The woman looked up from the battered and old book she was reading. She was smiling.
"Takeru, I never knew you wrote so well back then!"
The man she was talking to was blushing outrageously. He had been blushing for the past half hour, as his fiancé had read through his old school journals.
"You don't think it's weird?"
Takeru looked apprehensive as he asked his question. He had been a lot younger when he'd wrote those journals. And had been hopelessly in love.
He was older now, but he was still hopelessly in love.
Some things never change.
"No, I don't. It's sweet!"
Hikari's response made Takeru's blush fade a little. He looked relieved.
"You know Kari, this is actually a good place to stop for a second. There's a story I'd like to tell that isn't in my journal, because I didn't find out about it until later. You know, the time Patamon secretly invited Gatomon over?"
Patamon, who had been relaxing on the sofa suddenly perked up. He looked embarrassed.
"T.K., you don't need to tell that story. We've all heard it already!"
Gatomon piped up as well: "Yeah, I mean there isn't much to tell. Patamon and I ate lunch, that's all!"
Kari giggled. "You're right."
Gatomon jumped into Kari's arm's and purred. "I knew Kari would see sense."
Kari's giggling went out of control.
"I wasn't talking to you Gatomon!"
"Well, Kari and I were eating lunch in the cafeteria with Davis, Yolie, and Cody. I think Davis was telling us some joke about the teacher's mole, but I can't recall. It wasn't that good of joke. You know Davis.
Across town, Gatomon was nervously ringing the bell to my apartment.
When I had left that morning, Patomon had only been pretending to be sleepy. Really, he was bursting with excitement. Apparently, he had whispered something into Gatomon's ear right after he kissed her.
He had invited her over.
Patomon had felt smart and brave when he asked her the night before, but right before she rang the doorbell, he was feeling more foolish than anything else.
Worried thoughts zoomed through his head. What if she doesn't come. What if she expected me to have cooked something? What if she is mad that I kissed her? "
Gatomon interrupted the story.
"Just so you know, those were completely unfounded thoughts."
Patamon smiled.
"I know that now, but back then, well, I was scared.
T.K. cleared his throat. The digimon had the good grace to look sheepish.
"Gatomon was almost as worried as Patamon as she rang the bell. It might have been the whole thought of growing close to Patamon that worried her. By nature, she wasn't the most open of digimon.
Patamon jumped off the couch and flew in quick nervous circles when he heard the doorbell ring. After taking a few deep breaths, and flying through several full rotations, he rushed to the door and opened it, then dropped to the ground.
He saw Gatomon at the door, looking nervous. Her face mirrored how he felt inside, and that helped to put him at ease. His face broke into a smile.
It was probably that genuine, open, happy smile that melted both Gatomon's worries, and her heart."
T.K. paused to take a drink of water. Patamon and Gatomon had twin dreamy looks on their faces.
Kari giggled at them.
T.K. put down his glass of water, took a breath, and then launched back into the story.
"Patamon led Gatomon to the table. Over time he had amassed quite a stockpile of sweets, and had brought out some of the choice items to share with Gatomon.
They devoured the candy in silence.
Like the silence Takari and I shared earlier that week, theirs was not an awkward silence.
The sweets lasted for a while, but then were done, and they had the whole day ahead of them.
For a second, the silence turned awkward.
But then it was broken.
Patamon asked Gatomon if she wanted to read some of the stories I had written about the earlier days in the Digital World. He knew she was interested in what had happened before we discovered her, and that she had only heard fragmentary tales of it.
Now he shared with her the whole story, read aloud. He used my words to paint wondrous pictures for her, and I do not begrudge him that. I'm glad that she got the chance to hear them, to be the first person who hadn't been there to experience it through my words.
After Patamon read to her, she told him stories. She told him more about her life. For the first time, she really talked about her painful memories as Myotismon's slave. She unburdened, and felt freer than she had in a long time.
The rest of the day passed quickly. They talked more, and watched some TV. They laughed at how silly humans could be. They discussed Kari and I. And they resolved to not tell us about this day just yet.
So when I got home, Gatomon was gone, and Patamon told me it had just been a boring normal day.
And I believed him."
Kari smiled at me.
"That did serve as a nice break."
Patamon and Gatomon nodded. Takeru seemed relieved. He open his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as Kari continued: "Now T.K., what happens next in your journals?"
She picked up the journal again. T.K. blushed.
Despite Kari's words, he was still worried. He couldn't quite remember the order of the entries, but one was coming up that he was quite embarrassed of.
Author's Note:
Sorry for taking so long, and for the shortness of the update. The monolithic organization known as the school system has been sapping my time and creativity. Hopefully this chapter satisfies those who have been waiting. I wanted to try at changing the perspective a bit, and at providing a bit more context for the story. How did I do?
As always, thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited, and read. You give me the motivation to keep writing.