A white void, no, it is a forest village now. Renamon lifted herself up from the ground to see an all too familiar cave entrance just beyond the village, her old hideout For even a nomad needed somewhere to sleep. At least when she couldn't afford an inn, which was often. The sight left the digimon with conflicting feelings of pleasure and pain. Both cut from the cloth of nostalgia. She peaked inside. There's no one left. The ragtag group of digimon that had once lived there had either moved on or passed away. She shed a tear when she recalled the one that had brought them all together, Flamedramon. Or "Dave" as he was called by very close friends. With his passing, the remaining few split for good. She left the cave to see more familiar sights. The one to catch her eye the most were the many thorned plants. The equal parts foliage and copper wire all apart of the same anatomy. To a human it would appear odd, but the strange blend of nature with technology was something all digimon knew as normal. The glowing electric flowers to appear from their many buds had often comforted her a long time ago. Though now she only focused on the barbed wire thorns surrounding it. The it started to grow. It grew far quicker than she remembered. So she took advantage of that. She removed the violet glove from one paw and firmly against the thorns as they continued to rise. The wired thorns pierced through her fur and skin leaving small holes exposing faint signs of her wire-frame. It didn't matter. She remembered mental pain each day. Now she chose to remember some degree of physical pain. It was real pain, but in mere moments The plant ceased moving and began to wither away. For a moment Renamon saw a brief flash of the earliest friends she had know and then, suddenly, the path she'd once walked many times to the cave she called home was changed. It now lead straight to the Makino household. She looked down at her arm observing her wounds for a moment before they faded away. She gasped in shock when she felt a familiar arm placed on her shoulder. It was that of her partner, Ruki. "You'll be arlight." She said to her digimon. She then glanced back and saw her other friends approach her. In the final moments before her vision rapidly began to fade she'd felt both a hug from Ruki at her right said, and a kiss on her cheek from Jenrya who stood to her left. "You're in good hands." Said a familiar voice she couldn't identify because everything went back.
Suddenly, she was in her bed again. She'd had another nightmare but it didn't stay a nightmare. She neither hit or head rolling around nor did she wake up late. It was..normal. It was just another day and for once her mind felt either busy from so many thoughts nor fatigue from sleeping too much or too little. It was just another day odd dream or not. She took to her family's company for their first meal of the day. Rumiko would soon depart and everyone gave her well wishes. She claimed she would return sooner than the last, but she still had a client to please. She promised she'd return with various Austrian confections for her family. Ruki seemed disinterested but Renamon gave the woman thanks her for the kind offer. Soon, after many hugs and kisses(much to Ruki's dismay), Rumiko was gone. She and her many, many bags were in-bound for her European flight once again.
With breakfast now well behind them, Ruki and Renamon both went about their daily business. To Renamon's surprise, Ruki had began experimenting with makeup. It was very mild and she hated anything too elaborate or womanly, but she found herself enjoying more basic things. Things like foundation and eyeliner were more common in her daily rituals than they'd ever been.
"I don't know much about makeup, but I'm sure Takato will find that curious eye outline look of yours enjoyable." Renamon spoke to her partner partially with that all too familiar teasing tone with some of her words and a coating of surprise scattered among others. Ruki wanted to tell her off again, but didn't this time. She just sighed in defeat and continued with her work. "Maybe. You're right, Ruki said, "I guess, he'll like it. He'd better." An amused chuckle from Renamon followed. "Of course." "Hey, Renamon." Ruki asked just as her partner had turned to leave the room.
"Yes, Ruki?" "What do you think about, uh..." "About what? Is everything alright?"
Ruki shook her head. "Nah, everything is fine for me and Takato but..." "But?' The vixen grew more curious of what Ruki was leading on to by the minute. The young woman wouldn't even look at her digimon eye to eye as she blurted out her next few words. "About you. You ever been with someone or want to be?" Ruki finally turned to her friend to see her pupils dilate a bit. "What? Ruki...why would you ask this?" Ruki sighed. "Cause no matter how much I hate gushy romantic crap, I can't lie, having a guy to hang with like that and tell you he loves you is nice. I dunno if I believe in that 'someone for everyone' crap or other romantic stuff, but he does. And..."
"And..?" Renamon dared not think of what her friend would say next, but she also couldn't back out of the situation.
Both gave an awkward sigh before the human spoke up. "Dunno, in the last few months you changed a bit. Something seems different, if only a little. I'll be honest with you, being with him good for me, but its also made me see things I didn't used to. You've been happier lately, which is good, but it kinda feels like something else is different about you."
Renamon searched for all the willpower she could muster to maintain her composure. With a gulp she looked away. Ruki could see she was in deep thought, but she needed an answer. "Well?"
"Well, I will think about what you said. Being in love sounds...nice, but, well, time consuming."
Renamon began calculating other excuses she could think up keep dodging the main question. She was conflicted and that was plain to see. Lying to the most important person in her life was not easy, so she mixed truth and lie to give her words some authenticity. "I uh, Ruki, I don't know, okay? I've seen what you have with Takato and see what others experience. Not one is immune to love or lust, not even a digimon, but time...yes, time. Do you really think I have the time and patience for that? I'm still looking for a hobby as grandmother says I should, but time I could spend chasing some romantic dream is...far better spent training or guarding you, yes..."
She knew. She knew Renamon had someone in her life and was not being truthful. There was some hurt between them. Yet it dissipated quickly on Ruki's side when she recalled the words of Takato and Seiko. 'She's not fooling me, but maybe they're right. Maybe I should just play dumb for now.' Ruki shrugged and grabbed a nearby hair brush. "Sure, if ya say so. You're right though, it is a lotta time spent, but maybe you should...try it one day." Renamon signed. "Perhaps, but...not likely, certainly not likely..."
Now tensions had had long faded, but Ruki's curiosity would not. Besides this encounter nothing unusual occurred. The rest of the week things remained relatively plain in the Makino home. Seiko would read an old favourite book of hers, and Ruki and Renamon would maintain their not-so-secret-secret relationships quietly.
Author's Note: 6 favs and 6 follows!? Thank you all!