It felt like it happened a lifetime ago.
Merely a week had passed since they had returned from Digital World - for good this time - yet it all felt like a dream now, a part of another lifetime when they were sucked into another dimension to meet strange creatures made up of data, fighting for their survival, running and hiding from powerful evil Digimons, sleeping in fear, splitting guard duties, scavenging for food. It still felt strange to be sleeping in a bed with the safety of their parents next room and at times they still find themselves awakening in the middle of the night at a sudden noise; alert and on guard.
For Sora and Yamato; there was another set of nightmares inspired by their journey to dark cave. The darkness that had surrounded them then, filling their hearts with despair, was most alive at nights; turning every dream into a twisted, darker shade of reality. They were no longer able to sleep a whole night through without waking up in the middle, drenched with cold sweat, taking their time in realizing that they were not, in fact, still in that cave.
So when Sora found Yamato sitting on the school wall at the end of the day, on her way to her mother's shop, she couldn't help feeling relieved.
"Rough day?" she called out to him, making him start. His head jerked up in surprise.
"Oh, it's you," he sighed, smiling hesitantly, still new to this whole having friends thing, "No. Rough night, more likely."
Sora came to a stop right in front of him, "Can I join you up there?"
Yamato rubbed his neck indecisively. Sora was one of the few people he didn't mind having around but in his current sleep deprived state, he was not sure what could set him off. Taking a deep breath and reminding himself to behave, he shrugged, "Sure."
Sora deftly climbed up the tree growing beside the wall, dropped on the wall and walked gingerly over to where he was sitting. She sat down a few feet away from him, her legs dangling down.
"Let me guess, nightmares?" she asked, swinging her legs. Yamato glanced sideways at her.
"Yeah." he muttered, now embarrassed.
"Me too." Sora admitted simply, making him look at her sharply.
"Oh." he looked away after a while, "I thought I was the only one having a hard time adjusting to normal."
Sora chuckled, "Of course not. I'm sure everyone is finding it hard to adjust."
Yamato smiled slightly, glancing at her again. She was not wearing her helmet that day and it made him realize what a strange shade her hair was, matching her blazing eyes. He turned his gaze back to his dangling feet.
"What . . . do you have nightmares about?" he asked hesitantly, unsure whether she will be willing to tell.
Sora glanced at him, biting her lip as she considered whether to tell him or not. Yamato had not been her friend for a long time but something about him brought her closer to him in a very short amount of time. She was sure that were there someone else instead of him, she would not be having this conversation.
"The dark cave," she whispered, "I always find myself in there. Sometimes it's me. Sometimes it's another girl who looks exactly like me and I have to get her out of there," she pushed her hair behind her ear, "I always fail in saving her."
Yamato looked up at her and Sora moved her gaze from the sky to meet his. There was no sympathy in there and she was glad for it. There was, however, a look of understanding, of exactly fathoming the depth of her fear and she realized he might be having the same dreams.
"You, too, right? You dream about the dark cave, too?" she asked curiously. Yamato looked away, shying from her inquisitive eyes. Sora kept her eyes fixed on him, noticing the sky reflected in his eyes blending with the blue of them, the slightly elongated shape of them, unlike any of her friends, unlike, even, his brother. She kept her eyes on him and willed him to admit it.
He could no longer ignore her gaze and finally admitted, defeated by the intensity of her look, "Yeah. The same ones. But . . . " he flushed suddenly as he halted mid sentence.
"But?" Sora asked gently.
Yamato sucked in his cheeks, considering whether to tell her or not. They have come this far in this conversation and strangely he was not ready for it to end.
"But in my dreams . . . sometimes . . . you are there, too. I mean . . . I have to get you out of the cave. And . . . and I fail in doing so." he looked at her anxiously, waiting for her response.
Sora looked thoughtful as she stared down at the road, "I guess it comes from you saving me in real. I mean, you must be afraid then, too. And it turned into a nightmare for you." she smiled at him warmly, "It's not easy going down in the dark cave to save someone else."
Yamato smiled back, encouraged by her response, "Yeah, that could be it."
Sora went on, "It reminds me . . . I haven't properly thanked you for getting me out of it. It went really bad and busy really fast with the Digimon battle afterwards but Takeru told me how Jyou and he were afraid of going in there but you went in anyway. It must be very hard for you and I'm very grateful you came after me. I don't know how else I was gonna come out of it."
Yamato reached out with his hand, paused slightly in hesitation, then placed it on her shoulder, "I know that you would have done the same for your friends, so it's no big deal."
Sora smiled, "You're probably right." she jumped down the wall and landed hardly on the road, "I have to go now. It's going to be dark soon and I have to reach home before my mother." she scratched her ear sheepishly, "Actually, I was suppose to help her with the shop today but I stopped to talk to you."
Yamato jumped down, too, now grinning, "I hope you don't get into trouble for that."
"Probably not. Still, we should be heading home."
Yamato nodded, "Right. My father will be home soon so I should be going too."
They both started walking home side by side and Yamato realized that he had just shared something personal with someone outside his family. It felt both like a pleasant surprise to his new self and a disappointment to his old self. The old Yamato would never have opened to someone like that, would never have made an effort to get someone to like him as a friend. He glanced at Sora and smiled. Sharing his fear with her was not as hard as he had imagined. It helped that she was facing the same thing and the fact that he was not exceptionally weak in coping with his nightmares was a relief. Just talking to her was a relief. She had the tendency to ease any sort of discomfort by acting casual, which was more than welcome by him who was often uncomfortable around others. Yamato realized that as much as he finds it hard to befriend others, he wouldn't mind having her as his friend. It felt nice.
A/N: The idea behind this drabble belongs to AmeliePoptart, so in case you like this, it's all because of her and you should appreciate her. I just did my limited part of giving it a scenario.
However, Amelia, I will be the first one to acknowledge that I'm not good with words and still new to this whole writing thing, so in case I disappoint your expectations and this drabble is not what you had imagined, I'm truly sorry. Your idea was brilliant but my writing style is not what you can call "impressive". So you might find it not as good as you expected.
Any of my readers are welcome to give me more ideas for drabbles. I'll try my best to put them in as best a scenario as possible.