DPshadow thanks for the encouragement. I was thinking of making a spinoff set of stories based on this universe. What do you think?

Title: Bound

Rating: T

Genre: Friendship/Romance/Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: Mentions of Death and violence, same pairing warnings as before, swearing,

Summary: Second part. Hakuto's point of view. A dragon could not be alone and now you truly weren't.

Fragmented

11. Bound

You didn't believe it, glimpsing your partner so casually on the street. You were just heading home, or your temporary one. You couldn't really go back yet. School was tough, especially if you had missed three years of it drowning. Not to mention the two years after recovering but that was what the darkness was like. You still had nightmares. So bumping into him while waving at people you barely knew (Because wasn't that just your style, doing good and messing up in the end? Or was it the other way around? You doubted it.) was like fate choosing now to mess with you further, sociopathic bastard it was. He was knocked to the ground, his expression changing from blankly thoughtful to alive with irritation. Your eyes ran over him and something in your mind clicked into place, a puzzle piece that had been missing for a long time.

That feeling you got the day you first met, that feeling of never being alone again, of having a person to cry on when even the one you loved couldn't comfort you.

His eye, Levi's eye (You cursed that damned piece of fabric over the other eyeball, weakening and separating and hiding that gaze you loved so dearly) widened with fear and confusion and a sadness so deep and painful that you wanted to just scoop him up into your arms and let him take it out on you. Because you deserved it: you chose to drown in the dark rather than struggle through the light with everyone surrounding you. You opened your mouth to say that, to do just that, but he bolted to his feet and ran away, like the devil was chasing him. Your heart ached with misery because you swore you saw tears in those sun-colored orbs.

It took a moment for you to realize there were others there. There was complete bewilderment on their faces, boy and girl alike. All but one, one with hair like a nest, who was glaring at you with hatred, fury, and a veiled jealousy you doubted the boy even knew was inside him. You returned the expression with your own eyes ablaze. You could take it from Levi, from your friends and family, but not from some brat who was currently in so much denial about himself and so foolishly ignorant to the world that melded with his own.

That wasn't all was it? He felt like you, he was you, you with hope, you not being such a mess. He's not one of us.

It occurred to you that Levi had attached himself to this boy, this one and all those others (one, a blond which had power so similar to your own it was ridiculous). Instinct had guided him, had forced your partner out of the cage he had so willingly allowed himself to be shut in. Disgust of these people rose in your throat and with it the darkness that had attached itself like a parasite to your heart, urging you to rip out this male's throat. You reined it back and saw the black-haired male rear back with alarm. Yes you should be afraid, boy. Be afraid of war, be terrified of that little boy who you must have had kill for you by now, be afraid of the fact that he would very cheerfully slit your throat if I asked him to, no matter what emotional ties you think you may have.

Scowling, you turned away, heading after Levi. He needed you more; you had to make sure he was okay. You had spent five years of your life in your own personal hell that you threw yourself in. It wasn't fair to make him join you. (But life isn't fair and you were always dragging him down there anyway. Not that he cared.) You tore after him, barely noticing the rain. You never wanted to see that message in his eyes again: you're not real.

Not consciously but you felt it, little bites on your fiery skin. Little mocking teardrops reminding you of every last battle you lost, every soldier who got killed by your command, not to mention your most precious saving the one you loved at the cost of his life.

You hated thinking those things, dragging yourself down. If the others were here right now they'd scold you and comfort you, like you were a child, not the leader they depended on. (Why do they depend on you, someone who forgets that the leader must survive to lead his soldiers?) You grunted, now feeling the rain like a torrent of needles, stabbing into you. It wasn't that rain was bad, but you were practically fire incarnate, so it did hurt a bit.

The rain muffled your curses as they peppered the air. You wished Levi would let himself be found, would let those other people know he was in so much pain. He must have been betrayed, betrayed so deeply that he had forgotten that you could tell people things. (And it wasn't your fault you know that. Someone had done it and that person would pay, if he wasn't dead already.)

The earth suddenly sang sweetly in your ears, causing you to turn toward the trees. You saw the trees, felt the meadow. It was spinning around a center, a writhing center that was trying to be swallowed. It shamed you that this was the only way you could hear the earth: when it was trying to prevent yet another failure.

He wants to forget you, you understand? He wants to forget he ever loved you in the way he did and hurt so much from your existence. But your silly little partner wants you, the contradictory little fool. He wants you real and alive, he wants that unity back, that thing called "miracle".

You called for him aloud, forgetting its futility. Levi wouldn't answer with that, he never had. But it did seem like he heard, for you could feel the twisting and the earth's urgency became that much more. The trees whooshed in your ears now and forced you forward, forced you back into repentance's storm.

He was curled up in the middle of the grass. Even from here you could see his whole body shivering. You too were shaking, emotions and words and impulses warring through your body with intensity you thought only fear and death brought out. You couldn't move and a vague part of you sensed that he was relieved about that, at least a little. That tore another small hole in your heart.

One of many holes right? Your heart's nothing but Swiss cheese now right? Nothing but a great black thing with little scraps of white floating like paper in a trashcan is all that weak little thing in your chest is. Why don't you just let it go brat? Why don't you just come back here to this ocean? You drowned before, why not again?

"Levi, I'm home." That wasn't true, you were still running. "It took a long time but I'm back." No you weren't, they were still inside you, still talking to you, still calling you back. And you still wanted to go back. But you couldn't say that, damn you, you couldn't hurt him more because of guilt and that bad habit you had of omitting the important facts about yourself.

He didn't turn toward you but spoke in a hoarse and hollow voice, torn with tears and disbelief. "Are you real?"

It took every part of you to keep calm, to stay upright when your very existence had just been doubted by your most precious person. "If I wasn't I'd be a fake. No one can fake me."

"Prove it." The retort was childish and stupid but you knew damn well that was all he had left. So you walked forward, so softly as not to spook him, the frightened beast he was, and sat in the wet grass. You couldn't even feel the rain now. Gently you wrapped your arms around him and pulled Levi in your lap as you had done before, both to him and your little sister. He was cold, almost sickly so, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was that you fixed this. But it was so hard. You were shaking.

How could you get this lucky? How, in a million years, could you be blessed with enough luck to find the one friend who could gather everyone back again? How could you, with all your darkness, be given a reunion with the one person who made it all better just by existing?

"I'm sorry Levi…." You could hear your voice choking. "I didn't want to." And that was true. Back then you didn't, but it had seemed so much easier. There was so much more you could say, so much more you could do but in the end you just let go of it all and sobbed in his wet blue hair. It was soft, almost like a girl's. You had joked once that he was one in disguise. Levi hadn't been mad, he said he had to do that before. He had behaved as a girl, just before slitting the rapist's throat. It was one of the only killings that as Akito, he hadn't felt a trace of guilt over. It had disturbed you then, it couldn't disturb you now.

After a moment, your heart flooded with warmth. He relaxed onto you, a small little doll who was content to lie there in your arms. The puzzle piece clicked into place, one of many. Shifting a bit, he moved so he could glance up at you. For a moment, violet met gold before he gave you a gentle smile. Joy flooded your body and lightly you pulled him away from you, turning him to face you. He reached out and patted your head like a dog. An innocent grin wormed onto his face and he gave a childish little laugh.

Suddenly you remembered. Seeing your partner meant only one thing: you had to go back. The contract had to be renewed, more digimon and friends had to die. You had to tell him, had to ask him. "Levi, I…" You couldn't say it, you couldn't ask again. You had no right. Besides you already knew the answer. He rested his head under your chin, letting out a soft sigh that sent gooseflesh up your neck from cold.

"If it will make you stay," he pleaded, he agreed. "If it will help the others, if it will save you…" You hated his next statement, absolutely despised it. "If that is your will Hakuto-sama, then we will fulfill it until we die." That was a soldier's statement, a servant's words, not a child's, not a partner's, not a friend's.

But he is your servant. He kills for you, lets you beat and scream at him, and lets you cry without a hint of contempt. He's perfectly happy letting you whip him across the face and dying for someone else that you care about. Whether you do all those things or you don't, he is your servant.

You had no choice; he wouldn't back down. You held out your hands, palms up, calling the dragon. Softly, he placed them over and for the briefest of instants; you felt a steady pressure on your body. Then Levi was writhing and gasping, hands shaking but not leaving. His golden gaze was open wide with agony. Even as the blaze flared and ebbed inside of you, you could hear humans running and shouting a distance away. You could also hear answering growls, snarls and roars. They know. Everyone would. The war had begun again.

But as Levi slipped unconscious into your embrace, you decided it didn't matter right now. You had your partner, the Beast Keeper and wielder of the Fangs, a true weapon. A dragon could not be alone and now you truly weren't. Not ever again.