A Carousel For Two
"This is Amy Merandiz of channel eleven news, reporting live from the fairgrounds to announce the 60th Annual Sakura Carnival is in town! We're going to be broadcasting live from 5 to 6 tonight at the ABC tent! All of you, come out and see us!"
Henry smirked, leaned forward on the couch and watched the large ferris wheel behind the reporter on the TV. He'd never missed it in his whole life and he definatly wasn't this year. He was going to the carnival with Takato this year and somehow he was going to get Takato to ride it to.
"Henwy, that angwy boy is on the phone again!" his little sister Suzy called from the hallway.
Henry half groaned, half grinned and stood up from the couch and walked over to where his little sister held the phone to her chest waiting for him to come retrieve it.
With a small giggle at noticing Henry's bedroom door open and Terriermon sitting on the bed she threw the phone at him and took off. "TEWIERMON.. IT'S TIME FOW A BUBBLE-BATH!!" she yelled, running into the room.
Henry grimaced and held the phone up to his ear, knowing he'd hear about the famous 'Suzy treatment' all afternoon once Terriermon puffed up like a marshmellow from the bath.
"Hello?" he said a bit nervously, still watching the bedroom door and what he could see of his little sister.
"Hey Henry... hey I needed to tell you me and my parents are going out of town this weekend... you'll have to find someone else."
Henry stood silent for a moment, leaning backwards to try and see where his sister went after she went out of his sight.
"Yeah okay sure." he answered after catching site of her again and noticing she was caught up in playing with a stuffed animal she had left in his room the day before.
"Okay.. well I'll pray for you if another Deva breaks through." Henry heard the laugh on the other end following it.
"Oh com'on between my knowledge and Rika's battle-craziness I think we'll be fine." Henry laughed also.
"Well we're leaving RIGHT NOW.. so I'll talk to you later... tell Rika I left for me."
"Sure Takato. See you later."
"See ya."
Henry hung up the phone, peered back at his sister, seeing she had gone back to her own bedroom and was in there playing.
He picked up the receiver again and started dialing Rika's number praying she picked up instead of her mother or grandmother.
"Hello?" a voice on the other end said.
A look of surprise crossed his face.
"Renamon?" he asked, the surprise definatly coming through in his voice.
"You want Rika. Just a moment." the sturn voice answered, then it went silent.
A bothered-like sigh came from the other end.
"Hello?" an irretated voice of Rika asked.
"Hey.. Rika.. um.. it's.. Henry..."
"What do YOU want?"
"Takato wanted me to call you and tell you he's going out of town for the weekend." Henry said a bit slowly.
"Oh... whatever..."
Henry didn't move, and his eyes went blank when they did when he was thinking hard and long.
After a moment or two of silence on both ends Rika sighed.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah um.. the carnival this weekend..." Henry started, but his mind screamed for him to stop, screamed louder than anything at him, telling him he'd make a complete idiot of himself if he asked.
"Yeah what about it?" Rika's voice changed into a tone Henry had never heard out of her. Even the 'what the heck' out of Renamon in the background confirmed to him that she hadn't used that tone around her either.
"You going to it?"
There was silence on the other end for a moment.
"I wasn't really planning on it... more something you go with someone else to. I wouldn't be seen alive there with my grandmother and my mother dosen't want to go."
"You can go with me." when the words slipped out of his mouth he shut his eyes tightly, his mind screaming at him about how stupid he was.
"With YOU?" Rika's voice had that same weird change in it again, almost excitment running through it.
Henry opened his eyes back up, clentching his one fist so hard from embarresment that his knuckles were white.
"Yeah... yeah with me."
Henry's older sister popped her head into the room at the sound of her brother's words and just grinned at him.
Henry glared at her, and put his finger to his lips signaling her to not say a single word.
His sister just grinned and leaned against the wall, watching him.
"Well, I uh---"
Henry just stood silent on the phone, not knowing why he was so anxious. He knew she'd say no.
"How about you pick me up around.... seven this Saturday?"
Henry felt his jaw drop to the ground.
"I uh-- I um--- sure." He forced out of his throat.
"It's a date then." and the other end hung up.
Henry dropped the phone and it dangled from the wall unit, his face just blank.
His sister burst out laughing and walked back in her room, closing the door behind her.
~
"What was that about, Rika?" Renamon asked, a concerned sound in her voice.
"He's going to pick me up Saturday to discuss buisness about the Devas." Rika said sharply at her, a glare across her face.
"Didn't sound like it to me."
"Shut up! You don't have any right to know what I do!" Rika stood up from kneeling at her table and grew extremly defensive.
Renamon took a step back, seeing she was serious.
"As you wish..." Renamon sighed, and vanished into the shadows.
Seeing Renamon disapeered Rika stood silent for a moment, but a smile crawled across her face and soon she was running out of her room to put the cordless phone back on the hook.
Her mother sat at the kitchen table and saw the smile on her daughter's face as she hung up the phone.
"Well, what's this about?" she asked, putting her newspaper down.
Rika's mother was taken by complete surprise when Rika kissed her cheek and smiled.
"I'll be gone this Saturday evening."
Her mother just stared at her as she ran back out of the room back down the hall to her room.
"That isn't my daughter." her mother said as Rika's grandmother entered the room. "Someone has stolen my daughter and replaced her with some perfect child."
---
Saturday morning, and Henry still laid on his bed like he had ever since the night before, just staring at the ceiling. Suzy sat on the floor, stroking Terriermon's ears which Terriermon really didn't mind. Suzy's mind was more on her brother's expression than Terriermon anyways.
"She a tamer." Suzy had memorized that line from Henry repeating it so much. With the cutest voice she could manage she looked up at him and spoke.
"Henwy, what's a tamer?"
Henry looked over at her, then Terriermon who's expression had changed from a stuffed animal look to a 'say a word to her and I'll hurt you' one.
Henry sighed and then forced a smile at her.
"Don't worry about it Suzy.. you'll understand when you're older."
"Oh..." Suzy said thoughtfully, watching the floor.
Suzy picked Terriermon up and set him on top of Henry's stomach, then kissed his forehead.
"Well I hope you figuwe somethwing out..."
Henry smiled and messed with her hair a bit and went back to staring at the ceiling.
As soon as the white door had closed behind Suzy, Terriermon came back to life.
"If I asked you, could you tell me how many of those little bumps are on the ceiling?" Terriermon asked, half serious.
"Probably." Henry grinned, but still had his eyes on the ceiling.
"According to Suzy and your other sister you're going out with a girl tonight..." Terriermon changed the subject to what had been bothering him all day long.
"It's not a date... we're going to the carnival."
"It's a date." Terriermon put his little hands on his hips and stuck his bottom lip out like he did when he saw he wasn't going to get his way.
Terriermon jumped off Henry's stomach and walked over to the window to stare out it.
"Two million, sixty-eight thousand, four hundred and ninety-two..."
Terriermon turned around to look at Henry with a confused expression. "Huh?"
Henry sat up straight and grinned at him.
"That's how many bumps there are on the ceiling."
Terriermon laughed and rolled his eyes, going back to watching the birds outside.
~
"PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ?"
Rika pulled a tight metallic-blue colored shirt over her head and looked over at the small white digimon, green eyes glimmering with hope.
"You REALLY want to come?" she asked with the same attitude she showed before, just with a kind smile on her face.
Calumon loved that smile now, he loved how she treated him. Just this morning she played a game of soccor with him in the front yard.
Calumon grew even more exciting, his little voice ringing with happiness.
"YES YES YES YES YES!!!" he shrieked.
Renamon came out of the shadows behind the two, and talked, with her calm attitude still about her.
"If he goes I get to go too."
Rika turned and looked at her, then sighed impatiently.
"Oh alright."
She grabbed the black belt studded with the blue gems and started to slide it around her jeans.
Calumon jumped off the dresser and went dancing around the room, jumping from one foot to the other.
"I get to go to the carnival, I get to go to the carnival!" he sang as loud as he could manage.
"Whoooo.." he cooed as Renamon picked him up.
"What should I do with him?"she looked at Rika questionigly.
Rika sighed brushed her hair with the metal-green brush that had sat on the dresser, and smiled.
"Oh Renamon put him down."
Renamon shrugged and set the small digimon down on the floor, just to watch him prance around, singing the same song over and over again.
He jumped up and flew onto Renamon's shoulder and leaned forward to get into her face.
"There'll be candy, cotton candy, hot-dogs, soda...." He jumped on top of her head and peered into her face.
"And lots and lots of fun!!"
Renamon just gave Rika a 'save me' look.
Rika gave her a famous 'I really don't care' scoff and walked out of the room, leaving Renamon with this small white digimon climbing all over her.
"Well, I do believe my daughter does have a fashion sense!"
Rika froze at the sound of her mother behind her, closed her eyes wishing she was somewhere else or that she could just melt into the floor.
"Where are you going in an outfit that attractive? You have a date?"
Rika whirled around facing her mother and gave her the death glare. "It isn't a date!!" she shrieked.
Her mother stepped back a little, took a deep breath and looked her in the eye.
"You certainly aren't going to someone's house looking THAT dressed up!"
Rika just glared harder, and with a swift motion, turned around and walked out the front door to go sit on the steps to wait for Henry.
The sun was turning an orangish color as it set over the horizon, catching the glimmer of Rika's blue metallic shirt, and she curled her legs closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and setting her chin on her knees.
She felt someone watching her and turned around slightly to see Renamon basking in the warm orange light of the late August evening.
"You're anxious." Renamon said in her knowing tone.
Rika turned back towards the front gate.
"You think I wouldn't be?" she sighed.
Renamon leaned against one of the white marble pillars and watched her tamer for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next.
"Do you like him?" Renamon asked after a moment or two of silence.
Silence from Rika, almost as if she was pondering what to say in responce.
"Well?"
Rika just sighed and stayed silent, knowing Renamon would pick up the answer sooner or later. By the end of the night.... at least Rika hoped.
The two didn't have to wait long to see Henry, a loose, buttoned, white shirt setting off his grayish eyes that immediatly caught the attention of both of them.
Terriermon was close behind, almost colliding with Henry when he suddenly stopped on the sidewalk.
Terriermon flew up and sat in his normal position on Henry's head.
Rika stood up straight, and held back a smile, trying to keep her cool.
Henry stared at her a moment, he wasn't used to her having her hair down, or wearing anything that didn't have a broken heart or skull on it. This Rika was different, even in her personality.
He was tempted to ask her if she had gotten into the alcohol cabinet but decided that wouldn't be the smoothest move he'd ever make.
"You look.... nice...." Henry said after looking her up and down.
Rika smirked at him, the closest thing to a smile yet to Henry and walked towards him, then stopped dead and smacked her forehead. "I forgot something."
"Someone is more like it!" a small high-pitched, irretated voice said sharply that came from right behind Rika.
She turned around, Henry peering around her, at Calumon who had his small little hands on his hips and a very angry look on his face.
"I'm sorry..." Rika sighed.
Calumon brightened up a moment later. "It's okay! Let's go!!!"
Henry leaned towards Rika and whispered in her ear. "I didn't know we'd have company..."
Rika looked over at him a moment and sighed, but whispered back. "How was I supposed to say no?"
Henry nodded a moment in acknowledgment, then smiled at Rika. "Well you ready?"
Rika nodded and started to walk out in front of him, Calumon flying behind her and landing on her half-bare shoulder, trying not to get his foot caught in the spagetti strap of the shirt.
"Let's go!!" he shrieked again.
Rika and Henry smiled inwardly at the small digimon's excitment and walked out of the yard and down the sidewalk towards the large towering Ferris Wheel in the distance, glimmering in the light of the setting sun.
-----
"Let's go on that one... no that one!! No... no no no that one! Hey, I know! Let's go on them all!!"
Calumon jumped back and forth from Rika to Henry's shoulder staring at all the rides that were covered in bright lights. The sun still hadn't set, but it was dark enough to need the lights.
The digimon following with partners attracted a few looks, but with all the weird happenings around lately it wasn't a surprise. Children ran up to Renamon, tugging on her fur, thinking she was just a person in a costume, but Renamon kept walking, almost blind to all the children shrieking with delight around her.
But unlike Renamon, Calumon sucked it all in, doing a flip in the air and receiving laughs from the children, and few 'aw isn't it cute?' from some teenage girls walking by.
Rika just broke off a piece of cotton candy she and Henry were sharing and stuffed it in her mouth to have an excuse to not have to explain what type of animals Calumon and Terriermon were.
"LET'S GO ON THAT ONE!!" Calumon let out his loudest and most excited sound yet as he pointed to the tall Ferris Wheel.
Rika made a slight face, and fidgeted with the keychain she had attached to her jeans.
Henry looked over at her face, then smirked.
"Oh, we can't.. Rika's afraid of heights."
"I AM NOT!!" Rika snapped.
"Well let's go then." Henry smiled and started to take a few steps, then noticed that Rika was still standing right where she had been the whole time.
Henry turned and looked back at her. "Well are you coming?"
Rika let out a slow breath and nodded.
She hit him playfully in the back of the head. "What did you think I was, scared?"
"No..." Henry laughed, nudging her with his elbow right back. "A girl like you, scared? It's impossible!"
Rika sneered at him, or, tried to, because she had a smile on her face.
After waiting in line for a good half hour they finally were rushed onto one of the booths and they both took the seat and sat beside each other while all the digimon sat on the roof of the booth.
Rika looked out at the orange sunset setting under the horizon, and just kept her eyes on it, her having the seat closest to that window.
Henry smiled at her and leaned back in the seat, putting his one arm over it, and in back of Rika.
"I think we picked the perfect time to go on this.." he said a little quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself.
"Mmmm.." Rika responded, still looking out at the sunset, and not even noticing Henry's arm behind her.
She leaned back in the seat, and felt his arm behind her, whirled her head around to face Henry and glared at him.
Henry just smirked back and kept his arm there. "Deal with it.. I paid to get on this."
Rika groaned, crossed her arms over her chest and sank into the seat.
"Don't feel too bad Rika..." Henry grinned. "You can't win all the time."
Rika gave him the 'death-glare' and looked back out at the sunset.
Henry edged closer to her and played with what hair that he could get near without her ripping his hand off.
"You shouldn't be so sour, Rika... we're supposed to be having fun. And look, we aren't even a quarter of the way around this thing and I'm not about to share this ride with someone with this attitude.
Rika stayed silent, just sinking further in the seat and purposely didn't look at him.
Henry sighed, pulled her back up straight in the seat by her arm and turned her head using his finger and looked straight into her eyes.
"Are you going to answer me?"
Silence, and the same glare from Rika.
Henry lowered his arm a bit over her shoulder and made first physical contact that he could remember that wasn't being punched in the face.
He felt Rika's muscles tense, and saw her flinch at the touch, and Henry's eyes grew worried and concerned.
"Rika..?"
"Just leave me alone."
He heard her voice crack in her harsh statement, that was just over a whisper.
She jerked her head back and looked back out the window and sighed.
She didn't notice that her reflection in the glass could be seen by Henry, and the streaming tears down her face were completly visable.
"Rika..." he said compassionatly, eyes softening. "Rika you can tell me... I promise I--"
"My father."
Henry was cut off by a soft voice out of Rika.
He scooted across the seat and laid his hands on her shoulder, just to hear her gasp out of fright and to feel her shoulders arch.
He lifted his hands, then laid them back on her bare shoulders. "Go ahead.... I'm listening.."
Rika slowly and softly started telling the story to him, replaying that one night over in her mind.
~
FLASHBACK
~
"How's my Rika?" A tall blonde young woman walked into the bedroom, completly done out in baby pink, a small six-year-old girl laying on the silk and lace bed, watching her small TV that sat on the white wicker dresser.
The red-haired girl looked over at her mother and frowned.
"Daddy hit me..."
Her mother's eyes grew wide. "What?"
"Daddy hit me!" the small girl was growing impatient. Her teacher didn't listen, neither did the neighbor.
"Let me see." her mother walked over slowly to the girl, as she lifted her daughter's shirt up where the girl clutched, and saw the black and blue mark across it.
"Oh my god..." she whispered in horror.
"Mommy, it hurts!" the girl said softly.
The woman was silent, she stood up, and walked out of the room.
~
That night the small Rika sat on the couch downstairs, walking the small doll on her legs and smiling at it. It was the only friend she had in the world. Daddy used to be her best friend until he got really mad.
She still didn't understand why he got so mad.. only that he did.
"GET OFF THE COUCH!"
A loud voice of an angry man boomed, and Rika looked up with horror-filled lilac eyes as a hand came and smacked her hard against her face, two hands laying on her shoulders, pressing down hard, and Rika let out a shriek of pain.
She blacked out, and next thing she knew she was in a car piled high with suitcases, her mother in the drivers seat, her father no-where to be found.
~
END FLASHBACK
~
"I'm sorry..." Rika said sharply, fighting back more tears. "It's stupid..."
They were half-way around the ferris-wheel now, Henry didn't have much time to break the ice.
He ran his hands down her sides, but froze noticing how much she had tensed up.
He decided just to scoot even more towards her and try to put his one arm around her.
He followed out his plan in sucession because she leaned back against his side, curling her legs up on the seat.
He just brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. "I'm here now.." he said softly, noticing she had let go and more tears were going down her face.
"It'll be okay.."
She curled up tighter into his side and closed her eyes.
They sat like that until the wheel started getting lower to the ground, and lower, and lower, soon they were opening the door of their booth and forcing them back out.
They walked out slowly, and Henry draped his arm over Rika's shoulder.
"It'll be okay." he repeated as she laid her head on his shoulder.
~
The sun had set behind the moutain in the distance, and the stars had come out. The moon hung overhead, surrounding dark areas with a soft blue glow.
But with all the bright lights from the carnival, there wasn't much darkness to be found.
Rock and Pop music blared all around as teenagers crowded the walkways.
Henry and Rika were in the middle of the crowd that slowly was dying down as it was getting around ten o' clock.
But they weren't leaving anytime soon. At least that's how Rika saw it. This was the first time she'd ever felt like anyone cared about her, and she feared it all would end as soon as Henry took her home. They'd be back to normal enemies, yet friends at the same time.
She knew he and Takato were best friends, and Takato wouldn't approve of a relationship between the two. And if Takato didn't approve, most times Henry wouldn't even think to pursue it.
Rika brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and leaned a bit against Henry, a silent plea for him to put his arm back around her.
He just smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned towards her.
"Afraid I'll leave you?" he whispered in her ear.
When he went back to normal position she just laid her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh.
Henry had that way of reading minds. He could tell what someone was feeling no matter who it was.
If it was fear from Suzy when an earthquake shook the apartment building or forced anger from Rika herself, he'd sense it. He always sensed it.
"Don't worry Rika." he kissed the top of her head after he whispered again.
They walked on, ignoring the jealous looks of many teenagers walking by.
~
Henry stood at one of the food-booths ordering the last meal he and Rika would eat there.
The lights blinked around it, setting it off from all the rest and catching both the tamers' eyes.
As soon as he finished a voice calling him made him sick to his stomach and he prayed with all his heart it wasn't who he thought it was.
"Hey Henry! What brings you here!"
Henry turned around abruptly to face Takato standing behind him, dressed in a bright blue shirt and blue jeans with the goggles everyone had come to expect placed firmly on his hair.
"Wh-wh-what are you doing here?"
"Flight got cancelled." Takato shrugged. "Soooo..."
Takato looked around a moment. "You come alone?"
Henry just looked at him a moment. "Well actually uh--"
Rika stepped up right then beside Takato and Henry cleared his throat.
Takato took one look at the girl then looked at Henry with a surprised look.
"You took her instead of me?"
Rika stared at Takato.
"I thought you left!!" she said rather sharply.
Takato stared back. "And I thought you hated to dress in anything but skulls and broken-hearts."
Henry cleared his throat again. "Well um..." he said as he picked up the sodas and two bags of chips he had ordered and handed one of each to Rika. "I'll... see you later."
Henry draped his arm back over Rika's shoulders and walked towards the tables at the other end of the path.
"HOLD ON!"
They both froze and turned around slowly.
Takato took a few slow steps towards them with a serious look on his face.
It turned an instant later to a lousy grin. "I'll come with you!"
Rika groaned inwardly. There went everything she'd hope would happen before they left.
"Goggle-head..." she snapped, turned abruptly on her heels and walked towards the tables, not even waiting for Henry.
Henry just watched her go and sighed, turned back around to Takato and gave him the first death-glare Takato ever saw out of him.
"LOOK WHAT YOU DID NOW!"
Takato took a few steps back. "Henry...?"
Henry just groaned and ran after Rika who had just slumped herself, back facing them, on a table about ten yards away.
"Rika!!" he yelled.
She didn't turn around at all, and soon Henry was sitting right beside her, too caught up in her to even notice Takato standing there watching.
Takato watched in silence as Henry ran his thumb down her cheek and both smiled.
"My God..." he thought to himself.
He slumped against a tree along side the dirt path that was shading the booth from the bright moon's glow and sighed.
This was definatly not a good thing.
------
A bright light hit Rika in the face and a loud buzzing noise started, not long after it she opened her eyes to Renamon standing over her. "Time to get up." she said in her normal tone.
Rika groaned. She didn't want to wake up. She had been out at that carnival until midnight.
She looked over at the clock on her dresser and slammed herself backwards, moaning again and throwing the comforter over her head to block the light.
"Rika..." Renamon persisted.
"Go away." a muffled voice under the covers said.
"I will not go away! Now get up!" Renamon sighed.
The blankets moved a bit, giving Renamon the impression that Rika was tossing over on her side and when the pillow slid under with Rika, she knew Rika was trying to block Renamon's voice.
Renamon sighed. "I didn't want to do this."
Picking up the tall blue glass of water Calumon had left the day before, she lifted the covers and dunked in on the groaning girl.
Rika was up in a flash, glaring at her harder than she ever had before.
"I was coming!!" Rika exclaimed.
"Not fast enough." and with that Renamon smirked and vanished into the shadows.
A loud voice was booming from down the hall when Rika opened her bedroom door, using the towel she had fished out of the laundry basket to dry her hair.
She trudged down the hall, recognising the voice to be her grandmother's.
Slamming herself down at the kitchen table she tossed the towel over some newspapers and waited for her grandmother to set breakfast down in front of her.
Nothing happened.
"Grandma?" Rika asked a little confused. This wasn't like every other Sunday morning. Most Sunday's her mother would actually be there waiting too and breakfast would be ready at eight sharp.
Her grandmother turned around from the sink. "Oh, you want breakfast?"
"Duh.." Rika snarled.
"Well breakfast is off for you today."
Rika gave a startled look. "Why?!?" she exclaimed.
"Because you have to beat it over to the diner downtown and meet your boyfriend there."
Rika's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she jumped from the table and ran out to go get dressed, stopping half way down the hall to come back and pop her head in the room.
"And he's not my boyfriend."
Her grandmother just smiled and kept washing the dishes.
~
The bell above the door of the small bakery owned by the Matsuki's rang as the door opened to a bright girl's face.
Takato was watching the counter, as he looked up to see Jeri, a fellow digidestined, walking up to him.
"Good morning Takato." she said in her usual sweet voice.
Takato mumbled something back as he rolled a few pennys around the glass counter.
Jeri looked up at him. "Something wrong Takato?"
"Huh?" Takato looked up at her suddenly.
"Oh! Jeri! Hi! I didn't notice you came in! Why didn't you say hi?"
Jeri gave him an awkward look. "I did..."
"You did?" Takato sent the same look back at her.
Jeri nodded slowly, and put the back of her hand to his forehead. "You might be coming down with something."
"No.." Takato pushed her hand away. "Alot on my mind."
Jeri nodded and shrugged. "Okay if you say so."
She walked over and looked at all the different types of bread for sale, knowing that Takato would spill in a few seconds if she didn't ask.
"Henry and Rika are going together."
Jeri just froze at the rushed-together words of Takato.
She turned around, face as white as a sheet.
"W-what?"
Takato groaned and slammed his forehead on the glass counter, causing a loud bang.
"Ow, that had to hurt.." Jeri said just loud enough for Takato to hear.
Takato straightened up and looked at her, and slowly started to explain.
Jeri nodded over and over again as she listened.
"... and now Henry won't talk to me." Takato concluded.
Jeri put her hand on her hip and let the first sarcastic attitude Takato'd ever heard out of her come.
"Do you blame him? Not like you're the nicest person when it comes to relationships.."
Takato's eyes grew alarmed. "What's THAT supposed to mean?!"
"Well you never asked me out.. and you almost have something against people going out!" Jeri felt her voice growing louder, but couldn't help it.
"Well how about tonight?!?" Takato shouted back at her.
"Fine!" Jeri shouted at him louder.
"Fine! I'll pick you up at seven then!!" he yelled back, just as she turned around and stormed out of the bakery.
Takato stood shocked a moment.
"What just happened?" he asked himself a little dumbfounded.
~
Jeri kept up her steady pace, storming past all the stores and people.
Her mind flooded with the argument. She'd never fought with anyone before, what got into her?
She wasn't going to slow down anytime soon she didn't figure, but she figured wrong.
"Whoa! Slow down Jeri!"
She heard a slightly familier voice.
She stopped a moment and turned slightly to see Rika dressed unusually in a pair of blue jeans and a tight white t-shirt and her hair down on her shoulders.
"Rika! What are you doing--" she was about to say 'here' but the word took on another form when she saw what Rika was wearing. "-- in that?"
Rika stood a bit confused a moment, then snapped back into reality and looked down at her clothes.
"Oh... taking on a new look... like it?" Rika spun around once.
Jeri just stared at her. This day was full of firsts.
Between Jeri yelling at Takato and Rika's new attitude, this world was beginning to become scary.
What's next? Kazu becoming a tamer?
"It's... really nice..." Jeri said, just a little bit stunned.
Jeri snapped out of her trance and looked at her straight. "Are you going out with Henry?"
Rika was taken aback a moment, but then regained her ground. "Yes." she said simply.
"Oh!" Jeri exclaimed. She thought Takato had been lying. Knowing Rika, she didn't like to be romantic in any way. But this was Henry we were talking about.
"So.. where'ya going?" Rika said quickly, changing the subject as fast as she could.
"Away." Jeri turned back around noticing she could still see Takato's family's bakery.
She started back on her quick pace, but Rika followed right on her heels.
"You and Takato have a disagreement?" Rika asked curiously.
"Yes.. we did... now leave me alone."
Rika stopped dead and watched Jeri walk on into the park where the small digidestined headquarters was.
She sighed, just as Renamon came back into view behind her.
"It's almost as if you've switched personalities." Renamon said in a knowing and wise voice.
Rika just nodded silently and watched Jeri's back until she vanished around a corner.
~
"Pweese?"
"No."
"Pwetty pweese?!"
"Suzy! I said no!"
Henry growled at his little sister who was standing beside him as he slid on his regular orange vest.
"But why can't I come and meet Wika?" she said in the cutest voice she could manage.
"I'll make myself weel pwetty! I'll put on my bestest shirt!"
Henry sighed and smiled down on the little brunette.
"You want to come that bad, huh?"
"Yes pweese!"
Henry put his hand on his hip and shifted his weight.
"Okay fine go get ready. You have five minutes."
"Okay!!" Suzy shrieked with joy.
Half-way out the door she turned and her eyes darkened.
"But.. Henwy.. I don't know how to tell time yet."
"Then just get ready as fast as you can." Henry laughed.
"Okay!" she shrieked again and sped out of the room.
Henry just smirked and shook his head and sat on his bed to put his shoes on.
Not two minutes later Suzy came back in, having changed her baby pink shirt to a bright purple.
"Suzy that's not your shirt!" Henry exclaimed, noticing it was his older sister's tank top.
"But it fits me perfectwy!" Suzy exclaimed right back.
Henry chuckled a moment at her. The shirt was supposed to be very short, but on Suzy it fit like a regular one.
"Okay fine."
Suzy grinned and jumped up on the bed just as Henry stood.
She reached her little arms out to him and he picked her up and carried her on his thigh.
"Mom, I'm taking Suzy with me!" he yelled into the kitchen as he walked by.
"Oh.. okay... have fun sweety!"
"Kay Mommy!" Suzy yelled back and grinned as she headed out with her big brother.
~
"I hate myself." Takato groaned to Rika as they sat outside of a small cafe at one of the hunter-green tables.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, so you got in a fight with Jeri and you're going on a date toni--" Rika stopped a moment. "Oh yeah that is bad."
Takato just groaned again. "You aren't making it better."
Rika smirked and leaned back in her chair just as Henry and Suzy walked up. "Oh, I know."
The two looked up at the brother and sister.
"Hey Henry... Suzy..." Takato said gloomily as he stared back at the sky like he had been doing long before they arrived.
"Hey.." Henry said back, then motioned at Rika that he wanted to speak to her alone.
Rika nodded, stood, and waited for Henry to set Suzy down in the chair Rika had been sitting in.
"Now, Suzy, you stay here, okay?"
Suzy slowly nodded at her older brother and watched the couple walk into the trees, just far enough that she couldn't hear what they said.
Suzy sighed, and looked over at Takato.
"What'cha doing?" she asked innocently.
"Watching the sky." Takato replied.
"Why?" Suzy asked sweetly.
"Because I hate myself."
"Why?"
"Because I got in a fight."
"Why?"
"Because Jeri thought I was a bad relationship person."
"Why?"
Takato looked at her a moment.
"You're a pain in the neck, you know it?"
"Why?" Suzy asked again.
"Shut up." he groaned.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Why?"
Takato just groaned once more and plugged his ears.
~
Rika brushed a piece of loose hair behind her ear.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" she asked.
"What you said last night."
"Which part?" Rika asked again. She knew which part.. but she needed to buy herself time. She wasn't at all about to explain it to anybody.... even Henry.
"You know which part I'm talking about." Henry said a bit sturnly.felt herself starting to sweat with nervousness. What was she going to do now?
She took a deep breath and stood her ground. "Yes, I do... but I don't feel like talking about it." she turned to walk away just as Henry's tight grasp was felt on her arm.
She was stuck there by his side and she knew he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.
She just closed her eyes and prayed he'd let go.
But he didn't. He yanked her arm so that she spun around and met his forehead with hers, and he held her there.
"Now.. are you going to tell me... or not?" he said calmly as he stared hard into her eyes.
She just stayed silent, trying to wrap him up in her own lilac eyes so he tottaly forgot about the question, but it went the other way around.
She found herself slowly nodding as she stared into his soft gray eyes.
Rika felt his grasp loosining, and she pulled her arm away.
"Now.." Henry sat down on the park bench that was only a few feet away. ".. I'm listening." he said kindly as he motioned for her to sit beside him.
She slowly sat down beside him, and hung her head in defeat. She had lost completly, but to a decent foe.
"Well?" Henry leaned forward to look into her face.
"I already told you what my father did.. what else do you want from me?" she asked defensively, giving him a death-glare.
Henry's eyes grew soft and loving, and Rika felt herself calming down.
"I want to know why you've been so bitter ever since I've met you. I know that might've shaken you a bit, what your father did I mean, but it's not enough to use as a valid reason."
Rika sighed.
"I hate it." she grumbled.
"Hate what?"
"My life... me..."
Henry grew a concerned look on his face.
"Why do you hate yourself Rika?"
Rika jolted her head back up from staring at the ground and almost glared at him, but it was more a look that was trying to make a point. Her lilac eyes were brimming with tears and her voice was cracking.
"Look at me Henry.. just look at me.. what do you see?" she said, still trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall.
She went back to staring at the ground.
Henry just smiled, and put his index finger under her chin, raising it until their eyes locked.
"I see a beautiful young girl who has the ability to love, and is one of the most kind people I've ever met."
Rika yanked her head out of his grasp.
"How can you say that after how I've treated you?"
Henry just smiled again. "Because I love you Rika Nonaka."
Rika sat perfectly still, just staring at him.
She'd never heard those words before, not since she was very little.
Henry didn't kick himself for saying it like he had when he asked her to the carnival, just waited patiently for her reply.
"Oh, Henry..." she broke down into tears, definatly not something Henry had expected out of Rika Nonaka of all people.
Henry softly rubbed her back. "Shhh... stop crying.."
"It's just... I love you too.." she said inbetween sobs.
Without another moment between them, Henry had her in a kiss that shocked both of them, but especially Takato who'd been watching the whole scene.
Takato just shook his head.
"This will seriously rip the group apart..." he sighed, and went back to ignoring Suzy's 'why's.
-------
Takato was still in the same mood that night on the date with Jeri, and even the waiter at the resturant he took her to seemed to notice.
Jeri just sipped her tall glass of water and watched him over the rim of the glass.
She put the glass down slowly and cleared her throat.
"So..." she started, trying to grasp her mind for anything to start a conversation with.
"How's Henry doing?"
Takato's face grew sour and Jeri mentally slapped herself for bringing up the one subject that seemed to be the one he didn't want to talk about and was bothering him the whole time.
Jeri placed her white cloth napkin in her lap and stared at the black skirt she was wearing.
"Just.. forget about it." she said quickly.
Takato sighed. "You deserve to know, Jeri."
Jeri looked up, and smiled weakly at him.
Takato leaned back on the metal french-bistro style chair and layed the back of his head on the top edge of it.
"He kissed Rika today... I don't know why or what the conversation he pulled her aside for was about, but I don't like it. All this dating and kissing and love is messing up our group. People will soon be turning on everyone else and next thing you know we'll hate each other and won't want to be a group anymore."
Jeri made a slight face.
"No we won't." she said a bit puzzled.
"Haven't you heard of the season two digidestined?" Takato snapped, lifting his head from the metal working of the chair.
"Yeah.." Jeri sipped her water causing perfect silence between them, then calmly set it down and talked to Takato in a smooth and casual voice.
"And they were a better group later on." she replied cooly.
"But--"
Jeri looked up at him with soft hazel eyes. "Now Takato just enjoy the evening and forget about Henry and Rika."
Takato smirked. "Yeah.. you're right."
"I know." Jeri laughed.
~
Rika turned up her radio to her favorite song playing on her favorite station, and walked back over to the small inflatable couch she had bought to put in her room and sunk into it beside Henry who was in the middle of jotting things down in a notebook.
Renamon stood on the other side of the room, too busy trying to get Terriermon to leave her alone to notice the two teens moving closer and closer to each other.
But even Renamon could pick up on a giggle escaping out of her tamer, and both she and Terriermon's attention was diverted to the two across the room practicly on top of each other.
Terriermon shrugged it off, and went back to trying to figure out what the heck the large glass sculpture with the bright bubbles in it was for. It moved so slowly, but was so neat to watch.
Renamon just stared at her tamer who was too caught up in Henry's arms to notice that there was more people or digimon on the planet then just her and Henry.
A knock on the bedroom door made Rika and Henry jump half out of their skins and scoot back to opposite sides of the couch, just as Renamon vanished and Terriermon slumped against the mirror on the dresser like a stuffed animal.
"Um.. come in!" Rika said a bit surprised.
Her mother popped her head in the room after sliding the door just enough to look in.
She then spotted Henry who Rika had snuck in earlier that afternoon.
"Oh! Hello there! Henry, right? Mr. Wong's child?" Rika's mother stepped into the room, and ignored the angry groan of her daughter.
"Yes Ma'am." Henry nodded.
"How long do you plan on staying?" her mother asked.
"Ummm...." Henry looked over at Rika for a quick answer.
Rika perked up immediatly to his rescue. "As long as he can."
"Oh. Well, if you need anything just yell." her mother smiled at Rika and walked out.
When the door was slid to a close, Rika slumped further into the couch.
"I'm SO sorry." she groaned.
Henry scooted back over close to her and smiled.
"It's perfectly fine!" he laughed. "Trust me, I have a family that's three times as big as yours and they're always popping in on me."
Rika just smiled and looked up at him.
"You mean that's why you wouldn't spend time at your house?"
"Oh, we'll spend time there.." he sighed, looked straight in front of him.
Rika sat back up and looked at him.
"When?"
Henry looked over at her again and laughed.
"When my parents are out of town and I can hook up my sister and brother with their boyfriend and girlfriend and have Suzy spend the night at her friend's."
"It's that bad, huh?"
Henry laughed and quickly kissed her.
"You'll learn soon enough."
~
"Sooooooooooooo..." Rika dragged out her word as she sipped one of the sodas Takato had bought for the whole gang of digidestined that sat on the floor of the small cold and dark building they now used for their headquarters.
Henry passed his soda to the now panting Terriermon and watched him gulp down the bubbly liquid.
"I think you've lost it Takato." he commented.
Takato frowned.
"I just think there shouldn't be any romantic intrests in the group. It might tear us apart."
Rika took her legs out of the crossed position and lifted one knee up, setting her elbow on it and leaning her forehead on her hand.
"Takato.." she groaned. "How many times do we have to go through this?"
"As many as we need to." Takato snapped at her.
Jeri sighed and slid her back down the cold stone wall, sinking further into the ground.
Takato eyed her a moment, then went back to Henry and Rika.
"Now everyone knows what you've been like together... it's sca--"
He was cut off when Henry stood up, taking Terriermon in his arms and started walking out of the building.
"HENRY WONG GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!" Takato screeched at him in anger.
No responce. Henry just kept walking, until he stopped and without even turning around said one silent word.
"Rika."
With that Rika stood up and followed him out.
Henry kept on walking, hearing her footsteps behind him, and they walked side-by-side until they were out of Takato's view.
Takato just sat with a mouth gaping open.
His head turned to look at Jeri and he pointed outside the gate that stood in the front of the building.
"Did you see what they just did??"
Jeri looked at him with soft hazel eyes. "They have every right to've walked out, Takato."
"But... we're a team.."
"Did you ever think.." Jeri started to say, going back to staring at the wall opposite them so she wouldn't have to look at Takato's furious salmon colored eyes. "... that maybe it's not the relationship between them that's tearing the group apart..."
She looked over at him for a moment. ".. that maybe it's just how you're taking it? It's how you've responded that's making us all drift apart. They aren't drifting away from you.. you're drifting away from them."
Takato just went silent, watching her. Then he shifted his eyes to the ground and stared hard at a small pebble laying in the dirt.
Jeri scooted sideways, closer to him.
"Com'on Takato you really have to lighten up on them. Did you even consider that maybe Rika being in this relationship with Henry is better for the group?"
Takato looked up at her, a bit stunned at her words.
"No.." he said simply.
Jeri just smiled. "Well, think about it."
There was a silence in the small building, except for the faint sound of Leomon and Guilmon talking outside, and the silence lastest for what seemed to Jeri like forever.
~
"HENWY, WIKA, PHONE!!" Suzy called out from her little perch on the white stool, phone clamped against her baby-pink shirt as she looked down the hall at the closed white door covered in 'DO NOT ENTER' signs.
It wasn't long before it opened and both teenagers came walking out, looking a little fased from the sudden yelling from Suzy for them.
"I hope you both wewent kissing again!" Suzy sighed, remembering how she had walked in on them earlier.
Henry growled at her and yanked the phone away.
Suzy gave a startled shriek at Henry's anger and buried her face into Rika's stomach.
Rika just picked the small girl up, and gave a playful glare at Henry.
Henry tried to ignore it, and talked into the phone.
"Hello?" Silence followed for a moment as the person on the other end answered.
Henry gave another bothered look and raised an eyebrow at Rika and she scowled.
With that return from Rika, Henry hung the phone up.
"Wika.. why'd you let Henwy hang up the phone on the angwy boy?" Suzy asked curiously.
Rika shook her head, shifted her weight, and leaned against the warm yellow painted wall.
"Because he dosen't like me." Rika replied kindly, trying to make it easier for the small girl to understand.
"Ohhhh....." Suzy cooed.
The trio looked up at Henry's parents as they grabbed their coats off the hooks on the wall and slid them on.
"Sweety," Henry's mother started, talking more to Henry then Suzy. "me and your father are going out to dinner. Since Rika's here she can keep you company. We'll be back around eleven, okay?"
Rika and Henry exchanged looks a moment, and then both looked at Suzy.
Rika shruged. "I have nothing to do."
"Just call your mother." with that the wooden door closed and the three were left alone in the house, Henry's sister and brother both out on dates.
"That... was weird." Henry made a slight face, folding his arms over his chest and raising one eyebrow.
Rika almost laughed at his look, she still had yet to break the laughing stage of her opening up.
Suzy however was in stiches now, and Rika set her down on the wood floor and pushed the back of her head a bit, pushing her towards the living room.
"We'll be in here." Rika smiled, still pushing the small girl along slowly.
Henry nodded, then noticed Rika had set him up to have to make the call to her mother.
He groaned inwardly, but yet he DID want to hear the sound in her voice when he explained that the reason her daughter wasn't going to be home was because she was stuck with a boyfriend.
His reasons to call won over the ones not to, and he dialed the number.
"Hello?" a high-pitched voice came over the line, that Henry immediatly recognised as Rika's grandmother. Good enough for him.
"Uh... yes... um.." Henry started, feeling his finger twisting around the phone-cord in nervousness. That always happened when he called Rika's house. Talking to her or not.
"Oh you must be calling for Rika... I'm sorry she's not home at the moment."
"I know she's not. Uh, I'm supposed to call you and say she won't be home until... later..."
Silence a moment on the other end. "And you want me to tell Renamon."
Henry paused, not sure what to say, but he managed to squeek something out.
"You.. know Renamon?"
Rika's grandmother laughed, and suddenly he recognised where Rika got her laugh from.
"Ey, I see my granddaughter didn't tell you."
"No Ma'am." Henry said a bit slowly, peering into the other room at Rika who was currently being shown how you dress 'Miss Pretty Pants' correctly.
"Well bring her back whenever you can. I'm sure she's in good hands."
Henry couldn't help but smile at the remark, still watching Rika as Suzy handed the doll to her giving the impression it was Rika's turn. "Yes.. Ma'am."
"I'll tell Renamon."
"Thank you Ma'am."
"Good-bye."
"Bye."
Henry hung up the phone and smirked at Rika in the other room, now laughing right along with his baby sister over something that wouldn't be funny to her at all before.
He leaned against the wall, just watching the two for what seemed to him like forever, until Rika looked up at him with sparkling lilac eyes, while in the middle of moving a game-piece on the game that Suzy dragged out.
She blushed a bit and smiled, realising he'd been watching her.
He just smiled back and Rika went back to the game, glancing over at him now and then.
Henry gave a dreamy sigh.
"And now, my life is perfect." he said just under his breath.
~
The small pink electronic Power Puff Girls clock sitting on Suzy's white wicker dresser shown the numbers 10:30 on it, and Suzy turned in her bed to stare in the dark at it. She couldn't sleep, even though Rika herself had put her to bed a little while before, but even that didn't work.
Suzy held her little stuffed fluffy cat close to her chest as she slid out of her bed and walked down the hall in her soft pink pajamas.
She rubbed her eye with her fist and stood in the doorway to the living room. The lights were all off and Rika and Henry sat, Henry's arm around Rika, on the couch watching the TV.
Suzy caught Rika's eye and she turned her head towards her.
"Hey Suzy... what's wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep." Suzy said, a bit of drain in her voice.
"Awwl..." Rika said sympotheticly. "Com'ere baby." she held one arm out, motioning for Suzy to curl up next to her.
Henry just gave Rika a weird look, but didn't mind. He was on the other side of Rika so Suzy wouldn't bother him.climbed up onto the couch and sunk in against Rika's body. She curled into almost like a ball from Rika's legs being in front of her, and it made her feel safe for once since all the attacks on the city occured.
She heard Henry and Rika's whispers about her clearly, but pretended not to hear.
"Don't you think she's a little young to see this movie?" Henry whispered to Rika.
Rika leaned towards him a bit, as not to disturb Suzy, and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. She'll fall asleep soon anyways."
And Rika was right, for soon enough Suzy was fast asleep against Rika's side, fluffy stuffed white cat in her arms.
Henry smiled at the small girl, but soon realised he was the only one awake.
He felt Rika suddenly lean further against him, and he smiled at the blank look on her face.
He softly stroked her hair and smiled again. "My poor babies." he almost laughed.
Terriermon stretched a bit from falling asleep against Renamon in the large leather chair, but fell right back to sleep in her lap again, Renamon fast asleep herself against the edge of it.
Henry chuckled to himself at the scene of the two digimon. Rika had brought up the week before that if two tamers fell in love, and were destined to be together, that most likely the digimon would have to be together too.
He chuckled yet again at the thought. The small rabbit-like digimon asleep against the huge fox-like digimon, that almost twice as tall as Takato.
Henry just shook his head. "They'll figure something out." he said a bit to himself.
"Hmm?" he heard out of Rika who appeared to be half-awake.
"Nothing, go back to sleep."
In no time at all he felt her almost dead-weight against him as she drifted back to sleep.
~
Rika woke up to a bright light hitting her face, and she sat up and yawned, looked to her right at the small girl on her thigh and to her right at the boy holding her in his arms.
She kissed his cheek and brushed his hair with her fingers, only to hear a loud sound of a throat being cleared.
She whirled around to see Mr. Wong standing in the doorway.
A horrified look crossed her face, and he smiled.
"Rika... Rika Nonaka... the model's daughter, right?" he asked, running his thumb across his navy blue coffee cup.
Rika nodded slowly. "Yes... sir..."
He smiled again. "You.. like my son?"
"Yes sir..."
"Love him even?"
Rika hesitated a moment, not sure what he was getting at, but nodded anyways.
"Good." with that Henry's father vanished behind the wall that separated the living room from the hall.
Rika looked around, and looked over at the chair that Renamon and Terriermon had been asleep on earlier that morning when she woke up at around two.
There was nobody there.
She sat up abruptly, stirring the boy from his sleep.
He sat up beside her and smiled, leaning to kiss her good-morning, but she just stared at the chair.
He followed her gaze over, and was shocked to see that not only Renamon had left, but Terriermon also.
"But... where--?"
------
Rika sat down at her desk in the all-girls school, and looked up abruptly at the front when she thought she heard a famillier voice, but it was only a new girl, tall and thin, blonde hair down a bit past her shoulders and it was a slight waved look, and she had piercing blue eyes, that seemed to be looking straight at Rika.
She wore the normal school uniform, but with a black leather belt that was on at a slant.
Rika looked nervously at the desk beside her, that was perfectly empty, and she knew the teacher would put the new girl there.
And sure enough, he did. He pointed towards the desk and in one swift movement the girl slumped into the desk and glared at Rika. Glared hard. But then held out her ring-covered hand and blew a bubble with her blueish colored bubble-gum.
"Arista... you don't need my last name.. if you knew that I'd have to kill 'ya."
Rika returned her glare, and took her hand and shook it hard. "Rika... Nonaka.... the model's daughter." she said with a pride she never thought she'd ever have about being a model's daughter.
"Whad'eva." Arista snorted and sunk back in her chair. "This freak-show place is bad enough... I don't need no people tellin' me 'bout their family history... I don't need nobody.. nobody at all."
Rika growled to herself. This was gonna be interesting.
~
Henry peered across the aile at Takato, then to Kazu, then Jeri, then Kenta..... then Josh.
Josh was the new guy that had pranced his little butt right on into this classroom and slammed himself down beside Henry's desk and winked at him.
Josh was the kind of guy all the girls were nuts for, he already caught Jeri's eye, along with twenty other girls.
He had spiked blonde hair, sturn green eyes, and an attitude that took him wherever he wanted to go.
Henry didn't like this guy one bit, didn't like how he acted, didn't like how he looked, and he could tell Takato wasn't one bit thrilled with Jeri's obsession with him either.
The bell rang, signaling the end of school and Henry jumped up, just to get pushed back by Josh.
"Hey, get outta my way."
Henry immediatly glared at him and pushed him right back. "I don't want people talking to me like that."
"Well what'cha gonna do about it?" Josh threatened.
Henry took another step to him and glared hard enough to burst Josh's skull.
"You REALLY want to know that, loser?"
"OKAY OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!" Jeri yelled, stepping in between them. "Com'on Henry, Rika said she'd meet us in the park."
Henry just glared once more at the boy, and walked out behind the group of digidestined.
~
The group walked into the park, through the winding paths, half-paying attention to where they were walking, but more paying attention to the beautiful afternoon. The balmy breeze that circled them, the sunlight beating down on them just right, and the smell of autumn. But the peace was cut short when Henry spotted something in the middle of it all.
"What is HE doing here?!?" Henry demanded, watching Josh already there at the park talking to Rika.
He heard Rika's laugh and felt his face start to burn. "Okay... okay THAT'S IT!"
Jeri and Takato both reached to grab Henry's arms but Henry was already stomping up the stone path to the small building they used for the headquarters.
In one swift movement Henry had grabbed Josh's shoulder, waiting for him to turn around, and punched him square in the nose.
Josh stumbled back and glared at Henry. "Hey you jerk what the heck was that for?"
Rika looked back and forth between the boys in an almost shock at what had just happened, but listened intently to Henry's sturn conversation with Josh, as both boys glared so hard Rika thought their eyes would fall out.
"First you come to the school and think you can boss everybody around just like that... then you have to push me down after school.. and now you're hitting on MY girl...."
Josh growled fiercly at him. "And what makes you think she won't just become MY girl instead?"
"Because I love Henry no matter how much of a jealous idiot he is..." Rika answered his question with the same glare that now was going three-ways.
"I see." Josh said calmly. "Well maybe Renamon will have a say in that.."
Rika and Henry both perked up immediatly. Renamon hadn't been seen since that morning, and how did this guy know about her?
"What do you know about Renamon!?" Rika shrieked.
"Enough." Josh responded sharply, turned, and walked away.
Rika was left dumbfounded standing beside Henry with the same look in his clear gray eyes.
"What does he mean..." Rika looked over at Henry with a concerned look. "... 'enough'?"
~
Rika, Henry, Takato, Jeri, Kenta, and Kazu in a large booth in the local resturant, chatting one at a time, sometimes two or three when an argument struck out, about things with no meaning to the rest of the world.
The long-blonde-haired waitress dressed in a teal-blue short dress like all the other waitresses set another full glass of soda in front of Takato, sitting at the end of one side of the booth, and looked at the small group. "Anything else?" she asked, shifting her weight on the cold black and white tiled floor.
They all shook their heads, and looked at each other trying to stare one of them down into paying for the meals. Finally, Kazu gave in, handing the twenty dollar bill to the woman and remarking 'Keep the change'.
Rika's mind wasn't really on the meal or the conversation, the group talked about Josh, but Rika's mind was on someone else, not Henry, not Renamon... not even her mother who she thought about often enough.. but that tall blonde-haired girl with the piercing blue eyes named..
"Arista." Rika growled, glaring sharply at the very girl on her mind strolling up to them.
"Rita!" Arista said rather sarcasticly and sharply.
The group, especially the boys, all stared in amazement at first the look on Rika's face, then the one on this new girl's.
"It's Rika... and what the heck are you doing here?" Rika demanaded, almost standing up from her place in the middle of one of the red leather seats lined with chrome.
"Just wanted to check up.." Arista gave a sneer.
"Introduce..." Takato said in a cough at Rika.
Rika gave another growl and waved her hand at Arista.
"Arista... the freak new girl in our class at my school."
"The ATTRACTIVE freak girl..." Kazu corrected her.
"But drop the freak part.." Kenta remarked dreamily, staring at Arista.
Rika picked up the packets of strawberry jelly that sat in front of her and threw them at their heads, growling yet again.
Arista had changed out of her school uniform, but wore something that had just caught Rika's eye as she sunk down in the seat and leaned against Henry.
Arista's shirt, for one thing, was a yellow tank-top with a ying-yang symbol across the front of it, smack in the middle. Her pants were jeans... PURPLE... jeans... and she wore a heavy black leather coat over her shirt. Her hair was still waved, and seemed to perfect the outfit.
Rika didn't really respond like she thought she would've at the clothes, but rather looked Arista straight in the eye and swore she saw a glimmer of sadness or hopelessness in it. Rika knew what that would look like, she'd seen it every morning and evening in her bedroom mirror. It surprised her almost that a girl with that much power over a guy... or two even... would be like that.
Rika found herself in that state of mind where she'd reason with herself again, as she leaned more against Henry and he put his arm around her, getting the point.
Henry had been crazy for her the whole time, and still she had that hopeless feeling.
Rika was called back to her senses when Arista said her goodbyes and walked away, leaving a depressed Kenta and Kazu at the table, sulking about not getting her phone number.
Rika watched Arista walk out the glass door lined with chrome and sighed. There was something different about her, something almost famillier.. but...
~
"Oh if it isn't Miss Ice Queen herself!"
Rika slammed her locker, the inside of it covered in digimon cards, pictures, and pictures of Henry, shut and glared at the face that appeared from behind it.
"Leave me alone, Arista." she growled as she held her book to her chest and started to walk off, but Arista kept walking behind her.
"You have fun with your little *boyfriend* yesturday?" Arista said in a mocking tone.
Rika sighed, but stood her ground. "Yes, I did. Thank you very much."
Arista sneered and kept up her pace. "So what do you plan on doing later with him?"
"And why do you want to know THAT?" Rika growled, keeping one step ahead of Arista the whole time.
Arista sped up her pace, but Rika only did the same, still one step ahead of her.
"Because I WANT to know."
Rika stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around to look at Arista.
"Say that again."
"Huh?"
Rika repeated her demand slower. "Say that again."
"Because I WANT to know." Arista repeated, a glimmer of hope in her eye.
"Oh God.."
With that Rika turned abruptly around and flew down the hall, leaving Arista standing alone.
"Rika.." Arista whispered to herself.
-------
"GET YER GUYS AND COME ON IN TO THE FALL DANCE IN ONE WEEK!"
Rika looked up at one of her 'almost' friends, Britney, shouting at the top of her lungs in one of the school halls as she walked past after the school bell had rung signaling all the girls to leave.
She approached the tall blonde-haired, green-eyed girl, her long hair up in a high ponytail, and smirked. "This is an all-girl school, you idiot. We can't have a dance..."
Britney sneered at her and held out a flyer off the table in front of her. "I'm no idiot, Nonaka... we're with the school in town.. ya know... that co-ed public school..."
"This is Henry's school!" Rika shrieked.
Britney looked over at her with an eyebrow raised. "Say wha? Ya got a boyfriend and ya never told me?"
"He's not a boyfriend... he's... a good friend." Rika corrected her.
"Well me and Takato are good friends and you don't see me making out with him."
Rika growled at the voice behind her and turned to look at Arista behind her, almost laughing.
"Oh, hey Arista." Britney grinned and then looked back at Rika. "Making out? That dosen't sound like ya, girl!"
Rika growled fiercly at Arista and turned back to Britney. "Whatever.." she turned and started out of the building, leaving the two standing there.
"Touch-y..." Britney remarked under her breath, then turned to look at Arista all decked out in over-done makeup and body-gems dotting the corner of her eyes.
"So, are ya coming?"
Arista looked over at her suddenly. "To what?"
"The dance silly!" Britney laughed, going back to work handing out fliers to all the girls on their way home.
"Oh, yeah, about that... well I'll have to talk to a friend of mine.."
"Ya could go with that Takato boy ya were just talking about..."
Arista's face grew a pale color at the mere thought.
"T-T-Takato? Heck no he's called for!"
"Oh..." Britney shrugged. "Well you'll find someone."
"Yeah, right..." Arista scoffed, rearranging her backpack into a comfortable position.
"Well I'll talk to you later.. I gotta head to Rika's house for some important buisness.."
"Oh okay c'ya later, Arista!" Britney waved the girl off and shook her head. "She's a strange one..."
~
"And if you multiply this by one-hundred you'd get...?"
One single hand shot up out of the whole classroom and Ms. Isaji pointed at the girl who stood up out of her seat and spoke up. "Twenty-five thousand..." and the brown haired, hazel-eyed girl sat back down with her hands on the desk waiting for Ms. Isaji's responce.
"Very good, Rachel.... at least SOMEONE pays attention in class!" Ms. Isaji said, looking straight at Takato.
Takato stuck his tounge out at Rachel and leaned back in his chair as she returned it.
The bell echoed through the school and half the students in the class were gone before Ms. Isaji said a single word.
"Don't you just hate it when class runs late?" Takato growled as he scooped his books up in his arms off his desk and looked up at the few lingering classmates.
Henry shrugged a bit and picked up his math book. "As long as it's not too late, it's fine by me."
Josh laughed. "Yeah, right.. you just want to get out to go kiss up to your little girlfriend."
"Oh Josh, bug off will you?" Rachel sighed, tired of hearing the same argument all day long from the two.
"Make me.." Josh threatened her, taking a step towards her.
"I will..."
"Guys come on!!" Jeri groaned. "Josh, get out of here.. you're nothing but trouble."
"Oh, I know it. Anyways I have to go see Rika about something." he smirked at Henry's burning face and walked out cooly.
"Jerk." Rachel snapped as he vanished around the corner.
"No better way to say that..." Henry agreeded.
Everyone's gazes shifted when a dark-haired boy stood up in the back of the classroom and started to talk.
"Who's going to the fall dance next week?" he asked, smoothing down his navy-blue t-shirt and looking up at them.
"Me.. I'm not..." Henry shook his head. "I'm claimed for.. my girl dosen't go to this school."
"She wouldn't go to the all girl school just outside town would she?"
Henry looked back up at him and narrowed his eyebrows.
"Mack, what are you getting at?"
Mack just shrugged. "Because that school's participating in this with us. Just wondered."
"Whoa whoa back up..." Takato said shaking his head franticly. "You mean that Rika's school is coming here for a dance...?"
"Yeah that's sort'a what I said, but it works." Mack shrugged again and walked out of the room.
"YES!!" Henry shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You seriously need to calm down." Rachel shook her head and followed Mack out.
"I'm with her.." Kazu laughed at the look on Henry's face. "You get way too excited about stuff like this."
"Oh you're just jealous that you don't have a girl to go with.." Henry snapped back.
Kazu put his hands on his hips and glared at him.
Takato couldn't help but laugh, then perked up. "Speaking of jealously... Josh is off talking to Rika.. you better get down there, Henry.."
Henry grabbed the rest of his books off his desk and was out of the room in no time flat, leaving the rest to exchange worried looks and follow him out down the wood-floored halls.
~
Josh ran through the park, knowing exactly where to look for Rika as he darted past people, swirved around trees, and bolted up stairs.
He had that old stone building in his sights and grinned, knowing there was no way that Henry would catch up with him now.
He burst through the black metal gate and stopped dead in his tracks at the figure croutched in the corner of the building, features hidden by the darkness, but was completly visible to Josh.
"Renamon.. what's wrong?" he asked softly, walking up to the slender figure of a sobbing girl.
"She knows.."
Josh's eyes softened as he kneeled down beside her.
"Who knows?"
The piercing blue eyes of Arista set on him as she tried to find the words to talk.
"Rika... she knows...I didn't tell her.. she figured it out on her own... this changes everything..."
Josh sighed, slumping against the wall beside her, motioning for her to sob into his shoulder.
It didn't take her long to recognise it and curl up against him, letting all her frustration out in a river of tears that streamed down her face.
Josh didn't care if his green and white striped shirt was soaken-wet, he knew how she felt. Being that ignorant and acting like he didn't care about anybody of the digidestined team that he'd grown close to was hard for him, but to have the tamer know it was you and act like they didn't care, that was something he hoped that would never happen to him.
He brushed a piece of her blonde, waved hair out of her face and hushed her. "It's not our fault we're like this... "
"What if we can never go back!?" Arista sobbed. "Who's going to protect them?"
"I-- I don't know." Josh admitted, rocking her back and forth. "But something will work out.. don't worry... it will..."
"Being a human is so hard..." Arista's sobs softened a bit as she talked, calmed a bit by the rush of protection that came over her in Josh's arms.
"I know.." Josh tried to laugh, but was already almost in tears himself just by having the hard-hearted 'Renamon' heart-broken so easily. "I'm still trying to get used to not being able to fly."
Arista smiled and set her head right on his shoulder and sighed. "Thank you, Terriermon.."
Josh stroked her hair a bit and nodded. "Anytime, Renamon...... anytime."
~
Rika ran into the bright kitchen to see her mother and grandmother sitting at the table drinking tea.
She slid to a stop and panted, trying to catch her breath as quickly as possible.
Rika's mother looked up at her, and smiled at the look in Rika's eye. "Good school day, sweety?"
"There's... *pant* going... *pant* to be.. *pant* a fall dance.. *pant*..." Rika said quickly, leaning her one hand against the wall to catch her balance and grasping her side with the other.
Rika's grandmother's face had a look of horror across it when she noticed her mother was growing excited.
"And you want to go?! Oh! This is great!"
"Oh no... but wait-- you're in an all-girl school, Rika. How are they planning to do that?"
Rika took one last deep breath and straightened herself out to look at her grandmother to answer the question. "The school my friends go to are coming to ours... we have an auditorium.. they don't."
"Oh, well, that changes everything!" Rika's mother exclaimed, standing up. "We'll have to get you a dress and make your hair perfect and--" Rika cut her off.
"Um, actually.. I was gonna ask one of my friends to help me."
"Oh."
Rika's grandmother tried not to smile at the sound in her daughter's voice at the news.
"Yeah, I was just going to tell you where I'll be the Friday after this one."
"Oh.."
Rika took off to go change out of her school uniform, leaving both adults stunned in the kitchen.
~
"Me?"
Dusk was coming across the city, the sky in a bright display of oranges and reds, with pink-colored clouds. The clock on the tower behind the two figures shown the time as 5:45, it was completly fall now, the leaves that cruntched under passer-by's feet in a spendid array of browns, yellows, and oranges.
"Well you don't think I'd ask you if I didn't believe you knew me the most... only other person who knows me better is Henry.."
The street-lights kicked on, now shining over the two girls talking.
"I hope that dosen't mean what I think it means..."
The light flickered off Rika's glittery blue shirt as she jumped alert at the remark.
"NO NO NO!!"
"Just... checking."
Rika growled at Arista and leaned against the pillar at the entrance of the park. "Why would you think I'd do that?"
"Oh, well, I don't know... last time I saw the two of you together when I was in my other form was when you two were practicly ASLEEP on each other..." Arista snapped back.
"Just answer me." Rika sighed, drasticly wanting to change the subject.
"Okay hold on one moment.. you want me... to help you... with clothes.. for the dance?" Arista retraced the story Rika had told her in her mind and thought about it a moment in complete silence.
"Oh, why not?" Arista laughed a bit. "But don't say I didn't warn you." she said, walking away from Rika, motioning for the tamer to follow her.
Rika bolted to her side as they walked the brick sidewalks of the city, walking by stores filled with customers, into Takato's family's bakery.
"Hey, Rika! .. um... and....?"
Rika and Arista looked up at a bright face of Takato behind the counter. The store was unusually empty for this time of day, but the smell of fresh baked bread filled the air and gave both shivering girls a warm feeling.
"Arista... you met me from the other day?" the blonde remarked, rubbing her arms a bit.
Takato couldn't help but chuckle at them. "It's like fifty degrees outside and you're in short-sleeved shirts."
"So sue us.." Rika growled at him as she ran her fingers through her hair.
"So, what can I do for you two beautiful ladies today?"
"It's not polite to flirt with your best-friend's girl, Takato."
Rika's face brightened into a smile as her attention was ripped from everything else as Henry entered in the store.
"Henry!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, love." Henry smiled at her and shivered. "Weather took a turn for the worst today..." he said more to Takato then anyone else.
"Yeah.. it's why I'm in here and not out there.." Takato pointed out the window at the darkness covering the city as dusk started to vanish into a sparkling picture of stars.
Henry nodded in agreement as he pulled off his hunter-green coat and hung it over his arm. "What's fresh today?" he asked, looking over all the different bread.
"Wha'... the food or with me?"
"Not commenting .." Arista joked at Takato's comment and went to go look at the rolls across the store.
Takato stuck his tounge out at her back and looked over at Henry who was now grinning.
"You got the guts to ask Jeri to the dance, huh?"
"Oh yeah..."
Rika smirked and put her hand on her hip, leaning her weight to one side.
"I have a new target... 'Ms Gogglehead'..."
"Oh, Rika, be nice." Henry chuckled at her and walked up to the glass display to look at more rolls.
"I don't think I know the meaning of..." Rika pretended to be struggling with the word. "N-nice..."
Takato rolled his eyes and ducked beneath the counter to fetch a roll that Henry pointed to.
"Yeah, only words in her vocabulary are 'Gogglehead' 'Dinoboy' 'Stupid' 'Fight' and 'Henry'.. extra emphasis on 'Henry'.." Arista laughed, setting a bag full of bread on the counter in front of Takato.
Rika blushed a bit and shrugged. "It could be Mr. Puppet-freak..."
"Rika!!" Henry half-laughed, half-scolded the auburn-haired girl.
"What?" Rika laughed too.
Arista just shook her head with a grinned on her face as she handed Takato a five-dollar bill and grabbed the small white bag. "Com'on Rika.. we got some shopping to do... that is if you're going to go to the dance with Henry.."
"Duh." Henry responded for her as Rika followed her out. "Bye guys.." both girls said in unison as they closed the door behind them, letting the bell attached to the door cling and clang.
~
The two teenage girls walked what seemed to be for at least an hour before they reached the large mall on the other side of town. By now, it was almost 7:00 and both knew they needed to hurry.
Both rushed in the glass doors and through the lighted food-court, towards the center of the mall to one of the fashion stores that before Rika would've been terrified to even step foot in.
The small clothing store was lit by nothing but hot-pink and lime-green neon lights that surrounded the whole store, and encircled the glass displays and windows in the front.
"Wow..." Rika stared at everything in the store. "This is a pop-star's dream come true."
"Either that or her boyfriend's..." Arista retorted, fingering a mini-skirt in her hand.
Rika laughed and walked over to the longer dresses, catching herself stepping to the beat of the rock music echoing around her.
"Another for the fall dance, eh?"
Rika looked up at the teenage girl at the counter, multiple earrings on each ear in an array of golds and silvers and over-done bright blue eyeshadow.
Rika nodded as the girl walked over and looked her up and down. "Let's see... you'd probably look good in blue... or white... couldn't get away with black though..."
Rika stood perfectly still, half nervous as the girl whirlled to the dress rack and yanked out a long white silk dress, a diamond butterfly on the hip of it. Rika looked a little curiously at the split up the side of the dress, clearly going up to her knee, then nodded. "I like that one.."
"Try it on back there.." the girl pointed to a bright purple door in the back of the store. "And we'll see what we can do."
Rika ran off, just as Arista came up to the teenage girl. "Anything you can do with me?" she asked sharply, tapping her foot on the blue patterned carpet.
With the same circular motion around Arista the girl pulled a bright pink glittery dress from the hanger and thrusting it at her, pointing to a blue-painted door beside the one Rika had vanished into.
"Okay, okay I'm going I'm going." Arista growled as she was pushed by the pink-nailpolished hands into the room.
The girl blew a bubble-gum bubble and sat back down on the stool behind the counter, leaned back, and waited for the screech of both girls when they saw each other.
----------------
"Hey, Ri'!!"
Rika growled to herself, pulled down her short school uniform skirt a bit and turned to see Kazu running up to her.
She tapped her foot angrily on the concrete sidewalk and glared at him with burning lilac eyes.
"What do YOU want?"
"Whoa.. easy there... chill out!" Kazu threw his hands in the air with surrendering manner.
Rika rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip, waiting for him to start talking again.
"Anyways... I wanted to know if you have a date to the dance yet?"
"Duh!" Rika snapped, just as Henry came around the corner behind Kazu, laughing.
"Nice try, man." he marked with a silver tone in his voice as he walked up beside Rika and draped his arm over her shoulder. "She's all mine."
Rika pushed his arm off slowly. "Not if you're going to speak about me in THAT way!" she snorted.
"Ouch.." Kazu breathed at the look in Henry's eyes. "Well I better get going anyways... nice talking to you Ri'..."
Kazu turned and started to walk back down the sidewalk towards his house.
"Hey, Visor-boy..."
Kazu turned back around to look at Rika. "Yeah?"
An almost evil look crossed her eye. "*Never* call me 'Ri' again.. okay?"
Kazu laughed and returned to his pace.
A friggid breeze brushed past the two teens still standing there just as Henry's eyes sit firmly on Rika. "And what did THAT mean?"
"I'm tired of being treated like some sort of object you can flaunt around!!" Rika shrieked at him, flailing her arms a bit.
"What are you TALKING about?!?" Henry yelled right back at her, stepping away from her a bit to look her over.
"You use me as something you can show off to all the other guys! 'The Infamous Rika Nonaka is my girlfriend!'"
"I never said that!" Henry exclaimed.
"But you've been acting like that!" Rika brushed a frustrated tear off her face as she yelled at him with a passion.
There was a dead silence between the two as Rika planned out her next attack and Henry tried to figure out whatever went wrong.
Rika felt her heart beat heavily as she remembered the conversation she had earlier with Josh when he had approached her before school. His words were so sincere, so truthful... so disturbing. Her mind screamed at her to stop before she got herself into a world of hurt, but her voice ignored, because before she knew it Henry's clear gray eyes were as wide as ping-pong balls and his breath became short, and hard to catch.
"W-what did you say?" he stuttered, hand put on his chest.
Rika closed her eyes, clamping her skirt in her hand. "I think we should see other people." she repeated, voice cracking.
Henry took one step towards her, and put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss, just to have a stinging pain take over his cheek.
Henry stumbled back a bit into one of the thin trees that lined the sidewalk as he held a blank look on his face as he put his hand to his cheek where the red outline of Rika's hand was starting to appear.
With that, Rika's heart shattered. She pushed past him, in a flood of tears pouring out her violet eyes, and ran down the sidewalk, all the way to the modeling agency where she knew her mother would be waiting.
The bell on the front door jingled as she ran in, sobbing, flying through the blue carpeted halls at top speed, pushing past people as she ran into a dressing room with her mother's name inscribed on a golden plate on the door.
Her mother looked up quickly at the rush of red hair that was immediatly sobbing into her shoulder.
"Rika... Rika, sweety, what's wrong?"
"Me... and Henry... broke up...." she sobbed heavier into the silk pink dress of her mother, blocking all the light that filled the room with a soft yellow glow from the mirror as she clamped her eyes shut.
Her mother rubbed her back slowly. "My poor baby.... poor Rika...."
A soft knock on the door made Rika's sobs soften to one only now and then as she stood up and sat on the long black leather couch behind her mother's dressing table.
"Come in!" her mother's soft voice echoed as she smiled at her daughter.
Rika smiled a bit back, curling her legs on the couch and pulling her short skirt as far over them as possible.
Her eyes brightened a bit when the door opened to a friendly face looking straight at her.
"And you might be?" her mother asked slowly at the person walking in.
A pair of bright blue male eyes still looked at Rika, and even they seemed to smile at her along with every other feature about him.
"Josh...." he said simply. "Josh... Wong..."
Rika's eyes clouded over again at his new name.
Josh looked over at her once more and walked in her direction. "Broke up with Henry, eh?" he asked kindly as he looked at her tear-stained face and redish eyes.
Rika set her forehead on the black metal lining of the couch and sighed heavily, signaling both a yes and that she didn't want to talk to him about it.
"Ma'am.. I don't want to boot you out of your own dressing room, but--" Josh looked back at Rika's mother as he kneeled on the floor in front of Rika as yet one more tear trickled down her cheek.
The mother stood up and smiled. "No problem at all... I have a photo shoot right now anyways."
"Thank you."
Rika wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to comfort herself as she stared at the wall, trying to ignore Josh as much as possible.
The sound of the door closing behind her mother triggered another tear to run out of her eye and Josh sat down on the other side of her.
"Was it because of what I said? Is that what made you break up with Henry?"
"Not entirely." Rika said softly, voice cracking a bit.
"Well I suceeded.. I'll need to tell Renamon now."
Rika was silent a moment as Josh stood up and started to walk towards the door.
"You're Terriermon... aren't you?"
Josh froze and looked over at her, seeing the girl was still staring at the rack of sparkling dresses that lined the wall.
"Yes... I am."
Rika let her glance drift over to him. "Why are you breaking your own tamer's heart then...?"
Josh sighed a moment. "Ask Renamon..." he said simply, turning the handle on the door and walking out of the room.
Rika sighed at the sound of the door closing behind him. "That's what I planned on doing anyways."
---------------
Rika leaned against a large solid oak tree watching her 'human' partner's back, currently unnoticed in the shade that covered her from the leaves above that still hadn't fallen from the tree yet.
Arista sat a few yards in front of her, pushing herself slowly back and forth on the wooden swing in the large park both stood in. Muffled sobs were heard from the blonde haired girl, easy to see she was deeply depressed about something. Rika hesitated a moment, but then took a step out into the leaves, the crunching sound that followed the step made Arista whirl around quickly and look at her with redish colored eyes from crying so.
"Rika!" she said a little breathless as she wiped her hand over her eyes to try and wipe as many tears away as she possibly could. "W-what are you doing here?"
Rika took another step in the brightly colored leaves with a sympothetic look on her face, the first one Arista had ever seen out of her. "Looking for you... what's wrong, Renamon?"
Arista sighed and turned her back to Rika again, pushing herself lightly on the swing. "You had to call me that, didn't you?"
"Of course.. it's who you are." Rika put a hand on her partner's shoulder, then sat in the swing beside her. "Now, what's wrong?"
Arista looked over at her slowly. "Josh beat you here."
"I figured."
"He told me what happened... between you and Henry..."
Rika looked down at the ground. "Oh.."
"It's what I wanted... before..."
Rika's attention was fully grasped with those slowly said words. She whirled her head up and stared at her. "What the heck are you talking about?!?" she felt her voice grow louder, then took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
Arista kicked her feet into the ground, sending herself backwards on the swing, higher off the ground, with no reply at first.
"You know, how you said, if tamers are destined to be together.... how their digimon would be destined to be together too?"
"Mm hmm... what about it?" Rika asked, pushing herself backwards also, gaining more height and adding more wind that ran through her hair as she rushed forward with the glide of the swing.
Arista skidded to a stop on the swing, dirt rushing up in a cloud around her feet as she just stared down.
Rika soon followed, deeply concerned about the look that had just crossed her digimon's face. Rika's eyebrows narrowed in concern and she turned on the swing to look at her.
"Renamon?"
"It's why we're stuck like this."
Rika's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Arista looked up at her with tear-filled eyes. "You and Henry.. you're destined to be together.."
"But-- if you knew we're destined to be together... why would you--" Rika's words were cut off by Arista's quick reply, letting out her whole soul that had ached so long with the burden of this information.
"Because since he's Terriermon and I'm Renamon it didn't work right.. so we were made into humans... to fit each other... I found myself in his arms a few days ago.. and I don't know what happened.." Arista's eyes fled back to the ground as she continued to tell the story. ".. but I enjoyed it.. I felt safe, warm, happy... and it scared me, Rika."
"But--"
"Rika, if we separated the two of you, we could go back to our digimon forms... we could protect you again... if we're human we can't protect you anymore. I don't know what I would do to myself if anything ever happened to you..." Arista looked back up at her tamer, who was, easy to see, crying.
"I was wrong.. I know that now. Josh still hasn't figured it out yet, but I have. I'd rather be stuck in this stupid human body then have to watch you go through enough heartache that will do you more damage then an evil digimon attack ever could."
"Renamon..." Rika breathed, despratly trying to stop crying as to keep her sturn attitude in check, but was no match for the look in Arista's eye.
"Renamon I don't care what you look like or why... you're my best friend.. you'll always be my best friend!"
With that, none of the girls knew how it happened, but both were clinging tightly to each other, sobbing like they never had in their entire lives.
Arista pushed Rika away by the shoulders, but still held on to them.
"Dangit, Rika, what are you doing here?" she said, laughing through her tears. "You have a boy to get back!"
Rika just laughed too, a brushed a few stray tears from her face. "Yeah.. I do..."
With that, Rika was off through the sidewalks of the park, up towards the large apartment building Henry lived in.
Arista just watched her go, wiping a few tears off her face. "Good luck.... partner.."
~
"Henwy's locked himswef up in his woom fow a long time... Takato's hew now..."
Suzy escorted the auburn-haired Rika down the hall towards the white door, cleared marked to be Henry's as it was now decked out in 'Knock First' and 'Stay Out' signs. "But I'm suwe you'wl get thwough to him!" Suzy grinned wide at the teenager beside her as Rika put her hand slowly on the gold door handle, and just laid it there. She knew he was inside, she could almost feel it, as weird as it sounded to her.
"Well... go ahead!" Suzy motioned with her head to the door, then skipped off to go play with her doll.
Rika took a deep breath, and knocked slowly at the door."Ugh.."
"GO AWAY!"
Rika snorted in disgust at the two boys inside, and pushed open the door.
Henry jumped quickly out of the black leather office chair he had been slumped into and stood straight up at the sight of her. "Rika!! What are you doing here?"
"Come to ruin his life more?" Takato sneered for one of the first times at her.
Rika glared at him, and turned her attention back to Henry, now standing with his back to the wall.
She swiftly moved across the room, blocking Takato's existence out of her memory, pushed him up against the wall and placed a firm kiss on his lips.
An almost horrified gasp echoed through the room from Takato, and Rika felt Henry's body stiffen from shock.
She pulled away from the kiss and looked into his gray eyes. "I'm not letting you go that easily..." she murmured.
Henry waved his hand at Takato to leave, never peeling his eyes off the girl in front of him.
"Oh, sure, fine, I'm here for you through all the heartache and just like that I'm nothing to you anymore.. this is what I get for having a friend who's obsessed with Rika Nonaka..." Takato's words faded off as he continued to march down the hall and out the front door, slamming the door behind him after leaving Henry's room.
Henry draped his arms around Rika, but still held a shocked look. "Rika... why'd you come back for me?"
"Because I was wrong... and I love you.... as much as it dosen't seem that I do." Rika gave him a quick smile before Henry turned her around, wrapping his arms around the front of her and rocking her back and forth, not caring about anything else in the world at that moment.
Rika sighed and leaned back against him, looking out the balcony window at the park below. The park where she could still see Arista leaning against the street light, looking up directly at her in the diming light of the sun.
Rika smiled, swaying back and forth with Henry's motion.
"Thank you..." she thought directly at Arista.
~
Arista smiled, and walked in the opposite direction of the building, back turned to the glowing windows of the apartments as she made her way back to the Nonaka household.
She shoved her hands in her pockets from the chilled wind, but still held the smile on her face as she walked amongst the people.
"No Rika... thank *you*"
~
"YOU DID WHAT?!?!?!?!?"
Arista sighed and leaned against the marble pillar of the front gate of the Nonaka home, looking straight at Josh, now flailing his arms at her in anger.
"What the heck were you thinking!? Did you forget that if they're together we'll be---"
"Stuck in these forms for the rest of our lives? Yes... I remembered..... but..." Arista stood up straight against the pillar, eyes reflecting the almost eery glow of the full blue moon overhead as she grew an almost worried look on her face. ".. think about this a moment..."
She paused enough for her words to sink in the teenage boy's head. He leaned against the pillar opposite her, chrome zipper off his brown leather jacket reflecting moonlight across Arista's face a moment, and he nodded. "Go on..."
"If they aren't together.. it'd do more damage emotionally then a digimon attack could do physically..."
Josh's eyes went blank, until he regained control and looked her square in the eye.
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, with an awkward enough look in his eye to cause her to giggle a bit. He just smiled at her face lighting up from the giggle. The undestructable Renamon, who's first goal was to please Rika, second was to kill or destroy anything in her path. Most of the time that's what it took to please Rika in the first place. But, how come he didn't notice that bright glow shining across her face before? Or the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed? How come he didn't notice the musical sound of her voice before tonight? Was it just the moonlight... or was it...--
"Renam--- I mean, Arista..."
"Hmm?" Arista looked back up at him from staring at the ground in the awkward silence that had followed her giggle.
"I.. need to tell you something..."
"Oh? What is it?"
Josh's heart skipped a beat at the look in her eyes, almost anxious, pleading with him to say something specific to her.
"... I... uh... wanted to know.... um... if you'd go to that.... uh.... fall... uh..." Josh's voice cracked a bit when his mouth formed the word. "..dance.... with me."
Arista's eyes lost the pleading look half-way, and she smiled brightly again, to Josh it lit up that entire side of the world, and he almost got lost in the smile.
"I'd.. love to."
Josh reached up and brushed a loose strand of wavy blonde hair out of Arista's face before he knew what was coming over him, and he jolted his hand back from her with a horrified look on his face.
Arista smiled again, this time warmth running through it. "Josh.." she whispered.
Both digimon's attention were diverted with footsteps approaching them.
"Oh! Josh! Arista! What are you doing here?!"
Both turned to look at their tamers, Henry and Rika, approaching.
"Um.. waiting for you!" Arista said quickly.
"Yeah... waiting for you."
Rika looked at Josh, then back at Henry, then at Josh again. "Can both you boys come inside... I think there's something we need to talk about..." she said slowly, more to Josh then anyone as she stepped into the front yard and towards the door.
Josh and Henry exchanged glances as they followed the two girls in, Josh's mind whirling with panic knowing exactly what this little 'talk' would be about.
-------------
"So, guys, what are you up to?" Arista asked politely, trying anything to avoid the conversation at hand as she set her tall blue-tinted glass full of water back down on the small table in Rika's room and looked up at the other three that sat, one on each side.
Rika made a face at her, more a scowl than a sarcastic one at her attempt to further the small talk.
"Don't get off the subject." Rika snapped at the blonde-haired girl as she sat back on her knees and looked at Josh. "You have something to tell Henry, no?"
"No....." Josh said slowly.
Rika glared fiercly at him, Henry just looking about the three. "Is there something I missed?" he asked.
Josh grinned at him innocently. "Not that I know of." he said simply, feeling himself grind his teeth slowly in nervousness.
Henry was one of the first to pick up on it. "Josh?" he asked almost in a whisper, loud enough for the tall boy sitting next to him to hear.
"Okay, alright, so I do..." Josh blurted, flailing his arms for a moment or two at Rika. "You satisfied?!"
"Not yet... you still have to tell 'im." Rika crossed her arms over her chest and raised an auburn eyebrow at him.
Josh just frowned at her and leaned his left side against the table, turning himself towards Henry.
"Well, uh, I don't exactly know how to explain this..."
Henry gave him a look, that read 'Don't tell me, I already know'.
Josh went silent, but Rika pushed him in the back of the spine fiercly with the knuckles of her fist.
He grimaced in pain, glared at the lilac eyes, and turned back to Henry.
"I'm.. not human."
Dead silence filled the air and a blank look crossed Henry's face.
"Uh... Josh.. you lost me..."
Josh set his elbow on the table and buried his face in his hand, groaning. "Rika can't you just tell him?
"Nope." she answered simply.
"Arista..." he looked up with saddened blue eyes, clearly forced.
"Heck, no.. I'm not saving your back this time.. I told Rika my part... it's time for you to tell Henry."
Henry just looked between the three again. "I did miss something.. you know something I don't."
"Henry.. I'm Terriermon."
Henry's gray eyes went an almost black color as he stared at Josh, both hands covering his face now, not giving any intentions of looking up any time soon.
"This is some big joke..." Henry looked franticly between Arista and Rika.
Rika shook her head. "No, Henry... it's not."
She looked over at Arista and nodded sharply at her. Arista took a deep breath and stood up, now looking down at the blue-haired boy.
"My name.. isn't Arista..."
Henry went dead-silent again.
".. it's Renamon."
Henry looked straight at Rika with hard eyes. "You knew... and you never told me?!" he demanded angrily.
Rika's violet eyes softened. "He wanted to tell you, Henry."
Henry stood up abruptly, glaring at Josh who's face was now uncovered, showing redish eyes with tears coming down his cheeks.
"Some partner you turned out to be..." he snapped at Josh, turned and walked out.
Rika jumped up immediatly.
"Henry..." she said loudly as she ran after him and out the door.
There was an eery silence between Arista and Josh for many moments, until Josh managed to say something in a strained voice, head buried in his arm as he laid from his chest up on the table.
"He's right." he whispered.
Arista slumped onto her knees and looked at the usually bright-eyed boy, depressed and angry at the world now.
"Don't say that..." she stroked his hair slowly. "... he just dosen't understand. This is how Rika acted when she first found out.. remember how I was such an emotional wreck?"
Silence from Josh that was taken from Arista as a yes.
"And you comforted me... but she and I are even closer together now because of this human thing going between us."
He slowly sat up straight and looked at her, blinking away tears.
"But... this is Henry... he never acted like that before.... EVER...." Josh's calm demenor vanished as he started to sound like a hurt six-year-old, the regular sound of the digimon that he was before in his voice.
"Com'ere..." Arista held out her arms, much like Josh had to her that sunny afternoon. But, she had been used to Rika turning her away, Josh wasn't...
Josh curled up into her, placing his head on her shoulder and crying bitterly like a young child.
"I know it's hard, love. I know it is..." Arista whispered softly into his ear and rocked him back and forth.
~
"Henry wait up!"
Rika ran across the wooden porch connecting her room from the rest of the house, trying to keep up with Henry, almost at the door that hooked onto the hallway, and out the front door.
"Why should I even talk to you anymore?" Henry whirled around with anger raging through every single part of his body. "You never told me... you should've told me.. I've been worried sick about him for the longest time... and you knew... this whole time!"
Rika protested with all her strength. "Henry, I just found out earlier today... it's not like I've known forever."
"But you had the chance to tell me..." Henry's voice cracked as his gray eyes softened down into a crying state as one single frustrated tear at his girlfriend emerged.
"So sue me that I was so wrapped up in your arms that I forgot. And if you wanted to know something you could've asked." Rika snapped back at him, putting her hands on her hips.
"Well I was too wrapped up in your eyes to ask you anything!" Henry's mouth broke in a grin as much as he tried to fight it.
"Then why are you getting so mad at me, you hypocrite?" Rika started into a giggle, forcing herself to look sturn.
"Well probably because you're so stubborn..." Henry's smile grew into a laugh.
"I get it from you..." Rika took a step towards him, closing the space gap between them, but still laughing.
Henry draped his arms around her waist. "I thought you were mad at me."
Rika put her hand playfully on his chest and grinned. "You know I can't stay mad at you for more than two minutes at a time, never had been able to..."
Henry smiled lovingly at her. "I'm sorry.."
"I am too."
Rika softly kissed him. "Now com'on..."
She motioned back by tilting her head quickly to the side towards her bedroom door. "You have someone you need to talk to."
Henry placed an arm over her shoulders as they walked back in the bright moonlight of the crisp autumn night. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"
Rika put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Do I really need to answer that question?"
Henry shook his head slowly as he put his hand on the handle of the door. "No.. you don't..."
He opened it slowly and to both tamer's amazement they looked upon their digimon, human formed, in each other's arms, slumped against the table, fast asleep.
"Well..." Henry laughed quietly. "I always said... they'd find a way."
--------------
The stars in the cold fall night sky sparkled, reflecting off Rika's eyes as she stood out on the small stone bridge over the small pond of water in her backyard. Standing on the bridge she could faintly see over the tall wall that surrounded her house.
It was the night of the fall dance every girl in her school had been so crazy over, every one making every call they could to hook up with a guy from the opposite school, the non-stop chatter from all the girls in her classes made Rika's head spin and her stomach into a knot. What would they think to see Rika Nonaka, the ice queen, in a dress with the proclaimed cutest guy in the 'other' school as her date?
There was no turning back now. The dress was already on her, the long silk white gown that reached down past her ankles and fell over the straps of the white high-heeled sandals her mother had bought her the day before. Rika ran her fingers nervously through her curled hair that came down slightly past her shoulders and played with the diamond necklace, perfectly matching the diamond studded butterfly up the side of her dress. She still didn't understand how her mother talked her into the white eyeshadow or deep pink lipstick, but it had been in the rush of the moment that she had been pulled away from sorting through digimon cards to fix everything for the dance.
Rika drew the silver pouch that her mother had also thrown in to complete the outfit up and took out her blue and white digivice, staring at it. It seemed so useless now, Renamon being, well the best friend Rika had never had in human form, the girl who it took a whole half an hour to explain to her grandmother was the same digimon she had discovered earlier talking with Rika.
Arista seemed to love her new form. She was able to wear more than yellow fur now. She could be shown in the open, people talked to her like she was regular, she felt alive... and it upset Rika.
She didn't quite like Arista. She liked Renamon. Renamon was her friend, the one she could trust to never leave her side, the digimon she had always dreamed of. Rika broke a smile as she thought to herself the last remark.
The digimon that could scare Takato straight.
Rika jumped out of her thoughts at something white and silky being draped over her arms as she clung to the edge of the bridge.
She turned quickly to see Arista, even more beautiful than normal, standing behind her smiling.
"You left that on the chair."
Rika ran her fingers over the silk shawl-like scarf and smiled up at Arista. "Thanks."
Arista twirled around in the tight purple dress she wore and laughed. "Well, I think I went a little original in design, but it's a start."
"You look fine." Rika turned back around and stared back out at the street over the wall that separated her from the outside world.
Arista made a face and walked up beside her, grabbing the railing with her own hands and leaned over, trying to see in her own tamer's face. "Rika, what'd I do?"
"You didn't do anything, it's not your fault." Rika snapped, wrapping the white silk shawl around her bare arms and holding the ends tightly to her body.
"Well something must be wrong or you wouldn't have replied in that 'Rika' tone of voice." Arista joked, grinning widely, but stopped and frowned when Rika didn't respond, just stared in a silent anger at the water that reflected the moon above them.
Arista crossed her arms, turned herself around, and leaned her back against the railing, fingers brushing the gold arm band pressed against her light colored skin.
"It's because of Henry, isn't it?"
"No! It's because of you and that stupid form!!" Rika shrieked, glaring at her.
Arista jumped a bit at the sudden outburst from her tamer and narrowed her eyebrows.
"Do you think I wanted to be like this?"
"Whatever happened to the Renamon I knew?!?" Rika growled, pushing past her and marching off to her room, purposly ignoring Arista's last comment.
Arista stood back, hand on her chest with a blank look on her face. "Rika..." she whispered.
~
Arista sat silently on the chair in the corner of the living room of the Nonaka household, bunching the edge of her purple dress in her hand as she stared at the hallway enterance to where Rika's room was down the hall, praying she came out before---
<DING-DONG>
Arista's heart sank as the doorbell rang, knowing exactly who would be there when she opened the mahogany colored door.
Sighing, she sat up, ran her hand through her silk-like blonde hair, and opened the front door, to both shocked faces of Henry and Josh staring right at her and the dress she wore.
As Josh fumbled for words, Henry's eyes narrowed as he studied the look on Arista's face, his own face now growing a look of worry on it.
"A-A-Arista.. you look--" Henry cut Josh's stutters off by walking quickly in the house, sensing from Arista's facial features something was wrong with Rika.
Arista sighed and turned around to look at the now smooth-haired, finely dressed Henry already half-way down the hallway.
"He's crazy about her." Arista sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning her head to the side to watch him.
Josh walked up behind her, light-brown hair being pushed back by his fingers as usual. "Oh, really, what makes you think that?"
Arista gave him a playful glare and went back to watching down the long dark hallway at the barely visable Henry.
Both digimon heard the sound of Rika's door sliding open, Henry's figure and everything within feet of him illuminated with the soft yellow glow of the one lamp Rika had in her room. The door slid again, and a dark, empty hall remained, leaving Arista and Josh silent in the living room, wondering what was to happen next.
~
Henry stood, back against the sliding door, watching Rika's back as she refused to turn around.
"Look, Arista, I said I wasn't going to talk to you unt--" Rika's voice cracked with tears as she whirled around quickly, her hair bouncing and twisting behind one shoulder from the sudden turn, her violet eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Henry in the doorway.
"Henry...." she whispered, her hand going instinctavly up to where her heart would be, but instead touched the diamond necklace she wore and suddenly her mind raced, remembering that she wore the white silk dress still.
Henry was speechless at first at the glow she seemed to be giving off, then cleared his throat and smiled.
"You look absolutly breathtaking Rika..."
Rika felt, for the first time in her life, a blush creep up on her cheeks as she looked down at the wood floor quickly.
"Now what's this about Arista?" Henry took a few steps closer to her and smiled warmly.
"I... don't want to talk about it..." Rika tugged at the diamond bracelet around her wrist and turned her back to him again.
"Well we aren't leaving for the dance until you do." Henry shrugged and collasped into the chair a bit in front of her and looked almost sturnly at her.
"Fine by me... I'd rather not go anyways." Rika turned once more and walked over to her dresser to look in the mirror at her reflection.
Henry made a slight face. "Well that didn't work." he thought aloud.
"Does this even have anything to do with Arista, you sure it's not about the weird looks all the others are going to give us when we walk in together?" Henry took a wild stab in the dark as he looked up at her.
She stared straight at her reflection for a minute or two, then turned, the high-heels of her shoes clicking on the floor as she faced him. "No... I'm sure it's not... I got over that awhile ago."
"Then what's the problem?" Henry asked growing impatient.
"Renamon.." Rika replied simply enough for Henry to piece together the whole story in his head in moments as she turned back around and put both hands firmly on the dresser top and leaned in towards the mirror with a sigh.
"Who's been there for you this whole time?"
Rika glanced over at Henry and removed one hand from the dresser and turned herself completly around, and placed it back behind her, her back now facing the mirror. "You.""I meant the whole time, Rika. The whole time... since I had to break up that little fight between you and Takato awhile back when we all first met."
Rika went silent.
Henry smirked at her silence and leaned forward in the chair, elbows on his knees and chin on his hands.
"When IceDevimon attacked..."
Rika bunched her dress up uncomfortably in her hand.
"... how about that time wh---"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Rika blurted out.
Henry slumped back in the chair and grinned at her frustration.
"You're so cute when you're angry at me."
"Well I'm glad 'cuz at this rate I'll be angry at you alot." Rika snapped and pushed herself off the dresser.
"I look forward to it." Henry joked, putting his hands behind his head and crossed one leg over his knee and waited for another responce from her.
Rika sighed harshly and glared at him with the same old glare he remembered from her when they both first met.
"Let's go..."
Henry laughed at the irretated way she replied and stood. "Fine by me." he said in a mocking tone of her rebellous talk.
~
The dark gym was faintly illuminated by the light from the spotlight on the stage, and a disco light hanging above the crowd of hundreds of teenagers. Most broke up into groups of friends, most girls from Rika's school crowding together squealing in delight at the fancy and expensive dresses each other wore.
A group of extremly slim, long haired girls in tight dresses crowded around the punch table spreading any gossip they could get their hands on, but now the conversation skipped to one girl in particular.
"If that Rika Nonaka girl shows up in a pretty dress with a hot guy, my life will be over.." one girl said.
"If she even shows up at all, it'll be a bad name for our school!" another replied.
All the girls nodded as the lights dimmed and the DJ stepped onto the stage and announced a slow dance to start, all the girls squealing yet again in delight.
Takato, Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta stood beside the door, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the only two tamers not at the dance.
Jeri smoothed down a melon-green dress and flipped the hair styled to dangle over her eye behind her shoulder. "Com'on Takato, let's go... we've waited long enough."
Takato sighed. "Yeah."
"We'll stay here..." Kazu grinned at the couple and shifted his weight onto his other foot.
"Yeah sure we will, being the only guys in this whole dance to not get dates..." Kenta sneered just loud enough for Kazu to hear.
"Hey, it's not my fault that I got a date but since you didn't I ditched her..."
Kenta gave him a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Ick, it is isn't it?" Kazu made a face as Kenta laughed.
The slow music started to play as the light from the disco light spun around the room.
Kazu and Kenta watched, just as the door behind them opened and a blast of cold air hit them.
"Hey watch when you open that thiiiii----" Kazu spun around and slowed his speech down at the sight of Rika in the silk white dress. The couple paused long enough for Rika to smile a hello.
Henry gave both boys a look as he and Rika walked on, arm in arm, both Kazu and Kenta with their jaws on the ground at the site of the one girl they swore would never in her life be seen in a dress.
The crowd of teenagers slowly parted as they came through, the slim girls at the punch table, never picked for a dance, gawking at the site of their worst enemy even more beautiful then they were.
One grasped the table to catch her balance, another falling backwards into her friend's arms.
Takato and Jeri stood at the end of the parting crowd, both looking at the other couple with wide eyes.
"Wow...." Takato whispered at the sight of Rika, only to feel a horrible pain go through his foot as Jeri slammed her high heel into it.
He sucked air between his teeth and bit his lip at the pain, just as Jeri's face became a sweet smile. "Rika! You came!"
Rika smiled, but in the back of her mind, all the whispers and soft talking about her sunk in. She didn't know what anyone said about her, only that she didn't like it one bit. She'd heard the whispers before, the whispers she got at kindergarden and through all of first grade at the black and blue marks covering her body. She grasped Henry's hand tightly, and let her smile slip into 'cheesy and fake' mode as her mind flooded with that time of her life.
Henry's eyes became worrysome and confused as he looked at her, her hand growing tighter about his.
"I shouldn't have come.. I'm sorry Henry." she whispered, slipping her hand out of his and turning to walk out.
Henry grew silent just as Takato grabbed his arm and glared at him as Rika's high-heels clicked on the old wood floor as she walked towards the door, picking up her pace to a steady walk, then to a jog, then to a full-out run as she rushed out of the building. The gym grew a eery silence about it, all eyes now on Henry.
"No, let her go..." Henry whispered loud enough for Takato and Jeri to hear. "It'll be better for her. Josh and Arista decided not to come after all... maybe she's going to Arista.."
"You sure, dude?" Takato asked raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah... for once in my life, I'm sure."
~
Rika ran furiously through the streets of the city, not caring that anyone see her in this white dress, or her hair perfect, she just needed to get away.
She let her mind do the navigating, just running now to run, not sure if Henry had come after her or not.
The street lights made her diamonds she wore sparkle, her hair blowing in the wind that she had created as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
She had closed her eyes tightly as she had run, not sure when she was going to run right into something or where she was going. She just ran blindly through the streets, and took one sharp turn almost as if her eyes were open. She could tell that there wasn't any lights here, and she didn't really care. She didn't care if she was headed right off a bridge at this point, it would stop the flashbacks from occuring anymore.
She slowed to a stop, letting herself sob, not even opening her eyes to see where she had taken herself as she sank to her knees on the ground, her dress spread out around her, just curling into a ball and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Rika?"
Rika's sobs softened as what seemed like a claw was place on her bare back. She looked up at a bright red and black dinosaur digimon with worried little eyes looking down at her. "Rika what's wrong? Why do you look so pretty?"
Rika brushed her tears away furiously and looked around. She had come right in front of the small stone headquarters.
Guilmon sat abruptly on the ground beside her and tilted his head to the side in curiousity. "It's okay to cry Rika... I cry when Takato forgets to bring me my bread and peanut butter every night."
Rika couldn't help but laugh through her tears, and Guilmon perked up. "I like to laugh too.. laughing's fun!"
Rika's forced a smile and brushed away more tears.
Guilmon frowned. "Come inside!" he said, jumping to his feet and opening the black gate for her.
"You're going to get your dress real dirty if you sit there on the dirt like that..."
Rika smiled and stood up, nodding. Guilmon closed the gate behind them and settled himself across from her smiling.
"Want some?" he asked, pulling the bag of bread out that Takato had brought for him a few hours before.
Rika shook her head. "Thanks anyways."
Guilmon looked at her with a worried expression.
"If human don't want bread, something very wrong. Please tell me?"
Rika sniffed and looked away. "I'd rather not."
"Did Takatomon be mean?"
"No.."
"Henry?"
"No... no not at all.."
Guilmon thought a moment.
"I give up.. tell me?"
Rika sighed. "I've been having flashbacks of when I was a child, around Suzy's age."
"Henry's little sister." Guilmon nodded in acknowledgment, popping a whole loaf of bread in his mouth.
"When my father would hit me."
Guilmon froze, his eyes narrowing as he swallowed the bread in one big gulp and growing suddenly serious.
"Rika's father mean if he hit her... I can get him if you want..."
Rika smiled at the usually goofy digimon's seriousness.
"No.. I don't even know where my father is right now..."
"Oh..." Guilmon said quietly, and returned to his normal goofy self.
"Takatomon know about this?"
Rika shook her head no.
"Henry know?"
Rika paused. "A little."
Guilmon perked up. "What you mean, a little?"
"I told him about Daddy slapping me... nothing more."
Guilmon nodded and popped another piece of bread in his mouth, thinking to himself.
"You need to tell Henry more..."
"I know I know.." Rika sighed.
Guilmon swallowed the bread and set his eyes firmly on her.
"Henry know you're dressed like that?"
Rika softly laughed and smirked. "Yeah..."
"Did he like it?" Guilmon reached to grab another piece of bread.
"He said I looked 'breath taking'."
"That's what Takatomon said about Jeri the other day... must mean something pretty good."
Guilmon stopped and looked down at the roll in his claws, and broke it in half, offering the other half to Rika.
"Eat.. makes you feel better."
Rika looked skepticly at the roll, and sighed and took it, breaking a smaller piece off and taking an even smaller bite out of that.
Guilmon just watched her with a weird look on his face. "You eat weird..."
Rika looked up, then looked back down at the small piece of bread with barely a nibble taken out of it, then popped the whole piece in her mouth and gave Guilmon a 'look I can do it too' glare.
Guilmon laughed and popped the rest of his in his mouth.
"It all work out..." Guilmon said as he watched Rika finish off her piece of the roll.
".. Henry make it all fine. You'll see."
Rika smiled and looked out the gate at the moon high above them.
"Yeah... it'll all work out fine."
There was a complete silence between them, until Guilmon jumped up abruptly, eyes glaring in the distance at something.
Rika recognised the look and jumped to her feet.
"No.. not now..." she whispered with horror filled eyes as a loud blast came from right outside where they stood, pink colored fog filling the area.
Without her purple tinted sunglasses, Rika was blinded instantly, but the white color never died down.
She could see Guilmon clearly beside her, growling fiercly at something in front of them.
She turned around quickly to see a tall blonde haired man smiling at Rika.
"Daddy?" she whispered with wide violet eyes.
"Sweetheart... I've come back..."
Guilmon looked at Rika with a confused look on his face. "Rika? Rika that's not a human.. it's a digimon... what are you talking about?"
~
"I have a new respect for Henry!"
Arista and Josh rushed through the town on Henry and Rika's bicycles towards the large digital field.
Arista looked sharply at Josh. "I don't care about that... I know Rika's there.. she's in trouble.. I don't know why.. but all I know is that she is...."
Josh nodded as they both sped on even faster. "Arista we can't do anything to help them! We're stuck in these forms, remember?"
Arista glared at him. "I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" she yelled as she jumped off the bike at the base of the stone stairs leading up to the headquarters, halfway covered in a pink digital field.
Josh ditched Henry's bike beside it and rushed up after her.
"Hold on Rika..." Arista whispered as she ran as fast as possible.
~
"I've changed, Rika... I want to come back.. come here to me..." Rika's father held out his arms with a smile on his face. Rika's heart skipped a beat as her eyes sparkled. Her father seemed sincere. She'd never seen him this way, and she loved it. Maybe now she'd be able to have a father, a real family... the flashbacks would stop...
Guilmon looked at Rika as she took an almost hypnotic step towards what appeared to him to be a huge ugly digimon, not knowing at all what she was doing.
"RIKA STOP!!"
Rika snapped her head towards the sound of Arista yelling at her just as Josh lunged towards her, knocking her to the ground, a large blast rushing overhead.
The image of Rika's father vanished quickly, leaving a huge MaloMyotismon in his place, holding a large cannon that was aimed for where Rika had been standing.
Josh rolled off the girl and looked at her quickly. "You okay?"
Rika was just staring in horror at the huge creature as Josh pulled her to her feet, and put an arm in front of her. "There's no way you're going to be able to destory her that easily!"
Arista froze at Josh's words, then narrowed her eyes at MaloMyotismon.
"You mess with my tamer, you mess with me." she growled angrily at him.
"You think you can defeat me, you stupid human?"
Arista took a step towards the large digimon.
"Josh, get Rika out of here..." Arista said sharply as she took another step towards the large digimon in front of her.
Josh's eyes grew a wild look in them as he felt his breath become short. "What?!"
"Get her out of here." Arista repeated, looking over at him just for a brief second. "Now."
"But Arista what about y--"
"NOW!"
Josh hesitated a moment and grabbed Rika's arm, just as the girl immediatly started thrashing about screaming her digimon's name at the top of her lungs.
But Josh's grasp was too tight for Rika to get out of as she was dragged at a extremely fast pace out of the digital field.
"You too Guilmon.. get out of here.."
"But Rena--"
"Go..."
Guilmon sighed and ran out after Josh and Rika.
Guilmon walked slowly out of the field near the end of the run, to find Josh litteraly holding the thrashing girl on the ground, trying to make sure she didn't run back in.
"GUILMON HOLD HER DOWN!" he demanded the red dinosaur.
"Where are you going!?" Guilmon yelled after pinning Rika to the ground and Josh bolting up to his feet.
"I have to save Arista!" Josh threw the coat of his tuxedo on the ground and rushed in after Arista.
Rika stopped thrashing, giving up under the strength of Guilmon.
She grew an almost sarcastic look on her face as she watched the pink ball of fog.
"Oh yeah Henry I love you and all but I let your digimon get destoryed right along with mine, I hope you really don't mind..."
"They'll be fine." Guilmon said in his goofy voice.
~
With a few clicks MaloMyotismon aimed his cannon at Arista. "Prepare to die you worthless human!"
Light filled the cannon and the blast burst out the mouth of the cannon. Arista flinched, waiting for her world to become dark, her life to end. She heard the blast rush towards her, the wind blowing against her so hard it could've swept her away. But nothing happened.
She opened her eyes at MaloMyotismon's evil laughter and looked around confused, then spotted Josh laying on the ground motionless, his clothes ripped and burnt.
Arista sank to her knees on the dirt. "No..." she felt the rush of tears come to her eyes. "No not you... no..." her voice grew louder and stronger with a realization that Josh wasn't breathing either.
She leaned over Josh sobbing uncontrollably. "No... hang on... don't die on me... don't.... please..."
~
Henry was soon on the scene, eyes shifting from Rika to Guilmon to the digital field.
"Rika.. are you hurt?" He pushed Guilmon off her and pulled her quickly into his arms. "I came as soon as possible.. I'm so sorry I shouldn't have let you go alone... I'm sorry.. please forgive me."
Rika was silent, then pushed Henry away and looked at the digital field, jumping to her feet and seeing her chance to run for it.
Guilmon became alert and tackled the girl to the ground just as she started her run.
"Henry hold her down.. don't let her in." Guilmon said as sturnly as he could with his funny sounding voice.
"Uh.. okay..." Henry stuttered, holding down Rika's arms and looking straight into her eyes.
Rika glared hard at him and started to thrashing yet again, screaming 'Renamon' at the top of her lungs, her constant gaze on the digital field.
~
Arista's mind raced. Josh laying limp in her arms, Rika's screams being heard from outside the field, MaloMyotismon's evil laughter echoing in her ears...
"No..." she said silently, then let her voice grow louder until she was shouting. "I will not be defeated like this. We've come too far for this... Josh you can't die on me now! I love you, you jerk!" she shrieked.
A bright light engulfed Arista and Josh, Arista not noticing it as she was too much in her trance to care about anything else.
"What is this!?!" MaloMyotismon yelled.
"I've loved you since the day I met you as Josh... I've loved you this whole time no matter how angry I ever got at you... Henry was right, we would find a way to be together... Josh you can't leave me now!"
The light grew brighter, and MaloMyotismon started to screech in agony.
"Don't lose hope Josh, hold on! You can pull through this! I know you can! I have faith in you! Please just hold on!"
MaloMyotismon fell on his knee and screamed as he started to become bits of data.
"Please Josh.. please I love you don't leave me..."
In a blast of red specks, MaloMyotismon was dissolved by the light. The light completly engulfing Arista and Josh now, and as the digital field vanished, the whole forest glowed with white light.
The light slowly started to die down, as a high pitched voice echoed through the forest, making Henry and Rika freeze as the light died down where they were.
"Love breaks through the curse, and love's true form is shown."
"Calumo--" Rika was cut off just as all the light died down, except for where Arista and Josh lay. The light became blue around them, then everything went dark.
"Uhhh...."
Rika pushed Henry off of her at the sound of not Arista, but Renamon as a yellow fox-like creature sat up slowly off of the figure of another fox under her.
"RENAMON!!" Rika shrieked running into her digimon's arms, knocking them both over.
Renamon laughed softly and pushed Rika off her. "Careful..."
"Sorry..." Rika bit her lip, then shifted her glance to where Renamon was looking.
A digimon identical to Renamon lay on the ground, colored ice blue with white instead of Renamon's yellow and white, and all of Renamon's purple features were navyblue.
Henry stood almost in shock. "Terriermon?" he asked in a whisper.
Rika drew out the small purse and took out her digivice and pointed it at the digimon, then smiled as she read the data, and looked up to Henry.
"IceRenamon.... armor-digivolved form... of Terriermon.... it dosen't say which egg though."
"Does it matter?"
Rika looked over at Renamon and laughed. "To you probably not."
Renamon just shrugged and watched as IceRenamon slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead with his paw.
"Wha-- what happened?" IceRenamon moaned, the voice of Josh coming through.
Henry still stood in shock, then looked up at Rika, jaw hanging open with astonishment.
"T-terriermon?"
IceRenamon looked over at his tamer quickly. "Henry!"
"You're... different....." Henry said softly, not sure what else to say at this point. He always knew that Renamon and Terriermon would have to find a way to be together, but never in his wildest dreams did he think of THIS.
IceRenamon's attitude matched Renamon's identically as he shrugged the remark off. "But I'm still--"
"-- my digimon." Henry smiled and took a few steps towards him.
"I think this suits me... except the tail."
Renamon rolled her eyes and swated him with her own tail. "Get used to it."
Rika smiled. "I'm sure he will."
Henry just grinned and walked up to Rika, putting his arm around her. "Com'on... lets go home."
"Now I get to see what the vanishing thing is all about."
With only a second's notice, both Renamon's vanished into thin air as the couple made their way home.
"Only thing is.. how the heck am I going to explain this to Suzy?"
"You'll think of something..."
Rika laughed and nudged him as they walked out of the park.
Guilmon watched the couple walk away with a grin.
"I told you Rika... Henry make it all better."