Disclaimer: I do not own digimon!
Woah! It has been a long time, and I really mean that; I almost forgot how to put chapters up on here! I am really glad to be back and writing again, and I have to apologize for taking such a long time to post another chapter. I've been very busy lately and writing has been thrown beyond the back burner, but I finally am starting to write a little bit. Just to let you know, I don't know how long it will take me to post another chapter, but I will try my best to finish this story no later than the end of 2014. Which reminds me, hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a great New Year! Consider this a late present for those who enjoy this story.
Anyways, time to address the main topic here. Hope's Sacrifice. I have looked back at my writing and realize that I am a complete mess. My writing is very sloppy, poor, and badly written. It is all over the place, and it has to be very confusing to you readers (if I haven't lost all of you yet). Also, my slow writing has made me forget and probably made you forget where we are in this story, so I am taking the time to address where we are. These next two chapters won't have a lot of action and may be very long and boring, but they are meant to help you find out where each character is at. More to come soon, but in the meantime please review, favorite, follow, etc. Thank you all, and again, have a great New Year!
Chapter 5:
The rain had fortunately slowed down to a light drizzle, but that didn't make sprinting to catch up with his girlfriend any easier. He was panting by the time he had caught up with the rest of them; seriously, how fast did they have to walk? TK was just trying to get Kari away from him so the blonde could make a move on her. He knew how this thing worked out; he had been in the same situation before.
It was in the sixth grade. He was a stud, of course, and always had to have a girlfriend ever since the fourth grade. This time the girl's name was Kristi. Kristi was a beautiful blonde cheerleader with a slim but athletic figure and she had bright, emerald eyes. Kristi had been his best girlfriend yet and had gained him loads of popularity points in school, and he had even thought he was going to marry this girl… 'Yeah, thinking of marriage in the sixth grade' he laughed at himself. They were very happy together, or so he thought. About four months since they got together, Kristi started hanging around more and more with a boy named Chris. Chris was sort of his arch nemesis, being almost as good as he was in all the sports he played. They constantly were put on opposing teams when they scrimmaged for soccer and it always ended up as a competition between him and Chris.
When he asked her about it, Kristi always told her that Chris was just a friend, but he had a feeling deep down that there was something more to it than that. And he was right. About a month later Kristi told him after school one day that she wasn't and never was in love with him. He, according to Kristi, was annoying, dumb, and not even close to being good enough for him. She told him that he would never get another girlfriend because of what a terrible boy he was. He never told anyone, but when he went home that day he locked himself in his room and balled his eyes out. It was at that point, one of the lowest points in his life that he decided he was going to prove Kristi wrong. No matter how long it took, he was going to get another girlfriend, and this one was going to be prettier, smarter, and nicer than Kristi. He had to get another girlfriend; he had to prove Kristi wrong. She could not be right.
The week after the break up, he laid low trying to scope out another girl who was better than Kristi. At some points it did seem hopeless, what with Chris and Kristi being inseparable and reminding him of how much of a failure he was. But then he found the perfect girl. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed her before because her beauty seemed to light up the entire room she was in. Kari. She was perfect. She was the nicest person in the school, she was in all of the 'smart kid' classes, and she was so beautiful. She was going to be his next girlfriend. She was his target, and he was not going to let anyone take her away from him.
Which explains the minor obsession he had shown towards Kari in middle school. Yeah, maybe everyone did have a right to call him crazy for the way he acted, but he couldn't help but think it worked. It took quite a bit of pestering, but he had finally got Kari to accept and they had started going out. Sure it was a little bit of a miracle, but it happened. But that was when TK was gone. Now he was back, and there was no way he was going to let the blonde take Kari away from him, especially knowing all of his and Kari's past.
Yeah, that was one benefit, and sometimes disadvantage, of dating someone; you get to know everything about that person. Well, what they are willing to share with you that is. Like the whole Kristi thing. He hadn't told Kari what Kristi had said about him or that he originally only wanted to date Kari to get back at Kristi, but that was unimportant. Maybe there were things that Kari didn't tell him, but he did seem to know quite a bit. Like how TK used to be her "guardian angel"- gosh he hated it when she called TK that. He knew that the two of them were connected because of their crests, but he told himself that since they had given up their crests they no longer were connected anymore. That was hard to believe, though, with TK saving Kari from the Dark World and Kari having that dream about TK. But it didn't matter. Connection or no connection, Kari was his girl, not some long lost angel boy.
He had already run past Yolei and was nearing Kari and TK when he started listening in on their conversation.
"… realize he just loves you right?" Kari asked TK.
"Yes, but…" TK started, but it was at that point that the blonde noticed him and turned to face him. As much as he disliked TK, he had to admit that he did look pretty terrible. 'No, no sympathy Davis,' he thought to himself, 'This guy is trying to take your girl.'
"Why you guys… walking so fast?" he asked in between pants.
Kari turned around and, upon seeing whom it was, smiled at him instantly making him feel better.
"We were just talking, right TK?" she said, looking over to the blonde. He looked at TK as well and couldn't help but give him a death glare. Intimidation. That was how he was going to stop TK from trying to steal Kari. 'You mess with her, you better expect a beating,' he tried to say through his eyes. TK seemed to get the message because he said, "I'd better be going."
"Wait, TK!" Kari shouted after the blonde, but it was no use. TK was sprinting away while Patamon held on to his partner's head, struggling not to fall off. Kari kept on shouting after TK and even tried running after him, but after realizing it was hopeless, she stopped.
It was a good thing they had decided to send the digimon back at the meeting because they were creating quite a ruckus. The people of Odaiba who were out walking around were giving them a strange look. He could explain weird, but he couldn't explain why there was a blue talking dinosaur following him around, so he was glad he didn't have to do that.
"Kari?" he asked as he walked cautiously up to his girlfriend. She was still watching TK run up until the blonde turned a corner and went out of sight.
"I'm…" she hesitated, "I'm just worried about him."
Great, that was what he needed; his girlfriend being worried over the guy trying to take her away from him. But, being the awesome boyfriend that he was, he put his arm around Kari and pulled her closer to him.
"I know, but he's a strong dude. He's going to get through whatever he's dealing with," he comforted her.
She looked at him, a look of deep sadness and, was that guilt, in her eyes. "How can you be so sure?" she asked.
"Well, I can't be, honestly. But you just got to have hope in him." Man, that was clever, especially for him.
Kari seemed relieved with his answer and gave him a peck on the cheek. Score! Point for Davis, and no points for TK!
"Hey! We finally caught up with you guys!" someone said from behind them. They both turned to see Yolei with her hands on her knees acting as if she had never run so much before in her life. Cody was panting a little bit, but otherwise was fine.
"Where did TK run off to?" Cody asked.
"I think he just needs some time to himself for now," Kari supplied.
Cody nodded. Yolei, who was still working on catching her breath, asked, "Time for himself? He's had almost five years to himself! How much more time does he need?"
He noticed that at this Kari flinched as if what Yolei had said had hurt her, but she regained her composure and smiled. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."
"Cody, are you keeping up ok?" Yolei inquired.
He grunted out of annoyance, "Mhm."
It was because of times like these he wished Armadillomon was with him all of the time. He wasn't one who really opened up to people, especially because most people didn't respect him the way he deserved. He still remembered one time where this was exactly the case.
It had been a long day. They had been in the Digital World so long that it was already getting close to nighttime. His mother was sure to give him a lecture, to which his grandfather would watch amusingly whilst sipping on a package of prune juice. Yet, he couldn't think about that. All he could think about was the Digimon Emperor and why they couldn't bring him down.
"That was a really close one guys. If it wasn't for that mysterious hero, we would have been goners for good," Davis said.
That was very true. Digmon, Halsemon, and Flamedramon didn't even stand a chance against those Tyrannomon. And then not even Nefertimon was enough to stop them. That mysterious digidestined- well, he assumed the mystery man was a digidestined- had come just in the nick of time. But it kept bothering him how, even though he, Davis, Yolei, and now Kari had managed a way to get past the Emperor's black digivice, it still was not enough. He was surprised when he found himself voicing his opinions.
"But with all our powers combined, we still haven't been able to beat the Digimon Emperor in the Digital World. Yet we keep on forgetting that he's human."
"What do you mean by that Cody?" Yolei asked him.
It took him a while before he realized that she was talking to him. He looked away from the tile on the floor that he was staring down and looked around at the group. Matt and Kari had separated themselves from him, Davis, and Yolei, and were conversing about something. Yolei had brought a bundle of assorted goodies from her parent's department store to which the digimon were chowing down on. He then looked at Yolei and Davis who were now watching him, waiting for his response.
"I just mean that we haven't been able to best the Emperor in the Digital World, his domain, but if we could find out his human identity, we could fight him from this side, where his powers aren't as strong," he responded.
Yolei fixed her glasses and asked, "But how are we going to find that out?"
"Yeah," Davis added, "What do we do? Knock on doors asking for the Digimon Emperor?"
'Stupid,' he thought to himself, 'I knew I shouldn't have voiced my opinions. Now they're just going to make fun of me…'
"Well, you're just a little young to be worrying about these things Cody," Yolei said.
Davis nodded, "Yeah. Just let us older kids handle it."
He hated it when people disrespected him because of his age. He was much wiser than any of the older digidestineds, save for maybe Joe. Just because he was the youngest of them all didn't mean that they got to use that against him. Even when they were battling the Digimon Emperor he was wiser than all of them. Davis foolishly ran into every battle he could without evaluating what the best tactic to be taken towards the conflict could be. Yolei, at first, was scared about everything. Hawkmon had gotten hurt one time and she became so overprotective of her partner and avoided every fight. Then, she went through a phase of super eagerness where she rushed even more blindly into every conflict than Davis did. She was so unreliable, and even now she still went through phases. And then there was Kari. She knew what to do for the most part, but she was very… fragile? No, that was not the right word; Kari was one of the strongest woman he knew. No, she was very… emotional. Yeah, that was a good way to put it. Kari went with her heart, what she believed in, which there is nothing wrong with, except when her emotions overwhelm her and corrupt her heart. Like right now. He could tell Kari was going through a lot and not doing so well, and this could lead her to make a rash decision. And then there were the older digidestineds. Tai, with his thick-headedness; Matt and his stubbornness and overprotectiveness; Izzy and his 'ultimate intelligence that never faulted'; Mimi and her "Mimi-ness"; Sora and her emotional bandwagon; TK and his hatred for evil and desire to put everyone else above himself; and even Joe sometimes with letting his schooling rule him. But, out of all of them, Joe was the closest to being smart.
It wasn't that he didn't like the other digidestiends because he did. He just got annoyed when they did stupid things and when they wouldn't respect him because he was the youngest. He can't help that he's young, but just because he is doesn't mean that they can't treat him as an equal member of the team.
It was for that reason that he confided in Joe whenever Armadillomon was in the Digital World. Joe didn't care that he was so young. It was kind of ironic, but the oldest digidestined is the only one that didn't treat him as the youngest of the group. Joe listened to him and his ideas. Whenever he wanted to vent about something dumb Davis did or how Yolei kept on babying him, he could come to Joe and Joe would comfort him and offer him advice.
But, like he said, he did care about the others. They were his friends, his best friends, and he was one whom honored that relationship.
"Where did TK run off to?" he asked Davis and Kari. He and Yolei had finally caught up with Davis and Kari and TK, but TK had run off before they had reached them. Yolei, standing beside him, was bent over with hands on her knees as she tried to regain her breath. Who was having trouble keeping up now?
"I think he just needs some time to himself for now," Kari answered.
He understood that. He had gotten to know TK better over these last couple of years, and he was able to understand just how hard it was for him to work through the whole memory thing. Whenever TK didn't feel like talking to the original digidestineds, he would come to him for someone to talk to. Not that it was very often because TK tried to keep to himself, but it had happened a couple of times. And with everything that has been going on, TK is bound to be a little stressed out, and for TK, time to himself- and Patamon too- really helped the best.
"Time for himself?!" Yolei asked, managing to catch her breath long enough to talk, "He has spent the last five years to himself! How much more time does he need?"
He mentally face-palmed. This was a perfect example of how ignorant his friends could be.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Kari answered.
Kari looked to where TK had run off to, and he could tell that she was feeling something. He couldn't quite read her face, but Kari was not as ok with TK running off as she came across.
Davis, probably in an attempt to get Kari's attention back on him, said, "Well, shall we continue on home?"
"Yes please," Yolei answered.
They then continued on through Odaiba at a much more reasonable pace to their apartments. Davis and Yolei talked about the meeting and offered their own opinions on what they should do. He, of course, stayed silent because, honestly, he disagreed completely with Davis and Yolei. Kari was quiet as well, but it seemed like it was more because she was pondering over something. Whatever it was seemed very intense. He tried to read her, but he couldn't. And then they had come to the point where they would split up, as he and Yolei's apartment led one way and Kari's and Davis's led another.
They quickly said their goodbyes and he and Yolei walked away from the others.
"So, what do you think of all of this drama that's going on Cody?" Yolei asked him.
"Um," he answered, "which drama are you talking about?"
Yolei said, "There is a lot, isn't there. Well, how about the drama going on with the love triangle?"
"Love triangle?"
"Yeah, you know, Kari, Davis, and TK."
"What are you talking about Yolei?"
"Oh come on! Isn't it obvious? Kari has feelings for TK. It was clear that she did ever since she kissed him when we faced Dragomon. I think that sparked an interest in Kari for TK. TK, though, cares about Kari so much that he won't break up her and Davis. Davis sees that Kari cares for TK and is becoming a protective/jealous boyfriend to Kari. It's really quite simple Cody."
He shook his head. "Don't you think TK and Kari could just be close friends? I mean, they are light and hope; they have that connection already there."
Yolei cut in, "Which exactly proves my point! They have a connection already there which is going to mess things up. I'm telling you Cody, just wait and see. Some big drama is going to be going down pretty soon."
He had to admit, Yolei did have a point, but more drama was not what they needed right now. With the recent digimon attacks and then the group not being as together as they used to be, as proven by the meeting, a conflict between Kari, Davis, and TK was not what they needed.
"And then there's the other triangle with Matt, Sora, and Tai…"
He let Yolei talk on and on as they walked back to their apartment. That was one good thing about walking home with Yolei, he didn't have to worry about walking back home with awkward silence because she wouldn't stop talking. Not that it was a bad thing, she just tended to rant a little bit.
By the time they reached their apartments, he had heard enough. He said a quick goodbye to Yolei and entered his apartment. Now that he was in the quiet of his apartment, he took a deep breath, enjoying the silence and wishing desperately that Armadillomon was with him.
Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered going to those group meetings. It's not like anybody even recognized he was there, or even cared about him. It seemed like they all held a huge grudge against him, and he couldn't blame them. He had been the Digimon Emperor, a really terrible, awful character. He had caused so much harm to the digidestineds, especially TK and his partner Wormon. But, oh the irony, TK and Wormon, were the only ones who didn't blame him for who he was in the past. No one seemed to believe him when he had told them it felt like something was controlling him when he was the Digimon Emperor, or that he had gone through his own phase of forgetfulness, albeit it was a short one. They never believed a word he said, or trusted him. All except for Wormon, that is.
He did not know what he would have done if Wormon had not come back as an egg or if he hadn't found his partner's egg in Primary Village. If he didn't have his partner back, he probably would've run away in pure guilt; he never would have been able to forgive himself. He never would have joined the digidestineds. And sometimes he considered doing these things, especially at times like now, but he had made Wormon a promise.
It was a couple of years ago, right before everything with MaloMyotismon went down. His partner had finally digivolved to his in-training form, Minomon. It was during a time where he was really feeling major guilt and shame for what he had done and often coped with it by walking through the Digital World. They had walked for about an hour or so before sitting down atop a gentle hill. It looked out onto a field of wildflowers, and the only sound was that of the occasional gust of wind rustling the flowers below. Minomon, who usually was trying to comfort him during these times, was unusually quiet.
"Minomon, is there something wrong? You've been unusually quiet," he asked his partner.
He heard his partner snivel and saw tears come to his partner's eyes.
"Minomon…" he said, as he picked up his partner and hugged him tightly. It didn't take long before he realized he was crying too. Minomon pushed away and he released the hug.
"Ken," Minomon started, "Stop and look at what you're doing. You're crying."
"Yeah? So…?" he asked, wiping away tears from his eyes.
"So why are you crying?" his partner inquired.
Just what was his partner getting at? "I'm crying because you're crying!"
"Yeah, but why?" his partner kept going.
"Well…" he said, stopping to think, before continuing, "Because I care for you."
Minomon nodded. "Do you see? You actually care now! You may think that you are the same person you were when you were the Digimon Emperor, but you are not. The Digimon Emperor would have whipped me if I started crying. Now, though, you started crying with me! You now feel love. You may not believe it, but you are a new person."
As he controlled his crying, he thought hard on his partner's words. Minomon did have a point. How could he still be the Digimon Emperor if he now cared and even loved others?
"So," he started, wanting to change the subject, "why did you start crying in the first place?"
Minomon laughed. "Well," he said, "I just am so grateful that you are not the Digimon Emperor anymore. You are the Ken I remember when I first met you. Ken, you are the kindest person I know, and I don't want to live without you. I am so glad that we are partners, and I don't ever want to lose you. Promise me you won't leave me again?"
He bit his lip. What was he supposed to do? He didn't feel like he had changed yet. He didn't feel like the kindest person his partner knew, in fact, he felt the least kind, especially after all that he had done. And what if he became that person again? If he made this promise, then that would hurt Minomon even more. But he had to try to change. Minomon had done so much for him. Even when he was the Digimon Emperor, Minomon never stopped trying to get through to him. Maybe it was time that he started to change, not because he felt like he could or because he wanted to change to get forgiveness from others. He needed to change for Minomon. He knew what he had to do.
"I promise Minomon."
This was why he went to those digidestined meetings. Not because he wanted to go, but because he needed to go, for Wormon. And it wasn't even like it was that bad. The younger digidestineds seemed to have forgiven him. TK, Davis, Kari, and Yolei all got along well with him. Cody was hard to read. He wanted to be Cody's friend, but he found that Cody seemed to have a strong resentment towards him. It seemed to die down a little over time, though, and they finally managed to get along, and it seemed like they got closer over time. The older digidestineds didn't trust him, however, and, honestly, he didn't trust them either. But he did trust Davis, Kari, Yolei, TK, and even Cody, his friends.
There also was the little crush he may have on Yolei. He didn't know how it had started, but at some point after the battle against MaloMyotismon he had started to form a liking towards Yolei. She just was so, unique. She was very funny, energetic, outgoing… and cute too, but he also could sense something else about her. Underneath all of her craziness lied a huge heart. It didn't always show itself, but at times he could see just how much Yolei cared about her friends. And to him, that was very attractive.
He hadn't done anything to get her to notice him, though. Not that she would ever want to be more than friends with him anyways, especially with his past. He was basically the opposite of her. Where Yolei was very outgoing, he was very shy and reserved. Yolei liked to talk, a lot, and he tended not to say a word. Even if by some miracle Yolei did agree to go out with him, there was no way that they would work. It was a losing battle, so what was the point of fighting it?
"You getting on the bus kid?"
He looked up and saw that the Odaiba shuttle bus was parked in front of him. He exited the booth he was sitting in, and boarded the bus, handing the bus driver the correct amount of money needed to hitch a ride. The bus was pretty packed, as usual, but he did manage to find an empty seat towards the back of the bus. He plopped down on the cushioned seat and looked out the window. The bus engine rumbled back to life and the bus slowly moved forward, picking up speed as it moved along. He closed his eyes, listening to the thumbing of the engine and the quieted conversations of the other passengers. Being used to this setting, it didn't take him long before he drifted away into the world of dreams, losing consciousness.
He sighed as he walked aimlessly through the streets of Odaiba. When he and TK had come through the Digital World they had ended up in TK's apartment, where they had a computer in an office room. He figured going back to TK's place was the best option, especially since none of the other digidestineds- save for the younger ones- included him. He wanted to try and catch up with TK, but he saw him turn around a corner sprinting way far ahead and knew it was not worth the effort to try and catch up.
He had to admit he felt bad for making TK stay up all of that time. That kid looked beyond exhausted, and he hadn't helped with giving him two Monsters. But it had been one of the best days he had in a long time.
Living in America made it really difficult to hang out with the other digidestineds. The time difference and the inconvenience of having to travel through the Digital World didn't allow him to come to Japan very often. Yeah, he got along fine with the younger digidestineds, but he never got to see them very often, and he felt like an outsider whenever he was with them. He felt even worse when he was around the original digidestineds. Those guys had a tendency to leave out anyone they weren't comfortable with. He noticed it with Michael, Ken, and Cody the worst, but even Davis, Yolei, and sometimes Mimi seemed to be left out as well. And it was this that seemed to be causing some of the tension in this group, or at least he thought.
For talking about how close they were, the digidestineds did not seem very close at all. Tai and Matt bickered the entire time at the meeting. TK was mad at his brother. Tai and Sora weren't getting along- and weren't they supposed to be dating? Davis seemed to be trying to prove himself and get respect from the others but to no avail. And then the rest of them were all floating around with their own viewpoints and opinions. All of this mess… something is going to happen soon if they don't work this out.
Not that he could do anything to help though. Every time he tried to mention an idea of his or speak his mind he would be disregarded. That was a load of bull and not fair at all, but that was how this group seemed to work. It was only a matter of time, though, before this group dynamic ended up turning into dynamite and destroying the group.
And now was not a good time to be having struggles. All of these rogue digimon attacks that have happened were not good as it is, but then there was MarineDevimon too. Willis didn't know what, but there was something about that digimon that made him… uneasy. MarineDevimon just seemed different from the other rogue digimon he had encountered before. The rogue digimon usually try to attack an area and cause some mayhem, but before he had attacked them MarineDevimon had been doing nothing. It was almost as if he knew they were going to go that way and he had waited to ambush.
And then you couldn't forget about that new evil Gennai had forewarned long ago. He honestly had thought Gennai had messed up, made a wrong prediction, because everything had been going smoothly up until recently. But now it seemed as if things were getting worse by the second. Questions from the meeting came back to his mind. Was there a leader behind these rogue digimon attacks? If there was, then who was this digimon? How strong was he? Would they be able to stop him?
He shook his head. He didn't like thinking so much. Don't get him wrong, he was a very smart individual and all, working for the government, you know? But he didn't like to dwell on things; it reminded him of when he was younger.
When he was a little kid, he had no friends at all. He was one of the "geeks" because he did well in school, so, naturally, he got picked on a lot. Nobody wanted to be friends with him because no one wanted to be another target for the school's bullies. Instead, people just seemed to watch and go along with all the times he was called names, pushed into lockers, had his books thrown on the ground, must he go on?
No, he never had any friends growing up… until Terriermon and Lopmon came around. Those two had been a lifesaver. Practically seeing no support from people at school, or at home for that matter, having no dad and a mom who worked nonstop; he sometimes felt like giving up. To him, nobody cared about him, no one cared if he was alive or not. Luckily his partners had come, though, and changed things completely.
Because of Terrerimon and Lopmon and their support, he kept working hard at school. Eventually he left the bullies behind as he overachieved in his education level and was forced to keep moving up. By the time he was in seventh grade he was taking senior level classes. Somehow the government had discovered him and offered him a well-paying job. He accepted and now was bringing in more money than his mom was. He also had made some friends along the way as well. Mimi and Michael over the years had become his best of friends. It was also because of his partners that he was able to break out of his shell and start to make more and more friends, such as those he had with the younger digidestineds. And it was all because of Terriermon and Lopmon. Seriously, those two had completely changed his life and he was eternally grateful for them and what they did in his life.
But, despite all this, there still were times he would revert back to the sadness he felt as a child. Usually at these times Terriermon would try to pull some sort of joke or Lopmon would suggest they go to the Digital World for a nice walk, but now they weren't around. Actually, he had no one. As he looked around he saw that all the other digidestineds were long gone. Mimi and Michael were back in America still, and Terriermon and Lopmon were in the Digital World somewhere. Maybe when he walked back through to America he would be able to see them and they could cheer him up…
For a second he had no idea where he was, but then he saw TK's apartment complex a little bit up ahead. He wondered if anyone was even going to be there. Matt had his own place and their father worked at a television station. TK should be there, but he might be passed out be now. But, either way, he had to try.
He eventually made his way in front of their apartment's door and knocked a couple of times. He listened and heard nothing. He tried again, knocking a little louder. Still nothing. He pounded on the door in desperation and listened once more. Nothin… wait, there was something. He heard someone groan, some talking in hushed voices, and then silence again. Just when he was about to start pounding on the door again, the doorknob started rotating but then it flung back to its original position. Someone was having a hard time opening up the door and they kept trying to get it open until finally the door opened up a crack. He pushed the door open cautiously and looked inside to see who was failing at opening a door.
"It's times like these I wish I had thumbs," a voice squeaked. He saw Patamon flying right on the other side of the door smiling at him.
"Hi Willis! I'm glad you're not Matt or else TK would have been really upset," Patamon said.
A voice from behind the couch spoke up, "Patamon, who is it?"
"It's Willis," Patamon said as he entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.
"Willis?" TK asked confused, "What are you doing here?"
"I sort of need a way to get back home," he answered as he walked into the living room, Patamon flying in front of him and landing on the couch next to TK.
"Oh. I forgot about that, I'm so sorry…" TK said, but he cut him off.
"Don't worry about it. Can I use your computer?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course," TK responded. He turned towards the office room and started walking towards it when TK asked, "Are you ok Willis?"
That was something he wasn't asked every day. Honestly, he was not ok. Terriermon and Lopmon were not with him. As he was walking here he tested Michael and Mimi asking if they wanted to hang out when he got back, but neither of them had respon… His phone vibrated and he pulled it out quick. It was a message from Michael and it said, "Sorry bro, busy. Mimi can't either." That wasn't helping him out much. Plus he was tired from battling MarineDevimon earlier. Despite this, though, he answered, "Yeah, I'm fine." He added a smile at the end to try and convince him more.
TK didn't seem to buy it, but yet he said, "Ok. If you need to talk, though, just call me, or text . I'll be here for you."
This time Willis smiled a real smile. It was nice to know that at least someone had his back. "Thanks TK. See ya."
TK yawned as he said, "Bye."
He then turned back around and entered the office. He woke the computer back up from its sleep and pulled out his digivice. Wanting to get home as soon as possible, he quickly muttered, "Digi-port open," and was sucked from the real world back into the Digital World.
"Matt! Matt wait up!" he heard someone call from behind him. He turned around and saw none other than Sora running for him with Biyomon following closely behind. Reluctantly he stopped and allowed her to catch up with him. He really wasn't in the mood to talk with his best friend's lover/his life-long crush at the moment. His best friend was treating him like crap, his father was very upset with him, TK was being as distant as ever and exploded in anger whenever he even talked to him, plus all they seemed to do anymore was bicker and quarrel. The meeting was a waste of time. They hadn't come up with a plan of action besides sending the digimon back to the Digital World so they had a better chance of being attacked. Everyone was mad at each other, fights broke out, and nothing got accomplished. Things were nothing like they used to be.
And on top of all of that, it had been raining outside. At least it had slowed down a little bit, but the crappy weather just seemed to add on top of everything. It didn't seem like he had anyone. Tai was being Tai and not helping at all; Izzy was still a little frustrated at him for waking him up in the middle of the night; Sora was in love with Tai who, again, was being a jerk; Mimi, Michael, and Willis were in America; Joe was studying; Davis… he was never going to seek help from that incompetent idiot- he wanted to go practically blindfolded into a battle they knew nothing about-; Yolei was too hyper for him; Cody was still very young; TK couldn't even stand to be around him; Kari was busy chasing after TK; and he still didn't trust Ken for him being the Digimon Emperor and putting TK through all that crap.
He used to be able to rely on his friends. He remembered when TK moved to France, Tai wouldn't let him out of his sights. Tai had to make sure he was ok and try to cheer up his best friend. Sora, Joe, Izzy, Kari, and Mimi- before she moved away to America- had all been such a big help with adjusting. Now, though, he seemed to feel worse off than he had been, and he had no one to turn to. Oh how things have changed.
"Matt, where are you going?" Sora asked. He hadn't realized she had finally caught up and was standing beside him.
Where was he going? He could go to his father's… no. TK might be there and that would inevitably cause an outrage from his little brother. Plus, his father had been a dick last night, so he wasn't too keen on heading there. There was his place, but then there was the chance of running into Tai, and he didn't want to deal with that either. He didn't want to have to bother anyone for a place to stay again, not to mention it was the middle of the day anyways. He really didn't know what he was going to do. Maybe he could go to the Digital World just to blow off some steam. He could talk to Gabumon that way. But then there was the risk of running into a rogue digimon or even MarineDevimon. And if the others had found out that he had gone to the Digital World, then they would call him a hypocrite because it was he who thought they shouldn't go looking around the Digital World for this new evil.
"I honestly don't know," he told her as they started walking, "How about you?"
"I don't know either," she answered.
"You aren't going back to Tai's?" he asked.
She seemed to wince at the sound of Tai's name and shook her head. That was strange. Sure, the two had fought a little bit during the meeting like the rest of them, but it wasn't that big of a deal. He figured there had to be something going on, he just didn't know if it was his place to ask.
"No," she said, "I'm…" she started, but stopped herself.
"You're…?" he pushed her on, seeing if she would finish her thought.
"I'm… mad at him," she stated simply.
He rolled his eyes. "Come on Sora," he said, "We both know there's something more to it than that."
She started blushing and seemed to get a little uneasy. "Well, I am telling the truth!" she said, "But… I think I made a mistake with our relationship."
He figured he had a good guess as to where this was going, so he just said it outright, "You're feeling guilty because you slept with Tai."
Her nervous expression changed as she now looked appalled. "How do you…" she started to ask, but he cut her off.
"I was going to stay at my place last night so I went in, but I heard you two so I left."
Even as he said that, his already existing uneasiness grew and morphed into anger. Despite how upset Sora seemed to be because of the situation, he didn't care. She was part of the reason he was feeling uneasy. He couldn't stay in his own place because she had been there banging Tai! He still had a desire for her, a strong, caring love, but this feeling was deep down as the anger and frustration he had been holding in these past couple of days continued growing. He bit his lip to keep from barking at her.
"So it was you!" Sora stated.
"Yes, it was me! And I had to leave my own apartment because of you and that good for nothing roommate!" he fired back.
"Hey," she yelled, her face distorting with anger as well, "There is no need to lash out on your best friend or myself! Besides, you told him you weren't going to be staying there that night!"
"That doesn't matter! It's my apartment! I have a right to be there! And don't call Tai my best friend! He is a selfish, ignorant, fat-headed, goggle-wearing idiot!"
"Don't talk about your friend like that!"
"Friend? Friends care for one another. They help each other through the hard times of life. Tai has never been there for me! He doesn't care about me, he doesn't know what I am going through, and he only makes me feel worse whenever I'm around him! He is no friend!"
"Well, by what you are saying, you haven't been much of a friend either, to anybody! Come on Biyomon! We're leaving!" Sora yelled as she turned and stormed off away from him.
"Good! Thanks for being such a great friend Sora!" he called out after her. She then stopped in place and turned around. Tears were running down her face, yet she still held an intense glare, right in his eyes.
"You too Matt," she said just loud enough so he could hear. She then kept on walking away from him with Biyomon. Despite how good it felt to finally let out some of his feelings for a change, he couldn't help but feel guilty for how much of a dick he had just been. He thought the other people in his life were being jerks, but really he seemed to be the biggest jerk of them all.
Oh how she loved New York. There was heavy traffic with cars bumper to bumper honking their horns endlessly. Her nose was starting to burn with the frigid temperatures. Yesterday it had been seventy-five degrees, sunny, and clear, but the New York weather was crazy and now it was forty or so degrees, windy, and cloudy. She had none of her old friends here with her. Yeah, New York was such a great place.
But not that it was anything new to her. She had been living in the Big Apple for eight years now; that was almost as much time as she had lived in Japan! That was not acceptable! She missed her old home. She missed seeing her friends all the time. Sure, she got to go over and visit whenever she wanted to, but it wasn't the same. She felt so out of the loop being continents away. Then there was the stupid time difference. Seriously, how could she just wake up on, say, a Saturday morning and have it be halfway through Sunday in Japan!? It didn't make sense and she hated it. She hated how the others treated her as an outcast. As if she was the one who wanted to move to America in the first place. It wasn't fair! And then the biggest thing that bothered her was how much drama she was missing out on! Their little group of digidestineds went through so much drama it was ridiculous. But she didn't get to know about any of it. Were Sora and Tai officially dating? If so, how was Matt taking that? What about Kari and Davis? Did they finally break up yet, or are they still happily together? And what about TK? The not-so-little boy had finally returned, but she didn't get the chance to be a good friend to him because of how far away she was. It just wasn't fair!
At least she had Michael and Willis. If she hadn't met those two when she first moved here, she didn't know what she would've done. They both were seriously so funny, smart, cute, helpful, and very caring. They were her best friends over here in America, and, since she had been gone for so long, probably her best friends everywhere.
In fact, it was Michael who she had been spending the day with today. His parents were, well, rich, and he had been begging her to go with him on a flight in the family's private plane. She didn't have anything planned for the day, so she told him yes and went with him to the airport. They didn't have to wait very long since Michael's father had permission to fly in and out whenever he wanted as long as another plane wasn't scheduled to use the runways. They then went to board the plane when she had received a text from Izzy asking her to come to a digidestined meeting. She had an inner battle as she decided whether to leave Michael at the airport or not, but she had promised Michael that she would go with him, and she wanted her word to be sincere. That was her specialty after all!
So she boarded the plane and took a seat on a couch next to the window. The interior of the plane was very nice. Reclining chairs, couches, and a big screen television all fit inside the private plane. She didn't even think flying first class could be as nice as this.
And the flight was even better than looking at the plane. They were able to lift off the ground without her even feeling a thing. She watched in awe as they raised higher and higher above the ground, making New York look like a tiny dot way down below. Eventually they rose above the clouds and she was able to see some spectacular sights. There was a moment where the plane hit a bit of turbulence and she got scared, but Michael had taken her hand into his and calmed her back down. After she had finally regained her composure, she realized Michael was still holding her hand so she looked at him. They locked eyes and she could see "the look." "The look," was something she liked to call the way Michael would look at her longingly, wanting nothing more than to kiss her and hold her tight, a look of love. She usually felt very uncomfortable when Michael gave her this look because she really wasn't interested in having anything more than friendship with Michael, but this time she felt the same urge to kiss Michael. She restrained herself, though, and pulled her hand away from his. She could tell that Michael was disappointed the rest of the flight, but it was better to disappoint her friend than to give him false hope and then crush it.
After circling around a couple of times, the pilot, who happened to be Michael's father, brought the plane back down and they landed back in the airport. They then went to Starbucks to get a hot chocolate to warm up from the cold temperatures. And now they were talking as they walked the sidewalks of New York, sipping their hot chocolates.
They pretty much talked small talk discussing the weather and such, but then she heard a beep come from her phone.
"Oh," she said, as she reached into her pocket with her free hand trying to get her phone, "I wonder who that could be."
She felt around for her phone and finally found it. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the bright screen.
"Who's it from?" Michael asked.
"Just Willis," she responded. "He wants to know if we want to hang out with him later."
"Eh, tell him we're busy," he said.
She looked up from her phone at Michael. That was strange. Michael and Willis were best friends. Why wouldn't Michael want Willis to be with them?
"Busy? Doing…" Mimi started to ask, but was interrupted by Michael.
"Mimi, will you go out with me?"