Omake Three: What the Parents think
Everybody who knows how badly Rika was hurt was surprised at the speed in which she recovers.
It is far, far faster than anything a normal human can do, Takato realises.
The first day, she spends in the infirmary. Takato, Guilmon, Henry, and Terriermon spend most of the day with her, all worried.
The second day, she is up and about- despite her mother's protests. Takato is worried about her, since he can still see the injuries, and slight limp she has.
The next day, she insists she is fine. Renamon is fully healed by now, and is never far from Rika. She isn't limping, but the rest of them still spend the day with her.
On the fourth, her burns are slowly disappearing, fading away.
On the fifth, the only thing that ever showed she was injured in the first place was the slight patches of discolored skin.
By the sixth, even that evidence has vanished.
Everybody knows that it is unnatural. Takato can't help but feel grateful for it. He'd bet that most of the others were the same.
Shibumi -Call me Gorou- eventually asks them about it. He says he has a suspicion, and that he thinks it has something to do with how they can merge with their Digimon outside of the Digital World.
They don't bother lying.
Gorou understands.
The revelation with their parents is much more complicated.
"How are you so unconcerned with this?!"
"Guilmon changes all the time, but he never stops being Guilmon on the inside." Takato shrugs. "Why is any different for me?"
In the few moments before Drich leaves, they are all given several things.
"Gifts." Drich tells them, the words appearing inside their minds.
Takato isn't sure how Drich does it, but it is never really unpleasant, so...
"Through those, I'll be able to find you." Drich says. "Even I can't track specific people from hundreds of dimensions away."
Drich hands Takato a necklace. It is blue, seemingly made of crystal, and it is in the shape of the Digital Hazard symbol. Surrounding the symbol is DigiCode, but Takato doesn't read that.
He likes it enough that he refuses the offer to change it to some other form.
Drich gives another to Guilmon, which looked exactly the same save for the fact it was a bracelet and not a necklace.
Rika and Renamon take bracelets. Theirs are in the shape of the Yin-Yang symbols. There is DigiCode around theirs, too.
Henry and Terriermon also take bracelets. Theirs are in the shape of the face on MegaGargomon's missiles. There is also DigiCode present.
Jeri takes a necklace, while Leomon takes another bracelet. Theirs are in the shape of fangs. The DigiCode around theirs is longer than the others, and he kind of wonders what it says.
He hands a final item to the Monster Makers, which they later find out can split apart into six pieces. He's not entirely sure what it actually is, but there is DigiCode around it, too.
"If you need me, tap those and I'll come running."
The DigiCode on his necklace, he later learns, reads 'We do deserve to exist'.
He kind of gets the impression that those words mean a lot more than he realises.
Takato spends a night actually wrangling his hair into something approaching a controlled state.
When he wakes up the next morning, and blearily looks into the mirror, he finds that his hair still looks like it did after he combed it.
He puts on a shirt, and realises it has a hole in it.
It's small though, so he isn't bothered.
By the time he comes back home, there is no longer a hole.
Takato notices.
He also notices that his hair is still fairly controlled.
He gets bored of his hairstyle.
Over the next few hours, his hair goes back to its usual unkempt state.
"Huh."
Takato thinks he has it figured out, now. He's mostly right.
He goes to the park to meet up with Rika, Henry, Renamon, and Terriermon.
Rika and Renamon are there before him, Guilmon, Henry, and Terriermon.
It is the first time he has seen Rika with her hair down.
He kinda likes it.
It takes him about three seconds to realise he said that out loud, when Rika's head snaps to him, her eyes narrowed.
He freezes on the spot, halfway panicking.
A few moments later, she turns away with a 'humph', her lips pursed.
Takato's eyesight is good -Getting better ever since he merged with Guilmon-, so he doesn't miss the small blush that spreads across her cheeks.
He doesn't want to die, however, so he tactfully refrains from mentioning that.
Rika wears her hair down the next day.
And the next.
And then the next.
Takato has no idea what to do.
Renamon is amused.
Guilmon is confused.
If you like it, why not say so?
"Come on, chumley, show us that Mega!"
Takato refuses.
Megidramon is not a toy, after all.
He is kind of sad about that, though.
As Takato lies in bed, half awake and half asleep, he begins whispering.
Guilmon, next to him -Because he doesn't have to hide Guilmon from his parents any more, and Takato is so happy about that- twitches slightly, listening to his partner.
Neither really remembers what Takato was saying, but both of them know one thing that will always be true.
Takato knows that Guilmon is his.
Guilmon knows that Takato is his.
Both them fall asleep, peacefully dreaming.
Both of them know that they wouldn't give it up for anything.
Both of them are fine with this.