Part 6 - Emotions Running Wild
The van slowed to a stop outside my house, and the four of us, me, Mako, Doroon and Impmon, got out. We waved goodbye as the van went off down the street. Once it was out of sight, Doroon turned to us.
"I had better get home before my parents start worrying."
Mako nodded.
"Yeah. See ya tomorrow Doroon."
I, on the other hand, frowned.
"Are you sure you can get home okay Doroon? It's getting dark out."
He looked at me a little funny for a moment.
"Yeah, sure, it's not that far to the place I live."
The frown on my face lessened, but didn't vanish entirely. In the nearly four years since he had moved here, I hadn't once seen his parents or house. I shrugged it off.
Oh well, he's probably just embarrassed or something.
Doroon gave us a final wave, and then took off down the street running.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeri sat there for a moment, looking a little thoughtful. Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke.
"We should have this little get together outside so we don't disturb Rika's mother."
I followed numbly outside. When we got to the door, I held my hand out, blocking Rika.
"What's the big idea, Gogglehead?"
"This is between me and Jeri, Rika. Please don't interfere."
She growled.
"Fine."
She walked back in shutting the door behind her. Well, actually, she kind of slammed it.
I'm gonna get it later.
"Alright, Takato, let's have a chat shall we?"
Her voice came out as a hiss. A very low, lethal hiss.
Or maybe it'll be starting right now…
I frowned.
"Fine. Maybe you can tell me just what your huge problem is. I did what I had to. I don't understand why you can't accept that."
Her eyes blazed like little suns.
"Why? Why?! WHY?! I hate you, no, that's too poor a word. I loathe you. You corrupt everything you touch! You're a monster, Takato! Every life you enter gets ruined! Leomon was deleted because of you! Rika ran away because of you! Henry still gets depressed because of you! Look at BlackGuilmon!
"Before you got your slimy hands on him he was just as happy as can be!
"Before you got a hold of him, he wasn't 'Black'!
"Before you got a hold of him he was never, ever Megidramon!"
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I simply couldn't force the words out of my mouth. A lot of that simply wasn't true, and I couldn't come up with anything to say to it. She looked a little smug.
"What's the matter, Takato? The truth too much for you?"
Finally I found some words.
"The truth? You call that the truth?! I summoned Megidramon that second time to save us all! Where do you get off saying that crap?"
Jeri turned livid. Well, more livid. 'Livid' didn't accurately describe it anymore. Her voice was gradually in gaining volume as she spoke.
"If you want to know the truth of the matter, Takato, it's because you turned his innocent soul into something evil!"
I was speechless, again. I wasn't quite sure how I had expected this conversation to go, but this certainly wasn't it. I opened my mouth, but someone else beat me to it.
"Takatomon didn't force me to do anything Jeri."
BlackGuilmon strode forward, nuzzling up beside me, lifting my arm so that my hand rested on his head. She looked at him.
"BlackGuilmon? Come here okay, I'll find a way to fix you, I promise…"
He actually growled at her.
"BlackGuilmon isn't broken, Jeri!"
We both gaped down at him in shock. Jeri's face contorted in rage again.
"Fine then. So his corruption's gone too deep, has it?"
She looked me square in the eyes.
"You'll get what's coming to you Takato. Sooner than you think!"
Then she turned and stalked off of the grounds while we stared on. Leomon jumped down then.
"Um, Leomon? Why is Jeri still… like that?"
He turned to look at me. He stood firm for a second, then slumped.
"I am unsure. I do not know why she acts like she does. I can say no more. She has forbidden me to speak to you."
He nodded sharply, then leapt back into the trees. I sat down then, leaning against the wall. BlackGuilmon lay down beside me and rested his head on my lap like a loyal dog. He looked up at me.
"What are we going to do about Jeri, Takatomon?"
I looked I smiled and rubbed his head.
"Don't worry boy. We'll think of something. It's why we are who we are after all."
He nodded and I resumed the stroking motion I had started before, until he fell asleep. Once he had drifted off, I let the façade drop. Nothing short of major time on the psychiatric couch would probably help Jeri get past this, and with her convinced I was the enemy and everyone else was in on it with me, she wasn't likely to be convinced to try any time soon.
I stood slowly, so as not to disturb my slumbering Digimon, and looked down at him. The summer nights were warm, so I let him sleep there and wandered back into the house. Rika was waiting. She looked like she was going to start chewing me out, then stopped.
"That bad?"
I sighed.
"It was worse. If anything, things just got worse, and I'm not sure there's much I could have done differently."
She nodded, the took me by the arm and directed me towards the hallway.
"Get some rest, Goggles."
I nodded and wandered back to my room to sleep. I could have sworn that awhile later someone else slipped in and wrapped their arms around me, but I was too far gone to know. It was probably nothing though. I awoke alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I yawned and blushed as I rose from Takato's bed. I was just glad no one else had seen it. I sighed. There was just something about the way he looked last night.
Defeated.
Hopeless.
Lost.
I shuddered a little at what it must have felt like to him as I made my way quietly back down to my room and opened the door. My eyes hardened like flint.
Henry had better keep that little &!%(# away from me or I'll rip her lungs out.
I leaned back against the door. Sure, I belittled Takato all the time, but no matter how often I did, he just smiled right back. No matter what I did, and sometimes it was a lot, he had never had a look like that on his face. I hadn't even had the heart to yell at him last night.
And that takes some doing.
A small smile graced my lips at that, and I wandered over to my dresser.
"You can come out now Renamon."
She shimmered in behind me, and glanced around.
"You didn't use your bed last night."
I spun, the blush back full force, and fist up, not that I could actually even contemplate using it.
"Not a word Renamon. I mean it. Not a word!"
She shook her head.
"I didn't mean anything, Rika. I think you did the right thing, all things considered."
I looked at her.
"You heard them?"
She nodded.
"He didn't say much in an effort to spare you I believe."
Great. I swear Henry, if you want her to live, keep her the hell away from me.
"Think life'll ever give us a break, Renamon?"
She smirked.
"Not a chance."
"Didn't think so."
Renamon faded out then, probably going outside for some fresh air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I snuggled into Tai's grip as we watched the sunrise over a hill. It was absolutely breathtaking. I glanced up at Tai, and promptly sighed in annoyance.
This is supposed to be getting his mind off that.
"Look, Tai. Takato told us that no one takes that epilogue seriously, right? So what are you worried about?"
He sighed, then shrugged a little helplessly.
"I'm not sure really. It's a lot of little things really. This just added to the mix."
I sighed and pulled away slightly so that we could talk.
"Look, Tai, we love each other, right? Then nothing can happen to us. We'll be fine, I promise. I'm not going to go off somewhere with Matt. We tried that, remember? It didn't exactly work. There's no chemistry. Not like between us."
He smiled a little.
"I don't suppose you'd consider moving in with me then would you?"
I sighed, and he looked away.
Ahhhh, so that's your problem is it, Tai?
I grinned a little, being sure to not let him see it by looking away. I addressed him with a serious tone of voice.
"Look, Tai, we've been over this. My mom left me the shop when she died. I'm not going to leave it. It means too much to me. It's not just my livelihood, it's pretty much all I have left of her."
His arms fell back around my chest from behind.
"I know, it was stupid to ask, it's just… Oh, I don't know. I feel that I should do something to demonstrate to myself that it won't happen."
Hooked him. Now to reeeel him in.
"I know that, Tai. I know you don't mean to overlook my feelings on it. That's why I've come to a decision."
"What?"
"I want you to move in with me."
I turned back around finally to face the exact look I'd wanted and expected. A fresh caught fish. I continued like it was nothing.
"It's the only logical solution. You want us to live together, and I don't want to leave the house. You can start packing when we get… mpph…"
He cut me off with one of those kisses that make my legs turn to jelly.
He's getting good at this…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up late that morning. It probably would have been later if not for the voices and the rummaging noises.
"Shhh! You want her to hear you?"
"Well, excuse me! It has to be in here somewhere!"
Then I felt a small tugging at my head, and a muffled curse.
Impmon…
I opened my eyes to see Lopmon on my bed and pointing down and over at the base of my closet where a black and a blue digimon stood looking around innocently. I narrowed my eyes.
"What's the big deal Impmon?"
"Uh, nice day isn't it?"
I narrowed my eyes.
"I know that tone of voice Impmon. What are you up to?"
He held the innocent look for a moment, the dropped it for a conniving one.
"Just a little prank… One that you might be interested in…"
Now that sparked my interest a little.
"And why would I be interested in your prank?"
He grinned, jumped over to the bed, and started listening in my ear. I started grinning too…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"LEMME GO HENRY! I'LL KILL THE LITTLE IMP! I CAN TAKE HIM!"
I held tighter to him, almost to the point of cutting off his air supply.
"What's gotten into you? We're going to see Takato off. It's bad enough that as it is that they cut it short because of Jeri, and I don't want to miss our only chance to see him."
Terriermon stopped struggling and hopped up on my head.
"I don't want to talk about it. Suffice to say that Impmon is pure evil, Henry, pure evil."
I rolled my eyes.
"Riiight."
"And that good for nothing sister of yours had a hand in it too, I'm sure of it!"
"Uh huh. Next thing I know you'll be telling me that BlackGuilmon's gone on a hunger strike."
"He's more likely to make food stores go on strike, but seriously Henry, it was a dastardly trick they played on me."
"And just how am I supposed to believe you when you won't tell me what happened?"
He grumbled, but stayed silent. We entered the park, but when the Takato, Rika, and the Digidestined saw us, they started chortling. Then I noticed the little kids in the back of the group, Suzie among them, ginning impudently.
Maybe I need to give Terriermon more credit.
Takato grinned as he came up to us.
"Hey Henry, hey *snicker* Terriermon."
I rolled my eyes again.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's the big joke?"
Suzie came forward, a particularly evil gleam in her eye, and she spoke in a high bird song like voice eerily reminiscent of when she was six.
"Oh, you'll look so pretty in this, Pwincess Pwetty Pants!"
They didn't…
She handed me a picture.
They did.
Terriermon in jumped down and tore the picture to shreds. Then he shot a venomous glare over to where Impmon and Veemon were standing, laughing their heads off.
"That'll be enough of that. I do the pranking, you hear me! I am never pranked! I'll get you, Impmon! And your little blue partner too!"
We all had a good laugh over that as Terriermon walked off muttering curses.
Digi-Modify! Digital Gate Activate!
Rika stood back from where she had made the portal, and motioned the others through. Takato turned to me.
"Sorry we have to leave like this…"
I shook my head.
"No, I should have done something about this."
He sighed.
"I don't really think there's anything we could have done Henry. She's so bent on hating me that she's made up wrongs in her head. I'm sorry. Look, I'll try to come visit again sometime. Maybe talk a few things over."
I nodded, and shook his hand. Then he looked at me, and embraced me like a brother.
"See ya, Henry."
"Yeah. See ya Takato…"
He stepped back, nodded, then turned and went through the gate, Rika close behind. Then I nodded to Suzie, and we started walking home. She wordlessly handed me a cd. I arched an eyebrow.
"What's this?"
She grinned.
"It was a digital camera. About twenty to thirty different shots."
I smiled back.
"Guess what my new screen-saver is?"
The van slowed to a stop outside my house, and the four of us, me, Mako, Doroon and Impmon, got out. We waved goodbye as the van went off down the street. Once it was out of sight, Doroon turned to us.
"I had better get home before my parents start worrying."
Mako nodded.
"Yeah. See ya tomorrow Doroon."
I, on the other hand, frowned.
"Are you sure you can get home okay Doroon? It's getting dark out."
He looked at me a little funny for a moment.
"Yeah, sure, it's not that far to the place I live."
The frown on my face lessened, but didn't vanish entirely. In the nearly four years since he had moved here, I hadn't once seen his parents or house. I shrugged it off.
Oh well, he's probably just embarrassed or something.
Doroon gave us a final wave, and then took off down the street running.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeri sat there for a moment, looking a little thoughtful. Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke.
"We should have this little get together outside so we don't disturb Rika's mother."
I followed numbly outside. When we got to the door, I held my hand out, blocking Rika.
"What's the big idea, Gogglehead?"
"This is between me and Jeri, Rika. Please don't interfere."
She growled.
"Fine."
She walked back in shutting the door behind her. Well, actually, she kind of slammed it.
I'm gonna get it later.
"Alright, Takato, let's have a chat shall we?"
Her voice came out as a hiss. A very low, lethal hiss.
Or maybe it'll be starting right now…
I frowned.
"Fine. Maybe you can tell me just what your huge problem is. I did what I had to. I don't understand why you can't accept that."
Her eyes blazed like little suns.
"Why? Why?! WHY?! I hate you, no, that's too poor a word. I loathe you. You corrupt everything you touch! You're a monster, Takato! Every life you enter gets ruined! Leomon was deleted because of you! Rika ran away because of you! Henry still gets depressed because of you! Look at BlackGuilmon!
"Before you got your slimy hands on him he was just as happy as can be!
"Before you got a hold of him, he wasn't 'Black'!
"Before you got a hold of him he was never, ever Megidramon!"
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I simply couldn't force the words out of my mouth. A lot of that simply wasn't true, and I couldn't come up with anything to say to it. She looked a little smug.
"What's the matter, Takato? The truth too much for you?"
Finally I found some words.
"The truth? You call that the truth?! I summoned Megidramon that second time to save us all! Where do you get off saying that crap?"
Jeri turned livid. Well, more livid. 'Livid' didn't accurately describe it anymore. Her voice was gradually in gaining volume as she spoke.
"If you want to know the truth of the matter, Takato, it's because you turned his innocent soul into something evil!"
I was speechless, again. I wasn't quite sure how I had expected this conversation to go, but this certainly wasn't it. I opened my mouth, but someone else beat me to it.
"Takatomon didn't force me to do anything Jeri."
BlackGuilmon strode forward, nuzzling up beside me, lifting my arm so that my hand rested on his head. She looked at him.
"BlackGuilmon? Come here okay, I'll find a way to fix you, I promise…"
He actually growled at her.
"BlackGuilmon isn't broken, Jeri!"
We both gaped down at him in shock. Jeri's face contorted in rage again.
"Fine then. So his corruption's gone too deep, has it?"
She looked me square in the eyes.
"You'll get what's coming to you Takato. Sooner than you think!"
Then she turned and stalked off of the grounds while we stared on. Leomon jumped down then.
"Um, Leomon? Why is Jeri still… like that?"
He turned to look at me. He stood firm for a second, then slumped.
"I am unsure. I do not know why she acts like she does. I can say no more. She has forbidden me to speak to you."
He nodded sharply, then leapt back into the trees. I sat down then, leaning against the wall. BlackGuilmon lay down beside me and rested his head on my lap like a loyal dog. He looked up at me.
"What are we going to do about Jeri, Takatomon?"
I looked I smiled and rubbed his head.
"Don't worry boy. We'll think of something. It's why we are who we are after all."
He nodded and I resumed the stroking motion I had started before, until he fell asleep. Once he had drifted off, I let the façade drop. Nothing short of major time on the psychiatric couch would probably help Jeri get past this, and with her convinced I was the enemy and everyone else was in on it with me, she wasn't likely to be convinced to try any time soon.
I stood slowly, so as not to disturb my slumbering Digimon, and looked down at him. The summer nights were warm, so I let him sleep there and wandered back into the house. Rika was waiting. She looked like she was going to start chewing me out, then stopped.
"That bad?"
I sighed.
"It was worse. If anything, things just got worse, and I'm not sure there's much I could have done differently."
She nodded, the took me by the arm and directed me towards the hallway.
"Get some rest, Goggles."
I nodded and wandered back to my room to sleep. I could have sworn that awhile later someone else slipped in and wrapped their arms around me, but I was too far gone to know. It was probably nothing though. I awoke alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I yawned and blushed as I rose from Takato's bed. I was just glad no one else had seen it. I sighed. There was just something about the way he looked last night.
Defeated.
Hopeless.
Lost.
I shuddered a little at what it must have felt like to him as I made my way quietly back down to my room and opened the door. My eyes hardened like flint.
Henry had better keep that little &!%(# away from me or I'll rip her lungs out.
I leaned back against the door. Sure, I belittled Takato all the time, but no matter how often I did, he just smiled right back. No matter what I did, and sometimes it was a lot, he had never had a look like that on his face. I hadn't even had the heart to yell at him last night.
And that takes some doing.
A small smile graced my lips at that, and I wandered over to my dresser.
"You can come out now Renamon."
She shimmered in behind me, and glanced around.
"You didn't use your bed last night."
I spun, the blush back full force, and fist up, not that I could actually even contemplate using it.
"Not a word Renamon. I mean it. Not a word!"
She shook her head.
"I didn't mean anything, Rika. I think you did the right thing, all things considered."
I looked at her.
"You heard them?"
She nodded.
"He didn't say much in an effort to spare you I believe."
Great. I swear Henry, if you want her to live, keep her the hell away from me.
"Think life'll ever give us a break, Renamon?"
She smirked.
"Not a chance."
"Didn't think so."
Renamon faded out then, probably going outside for some fresh air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I snuggled into Tai's grip as we watched the sunrise over a hill. It was absolutely breathtaking. I glanced up at Tai, and promptly sighed in annoyance.
This is supposed to be getting his mind off that.
"Look, Tai. Takato told us that no one takes that epilogue seriously, right? So what are you worried about?"
He sighed, then shrugged a little helplessly.
"I'm not sure really. It's a lot of little things really. This just added to the mix."
I sighed and pulled away slightly so that we could talk.
"Look, Tai, we love each other, right? Then nothing can happen to us. We'll be fine, I promise. I'm not going to go off somewhere with Matt. We tried that, remember? It didn't exactly work. There's no chemistry. Not like between us."
He smiled a little.
"I don't suppose you'd consider moving in with me then would you?"
I sighed, and he looked away.
Ahhhh, so that's your problem is it, Tai?
I grinned a little, being sure to not let him see it by looking away. I addressed him with a serious tone of voice.
"Look, Tai, we've been over this. My mom left me the shop when she died. I'm not going to leave it. It means too much to me. It's not just my livelihood, it's pretty much all I have left of her."
His arms fell back around my chest from behind.
"I know, it was stupid to ask, it's just… Oh, I don't know. I feel that I should do something to demonstrate to myself that it won't happen."
Hooked him. Now to reeeel him in.
"I know that, Tai. I know you don't mean to overlook my feelings on it. That's why I've come to a decision."
"What?"
"I want you to move in with me."
I turned back around finally to face the exact look I'd wanted and expected. A fresh caught fish. I continued like it was nothing.
"It's the only logical solution. You want us to live together, and I don't want to leave the house. You can start packing when we get… mpph…"
He cut me off with one of those kisses that make my legs turn to jelly.
He's getting good at this…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up late that morning. It probably would have been later if not for the voices and the rummaging noises.
"Shhh! You want her to hear you?"
"Well, excuse me! It has to be in here somewhere!"
Then I felt a small tugging at my head, and a muffled curse.
Impmon…
I opened my eyes to see Lopmon on my bed and pointing down and over at the base of my closet where a black and a blue digimon stood looking around innocently. I narrowed my eyes.
"What's the big deal Impmon?"
"Uh, nice day isn't it?"
I narrowed my eyes.
"I know that tone of voice Impmon. What are you up to?"
He held the innocent look for a moment, the dropped it for a conniving one.
"Just a little prank… One that you might be interested in…"
Now that sparked my interest a little.
"And why would I be interested in your prank?"
He grinned, jumped over to the bed, and started listening in my ear. I started grinning too…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"LEMME GO HENRY! I'LL KILL THE LITTLE IMP! I CAN TAKE HIM!"
I held tighter to him, almost to the point of cutting off his air supply.
"What's gotten into you? We're going to see Takato off. It's bad enough that as it is that they cut it short because of Jeri, and I don't want to miss our only chance to see him."
Terriermon stopped struggling and hopped up on my head.
"I don't want to talk about it. Suffice to say that Impmon is pure evil, Henry, pure evil."
I rolled my eyes.
"Riiight."
"And that good for nothing sister of yours had a hand in it too, I'm sure of it!"
"Uh huh. Next thing I know you'll be telling me that BlackGuilmon's gone on a hunger strike."
"He's more likely to make food stores go on strike, but seriously Henry, it was a dastardly trick they played on me."
"And just how am I supposed to believe you when you won't tell me what happened?"
He grumbled, but stayed silent. We entered the park, but when the Takato, Rika, and the Digidestined saw us, they started chortling. Then I noticed the little kids in the back of the group, Suzie among them, ginning impudently.
Maybe I need to give Terriermon more credit.
Takato grinned as he came up to us.
"Hey Henry, hey *snicker* Terriermon."
I rolled my eyes again.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's the big joke?"
Suzie came forward, a particularly evil gleam in her eye, and she spoke in a high bird song like voice eerily reminiscent of when she was six.
"Oh, you'll look so pretty in this, Pwincess Pwetty Pants!"
They didn't…
She handed me a picture.
They did.
Terriermon in jumped down and tore the picture to shreds. Then he shot a venomous glare over to where Impmon and Veemon were standing, laughing their heads off.
"That'll be enough of that. I do the pranking, you hear me! I am never pranked! I'll get you, Impmon! And your little blue partner too!"
We all had a good laugh over that as Terriermon walked off muttering curses.
Digi-Modify! Digital Gate Activate!
Rika stood back from where she had made the portal, and motioned the others through. Takato turned to me.
"Sorry we have to leave like this…"
I shook my head.
"No, I should have done something about this."
He sighed.
"I don't really think there's anything we could have done Henry. She's so bent on hating me that she's made up wrongs in her head. I'm sorry. Look, I'll try to come visit again sometime. Maybe talk a few things over."
I nodded, and shook his hand. Then he looked at me, and embraced me like a brother.
"See ya, Henry."
"Yeah. See ya Takato…"
He stepped back, nodded, then turned and went through the gate, Rika close behind. Then I nodded to Suzie, and we started walking home. She wordlessly handed me a cd. I arched an eyebrow.
"What's this?"
She grinned.
"It was a digital camera. About twenty to thirty different shots."
I smiled back.
"Guess what my new screen-saver is?"