Present: The Digital World
The hush of night quickly fell upon the
fugitives of the Digital World. Trees swayed gently in the cool breeze,
and a bright moon accompanied by twinkling stars hung in the dark sky, watching
over the four humans who had been trapped there. With all the recently
freed digital monsters in hiding, the only sounds that could be heard were the
crackling of the campfire and the breathing of eight sleeping creatures.
No one could have asked for a more pleasant night. And as the digimon and
their Digi-Destined partners slept peacefully around the warm fire, no one would
have guessed that they were on the run and that the Digital World was at war.
"Hmm?" Cody woke to the soft sound of wood splitting and cracking. He rubbed his eyes to clear his sleepy vision. That's when he found the origin of the noise that had stirred him. "It's just the campfire settling," he realized. But before he laid down to go back to sleep, he glanced around the campsite. The ash and embers from the fire were still glowing orange and red, and he could see the sleeping bodies of his friends, TK and Kari, with Patamon and Gatomon curled up beside one another. But when he turned to check on Tsuriai and Rakunamon, their spot was empty. Only the giant leaf Armadillomon had given her was left. "Oh!" he began to worry. "Where could she be?" He could feel his chest tighten with concern. After everything they had been through just in the past couple of days, this was not the time to be wandering off alone in the middle of the night. In his heart, he knew that, where ever she was, Rakunamon was with her, so she was safe. But something in his gut was telling him to go find her. So, without a second thought, he got up from his grassy bedding and started to leave the campsite.
Armadillomon heard the rustling of underbrush. Immediately, he lifted his head from his paws, turning it left and then right to check on everything. That's when he discovered that his human partner was missing, and that there was a shadowy figure just behind a few nearby trees. "Cody?" The dark-haired boy heard his name and quickly returned to the edge of camp. Armadillomon was relieved to see him. But he could tell that the boy was on his way somewhere. "Where ya goin', Cody?" the little yellow digimon cocked his head to one side.
Instead of answering, Cody waved to his digimon partner, gesturing for him to follow. "Come on."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Suri..." Rakunamon's voice trailed off.
Earlier that evening, Tsuriai had gotten up and slinked into the dark woods, leaving the others behind at the camp. She couldn't sleep, so she wandered through the trees until she found a place she liked. And now, Rakunamon sat atop a waist-high rock on the shore of a lake, quietly watching over the person for whom he was created to protect.
Tsuriai just sat at the lake's edge, hugging her knees to her chest and watching the moonlight flicker on the gentle water. She didn't move. She didn't speak. It was as if all sign of life had slipped away from her. Her burgundy eyes didn't light up with hope anymore. The light in her heart was somehow extinguished.
And, every once in a while, as
her thoughts delved into the realization that the future was changing and that
she wasn't going to be in it, Tsuriai would experience another episode in which
a part of her body would vanish and reappear. Now that she understood what
was happening to her, the bouts came on more often.
Rakunamon also suffered as she did. All he could do was watch as his tail would fade in and out from time to time. There was nothing he could do. Nothing either one of them could do. Soon, their existence would be wiped out by the ever-changing events of the past. And their was nothing either one of them could do.
The raccoon-like digimon looked on as his partner and best friend sat there. She hadn't said a word since their meager dinner that evening. And she hadn't moved since she found this place of solitude. "Suri..." he whispered, his voice trailing off. His heart ached at seeing her in such despair. Right in front of him sat the girl he had been with all his life, from the day he was born as an Artificial Intelligence program in a microcomputer to his life now as a digital monster. He was always there to warn her when her precarious health was waning, or to remind her to take her fever reduction medication. He was there when she needed someone to confide in, or when she needed someone to laugh with. And when Ryoichi passed, he tried very hard to be like the brother she missed so much. He knew he would never be able to replace her twin, but he could show her the same love that Ryoichi gave her. That's what Veric lived for. To protect and to love Tsuriai.
But now it seemed that he was failing in both respects. He couldn't protect her from the pain and hurt she felt inside. And all the love he could give her wasn't going to prevent their eventual demise.
The quiet girl sat so still and motionless. She's just like her mother, Rakunamon found himself thinking. He recalled times when an older Kari became upset or distraught. She likes to keep her problems to herself just like Ms. Takaishi did. And he was right. It was always very difficult to get either Kari or Tsuriai to open up about things that bothered them. And just like her mother, he thought, Suri won't ask anyone for help.
But, just as TK wouldn't give up
on Kari, Veric wasn't about to sit idly by while the person he cared for needed
help, whether Tsuriai wanted it or not. Stealthily, Rakunamon climbed down
the rock and crawled through the grass. There has to be something I can
do for her.
Tsuriai
just stared out at the glimmering water, letting the serene image calm her
mind. At that moment, she just wanted to scream. She wanted to
cry. She wanted to go home and wake up in her bed like all this was just a
bad dream. But she couldn't do it all. Not if it meant waking up the
others not too far away.
Suddenly, she felt something nudge her elbow. "Huh?" she gave a start, lifting her head from her knees and looking down by her side. That's when she discovered her faithful digimon next to her, his front paws on her leg and his soulful eyes looking deep into hers. Tsuriai gave a slight smile. "Veric..."
Rakunamon climbed his way into the girl's lap and made himself comfortable. From there, he looked straight into her mournful eyes. "Suri," he spoke her name. Both to his surprise and to hers, his voice cracked and trembled with an overwhelming emotion. And then, for the first time in Veric's life, a tear rolled down the side of his face.
Tsuriai just couldn't hold it in any longer. Just seeing her best friend crying made her heart break. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes and then slipped away, sliding down her cheeks. "Oh, Veric," she cried. The girl scooped her raccoon digimon up in her arms and hugged him firmly to her chest as if she never wanted to let him go. She was sobbing uncontrollably now, her body quivering and her nose sniffling.
And as the two of them sat on the lakeshore embracing one another, parts of their bodies started to fade in and out again. But neither one of them cared anymore. All that mattered at that moment was that they loved each other.
