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Gyaaah, poor Takeru-chan. Eee, it's a good thing I already know exaclty 
where I'm going with the end of the story, or else I'd be on the floor 
by now. ::falls over anime-style::




Games of the Mind *Chapter Eleven*




After the sun sank below the horizon that evening, Pipermon headed 
toward her usual spot in the nearby tree. She stopped when someone 
grabbed her wrist, whirling, startled.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Yamato asked her.

She pointed.

"To...the tree..." she said softly, "to keep watch."

Yamato dropped her wrist and shook his head.

"Ohhh no you're not," he said with a small smile, "you've been through 
enough today, don't you think?"

"But--"

"I'm keeping watch tonight, Pipermon," he insisted. "Besides, I have 
a...a favor to ask you."

She paused.

"Favor?" she echoed. She twitched her nose. "Okay...shoot."

Yamato looked back over his shoulder. The rest of the children were 
seated around the fire, talking amongst one another about the day's 
events. Mimi had pulled out a Ziploc baggy full of miniature Reese's 
Peanut Butter Cups she had brought, unbeknownst to anyone, and was 
doling them out. The digimon were a little wary at first, as none of 
them had any idea what a peanut was...nevermind how one made butter from 
it. But once they gathered the courage to eat one, they were soon 
begging for more. Yamato's eyes fell on TK, who was holding a Peanut 
Butter Cup in his palm, staring at it. He hadn't even unwrapped it. 
Pipermon's heart jerked in her chest. 

How cruel, she thought, how cruel, Kurarimon...to attack the 
youngest...have you no shame?

"It's TK," Yamato said softly, and Pipermon looked at him, "I...I want 
you to keep an eye on TK tonight."

She blinked.

"Yamato-san?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

"Stay in my tent with him tonight," he said. There was desperation in 
his voice. "Please, Pipermon...you seem to know more about this enemy 
and her magic than any of us...more than any of us could ever HOPE to 
know..." He paused. "Pipermon, if any of us would be able to protect my 
brother from Kurarimon's phantasmal nightmares...it would be you..."

Pipermon was a little startled. Why was he doing this? He, who had been 
the most suspicious one, right from the start...why was he now putting 
so much faith in her as to watch over his little brother? She was 
puzzled.

"Yamato-san..." she breathed, "you...you really want me to...?" Her 
voice trailed off, and he looked at her with such fear and guilt in his 
eyes that it made her very soul ache.

"Pipermon...please," he said, "I'm...I'm begging you... Please watch 
over him. He's...he's my baby brother, and he means the world to me... 
God, if anything were to ever happen to him, I would--"

Pipermon placed one finger over his mouth, silencing him. He looked at 
her, then slowly stepped back.

"I won't let anything happen to him, Yamato-san," she said fervently, "I 
swear it to you--"

"DON'T!" he shouted, looking at the ground. She jumped. "Don't swear it, 
Pipermon," he said sharply. "Don't make a promise you're not certain you 
can keep!"

"I never," she replied indignantly. He snapped his chin up and blinked, 
and she took him by the shoulders, leaning down to look into his eyes. 
"Yamato-san," she went on, "there are two things you should know about 
me... One, is that I never fight a battle I'm not confident I can win, 
and two,"--she paused, and looked pointedly at him--"is that I never 
make a promise I'm not confident I can keep." She squeezed his 
shoulders, then stepped back. "And so...I promise you, Yamato-san," she 
said with a smile, "I will do everything I can to protect your brother." 
She pulled out her flute. "And, since you insist on relieving me of my 
position as guard,"--she spun the flute, and whispered something 
quickly, the teal cloak suddenly shimmering into existence--"I want you 
to take this." She thrust her arm out. "It's too cold out here at night 
for you to keep watch with just a sleeveless tee-shirt on. You'll catch 
pneumonia."

He looked at the cape, then at her, and he gave a small smile, taking 
the cape from her hand.

"Thanks, Pipermon," he said, and looked at the cloak as he rubbed the 
slick fabric between his fingers. She nodded crisply, and headed toward 
the tents. After walking a moment, she turned back over her shoulder, 
and broke into a grin as Yamato plunked down beneath the tree and draped 
the cape around his shoulders, pulled out his harmonica, and started to 
play his signature song.






Pipermon lay on her back, staring up at the inside ceiling of the tent, 
watching it bow and bend in the raging wind and rain of the relentless 
Arashii outside. Hours had passed...she just couldn't sleep. She felt so 
awkward... What exactly was she supposed to do? She turned her head to 
the side, smiling slightly at the sight of Gabumon, Patamon, and TK. The 
little flaxen-haired boy had his back to her, his body curled up in a 
fetal position, his breathing slow and steady. She couldn't quite tell 
if he was asleep or not. The poor little creature, she thought sadly. 
How terrifying it must have been, knowing he was next on Kurarimon's hit 
list. She rolled onto her side and laid her head on her hands, wondering 
what to do. She sighed. She had made Yamato a promise, and she wasn't 
about to let Kurarimon make her break that promise...but she just didn't 
quite know what to do about it. She sighed again. 

How did you protect someone from a predator who lurked within the crypts 
of their own mind? 

She really had no idea...and felt terribly helpless and inept about the 
whole thing. A few moments passed, and she heard movement from the other 
side of the tent. Opening one eye, she saw Patamon flap his golden wings 
and lift from his perch on TK's shoulder. The little digimon landed on 
Gabumon's stomach, curled up, then went back to sleep. Pipermon smiled 
and closed her eyes again.

After another few moments of silence, she again heard the sound of 
movement, but didn't bother opening her eyes this time. Her weariness 
outweighed her curiosity. That is, it DID...until she felt something 
press up against her abdomen. She jerked, a little startled, and snapped 
her eyes open.

"Takeru-san?" she asked softly as the boy drew his knees up to his chest 
and nestled his back against her. "Takeru-san, what's wrong?"

He jumped, alarmed for a second, and his eyes grew wide.

"I'm sorry, Pipermon," he said quickly, his voice aquiver. "I didn't 
mean to wake you up."

She smiled.

"You didn't wake me up, Takeru-san," she said.

He looked surprised.

"I didn't?" he asked. "Why not? It's late!"

She pushed up to her elbows and gave him a sly look.

"Yes, it IS late," she said. She playfully narrowed one eye. "I'm sure 
it's way past your bedtime, Takeru-san." Her smile suddenly faded. She 
reached out to touch his shoulder. "Takeru-san...you're...you're 
shaking," she said, gently squeezing his shoulder. "What's the matter? 
Are you cold?" She frowned as he gnawed on his lower lip as though 
afraid to speak, and she could see tears welling up in his large, 
innocent blue eyes. She sat up and put her knees to one side, scooting 
closer to him. "Takeru-san, what is it?" she asked, a little worried 
now. She took his shoulder again, and he looked up at her. She gasped at 
how fearful his eyes looked. "Takeru-san--?"

She let out a squeak of surprise when TK lunged forward and threw his 
arms around her waist, tears streaming down his face.

"Pipermon," he wailed, "I don't want Kurarimon to get me!! I don't want 
to have her nightmares and get sick like my brother did!! I don't--"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, little guy," Pipermon said, taking his shoulders. He 
pulled back and looked up at her, his eyes overflowing with frightened 
tears. "Easy, now, Takeru-san," Pipermon said softly. She glanced up and 
saw that TK's cries had awakened Gabumon and Patamon, and both were now 
watching from a distance, as if to see how Pipermon would handle this. 
She ran her finger under his eyes, brushing away the tears. "Calm down, 
kiddo," she went on, "weren't you listening to me earlier?"

Takeru sniffed, blinked, and looked at her quizzically.

"Wh...whaddya mean?" he sniffled, wiping his eyes. Pipermon smiled 
kindly, and tilted her head to the side.

"Were you listening to what I told the others earlier, Takeru-san?" she 
asked him. "I said that when a human is afraid, that they are weakened, 
and that's how Kurarimon hurts you. She gets inside your head when you 
are afraid...when you're vulnerable."

TK frowned.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

She looked into his eyes and placed her finger on the tip of his nose.

"What I'm saying," she told him, "is that, if you're not afraid of her, 
she can't hurt you."

"Really?" he asked, wide-eyed, "If I'm brave, she won't get me?"

Pipermon winked.

"You got it, short stuff."

Takeru frowned.

"I dunno if I can be that brave..." he said meekly.

Pipermon folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm sure you can," she said. "You're not a quitter, Takeru-san."

He blinked, then narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know?" he asked. She grinned.

"I can see it," she said. He looked perplexed.

"You can...you can SEE that?" he gaped.

"You humans," Pipermon told him, "you probably don't see it when you 
look at yourselves in the mirror...but you have the most telltale eyes."

"Really?" Takeru asked again. It seemed that every word from Pipermon's 
mouth was an amazing revelation he had never thought of before. 
"Telltale eyes?"

She nodded.

"Yes," she said. "There's something in human eyes that digimon eyes just 
don't have. I can tell so many things about you...just from looking in 
your eyes."

TK was awestruck.

"Really, really?" he asked again, and Pipermon laughed. "Really, just by 
my eyes?" She nodded. "Tell me, then," he gushed, "tell me what you see 
about me!"

Pipermon smiled at him.

"Well," she began, "I can see that you're very loyal...you care a lot 
about your brother and the other kids, and you'd do just about anything 
to help them. I can also see that you and Patamon are very close." 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Patamon grin, settle in on 
Gabumon's side to listen to Pipermon's little biography. The two digimon 
had been silent the whole time, just listening to her words, as though 
they could find some insight into Pipermon's intentions, but they 
suddenly seemed at peace, like all that had to be said was a true 
statement about TK to convince them she was for real.

"That's right," TK cried. He sat on his knees and inched closer to her. 
"What else do you see?"

She paused, and her eyes narrowed.

"Something happened to you, Takeru-san," she continued, a little more 
slowly, "something...a long time ago." She frowned, and squinted at him, 
staring into the depths of his cerulean blue eyes. "I'm...I'm not sure 
what, but something that hurt you...something that made you very sad. 
Something that...tore your family apart..." She shook her head quickly 
to clear it, and paused. "And that's how I know you're not a quitter. 
Even though something happened to you years ago, you pulled through. You 
didn't give up, and here you are. You're a trooper, Takeru-san, nothing 
gets you down. That's why you bear the crest of hope, is it not?"

TK blinked, not certain he had heard her right.

"How did you--?"

"I have my sources," she replied cryptically with a wink. She tapped his 
nose with her fingertip. "You have better things to worry about than 
where I get my information, Takeru-san...like getting some sleep."

His eyes widened.

"But...but I'm SCARED to go to sleep, Pipermon," he said, "I'm not sure 
I'm brave enough to fight the nightmares..."

She picked him up under the arms and sat him on her knees so he was 
facing her.

"Takeru-san," she said, "do you know how to play any sports?"

"Tai's taught me a little bit about soccer," he replied, confused as to 
how this was relevant.

"Okay, think of it this way, Takeru-san," Pipermon went on, "let's say 
you're on a soccer team, okay? And you have a big tournament coming up. 
You've never played against the opposing team, you've never even MET 
them...everything you know about them you've heard from others. All you 
really know is that they're undefeated. Every single team they've played 
has lost." She paused, for dramatic effect, TK supposed. "So, what do 
you do?" she asked after a second. "Do you chicken out? Turn tail, 
forfeit the game, and run away?"

TK frowned.

"Well, no," he said, "that would be silly. You play anyway."

"Exactly," Pipermon said excitedly, "you play anyway. You play anyway, 
because there's always the chance you might win." She hesitated. "The 
enemy works the same way, Takeru-san. Kurarimon...all she's doing is 
playing games...games of the mind. She toys with your fears and messes 
with your head. But, Takeru-san, all you have to do...is play anyway. If 
you keep your wits about you and remember that it's just a dream, 
there's nothing she can do to harm you."

Again, TK looked awestruck.

"Honto ni?" he asked for the umpteenth time. He didn't sound entirely 
convinced. "Really, you're sure?"

Pipermon grinned.

"Is this the face of a mon who would lie to you?" she asked. Takeru's 
face broke into a grin. "So whaddya say, kiddo?" she continued, setting 
him back down on the floor of the tent. "Do you think you can be brave?"

He pursed his mouth.

"I'm...not sure," he admitted softly, looking at his hands, "I was 
thinking something more along the lines of never going to sleep 
again..."

Pipermon gave him a wry grin.

"Now, Takeru-san," she said, narrowing one eye, "you know as well as I 
do that won't work." She ruffled his hair. "Humans can only stay awake 
for so long. You'd fall asleep eventually, Takeru-san, and, by the time 
it comes to that, you might not have the strength to fight the 
nightmares."

TK pouted. Pipermon took his chin between her thumb and forefinger and 
lifted his face to look at her.

"Believe in yourself, Takeru-san," she said, smiling. "I believe in 
you."

His face lit up, and he nodded.

"Okay," he said, "I guess you're right, Pipermon, I can't stay awake 
forever." He scooted back to where he had been curled up on the floor 
earlier, and lay down on his side. "G'night, Pipermon," he said softly, 
yawning.

She smiled.

"Oyasumi nasai," she returned a whispered goodnight, and then sighed. 
She didn't lay down, she didn't try to go to sleep. She was worried. Not 
so much for Takeru as she was for herself, she was worried. TK was 
strong enough to fight off Kurarimon's delusions, of that she was almost 
certain. She had seen it in his eyes, he wouldn't give in to her. No, 
she was more worried about what was going to happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow they would reach Kuroniji Mountain...Kurarimon's territory. 
True enough, the forest may have been Kurarimon's creation, but it was 
Pipermon's turf. If Kurarimon were to venture out of her stone castle 
and into the Forest of Illusions, she would have gotten lost the same as 
any other digimon who had never navigated their way through it before. 
Up until this point, the children had been relatively safe from 
Kurarimon's full power. Once they entered the section of the forest at 
the base of the mountain, however, they would be at Kurarimon's full 
mercy, and Pipermon wasn't sure her powers would be enough to protect 
them any longer.

But how was she supposed to tell them? WHAT was she supposed to tell 
them?? She had been deceiving them for too long to just fess up and come 
clean...if she were to tell them now that she had been working for 
Kurarimon the whole time, they would never believe her when she 
explained to them that she no longer had any desire to hurt them. They 
wouldn't ever believe that she didn't want to help Kurarimon anymore. It 
was quite a quandary. What was she to do? Keep up the charade? Keep 
deceiving them? Keep them in the dark? Or tell them the whole truth and 
risk losing their trust forever? The trust she had worked so hard to 
gain? She didn't want that to happen. But they would find out the truth 
eventually anyway, she reasoned. They were smarter than that, they would 
figure it out. She sighed. That's the problem with being an evil 
digimon, she thought, nobody believes you when you say you've 
reformed...

Her thoughts snapped back to the present when she heard Patamon gasp 
sharply.

"Pipermon," the little digimon cried softly, "Pipermon, look!"

She gazed at Patamon, blinking away her troubling thoughts.

"Huh?"

Patamon anxiously flapped his golden wings and gestured.

"Look," he said, frowning. "Look at TK!"

She looked over at the boy, and a soft gasp escaped her throat.

"Takeru-san?" she called softly, and crawled over to him on her hands 
and knees. Gabumon and Patamon followed cautiously. TK jerked in his 
sleep, his face contorted in fear. Apparently, Kurarimon had wasted no 
time in hitting the child with her venomous nightmares.

"Wake him up!" Patamon cried, afraid. "If we can stop the dream, then 
maybe we can--"

"No!" Pipermon said, raising one hand. "No, we can't wake him."

Gabumon frowned.

"We can't?"

"Why not?" Patamon asked.

"In the same way you should never wake a sleepwalker," Pipermon said 
slowly, "you must not awaken someone trapped in one of Kurarimon's 
nightmares, you may end up doing them more harm than good."

"Why's that?" Patamon asked.

"I dunno WHY," Pipermon said, exasperated, "it just IS." She licked her 
lips, a frown sliding across her face.

"Well, we have to do SOMETHING!" Gabumon protested.

"We can't let Kurarimon hurt TK!" Patamon added protectively.

Pipermon set her jaw, determined.

"Oh, we won't," she assured him, and inched closer to TK. She gathered 
the boy into her arms and sat down on her knees. "Come on, Takeru-san," 
she urged, "snap out of it." She put her arms around his shoulders. 
"Snap out of it, Takeru-san, it's just a dream, it isn't real!" She 
squeezed his shoulders close to her when she felt him jerk against the 
frightening pull of the nightmare. Patamon looked about ready to burst 
into tears. Pipermon gave the smaller digimon a severe look.

"Now, don't YOU start," she scolded pointedly. "Don�t be a quitter, 
Patamon, have a little faith in your human."

Patamon's eyes got big, and he twitched his wings.

"You really think he'll make it out okay?" he asked. "You think he can 
do it?"

"I don't THINK he can, Patamon," she said firmly, "I KNOW he can..." She 
looked at TK again, then carefully laid down on the floor of the tent, 
Takeru curled close to her body. She draped her arm over his shoulders 
and clutched him close to her, like she were cradling her own child to 
shelter him from the world. That was almost how she felt anymore...like 
they were her own. Like younger siblings or something...she didn't know 
why...but she felt she HAD to protect them... How ironic, she thought, 
that the children she had been sent to destroy would cause her to have a 
total change of heart. She bowed her head. "Come on, Takeru-san," she 
whispered, "this is YOUR dream, not hers. You're in control here, 
Takeru-san, remember that. Stand up to her mind games. Play anyway, 
remember? You just might win. You HAVE to win, Takeru-san...don't give 
up." She took a deep breath. "I believe in you, Takeru-san," she went 
on, "but that won't do you any good if you don't believe in YOURSELF." 
She frowned. "I made a promise, Takeru-san," she said softly. "I 
promised your brother I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I promised 
him that Kurarimon would not take you away from us."

She let her forehead fall on TK's shoulder, and she closed her eyes with 
a quiet sigh. 

"Please..." she said, her voice almost too quiet to be heard, "please 
don't make a liar out of me..."






Waaiiiiii!!!!! Ah, I almost wanna cryyyyyyy!!!! ::gets gooey-eyed:: 
Okay, review please...heh, as I leave you with yet ANOTHER 
cliffhanger...nyuk nyuk nyuk. Ain't I a stinker? }:D Wow, Pipermon's 
such a cool character...and I'm not trying to brag, I mean from an 
author's POV, she's a great character to write, I love the shifts in her 
personality. And then there's the kids...that's, well...duh, they're 
just awesome to write, cuz they're all so different. I'd never tried my 
hand at a fanfic before, cuz I I never much fancied the idea of writing 
a story with someone else's characters, I usually do originals, but for 
some reason, this story was just calling to me. And so, minna-san, I 
must end another chapter...::sigh:: and go to work. -__-* Oh well, my 
Christmas shopping is all done! :D Now I just hafta wrap it all... ::big 
sigh::
~~hikari
Translations: "Honto ni?" means "really?" and "Oyasumi nasai", I forget 
if I translated that one before...it means "good night." Did I miss any?