Last chapter. Thanks, LoveSovereign, for putting this story in your C2 and for giving my fanfics a second chance.

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Chapter 7: Aware

By the next morning, most of Xtoyilmon's victims had awoken from their venom-induced sleeps, though they were all weak, sore, and nauseous. The exception was Yolei, who still showed no sign of recovery.

Ken stayed by her side. His eyes traced the contours of her pale face in the pre-dawn glow. "Come back to me, Yolei," he begged in a whisper. "What would we do without you?" He took her limp hand. It was cold. "How could I ever feel this way about someone else? You know the things I've done, and yet you forgave me; you look at me like I'm guiltless; you how bloodstained my hands are, yet you touch me without revulsion. I don't know if you could ever love me; I don't care. I just need you to be my friend, I just need to see you smile, and share in your happiness. If you die, the whole world will feel dead to me." The room grew blurry for a moment, then the tears began spilling down his cheeks. A poem by Minamoto Wataru came to mind.

I do not know the road down which I go,

And tears block off the unknown way ahead.

He heard the door quietly creak open and quickly let go of Yolei's hand.

"How is she doing?" Kari asked.

Ken wiped a tear on his sleeve before turning to look at her. "She hasn't woken up yet."

Even in the dim light, Kari saw that Ken had been crying. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She'll wake up," she promised.

Ken couldn't keep more tears from spilling down his cheeks. He turned away.

"I'll stay with her. You should go and get some rest."

He nodded, then stood and left without letting Kari see the tears on his face. Instead of going to bed, he went outside and looked at the sky, where most of the stars had been wiped away by the encroaching dawn. Though he felt like sobbing, no sound more than his grief-choked breath emerged from his throat.

Tsukiyo sat down beside him on the step. "I think she'll recover," she announced.

"How can you be so sure?"

"She's not deteriorating. The human body is designed to heal itself if given half a chance."

Ken didn't look at her. "Do you believe in karma?" he asked.

"No, I don't," she stated frankly. "And even if we are punished for our sins, I don't think the punishment would come in the form of the suffering of those we care about."

Ken looked at her with surprise that she had known what he was thinking.

"Izzy hasn't told me much about your past," Tsukiyo added, "but he seems to think that you've suffered more than anyone should have to endure. And what about me? I had the misfortune of being born a poor female burakumin; what sin did I commit to deserve that fate?"

Ken tried to smile, but couldn't. "I guess you're right. I just..."

Tsukiyo remained silent until it became clear he didn't intend to finish his thought. "I understand how you feel," she said sympathetically. "I know how I would feel if Izzy were in Yolei's place. Izzy's my best friend, the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm afraid to lose him even when he's not in danger. Just imagining that we'll be parted someday in the far future makes me sad. It hurts to care about him so much, but I wouldn't trade that pain for anything. And you feel the same way about Yolei."

Ken continued to stare off into the morning sky. "It's hard to explain what Yolei means to me.

"'There was no color

To my heart, but with you

It is dyed and now

That it might fade

Is beyond imagination.'"

"Ki no Tsurayuki?" Tsukiyo asked, recognizing the poet more from style than memory.

Ken nodded. "Tsurayuki's one of my favorites. I often find solace in poetry," he admitted. "Ever since...since I came back."

Tsukiyo didn't need him to explain further.

Breakfast was quiet. They ate slowly, or not at all. The exception was Quartzmon, who ate an entire loaf of bread, and most of the tapioca pudding.

"I can't believe you're still hungry, Quartzmon," Tora said when she asked for more toast.

"One thing you'll learn about having a digimon: you have to buy food in bulk," Cody said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hey guys, look who's up," Kari said as she appeared at the door with Yolei, groggy and weak, but conscious.

Cody and Davis stood up to help her to the table and get her some breakfast, even though she protested that she wasn't hungry. Ken wanted to go to her, but his legs wouldn't work. He couldn't even smile, in spite of the relief he felt. When Kari sat her across the table from him, in the seat that had been Davis's, Ken finally found his voice. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Honestly, like I just went over Angel Falls in a barrel lit on fire, but I'm alive, which...is a pleasant surprise."

Ken managed to smile at her joke, briefly. Then he began to eat his breakfast, which he had only been poking at before.

Kari frowned. She was sure she hadn't imagined the depths of emotion Ken showed when he sat by Yolei's side, but now he seemed to be acting like nothing had happened. Perhaps it was just the concern he would show any of his friends, but Kari doubted it. He wasn't the kind of person who showed his feelings openly, so if he did feel more than friendship for Yolei perhaps he kept it hidden. She resolved to talk to Yolei about it, when she got the chance.

Later that morning, they began packing up to leave.

"Some vacation," Mimi complained. "Why can't we ever just have a relaxing time without being attacked by monsters?"

"Do you think it was a coincidence that Xtoyilmon happened to find the cabin where the digidestined were staying, or do you think he was sent here?" Tsukiyo asked.

"It's hard to know for sure," T.K. said. "Daemon could have sent Xtoyilmon after us, but if he wanted to destroy us, he could have come himself."

"It might not have been Daemon," Opalmon told them. "Xtoyilmon was kind of a mercenary; in the payroll of more than one minor warlord of the underworld, including Balaammon, who refuses to give his allegiance to Daemon, and Gruesomon, who's one of his strongest supporters." She turned to her partner. "Tora, I've decided to return to the underworld to finish my assignment."

He looked upset. "But...we're partners now."

"I know, but I still have a responsibility to the Fireshield League. When this assignment is over, I don't know what my status with them will be. But what kind of partner would I be if I didn't fulfill my obligations?"

Tora nodded reluctantly. "Be careful."

"Don't worry," she said, "I know how to take care of myself."

When the humans left the cabin, Tora looked back at it almost longingly. He had faced a spider demon, become a digidestined, and made new friends in that cabin. In the course of a weekend, his life had changed completely.

The End

End notes: In case you're wondering about the Japanese words I use for titles and names, Tsukiyo means "moonlit night"; matsu is a common poetic pun that means "pine tree" and "to wait"; mujou is an important Japanese concept that translates loosely to "evanescence, uncertainty, the bittersweet impermanence of things"; aware means "compassion, pathos"; Uji is the name of a city near Kyoto where part of the Tale of Genji was set, which sounds similar to a word for "gloom."

Coming soon: Fairytales in the Underworld. The digidestined return to the underworld to search for two demons that could be instrumental in the battle against Daemon. Ken and Yolei finally get together.