Takeru once again woke up in a sweat, the memory of his nightmare burning behind his eyes. It followed the same pattern all of the previous ones had. A scream, his fear, and Patamon telling him there was no hope. He shuddered; it was silly. He felt as though he was being dramatic. If he told anyone of these nightmares compared to some of the ones, he had of Devimon, they would laugh in his face.
He sighed, brushing a hand across his face, grateful for the weekend. Takeru wasn't exactly sure how long he ended up laying there, overanalyzing every small detail of his nightmare he could remember before a loud ringing brought him back to his senses.
"Hello?" He answered groggily, rubbing the tired from his eyes.
"Did you just wake up, I've been standing at your door for hours," the voice on the other end, who he managed to realize was Miyako, half-shouted at him.
Takeru smiled cheekily, forgetting for a moment that he was on the phone and Miyako couldn't see him before speaking up, "why are you at my door?"
Miyako's groan of frustration could be heard from both the phone and the door of the apartment, "we're picking up the Digimon for a weekend home, remember?" Takeru could in fact, not remember that plan at all. He shook his head; he probably was just spacing out when they mentioned it.
"Give me like 10 minutes," he responded, ending the call before she could complain that 10 minutes was too long. He hurriedly got ready before rushing out the door.
Greeted with an irritated scowl, Takeru smiled wide, "always a pleasure to see such a beautiful sight in the morning." Miyako said nothing but stomped off in the direction of Iori's apartment before Takeru hummed, "thanks for coming to get me."
"Next time I'm letting you sleep through it," she growled, but she returned his smile.
Iori greeted them excitedly at the door, Hikari and Daisuke were already inside, Ken having to sit out this meeting since he lived so far away, "being able to access the digital world from any computer is so convenient," he commented.
Takeru couldn't help but agree, excitedly stepping into the living area. He glanced at Hikari and Daisuke who was explaining something to her rather animatedly. He laughed to himself a bit before beelining to the computer. He didn't say a word to anyone before opening the gate and whisking himself into the other world where he was immediately greeted by the Digimon.
"You ready to spend the weekend with me?" Takeru asked Patamon excitedly who merely responded by chirping a quick "yup" and landing on his head. Takeru ushered the Digimon through the gate before following after them.
"You waste no time Takeru," Hikari pointed out as Takeru and the Digimon landed easily in Iori's room.
Each of the Digimon greeted their partners with excited expressions, Takeru couldn't help but smile at the display. Before his thoughts could wander much further, however, he was broken out of them by his partner's voice.
"Don't you know Takeru?" Patamon glanced at his partner, smiling, "there is no hope."
Takeru whipped his head towards the Digimon, stumbling backwards, "w-what did you just say?!"
The small Digimon blinked, "I didn't say anything...?"
"Are you feeling ok Takeru?" Hikari asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Takeru stared at her, a mix of fear and confusion in his eyes as he bit his lip, unsure of what exactly to tell her. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the words to explain himself, all he could feel was embarrassment at his sudden fear. All he could do was turn away, still feeling her hot gaze on the back of his neck, shame filled him.
Daisuke laughed, not so subtly disguising his own concerned expression, "looks like you've lost your mind." He patted Takeru's back, dragging him out of Iori's room and away from the others.
Takeru sighed, relieved, glancing gratefully at Daisuke who shrugged in response, "I could tell Hikari's gaze boring into you was driving you mad."
"I didn't know you could be so observant Daisuke," Takeru teased, a bit of the exhaustion and fear clearing from his gaze.
Daisuke huffed, "it's not like I was jealous, she is my girl." he laughed at his own tone of voice.
"Thanks, really, I'm gonna head home, clear my head," Takeru called into the room for Patamon who landed on his head. The two walked away as Hikari moved into position next to Daisuke.
"Is he mad at me?" Hikari strained, her gaze boring holes into Daisuke's head.
He shook his head, "no, I just think he doesn't want to talk about it." Daisuke's explanation did little to console the girl who muttered she was heading home herself. Before Daisuke could even ask the girl if she wanted him to walk home with him, she was around the corner and out of sight. He sighed, thinking, Takeru needs to pull himself together.
"Takeru talk to me please," Patamon begged the boy, looking down at him from the perch he had made on top of the boy's head.
Even if the boy hadn't been lost in thought, he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to tell his partner anyways. That he was hallucinating? Patamon was possessed? He was crazy? His thoughts moved at a mile a minute, irrationally throwing blame at himself because he could only ask himself what the cause truly was. He needed answers, or maybe... he just needed sleep. He smiled suddenly, of course, he just hadn't been sleeping well and was seeing things, that had to be it.
"Please," Patamon cried out, suddenly snapping Takeru from his train of thought.
"I'm sorry, I got lost in thought there," he chuckled dryly, "I just need some sleep."
Patamon tilted his head curiously, "you haven't been sleeping?"
Takeru shook his head, "not well at least."
The Digimon was quiet for a moment, "Are you still having nightmares?"
Takeru opened his mouth to respond but closed it again. He was having nightmares, but they weren't the same ones that had plagued him for so long. It made him realize that as soon as these new nightmares came along, the old ones about losing Patamon had gone away. He shook his head, "just restless I guess."
Patamon looked as though he was going to argue, but they had arrived home so he would have to worry about it later. Takeru pushed the door to the apartment he shared with his mom open, and his eyes widened in surprise, "Yamato?"
The boy in question laughed with a smile, "hey kiddo." The two embraced, but Yamato didn't let the younger leave the hug without messing up his hair first.
"Gee... thanks..." Takeru said, sarcasm dripping from his tone as he flattened his hair back down, "the one day I decide to not wear a hat."
"A great decision at that," Yamato teased.
Takeru rolled his eyes, but brushed the comment off, "what are you doing here? Where's mom?"
"She can't come home tonight for work, so I decided I'd sleep over." Yamato explained easily.
Narrowing his eyes, Takeru responded, "she's worried about me being home alone, she called you."
Yamato sheepishly raised his hands in defense, "I guess nothing gets past you... but I'm always glad to spend time with you."
Takeru could only nod, as he yawned, his exhaustion and anxiety from the earlier events finally catching up to him. "You can go ahead and sleep, you look like you need it."
"Thanks for the compliment," Takeru laughed, but he gratefully got ready and headed to bed.
Exhaustion immediately flowed over him as he let his head rest on his pillow. Takeru was almost immediately pulled into the dream world. He sighed, of course, recognizing exactly where he was. After waiting for a bit, the scream he had grown accustomed to never came. Cautiously letting his gaze wander, he decided to look around a bit, see if he could break out of the nightmare before it could begin.
The world he was in was rocky and completely void of color, it reminded him of the Dark Ocean in every worst way possible, but he was sure there was no way that's where he was. He managed to reach the side of the cliff, letting his fingers trail along the rocks as he mindlessly walked.
"There is no hope," Takeru's head whipped around at the sound of his partner's voice, but he was met with nothing but rock and sand. He shook his head, trying to think rationally, before continuing his trek. Every few moments he would hear that same familiar voice repeating the hauntingly familiar phrase, but he did his best to ignore it.
Suddenly, Takeru found himself atop a cliff, rather than walking next to one at the bottom. He braved a glance down the side, seeing where he had originally been walking now being so far away. It wasn't that his dream had been scary yet, he just felt extremely unsettled, his entire body on high alert even if it was completely against his will.
He noticed a small figure off in the distance, feeling it pulling him from afar. He slowly approached it, as he grew closer and closer, he realized the figure was lying down, completely still. He felt something get caught in his throat as he recognized the orange and cream pattern of his partner.
Opening his mouth to shout the Digimon's name, no sound came out, his walk turning into a jog, and then into a run.
There was nothing Takeru could do to stop the soundless tears flowing down his face as he grasped the limp body into his arms. The only sound around him a voice he didn't recognize, "he tried to warn you... there is no hope."
The voice was sharp, vaguely familiar, but also completely foreign at the same time. Takeru could only wonder if this dream was a warning as he held his partner. For whatever reason, against all logic, Patamon had not returned to data, he was gone. With the finally thought, Takeru woke up, cheeks stained with tears and his brother's concerned face staring into his own.