REWRITE

Takehiro set his hand on the counter, scrubbing it fiercely, his forehead perspiring after spending all that day by the oven. Mie was sitting down at the kitchen table, part of the reason that he was being worked so hard.

"Why are they taking so long? They should be home by now. It's been over a day!"

Takehiro's hand slipped and he practically face-planted into the counter. His other arm caught him just in time, and he turned to look at her.

Mie had her hands between her thighs, staring at the floor, brilliant brown eyes dead to the world. She looked so broken, so afraid. As if she knew that surely this mission would fail.

"I don't know Mie. I'm sure they'll be home soon. Don't worry about it." He didn't want her to hear what he was thinking: 'they aren't your kids to worry about, anyway'.

Mie puffed anxiously and forced herself to stand. "Okay. I guess. Do you want help?" she asked.

Takehiro shook her head, a soft smile on his cheeks. "Not at all, honey. Why don't you go lay down? I'll get you when Jeri calls to tell how it went."

Mie nodded and stepped toward the stairs. "Good night, Hiro."

Yamaki sat on a park bench, waiting beside the hut. He'd been there all night, holding his palm pilot. And he was beat.

He winced, surprised, when an email finally popped up on the screen. He looked down at it.

'Mr. Yamaki,

We're coming through the portal now! We have Takato, but he's hurt really badly. We have to bring him to the hospital! We are five seconds from contact with the Real World!'

Yamaki braced himself for the explosion of children from the hut, but somehow didn't expect it still. Five kids and five little digimon came out of the building, collapsing on the earth, dispersed thinly.

Gigimon was the first to awake, his ears twitching. As soon as he came to, he leapt to his feet, crying, "TAKATOMON!" he nosed his way to the young brunette and cuddled against his chest. He looked up at Yamaki, seeing him for the first time. "Mr. Yamakimon! You have to help him or he's gonna die!" he gasped.

Yamaki stared for a few seconds before coming back to his senses. He scrambled over to the injured teen and turned him over, rubbing his chest. "What's he wrapped in?"

"Gallantmon's cape. I'll have to digivolve later to get it back." Gigimon explained, shaking nervously.

"Don't be scared." Yamaki's eyes softened. "He'll be just fine." he assured. "Why don't you go wake everyone else so we can get him to a hospital? I'll protect him."

Gigimon's ears flicked, looking at Takato, not sure if he should trust Yamaki to keep him safe. But, as with the boys before, he finally gave up and went to get his friends.

The others awoke slowly, Rika the quickest with taking a minute to come completely to, and Hopmon the longest with almost three. But they all awoke and all were able to get going, Yamaki cradling Takato as if he'd break.

Yamaki drove them all to the hospital, Ryo sitting in the front and Takato resting in Jeri and Rika's laps. Henry sat on the floor in front of him, watching his chest to make sure that he didn't stop breathing.

Takato was immediately brought to the E.R., and his wound was cleaned and stitched up, a procedure that was torture for the other kids to wait to finish. Gigimon had escaped into the room to hide beneath the table, doing whatever he could to keep his Tamer safe.

It took nearly 2 hours before the surgeon came out to tell Yamaki what had happened and what would happen. In the meantime, the kids followed a nurse up to Takato's room, just to see him.

Takato was sleeping-would be for several hours or even days-his abdomen wrapped in gauze. An IV was sticking into his arm, dropping his medicine into his bloodstream. He even had an oxygen mask on, condensing the inside with every little breath.

In the crook of his arm, Gigimon was curling. His ears were down and his nose was pressed into Takato's armpit. The tip of his tail was twitching, the calmest way that he could wag his tail. He was purring.

Jeri approached Takato first, looking him over. "Well... He looks better than before." she commented, furrowing her eyebrows anxiously.

"As if he could look worse." Ryo said spitefully.

Jeri glared at him and dropped into a chair at Takato's side. "Sadly enough, it's true." she sighed.

Rika dropped her hand on Jeri's shoulder softly, supporting her silently.

Jeri smiled back at her. "Hey... Who wants to call the Matsukis?"

"Hello, Matsuki Bakery. I'm sorry, we're closed now, but call back tomorrow between 8 and 7 and I'll make your baked goods as quickly as I can." Takehiro yawned aloud, covering his mouth. He was sweeping up the shop for the night, rubbing his eyes.

"Hi, Mr. Matsuki, it's me, Rika. Um... Yeah. I don't know how to say this. How quickly can you and Mrs. Matsuki get down to the hospital?" the caller asked.

Takehiro paused, and then continued his work. "Well hello Rika. What do Mie and I need to go down there for?" he asked kindly.

"Something very important. Yamaki and Henry and Jeri and Ryo and I are all waiting for you."

"Why?"

"...Jeri wants me to keep it a secret. I know, not very nice, but that's what she wants."

"..." Takehiro hummed and shook his head. "When?"

"As soon as you can."

"...Give us a few minutes. Goodbye, Rika."

Rika hung up, and Takehiro dropped the phone back into its cradle. He shook his head again, resting one hand on the counter. "That girl will be the death of me." he decided daftly. Then he went to wake Mie, who slept in their room.

She was already awake, rubbing her eyes, watching him. "Who called?" she asked.

"Rika."

"...Wasn't she in the Digital World?" Mie asked, furrowing her thin eyebrows. Realization seemed to dawn, and then confusion set in.

"I suppose she was. Guess she was back. Anyway, she said that she wanted us to come down to the hospital. You coming?"

Mie finished scrubbing her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, I am. Shop all closed up?"

"Mostly. Still needs a good sweeping and scrubbing, but I doubt that others will come to join us."

Mie nodded and forced herself up, taking his offered hand. She yawned and stretched, then went to the restroom to wash her face.

Takehiro was waiting in the kitchen when she was done. He stood and led her outside, and they called up a taxi and headed for the hospital.

Henry was waiting in the waiting room when they arrived, watching the ground, Gummymon bouncing on his head. Takehiro quickly grabbed his attention, heading over to him.

"Henry! What are you doing here? Family sick?" Mie asked kindly.

"No. Visiting a friend." Henry said. He politely turned to them and asked, "Why are you here?"

Gummymon giggled but apparently knew to keep his mouth shut.

"I don't know, honestly. Rika told us to come down 'as soon as you can'." Takehiro said, air quoting the phrase.

"Yeah? Thought as much. Why don't you come with me quick? The staff here said that he needs peace, but I bet they'll make an exception for you, if they know who you are." Henry stood and stretched, knocking Gummymon into the chair he'd been sitting in.

Gummymon pouted. "Dont be mean, Henry!" he said, launching to Henry's shoulder.

Henry chuckled at the in-training. "You guys coming?"

Mie looked to Takehiro, who shrugged and started to follow the young Chinese Tamer.

Mie bit her lip and followed her husband and the boy.

"Henry, who are we talking about?" Takehiro asked, following him closely.

Henry shrugged. Gummymon giggled again. "No one in particular." He grinned up at Gummymon.

Mie puffed her cheeks out and followed him with a heavy harrumph.

Henry pushed into a room, outside of which sat Rika and Jeri, talking excitedly. They both looked excited and happy about something, though neither parent could have guessed what, for certain.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mie asked, stopping.

"Visiting a friend," Rika replied.

"..." Mie sighed as Takehiro grabbed her arm. Jeri and Rika followed them.

One of two beds was occupied by an unrecognizable child. It was wrapped in gauze heavily and had an oxygen mask on its face. In its arm sat a little red blob, sleeping, its ears tucked back, purring happily.

It took Mie only seconds to connect the dots. She peered around, to make this child more recognizable. The blob stirred and lifted its head, looking at her. Then, "Mrs. Matsukimon!"

Mie gulped, looking at the boy (for she was certain that the child was, in fact, a boy). "Is... Is this..."

"Yes." Jeri said firmly.

Mie's first and only reaction was for her knees to buckle. She hit the floor, much to her husband's terror, unconscious.

Mie awoke to a wet thing on her forehead and a weight on her lap. She was laying on something comfortable, wondering faintly what had happened. She finally forced her eyes open, only to find two brilliant golden orbs staring into her own brown ones.

The golden eyes moved, their owner yipped, and danced from his position to his feet and away.

Mie sat up slowly, watching as the little thing—wasn't it called Guilmon? Or was this the Gigimon that Rika had dropped off?—leapt from her bed to another, cuddling in the armpit of whoever was on that bed.

"Mie? Are you okay? Gigimon, I think you scared her." a voice said.

"Did not! I wanted to make sure she was alright!" the other voice defended with a huff.

From the conversation, Mie decided the 2nd speaker-owner of the golden eyes-was in fact Gigimon. She shook her head sullenly. "I'm just fine, Takehiro," she said, recognizing her husband's even tones. She started trying to sit up until Takehiro pushed on her shoulders, holding her down.

"You shouldn't get up. Doctor's orders. That was quite a spill you took, honey. Are you sure you're alright?" Takehiro asked, leaning over her so she could see his own eyes watching her, anxious and afraid for her safety.

Mie dismissed him with a wave of a hand. She glanced over to see where Gigimon was snuggling his nose into the armpit of whoever he was cuddling with. "I'm fine, Takehiro, I told you!" she laughed innocently. She allowed him to raise the bed a little so she could look around. "What... happened? Why am I in the hospital?" she asked, not even remembering why they were there in the first place, though knowing they had come to the hospital for something important before her... spill.

Takehiro dropped into the seat between the two beds and smiled at her softly. "You fainted when Jeri confirmed that that's Takato."

"Fainted?" Why had she fainted? What did he mean? It took her brain a few moments to connect the name Takato and being in the hospital in the first place. Not particularly caring for her own health, she sat up to look at the other occupied bed.

Surely that boy was her son. She saw her nose in him, Takehiro's light brow. That explained why Gigimon was cuddling into his armpit, purring and giving off a happy look. "That's Takato?" she asked, her eyes wide, wanting to confirm it once more. That, that little boy, may very well be her son...

Takehiro nodded, trying to get her to lie back down. He frowned, knowing that telling her wouldn't help her get back down. "Yes. That's him. The doctors have told he'll probably be out for a while, but that's our son." he said solidly, pulling his hands back.

Mie swung her feet around. "Can I... touch him? Or is that 'unprecedented'? Please?" she asked, pushing herself out of bed, letting her bare toes feel the tile floor.

"I'd rather you stayed in bed... But it'll probably be good for you. But promise me that when you're done, you'll come lay down." Takehiro sighed with a smile.

"As if you haven't touched him." Mie replied, pushing herself over to her son's bedside.

Takehiro chuckled but nodded. "To be honest, I wasn't sure who I should stay by," he admitted with a blush.

Mie frowned at him, finally reaching out to run her hand across her baby's forehead, brushing his bangs back as she used to do before bedtime when he was younger. "I only fainted, Takehiro. He is the one so... so..." she wanted to continue, but didn't want the words to leave and be admitted. "I... I would have been fine. He is the one who needs us."

Tears filled her eyes as she ran her hand along the bandages covering his abdomen. What could possibly have wanted to harm her little boy-since that was all he really was at the moment, a little boy-so incredibly? He may have been strong before—stronger than she even knew he could be—as a knight with Guilmon at his side, but he'd transformed in the time he'd been gone. Gone away was that strong figure who led the Tamers with compassion like no other could, gone away was the goof-off who refused to do his homework, who spent all day in the park, who spent his nights before bed weeping over his lost partner. In his place lay a being weakened by pain, one who would surely never be that sweet little boy, who had probably locked away that sweet little boy so no one could use him against him again.

Though she'd miss that child desperately, though she'd wish for him back, that boy was most likely not her son anymore. She'd grow accustomed to-and would grow to love-this one. She had to.

Takehiro placed his hand on her back as the tears started falling, already missing the boy even if she didn't know that he was gone.

"Who did this?" Mie asked her husband, reaching to grab for Takato's thin, bedraggled hand. "I'll kill them, Takehiro. I'll murder whoever did this! I'll make them pay for taking him away!" she snarled.

Takehiro rubbed her back. "You'll have to get in line; Gigimon and I have already claimed that." he said, his tone light and airy.

She couldn't do this, she knew that she couldn't. She couldn't see her son so hurt, so wronged. She backed up, eventually tugging towards her own bed.

Takehiro frowned. "I'm only joking, Mie. You can, if you really want." he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Who even does this? What kind of bastard thinks that this is okay? Who could possibly justify taking a mother's baby and changing him so completely?" she demanded, burying her face into her hands.

"Mie, we don't even know if he's changed." Takehiro argued.

"Oh, he's changed alright. Even though that's my Takatomon, there's something about him that's different... Too different for me to ignore. By the time that I found him, he had resigned to his death. I think he wanted to die. Omnimon mentioned that he had been like that for a while before I got there. Like he wanted to die. Of course, if I'd been there, I'd want to die, too. But being deleted isn't as serious and permanent as a human's death. We can be reconfigured. Humans... can't." Gigimon sighed, his ears low. He tucked further into Takato's pit and mumbled, "I don't even think he knows that he's better, or that he's home, at least. He collapsed before I could get him here."

"He doesn't know he's safe?" Mie asked, horrified. For all she knew, he may try to stay in a coma because he doesn't know that he won't be hurt! "We have to tell him differently!" she said, standing again. Immediately, she got dizzy and hit the floor on her knees.

Takehiro hit the ground beside her, putting his arms around her. "You promised me you'd go to bed." he said.

She rested her cheek on his chest. "I did no such thing."

"Mie, you should rest. Go to bed. You can tell him in the morning. Maybe he'll wake up then." he said. "Please."

"He has to sleep to get better anyway, right, Mrs. Matsukimon? That's what the doctor said. So you can both sleep at the same time. And neither of you'll be alone; I'll be here, even when Mr. Matsukimon has to leave." Gigimon purred effortlessly.

Mie smiled at him as Takehiro lifted her. "Fine, you're right. But I'm telling him in the morning."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Takehiro smiled, kissing her and pushing her onto the bed softly.

Mie smiled at him, blew her little boy a good night kiss, and tucked into bed, hoping to fall asleep and for sleep to leave quickly, so she could tell Takato that he was safe.

Takehiro was startled awake by groaning, tossing, and turning. He looked over at his son, who was doing so lightly, not enough to wake anyone but the light sleeper that Takehiro was. Gigimon was also up, trying to calm him into sleep, but it didn't seem to be working.

Gigimon 's ears twitched, and he looked up. "Mr. Matsukimon! You have to help me; he won't calm down!" he said desperately, quietly enough that Mie stayed asleep.

Takehiro stood, surprised, and went to him, resting a hand on Takato's chest. He didn't know what to do! Takato hadn't been there for two years, and even when he was there, he didn't suffer from nightmares very often. When he did have a nightmare, Mie was usually the one that went to him, or that he awoke. He rarely dealt with nightmares.

Gigimon pressed his forehead against Takato's side and stayed there, despite the tossing and turning. He was purring pathetically, the soothing noise catching in his throat a few times. "Takatomon... I'm here... Please Takatomon, you're okay, I'm right here..." he purred, kneading him softly with his little red paws.

Takehiro watched, not realizing until now just how much Takato meant to Gigimon, or Gigimon to Takato, or how badly Gigimon wanted to protect him. He thought that maybe, since Gigimon was repeating those words, he might like them. He might find comfort in them. He stood over Gigimon and Takato, and started rubbing his cheek softly. "Takato, son, you're safe. I'm here. Your mother and I, your father, are here, and we'll never leave you again." he didn't know what else to say, so he opted to continue stroking his cheek.

Though he waited for a few moments, the words didn't seem to have any effect. He bit his lip, not sure what else he was supposed to do.

Thankfully, though, he didn't have to bother. The constant stroking and kneading and the words slowly calmed Takato until he simply lay there, still, his chest rising and falling.

Takehiro grinned at him proudly, proud of himself for effectively handling the nightmare (and for learning how to deal with another should Takato suffer from them again) and proud of Takato for calming himself so quickly and still keeping calm enough the whole time for Mie to stay asleep.

Gigimon dropped with a huff onto Takato's forearm. He was shaking, nuzzling his nose against the hospital-issued shirt.

Takehiro continued stroking his cheek for a few extra minutes before he reminded himself that Takato truly was safe, and with Gigimon at his side again he would surely be and stay alright. He collapsed backwards into his chair and chose to watch Gigimon fall asleep, noticing him twitch awake with every move that Takato made. After a while, he too fell asleep in his chair, awaiting the awakening of his wife and child.

Favor to ask! Does anyone know if it's possible for you to experience nightmares (like Takato did) when you're in a coma, and still be in said coma (medically-induced or not, in this case not) for a few more days or more? I tried googling it, but it didn't really work. It was only Yahoo!answers things, and a lot of it sounded like it was from people who were only speculating... that's not to say that everything in this fic is going to be perfectly scientifically correct (next chapter. Every past chapter, regarding Takato's health) but I feel like I should get it as close as I could without screwing up the plot. Takato living was needed (which is why he lived... explanation next chapter) but Takehiro learning to deal with Takato's nightmare was more of a filler than anything, minus maybe providing a little insight about how Takato finds comfort (it's true. That's how. He finds those words comforting. Hmm... weird or no? I just thought about that...).

Thanks! If I could get some answers, that'd be awesome! XD

~~YAJJ