In-Between-Time
Chapter Ten: Sleeping With the Fishes
a/n: Angel Artist, this chapter is for you, because I know you love downtime, and because you're my sister. My one and only sister. Kinda. I hope you all like this chapter, because I'm really fond of it. I know ryuu-takahashi is going to hate it, considering that he/she just told me to "hold the romance, okay?" and actually used the phrase "kill me, why don't ya" in a review. Wow. Bad timing, pal. This chapter's heavier on the romance than any of the others so far. Whoops. The reference at the end of this chapter is from Prophecy. I didn't do it in italics like I usually do, but it's a pretty obvious one, so I'm sure you'll be able to pick it out. Enjoy.
"Gatomon," Kari said, and it was almost a sob. Before she decided to move she was running, pushing between Sora and Izzy, sidestepping Tai, and crossing the room to bruise both knees on the dingy wood floor. She was reaching out and gathering Gatomon to her, and the small, white almost-cat curled against her chest and purred.
Joe, who seemed to be recovering from a mild heart attack, was standing with his mouth open and his hand on his chest, and Izzy couldn't seem to stop laughing.
"Oh shit." He ran a hand through his short red hair and grinned sheepishly. "I thought we were done for."
"That makes two of us," Matt said.
Kari was standing up now, straightening her baggy sweater, trying to look dignified with her eyes full of tears. "Hey guys. Look who it is."
Gatomon waved, almost shy, from where she stood at Kari's side. There was a chorus of greetings, and Gomamon rushed forward to pounce on Gatomon, giving her a spirited bear hug and making her blush.
"Can't take him anywhere," Joe said.
Gatomon made a point to seek Tai out and ask him how he'd been, but Tai just smiled, and they stood staring around at the room full of their friends
"Gatomon, what are you doing here?" Sora asked finally, when everyone had settled down. "Where's Gennai?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Gatomon said, in her silky, laughing way. "Follow me, Digidestined. There's someone who'd like to see you."
They followed her through the doorway into the next room, equally as wrecked as the first, and watched as she moved to the center of the floor and got down on all fours to shove a pile of static aside.
"Gennai contacted me a few months ago. Told me it was getting too dangerous for him to live here—too many people knew about him. He had a feeling he'd be having some visitors."
Gatomon looked up and smiled. "I assume he meant you."
She went back to work, and a trap door became apparent under the mess of static. "He didn't want to move. He wanted to make sure he would be found by the people who mattered. So we staged his death and took him underground."
She hauled back on the heavy metal ring attached to the trapdoor. "And let me tell you…those white ribbon-things are a bitch to transplant."
Gatomon disappeared down a ladder into the floor, and after a moment, the others followed.
The difference was startling. A vast room had been scooped out underneath the old apartment. It was cozy and well furnished, with a kitchen alcove, an enormous map of the Digital World on one wall, and a long low table in the center of the room. There was plenty of over-stuffed seating—enough for at least twenty people or Digimon—and a hanging lamp that cast intimate shadows on the floor. The only door leading off the main room was hung with a piece of heavy maroon cloth, and a hand came from the other side and pushed it open, revealing the small and wildly grinning Gennai in all his splendor.
"Gennai!" Mimi shrieked, hurrying over to clasp his hand and beam down at him. "We thought you were dead! What a wonderful little home!"
"Why, thank you dear," Gennai said, looking pleased with himself, and then, "Your hair is pink."
"And you," Mimi said, "look exactly the same."
Gennai lowered his voice. "Have I heard correctly? Palmon…"
"It's not forever," Mimi said, and Tai thought that those three words had perhaps become a mantra for her, as they had for him.
"Exactly," Gennai said, and smiled kindly. "Who wants popcorn?"
Despite their protests, Gennai laid out a feast for them, and once they had settled in, everyone had to admit that some food and a comfortable chair really hit the spot. The only person who couldn't be persuaded to rest was Izzy, who had gotten a look at the Digiworld Map, and couldn't be peeled off of it. But then, that was understandable. It was no ordinary map.
Infected areas were indicated in black and white and shimmered slightly, some spreading slowly outwards, eating up the healthy land around them. It seemed to be updating itself automatically, and Izzy stood in front of it for a long time with his lips parted and one hand on top of his head as if he'd forgotten it there. Eventually, Mimi walked over and put a plate of food in his other hand, kissed him on the cheek, and walked back to the table, completely missing his near-fumble of the plate, and the frantic red-faced glance backwards to see if she'd noticed. She hadn't, but everyone else had, and Matt, doubled over laughing, choked spectacularly on a glass of water. Izzy ignored him, but the back of his neck, violently pink, gave him away.
"Gennai, you must know what's causing this," Sora said.
"Well, it seems that Izzy here has a thing for—" Gennai started.
"No!" Sora interrupted, glaring at Matt and Tai, who were now leaning on one another and shaking with silent laughter. Mimi primly poured herself a glass of lemonade.
"No," Sora repeated. "I meant whatever's going on with the Digital World. This…infection."
"Ah," said Gennai. "Virus."
Izzy turned now, eyes alight with interest, and for a long moment looked as if he couldn't decide what question to ask first. Gennai made it easy for him.
"It's coming from one of the dimensions that sits parallel to the Digital World. My best guess is it originated there, fed off of the data, and then found it had nowhere else to go. That's when it started punching through to our world, especially in areas rich in new data."
"Primary Village," Tai said.
"Exactly," Gennai said.
Matt had recovered himself enough to get another glass of water and spear some desert. "What about the Digimon we've seen? Surimon, and that massive yeti thing?"
"Mutations, some of them," Gennai said. "Birthed and raised by the virus, unintelligent berserkers. I assume your yeti was one of these."
"And the Surimon?" Tai said. "I've met Surimon before. I don't think the virus created them."
"Just one of the many types of Digimon who are changing sides," Gennai said.
"Self preservation," Joe said.
"I think that will change once word gets out that you're back," Gatomon said, looking up from the massive plate of fish Gomamon was glaring at. "Gomamon, get a grip."
"Well, hopefully they can be persuaded that we're the winning side," Matt said.
Tai nodded. "The last thing the Digiworld needs right now is a civil war."
When Mimi started nodding off at the table, Gennai clapped his hands, started sweeping the remaining food off to the kitchen, and shooed the Digidestined into the alcove room he had appeared from. Sora was the first through the heavy velvet curtain, and her delighted exclamation was echoed as each of them entered the room behind her. It was almost as large as the first, circular, with upwards of 15 beds around the edges, but the most spectacular feature was the glass column running through its center, illuminated by the soft lamplight, and filled top to bottom with all of Gennai's colorful fish.
"How did…what…who built…?" Izzy stammered.
"I majored in architecture," Gennai said.
That seemed to settle the matter.
Sora was utterly content, cocooned in a soft flannel pajama set, and snuggled up to her chin in what could only be a down comforter. There was a cup of lemon tea on her dresser, a third of it gone, and she marveled at this completely new thing…feeling safe and protected in the Digital World. They spent so much time on the run. She imagined that Tai was more tired of being on guard than any of them.
Tai.
Oh boy.
She let her eyes drift shut for a while, but she wasn't really ready to sleep, so she propped her head up on her arms and watched the fish snatch the pretzels drifting down from somewhere up above. She reached for the tea and caught a glimpse of wild brown hair sticking out from under covers several beds over and quickly looked away.
Yes, Tai was something unexpected.
Mimi landed hard at the foot of Sora's bed, nearly upending the cup of hot tea, and then bounced up and down several times for good measure, squishing around until she was comfortable.
"This is great," she said.
Sora looked up, prepared to say something scathing that she didn't really mean, but was stopped short by Mimi's appearance. She had in a full set of sponge rollers, her face was covered in some sort of green substance, and had she?…yes. She had painted her nails.
"Mimi, where did you get all of that?" Sora said.
"I brought it," Mimi said.
"Please tell me that's a joke."
Mimi blinked. "Why would I joke about that?"
Sora opened her mouth, closed it.
Mimi shrugged. "Anyway, I need to talk to you. Give me your hand."
"What, are you going to read my palm?"
"Um…no. I'm going to do your nails."
Sora sighed and watched as Mimi spread a pile of manicure related tools across the bed. "So, what color would you like them?"
"Mimi-"
Mimi waved her hands around impatiently. "Oh, what do you know? I'll choose."
Mimi snatched Sora's hand, took up one of her wacky little torture devices, lowered her voice and said. "So, Tai's cute."
"So go out with him," Sora grumbled.
"Ha! No," Mimi said. "I meant you."
"I'm with Matt," Sora said.
"Yeah, but it's Tai. You've been in love with Tai since you were an amoeba."
Sora groaned and dropped her forehead into the hand Mimi wasn't filing away at. "I know."
"Something to think about, anyway," Mimi said.
They didn't talk much after that.
Sora rose early, completely refreshed, and went to scrounge some breakfast in her bare feet and bed hair. She padded quietly through the main room and into the kitchen, planning on reheating something from the night before, but instead of a fridge full of leftovers she found Tai standing in front of the stove. He turned when she came in and smiled, flipping an omelet with a flick of his wrist.
"Morning," he said, and slid the omelet onto a plate, holding it out to her. "Breakfast?"
"Wow," she said climbing up on the counter and holding out her hands for the plate. "The service here is great."
Tai laughed, threw a dollop of butter in the pan, and swirled it around until it sizzled. Sora poured each of them a cup of coffee from the pot sitting next to her. "Where does Gennai get all this stuff?"
Tai glanced around the unsettlingly earthlike kitchen. "I'm afraid to ask."
"He minored in appliance installation," Sora said around a mouthful of omelet.
"He used to be a short order cook," Tai said, and neatly flipped his omelet.
"I moved it all down from upstairs," Gennai called from the next room, and it was a long time before either of them could stop laughing.
When Tai's omelet was done he hopped onto the counter next to Sora, and they ate for some time in comfortable silence, their shoulders not quite touching. When Sora had finished eating she set her plate aside and palmed her steaming coffee mug. She didn't really know what was right anymore, but she did know…
"Tai."
"Yeah, Sora."
"Thanks for cooking me breakfast."
"Welcome."
"Tai…"
"Mmmm?"
"Matt and I…we're really something when we're together. I…intend to keep him."
Tai looked up.
"But if things had been different, I think you should know…"
"Wow," Matt exclaimed, walking into the kitchen and stretching enormously. "I don't think I have ever slept that well. Hey…you making omelets?"
Sora got down from the counter.
"Yeah, man," Tai said. "Tomato and cheese?"
"How do you remember that?"
Matt leaned casually on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. Tai had to smile, watching him. He'd always been such an outrageous golden boy.
"Haven't had much to do," Tai said, his eyes sliding over to catch a last glimpse of Sora as she slipped out of the kitchen, "aside from remember."
"Maybe they haven't made it to the finals for the last three years because they suck."
Tai wrinkled his nose and started to say something rude, but Matt would never find out where exactly he should shove his opinion of Tai's favorite soccer team because TK ran into the kitchen, skidded to a stop, and startled an end to any further debate. He steadied himself with a hand on the counter, took a deep breath and said, "Gennai needs to talk to us, says it's about Patamon, come now."
He was gone before either of them had a chance to respond, but they didn't need much convincing. Matt and Tai took off after TK and joined the others in the crowd around Gennai at the map's viewing screen. Even in the confusion and excitement Tai noticed Mimi, whose hair was all in tidy pink ringlets, and said, "Hey, you look nice."
"Focus, Tai." Mimi said, but looked pleased all the same.
"I thought you might be interested to know," Gennai said, "that Patamon is nearby. He was spotted by a migrating herd of Yokomon, and they sent word out through The Network."
"What network?" Izzy said eagerly.
"Really?" Matt said. "That's what caught your attention?"
Gennai tapped the screen lightly, enlarging a dark spot to the northwest of his lake, and they all recognized it at once.
"That's the coliseum where Agumon digivolved into Skullgreymon," Tai said.
"Used to be," said Gennai. "Now it's a stronghold, infected by the virus. I don't know how many guards they have inside, but the Yokomon saw at least ten rookie Digimon escorting Patamon when they arrived last night."
"Ten on two," Gatomon said.
"Probably more like twenty on two," Gomamon said.
Gatomon flexed her claws. "Sucks to be them."
The coliseum was looming in the distance by midday, but crossing a desert was hungry work, and when they came upon an oasis, even TK agreed that they should make a quick stop. A snotty remark from Matt about their lack of a plan and Tai's love of charging in half cocked had Sora looking between the two of them nervously, but Tai just laughed and said, "But when has it not worked?" And then sat down with Izzy over a detailed blueprint of the building that he'd hacked on the Pineapple. Matt fixed them all up with the snack Gennai had packed for them, but Tai waved off his portion and told him to give it to the Digimon. Izzy nudged him with the tree branch he was drawing diagrams with in the sand, and Tai turned his attention back to the complicated doodles.
"Well, I like it," Tai said. "Good plan."
Sora, who was leaning over Tai to get a look at the drawing, snorted. "You don't know what that means."
"Not really," said Tai.
Izzy sighed and erased the drawing with a swipe of his hand. "Okay, so this is what we're going to do…"
"Risky," Matt said.
"Brilliant," Tai said.
Matt sighed. "Yes, you would think that."
Tai, completely in his element, strolled casually through a stone doorway and onto the arena floor, leaving an even line of footprints in the static. He ignored the dropping jaws of the lounging Digimon that littered the coliseum, ignored the memories of how badly he screwed up the last time he was here and the deep, crazy growls coming from another entrance like the one he'd walked through, far off to his left. He just put one foot in front of the other until he reached the center and stood, like some kind of gladiator in a blue t-shirt, his arms crossed casually over his chest, and smirked.
From up in the bleachers where he crouched with Sora and waited, Matt marveled at how steady Tai was, and Tai would have been mortified if Matt knew he was falling back on an imitation of his cool, blonde friend.
"Is this a joke?" said a Kiwimon, stepping forward. "You must have a death wish."
Tai's expression didn't falter. "I hear you have a friend of mine. So hand him over."
A ripple of laughter passed through the crowd, and Tai quickly scanned their faces. Garbagemon, there, and…Candlemon? Yes. Six or seven Bakemon. A pair of Gazimon. Something purple and lumpy with a sad face was flanking a whole slew of Pagumon, and lurking in the doorway were several sets of the deep, dark eyes that could only belong to Surimon—the Digimon they'd encountered back at Infinity Mountain. Tai turned and took in the rest of the arena. Just behind him was the upturned soccer net they'd been trapped under three years ago, fastened to the ground with a mass of sticky webs and guarded carefully by a leering Dokugumon. Patamon was under that net, no doubt about it.
"This is your whole army?" Tai said. "Really? I'd have expected you to have at least one Ultimate Digimon with you, but all I'm seeing is a bunch of babies."
"Oh, yes," Dokugumon snarled. "That's rich, coming from a single human child. What are you going to do? Annoy us into handing over the Patamon?"
"Um, no," Tai said. "I'm going to fight you."
"You and what army?"
Tai laughed. "I was so hoping you would say that."
Tai looked up over his shoulder to the very highest point of the coliseum wall. A small, dark silhouette was barely visible there, against the dark, swirling backdrop of the sky, but at Tai's look it shone with a light that seemed to come from inside of itself.
Dokugumon shied back against her web, and Kiwimon, suddenly furious, stepped forward to challenge Tai. "What are you playing at, Digidestined?"
Tai just smiled.
Oh, he thought, it's good to be back.
Kari's long ponytail blew out to the side of her in the wind. Her bandaged hands fisted at her sides. She could feel everyone, see everyone. She reached out to them. Kari pushed the darkness back.
"Okay, Joe," she said. "Now."
Joe stepped up behind her and put a hand lightly on her shoulder. Down on the steps in front of them where Gomamon and Salamon waited, the wind kicked up, carrying a high, wavering sound of power.
"I think it's working," Joe said.
Salamon looked back at Kari. She was glowing, laughing, light coming from her eyes, her ears.
"I think you're right," Kari said.
Gomamon whooped.
Salamon let out a high, ecstatic scream.
"Salamon warp digivolve to…"
"Gomamon warp digivolve to…"
Outside the stone fortress, a hot, blinding shockwave knocked Izzy and Mimi to the ground and rearranged the sand dunes for miles in every direction. Light poured from every window, every crack in the coliseum walls, and Mimi buried her face in her arms until the light faded. When Izzy had managed to lever himself into a sitting position, he looked up at the sky and watched a long, white-furred dragon take to the air above the arena, moving like a river in a fluid circle, and then dive, her roar shaking dust from the ancient walls. "Magnadramon!"
Izzy pumped a fist in the air and then fell back onto the sand, grinning. "Yes!"
Mimi leapt up and did a happy little jig, and they both laughed.
Waiting for his moment in a dark doorway at the arena's edge, TK had to pull his eyes away from the web covered soccer goal to watch as what appeared to be an enormous, white, sea monster reached the arena floor in one bound, knocking several Digimon off their feet with the force of his landing. "Plesiomon!"
He gnashed his teeth, and roared for good measure, but TK could see a twinkle in his eyes. Typical.
TK pulled his hat off and crammed it in his back pocket. He crouched low, ready to spring forward any second…any second now…
Plesiomon lowered his head and peered into the stunned faces of the crowd of Digimon.
"Boo," he said, and Magnadramon circled in the air above him, kicking up a tornado of static and dust.
Suddenly feeling very small and exposed, wondering where all of his bravado had gone, Tai staggered a few steps back and almost tripped over a herd of fleeing Pagumon. Finally, his back hit the wall, and he leaned against it. They were huge. Huge.
"Whoa," Tai breathed, and turned to search the rows of coliseum seating, finally locating the top of Matt's blonde head, peeking out from behind a row of seats. Even at that distance, Tai saw Matt turn to look for him.
Up in the stands, Matt found Tai, made sure he was out of harm's way, and then watched the crowd of Digimon literally scatter and run. Magnadramon turned circles like a ferris wheel high above the arena, and Kari's inner light punched through the dark canopy, revealing patches of the blue, endless sky. Matt let out a short, amazed laugh.
"Cool."
a/n: Shiny new set of Zebra F-301 pens: 6.95
New laptop for writing on the go: 1600
Repeated semester of college due to excessive fanfiction writing: 3200 + expenses
Just one review from you: priceless