I don't own digimon.

Story 21

Nostalgia

Alice Zwingli looked about the balcony of her apartment. Staring about the sky, the gambler looked about for her special someone. Of course, her special someone decided to play hard to get and was nowhere in sight. That would be a touch too easy. Has to be some kind of chase.

"Where the hell are you?!" she announced, doing her best to hold the emotions in. Leave it to them to somehow miss a deadline set years in advance. If it was a chase she wanted, then a chase her special someone would get. But where exactly to begin her search? If Alice had a way to cross worlds, she would've started there. Sadly, that was still not the case. The closest anyone had gotten was the one-way transportation by way of the digimon returning to the human world. But that method was random and inconsistent on all fronts. Which left this world as the only place she could find her.

Exiting the balcony for the apartment proper, Alice let out a sigh. Compared to the outside, the parquet birch floors stuck out like a sore thumb against the dark blue walls. Why the previous owner thought this was somehow the best option for a place like this was beyond her. Given the choice, the gambler would've done everything up in black with white lace accents all throughout. Sort of like her favorite character in all the world - Celeste Ludenberg. She would keep all the plushies placed throughout the place. Hopefully, her special someone would appreciate her taking care of each and every one of the stuffed animals. Alice pushed that thought to the back burner. Nice as it sounded, it wouldn't get her any closer in this chase. Instead, she dug into her dress pocket and pulled a smartphone out. Giving the device a tap, she slid her finger up the screen. Watching it wake up, her finger hit the phone app. Punching in a phone number, Alice brought the phone up to her ear. Hopefully her sister would be up by now. Time zones could be an absolute bitch to work around at times. Nonetheless, she waited for the first ring.

"Ā, Arisu! (Oh, Alice!)" the voice on the other end announced and the gambler cracked a smile. Maybe she did have luck on her side. Or at least, long enough to complete her mission. "Genkideshita ka? (How have you been?)"

Alice let out a chuckle.

"Kekkō ī, suiko. Nan-nen mo tatta nochi, kanojo ni aitai dakedesu. (Pretty good, Suiko. Just anxious to see her after all these years.)" Alice answered and looked about the room for a place to sit. Eventually, the gambler settled on sitting right in front of a large purple wyvern. Taking care to not disturb the wyvern's wings, she made herself comfortable. "Umaku ikeba, kanojo wa wasurenakatta. (Hopefully she didn't forget.)"

A chuckle echoed out from the other end of the phone. Leave it to her sister to get some kind of enjoyment out of her suffering. Not that Suiko's love life was particularly better since the last time she had checked. Still chasing after the same boy, even in the face of language and distance. Kind of like her, but at the same time - not. At any time, Suiko could hop on a plane and get to her special someone. Whereas she had to wait patiently in the hope that things on the other side would change in such a way to bring proper peace. But then the reboot happened. Because of course it did. God forbid Homeostasis actually put on her big girl panties and do something with her powers. No, she would rather possess a brunette and make the decision that everything needed to be destroyed and then rebuilt from the ground-up. The possibility of her special someone's memory being wiped because someone couldn't figure out a proper way to deal with a complicated situation that didn't involve destroying everything and killing people. Thankfully, there were many ways to bitch slap Homeostasis on that side. Especially after then trying to cover it all up. Thank fuck she wasn't there. If she had been, there would've been quite a number of bullets in the streets of Japan. But Alice pushed that thought out of her head. Even under the night sky, shooting off her firearms would just bring authorities her way. Not that the gambler had even thought of that in the first place.

"Please be out there." she thought and exited the apartment. Making a beeline for the elevator, she slammed her hand onto the button. Pacing about in front the doors, a million different thoughts echoed through her head.

"Ē to… sukunakutomo denwa o kiru tsumoridesu ka? (Uh… are you going to hang up at least?)" Suiko announced and Alice dug her phone back out. How had she managed to forget that? Probably just the result of her mind getting so wrapped up on her special someone. Leave it to that woman's spell to affect her like that after all of this time. Perhaps that was the sign of true love. Or maybe she was just crazy and this was one of the results of that affliction. Who could really say.

"Sō sō. Sayōnara mizuko. (Oh right. Bye Suiko.)" Alice announced and hung up the phone, right as the elevator doors opened up. Slipping the phone back into her dress, she stepped inside. Pressing the button for the ground level, she watched the doors close. The elevator descended down. In a way, this was perhaps the worst place to be should her special someone somehow appear. While her time with the girl had definitely brought with it improvements to her common sense, that didn't mean she was the brightest bulb in the box. The fact that she could even read or write her name for that matter was a miracle unto itself. Heck, part of Alice expected her to just come crashing right through the building because she saw right through the exterior and thought she could cleanly pass through. When in fact, it was very much the opposite. Crashing right through the wall, she would make a clean pass right through and then be all confused about what had just happened. Which meant having to track her down and explain why for the umpteeth time why smashing right through buildings was bad and stuff. A task easier said than done and hopefully not one that she would have to repeat after all of these years. That would be absolute blows if that was the case. But the gambler pushed that thought to the back of her head as the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened up and Alice stepped out. Paying the lobby little mind, she booked it out of the building. Outside, the remaining warmth from the day clung tightly for just a little bit longer. The street lights hadn't quite turned on yet, the first proper sign that it was truly night and not in between that and dusk. Stepping a bit off to the right of the entrance, the gambler stopped. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looked up towards the sky. Among the stars, she had hoped to see her special someone up there

"Where the hell are you, Elena Yuliana?!" Alice screeched and a gust of wind passed by her. Doing her best to not give any possible passerby a look at her undergarments, Alice followed the gust. Leave it to the corsair to make an entrance after all these years. Two could play in that game. Or at least, she could hope that this was still the case. Knowing Homeostasis, it wouldn't surprise her if she had locked back up her infusion powers among the many other things. Placing a hand on her watch, a pastel black cocoon engulfing her body. Lifting her up into the middle, her clothes disappeared in a flash of dark blue light.

Alice infusion digivolve too… GamblerNekomon!

Closing her eyes, she felt her skin give way to digital fur. Even after all these years, it still felt strange but somehow familiar. Like an old song you hadn't heard in a while but still remember all the lyrics too. Though, most songs don't involve one's own head being forced into that of an anthropomorphic cat. Even more so once the cat tail began batting right against her backside. Alice never did get the hang of that weird part of her body. But she had little time to really think about that, mostly because a bulky white blouse and black pants appeared on her body. A bulky tan duster appeared over all of that, bringing with it a set of fingerless gloves for her claws. A set of revolvers appeared at her side, going quite well with the dark blue bow on Alice's left cat ear. Coming right as the cocoon shattered, hopefully Elena hadn't gotten too far away. Even if she somehow had, it would be a cinch to catch up. Pulling her legs back, the gambler shot off in the direction of the gust. All around her, the city's buildings passed by in a blur. She had passed by many of these places countless times in the past. Now, something about these streets brought with it a different feeling. Try as the gambler might to discern the how or really why, the only thing she found were figurative dead ends. Pushing it to the back of her mind, Alice's gaze bounced about the sky. Out in the distance, her target gilded about. Rubbery purple wings on full display, draconic scales standing out even against the sky currently. And that was just what she could see from her viewpoint currently. Once she landed, then a proper examination could occur. Maybe even some cuddling right after. A decision could be made once she had caught up, of course.

Lucky Shot!

Pulling the left revolver from its holster, she raised it up into the sky. Firing off a single shot, she watched the projectile shoot up into the air and explode in a cloud of light. Waiting a couple moments, Alice watched her target circle around before eventually beginning a short descent. Nonetheless, the gambler dug her claws into the pavement. After the gust of wind, it is better to not take any chances than to throw caution into the wind. Especially with the gusts of wind being bought with Elena's descent. Watching patiently, her heart was beating a mile a minute. Avian claws meet that of the ground, skidding to a stop right in front of the gambler. A long purple neck led right into a draconic head, a set of amber lenses stared at Alice. Expression shifting slightly, a smile formed on her face.

"I found you!" the wyvern digimon announced, a rubbery tail wrapping around Alice's body and lifting her up into the air. Holding the gambler up for a couple seconds, she set her back down. Taking a couple steps back, a pastel purple cocoon formed around her body. Waiting a moment, Alice took the opportunity to revert back.

"No, I found you." Alice muttered and let out a chuckle. There was little use in arguing with Elena on that front. Especially as the cocoon around her body disappeared and a set of amber eyes stared back at her. Dressed in that stupid dark blue sundress, it strained to hold less an increased bust and more on the height front. Which made the locks of puce-colored hair reaching the ground and trailing down for a further foot and went hand-in-hand with the wicked nails coming off of her hands. "Bath first, then cuddles."

Elena looked away, only to pull her girlfriend in for a hug. Taking care to not scratch her, she began humming a tune. It didn't take long for Alice to join in. Just like old times.

Notes:

At the time of publishing this, it has been seven years since DA03 was originally published. Thank you for coming along this ride with me.