Valentine's Day giftfic for Ryoumafan. Also submitted to the 28 Days of Love challenge on the DFC.

Forevermore

Up until he was seventeen, Ichijouji Ken thought that he had a pretty good understanding with his digimon partner, Wormmon. They were the closest of friends, just like any other Chosen pair, and just as inseparable. Ken's parents had adopted Wormmon as a family pet, and the two of them would stay awake late into the night sometimes, having deep conversations in a way Ken wouldn't have thought possible until they happened. Keen loved Wormmon, truly and deeply, he just never expected to have to explain what he meant when he said it.

ooo

"From where, exactly, did you get the idea to kiss me?" Ken demanded from Stingmon as they walked through the Digital World going to the digiport that would take them home. He tried not to be so conscious of the distance between them.

"Well, Veemon told me that's what people who love each other do." Stingmon's voice vibrated more than was normal, likely out of nervousness and perhaps embarrassment. Ken knew that he was embarrassed for certain. "I love you, Ken, so I thought..."

Ken sighed. "Of course, Davis would have something to do with this." He stopped and turned to face his partner. "Stingmon, there are different types of love for different relationships."

"And what sort of relationship do we have, Ken?"

"We're friends. We're best friends, and friends don't miss each other."

"Sora and Matt are friends," argued Stingmon.

"Sure, but they're friends who are dating. That makes their relationship romantic. Friendship is platonic."

"But why is that different?" Stingmon crossed his legs before settling on the ground.

"Well because..." Ken struggled then, unsure of how to explain. "Because romance is a lot more complicated. Friends don't have certain... expectations from each other that couples do, and the feelings are... different."

"How so?" Ken could feel his face growing warm and averted his gaze from Stingmon.

"Well for one thing, you feel the uh, urge, the want to kiss each other. Not because you think you should, but you think it might... feel... nice. Or because you want to express your feelings for that person. It's like... you want them to feel that your emotions. And you want to kiss them often. And you get upset if the other person wants to kiss sometime else or if another person tries to kiss them. And... you want to spend all of your time together. Live together, maybe. Get married eventually."

"We already do most of that, Ken," Stingmon argued. "Well, everything except for the kissing."

"Erm, yeah, I suppose that's true," Ken reluctantly agreed.

"And being married is being partners for life, right? Like being digimon partners?"

"In a way, yes, but is not the same thing."

"Why not?"

"When you get married, you choose to be with that person because you know them so well and can't imagine your life with anyone else. You and I didn't necessarily choose each other."

"Are you saying that you want a different partner Ken?" Stingmon sounded hurt, and Ken resisted the urge to palm his face. This conversation just kept growing stranger by the word, and he was doing nothing but hurting Stingmon's feelings and sticking his foot further and further into his own mouth. Briefly, Ken wondered if this was what it was like to be Davis.

"No, Stingmon, what I meant is," Ken sighed again, swallowed a bit of his pride (and the embarrassment he could already feel blossoming in his cheeks), then continued. "Couples, people in romantic relationships, spend years trying to find each other and making sure that the person they're with is someone they want to be with forever. Sometimes that fails and sometimes it works, but digimon partners always work. I didn't choose you, Stingmon, because we were already destined to be together. I don't need to change partners because no one else could be better for me." Ken smiled, hoping that his sincere words could be apology enough for his earlier blunders.

"Do you really mean that, Ken?"

"Of course I do. Besides, best friends don't always choose one another, they just happen. I certainly wouldn't have chosen Davis back then." Stingmon glowed brightly for a moment as his form shrank from digivolution. Wormmon jumped into Ken's arms and kissed him again.

"Wormmon," Ken groaned disapprovingly. He knew that human relationships could be difficult for digimon to understand, but explaining this was becoming exhausting. "Didn't we just go over this?"

"What?" Wormmon defended himself. "I just wanted to express my feelings for you."

"But I just said -"

"I know what you said, Ken," Wormmon sounded uncharacteristically smug. "But you still haven't explained why I can't kiss my best friend." Ken rolled his eyes fondly, deciding he'll have this conversation with his partner another time. That, and Davis would be receiving a very clean kick to the head, the next time Ken saw him.