Shattered Light

By: Linkmaste

Chapter Twenty: A Bond So Strong

Author's Note: Well, we're going to see how Impmon and Lindy can repair the damage done on the twins. Also, we're going to see how Rose interacts with Beelzemon, and maybe we can get a little bit of a clearer picture of how this alternate reality all started once Ai took that hit from the attack. I wouldn't say Beelzemon is completely innocent in this world, but Rose is definitely not. Please keep that in mind-she isn't a protagonist.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I own Lindy, and Rose.

It was a no brainer where Ai and Mako sought sanctuary. Their old house was a thirty minute walk, but it was where they would be. Ladydevimon and Impmon travelled to the house, looking at the dark and gloomy structure. It didn't look like their home in this alternate reality. It was too depressing.

Ladydevimon changed back into Lindy and entered the home. It was still dark, and the place was still trashed. The smell from the kitchen wafted into their noses and it smelled terrible. Lindy felt gross.

"C'mon toots," Impmon had no patience for Lindy's upset stomach. They travelled upstairs to the twin's bedroom. They heard voices as they approached the door, but they stopped. Pushing the door gently, the duo could see their Tamers.

Ai was on her counter-parts bed, looking through some photos. She looked like she was crying, with tears on her face and a stuffy, red nose. Mako had the same look but was browsing through a comic book that his counterpart had. It appeared that the twins didn't notice their hybrid digimon were at the door.

"Guys?" Impmon spoke timidly. It felt so different being on this end of the argument. Usually, the twins would have done something bad and made their partners mad but this time, the tables had turned. He rubbed his arm subconsciously, leaning against the door frame.

"So, it's all really true then?" Mako's voice sounded far away. He stood up.

"Did you really kill Leomon?" Ai stood beside him, a look in her eyes made Impmon want to run away. This was turning into a complete nightmare. He didn't say a word and just hung his head low.

"...Why?" Mako's eyes hardened.

"Because I wanted to be-"

"No-why didn't you tell us?" Ai asked, sounding hurt. It made Impmon and Lindy both flinch. "Why did you two keep these secrets from us?"

They said nothing. Selfish reasons drift through their minds. Impmon was scared the twins would start looking at him fearfully, or they wouldn't want to be around him anymore.

"I-"

"We're your partners! Both of yours! I know that others might think that we're too young or too little but we're Tamers and we know we have a job to do-Mako and I thought you two understood us..." Ai cried. The hybrids looked so guilty, gluing their eyes to the floor. A lump in both of their throats prevented them from talking. Their stomachs were twisting and turning, causing so much discomfort, they had a hard time focusing on Ai's rant.

"...and we can't keep being treated like little children! We're supposed to be a team! That means, you can hide this-this-shit from us!"

Lindy didn't even scold the young girl for her cursing. The twins wanted to scream, yell, hit them, but the most prominent feeling in their bodies was betrayal. Ai and Mako were hurt, and now more than ever wanted to be adults like the others. Maybe then, they would get more respect.

"Ai...Mako." Lindy had tears in her eyes. "You were five years old when this happened when both of us had our...pasts. You two wouldn't have understood-"

"So at eleven, we wouldn't understand?" Mako retorted, looking like he was slapped. "When would you tell us?" He glared hard at the two. "...Fifteen?...Twenty?...Never?"

"We were gunna tell you guys at the Expo." Impmon looked at Lindy. "We both were."

"Sure." Ai scoffed, walking away. She went to her bed and hugged a pillow. Mako did the same and through body language, told the hybrids they wanted to be left alone.

Impmon and Lindy just couldn't leave them alone. They had to talk this out, it might be embarrassing and painful, but they knew it was the right decision.

"We'll tell you everything." Lindy spoke curling her tail into her hands. "Just ask us."

Ai and Mako exchanged a look. The hybrids knew they were debating to themselves and probably even having a quick conversation with each other via their link. To their relief, the twins agreed. Ai held out a finger.

"Okay, no filters, nothing to hide. We get to ask anything we want."

"No more secrets." Mako frowned.

The girl crossed her legs, and Mako got comfortable. The hybrids sat at the other end of the bed, looking nervous. Lindy was hugging a spare pillow tightly.

"Okay munchkins," Impmon's voice sounded so tired. "Ask away."

"How did Leomon really die?"

Impmon started his story slowly, starting from when he left Ai and Mako all those years ago when they fought over him. It went into the part when he made the deal with Chatsuramon and the twins winced.

"He used my memories of you two against me." Impmon mumbled. "Made me think that ya two never cared or missed me-I stupidly bought it."

Lindy said nothing and tightened her pillow. Impmon took a shaky breath and explained the first few days of being a mega. How incredible it felt, how powerful he was. To put it bluntly, he was drunk with power, he became a monster and he liked it. The story came down to the final battle in the digital world. He described how each of the Tamers was defeated and Leomon grabbed his arm before he killed Kyubimon. He tried to explain power wasn't just being strong and he wouldn't allow harm to come to the children.

Impmon's voice became hollow. "I stabbed him right in the chest with my claw. I didn't care. I just wanted his data."

The twins stayed absolutely silent.

"I finished loadin' and started to go after everyone and-well, Gallantmon beat me to a pulp. If it wasn't for Jeri beggin' to spare me, I'd be long gone."

"That's why you're so protective over her." Ai whispered.

Impmon nodded. "After that, I wandered for awhile and let myself get attacked until I was back in this form. Then Rika and Renamon saved me...I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve any of their mercy...but they still gave me it."

Glassy eyed, Impmon rubbed them with his red gloves.

"So, now ya know the story."

Tears broke through his wall of emotions. They dripped down his face and he couldn't keep it bottled in anymore. The twins rushed to him and hugged him.

"We forgive you Impmon, we know you're not that anymore. We love you."

"I-I-love you too, munchkins."

Lindy looked at them with a small smile. It was good. She knew they would forgive him easily. He was not even a shadow of who he was before all this. Ai and Mako were more upset that he didn't tell them earlier.

"So, back with the Holy Angels, you found out?" Mako asked looking at her.

"Yeah, we found out about each other's pasts." Lindy replied, looking down.

"So, how did Ethan die? We knew he was an old friend of yours but..." Ai said looking interestingly at the hybrid. They didn't know their partner had a past before meeting them. It was even stranger that a long, time ago Lindy was just a human girl.

"It's not like Impmon's story, I...me and Ethan were close." Lindy began. "It was only a matter of time before we would date, then marry because of our families. I didn't mind...I wanted to be just like my family-which were snotty to begin with." A dark laugh erupted form Lindy's lips. "Then the D-Reaper struck our city. It hit the whole world but you guys didn't see it like I did. We had no digimon to help us-it was chaos. Dead bodies everywhere, looters, panic and so much fear. A lot of people died." Lindy trembled a little at the memory.

"I don't know how, but me and Ethan were in a hot zone-arguing over my family. He thought they were treating me like crap and I was their puppet. I told him he was a jerk and then..." Lindy took a shaky breath. "I told him to go die. That was the last thing I ever said to him because the red stuff was about to kill me. I was such a stupid girl." She squeezed her pillow tighter. "He saved me-pushed me out of the way and just dissolved into the stuff...I...I told my best friend to go die and instead of letting me get what I deserve, he saved me, and I can never thank him. It should have been me who died. I was responsible for his death...and I can never take it all back."

Just like Impmon, Lindy got the same hug from Ai and Mako.

"We had no idea, Lindy." Ai spoke softly.

"It's okay, brats." the hybrid used their nickname in a lovingly manner. "Now, you know why I came here to Japan. My family-no-I wanted to get away. I wanted to escape. It was too much to deal with losing Ethan and I felt like the longer I stayed in Canada-the more depressed I was going to become. Then, I met these two crazy little children who changed my life forever and I will never regret it." Lindy gave a smile to them.

"Ethan could be listening to us...and Leomon." Mako suggested. "And I think they would forgive both of you. We do. We know you two are not like that anymore."

"We're thankful you didn't hold back and told us everything. Partners can't keep secrets from each other and we're not children anymore-" Ai explained.

"-so, no matter what mom and dad say-" Mako continued.

"-or the other Tamers-"

"-we're old enough to know the bad stuff too." he finished, looking older than eleven years old. The maturity from the twins was something they always had but now, it looked like they were teenagers-not children. It was bittersweet to the hybrids. They had a little wish that they could stay children forever...but they knew better than that.

A little while later, Impmon jumped out of the window, and effortlessly grappled onto the roof using a little bit of a grip and a misplaced brick. Changing into Ian, he grabbed the twins and pulled them up onto the roof. Finally, Lindy came up last making sure the twins wouldn't fall down. Ian changed back into Impmon and sat down on the top of the roof where it was most comfortable.

"This is where you two would talk?"

"Yep, our spot." Impmon gave a small smile at Ai.

The roof wasn't steep, so the group had no risk of sliding down. Outside, the air was calm and warm, signalling it was mid-summer. Stars in the sky twinkled brightly, opening up a whole new world for them to look at. The full moon shone, giving it a peculiar glow. Sometimes, the human world could hold mysterious beauty just like the digital one.

"Ever since I changed, we would come up here and just talk. It became natural after awhile." said Lindy.

"What would you two talk about?"

The hybrids thought for a minute. There was plenty of things they would talk about. Night time was their time to explore-to be free. It might have cost the duo in sleep, but they never regretted it.

"At first, it was how many questions I could ask him about being a digimon." Lindy laughed. "I was completely clueless-"

"-ya asked if we eat!" Impmon shook his head laughing. "I didn't think ya were that stupid, but-"

"-we'll I didn't know! I got scared!"

"What else?" Mako asked.

"Uh, then it just became normal things. Soccer, music, or you two." Lindy listed them off looking nostalgic at the memories.

"...and the crap you two got yourselves into." muttered Impmon. He looked at Lindy. "Remember the time when they covered themselves in glitter?"

Lindy laughed. "Oh yeah! It was horrible-we had to pick out all that glitter for weeks. I still found it in your fur afterwards."

"And Mako, ya were so mad cause you wanted to be a princess too, so ya dumped the whole tube over ya head." Impmon snickered.

"Okay, I don't think that's how it went." Mako gave a look to his sister who was laughing her head off.

"No, it did," Lindy smirked. "We took photos."

The laughing stopped for Ai. Her and Mako looked white as ghosts.

"You two took photos!?"

"Pft. Of course." Impmon gave an evil smile. "We got enough ammo on you two for the rest of your lives."

The twins groaned, begging the hybrids to get rid of the evidence, but they refused. After a few hours of talking, they decided to spend the night in the house. After all, no one was going to come barging in. The twins decided to sleep in their counter-part's bedrooms but hesitated when getting under the covers.

"What if Azazel comes back?"

"Then, we'll blast him to pieces." Impmon replied. "Toots and I will take turns keeping watch. Nothin' bad is ever gunna happen to you two."

The twins looked less worried when they were assured by their hybrid partner that they would be kept safe. Ai sat up again, looking scared,

"But we don't have our D-Arcs! How will you digivolve?"

"Ai, that power is inside you and Mako." Lindy smiled. "You just have to believe in us and we will change. Don't worry, they were broken anyways."

"Okay," Mako rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Goodnight Impmon, Goodnight Lindy." The twins chorused together.

"Night." Impmon and Lindy replied.

It was several minutes later that the twins breathing slowed down, and soft snores came from their bodies. Ai and Mako were asleep. Lindy rested her head on Impmon's shoulder.

"How do you feel?"

Impmon bowed his head down.

"Better, but I wanna get outta here. This place sucks balls."

Lindy knew he meant this reality. It was a dark reality, that caused so much pain. She wished she could leave with them too. It had been two weeks since they first arrived here, everyone back home must be worried about them.

"We will. Have faith."

"Always do with ya." he replied staring at Lindy with a look in his eye. Lindy changed into her human form and stood up quietly.

"Wake me up in a few hours, I'll take over."

"Wait-I gotta ask you somethin'." Impmon looked serious. His emerald eyes looked into her eyes and a grin emerged from his lips. "What's your middle name?"

Lindy walked out of the room and gave a flirty wink,

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

At the Katou residence, Rose wasn't given much regard by Jeri. She was thrown a blanket and told to find a spot to sleep. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for the five star treatment."

As Rose settled down on the couch, she felt like someone was watching her. Jeri went to sleep, Ai was already in bed, so it had to be...

"Lindy."

Rose gasped, sitting up and looking behind her. Beelzemon was sitting across the room with one leg stretched out and his tail curled up around him. In his one hand was a bottle of whisky that was almost finished. She narrowed her green eyes.

"My name's Rose. I don't go by that name anymore."

"Sure, easier to deal with the guilt ain't it?" Beelzemon bore straight at her. "Call ya self a different name, change ya look, but still an ugly A.D.A rat."

The brunette flinched at the venom in his voice. She got off the couch and cautiously walked half way across the room towards him. The woman knew she had to deal with this mega when she agreed to help-but that didn't stop her from feeling terrified of him.

"I'm here to help Ai. I don't care what a monster like you thinks of me." Her comment made the red eyed mega glower and snap his head away from her. He finished the bottle and set it down by the table. Rose crossed her arms. "So, if you know what's good for you, stay away from me."

Beelzemon stood up, towering over the woman. Rose's body trembled, feeling intimidated by the digimon. It was the wolf versus the sheep.

"Still scared of me?"

"N-no. I'm not." Rose lied. She stopped looking away and forced herself to set her back straight, and look at the digimon in the eye. She desperately tried to imagine him as his rookie form-the purple imp that she at first thought was adorable years ago. Now, it was impossible to remember him that way. He seemed cruel and merciless with those judging red eyes...

Beelzemon seemed to ignore Rose's attempts to act brave and turned around.

"Why did ya really come? From what Rika and Foxy told me, you have your little friends that can bust you out any minute from any place. Why not leave and go back to your old life? I ain't gunna stop ya. Most of us don't want ya here anyways."

"I don't have an old life." Rose retorted, feeling angry. "My life was shattered the day I met you and those...spoiled brats."

Within seconds, Rose was lifted off the ground with his claws.

"You have no right to call them anythin'. You were probably the lousiest babysitter I ever had the displeasure of meetin', and I had to kick out some rotten sitters. It's your fault Ai is like this! It's your fault she has to change at night!"

The brunette went silent and hung her head low. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, messing her mascara. Rose had enough. She was fed up with him trying to completely blame her for that night...

"You think you're so fucking innocent?" Rose said quietly. She looked up, with hardened eyes and a chill voice. "Think you didn't have anything to do with what happened? Let me tell you something about that night. I was there trying to get those two kids out of the bio-emerge. Me: a fucking human with no ability to digivolve, or shoot laser cannons. You know who had that power? You."

Beelzemon dropped her, but she kept walking forward with anger dripping into her usually honeyed voice. Beelzemon realized that he pushed her too far. His expression kept stoic as she rambled on and pointed a finger at him.

"They were your responsibility when it came to digimon! I did my best given the circumstances and you kept shitting on me afterwards! What else was a fucking fourteen year old going to do? I couldn't handle the pressure! You kept yelling at me! Telling me it was all MY fault! But, you know what? It's YOUR fault, too! I might not be a freak hybrid, or a fighter, but I'm a fucking survivor and I'll do just about anything to get Ai back to normal. Even if I have to stand here all fucking night and scream at a demon like you!"

It was surprising that Jeri or Ai didn't come out to see the commotion was. Rose felt so exhausted after today-after all she had been through. Her alternate self could probably handle stuff like this-but her? It was so much to absorb. She dashed for outside, and fresh air. The backyard was perfect for looking up at the night sky, and the full moon. Rose didn't feel any calmer looking at it. She preferred the sun and clear blue skies.

She sat down on the grass and tried to adjust her makeup. However, it was completely ruined. Pulling out a wipe from her pocket, she cleaned herself up, and rubbed all the makeup off. She didn't like anyone looking at her natural face-it was usually blotchy or too discoloured. Her eyes were red from the crying and it did not suit her. Crying never suited her. Rose's smile was the selling point to her beauty.

"Would you have done it?"

Rose didn't have to turn around. Beelzemon stood behind her. She sniffed and breathed heavily.

"Done what?"

"If ya knew ya would turn into a digimon. Would ya saved Ai?"

Rose paused, letting herself gain more control of her breathing. Finally, she let her answer ring out.

"Back then I would have died for them. Now...I'm going to try to help. I promised Ian that." Rose turned around. "How can someone like him, be you?"

"Different things happened. It ain't like we're the same 'mon anymore. Neither are you or Lindy."

"No, we are very different." Rose agreed. "But...you and me are so alike..."

"What?" Beelzemon narrowed his eyes. Rose held out a hand.

"We got our past haunting us, and we tried to escape it anyway we could. I remember you telling me once you may be a trickster but you ain't a complete bad guy. Just know I'm not a complete bad girl either."

Beelzemon said nothing. Rose turned around completely, and slowly inched closer to him. With an embarrassed look, she held out her hand.

"Can we at least be civil until this is over, Beelzemon? Ian already warned me if I don't play nice, I'll go back to Rika and Renamon. I'm not exactly in the mood to get my ass kicked."

The mega stared at the hand extended out to him. It was small and dainty compared to his large claw. He looked over to Ai's bedroom window. He wanted to save her and Mako. For them...he would truce. Beelzemon clasped Rose's hand gently, trying his best not to scratch her with his claws.

"Until this is all over. Rose."

"Thanks. Impy." Rose winked at the nickname. Beelzemon was about to blow a fuse, except the brunette woman went inside quickly to avoid his wrath. He slithered back into the house, and checked up on Ai. She was sleeping peacefully. He knelt quietly down by her side like a parent, and watched her.

"I'll find Mako and fix you, Ai. I promise. I'll never stop until I get things right again."

Ai and Mako woke up the next morning to an alarming sight. First, both of their partners were missing. Nervous, they jumped out of their beds and went around the house. It wasn't until they hit the kitchen that they found Ian munching on a bagel from a large bag. It appeared he went out and got bagels, coffee and juice for the twins. The kitchen was also cleaned up with the table missing, and the floor clear of any old rotten food.

"Morning." the twins called out. Ian looked up and smirked.

"Mornin'. Breakfast munchkins?"

"Sure." Mako and Ai were tossed bagels and juice.

They ate in silence until Ai spoke up,

"Are we...good?"

Ian knew what she meant. He nodded his head and gave a smirk,

"I think we're good. Did ya two sleep okay?"

"For once, I think we didn't have any nightmares." Mako replied, looking a little more well rested than usual.

"Where's Lindy?" Ai asked, diving into her food.

"Probably still sleeping." Ian shrugged indifferently. "She's a freakin' rock. You two can go wake her up if you wanna."

The twins were about to hatch some kind of evil way to wake her up when the hybrid in question came up the basement stairs, yawning and scratching her messy blonde hair. Dressed in a red baggy t-shirt and oversized shorts, she strolled into the kitchen. Lindy ruffled Ai and Mako's heads and hummed a song cheerfully. The twins watched her pick up a bagel, kiss Ian on the lips, and skip upstairs with a confused expression on their faces.

"I'm taking a shower first!" she announced.

The odd behaviour from Lindy made Ai and Mako look to Ian for an explanation. Usually, she was very grouchy in the morning and never hummed or acknowledge anyone until she had a coffee or woke up fully. Ian shrugged, saying she probably was happy she had a good night's sleep for once. He went back to his bagel, not saying anything more than that.

The morning was mostly slow, given the fact that Lindy took forever in the shower...as usual.

"Ya better not use all the hot water, again!" Ian threatened, pounding on the door.

"No promises!"

When the quartet made their way into Jeri's home again, they were relieved that Jeri was up and happy to see them. She looked better, but had a bandage on her head that covered her bruise. Beelzemon was playing a video game against hybrid Ai, who was kicking his butt. The two seemed alright, considering the incident yesterday. Ian noticed Beelzemon's tail curled around the young girl, protectively. After a few minutes, Rose's presence had not been made.

"Where's Rose?" Lindy asked suspiciously. Jeri sighed.

"She went to 'gather things'. She promised she would come back and if she didn't Beelzemon would find her. You guys really want to break into the Yatta Neiko Casino?"

"If that's where the others are being held, then pretty much. And we have to give some payback to that bastard Azazel." Ian replied.

To everyone's surprise, Rose returned faithfully with several bags and a new outfit. She was wearing a high waist beige trousers, with a baby blue crop top. Her hair was in soft wavy curls and her nails were done up.

"I had to get a mani-I had a stressful time with one of my contacts." the explanation earned various eye rolls and comments. Rose grinned at the group. "Well, don't give me that because I just saved your asses. I know exactly how we are going to save everyone and break into the Yatta Neiko Casino."

Author's Note: So, Ai and Mako forgave them! Of course they would, I had no intention of making them not forgive them! Just, they were more mad that they weren't told about this sooner! Rose and Beelzemon were both responsible for that night but afterwards, they kept blaming one another causing Rose to turn to the A.D.A, and Beelzemon to turn to...well a whisky bottle. Still a depressing reality but next chapter, we are going to get interesting! Stay tuned to the Yatta Neiko Casino!