take me back
The Dreaming Tree is copyright to the Dave Matthews Band
(probably going to properly songfic this later)
mommy come quick
the dreaming tree has died
the air is growing thick
the fear he cannot hide
He didn't really know why Ryo came home with him. He was so spent, so overwhelmed by the entire final battle, and ... afterwards. His mom came to pick them up and she didn't object to his presence either. She looked quietly angry at his dad. He didn't have the strength to be. Even Suzie stopped crying and fell asleep halfway to the apartment.
But when he opened the door to his room and didn't see Terriermon, he was glad Ryo was there.
"Hey... Jen."
He'd cried out there in that empty field, they all had. He thought he'd spent all the tears he had in him. But Ryo's touch, his voice broke the dam over all the days of tension and fear, and the newfound feeling of loneliness. Ryo pulled him to his chest before he knew he was sobbing. He tried to stop when he heard Suzie plaintively ask if Jen-nii was okay, and when slippered feet rushed to his room.
"Ah... I think we need to be alone for a while." The door closed.
Henry hiccuped, looking up at Ryo. Had he just slammed the door on his mother and father? Had he just...?
"Hey. Later, okay?" Ryo pulled him to his bed and tucked him close while the tears kept coming. Every time he tried to stop, something else in the room would remind him of Terriermon. Of all the hours they'd spent together, all over the city. Ryo's arms seemed to be the only thing holding him together.
Minutes turned into hours. He was getting hungry. "...Henry?"
"Y-yeah?"
"My leg's cramping up."
Henry laughed weakly, shifting. That got them both on the bed, reclining. Ryo didn't say anything, though he was looking around Henry's room. His parents' guilt was probably the only thing keeping them from barging in and separating him from this fourteen-year-old boy.
Not that he'd let them, anyway.
"Ryo," he said hoarsely. "Why...? Why did all this..." He paused, clutching at Ryo's tear-soaked sweater. "Why did he do this to me?"
Ryo wiped the tears from Henry's cheeks. His own face was wet too. "He didn't want to hurt you. But we were the world's hope. And it was his job to do whatever it took."
"Why couldn't he have told us!"
"Because we would never have done the job. Because... he knows we love our digimon too much."
"It's not fair..."
"Yeah." A soft kiss on his brow.
"Now I'm beginning to sound like Rika."
Ryo laughed tiredly. It occurred to Ryo that they hadn't gotten much sleep through all this. "Yeah, you are. You're right, though. It isn't fair."
Henry scooted up to lean against Ryo's neck. His voice barely rose above a whisper. "Ryo... I... I h-hate him. Yet... I forgive him."
"I know."
"He's my dad! I shouldn't--"
"But he shouldn't lie to you either." Ryo brushed his hair from his brow.
"He probably feels awful."
"Hey. Take some time for yourself, okay?" Ryo nuzzled his wet cheek. A new, strange feeling. Well, not actually. Terriermon had been like this all the time, affectionate and loving. Ryo was the first human outside his family whom he'd felt comfortable enough to touch like this. His weary heart decided it was a good thing.
Something was bugging him, though. "Ryo... you didn't seem too sad when Cyberdramon left." He'd actually seemed calm after the initial shock.
"Well... I guess that comes from all the years of traveling with him, in different forms. I think, of what I can remember, that digimon in my original universe were destined to be together. You couldn't part them."
Slowly, Henry said, "That is kind of like the TV show."
"So I'm pretty sure Cyberdramon can take care of himself, and I kind of have a feeling we'll meet again." Ryo leaned back. He was getting sleepy too. Henry found it easy to snuggle next to him, no matter that their clothes were still dirty from all their adventures. "I bet you guys will all see your partners again."
"Ryo.... you wouldn't go dimension hopping again to look for him?" And leave me here?
"Naw." Ryo yawned. "I'm sticking around... f'r awhile...."
Henry stayed awake a few more minutes, dwelling on those last mumbled words. It made him cling to Ryo all the tighter. But eventually he too succumbed to exhaustion.
~~~
working title: if i were a king
(possibly songfic'd or inspired by "If I Had It All" by the Dave Matthews Band)
Something was ringing.
Henry turned over, not opening his eyes.
The phone was ringing.
He pulled the covers over his face.
It was still ringing.
With a groan, he looked at the clock. Nine o'clock already?
No. Four o'clock. In the morning. With a growl he hit around for the receiver.
"Takato, what is it this---"
"LEE JENRYA!"
Henry winced. Oh, wide awake now. "Rika? What, what is it? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! Ryo said he couldn't give me a rematch tomorrow. And you know what lame excuse he gave me? Just guess!"
'Today,' Henry wanted to correct her. But he was getting a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going to go. "What did he sa--"
"He said he had a date with you! Can you believe that guy!!"
Henry suppressed the urge to groan aloud. "Rika. We -do- have a date. Today," he added.
"You two are going out?!"
Henry winced, and not at the screech of her voice. It was the small note of shock and hurt. "Rika..."
"Stupid BOYS!"
Slam!
Henry stared at the receiver. He tried to hang it up on his forehead. That didn't work.
He contemplated calling Ryo just to pass along the pain. He knew the number by heart already, even if it wasn't programmed into the speed dial. Instead, he threw himself back on the pillow. "Tomorrow."
~
The new day came too soon for Henry's liking. Granted, it was a weekend, and all his homework was done already. Which reminded him, he had to talk to his dad about the accelerated track in school. He wanted to switch to it, but it was going to separate him from his friends for most of the day.
Henry yawned. This was one reason why he hated getting up in the morning. His thoughts always raced ahead of the rest of him. "Some problems you have, Jen. So smart the regular classes are boring you." Takato was having tons of trouble with the math classes especially. He went home with Henry to study so often that his parents joked about leaving a sleeping bag and a toothbrush at the Wongs'. It also frustrated Takato when Hirokazu failed every class... until test day, when he aced everything. Then he was at a loss when it came to explaining the theorems to his friend. Of course, Henry had him beat in world history. 'Kazu seemed to get madder every time Henry trounced him on the class standings.
It was really nice to have friends in the classroom. But boredom did eventually set in. And when it did... he thought of Ryo. Worse yet, he thought of Terriermon.
There were some days when it was easier. When they were just hanging out in the park, or playing soccer in the school playground, they could forget. But some days Takato would meet Henry's eyes when he shrugged his right shoulder against the body that wasn't there. Or 'Kazu would catch Jeri staring out into the park, and he'd chuck her chin to snap her out of it. Or they'd all look out the window at a gathering thunderstorm, each remembering when the sky had split apart.
The everyday stuff was the worst. Takato, 'Kazu, and Kenta were still avidly into the card game. So certain school days would find them lining up at the card shop. The neighborhood kids had eventually learned that the legendary digimon tamers didn't want to butt in to the front of the line. But the autograph hounds and the occasional feature reporter had all figured out that they didn't mind talking. Rika ostensibly joined the group from across town to "protect" them from the rabid fans. On some buying trips, Henry had to take Suzie with him. She collected Lopmon and Terriermon cards, at times pressing Henry for money and advice on how he'd really used the cards. Between fending off curious fans and keeping her in sight... it was easy to miss that little voice at his side, telling him "Momantai."
Just the other day, Takato had mentioned that Reika-san still came to the shop. He spent five minutes telling Henry how she only bought fresh bagels now, how she always said hi and talked to her mom about shopping. He spent the next hour blubbering about all the different kinds of bread Guilmon loved. Takato rarely cried anymore, except when it was about Guilmon.
They really didn't have anybody else. Before they left for the Digital World, the digimon had been their secret. When they returned, they became their "claim to fame" and humanity's salvation. But only the seven of them -- not counting Suzie -- only they really understood that those digimon had been their friends.
Henry shook his head. He couldn't ruin things with Rika. It was already hard to keep her from drifting to the fringes since she didn't go to school with the rest of them. He knew Ryo tried to keep in touch with her, but he was back in school in another prefecture. It was hard for the two of them to keep the lines open, much less with Rika. Though he might have mentioned this little omission earlier...
"You're going out, dear?" His mother popped in. "You look so handsome in that shirt."
Henry looked down at his short-sleeved Chinese style tunic, and shrugged. His wardrobe had changed... after. He just couldn't wear the same orange vest and dark shirt that had always been his comfort clothes. He knew digimon didn't have a scent, per se. It was probably just his imagination that conjured up the warm, cut-grass smell of Terriermon. Besides, it was always better to err on the formal side when you had a date.
"Yes, mom, I'm going out. I won't be home for lunch."
Mrs. Wong sighed. "All right..." She looked him over. "Where are you going to be?"
Casually, "I'm going to hang out with the others, and then I have a date."
"Oh, Jen." She hugged him impulsively. "My little boy's growing up."
"Mom..."
She laughed. "I know, I know. I'm just glad you have someone." Even if he is a boy.
"I'll call if I'm late for dinner, okay?" It was more to soothe Suzie's mind than his parents. She didn't like it when people went away.
~~~
(And for the OlderLee dj)
So spent... and all he saw before him was darkness...
"Momantai, Jen..."
"Terriermon..." Was he speaking? He didn't have the breath to speak.
Something boomed above them, and the funnel walls seemed to narrow as more material rushed upwards. But they were falling...? He tried to turn around and look.
"Don't look, Jen." The soft, familiar weight landed on his shoulder. Where he belonged... There was wet on his hair. Digimon could cry? They must have learned. He was crying too, whether from the cold realization of what those explosions meant, or the sound... the sound of data unraveling, so close, right next to him, knew it better than a heartbeat...
Something bright passed before Henry's eyes. "A digi-gnome?" He was so tired. At least Terriermon would be there. He wouldn't be scared if Terriermon was okay.
Then it flit away, tittering happily even as its light dimmed and twinkled out. "I... I didn't make a wish." He shook himself; they were passing through the mangled data fields, and the outer most shell of the digital world was closing in. Everything inside him felt dark. "We're going to hit bottom."
"No we won't, Jen." And he felt those fading paws and ears and small body wrap around him, so fragile, and his hands were almost too numb to feel his digivice melt into loose data.
"Terriermon!"
"Jen... I don't have much time. I can't hold any form, not even In-Training. This way... Jen...."
Henry tried to pull Terriermon around, to embrace him one last time. But the light was too bright, and all he could see were two bright beady eyes. "Humans and digimon together..."
"We're stronger. I'll always be-- "
The darkness merged with the light, the force of Terriermon's last wish pushing him out of harm's way. And Lee Jenrya, as the world had known him, ceased to be.
