Darkness Falls, part 8
‘Remembering’
By: Kira Yalnami
Well, here’s part eight. Enjoy.
Kira.
* * *
Kyra walked to the entrance of the caves. The nightmares, the dreams had been sealed indelibly upon her heart. The night air was cold, but she stayed out a moment longer, getting a grip on herself. She heard voices and paused. It was Mimi and Izzie.
They were conversing in whispered tones.
"Izzie, I am so scared, I keep having these dreams…"
Izzie pulled her close.
"Don’t worry, Mimi. I won’t let you get hurt."
She began to cry.
"I’m worried Izzie. What if this goes wrong? Will we die? I trust Kyra, but still..."
He put his arms around his little wife’s waist and pulled her close. She buried her head in his shoulder and cried.
"Shhh, Shhh. It’s okay." He reassured her, smoothing her hair. "It’s going to be all right…"
As he held her close, letting her cry until she had cried all of her tears, he remembered the day when they had known that they were in love.
* * *
Author’s Note: This is a very sentimental piece, but there is no sex. Just a little kissing. I’m only 13, so don’t expect much. All of my social life is in books. I did get a few pointers in some romance fics, so here we go. By the way, sorry if I didn’t make it clear that Izzie and Mimi are married.
It was May. The blooms on the apple trees were sweet smelling and palest pink, Mimi’s favorite color. He was waiting for Mimi. She almost always stopped here he had noticed. Her pottery class was just down the block, and she would come and sit here for hours and hours in the fragrant clearing. She had planted all sorts of plants there that bloomed all year round. It was prettiest in May. Not, how ever, as pretty as she. She no longer wore pink all of the time now. Today she was wearing khakies, a short-sleeved white shirt, and a pale pink cardigan.
Mimi walked down the sidewalk quickly. She was going to her clearing. She needed to be alone. What with school and her parents and pottery classes…It was a wonder she had any spare time at all. She stepped into the little clearing, eyes closed, smelling the apple blossoms. She opened her eyes and sat down in the shade of a lilac bush that grew wild near the climbing roses she had planted two years ago. When she looked up again after she had taken out her homework she started. Izzie was there, typing on his computer. He looked at her from his seat a few feet away, and a soft smile came over his face. Then he shook his head and bent down to his laptop once more.
"Hi Izzie. Why are you here?" she asked, curious.
He looked up from his laptop, his black eyes startled.
"Umm…No reason. Just looked like a nice place to type." he said, blushing slightly
"Okay. Just curious." She bent over her English homework again and neatly penned another sentence. Then she looked up, feeling someone’s eyes on her. Izzie looked away quickly, but not fast enough.
"Izzie, why were you looking at me?" she asked. It was more statement then question.
Izzie blushed. You idiot, He scolded himself, might as well tell her the truth.
"Well Mimi…It’sbecauseIlikeyou." The last few words were stumbling over one another, and were in open air with no way to call them back. Man, how could he have been so stupid? She probably had a boyfriend all ready, and besides, why should she like a nobody like him? He kept his head down, cheeks flaming.
Mimi looked thoughtful. Here was a very cute guy, saying that he liked her. He had known her since Digiworld, so it couldn't be for her looks. She mentally cursed herself. She had let her ‘ditz barrier’, as she and Sora jokingly called it, drop for a moment last year when they were working on their science project. She had turned 16 this year, and Izzie was now 15, but would be 16 in a few weeks. He had grown very tall, taller then she and his bushy red hair still hung in his face. It always took almost all of her self-control not to reach over and brush that troublesome hair out of his face.
She spoke after a long pause.
"Well Izzie…I kind of like you too. You’re smart, cute, and you really are very sincere." She smiled suddenly. "Yes, I definitely like you back." With this she leaned over, put her little hand under his chin, so he was looking into her brown eyes, and kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Izzie looked startled for a moment, and he edged closer to Mimi. The branches of the apple trees and the leafy rose plants now blocked them from view.
Mimi looked at Izzie for a moment, and then she put aside her history textbook, and he put aside his laptop.
"Hey." Mimi said, looking at Izzie. "Aren’t you going to kiss me back?"
He looked startled, and then he pulled her into his lap, and just held her for a moment. And then he gently turned her face to his and kissed her tenderly, full on the lips.
The kiss was long. And serious.
As Izzie held her, Mimi ran her fingers through his red hair, all the while cuddling up to his chest.
When the kiss broke off, rather reluctantly on both parts, Mimi looked at Izzie and asked him a question.
"When did you fist like me? And why do you like me?"
He ran his fingers through her silky brown hair and his black eyes got a faraway look in them as he remembered.
"I think it was in Digiworld, after we had just gotten there. You tried really hard not to complain after a while, and you showed that you weren’t a ditz like a lot of people thought. I really started to like you when we were trapped in that ancient temple. You showed a lot of courage, and you forgave me for getting you mad. You trusted my directions. A lot of things, really. I guess love works in subtle ways."
"Oh, you JUST noticed."
Mimi laughed at him, and ducked her head under his arm, so that he was embracing her.
"Three years." Mimi sighed. "I wish you could have told me sooner, you know. You are a very cute guy. Besides, I’ve never had a boyfriend, and have never kissed or been kissed by a guy before today."
He must have looked startled, because she explained further.
"I thought you were so cute and so nice, that I never even went on a date. I liked you too much, I guess."
He looked at her, almost as if she was a delicate piece of china, and he gently lifted her back in to his lap and his arms. He kissed her again, more insistently this time, and she kissed him back, twining her arms around his neck, and then she slowly inched her toung into his mouth, and he did the same to her, caressing her shoulders and then inching his hands down her sides, stopping when he reached her hips. Then he pulled her closer, and she was practically on top of him, still kissing him and falling deeper in love with him every minute. He placed his hands flat on her waist, and pulled her even closer to him, just for a moment. He then placed her gently on the ground and reached for his laptop and opened a file. When it came onscreen, he handed the computer to her.
Mimi’s breath caught in her throat as she read the document.
Beauty
Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder,
And none would rival thee.
Beauty, they say, is what is on the inside.
The fluttering of butterflies,
The blooming flow’rs
The spring rain,
The light
Of the Sun
Caught in your Cinnamon eyes,
The promise of spring in your smile.
Beauty, they say is what is and what will be,
But thou…
Thou shalt be what thou shalt be,
And I will think thee beautiful just the same.
For I Love thee.
"Izzie. This is a very good poem." She said seriously.
He laughed quietly.
"You’re just saying that because I wrote it for you." He kissed her again, on her nose
and she giggled and sat up. Her eyes became serious once more, and she reached for his hand and held it to her cheek. Then she pulled herself onto his lap once more and held his face in her small hands.
"Promise me something Izzie."
"Anything."
"Don’t ever get hurt or die on me, okay?"
He smiled.
"Don’t worry. ‘Yes! I am invincible!’" he quoted a James Bond movie.
She smiled at him and kissed him once more.
Izzie couldn’t believe it. He was kissing Mimi! And it was her idea! He knew now how Tai felt about Sora. And Matt about that new girl- what’s her name? Oh, yeah. The red headed twin. She had known him for ages. Kyra, he thought. But who cared about her?
He was kissing Mimi!
She kissed him back, and life was great.
"Mimi, I love you." He said, looking deeply into her brown eyes. She just hugged him and kissed him again. When they broke off, she spoke.
"I love you too, Izzie-chan."
She brushed his unruly hair out of his eyes and smiled. "More then you could ever know."
Author’s Note: Sorry, I just think they’re so cuyte together. Besides, they deserve each other. I really am working on their personalities, so she’s not whiny, and he’s not overly ‘techie’. Mimi can do the rest of the remodeling on him later. And Kyra, please don’t kill me, okay? And give me a break. I am a sappy person. I am corny. But I like Izzie and Mimi together. (Although I think she’s pretty darn cute with Jyou, but people will lynch me for that)
P.S. Here come Sora and Tai next. Please don’t kill me.
* * *
Kyra wiped away a small tear. That was so sweet. She then scolded herself for reading Izzie's memories of that day.
"Kyra," came a familiar quiet voice in her mind, "Aren’t you a bit ashamed of yourself? Just a little?"
She smiled inwardly.
"Hello Senji." She said quietly, looking at a shimmering figure on her right. "How are my roses?" her tone was almost wistful.
"They miss you Kyra. As do I. " The misty shadow of the short red-haired man with glasses smiled a bit, and then wavered a moment. With a soft puff of air, he vanished.
After waiting a moment, she made a bit more noise then usual as she walked toward the front of the cave where they sat.
"Good evening, Mimi, Izzie. How are you?"
Mimi looked at Kyra, wondering if her friend would be offended. She decided to take a risk.
"Kyra? How do you know if this prophecy is true?"
Kyra turned and spoke seriously.
"I don't, Mimi. I can only hope."
A/N: Thanks much to Stardragon for BETAing my fic…and I'll tell you guys who Star is. Star is a made-up character in Senji's fics. She's his girlfriend.
* * *
Sora stirred. She had slept out in the main cave because she had felt a need to see the stars. She had fallen asleep staring at the unfamiliar constellations that were scattered across the alien sky. She awoke fully and groaned. Her muscles had locked while she sat, curled in an alcove at the entrance of the caves. She stretched her arms and stood slowly, and then she swayed to an unconscious song, and remembered.
It was three years after digiworld, and it was April. She sat alone on the merry-go-round at the old park, and, making sure no one was around, she began to cry. Her quiet sobs were muffled even further by the fact that she had pulled her knees up to her chest. She was only 16! Why was this happening to her? Her Mother was in the hospital. Sora would have to quit soccer and work afternoons. Her life was falling apart, and she was sure Tai liked someone else. A blonde ditz called Sherri Morgan, who was a creep if Sora had ever seen one. Her heart and hopes broken, she cried, unaware that she was being watched.
It wasn’t until his arm was around her shoulders that she knew Tai was there. She firmly pushed down a rush of emotion and looked him, full into his handsome face, his honest eyes full of concern.
Tai looked at Sora’s tear-streaked face and felt a pang of worry, along with the usual tide of emotion he felt whenever she was near.
"Sora? What’s wrong?" he asked, trying to mask the fact that his heart was in his voice.
She wiped her eyes hastily.
"Nothing. How’s Sherri?" she asked, sounding hurt.
"What about Sherri? She’s dating Mica Nassau. I need to know what’s wrong with you."
She looked straight into his eyes for one moment, and then she buried her head in his shoulder and cried again. She cried until all of her tears had been wept, and then she fished in her pocket for a tissue, carefully avoiding his gaze. Then she told him, in a shaky voice.
"Mom’s sick. She had to go to the hospital, so I’m dropping soccer." And I’m in love with you, she added silently in her mind.
"Oh Sora. I’m so sorry." His voice showed all his emotion. He put his arm around her and they stood up.
"I’m sorry for crying on you Tai. I didn’t mean to." She said, sounding embarrassed. He noticed, however, that she did not pull away from his arm.
They were walking on a path that ran through a small stand of gingko trees. The gingkoes grew in a circle, shielding a lovely flowered miracle within. There was a bamboo grove nearby, where Tai often went to be alone. He led Sora to it now.
"Tai? Where are we going?" Sora sounded nervous.
"Here." He pointed to the bamboo. "I always come here when I’m upset or I need to think, or when I just gotta get away from it all."
He felt her shiver beneath his arm and he pulled her closer. The thicket was two feet away now, and Tai mentally kicked himself. Sora was upset, and she didn’t need to know how he felt about her, but still…he gently pulled her after him into the mossy area.
"Sora, something else is wrong. What is it?" he was more insistent this time. "Tell me. It’s important. You’re important." His voice cracked, something that hadn’t happened in years.
And then he had pulled her close, and he was telling her the secret he had locked in his heart for so long.
"I love you too much to see you hurt. What’s wrong?"
Her amber eyes stared at his face for one moment, and then her voice answered, trembling and thin.
"I love you too Tai. I thought you didn’t love me, and I was just so lost, I need you here." With this rush of words, Tai felt his emotions get the better of him for once, and before he knew it, he had pulled Sora closer then he had thought possible and he was kissing her.
Sora was wide-eyed with amazement. He loved her. Her heart sang, and she leaned closer to Tai, and the kiss went on.
When he pushed her back reluctantly, Sora felt vaguely disappointed, but she was too happy to care. He loved her! She leaned back toward him and he ran his fingers through her reddish-brown hair.
Tai ran his fingers through her hair. She was perfect, and she loved him. It had taken a few minutes to get a hold on his emotions, but when he had, he reluctantly pulled away. To his surprise, she had leaned back toward him, and here he was, playing with her hair.
"Sora?"
"Yes, Tai?" Her voice was dreamy and calmer then it had been before
He cleared his throat.
"I’m sorry about that. I should have asked or something."
She turned around so she was facing him.
"Don’t be sorry, Tai." And then she kissed him.
It was a quick kiss, but not for long. Tai pulled her back into his lap and held her as if he would never let her go. Her crest glowed deep red, and she began to glow with the same rosy iridescence. He felt her open her mind to him, and her memories flooded through him.
Sadness, pain, and fear coursed through some of her memories. Datamon was there, and she was falling into the black pit, the center of Etemon’s power. Then her mind was suddenly hopeful, as a strong hand grasped her own, just as the darkness would claim her. Tai’s hand.
Falling, she gripped his waist, as the walls of Whamon’s esophagus flew past them.
Her cry of despair when he and Metalgreymon disappeared into the portal to another world after they had defeated Etemon.
Her dark fears that her crest would never glow, as she followed him and Jyou to help them silently on their quest to find the others.
Her love flowing through her crest, helping Birdramon digivolve to Garudamon. And one other thing.
He was in each memory, and she seemed to tell herself he was only a friend, nothing more, nothing less. But her heart knew this to be untrue. She loved Tai.
And now he loved her, and nothing could be wrong when he was there. She felt safe now…
Tai turned her face to his, and kissed her again, feeling her acceptance of him as a great wonder. He placed his hands on her back, and he rubbed her shoulders, all the while kissing her, inching his toung into her mouth, scraping the roof of her mouth, feeling her toung beneath his. He slowly inched his hands up and down her sides, pulling her closer and closer each time.
As she applied herself fully to his caresses and kisses, she felt his wonder and love for her more then ever before.
* * *
A voice started her back to reality, and the fact that it was freezing out here, after the moon had set. In four or five hours, the sun would rise. But all there was now were stars.
"Sora?"
She spun around, frightened.
"Oh, it’s you. Don’t scare me like that!" she cried, looking angrily at Tai.
He ignored her outburst.
"What are you doing out here?"
She gave him a crooked half-smile.
"Remembering." She sighed. "I was remembering…How simple life used to be. How
clear-cut." She sighed again. "But life’s not like that at all. Nothing is simple. Nothing is clear-cut anymore. I guess we all grew up too fast…Oh, well. No use complaining about what isn’t."
"In the words of Gommamon, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t try and fix it.’"
She forced laughed.
"Yeah."
His face grew serious. "Tell me what’s really wrong Sora."
She turned her back on him, afraid to let him see her cry.
"Nothing! I’m fine!" Her voice became soft, pleading. "Just…just leave me alone. Please. Please Tai. I just need some time to myself. Just go…go."
He could hear the tears in her voice, so he left her, sitting alone in the dark.
"Taichi."
He knew who it was without looking.
"Yes, Kyra?"
"You still love her. She still loves you. Go to her."
"But you…"
She held up a hand, stopping his words.
"This is how it was meant to be, Taichi. I was alone before. I will not be alone much longer. I know where my destiny lies. Now go to Sora, and comfort her, as you did the first day you told her you loved her."
He stared at her.
"But how do you know all of this?"
"I am the seer, Taichi. Also, I watched her for many years…You love her still, but you have hurt her deeply. Go, and earn her trust and love again. There will be a day when that is vital." With a slight whisper of her cloak, the small woman was gone into the night.
Tai sighed, but turned back to Sora.
"Sora. Please listen."
"Go away. You’ve hurt me before. How do I know you won’t do it again?"
"You don’t. You have to trust me. Kyra told me to come to you. She seemed to know
more about our…relationship…then we do."
The thin woman spun around, facing Tai.
"What do you mean?" in her voice he could sense a glimmer of fear. "Tell me what she said, exactly."
He recited what his ex-girlfriend had told him. And then he added something more.
"We never kissed, and she only hugged me once. That was when I found out about her crest. She always seemed wary of PDA’s, as Kari would say. You know, Public Displays of Affection. It was like she was missing something. We really just hung out together. I saved her life once, a long time ago." His voice trailed off. "She said that your love would be vital."
Sora paled, and rocked back on her heels.
"Oh. No." she gasped. "Oh. No. NO!" her breath came in ragged bursts, as if she had
been running. "The dreams. They were true…" she shivered, and sat down in the small alcove just off the side of the cave entrance. He sat down next to her, but she stood up immediately.
"I’m sorry Tai. But I need a little time to understand this." She walked away, down the corridor to her own cave-like room.
Tai leaned against the cave wall, confused and more then slightly alone.
* * *
T.K. sat with his arm loosely around Kari’s shoulders, gazing at the stars. She had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, as they looked at the deep cloak of night, studded with starry sequins. He had put his arm around her only when he as sure she was asleep, and to his surprise, she had placed her head on his shoulder, and was smiling slightly as she dreamt. A silent breeze stirred, sending a cold vapor to where the two sat. Kari shrugged herself awake, and looked slightly embarrassed for falling asleep on T.K.’s arm.
"Sorry." She pushed herself into a sitting position, and then levered herself up by
grabbing a piece of rock that jutted out of the cave wall. She turned as if to leave, but T.K. stood up and grabbed her arm. It was a good thing he did, because at that moment, the particular rock overhang on which she stood on collapsed. Kari did not scream. She merely hung, dangling over the cliff edge, with T.K. holding her arm.
"Tekeru. Grab my other arm." She reached for him with her right arm, and grasped his fingers. She seemed too frightened to scream, and T.K. wasn’t sure if this was good or bad. Luckily for them, Kyra came over to where they had sat a moment ago, and saw Kari’s peril. She almost flew to the edge where Kari dangled over a one thousand-foot drop into an icy river. They had to be flown to and from the cave, unless rock climbing was a hobby. Grabbing her hands, Kyra helped pull her up.
"You saved my life."
Kyra pushed away her thanks as if it were a spider web.
"I didn't save you." With that, she disappeared.
Matt walked up, and, seeing his younger brother looking as white as a sheet, he asked what was wrong in a worried tone. When they told him, he stepped back unconsciously.
"Explain further, T.K. And Kari, I’ll need your part of the story too."
Kari took a deep breath, and began to tell Matt.
"We were sitting here, looking to see if we could find any similar constellations to the ones at home. I fell asleep after a little while, and not five minutes later I awoke because a very cold breeze seemed to have wrapped itself around my body. Tekeru," she gestured to the young man, "had put his arm around my shoulders, but when I awoke, I stood up to leave. He grabbed my arm, and that was a good thing, because a moment later, I was dangling over the cliff edge. Kyra saw us, and she ran up and grabbed my arm and I felt weightless, as though angels were lifting me into the air. Then I was back here on the ledge, and then Kyra was gone."
After T.K. related a similar story, Matt walked away, confused, leaving the two together.
Kari shivered, and wrapped her thin sweater around her equally thin shoulders.
"Brrr. I’m freezing. Let’s go to the main cave."
T.K. agreed, and the two walked off to the slightly warmer front rooms. As they entered, they were surprised to find the ‘parlor’ cave empty. They sat down on the sofa closest to the fireplace that Jyou had fixed up when they had come to this cave. The digimon had made the furniture when Kyra had been here with her brother.
Kari sprawled comfortably near the blaze, barely covering one of the cushions. T.K. sat down next to her, taking up slightly more space. For his twenty years, T.K. was very tall. Kari, who was just a few months older then he, had changed over the years as he had known her. She had grown her hair out to shoulder length, and she didn’t wear bight colors anymore. She was taller too, and her brown and gold eyes were not as mischievous as they had been during her freshman year at college.
He placed his arm around her shoulder, not as scared of rejection this time. She was shivering anyway, so why not? Well, he could think of about a dozen reasons for that one, but still…
It surprised him when she curled up closer to him, perhaps to absorb more of his body heat. He smiled fondly at her, remembering all the fun times in junior high school when they had stolen Tai’s disks that held love poems for Sora. He remembered how they had laughed…
The real disks were in Kari’s bag now, only blank copies were Tai’s disks had been kept.
"High five, Girlfriend!" he whooped.
"Yes!" Kari slapped his hand, jubilant. "We have Tai’s disks! Right on!"
Mimi and Izzie had watched from afar, holding hands.
"They make a cute couple."
"Too true."
"Hmmmmm…."
"T.K.?"
"Hmm?" he asked, startled out of his reverie. Also startled by the fact that she rarely called him T.K. "What is Kari?"
"Oh, nothing." She snuggled closer to him on the sofa and inhaled deeply. She loved the way he smelled. It was a smell of wood smoke and pine needles. Pulling a book out of a backpack that lay on the floor, Kari settled down to read. It turned out to be a good book entitled The Giver by Lois Lowry. As she progressed farther into the book, however, Kari began to feel that it was not a great choice of bedtime reading. She stuffed the book back into the backpack and got off the sofa, careful not to awaken T.K., and walked quietly down the halls to her room.
T.K. woke up a few hours later, stiff and cramped on the sofa. He stood up, stretched, yawned and headed toward the kitchen. As is normal with young men, he was hungry.
* * *
Jyou had spent the night looking out over the treetops, and it seemed that he was waiting for someone or something.
It was a warmish fall afternoon, four years after he had returned from digiworld. He stood up straight, as if looking for someone. A few minutes later a taller figure came ambling up the driveway. It was his older brother Jim.
Jyou was a sophomore at college now. He was majoring in Medicine, until he could get enough guts to tell his dad that he didn’t want to be a Doctor. He would prefer to be lawyer or something that did not require him having to see blood. It would probably never happen. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Jyou was easily intimidated. His years in Digiworld had made him able to be brave when he absolutely had to, but other then that, he tried to forget anything abnormal had ever happened.
"Hi Jyou. How’s school coming?"
"Fine Jim. About as wonderful as a walk through hell."
"That bad, eh?"
"You have no idea." He changed the subject. "How are things in South Africa?"
"Violent, as usual, but I feel like I’m doing a lot of good."
"That’s something, at least."
His brother looked at him seriously.
"Jyou, I know it’s hard, but you gotta stand up to dad. You have to live your own life. Be your own person."
Jyou hung his head, feeling far more inadequate then usual.
"I guess I’m too timid to be a good lawyer or anything Jim. I’m used to being shoved
around by now. It’s what I’m good for." With this, he turned and walked away.
I’m nothing but a miserable failure, he thought angrily. I’ll never live up to my expectations or my dad’s or anyone’s. I’m just the doll that they tell what to do. I feel like a robot half the time. He pulled up a clump of grass in his mom’s flower boxes, and then he threw it down, and sat, burying his face in his hands. Where was Gommamon when he needed to be cheered up? His digi-pal had to stay in the Digiworld, and it had been hard to say goodbye. His life just wasn’t his to live. He wished he HAD stayed in the Digiworld longer. Fighting evil had been easier then living up to his father’s expectations. Might as well tell a rose to bloom in January, or a rice paddy to grow in a drought.
A hand on the back of his neck made him sit up and turn around quickly, startling the girl behind him. It was just Jenny, a girl whom his parents hired to keep the garden in shape. She was about 15, and she never had taken much to Jyou’s pessimism.
"Jyou, is something wrong?" she asked in her quiet voice, her blonde hair tumbling
down her shoulders.
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Hmm…the fact that you’re weeding your mom’s Lemongrass and arugula? And mangling them, I might add."
He looked guiltily at the clump he had pulled out of the flower box.
Despite the fact that it was early September, Jenny was wearing turquoise shorts and a white and blue horizontally striped tank top. Her shoulder length blonde hair was pulled back with a bandanna, and she was looking at him skeptically.
"Well?" she had obviously been weeding the vegetable garden his mom kept out back. They now lived in the country, because his parents were more then a little frightened by the ‘monsters’ in Odaiba and Heighten. They wanted to get away from the dangerous city.
"I guess I am a little uptight."
She raised an eyebrow "A little? Oiy, you are so annoying at times. By the way, phone. Says their name is Taichi or something." With this, she sauntered off, leaving Jyou to race for the phone, shocked past feeling.
"Hello? Jyou Kido speaking, can I help you?"
"Hi Jyou. It’s Tai. We were thinking about getting together for a reunion soon. Can you come?"
"Just a reunion?"
"Just a reunion. Don’t worry. You can meet the kid Matt likes, although he’s too shy to even say hi to her."
Jyou smiled. After they had returned from Digiworld, Matt had gotten even more withdrawn and hardly spoke to anyone except T.K.
"When is it?"
"Next weekend at my house. You know the address?"
"Yeah. See you there Tai. What time?"
"4:00 Saturday evening. We might go out to dinner."
"Fine. See you then. Bye."
"Bye."
The phone hung up with a click.
Well, thought Jyou, I’ll see some of my old friends soon. Much cheered, he headed to his room to look over his class schedule.
* * *
Some are lucky, Kyra thought bitterly. A home and a family. They have homes at least. But I have the stars. She shook her head and headed over to where Matt sat, playing his old harmonica. She quietly sat down near him and took her harp off her back. And then she played.
It was not a song, as one would call it, but more a melody of feelings. Hope and Love, Sorrow, Pain, Friendship, Knowledge and Sincerity. Courage, Light, Strength, Life… Her voice swirled with startling clarity in the star-filled night, and ached for friends and family alike, gone to the sleep of death. She broke off for a moment, but dove back into the music, and the soothing feeling of the moonlight that remained in the inky blackness.
Starlight, Starbright,
Look down on this lonely heart tonight
I am all out of wishes
Now that my love is out of sight
If I never would have loved him
Never would I feel such pain
And now it makes me wonder
If I'll ever love again
Matt joined in her song, his deeper voice blending with hers.
Tonight there are no special stars
All promises prove untrue
And the moon is just a hollow
That all my dreams have fallen through
She broke off playing, and was silent. Her harp was stilled and no more music came. She rose from her seat and bowed shortly to Matt, and walked away, holding her harp as one would hold a child or a fabulous jewel.
Matt leaned back, and his harmonica started up again, echoing the last few notes of the song she had sung as sweetly as her harp.
Pain. The fists raised again, and he put his arms over his face. Fat lot of good that did him. Ended up in hospital, with a broken wrist and a concussion.
"What happened, son?" asked an overly cheerful doctor.
Matt turned his face into an unreadable mask. Hiding his anger, hiding his fear. Hiding his pain.
"Nothing."
"Hard to believe that" remarked a nurse passing by. "You were beat up pretty good. By the way, one of our new, underage interns will see to you from now on."
Great. Just great. Thought Matt to himself. He didn’t need a little talkative person yapping at him all hours of the day.
"Yamato? You have a visitor. Your mother."
Matt turned his face into a blank mask again.
"Matt. Please. What happened."
"Nothing. I’m fine." He answered in a curt tone.
His mother sat near him for two hours and then she left.
Matt drifted into a drug-induced haze, watching his body as if through another’s eyes.
There was no pain now. No pain, no fear, no fright. But there was sorrow.
"Yamato?" a hesitant female voice from his bedside. "Mr. Ishida, sir, I will be on call for you now. I am new at this. Sorry." There was a lop-sided grin on her features. "There was an accident at the embassy, so it looks like it’s just us here in this wing. Do you want anything? Besides getting out of here, I mean. I’m only a summer helper, and that’s only because I’m good with raw ingredients. Would you like a drink?"
Matt sat up slowly; trying not to move his pain filled arms.
"No. Thank you." The thank you was more of an afterthought, but the girl didn’t seem to notice.
"Well, Sir, I’ll be here if you need anything." She walked out of his line of vision.
"You don’t have to call me ‘sir’ all the time."
"It’s my job to suck up to the cranky patients sir. I have a high tolerance for withdrawn
people. I was a patient once though. It’s very…informal here."
He heard the rustle of a book’s pages being turned.
"What are you reading?" he asked, more because he hated this oppressive silence then a desire for conversation.
"It’s called Beyond the Cat’s Eye. I really think it’s a bizarre book, but a friend of mine wanted a review, so…" she shrugged. "It’s not that interesting."
He heard rather then saw her put down the book. She walked into his vision.
"Listen, Mr. Ishida, life’s not simple. I know you were beaten, and not by some kid at school. I know that you are a recluse. I can see that you have full control over your emotions." She paused, for effect, Matt thought. "I may be only 18, but I can still help people. Your job, here and now, Mr. Ishida, is to get well and not wallow in self-pity. You are still only 7, and that’s to be expected." Her voice was even and smooth, as if she were telling him the multiplication tables. "When you get older, things will be better." She made a face. "I shouldn’t lie Sir. Life doesn’t get better, and we both know that. The older you get, the more responsibility. Until then, you have to make the best of life and muddle through the best you can." She sighed, and stood up. "It is time for me to go, Mr. Ishida. I hope that you will think about what I have told you." She walked out of the room, her midnight colored hair flowing loosely down her back.
Later, when the doctor came back, Matt asked about the woman.
"Who was she?"
The doctor paled visibly, seeming see-through, and then lowered his voice.
"That was Tiffany. She was a maniac depressant. She went back thirty years ago.
Some patients who are depressed or have problems see her. She talks to them. It sometimes helps them to find their place in the world. Tiffany was different. She was here even after she went back. Funny though." The doctor looked at the ceiling. "She was 18 when she left. Some say she hasn’t changed. But others say she seems more content. More…free. She speaks, and we listen. She’s our hospital spirit." He paused. "Mr. Ishida, what did she tell you?"
"About how life doesn’t get any easier."
The doctor chuckled. "Yes, Tiffany was right. Life isn’t simple. It takes a person like her
to show you the good side of complexities. Like how a roses petals bloom differently, making a new and beautiful pattern every time we look at it." He smiled again, and Matt shrank back a bit. The man was transparent. He was fading, and there was a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Remember, Mr. Ishida. Friends do help you. I’ll see you when it’s your time." He faded away completely and Matt watched the dead wander around, seeing to the people who were dying or were about to die. They were preparing them, Matt thought, shocked. He was dead. But the visions were pulled away…
Matt awoke from a drugged haze.
"Where am I?" he asked the surrounding people, who looked as if their dog had just died.
"Mr. Ishida. You were dying. We just restarted your heart. You were in a coma. You’ve been like that for three months."
Matt stopped playing, and sighed. It had been years since the ‘attack’ he had suffered, and since then he had made his emotions an unreadable mask. It was better that way.
Still…his mind drifted back to the song Kyra had sung.
Starlight, Starbright. She was as mysterious as the stars, but surly the song was just an old lullaby or something?
Look down on this lonely heart tonight. He knew that feeling, all too well in fact.
I am all out of wishes. He wished. He wished that this crazy adventure would end, along with his frightening dreams…
Now that my love is out of sight. All the people he had trusted had broken that trust…until that fated summer so long ago.
Never would I feel such pain. The protector’s shall shoot arrows of Hope and Light at the loved ones that they are sworn to protect…he shook his head. Better to forget the pain of days long past…
And now it makes me wonder. Wondering, wondering. Always looking for the answer so that you never concentrated on the problem.
If I'll ever love again. An ending plea. She had almost made him cry, but he kept his face unreadable. Kyra had a sweet, high voice, and its soaring to hights unknown was a fantastic miracle. Her song was as pretty as…as…as the moon and the stars.
Matt shook his head. Since when did he become poetic? He rose and walked toward his cave-like apartments to rest his frazzled mind.
Tonight there are no special stars
All promises prove untrue
And the moon is just a hollow
That all my dreams have fallen through
* * *
"Kyra, do you love the Blue-Eyed-One-of-Sorrow?"
"I love them all as if they were my children or my own family, Katamon. I have no family any more. You know this as well as I." The small women let down her red hair, and the auburn wealth went to her waist. Her hair was wavy, curly, kinked. As she took off her wrist guards, revealing more recent burns, Jademon walked in.
"Master, has the bloodsong started already? Must you torture yourself any longer?"
Kyra shrugged, and put on a white robe.
"It is my destiny to be the Seer. The destiny requires blood, and I will not take yours nor anyone else's. I and I alone am to blame for this wretched world." She pulled off her half boots and socks, and swung her feet onto the bed, burying them deep into the furry flanks of Sappiremon.
"Your feet are cold, Master." The deep-voiced gryphon said uncomplainingly. His grim face creaked into his usual good-natured smile.
"The night is cold, Feathered Beast."
He shook out his great wings slightly, but it was enough to blow Kyra and Katamon flat.
"Master, I come!" came the crackling voice of the little firebird, Rubymon. The door swung open, and almost immediately the rooms all up and down the hall were warmer.
"Hush, little ones." Kyra called silently to the digimon with her mind. "I will sing the sleepsong." Her mind began to recall each sweet note, and a deeper melody came filtering through the sounds. A mellow, soothing voice.
"May dreams rest well upon thy sleep filled heads. May the dreams of the hour be sweet. May you rest well. Remember the story of the night…"
Kyra smiled and took up the melody.
"And rest your weary wings, and minds. May you sleep serenely, tonight." She stopped, letting the last notes die away slowly, not finishing the song. She began to braid her thick hair.
"Master, finish the song." Came a small, familiar voice. It was Chorathmon.
Kyra looked at the small spider, and held back tears.
"So," she said evenly, "You have come back."
The little spider nodded.
"Yes, Master. I have come back."
* * *
A/N: There is part eight. I better get crackin’. Most people don’t like ‘fic hunting’. Hope you liked this. Please review. And just so you know, Tai and Sora DO NOT get kinky! I don't write that sort of thing. And Matt's attacks will come to light. Sooner or later. Really. Oh, gods…
-Kira Yalnami 0_o*
