Rika, to my surprise, was actually up and about that night.
For a certain value of up and about, at any rate.
A single look at her told me all I needed to know.
She was a mess. Her eyes were red, somewhat puffy, with dark bags underneath them. She hadn't gotten much sleep, I could tell.
Her posture was a far cry from the days before; she was slumped over, leaning slightly forwards, her mouth very slightly open, staring forwards with an almost entirely blank gaze.
She moved in a daze, wandering through the park. Renamon followed closely behind, never more than a few meters away.
With a non-existent sigh, I shimmered into visibility on one of the park benches, inside her field of view.
I didn't miss Renamon's very slight twitch, though Rika herself barely reacted.
I didn't say anything. I just patted the bench next to me.
Slowly, she moved forwards, before turning around and sitting next to me.
She didn't say anything, either.
"Still thinking about what happened?"
"I nearly died."
I'm not going to lie, I was actually kind of surprised that she had spoken so clearly. Brief, to the point, nearly monotone, but loud and clear.
"You did. You came very, very close to death. Closer than most people your age. Closer than most people ever will, actually." In this World, anyway.
In the Elemental Nations, death was all too common. No doubt, there were countless other Worlds out there that were even worse.
"I nearly died. To an oversized rabbit."
"You nearly met your end at the hands of Gargomon, yes. I wonder how many have met their ends at the hands of Renamon?"
"That's... different." Rika stated, hesitating.
"Is it?" I asked. "Why does the fact that they're Digimon change things, Rika?"
"They're... data?"
"And what does that have to do with anything, Rika?" I continued. "Data or not, almost every Digimon is still a thinking being, one who is alive, one who experiences emotions. The fact that they are made out of data does not mean anything more than the fact that you are made out of matter."
"But-"
"That is not an answer to the question, Rika." I cut her off. "The fact that they are made of data means nothing. An answer to the question, Rika, would have been the fact that many of the Digimon who met their end at Renamon's hands came to the real world with the intention to battle, the intention to grow stronger, the intention to delete others and load their data. That is not, however, the only answer. There are many answers to that question, and all of them vary in how relevant they are."
Rika said nothing.
"Would you come down here for a second, Renamon?" I asked, looking up in the trees.
A moment passed, before Renamon suddenly appeared in front of us.
"Take a good, long look at your partner, Rika. Take a good, long look at your partner, Renamon." I told them. "And realise that, once you strip away meaningless things like what you are made out of, you two are more alike than you are both aware. Do you think Renamon has never felt fear in her life, Rika? Do you think that Renamon isn't just as alive as you yourself are?"
Again, I saw Renamon's twitch, but I honestly couldn't give any less of a fuck.
"What... what does this have to do with..."
"With your experience? With your near death at the hands of Gargomon?"
She nodded.
"A considerable amount, actually. But among the most important is the fact that you are not the only one to have faced the chance of death. Renamon faces the chance of death each and every single time she goes into battle, no matter how small that chance actually is."
Rika slowly slumped.
"Renamon faces it, but I'm just too weak..."
I bopped her on the head.
She looked up at me, surprised.
"You're not 'weak', Rika. You're a ten year old girl who has just gone through one of the most terrifying things that could happen to a person, let alone a girl your age. I would have been more worried if you faced death and didn't react like this." If... for different reasons. "Nobody will blame you for what happened."
Rika said nothing, again.
"Chin up, Rika. You're not dead, you still have a life to live, and people to live it with." I looked towards Renamon, though the darkness of my hood made the gesture just about impossible to notice. "Trust me when I say you do not want to waste your life wallowing in what happened. That's no way to live. You'd just be a barely living shell of a Human being."
Rika slowly nodded.
"Why... why do I get the feeling you're talking from experience?"
"I... would rather not say." My head turned to the edge of the park, where I could sense a pair of humans entering. A couple, if the mutual attraction and love was any indication.
"You should hide, Renamon. There are two people coming this way." I looked at her.
She was gone in an instant.
I looked back down at Rika, and slumped, wrapping my arm around her and drawing her into a hug.
I let her go just as quickly, slowly standing up.
"Whatever the case, Rika, you should probably head home. It is quite late, and I have no doubt that your family will begin to worry about you soon." I began to walk away, in the opposite direction of the couple. "Keep in mind what I said, would you? Live a little."
I made it only a few meters away before Rika spoke up.
"Who are you?"
I stopped, before looking over my shoulder at her. She couldn't see through the darkness of my hood, but she stared directly into my eyes anyway.
"You may call me Drich."
I turned around, and walked away.