DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
CHAPTER 19
His Princess
REAL WORLD
Shinjuku General Hospital
13:16 JST
4th July 2010
Rika glanced around at the rooftop, the concrete seeming dull and bland, and not really the best setting for telling a secret that could either have bad or good reactions from the couple near them. The sunlight beamed down on the concrete, heightening spirits slightly, as Takato glanced to Rika, an invisible message running between them.
"Stop doing that!" Terriermon complained.
"Stop doing what?" Takato asked, confused as he looked up to the dog-bunny.
"That whole couples' physic eyes thing, I want to be able to hear any juicy secrets!"
Henry groaned, as Rika glared at Terriermon, a warning that most people would take and shut up quickly. However, this particular bunny just dug a deeper grave for himself.
"Are you actually physic? I mean, you are pretty mental; I thought you might have gone the whole hog by now and become…"
"Terriermon, you are aware that you're just making things worse…" Elecmon noted.
"Am I?" Terriermon asked, before coming far more aware of Rika's glare.
"Not really a good idea to talk like that to someone who could blow you to pieces…" Henry warned.
"Yeah, but she'd hit you in that process…"
"I'm getting to the point where Henry would be a worthwhile sacrifice…" Rika said, in all seriousness.
Terriermon gulped, as Rika bounced a ball of energy in her hand. Henry laughed nervously, as did Takato, before Rika withdrew it, a collective sigh of relief rising up from the audience and targets.
'Yeah, like I was actually going to do it…' Rika thought sarcastically, noting their relief.
'Really? You weren't? Oh, that's a shame…' Harmony complained, Rika groaning as she looked across to Henry and Jeri again, glancing to Takato on the way to check his reaction and whether he was prepared to tell them.
"So…what are you going to tell us?" Jeri asked curiously, getting back to the subject.
"I'm going to need some insurance on this one to make sure the bunny doesn't talk…" Rika asked, Terriermon suddenly feeling an over-obsession with keeping his vocal chords, or whatever the Digital equivalent was.
Henry nodded, as if he had done this before, looking to Rika. "Terriermon dresses up in the Princess Pretty Pants outfit for fun…" he revealed.
Takato would've spat out a drink if he had one, and Rika smiled menacingly, as Jeri giggled. Terriermon glared at his partner angrily.
"You swore you would never tell!"
"So you're not denying it then?" Renamon teased, dropping her perception filter and appearing alongside Rika.
Terriermon groaned. "It was only once!"
Henry glanced to Jeri, smiling and raising four fingers. Jeri smiled and nodded.
"Hey, I'm not blind!" Terriermon complained. "Traitor!"
Jeri giggled as Henry's partner was knocked off his perch by a single ice shard comically, as Rika smiled to Renamon.
"I owe you one Renamon…" she said.
Renamon smiled, nodding. "The current tone of this talk isn't exactly suitable for the subject you intend to talk about, and so I decided to remove the perpetrator…"
Terriermon stood up, waving his fist in anger. "I thought we were allies!" he argued.
"I thought Rabbits in Japanese tradition lived on the moon, but clearly they don't…unless you are offering to be the first?" Renamon taunted.
Terriermon scoffed. "Your darker cousin is far more polite than you…hotter too…"
"O…kay…" Takato said, breaking the long silence that broke out as everyone started to stare blankly at Terriermon. "Thanks for that…" he added nervously, turning to Rika in an attempt to get back on topic.
Rika breathed deeply, psyching herself up for what she was about to impart, and considering their reactions, as she nodded to Takato.
"Look…the reason we want to talk to you is because of something…well…it's something really big…" she began.
Takato nodded. "Yeah, and I'm still surprised at it myself, so don't think you're alone in not coming to terms with things straight away if you have difficulty with this…" he reassured the other couple.
"Why, what is it?" Jeri asked.
Rika gripped Takato's hand, the boy holding back his pain from the vice-like grip she had taken on him in his nervousness. Takato tried to smile his 'everything will be alright' smile, but it came out more like a damp squib, as Rika looked to him for confidence, before looking back to the observers, by now stumped by what could possibly be so major that Rika of all people would need to prep herself up for it, and even need support in doing so from Takato, hardly the most confident member of their team.
Rika swallowed a lump in her throat, looking at those eagerly awaiting her words.
Henry, the cautious thinker who would always consider things before rushing in, and didn't want to see his friends hurt, up to and including refusing to fight, until he was taught otherwise by his partner.
Terriermon, the quick-talking smart-alec with a sense of humour crushing any attempt at a sense of tactfulness, but who occasionally shows brief shows of humanity and sense, and even brilliance.
Jeri, the cheerful, giggling girl who seemed to care for all regardless of who they were, and yet at the same time had a darker past she tried to forget, shunning attempts to talk about it in some circumstances.
Elecmon, the rookie form of the proud Lion who felt guilty for being unable to protect Jeri all the time in the past, even to the point where he became so over-protective of her that he forgot the human world's taboos, such as not to enter a room when someone is changing.
Harmony's observations in the past were surprisingly apt, and Rika knew that, as she herself had said, everyone has their secrets, and she had to impart hers.
"I'm pregnant…"
A pin prick could be heard to drop in the silence that followed, as mouths gaped wide, their observers glancing between both her and the brunette standing next to her, trying to comprehend what they had been told. Even Terriermon, one usually to make the first move in terms of talking, normally with a witty remark, was speechless.
'Am I hearing things?' Elecmon thought.
'This…is…huge…' Terriermon thought, the chance to tease far beyond what he had ever had before, and yet he also had the blackmail fear of his strangest secret.
'Okay, I didn't expect that…' Henry thought.
'No…way…Rika…Takato…couldn't be…what…but…sixteen…' Jeri thought, expressing her thoughts into words. "No…way…"
"Are you serious?" Henry asked, flabbergasted by the revelation. Takato nodded, feeling nervous under the glaring spotlight of his closest friends. Even Rika was cracking under the pressure, as Takato bit his lip against the pain of Rika crushing his hand.
"But when…where… why…what…how…" Jeri began, running through a series of question words in a vain attempt to get anywhere in her comprehension.
"Five weeks ago, New York, it was my idea, we had sex, and I'm not going into the specifics of how, are the answers to each of your questions…" Rika answered, weakly smiling and hoping that she hadn't come across as being too blunt.
'Hmm, Terriermon hasn't fainted yet…pity…'
Rika ignored her alter-egos disappointment, despite it matching her own, and waited for something…well, anything at all really, to break the long silence that had descended.
"Um…how long have you known?" Jeri asked, not really sure how to respond to this news.
"I learnt about it yesterday morning, and Takato found out about it in the evening…and then he fainted, typically…"
Takato nodded, before looking to Terriermon again, slightly disappointed that he hadn't fainted, as the dog-bunny caught his attention. "So where's the egg?"
"The…egg?" Takato asked, confused, as everyone but Henry looked to Terriermon in equal conclusion, the blue-haired Tamer himself simply groaning.
"Yeah, the egg…" Terriermon continued to ask, uncertainty appearing in his voice as he noticed the bewildered looks towards him.
"Terriermon, you really should've checked your research…" Henry noted, Terriermon looking up.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Terriermon asked.
"Humans…carry the baby inside them until they are born…" Jeri explained.
"What? That's a stupid way to do things…" Terriermon complained.
Henry groaned, Rika doing likewise as she began to once again glare at Terriermon, vexation now dominating her emotions. Renamon noticed, and looked to her partner.
"Shall I knock him out?" she asked.
A thought crossed Rika's mind as she faced Renamon, Terriermon gulping all the while.
"No, I have a better idea…" Rika answered, looking to Terriermon, who uneasily returned the look.
Takato and Jeri watched the redhead advance on the boy and his bunny, her glare not leaving the bunny's black eyes as nervousness filled them.
Rika suddenly stopped, smiling. "Rey's my daughter…" she said, Terriermon, Henry, Jeri and Elecmon pausing in surprise, as Terriermon fainted, Rika breathing a sigh of relief.
"Finally…" Chaos remarked as Terriermon thudded to the floor. Henry looked down at his unconscious partner unsurely, before looking back to the redhead and the Gogglehead.
"What do you mean?" Elecmon asked in surprise, not really comprehending what Rika had said until he saw Terriermon's reaction.
"Rey came back in time…she's our future daughter…" Takato explained, surprising the other couple further, as the clarification came through.
Henry's eyes widened, as he comprehended all the hints, Jeri doing likewise before covering her mouth with her hand in shock.
"But…no way!" Jeri replied.
"Yeah, but it's true…" Rika affirmed. 'Even if I don't believe it myself…I mean…how can she really be my daughter?' Rika's eyes glossed over as concern gripped her heart and she frowned, unconsciously placing her hand on her belly. 'How could I ever be a mother?'
Takato noticed Rika's hesitation, and her gazing off into space, and frowned, considering what she could be thinking about. There were a number of things that right now could make her gaze off into space and frown like that, but it was clear what it was. He decided to continue the explanations to the other couple. "She came back to prevent something happening, I've no idea what though…" he said, attracting attention away from his girlfriend.
"Hmm…odd…" Jeri noted. "Must be something pretty big to mess around with time like that…"
Takato nodded, glancing to Rika again, she having now come back from her momentary trance. 'I wonder what could possibly be that big…'
The door to the roof building suddenly exploded, blown off its hinges by a burst of fire. Those on the roof turned in surprise to face the source of the noise, as smoke billowed outwards and the door clanged to the ground.
A shadowed figure stepping through the flames and smoke, anger and determination dominating its voice, as it spat out each word, pausing only to drop a can of soda. "Where…is…Rey?!" it asked, Takato's eyes widening at the chibi-Kyubimon, growling through clenched teeth as her golden eyes glared hauntingly at them.
13:16 JST
Tai yawned, stepping through the doors of the hospital and into the waiting room, Agumon following along with Sora, Matt, Izzy and partners, as the glumness of the hospital's fluorescent lights and dull walls instantly hit.
"It's one o'clock Tai…" Matt noted. "How can you be tired?" he asked.
"A combination of having to stay awake in lectures and staying up late on the internet…" he answered, grinning.
Sora groaned. "He's telling the truth, I'm expecting him to completely forget to go to sleep at all any night now…"
Izzy chuckled, looking around the room. "So where are we going then?" he asked, not familiar with this particular hospital (although then again, very few people become aware of the layout of anything but their local hospital, if that).
Tai paused, looking to Matt, before he shrugged, the pair then looking to Sora, who sighed in frustration. "It's going to be one of those days…"
13:18 JST
Mari stared at the ground sadly, occasionally glancing back to the boy still unconscious in the bed. The dull light in the room, more of an emotion rather than a light, had 'descended' once again to match her mood. Mari heard nothing but the weak breathing of the boy and the bleeps of the machine as the green wave ran up and down, projecting his heart rate for the doctors to see. She had expected someone to have come to move her by now, visitors not particularly wanted in an ICU, but no-one had come.
She put it down to Dr Imai, and silently thanked her for it, as the glossed white speckled floor flashed in and out as people passed and were slightly reflected in it. The all pervading lights prevented the girl from even attempting to sleep, as it kept her awake even through closed eyelids. The fact that Ryder slept through it all saddened her further, he was so deep into his coma that nothing could wake him.
She frowned sadly, holding back the unrelenting urge for tears as she placed her hand on his. A faint heat radiated from it, but it was otherwise cold to the touch. She gripped it, feeling the sharp contrast between her heat and his, as she ran her hand along his arm, being careful so as not to damage the bruises and gaps further.
She stood up blankly, before standing over him and looking at his face, his eyes still closed and unmoving. She silently wished that he would start talking again, even if it was about Ivy.
Who was she anyway? Mari had never really been told anything about her, she'd avoided asking, and Ryder had never really gone into details. He seemed to hold back on the details of his previous life, was that his greatest secret?
Did he really fight Arkadimon, or was something far deeper going on here?
She shook her head, she was being distrusting, and Ryder had mentioned Arkadimon when reminiscing in unconsciousness, when he would've been unable to lie.
But still…she'd assumed that he'd put all his past behind him when they'd started to live together, Ryder's entire life now seemed to revolve around her, his bat-like partner, and their friends. But…was he really seeing her when he looked at her, or was he seeing someone else?
She felt anger creep up on her, and pushed it back. She was leaping to assumptions, something she had learnt while at SDCO never to do. An assumption could leave hundreds dead through a bad move. They had had to deal with Digimon daily, thankfully normally rookies and weak champions, nothing too far beyond what SDCO could deal with, although it was always tough. Several times they had been close to the public eye, but had kept it under wraps. Even her own parents' deaths.
She frowned. She'd been attracted to Ryder at first through association; they had both lost everything and were looking for something, or rather someone. She'd left him confused at first by how quickly she'd come on, something she still cursed herself for.
But…as time had gone on, she'd felt other feelings, far stronger ones, dominated by that large unexplainable ether known as love, sided by amazement and curiosity about this particular boy, and the way that he cared for her in return. Were they both metaphorically clinging to each other, both of them lonely souls looking for someone to love?
She smiled weakly; she was becoming a bit overly dramatic in her musings. She gently stroked his cheek with her hand, thankful to feel that it was warmer than his limbs, heat decreasing in his extremities. She was quietly surprised he was still alive now, although not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She ran her hand along his forehead and through his shortish brown hair, gently trying to avoid moving him too much. She frowned; his face was paling as his heart rate gradually decreased. She knew he wouldn't last that much longer, as she bent over and kissed him on the lips, having a strange feeling like she was kissing a dead person as she pulled away slowly, looking at him again. She glanced across to his D-Vice, still active but fading in and out occasionally.
She looked to the foot of the bed, to his sleeping partner, affected by his Tamer's weakness, particularly since the pair was so close. She wondered how the bat would cope once…if…his partner passed away. She contemplated whether he would prefer to be in his rookie or in-training form for the rest of his life, unsure whether he could control his levels himself or whether he required Ryder's D-Vice to do so. Her limited battle experience told her nothing, as she noticed DarkRenamon looking sadly at her fellow Digimon, as the black Kitsune stood silently in the corner of the hospital room.
Her eyes met her partners, as DarkRenamon frowned, Mari noting her partner's literal distance from the hospital bed and its two users. DarkRenamon preferred to stay subtle wherever she went, and tended to be most open only to Mari, and anyone else who she felt a debt towards was at least given some emotions. It wasn't particularly her fault, her past and her physical appearance caused her to hide her emotions, Mari having learnt somewhat to tell based on the position of DarkRenamon's eyes, what could be seen of her mouth, her stance and oddly, her ears and how they twitched, along with naturally her tail which gently swished from side to side.
"…you…Mari?" Mari heard in her head, in DarkRenamon's voice. Mari frowned furthermore; their attempts at establishing a telepathic link, despite having spent time attempting to do so the previous day, were going to take a lot of time, currently messages being chopped up at best, incomprehensible or muted at worst.
Mari shook her head. "It will take a long while to get this working I think…" the girl said. DarkRenamon looked down sadly, before moving her green orbs back to her partner. "Don't worry, we'll manage it…I'm sure we will…"
DarkRenamon nodded. "Are you alright Mari?" she asked, repeating the message she had attempted earlier, this time in a verbal form.
"No…I'm really not sure what to do…who should I talk to?" she asked.
DarkRenamon looked up and through several adjacent windows into another room with her trained eyes, where she saw Rey sleeping peacefully. She frowned; Mari had noticed the girl's new unconscious state on the way back from the roof, and this left her with no ideas left of who to talk to. "I am unsure…I wish I could help you…" she said, looking down to the floor regretfully. Mari stepped forward, stroking her hand gently across the side of the fox's head.
"That's okay…" she reassured. "You help in your own way…I feel so safe…you watch over me always…like a guardian Angel…"
DarkRenamon smiled, looking to her partner. "Ironically, since you are the Angel here…" she said, Mari nodding and smiling weakly, before looking back to the boy in the bed.
"So why can't I do anything?" she asked, walking back to the bed, this time on the other side to before, and running her hand along his arm gently. "I have seen it in the others eyes too, a sense of helplessness…we should be powerful, we should be able to stop this…but we can't…and I feel pathetic DarkRenamon…my lover, my best friend, my leader, is dying, and I can't do anything…" she said glumly, tears breaking from her ducts. DarkRenamon stepped up to her partner, unsurely putting her arms around her and wiping her tears with her tail. The move was somewhat inaccurate since Mari then ended up wiping her slightly sore eyes from where the fur had touched them, although the tears themselves added to the soreness.
"You have done everything you can…you are by his side and I am so proud of you for it…and I think he would be too…" the vixen said, Mari feeling odd about her partner's proximity to her. She nodded, noting DarkRenamon's extremes of closeness, from keeping a fair distance to Mari being able to feel her partner's breathing on her neck. She would need to work with the Kitsune to find a happy medium, DarkRenamon had only been on earth for a few weeks after all, and this civilisation had so many complex rules that meant most Digimon couldn't help but be confused by them. Some ignored the unwritten rules, while others were overcautious to avoid straying over them. DarkRenamon stepped away as her ears twitched in reaction to a faint sound. Mari turned around to see DarkRenamon had moved to look through the door, looking back to her and nodding to reassure her.
Tai, Sora, Matt and Izzy arrived and greeted Mari and her partner, looking saddened as their eyes met the boy on the bed and his sleeping partner. "He must have taken a pretty big hit…" Tai noted.
"Yeah…" Matt added despondently.
"Is he in a coma?" Izzy asked, noting the boys only slight movements and complete lack of notice of their presence in the room.
Mari nodded, looking down again at the boy. Sora stepped up to the girl to comfort her in her sadness. "I'm sure he'll be okay…" she reassured. Mari nodded, knowing her gesture was empty. The chances grew slimmer by the hour; Ryder's body had seemingly fallen into terminal shutdown. Medical methods could only hold it off for so long.
She glanced to the heart-rate machine, noting it drop down a beat, something which happened occasionally as she watched it, gradually reducing to his eventual fate.
She'd never felt as helpless as she did then.
TO BE CONTINUED…
I'm really proud of this writing of this part of the story, so many emotions to put in from simultaneous events, and leading up to the explosive and emotionally-impacting Book Six, which will also be interesting to write. Please review.
Next time…
Will chibi-Kyubimon manage to hunt down Rey? Will Ryder ever recover? Was what Rey did for naught?
Find out in 'Her Continued Secrets', Chapter Twenty of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.
