Chapter 7
Author's note: dreams/flashbacks
Word or phrase emphasis
Spirits/Beast Spirits speaking
Past:
Serena stumbles again as she felt light headed, she really needed to eat and soon. There were no fruit bearing trees around either. She was behind the others this time, because had Takuya even seen her stumble once he'd've already gone into overprotective mode on her. She takes one more step and curses internally as darkness rushes to meet her. She sometimes hated her metabolism, this being one of those times. Tokomon nudges his friend and sighs, she was out cold, though she also seemed to be clammy to the touch. It was at that moment Tommy looked back, " Takuya, we've got a problem. "
Something in the Ice Warrior's tone alerted Takuya and had him spinning around, " Dammit, I forgot how fast her metabolism is. "
The goggle head was quick to go back and scoop his sister up, Tokomon sitting on his head. " JP, you got anymore chocolate on you? " Takuya asks.
" Some, why? "
" I need to get some food into her fast, imooto's metabolism is very high meaning she has to eat a lot. What she eats in one sitting can satisfy Shinya for three days. " Takuya says. The ten year old was cold and clammy to the touch.
Zoey hums in concern as Takuya manages to coax her into eating a chocolate bar even while still asleep. Takuya frowns, " Hopefully that'll be enough to wake her up. The only times her metabolism is slowed down is when she's sick. "
" She'll be all right though, right? " Tommy asks.
" As long as we get some food first, and she rests. " Takuya answers.
They walk on and soon they're being taken to the Karatsukinumemon village. Takuya barely kept hold on his sister while climbing up the ladder provided. In several different dimensions Takuya would have been hit over the head by Minamoto Koji but his little sister managed to block the shot, " No hitting my taxi over the head, Koji. "
" What happened to her? " Koji asks.
" She has an extremely high metabolism, she needs to eat, now. " Takuya murmurs.
Serena was barely coherent of her surroundings so Takuya ended up having to feed her for the most part. It concerned him that she had let herself get to this point, then again she may not have felt it was as bad as it was. Sometimes it snuck up on her and she went down. That was probably the case here as well. The ten year yawns as she curls into her brother. Only later she's jolted awake and she blinks, " Taku-nii, what the hell happened while I was out? "
Takuya couldn't fault her for swearing at this precise moment in time. He'd had a pretty impressive rant himself in Russian when he'd woke up, " Basically, they think we're in league with the idiot whom took their women. " Takuya sums up.
Serena rolls her eyes at this, " Hey, what the hell did I do to you? I was freaking unconscious! "
Takuya smiles, that was his imooto all right. After learning from Grumblemon himself that they weren't allies Serena finds herself on the tracks again with Tokomon and yelps when Grumblemon crops up behind her, barely dodging the attack, " Agunimon, someone, a little help here. "
The ten year old was reduced to back flipping away and then curses when her footing was messed with by Grumblemon. Beetlemon manages to catch her and deliver her and Tokomon to the others, " I think she's safer with us. "
" Ya think! " Agunimon snaps.
Beetlemon doesn't take offense, he knew Takuya was extremely protective of his little sister. Lobomon just shakes his head, the girl was only going to get them hurt. Serena frowns at that flash of emotion from the Light Warrior. It was Serena whom realized the danger when Grumblemon returned with that totem and she dives for the totem, trying to grab it before he could use it. Grumblemon bats her away and the female Kanbara rolls with the hit, getting back to her feet, wariness in every inch of her, " Brace yourselves, he just became more problematic. He's got his beast spirit, Agunimon. "
" Shit! " Agunimon snarls it out and grabs up his sister. Agumon had warned him about the Beast Spirits, " She's right, this fight just got tougher. "
" What do you mean? "
" Each element has two spirits, I forgot about that until now. " Agunimon says and turns his back to shield his sister and Tokomon. Serena holds on to her brother as they, Tokomon, whom was holding on to her very tightly, Lobomon, and Kumnamon go falling one way.
Present:
Serena stumbles briefly and curses softly, she was at the end of the procession again. Muchomon looks at her and sees the sheen of sweat, the bright colored bird digimon starts to look around for some food only to come up empty. He knew it wasn't safe for Serena to keep walking, " Takuya. "
The elder goggle head stops and grabs a Meat Apple out of the basket Matt was carrying before cooking it and heading back to his sister, " Eat up, sis. "
Serena manages a half-hearted glare at him before she does as told and Takuya scoops her up, the twelve year old brown haired girl was already asleep, " Takuya, what's going on? " Izzy asks him.
" Imooto has a very fast metabolism, which means she needs to eat a lot of food very often. She kinda forgets when we're in the middle of things like this. Muchomon was a Tokomon the first time it happened. " Takuya answers the male red head.
" That's why you made sure we had food, isn't it? " Sora asks him.
" I wouldn't be a very responsible older brother if I let her collapse due to her metabolism. " Takuya says.
" Yeah, but she's just as stubborn as you, Takuya. " Tommy points out.
Takuya sighs, " She's a true Kanbara, I don't know why dad hasn't pushed for full custody yet. She generally shows up barely conscious. She downs at least three cups of Kool-Aid once at our place and she never wants to go back to her mother's. I just wish she would open up about what goes on there. "
" She won't, she says she won't burden you guys with her misery. " Mimi says.
Takuya groans and starts cursing in Russian under his breath. Tommy chuckles at this, he was well used to the stubbornness of his best friend and older brother type figure. The siblings were equally stubborn, it was just that Takuya could get Serena to open up where others couldn't. If anyone could get her to act her age it was her big brother, the one constant she had, because Takuya made the effort to be involved in her life and there was nothing Tsukino Ikkuko could do about it. Tai could easily read Takuya's frustration, it came from being a big brother and not being able to do anything to help your younger sibling.
They continue on and Tommy grins as the temperature starts to drop, he loved the cold. His parents still bundled him up in cold weather gear and Tommy would lose it by the time he got back home. Takuya never needed cold weather gear either being the Warrior of Flame, however, Serena and the others did. Takuya was quick to summon up heat around himself and his sister while Tommy took the bite out of the cold, no one would freeze to death now. Takuya pauses and Serena's eyes slit open, " Hot springs not too far ahead. "
" Yeah, but they're way too hot for us to use, I doubt the three of us combined could cool them down properly. " Takuya states.
" How can…of course, Serena is the Warrior of Water and you're Flame, naturally you two would be able to sense something as innocuous as that. " Izzy says.
Takuya chuckles nervously, " Tai, toss me another apple, since she's semi-conscious I can get some more food into her. "
Takuya cooks it immediately and then cools it down somewhat before feeding it to her. Serena curls into her brother, she hated the cold unless she was with Takuya or Tommy. Takuya sighs, " You're not going to let me put you down until we reach the next area of warmth, are you? "
" No way in hell, Taku-nii, don't do cold. " Serena mutters.
" Makes sense, what with her being the Warrior of Water, water freezes. " Sora admits.
" It also can boil yet she curls up with Takuya like it's nothing. " Matt points out.
" I would never allow Flame to harm her and BurningGreymon learned the hard way that you DO NOT THREATEN MY IMOOTO. " Takuya says.
BurningGreymon shudders, his partner had not been thrilled when he had nearly been forced to hurt his little sister because of him and had beaten him into submission while Agunimon had laughed at him, " I said I was sorry. "
" Yeah, only after Takuya left you a quivering heap in his mindscape for causing him to nearly hurt his little sister. " Agunimon points out.
Takuya ignores his spirits for the moment and warms the air up around his little sister a little more, she settles more firmly into him, and they continue on, finding the hot springs that had been mentioned. Serena stayed curled up in her brother's arms, those two Meat Apples hadn't been nearly enough to compensate for her almost collapse. Takuya frowns as he sits down and cradles her in his lap while Tommy just goes over and gets the eggs, Joe worried way too much. The elder Kanbara sighs as Joe nearly has a panic attack, " Joe, chill, no one's gonna come down on us for stealing. Amaterasu's sake, we are the only humans here, that must have been put there so we could eat. I'm the sempai here, and you are my kohai technically, so relax, before you give my empath of a sister a migraine. Another reason why she can't stand Light. "
Joe blinks at Takuya's words, he'd been there before, survived this world. Him, his little sister, and Tommy. Betamon and Candlemon look at their partners, Candlemon concerned about Serena, " She's an empath? "
" Yeah, most of my team learned how to block her, though if the suffering or other emotions she's feeling are too much she'll ask me to lower my guards as she can handle my emotions, she's used to feeling them all the time. " Takuya says.
Joe sets to work making chop sticks then while everyone else pitches in to help. " Takuya, something tells me that Matt and Tai are going to clash over whether or not they should climb the mountain. You need to step in when that happens because if Serena is fully conscious…" Agunimon trails off but Takuya understood.
" Man, I'm going to be seeing these fights from the outside now. Damn, I wonder if it's as annoying as the others made it out to be? "
" Sug'ah, the only reason S'ahrena nev'ah complained was because Koji nev'ah apologized tah h'ah. " Ranamon states.
" Not to mention you generally went to war with him because he dissed Serena in some way. " Tsukimon states, unlike her human half the mermaid did not have a southern accent.
" Koji is just too prideful to sincerely apologize to her. " Korikkakumon states.
" Gah, would all the spirits please stop, you're giving me a migraine. " Takuya snaps, a little louder than he meant to.
Tommy chuckles, " Korikkakumon, come back to me. You know Takuya can only handle the Flame and Water spirits speaking to him at the same time. "
" Wait, you can talk to all of them? " TK asks.
Tommy smiles, " Yeah, we can, it's not so bad if they just talk among themselves or if I would be closer to Takuya then Korikkakumon wouldn't have bugged him so much. "
Wanyamon bounces up and down as he watches his partner and TK boil some eggs. Takuya ends up having to feed his little sister first and then himself before he gives her to Tommy, " Find some place to sleep, okay. "
Tommy nods at this and heads off with his best friend and their partners. Takuya did not want to deal with his little sister when she was pissed off and she had only gotten worse when she'd hit puberty. To date Takuya was the only one other than Tommy that had never been on the receiving end of her hormonal ire. He had seen fear in the eyes of the Tsukinos whenever his little sister happened to be hormonal, in fact once a month Ikkuko packed her bags and shipped her off to live with her father.
Takuya and Betamon talk quietly among themselves until the argument starts. Takuya winces, the others had put up with this, damn, if Serena wouldn't have had such a problem with Koji she would have never tolerated this. He sends a stream of fire in between them, " Oh, relax, I only burn what I want to. We need high ground, Ishida. Tai, you weren't planning on going tonight, were you? "
" Hell, no! I thought we could sleep and then climb the mountain. We need to know the lay of the land, Matt. "
" He's right, plus, high ground gives you an advantage in a fight. God, not even Light would have argued with me on that. Just about everything else, yes, that, no. " Takuya mutters.
Matt blinks, " You're comparing me to the guy Serena can't stand? "
" You're acting like him right now. Shoe fits, wear it, Ishida. Still, you ever cause my imooto to cry you will not like the consequences. " Takuya says, flame swirling in his eyes.
Matt gulps, this was a protective big brother in all his glory. Everyone else takes the warning to heart as well. They were beginning to realize that pissing Takuya off was not a wise idea.
Devimon's Base:
The evil angel shudders, making a note to not go anywhere near Flame's little sister, again. The teen's temper was almost as legendary as his partners happened to be. The Flame Warrior was not to be trifled with, that was for certain.
Ophanimon's Castle:
The Celestials are desperately trying to come up with an explanation as to why they created the Sovereigns for the inevitable confrontation they were going to have with the Warriors. They could still feel the simmering rage just beneath the surface. Takuya was more concerned about his little sister at the moment, which was a damn good thing for them, otherwise he would have already called them to ream them out for that.
Cave Near Hot Springs:
Takuya and Betamon were standing watch currently. Tai had just ended his shift and while shift change was going on Joe had slipped away to climb the mountain. One of the most impulsive things he had ever done in his entire life, but he had seen the wisdom in Takuya and Tai's points. While he and Gomamon are doing that Takuya waves a hand over the fire, turning it to a slower burn, even as he adds some more wood. He wasn't surprised when his sister joined him, curling up next to him. Candlemon was sleeping near Tommy and Wanyamon at the moment, " You all right, imooto? " Takuya asks her quietly.
" I'm good, I'll never be nightmare free, but I've gotten used to it. Sing for me, Taku-nii? "
Takuya sighs, " Imooto, why is it I'm the only one you ask to sing for you anyhow? "
" You're the only one who does. Ikkuko could care less about me and well… "
Takuya pulls her onto his lap, cradling her in his arms like he used to when they were younger, he didn't do so as much anymore, but every now and then the siblings needed the closeness, " You know my mom adores you, imooto. "
" I know that logically, emotionally hasn't caught up quite yet. I go from a loving home to a not so loving home, Taku-nii. They all hate me, Sammy only ever treats me with respect if you're nearby or Shinya's with me, as Sammy knows damn well Shinya will tell you everything that he says and does. Ikkuko just doesn't care and Kenji, well, he doesn't dare hurt me physically as he knows damn well what you'd do to him, not to mention dad. Emotionally, verbally, psychologically that warfare has been going on for years. You remember what I said to Koji on the Island of Toys, right? "
" How could I forget that, Kenji's be at war with you for that long, why not say anything, you know dad would never leave you there. "
" I have you, you somehow always show up just when it all gets to be too much. " Serena admits, " Plus, I need access to Juuban in two years' time, when my other destiny rears its ugly head. "
Takuya frowns, " What destiny, Imooto? "
" Ever heard the Legend of the Silver Millennium? " Serena asks him.
" Yeah, always pissed me off that the Moon Princess never even got a say in to whether or not she wanted to marry Prince Endymion, " Takuya answers her query and responds with one of his own, " Why? "
" I am that princess reincarnated and I have to fix that damn bitch queen's mess, it'll start up in two years unless I can count on some help to get the Rainbow Crystals early. I can't do that alone. " Serena admits.
Takuya curses under his breath, " Ya know, it just figures my precious imooto would have that kind of destiny ahead of her. Damn Kanbara luck. "
" I have you, Taku-nii. "
" You asked me to sing, didn't you? "
Serena smiles at this, Takuya hated singing, but for her he always would. The teen sighs as he thinks over the songs he knew and which ones his imooto liked the best. Finally he decides on Fire sung by Wada Kouji. Though Salamander sung by Junko Takeuchi, was jokingly called his theme by everyone, was a close second on his little sister's favorite's list. Though he sang softly his voice still rose and fell with the lyrics.
While he may hate singing he was very good at it, he'd been the one to sing her to sleep when they'd been younger and he would still hum to her during thunderstorms. None of the other Kanbaras could understand her sheer terror of thunderstorms though now Takuya suspected it was a holdover from her last life. There would be many things she had learned about that happened on Earth that she would have never known what were like to experience until she came to the planet itself. Takuya blinks as he hits the ending note of Fire, where had that line of thinking come from anyhow?
Takuya looks down at his sleeping sister, she looked so much younger asleep in his arms. Deep down he knew one day he'd have to let whomever she chose protect her in his stead, but he would never stop loving or protecting her. Odds were on his minx of a sister slipping him that information somehow. She might have sensed his curiosity and answered it like that. She had done so before a few times after Koji had completely shut her down. After the Island of Toys Tapirmon had effected both Tommy and Serena. Thing was, due to her empathy she stayed under after he had beaten the warthog.
He'd had to talk her out of it and she had only spoken to him and then in Russian, after her confrontation with Koji, the rest of the time she let her emotions do the talking. He had really wanted to tear Koji apart on that island but soothing his little sister had come first. It had been the two youngest to help him reign in BurningGreymon, the fact that he had almost hurt his sister because of that damn test still pissed him off. He could feel BurningGreymon cringing again too.
Takuya sighs as he runs a hand up and down his sister's back almost unconsciously. In many ways they were closer than normal siblings, as by this time most older siblings would have shoved the younger ones aside. Not Takuya, he may be getting busier but he would always have time for his younger siblings. Takuya sighs, " You may as well approach me, Matt. "
The younger male runs a hand through his blonde hair, " How do you do it, make time for a sibling that lives away from you? "
" Ah, yours and TK's parents are divorced, no wonder you're overcompensating on the protective instincts. You have to really want it, Matt. I won't lie to you, it's not easy, it never was. Still, I make the time for Serena and Shinya, while still having time for me. Write letters at first, phone calls, just do something, Matt. " Takuya says.
Matt groans, " You make it sound so simple. "
" Believe me, letter writing or gift giving is never simple. Especially when you don't want to screw it up. She looks up to me so much that sometimes I'm afraid I'm going to let her down and lose that adoration. " Takuya murmurs, brushing a light kiss on her forehead, " That would kill me, she's so gentle and sweet most of the time however, like any Kanbara she has a nasty temper. "
Matt's blue eyes take in how serious Takuya looked in that moment, and the look of brotherly pride he had in his eyes, all directed at his little sister, " Get some rest, Kanbara, I'll finish the watch. "
" I'll be fine, besides, Flame is my thing. " Takuya says, his tone light hearted. Hours later it would be Sora that sounds the alarm that Joe and Gomamon are missing while she and Tai, along with their partners go after them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Fire, or Salamander. Nor do I own Sailor Moon.