six long years to maintain. I will not simply give it away to satisfy your whims."
A moment of shocked silence and then the Speaker replied, "I see. Well, let's move on to what occurred yesterday." A large screen unfurled slowly behind Takeru. "First, a remainder of what took place."
The screen flickered to life and began to play footage that the security cameras had caught yesterday. On the screen, Takeru was shoved viciously into the cell. A few moments later, the guards were instructed to close the door but before they got there a blur streaked out of the cell. Takeru dispatched one guard with a simple blow to the throat and the other with an elaborate punch combination. As both guards hit the floor, he turned towards Frost. The man stared back at him and then suddenly began to run towards the exit at the end of the hallway. However, before he could reach it, the whole hall caved in and blocked the exit.
Takeru marched forward and unceremoniously cracked the other man's neck. The two guards had recovered by that time and were rising to their feet. The floor underneath their feet began to distort as if it was made of jelly. Tendrils of data reached up and stuffed themselves into the two guards through their noses. They opened their mouths to scream and gagged as tendrils of data pushed into their mouths as well. Their bodies contorted in agony as they were stuffed full of more data then they could handle. Their stomachs bulged obscenely just before they exploded, showering the hallway with blood and gore.
Amidst it all, Takeru stood calmly. He turned back to the hallway and it slowly opened up. A whole squadron of troops stood on the other side. They immediately leveled their weapons and began firing. A section of the floor rose up and intercepted the energy blasts. The section of the hallway where the troops stood began to distort and soon the process with the two guards was repeated on a much wider scale.
Suddenly, Takeru stumbled back, grasping his head. He looked around wildly and then slowly sank down into a corner of the hallway.
The camera's view changed, showing Sora practically carrying Takeru. As they walked, his arms snaked around her neck until he had her in a choke hold. Sora tripped him to the floor but was unable to overpower him. He wrestled her onto her back, his hands wrapped around her throat. She lashed out with her fists and hit him a number of times in the face but he barely registered the hits. Her hands then fell to his wrists, trying to pry them off.
------------------------
Takeru made himself watch the video as it reached its inevitable conclusion. It was a small favor that there was no sound accompanying the video. He was not sure whether he could have endured hearing the screams of his victims. One thing was clear though, he would not be walking out of the room without paying for what he had done. The mood of the council had changed upon viewing the videos. His own flippancy in not answering many of their questions had also not gone unnoticed. Mimi had warned him about that but he was not one to let anyone dictate his actions.
"Do you have anything to say?" The Speaker questioned once more.
Takeru looked up slowly, shifting his bonds behind him. "The only thing I have to say," he said softly, "is that I should not have been locked up the way I was. I could not control my actions and for that I am sorry. It is the only thing I am sorry about. Everything that I did on the mission to Kroy was necessary and I will not make any apologies about it."
"Is that all?"
Takeru bowed his head in acknowledgement. He could feel a pair of eyes boring into his shoulders as he looked down at the floor. Hikari was not likely to be pleased with his performance. She had her own plans for him and none of those plans would ever come to fruition if the council judged him the way he knew they would. 'Oh well, I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.'
"We will discuss your fate amongst ourselves in private. You may await our decision at your quarters."
The two guards that had brought him into the chambers reappeared at his side. He snuck a glance towards the balcony Hikari had been standing and found that she was no longer there. A sharp pull made him turn and he followed the guards out of the room. They stopped outside the door and he had to glance past them to see what had caused them to stop. Hikari was standing in the middle of the hallway and had blocked their path.
"I will take over from here," she said in a voice that left no room for argument. "Take those restraints off him." The two guards hesitated and she responded sharply, "That's an order."
Her tone seemed to decide them and they quickly took off all the restraints that adorned his body. "We need to talk," she said to him.
"Y…yes." He could not quite keep his voice from wavering.
She turned and began to walk. Bowing his head, he followed after. He wondered briefly how it would look to the guards to see him being led away like a whipped puppy but then put it out of his mind. He had more important things to concentrate on like trying to explain his actions and then surviving the resultant storm that explanation would cause.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, they arrived at a door. It slid open as Hikari fingered in a quick combination on the keypad beside it. Takeru followed her inside. The door slid shut ominously behind him.
Hikari whirled around, a furious look on her face. Takeru barely managed a step backwards before she was on him. He grunted loudly as she pushed him back into the door with force. Her left hand pinned his right beside his head while her right arm snaked around his neck. She yanked his head down and began to kiss him savagely.
As stunned as Takeru was by this sudden turn of events, he did not waste much time in responding to her aggressiveness. He pushed away from the door and encircled her waist with his left arm. She relinquished her hold on his wrist and wrapped her left arm around his neck as well. As their kiss intensified, Hikari leapt and encircled his waist with her legs. Takeru stumbled under her weight but managed to keep his footing.
She pulled away and growled down at him, "Get us to the bedroom." He detected a faint whiff of alcohol on her breath and opened his mouth to ask about it. She jolted him by squeezing her legs together. "Now, Takeru."
He knew better then to argue with that tone of voice. As he stumbled his way to the bedroom, she managed to claw off his shirt. Her touch turned almost gentle as she ran her hands over his bare torso.
"Very nice," she purred into his ear, "you've lost all your scars. Maybe I will mark you with a new one so you never forget who you belong to." He moaned as she pressed her nails into the side of his ribcage.
As he stumbled into the bedroom, she unclasped her legs from around his waist. Before he could regain any equilibrium, she shoved him onto the bed and straddled his waist. A loud groan, more like a low shout, emerged from his lips as she seized his nipples between thumb and forefinger and began to pull and twist them.
"Hikari," he whimpered her name as she continued her assault.
Her breath hot against his ear, she whispered, "You will be screaming that before I get done with you."
He tried to raise his own hands to reciprocate in some way but she grabbed and pinned them to the bed. "Hold still. You don't get to touch me just yet."
He wanted to struggle but one look into her eyes made him quell that notion. Even at full strength, his chances of overwhelming her were slim at best. As he was now, they were nonexistent.
Her hands on his waist snapped him out of his thoughts. He could see her in the gloom, perched over him, her arms moving behind her. She undid his belt and pulled it out. Looping it behind his neck, she pulled him up into another hard kiss.
Takeru surrendered to her and clung to her shoulders as she ravaged his mouth. He lost himself in the pleasure of the kiss and the bits of pain that accompanied it when she bit his lower lip. He gasped as she began to trail hot little kisses down his neck. She stopped at his shoulders and then started back up until she reached his right earlobe. A soft whimper escaped his throat and he turned his head to accommodate her. She bit his earlobe gently and then moved up and stuck her tongue in his ear.
Suddenly, the belt behind his neck vanished and she shoved him down. Her body crushed his into the bed and he felt himself heat up considerably. He cried out as she bit his shoulder. Her mouth continued downwards over his chest, which was still throbbing from her earlier treatment. She circled one nipple with her tongue while her index finger circled the other. He cried out again as she bit down on one while simultaneously squeezing the other.
He was moaning her name, pleading with her although he did not know what for. This was something primal, something he had no control over. She continued down his body, kissing, licking and biting until she reached his waist. He waited in anticipation as she undid the button and pulled down the zipper on his pants. But then suddenly, the sensation stopped. He raised his head and saw her at the foot of the bed.
"Raise your hips," she commanded. Her tone was sharp, authoritative; the voice of a master ordering her servant. He complied immediately and she yanked his pants off in one swift motion. She repeated the same process with his boxers, freeing his manhood from its confinement.
She studied him as he lay nude before her. He moaned softly, begging her to come back. She smirked and then slowly began to strip off her own clothes. Her movements were slow, deliberate, teasing and by the time she was done, his throat had become completely dry.
She stepped onto the bed and came to stand directly over his erection. Then slowly, she began to lower herself, her long legs spreading wider into a split. He felt the heat from her loins as she brushed against the top of his manhood. Amazingly enough, she was ready for him. He knew enough to know that women required a lot more foreplay then men but with Hikari that had never been a problem. She was ready for him even when she did all the giving. Dominating him genuinely seemed to turn her on.
Hikari grasped his erection in one hand and steadied herself over him. She held his eyes with hers until he gasped softly, "Hikari… please."
Without warning she slammed herself down on him. Takeru moaned loudly, his back arching up. She rode him down, her hips a blur as she swiftly raised and lowered herself. He reached for her only for her to grab his hands and pin them once again. She gave him a quick kiss before moving back to his chest. He cried out her name as she placed small sharp bites all over his chest.
He tried to hold himself back, to make her orgasm first. It was the last shred of male pride he could cling to after being dominated so thoroughly. However, she denied him even that much. Pushing herself up, she squeezed her hips together, clamping around him like a vise. He gasped raggedly and tried to resist but when she reached behind her and gave his balls a squeeze, he had no choice but to submit.
He came with a loud roar. Above him, Hikari threw back her head, her body arching like a taut bowstring. A soft cry escaped her lips as she climaxed.
After she had recovered, Hikari glanced down at Takeru. His eyes were still slightly glazed over and his breath was coming in soft, quiet gasps. He seemed to go so far away every time. She almost envied him that surrender to oblivion's grip although her own journey was sometimes nearly as long.
Hikari sighed and leaned against his chest. No one had ever made her feel the way he did. And even if his feelings for her were twisted, she could work beyond them. How many girls could actually say they were worshipped like Goddesses?
She knew that she was deluding herself and falling into the same traps that had ensnared her before. She did not even know why she had done what she had just done. Yamato's words from earlier suddenly echoed in her head. She shook her head irritably. So what if it was her powers? Did it even matter? Everything was just so convoluted and she could no longer exist like that. She needed to settle everything with him for both her good and his.
Hikari draped her leg over his waist and pulled him closer. She slowly traced some of the bite marks she had left on his chest. Takeru groaned loudly, "You can't still want to. Not this soon."
Hikari chuckled. "Welcome back and no, I'm blissfully sated for now. Although I have quite a few things I want to say to you."
"Would it help if I said I was sorry and that it did not mean anything."
"I am not really angry with you over that but since you felt the need to bring it up, we will start there."
Takeru began to speak but she quickly placed her finger on his lips. "Shut up and listen. You told me before I had a chance to find out myself and that counts for something. Given my own history, I can let it go. However," her voice sharpened considerably, "this type of thing had better never happen again. I don't care what your reasons are. If you want to get into their heads, find another way because if you ever cheat on me again, I will either cheat on you or I will kill you. Understood?"
Takeru nodded his head and she removed her finger from his lips. "How much do you know?" He asked softly.
"Why? How much were you planning to keep from me?"
"You sound like you know quite a bit. Did you read my mind?"
"No, I had a run in with Asahina. She sent me a Digivice with a lot of info about what you had been up to inside Kroy. Let's me make one more thing clear, I won't share you that way with anyone, not even another man."
"Oh!" Takeru closed his eyes. He was finding it hard to think straight. "It didn't…"
"…. mean anything? Yes, you already said that."
"I'm…"
"…sorry? Yes, I know that too."
Takeru sighed helplessly. "You're not going to break my shoulder again, are you?"
"Should I be that angry?"
"Why aren't you?"
"I told you."
"That could not be all of it."
"It isn't. There's so much more. Why did you go on this mission? Was it just simple revenge? You lied to me."
"I…" Takeru lapsed into silence for a long moment. "I had so many reasons, that was the problem. The way I am and why you could never trust me. I wanted to resolve all these voices inside me, to be the type of man you could be proud of, the type of man you deserved. But, I failed. I look back at this mission and I want to laugh at my own conceit. I thought I had resolved it all but everything unraveled the moment they stuck me into a dark room."
Hikari lay still quietly. She did not even know how to begin to respond to what he had said.
"I wanted so badly for you to trust me but I can see now I will never be worthy of it. I keep disappointing you and it kills me. You deserve so much better then this."
Hikari closed her eyes and came to a very quick decision. She cupped his face in her hands and said, "Just close your eyes and relax. It's time I did something I have been putting off ever since you came back."
A slightly puzzled look creased his features but he did as she requested. Hikari took a deep breath and delved into his mind. The mind was a repository of knowledge but beyond that, it was also a repository of emotions. She had once shown him exactly what he meant to her but she had never had the courage to see how he felt about her. Now, with all his feelings for her laid at her feet, she dove right in.
Her eyes snapped open a long while later. The emotions that coursed through her mind subsided a little as she stepped into her own body. She could not forget what she had seen though and the memory of all the time she had wasted had already begun to haunt her. What a fool she had been.
"Hikari?"
The sound of her name brought her out of her reverie. She buried her face in his chest and clutched him tightly in her arms.
"I'm a fool," she said quietly. "I listened to someone I should not have."
"What are you talking about?"
"I trust you and I'm sorry that I didn't before."
"Who was it that you were talking about?"
He sounded vaguely suspicious but before he could say anything more, Hikari leaned up quickly and kissed him. "I will take care of it." She said as she pulled away. "We've both made too many mistakes." He stared at her silently, the suspicion in his eyes growing. "Please, just trust me." The second Hikari said the words, she wished she could take them back. How could she ask for his trust when she had been so unwilling to trust him?
Takeru's features suddenly softened. "Okay, I'm too tired to argue anyway. Forgive me?"
"Don't I always." She leaned against him again. "Although the warning I gave you still applies. This situation I can understand. The second time I won't be so lenient."
"It won't happen again. From now on, I will never willingly leave your side."
"I will hold you to that."
Takeru sighed and wrapped his arms around her body. "You surprised me. I didn't expect you to jump me like that."
"What I should have done was thrown you out on your ass. What possessed you to go after Ken by yourself? You could have gotten killed."
"I don't know why I did what I did. There's so much about this mission that's a mystery to me. Since you already know most of the lurid details, I thought you could go into my mind tomorrow and help me sort out some of the things that I don't remember."
"Don't remember?"
"Another hole in my mind. I don't know how I escaped from the Dark Ocean. One minute I was there and the next I was roasting alive."
"All right, we'll go over it when I come back from the conference."
"What conference?"
"We all get together tomorrow and decide whether we should completely wipe the Dark Ocean's presence in the Digital World. They are the weakest they have ever been but we have taken quite a few losses too."
"Oh!"
They both lay quietly for a long time until finally Takeru said, "What do you think the council will decide?"
"I don't know. Your bullishness didn't help."
"Mimi said the same thing but I had to take responsibility for my actions."
"Even at the cost of our future? What if they exile you? I have my own responsibilities and I can't shirk them just to be with you."
"I have a few other surprises up my sleeve."
"What does that mean?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. Trust me."
"Takeru."
He rolled over suddenly and pushed her onto her back. "My turn," he said with a grin.
Hikari rolled her eyes. "If you actually think you can hold me down, you're in for a big surprise."
"It wouldn't kill you to play along."
"Tell me what you're planning and maybe I will."
"Oh ok, well, I'm going to marry you."
Hikari suddenly surged upwards. He tried to hold her down but she quickly overwhelmed him.
"I hope for your sake that wasn't your proposal." She said as she pinned his arms once again.
"Why? Did I make a mistake?"
Hikari stared down at him for a long moment and then let go of his arms. "Ok, my fault. I forgot how clueless you were."
"So I guess your answer is no?"
"For the way you asked, yes. But it's not a no to what you asked. I just have some criteria you have to follow."
Takeru groaned. "I should have guessed. Can't we just elope or something."
"Are you crazy? I've been planning out this thing far too long for you to ruin it now. There is a very specific way everything has to be done."
"Okay," Takeru sighed, "let's hear it. What do I have to do?"
"First, there's the proposal. I want it done in the Christian style. Down on your knees and all."
"I thought you only had to get on one knee?"
"No no, get down on both."
"I'm pretty sure it's just one knee."
"Well, you had better get down on both."
Takeru rolled his eyes. "All right, what else?"
"The proposal has to be done in front of a lot of people. You have to make me the center of attention and I mean really the center of attention. I want this thing to be remembered by everybody and it has to set a standard in the way proposals are done."
Takeru looked up at her wide-eyed. "You're crazy. I can't do all that."
"Of course you can and you had better if you want to marry me."
"You're serious then?"
"Yes."
Takeru sighed. "All right, fine. Now let me up."
A puzzled look that was too fake to be genuine crossed Hikari's face. "Why would I do that?"
"You said you would let me be in charge you vindictive harpy."
Hikari laughed. "No, I said maybe. That harpy comment is going to cost you."
Takeru lunged up at her, grabbed her shoulders and forced her backwards. Hikari mock squealed and rolled backwards. They wrestled a bit but Takeru quickly found himself on the losing end. It took nearly everything he had to overpower her and that was when he was at peak condition. Fatigued by everything that had occurred in the last few days as well as the rapidly healed injury to his hand, he did not fare as well.
Hikari twisted his arm behind his back and then leaned down and whispered in his ear, "That was extremely foolish. I'm physically stronger then you right now."
"Okay, I'm sorry. Now let me up."
Hikari laughed again. "No, I think we will do extremely well like this."
"Hey, what the hell does that mean?"
She just laughed again and then let go of his arm. Their lovemaking was much more frenzied this time. In the end, he lost consciousness again just trying to match her energy.
To be concluded……..
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