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(In case it isn't immediately obvious, I'm switching to first person. Why? Story called for it. The first part is alt-Ken's, the second is alt-Gatomon's. The tag alt-someone will not be used -- but it should be clear which person/Digimon the speaker means, or I'll eat this fanfic)
I stared at my math homework and tried to blink back my fatigue. I haven't been sleeping well lately. I keep having these dreams -- of an ocean, and Digimon. They're trying to drag me into their world. I've always woken up before they succeed, but it's been getting close.
"Ken?" Wormmon asked. "You should hurry up and finish your homework -- you look like you're about to fall asleep."
"I know, Wormmon. I'm almost done." I returned to staring at the numbers on the page. I haven't told anyone about the dreams. Not Davis, not T.K., not even Wormmon, though I think he suspects I'm not sleeping well. I tried to focus on the numbers, but I felt my self slip off again...
It was different this time -- I was standing somewhere that looked very much like where we had fought Apocalymon three years ago. I looked down -- I was wearing the T-shirt and shorts I had first entered the Digital World in, though sized up to fit me. The Crest of Kindness symbol was glowing on my chest. As I stared at it, it resolved into scenes... memories...
...Working on that sled to cross the ice field several weeks ago, when we first met my double and Yolei from the other universe. My double had asked for an update on what was going on here.
"Well," T.K. said, "It's been about 3 years since we defeated Apocalymon, when the gate opened up again. The Digimon needed our help again. Some girl from our word calling herself the Digimon Empress entered the Digital World and is trying to take it over."
"Digimon Empress?" he asked, confused. I stared at him a bit -- from the small amount of science fiction I've seen, I realized there could be differences between universes, but, for some reason, this didn't occur to me just them.
Davis nodded. "Yeah. Isn't it like that in your universe?" he asked.
"Well, we had a Digimon Emperor, but we defeated him," the other Yolei explained...
...Later, on our way to destroy the Control Spire, my double tried to get his Wormmon to Digivolve... of course it didn't work. "Don't they have Control Spires where you're from?" Davis asked incredulously. "You have to have to Armor Digivolve."
"I don't have a Digi-Egg," my double explained.
"You don't?" I asked. I didn't add, why not. He seemed familiar enough with the idea of Control Spires, but didn't have a Digi-Egg. What happened in their universe, I wondered...
...It was outside the Kamiyas' apartment, in the evening -- the setting sun was coloring the buildings shades of pink and orange. We were still trying to cope with the news of the Digimon Empress's real identity. I was shocked... the nice-seeming girl who had beat me at chess yesterday, and the kid sister of someone I respected a great deal was out to enslave an entire world. I turned to my double for some guidance. "You said your universe had a Digimon Emperor," I asked. Okay, technically, the other Yolei had said it, but it was still a fact. "Did you feel like this when you found out his real identity?"
"Um... well..." he said. Why won't he answer...
...We had a Digimon Emperor... an echo of Yolei's voice... I don't have a Digi-Egg... my double's voice... If Kari was the Digimon Empress, who was the Digimon Emperor?... my own thoughts...
Davis holding up his new Digivice -- the first time we had seen a D-3. "That's it!" Wormmon said. "You're a servant of the Empress!"...
... An image of the Digimon Empress -- of Kari -- holding up her Black Digivice, identical to our D-3s, but sinister-looking...
I have never seen my double's D-3... I've seen the other Yolei's, when her Hawkmon Digivolves, but never his... and he doesn't have a Digi-Egg...
" T.K. once told me that the Digital World only opens the gate when it needs the DigiDestined."
We only got Digi-Eggs when our Digimon needed to fight at the Champion level, but couldn't Digivolve. In the other universe it must have been the same way with this Digimon Emperor person -- the other DigiDestined needed to Armor Digivolve to keep up with him. That's why the other Yolei has a Digi-Egg... or two. "I don't have a Digi-Egg." If he doesn't have a Digi-Egg, then he must not of needed one... why would Yolei get one, and he not?
A new thought seemed to cross my mind while I was hovering in my dream-like state. Gatomon doesn't Digivolve -- it might be because she's already a Champion Digimon, and Kari doesn't have a Crest and Tag. But Kari never sends her against us -- it's always an enslaved Champion Digimon. I wonder if the Digimon Emperor was the same way...
An idea popped in my head, one so horrible I nearly rejected it out of hand. I then began to consider it. He doesn't have a Digi-Egg... and I've never seen his Digivice, so, that's no help... and it would explain why he never answered my question about the Digimon Emperor... he couldn't, he always knew... no, he would never be so heartless and evil... I would never... NO!
I started out of my chair, knocking it off balance and sending it -- and myself -- crashing to the floor. I heard footsteps in the hall. "Ken? Are you okay? I heard a crash, and a yell." My mother.
"I'm fine," I said, picking myself off the floor and righting the chair. "I just leaned my desk chair too far back and fell out."
"You're not hurt?"
"No... nothing more than a few bruises."
"Well... get to bed, dear. You have school in the morning."
"Yes, Mom." I heard her walk off.
"Ken?" Wormmon asked.
"Not you too," I said.
"You were dreaming again, weren't you? I thought I was your best friend... why won't you tell me?" I really hate it when Wormmon lays on the guilt -- I know he's concerned about me, but sometimes it comes across a little strong.
"I wasn't dreaming... I was thinking... about my double from the other universe."
Wormmon nodded. "He's certainly the quiet type..."
I nod. "He says more than he thinks. Wormmon, I'm not sure we can trust him."
"Why, Ken? He's you... or as close as it comes."
I shook my head. "No... he might look like me, have my name, and have a Digimon that looks like you, but they aren't us. We have to remember that. If I could only see his Digivice -- that would prove it. I'll talk to him tomorrow... after school, when we go to the Digital World... if he comes." Lately, my double and the other Yolei hadn't been visiting us as much. Occasionally, I stopped by their hotel rooms, only to have Yolei tell me my double was out... another clue? "If he doesn't, I'll go talk to him in his room -- wait until he comes back. One way or another, I'm finding the answer." Wormmon nodded, even though I don't think he quite understood me.
* * *
Moon sure is bright tonight. I had climbed to a favorite spot, on top of the base to stare up at the sky... and think... I needed to do a lot of thinking.
Is this really what I want my life to be like? The thought startled me. All of my life I knew I was destined for something, searching for something. My little run in with Myotismon may have waylaid my search, but it also showed me the key -- the Digidestined.
When I met the Digidestined, it was the first time I had seen kindness. At first I just assumed their Digimon were just their servants, much like my own relationship with Myotismon. But, as I watched them for clues about the Eighth Child, I began to see more. The Digidestined actually liked and respected their Digimon. They gave them instructions, but it was the advice of a friend, not the order of a superior. Part of me, a part I thought I had buried long ago, called out for that kind of a relationship.
Wizardmon noticed this... I'm not surprised. He was my friend, and he was good at noticing things and figuring people out. Sometimes I think he knew more about me than I knew about myself... I could use his advice right about now... I'm so confused...
I remember when I first realized it consciously... it was at night, in the Real World. We had spent an unsuccessful day searching for the Eighth Child, and he and I were returning to the base. It was quiet... too quiet...
"Where are the guards?" Wizardmon wondered.
"You know the incompetents Myotismon sticks on guard duty... they're probably harassing local humans for kicks," I told him. Suddenly I heard a rustling in the bushes. I pounced.
"Please don't hurt me!" It was Wormmon.
"Where are the other Digidestined?" I asked him, recognizing him as the Eighth Child's(whoever that was) Digimon.
"I came alone... I need the Crest." Wormmon explained.
"It was really stupid to come here alone when you're just a Rookie who can't Digivolve." I commented. If this was the kind of Digimon who took up with a human, my opinion of them (and of Myotismon for losing to them) dropped a few notches.
"Well, Ke... he needs the Crest," Wormmon said sheepishly.
I caught the fact Wormmon nearly let the Eighth Child's name slip... another mark chalked up to Digidestineds' Digimon stupidity. "So I can protect him."
"Your partner would be safer if he had nothing to do with you," I comment. "You and his Digivice are what mark him."
Wormmon shook his head. "No... even without me or the Crest or his digivice, he's at risk as long as Myotismon knows he's out there. if he has me, I can protect him."
"Not if you get killed on some foolish mission for him."
"This isn't for him... it's for me. I couldn't live if something were to hapepn to him because I couldn't protect him..."
The way he looked at me... I knew I'd die for Myotismon's cause -- not for any love of it or him, but because I know Myotismon would hurt me if I didn't put forth my full effort. while this pathetic little Digimon was willing to put his life on the line, not out of fear, but out of love. It touched me deep inside, calling forth those feelings of lonliness again. "Come on," I said. "I'm not gonna go with you, but I can direct to towards Myotimon's chambers... he should be asleep."
I thought this would be a way of balancing my fear of Myotismon with my desire to help the Digidestined. But it wasn't. That was when I made a choice... that was when Wizardmon died. He told Wormmon and his partner that someday they would be needed to protect me...
...Goodness knows I could use the protection now...
... What am I thinking? I don't need any protection... I'm with my partner. We're supposed to protect each other. I remember when Kari and I first met... it was as wonderful as what I had imagined. All of a sudden, I was needed and wanted somewhere, with someone.
I didn't really notice how much Kari was changing... some of it has to be present when we met, becuase she didn't tell her brother about me, or the fact she was Digidestined. I knew he was one too, but I figured she had her reasons. Kari always told me how jealous she was of Tai. That jealousy, bit by bit, seemed to take over her life. every time tai won something in soccer, she had to win at chess... soon it became an obsession to best her brother... and a desire to take over the world her brother was sworn to protect.
She's cut herself off from everything else in the world... her family, her peers, her world... I can't let her cut herself off from me... I'm all she has left. Now I realize why Wormmon was on that stupid mission for his partner all those years ago. The ties of love are stronger than those of fear, because you don't try to fight them. And perhaps, soemday Kari will realize this again, and I'll see the light of love and friendship in her eyes again.
Author's Note:
Betcha thought this fic was dead... so did I. But I kept staring at it, and I realized it was too good to kill, even if I don't really watch Digimon much anymore. So, I had written Part 1 of this interlude and I thought I should post it at least. As I was re-reading it, I just got inspired, and started writing again... maybe I'll actually finish it. I'd say there will only be 2-4 more chapters.