A/N: Written for the Tale in Fragments Challenge, 10 prompts List 1, prompt #02 – imitate, and for the Female Character Appreciation Competition (with Ruki), both on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges Forum (link's in my profile).
Enjoy. :D
Picnic Day
2. Imitate
Takato's puppy is trying to imitate Guilmon, which is funnier now than it was before the Digital World became accessible to them again. Maybe it's because Guilmon is now there, teaching the little puppy how to wriggle his ears. Maybe it's because all of their Digimon partners are there, something that had for so long been denied to them.
And yet it hadn't even been a year since the D-reaper had been defeated. But to them the separation was long enough, potent enough, to feel like a lifetime. This, now, is the thing they'd dreamed of in that time, sitting under a tree in the park or running through the tunnels or climbing the stairs to the old hideout where the Digital Gate had appeared in the past and present.
Now it's a reality and they can only hope it won't disappear on them again. And beyond that they can smile and laugh and enjoy a peace they hadn't had before, do the things they'd never had the time, the opportunity, to do.
'What do you say we leave these boys to their thing?' Ruki doesn't look at Renamon; they understand each other like that, and the grunt of affirmation is answer enough. She looks at Juri and Shiuchon and Lopmon. Juri had been talking with Impmon before, but now the purple Digimon was playing with Takato, Guilmon and the puppy and she sat under a tree of her own. So were Terriermon, Henry, Monodromon and Ryo for that matter. Shiuchon looked like she wanted to play as well, but the boys were being unusually muddy and that didn't appeal at all.
'And go where?' Juri asks, though she's eager and curious. Ruki feels a pang as she looks at the girl; they'd gotten their partners back but Leomon was forever gone. Still, Juri doesn't begrudge them at all. She smiles, she comes along with all of them and she plays with the other Digimon. Sometimes Calumon goes home with her as well…but no-body tries to replace Leomon, or forget him. He's neither of those things.
Ruki thinks. 'Somewhere quiet,' she says. 'Is there a hot spring around here?'
That question is aimed to the Digimon, and while Renamon shrugs, Lopmon nods. 'It's over that way,' she says, pointing east. 'Not many Digimon go there, because of the lake.' And because it didn't matter to the Digimon whether the water was warm or cold or not there at all.
They agree on the hot spring and leave the boys behind, Lopmon leading the way. Shiuchon is the first into the water when they arrive, still young and excitable. But she's grown up; her lisp is gone, and she's a little taller. They've all grown up now. Juri's not keeping all her pain bottled up inside. Ruki's understanding people better now.
'How strange,' Renamon murmurs, licking her fur where the water makes it stand in odd directions. 'I'm afraid I don't see how this differs from a normal bath.'
Lopmon doesn't either, however Shiuchon is busy splashing her so she can't say so.
Ruki closes her eyes, feeling the tingling warmth spreading through her body. 'We'll have to go to a hot spring in the real world one day then,' she says.
It's actually a good idea; her grandmother's been wanting a family holiday anyway.