Bright Hues of Violet
The sun set over the horizon, casting a beautiful orange glow on the entire city as Henry Wong sat in the apartment he shared with the rest of his rather large family, staring out the large window in the living room. He'd spend hours on long dreary summer days just staring out that window, mostly when it was too hot for the tamers to have their weekly meetings, tempatures soaring well past one-hundred this past Friday night. It was Monday now on this hot day smack in the middle of June. School hadn't let out too far back in the month, and the kids were already growing restless, being cooped up inside most the day from the heat.
Henry'd spent a full three hours on the phone with his girlfriend, Rika, who'd been with him in the relationship since the autumn before. They sat in their rooms chatting about random things until Rika's grandmother's voice was clearly heard, demanding for her to get off the phone. Henry had nothing to do since that one moment.
Suzy tugged on his sleeveless white shirt a few times earlier, begging for him to play with her, but he had objected and went back to being slumped over the bulky couch arm staring out at the sunlit city below, rarely seeing anyone out on the sidewalks that were usually packed with people this time of day.
IceRenamon, Terriermon's form that both tamer and digimon throughly enjoyed him being in, didn't brave the hot weather either, though it was clear to Henry the sky-blue fox digimon was going restless with the dark approaching.
Henry looked over at the digimon sitting on the top of the couch, invisible to anyone else who tried to see him. He had grown to see why Rika treasured Renamon so much in the past months, also understood Rika's problem with Renamon being gone more than five hours at a time, having had a scare of his own before when IceRenamon hadn't shown for multiple days at a time.
After a dense conversation with the digimon, though, it was agreed to come to the same terms as the other fox digimon and her tamer.
Henry's thoughts strayed back to the red-haired girl always on his mind of late. Her attitude seemed to change with the seasons, growing cold and harsh now in the summer month upon them.
She had gone from calling the brown-sugar colored haired boy from 'Takato' back to 'Goggle-head' like she always had, even snapped at Henry himself a few times. She couldn't sit amongst the group of digidestined for more than a hour at a time at the most, saying they were 'making her go crazy'. She rarely smiled, rarely cried, and it was impossible to come to the realization of a laugh.
He could remember the last words Rika said over the phone, probably not even noticing Henry had heard her as she hung the receiver up; "Look, Grandma, if I can't be with my friends then I'm heading outside... I don't care how hot it is I'm not staying cramped up in this stupid house without any contact with my friends!" and then the phone went dead.
He prayed silently that she was just threatening, the heat outside could take anyone out instantly, but, this was Rika we were talking about. Henry felt a knot grow in his stomach as he thought about Rika probably lying unconcious somewhere from heat exhaustion, no-one to help her, dyi--
His thoughts were cut off when the phone rang, making him jump half-way out of his skin.
His father picked up the phone that sat across the room from Henry.
"Hello?"
Henry settled back in the couch, trying to calm down his extremly fast beating heart as much as possible, and sighed. It was only hypothetical, after all, Rika was probably sitting in her room at home going over her cards, thinking up new strategies to kick Kazu's butt with the next time she saw him.
"What?!"
Henry's attention was diverted yet once again at his father's tone of voice going from casual to panicked instantly. Henry saw IceRenamon out of the corner of his eye bolt up alert as well.
"She's where? Okay... yes we'll be right there.."
The worried look on his father's face sent a bolt of fear through Henry's heart. Was Suzy in trouble? His mother? His sister? Maybe his grandmother that lived out of town aways...
"Henry..." his father said solemnly as he put down the receiver and looked up at his son sitting upright on the couch, his gray eyes filled with fear.
"It's.. Rika..."
Worse then what he had originally thought, Henry jumped to his feet and gave a loud shriek.
"What? What happened? Is she okay? Where is she? When can we go? I have to see her now!"
"Calm down! I'll explain on the way to the hospital..." Henry's father slipped on his shoes sitting nearby.
"THE HOSPITAL?!?"
"Henry just get ready..." Mr. Wong said sharply at the screaming son.
Without another moment's notice, Henry had his shoes on and was already in the elevator heading down towards the car sitting in the apartment building's parking lot, tottaly oblivious to the fact that it was now ninety-seven degrees outside, the only thing on his mind was the auburn-haired girl that had stolen his heart almost a full year before.
Henry sat beside a long hospital bed, surrounded by Takato, Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta, all anxiously awaiting either the explaination or Rika to wake up.
The doctor walked in, tall with dark hair and a smiling face as he looked at the five worried teenagers surrounding the tough-looking girl, currently unconcious.
"Have your parents explained what happened yet to you?"
Henry was silent, just staring at Rika, currently bandanged up like a mummy in ancient Egypt from being banged up pretty horribly, letting Takato or one of the others answer the question.
"No sir." Kazu was the one who answered.
The doctor clutched the small board which held Rika's chart against his stomach and smiled again at the teens.
"The heat got to her, she collasped, fell down a flight of stairs, hit her head pretty hard. But she'll be fine. No broken bones, fractured limbs... I have a feeling she'll live."
A loud sigh of relief filled the room from the combined five.
The doctor smiled at Henry, the only person sitting down and touching a single part of the girl laying on the bed, holding her hand gently in his.
"Girlfriend?"
Henry nodded slowly, eyes never peeling off the girl.
"She'll be fine. She just needs to rest."
With that the doctor walked off, his steps being heard on the cold marble floor until he closed the door behind him.
The same eery silence that had gone before conquered the room as all eyes turned to Rika, the only sound was those of the intercoms outside the room echoing the calls to doctors and the sound of the beeps off the heart monitor attached onto Rika, giving a slow steady pace as she breathed peacefully.
Soon eyes turned to one another, giving silent remarks instead of words, and Jeri sighed loudly, collasping onto the edge of the windowsill, maintaining a clear view of who she considered to be her best friend laying unconcious on a hospital bed, a place that, even Takato, could never even imagine to ever see Rika.
Takato seemed to be at a loss for words, for Rika, or Henry. He turned thoughts of mean things he'd said to the girl before today that might've brought on the urge to go against her grandmother's will. He'd already been through the whole 'it's not your fault' conversation with Jeri earlier, but it really didn't seem to help, he still thought it was, and was completly sure Henry thought the same of himself.
Takato just put his hand on Henry's shoulder, a silent voice to him that everything would be fine as he went and sat beside Jeri.
Kazu and Kenta were much the same, more stunned that they were one of the people called when the accident happened then anything else.
"Uhhh..."
All attention turned back to Rika, now moaning as she opened her eyes, blinking a few times from the sudden light that hit her in the face overhead.
"Rika!" Everyone exclaimed at once.
She looked around the room, a bit dizzily at first then grew a confused look on her face, letting all anger and frustration in her voice vanish as she asked a simple question that anyone in her position would.
"Where am I?"
"You took a hard fall back there little lady." Kazu grinned. "Caused yourself to be in the hospital."
"Oh.." Rika responded quickly, then looked at the group, a sudden look of confusion crossing her face.
"Rika I'm just glad you're safe." Henry said quietly, trying to keep himself from breaking down.
The look on Rika's face grew even more confused as she studied his face. She shook her head softly in yet another confused motion.
"Who are you?"
The whole group exchanged nervous glances then looked back at Rika as a long strecth of silence followed.
Henry gave a nervous laugh as he stood from his position. "R-Rika... it's Henry..."
Rika's face grew an even more confused expression on her face.
"I'm sorry... I don't know you."
With one swift motion Jeri pushed back Henry and got right up beside Rika.
"What about me... Jeri?"
A silence followed as Rika studied the girl's face, her eyes narrowed as if trying to mentally dig up her memories that were lost.
Rika gave a sigh and shook her head. "I'm sorry... I don't."
Henry slumped against the wall, short of breath repeating 'this can't be happening' over and over again under his breath just as the doctor walked in with a worried look on his face, noticing Rika sitting up in her hospital bed with a disturbed look on her face. She looked over at the doctor and swallowed back tears.
"Sir, I'm supposed to know them, aren't I?"
Many of the other digidestined surrounding her clutched onto furniture or the chair-rail on the wall in disbelief. Rika didn't remember any of them anymore.
"Yes, Rika, I'm sorry." The doctor looked over at Henry. "I just finished talking with Rika's mother and grandmother. The fall was harder than we thought. She has amnesia, she can't remember anything in the past year or s--"
"RIKA ARE YOU OKAY?!?"
The doctor was pushed out of her way as Rika's mother ran into the room, rushing to her daughter's side.
"Baby are you okay? Does it hurt, trust me we'll get you the best medical attention in the world!"
"I'm okay, Mom..." Rika replied softly, smiling.
Henry felt his heart sink. 'In the past year or so'.. she remembered her own mother, but not anyone else. The girl that had stolen his heart away, brought out all those hidden feelings he had bundled up inside for so long, had gone back mentally before she had ever met them.
He snapped out of his emotional rut when Rika turned her now watery violet eyes to him.
"I'm sorry... I want to remember you..." she whispered. Henry couldn't really hear what she said, but the words mouthed was enough to make him smile a bit.
"It's okay Rika." he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I know you do."
Rika had been in the hospital for a whole twenty-four hour period, and Henry still sat in the wooden chair in the corner of Rika's room, refusing to eat anything, always keeping his eye on her. Everyone else, including Rika's own mother and grandmother, had gone home, and despite much pleading from every one of the digidestined, plus his parents and older siblings, Henry stayed behind, saying he made a promise to be with Rika through whatever happened until the day he died and he wasn't going back on that promise now.
He had dwifted off to sleep only hours before, having the landscape of the city outside the large window beside Rika's bed lull him to sleep, when he was awaken by a soft sobbing, not a sobbing from anyone he had heard it from before.
"I should have been there for you... I should have stayed by your side... why wasn't I there to provent this?!" the words were muffled, but Henry could make them all out.
Henry blinked a bit and looked at the clock above Rika's hospital bed before looking over at the person sobbing, as much as possible having the nurse turn the light out in the hospital room once seeing both Rika and Henry were asleep.
"1:48 AM.." he thought to himself, straightening himself a bit in the chair to try and look at the bed.
Henry blinked some more, trying to keep his eyes to stay open and not fall instantly back to sleep, having not slept at all since two days ago when they first came to the hospital.
He managed to look over and bolted up in his chair to a yellow-colored fox digimon, head burried in the blanket beside where Rika slept soundly, and easily being able to tell she was sobbing. Her fur coat glistened in the moonlight floating through the window.
"Renamon?"
Renamon's head came up abruptly. "Henry.. I didn't see you there." she managed to sink back into her sober low tone of voice, standing to her feet, glad her eyes were more digimon-like than human-like, thinking Henry didn't notice her crying.
Renamon's attention switched to Rika, who gave a content sigh in her sleep.
"What... am I supposed to do now? I know she won't remember me if she won't remember you." Renamon choked out, grasping both her paws into tight fists, struggling to keep back more tears.
Henry felt his eyes start to water over. Renamon, even in the past year or so of being concidered 'girlfriend' to his own digimon, had never displayed even being capable of having this sort of emotion.
"Renamon..." he repeated, only sympotheticly this time.
"How can you stand it...? I'm only her digimon, and I'm having a hard time knowing she'll have no memory of me at all."
"I can't." Henry took at step towards Renamon, eyes never peeling off Rika's form. "I can't stand knowing that she might never know me as she did before ever again, that all we've been through is gone now."
Renamon kept silent, staring at her tamer.
"I just think... you should stay at my place until she gets used to the rest of us... humans..."
Renamon was still silent, turning Henry's remark over in her head a few times.
"I'm sure IceRenamon's going to get lonely, I'm probably going to be out of the house and with Rika for awhile when she gets well."
Renamon sighed and nodded. "I know you're right... it's just--"
"Hard.. I know." Henry whispered, and turned his head to look at her, then smiled.
"Go get some rest or something. I'll be home tomorrow morning."
Renamon nodded and vanished into thin air, like she always did, and Henry fell completly silent, walking over to the window and looking out at the city glistening in the moonlight, lake in the park just across the street from them reflecting the stars.
"H-henry?"
Henry spun around to the hospital bed creaking as Rika sat up slowly.
Henry smiled and walked over to her side, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"What are you still doing here?" Rika asked in a low tone of voice, strained and raspy.
"Don't worry about that, you need your rest. The medication the doctors gave you is harsh, you need to lay back down." Henry gently pushed her by her shoulders back into the soft white pillow and smiled once more.
"I'll be here until morning if you need me."
Rika sighed and shifted her gaze to the window, looking out at all the tall buildings glowing a bright white color from the moon. "I still want you to answer the question."
Henry sighed, standing up and lifting the white sheet and baby blue knitted blanket up to her shoulders.
"Something I promised you awhile back. Now you just get some sleep."
Henry walked back around the bed and collasped into the wooden chair. Sure, it wasn't comfortable, but it was good enough for the time being.
Henry smirked again noticing Rika, laying still awake across from him, seeing her slight movements in the moonlight that danced across the bed.
"What's wrong?" he almost laughed at her groan that followed.
"How do you expect me to sleep when you answered my question like that? It only makes me remember that I've forgotten half my childhood."
"Now, that's an overstatement." Henry smirked, and stood back up, sitting on the bed again as she shifted under the sheets to look up at him. "You've only lost your memory for the past year or so... it could be worse."
"Yeah I know I know." she sighed. "But I still mostly have no clue who you are, and it's killing me because somewhere in my mind I know you played a huge part of my life."
Henry hung his head a bit, the lifted it back up to look at her.
"It's not that I did... it's that I am... there's a differance." he moved his hand over to her and softly stroked her hair. "Now go back to sleep... I'll stay right here instead, how about that."
Rika nodded slightly and closed her eyes, rolling over a bit, setting her head on Henry's leg and sighing as she went back to sleep.
Henry just smiled, not thinking much of it, and kept stroking the girl's hair.
The weather had cooled down after a few weeks into the summer months. It was now mid-July, tempatures dipping back down to eighty degrees, and a gentle breeze circling around the figure of Rika Nonaka as she stood on the shoreline of the beach a few miles away from the bustling city she lived in every day. She had tagged along with Henry's family on their trip to this secluded beach, in hopes of making friends with Henry again.
Her recovery had gone along extremely well, better than expected from the doctors, she was sent home a few days after waking up in that hospital room. She still couldn't remember anything about any of her 'friends', or why they were always so surprised if she smiled or said anything kind to them, but she did know that she didn't like being stared at because of her looks. The photos in her room showed her the reason of that story by the tough looking Rika in the pictures, often smirking for a smile or just frowning.
She couldn't understand why she was so angry anymore, why she had to dress so out of place like that, she liked how she dressed now, and so did her mother.
Rika stood on top of a tall gray stone standing amongst others, all relatively lower than what she stood on.
She closed her eyes to the gentle sea breeze rustling through her long auburn hair and let her pastel blue silk skirt float in the breeze, the navy blue hawaiian like flowers on it flowing in waves as the wind rushed through the high split up the side of the skirt that was now up a few inches past her ankles from the wind pressing against it.
She looked over at Henry sitting yards away on the sand of the beach, his head darting in the other direction as soon as she met his eyes. It was obvious to her he had been staring at her quite some time from the look on his brother's face.
She just smiled to herself and went back to looking out at the crystal-like water, reflecting the gray cloudy skies. It was almost like those pictures of New England over in America that she had seen, and it calmed her aching emotions a bit. She smoothed down her white tank top with her hands and pretended not to see Suzy trying desparatly to climb the rock behind her.
Henry's brother nudged him and smirked. "Henry, you better take her before I do..."
Henry looked over briefly at Rika, now holding his little sister on her thigh.
"I don't know.. I thought I did take her..."
"Take her again." he persisted his little brother.
Henry fell silent, digging his hands into the cool sand and watching Rika, who he swore for a brief moment looked his way and smiled.
"She thinks we were just friends, okay... it's not that easy..."
"Fine I'll pair you up then." his brother responded.
Henry sat up straight and stared at him. "No no! Last time you tried to pair me up with someone you failed so miserably that even TAKATO hated my guts for an entire week, and he didn't even know Jennifer!"
"Jennifer was a freak."
"No duh.." Henry felt himself grin, and slip into a laugh right along with his older brother.
"Go talk to her." his brother nudged him with his elbow and nodded towards Rika. "Tell Suzy to come and build a sandcastle or something."
Henry stood up from the sand, and brushed off his beige-colored shorts, looking back up at Rika.
She looked so.... different now. It didn't make much sense to him, seeing that he had seen her dressed differently before, but there was a sort of beauty all it's own in her now.
"Dude... com'on..."
Henry turned around to his brother urging him on.
Henry took a deep breath and started his walk across the sand to the large rock Rika stood on.
"Um.. Suzy... can you leave me and Rika.. alone? Please?" he muttered as he reached the bottom of the rock.
Rika put Suzy back down on the cold rock and let her run off, standing back up in all her beauty and smiled at him.
Henry rubbed the back of his neck slowly as he made his way up the rock beside her.
"How do you like the view?"
Rika smiled once again as he stood beside her, looking out onto the water that reflected a gray color.
"It's lovely."
"Sorta like you." Henry spoke the words, looking over at her out of the corner of his eye.
Rika felt her face burn with the blush coming onto her cheeks and she brushed a loose piece of hair back behind her ear.
"Thank you.. but I'm sure you didn't come over here just to talk to me about my looks."
"No.. I didn't." Henry shoved his hands into his pockets.
"So, what did you come to talk to me about?" Rika looked over at him, a look of curiosity in her eyes.
Henry sat down on the rock, Rika soon following his example, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the rock, with every wave that crashed across the rock, the bottom of her skirt getting more and more wet.
"About our friendship..."
Rika's eyes grew panicked as she looked at him.
Henry just laughed at the look and shook his head. "No no I'm not breaking up our friendship..."
Rika let out a sigh of relief. Things hadn't been going so well with Takato and the rest of the guys in the friendship department, something about name-calling. And Jeri seemed distant of late, not wanting to be around many people except Takato.
"God, I don't know how exactly to say it..." he said a bit under his breath.
Rika sighed and looked out to the ocean standing before them, waiting for him to find words to put it into.
There was much 'um's and 'uh's before Henry cleared his throat, then fell completly silent, only sound was that of Suzy's laughter and the waves banging against each other in the surf.
Rika and Henry both slipped into their own private worlds as one tried to think of what to say, the other trying to hear it before the words came out.
Rika's eyes grew wide and she looked over at him.
"We... were more then just... friends.... weren't we?"
Henry returned her glance, opened his mouth to say something, as one of the waves crashed onto the rock, sending water all over them.
Rika let out a shriek and Henry just covered his face with his arms.
After the wave sank back into the ocean, Henry and Rika looked at each other, Rika with her hair soaken wet, hanging in her face, and Henry, his clothes sticking tightly to his body.
Both burst into roaring laughter at just the look of each other.
Henry stood up, still laughing and took Rika's hand, pulling her up beside him.
"You okay?" he asked, still chuckling a bit as he pushed the hair back out of her face and back behind her ears.
Rika smiled and nodded. "You?"
"Perfect."
Rika just smiled once more and made her way back down the rock, towards the beach to go play a bit with Suzy who had already started to call her name.
Henry waited until he was sure she was just enough out of range not to hear or see him.
"STUPID STUPID STUPID!" he smacked his forehead hard and clentched his fists. It took all the courage he could manage just to say something to her, and it was all for nothing.
He'd... just have to try again. Yeah, that was it. He'd get another chance... but what if he choked like he had before? What if something else were to happen to interrupt him before he got a chance to say...
"HENRY!! LUNCH!"
Henry looked up at Rika running gracefully up to him, spite of her long wet dress.
"Okay.. coming."
Rika came to a slow stop in front of him and frowned. "What's wrong?"
Henry shrugged and started to walk back to the sandy beach. "Nothing... nevermind it."
Rika walked right beside him, and stepped closer to him, nudging him with her hip. "I know something's wrong... we'll get to talk later.. you said you'd take me to dinner tonight remember?"
Henry laughed, he'd tottally forgotten that promise he made. "Yes I remember now..."
Rika placed a kiss on his cheek and laughed mischievously. "Race 'ya over there!"
Like that she was off, prancing like a startled deer towards the beach.
"HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Henry yelled after her, taking off.
-------------
Takato stared at Rika a moment, looked her up and down in the short pink skirt and white tank top, completly with a pink velour vest, and burst into roaring laughter.
Rika pushed back a piece of long hair behind her ear and just glared at him. Henry warned her about this, and truth be told she was glad he did. Takato seemed to take advantage of this, and try to make himself come out on top all the time, may it be the card game, or just regular conversation on things she couldn't remember. But, Rika knew how to stand her ground, something Kazu taught her in the past few days.
"OW!"
Takato clutched his foot with his hand, putting the other to keep his balance against the glass counter of the bakery that Rika had walked into a few minutes before.
"DANG!! Why'd you do that?!" Takato demanded.
Rika walked across the room slowly, highheels, which one had gone into Takato's foot, clicking on the floor, the light from the sun outside being blocked off a bit, casting a shadow of a tall slim girl across the bakery floor.
Rika put her hand on her bare hip and turned quickly around to look at him. "Do I seriously need to answer that?"
"Have you met Renamon yet?" Takato jumped onto another subject, knowing well that he'd get a piece of Henry's mind later over the phone.
Rika grew a curious look on her face. "No... should I know him?"
Takato put his foot back down and boosted himself up on the counter, putting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "Not he... she.... you two were good friends."
"Renamon? Her name's Renamon? Weird.." Rika made a face, then growled suddenly, using her other foot she slid off her high heel, then soon the other followed. "I can't stand those..."
"You never could." Takato snickered inwardly, then leaned back on the counter, putting his hands behind him and watching the girl observe some loaves of bread on display.
"She isn't human though... she's a digimon.."
"A wha'?"
Takato's eyes grew wide when Rika stood up straight from her bent over position of looking at rolls with another weird look on her face.
"You.. don't know.... what digimon.. is?"
"Nope not a clue.."
Takato still held his blank look on his face. She didn't know digimon yet? But.. wasn't Henry working on her about th-- oh nevermind.... Henry was probably too busy worrying that his 'relationship' with her was on the break of going.
Rika went back to looking at the selection of breads as Takato watched her. Maybe this was the break he was looking for, he always wanted to be friends with Rika, and since she couldn't remember them being enemies, it seemed only logical it was time to try again.
"Um, Rika?"
Rika looked up and smiled. "Yes?.. uh... Takato, isn't it?" she still didn't have names down yet, anyone except Henry and Suzy seemed hard to remember to her.
"What'cha doin' tomorrow afternoon? Me and Kazu are going to the arcade down at the mall, you can come with us, if you want."
Rika smiled once more, something Takato couldn't remember seeing often. Takato decided he sort of liked it... seeing this side of Rika.
"I'd love to, except I told Henry I'd go over to his house tomorrow afternoon."
"Henry, huh? You two seem to be getting close." Takato put one leg over the other and rocked back a bit, careful to not flip over the entire counter.
"Not like we're a couple or anything." Rika shrugged, and crossed her arms over her chest and kept looking at the bread, walking down the line of shelves holding the day's fresh merchandise.
"Yeah, right."
Rika looked up slowly, one eyebrow narrowed. "What do you mean, do you and Henry know something I don't?"
"What'cha mean, me and Henry?" Takato wanted to know.
Rika sighed. "When we went to the beach yesturday he said he wanted to talk to me alone, and when he did he started to talk about our 'relationship'.... I asked him if we were more then friends and he sa---"
Rika stopped in mid-sentance, and Takato saw her soft lilac eyes grow far-away almost as if she had sunk into her own world. "--- he was cut off and he never answered the question."
Takato laughed. "A wave I heard..." he slid off the glass counter and stepped back behind it. "Henry called me yesturday."
"Takato, can I ask you something.. and I want you to respond to me.... truthfully." Rika looked at the floor, then back up at Takato.
"Sure.. anything."
Rika still held the far-off look, and Takato was half afraid of the question she was going to ask.
"Takato, were me and Henry... more than friends?"
Takato turned his back to her, and grimaced, closing his eyes tightly and cussing under his breath.
He turned back around and sighed, planning on lying to her completly. He swore to keep it a secret until Henry told her himself, but...
Takato took one look at her, a bothered look across her face now that she came back to reality. She looked concerned, worried that she might be not good enough for Henry right now, was the only thing flooding Takato's mind.
"Yes..."
Rika's breath stopped in it's tracks, she closed her eyes tightly and turned around on her heels walking a step or two away, running her fingers through her hair.
"... You were..." Takato finished, waiting for her to respond with something other than body language.
Rika let out a slow breath, lifting her face to the ceiling. "That's what I thought."
"But before you tell him you kn--"
"I know, Takato..."
"No.. you don't."
Takato's eyes grew fierce as he looked at her. "I know you think you have to keep it a secret that I told you, which, okay so you do, but, look, the real problem is when you said you didn't know what digimon was... Digimon was your life..."
"Digimon, that's the TV show on every afternoon, correct?"
Takato nodded at her, seeing he had her attention now.
"Look I know you now think you were just obsessed with it, but Digimon are real..."
Rika blinked a few times at him, clearly confused. "Takato, you lost me."
"I'm serious... ask Henry who Renamon is... then if he tries to skip the subject just said 'Renamon' sharply."
"Um... okay.." Rika slipped the high-heeled shoes back on and winked at him. "See'ya later Takato."
Takato just laughed and went back to what he had been doing before Rika had walked in, sorting the papers his father had given him earlier.
Takato kept the simple grin on his face. "For once I was able to see why Henry's so obsessed with her..."
Takato shook his head. "Listen to yourself, going on about Rika Nonaka..."
"HENWY!! WIKA'S HERE!"
Dead silence in the rest of the house made Rika fold her arms over her chest and raise one eyebrow. "You sure he's here?"
"Yes I saw him walk down the hall juss'a moment ago.." Henry's little sister Suzy protested, leaning back to look down the hallway from her place in front of the door.
"Aw, nevewmind.. you come in... you can sit on the cwoch."
Rika followed the small girl's instructions as she tore down the hallway, yelling angrily.
"Henwy Wong! I said Wika is out hewe! Henwy whewe awe you??? Thewe you a--"
Suzy froze in the hallway as her older brother walked out of his room, straightening out a loose white buttoned shirt, the one she'd only seen him wear when he took Rika to the carnival awhile back.
"Wow... you look nice.."
Henry smiled down at his little sister and messed with her hair a bit. "Thanks twrip."
Suzy giggled and ran down the rest of the hall to her own room to go play.
Henry laughed himself, half at the first look on Suzy's face, half at the second look.
"Rika?" he asked, peeking his head around the corner of the hallway, towards the large sofa where a tall beautiful girl sat.
Rika stood up, smiled sweetly, and held her hands behind her back.
Henry shook his head fiercely, trying to come back to reality after staring at her. He could not ever remember Rika looking like that, not even in the first week or so after the carnival.
"You look... perfect...." Henry breathed, not even aware of the checked-out look across his face.
Rika blushed. "Thank you... you look--"
A blank look crossed Rika's face and she blinked a few times, then pointed at Henry.
"That shirt..."
Henry grabbed the bottom of his shirt with his hands and pulled it forewards to look down at it.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I... remember that...."
Henry looked back up and her and smiled. "You should.. I wore this first time we---"
"Went out?" Rika finished the sentance for him, sitting back down on the couch and motioning for him to sit beside her.
Henry's mouth stayed open, having been cut off mid-sentance, but he made his way across the soft carpeted floor and sank into the couch beside her, only inches away from her.
"Yeah..."
"We were more than friends... I kinda figured we were..."
Henry looked over at her soft lilac eyes that had been set on him this whole conversation.
"I was afraid you'd say it like that.."
Rika grew another confused look on her face.
"Huh?"
"You said.. were..."
Rika blushed once more. "Are..." she corrected herself, then looked back up at him. "I need all the love I can get through this, and I can pretty much see why I might've been angry before... Mother's been going back to work all the time, trying to drag me into it, which for some odd reason I don't want to be..."
"Could've fooled me." Henry motioned to her outfit of hot-pink clothing.
Rika grinned. "Well she wants me to wear white lace-like stuff..."
"Ahh.." Henry nodded, and put his hands behind his head, leaning back in the cushion.
Rika sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry.."
Henry look down at her, letting on of his hands drop from the back of his head, and falling around her.
"For what?"
"Being like this... forgetting everything.... forgetting whoever Renamon is..."
Henry went completly silent. "Renamon?" he managed to squeak out.
"Yes... Renamon." Rika sat up straight. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you?"
"No.. no I don't." Henry lied, biting his bottom lip, then putting himself back into place after realizing Rika had one eyebrow raised. "I don't..." Henry repeated.
Rika stood up abruptly, not taking his eyes off Henry.
"Renamon!" she snapped fiercely, just like Takato had told her to.
Rika gave a frightful little shriek and jumped back a bit, having her attention diverted from Henry to the large fox digimon that had appeared behind the couch.
--------
"Takato! Phone!"
Takato ran through the hall and down the stairs of the bakery his parents owned and grabbed the phone from his mother, then when the person on the other end started to talk, Takato was half tempted to just hang it up before he got into any more trouble.
"H-hi Henry..."
"Rika and R-Renamon, huh?"
"Yes, yes I did sorta--"
"Well look I didn't mean to--"
"I know I promised you I'd--"
"My goodness will you just let me finish one sentance?!" Takato shrieked, flailing his arm like Henry could see him. Silence followed and Takato sighed. "Thank you."
"Look, Henry, she needs to know, Renamon was like, her life. You couldn't hide it forever." Takato twisted the phone cord nervously around his hand, hoping Henry would understand.
Henry narrowed his eyes and glanced over at the small balcony outside his window where Rika and Renamon stood, obviously talking about the past by the red eyes Rika had from crying.
"I know I couldn't have, but she's JUST remembering me, she really didn't need that to make her life even more complicated." Henry groaned, laying back on his bed and putting his hand over his eyes in a stressed motion.
Takato balanced the phone on his shoulder and placed some fresh bread on the glass counter for his father.
"Tell me this then, look at her right now if you can, does she look like her life is complicated?"
Silence followed and Takato smirked. "That's what I thought." he said in a voice no-one would have expected out of Takato Matsuki.
"I'll say it again, Renamon was her life..."
"Yeah well so was I..." Henry choked out, almost in a whisper.
A click, then a tone followed, and Takato lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it. Henry didn't normally hang up on people unless it was a telemarketer, or someone of that sort.
With an agitated sigh, Takato slammed the phone on the wall unit and marched back up the stairs to his room, yanking open his bedroom door furiously, and stomped into his room, sitting down quickly on his chair at his desk.
"Why am I so angry?" he suddenly asked himself, a blank look crossing his face.
The next day was relatively cooler than the past weeks, tempatures only reaching eighty degrees, which pulled the tamers out their front doors, and down towards the park known now for it's headquarters.
Rika strolled down the sidewalks of the Shinjuku area, past shops, bakeries, and apartments, in a pair of white jeans and a loose ocean-blue t-shirt, hair dangling around her shoulders.
Her hands jammed in her pockets, she walked briskly through the city, not really watching where she was going as she stared down at the sidewalk, pieces of green grass peeking out from the cracks, and a few stray ants scurried across, but Rika never noticed anything, not even that her wrists were brushing against her silver glitter belt, scratching them and leaving the sparkly remains there too.
She didn't even notice the very object of her deep thoughts backing out of a brick building right in front of her, until a collision sent both her and Henry Wong blinking in shock as they sat on the ground, trying to remember what happened.
"Rika!" Henry said rather quickly, jumping to his feet, and offering his hand down to her.
Rika still a bit in shock, softly took his hand, and was pulled gently up.
Henry smiled at her. "Sleep well last night?"
"I fell asleep against a fox..." Rika remarked sharply, just as a flash of Renamon's voice went through her head, and she laughed. "Sorry Renamon."
Henry laughed. "You'll get used to them knowing all and seeing all soon enough."
Rika brushed down her shirt. "I better... it's driving me crazy."
"Ow....."
Rika's attention went to Henry's backpack, which Henry had originally landed on.
"Did that ju--"
"HENRY LET ME OUT OF HERE BEFORE I DIE PLEASE!!"
Rika jumped back in shock as Henry took off his backpack, unzipped it, and a small white and green creature jumped out, rubbing his back with his small little paw.
"Uh.... oh..."
Terriermon spotted the wide-eyed Rika, and winced, slowly looking up at the teenage boy holding him, the one with the irretated and angry look across his gray eyes.
"Terriermon...." Henry groaned through his teeth.
"Don't give me that Terriermon stuff!" Terriermon insisted, putting his small little hands on his hips.
"It's not my fault you had to just go after I told you to hide from Ri--"
Rika's hand, that had gone up to her mouth in shock, was now just covering it to keep back small giggles, but they escaped anyways, causing Henry to stop mid-sentance and look up at her, smiling.
"Oh boy." Terriermon rolled his eyes.
Henry tightened his grip, knocking the air out of the little digimon's stomach as he kept a plastered smile on his face.
"So where were you going?" Henry asked through his teeth, trying to keep the smile on his face.
Rika just giggled harder at the look on his face, pushed past him, and kept on her journey.
"Oh yeah nice going, bub." Terriermon snorted, watching Rika walk away, in stitches.
"Terriermon!"
"What?"
"We're already together.. I don't need to impress her anymore than before." Henry smirked, tempted to stick his tounge out at his little digimon.
"Yeah, yeah I hear you.." Terriermon sighed, crawling up on Henry's head and letting his ears dangle.
Henry sighed and sprinted into a run, seeing Rika was almost a quarter of a mile away already.
"Rika!"
Rika clasped her hands behind her back and smiled as she stepped into the small diner, and up to the bar, taking a seat and looking up at a brown-haired girl, dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt with the word 'Angel' written across the front.
"Hey, uh..." Rika held up her hand and closed her eyes, putting the other on her forehead. "No.. no don't tell me.. I can think of it..."
"Cary.." she said looking up, pointing at the hazel-eyed girl.
The girl laughed and shook her head, wiping down the wooden bar with a rag. "Jeri." she corrected, looking up at the bell on the door ringing again as Henry stepped in.
"Hey, Henry."
"Jeri.." Henry nodded in acknowledgment, sitting beside Rika as Terriermon jumped off his head and down on the next stool over.
Jeri gave Henry a look out of the corner of her eye, and continued to wipe down the counter. "I see Rika knows about Terriermon." she said simply.
Rika nodded a responce for Henry, leaned forward on the counter to look at Terriermon.
"Not like I meant for her to.." Henry shrugged and grabbed one of the menus in front of Rika.
"What's the special today?"
"What do you think we are, a bistro?" Jeri almost snapped, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Henry laughed, scanning his eyes across the menu.
"Can I get you anything, Rika?"
"A soda will be fine.." Rika shrugged, looking over at Henry, putting elbows on the counter and setting her chin in her hands.
"Any specific type?" Jeri raised one eyebrow, backing up to open the refridgerator.
Rika shook her head without taking her eyes off Henry.
"Nah...."
Jeri shrugged, and took out a can of orange soda, closest to where she stood and set it down in front of Rika, then looked over at Henry. "Well?"
Henry set the menu back down and sighed. "Just get me a sandwich, whichever is convienient."
"Coming right up." Jeri grinned and turned to start up the meal.
Rika sighed, running her finger down the cold can of soda in front of her, then looked over at Henry, lowering her voice so Jeri couldn't hear.
"Do you think.. I'll ever get my memory back?" she whispered rather hoarsly, trying despratly to fight back any tears trying to force their way up.
Henry sent his attention to the auburn haired girl, and smiled as sweetly as possible.
"Sure you will, I have faith in you..."
"Faith can move mountains, Henry... but can it help me?"
Rika's eyes shifted back to the soda as she edged her fingernail under the tab and pulled it up.
Henry fell silent, watching her. He turned his head back forwards, and took the soda Jeri had set in front of him also.
Rika took a sip of hers, and continued.
"I mean, if I can't remember anything, like my memory never comes back, it's going to kill me the rest of my life."
Henry rested his elbows on the counter, holding the soda up a few inches off the counter.
"I know, but you'll get it back."
"I hope so..."
~~~A/N: K I don't own The Calling.. or have anything to do with their tour plans, if any as of this moment, but I'm using it anyways because I LOVE the group and.. okay so just read.~~~~~
Weeks flew by faster than Henry and Rika could keep track, memories creeping back into Rika's mind one by one as she tried to piece together her lost past.
She remembered digimon battles, how much she had hated her mother, how much she had longed for her father... her first kiss.
But one of the most vital parts of her life was still missing, the entire months leading up to the September after Henry had professed his love to her were a blur, she couldn't remember any of it. Renamon told her stories of the adventure they had, the night she and Terriermon had turned into human forms, over and over again, and Rika never tired of hearing it. It all seemed like a mystical fairy tale to her, she couldn't believe that it had been her life half the time. Stories of wanting to go to the digital world, battling a few devas, and Jeri's adventures with Leomon flooded in from every other source, may it be Henry or Kazu, she got them all, wide-eyed with amazement as she listened.
But at this exact time, she sat on a rock, looking over at Guilmon who sat just inside the small headquaters, explaining the first time Renamon had digivolved to the ultimate level to her, in his squeaky little voice.
Rika still held the look of a five-year-old being told about a princess in a far away castle, even with Guilmon telling the story.
"And she became Taolmon." Guilmon finished, popping a piece of bread in his mouth and going back to his usual buisness of digging up as much dirt as possible.
"Wow..." Rika whispered, then looked down at the blue and white device attached to her glittery jeans.
Guilmon popped his head out of the hole, ears perked up. "It's not as cool as Takatomon digivolving me.." he remarked, then ducked back under, and yelled, an echo coming from the deep hole. "... Takatomon is the best tamer EVER!" he boasted proudly of his brown haired tamer.
Rika stood up from the rock and walked in, peering over the edge of the hole. It was too dark to see anything, but she could faintly see dirt flying from the small claws of Guilmon.
"Aha!!" he exclaimed happily, a large box flying out of the hole. Rika darted backwards in one jump, with a small shriek, as the box landed exactly where she had been standing.
"Sorry!" Guilmon yelled, then scurried up the side of the dirt wall with much small groaning as he pulled his weight to the top. "Takatomon has to stop bringing me peanut butter.." she heard him groan under his breath as he pulled himself up out of the hole. His attitude changed however, having set his eyes on the blue plastic box.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Guilmon pointed to it with his claw and jumped towards it, lifting the lid.
Now this box was like a plastic shoebox, one of those you'd get at a store like Wal-Mart, and was clearly from one of the tamer's rooms.
"This is Kenta's box..." Guilmon laughed. "Takato told me he stole it."
"Oh." was Rika's only responce as she ducked from the flying top as Guilmon threw it backwards.
Guilmon pushed the box towards Rika. "Here.. look at it all... it maybe will help."
Rika picked up the box, and carried it outside in the spring sunlight, back out onto the rock all the tamers had carved their initals in, Kenta having the bright idea to have Takato put his over Jeri's and then have Rika right the & symbol in between them. They never let them off the hook for that one, even now.
Rika sat down on the rock and started going through the what appeared to be hundreds of photographs that sat inside.
Rika lifted about twenty out, and set the box back down at her feet, going through them, smiling at most being Suzy and Henry playing in the park. She kept on filtering through them. Pictures of her and Jeri, Jeri and Takato with a heart painted around it with the pink nailpolish Rika's mom had bought for her, and Rika had used just to get on Takato's nerves. She flipped to the next picture, one of Takato, Henry, and herself in one pose, the pink nailpolish used again to make horns and a beard on Takato. Rika giggled and kept going.
Pictures of all the tamers, most of which Kenta had snapped, filled the box. To Rika's surprise, she remembered most these shots, as if just holding the pictures brought back the memory.
Then she found the picture lined with silver tin foil, easy to see had been attached on by Suzy and decorated with pink glitter and small pink confetti hearts.
Inside the homemade frame created by the little girl's hands, was a picture of Henry, Rika, and Suzy, all fast asleep on the couch in Henry's apartment.
Rika ran her fingers over the picture, the memory of something of that sort running back into her mind as if pleading to be let back in.
She dropped the picture to the ground just as Henry rounded the corner and smiled at her.
"Hello Rika." he said in his normally cheerful voice.
"Henry.." she nodded, smiling back.
Henry looked down at the blue-colored box at Rika's feet and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "What's that?"
A flash of Suzy went through her mind at the way he asked the question, that caused her to smile again. "Some photographs."
"Can I see?" Henry asked, sitting down beside her on the rock and leaning down and picking some up without an answer to the question.
Rika stayed silent as he fingered over the same picture she had. "Wow... Dad must've taken this picture." he whispered.
Rika just nodded and slid over on the rock enough to sit right up against him, looking over his shoulder.
"I can remember that."
Henry smiled. He was used to hearing that remark from her now, as he told her stories of their adventures, a blank look crossing her face as she struggled to bring back a foreign thought to her, and suceeded moments later with the 'I can remember that' remark. But then, it was always bright and cheerful, like a little child who finally learned to tie her shoelaces, but now, her voice was soft, gentle, and calm.
Henry wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled. "Good." he responded to her in the same matter she had remarked in.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Renamon's helping this too.. the doctor said I should have all my memories back within a week at the least." she slurred the last words together quickly in hopes for them to skip over Henry's attention, but they didn't.
"At the least?" he asked almost in a horrified voice.
Rika shook her head side to side. "We're not sure if I'm going to remember everything.. but Henry, look... I remember this." she touched the photograph gently with her fingertip, and just as Henry turned his head to look at it, she kissed his cheek. "I don't need to remember every digimon battle, every remark I ever threw at Takato... I just need to remember us.." she moved her hand to his knee and gently ran her fingers across it. "..and I do."
Henry turned his head back towards her, murmured her name, and leaned forward to kiss her.
"DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YET?!"
Both tamers looked up quickly at Guilmon yelling from inside the small headquarters.
They both laughed timidly and stood up, hand in hand. "No... you stay there..." Rika smiled, laying her head on Henry's shoulder.
"Oh.. okay!"
A loud gasp echoed around the circular booth in the diner when Takato stood in the walkway flashing a few tickets to a concert in his hands.
"How the heck did you get your hands on those?!" Kazu exclaimed, standing up in his seat which was in the middle of the whole curved seat, setting his hands firmly on the table to hold himself up.
Takato smirked. "Jealous?"
"Com'on Takato, answer his question..." Kenta urged, pulling Kazu back down in the seat by the back of his shirt.
"Yeah..." Jeri chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in the seat.
"Oh fine, you take all the fun out of it." Takato sank into the red leather seat beside Jeri and tucked the tickets back into his pocket. "I won the radio contest the other day. I got four tickets to the concert and I have to figure out who to take."
Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta exchanged glances with each other, then looked back at Takato.
"Well, what about us?" Kenta asked as smoothly as possible.
Takato frowned. "That's just it... if I take you I have a feeling Rika and Henry will feel left out."
"So what? Com'on Chumley, you know well enough that they are going to do nothing but stare into each other's eyes throughout the whole concert anyways." Kazu snorted.
Takato chuckled. "Yeah.. true."
"So what? He and Jeri would do the same thing too..." Kenta nudged Kazu in the side, and both laughed.
A bolt of red shot through both Jeri and Takato's cheeks, and Takato rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Well... I didn't know if Jeri wanted to go or n--"
"What? Of course I wanted to go! It's the first time The Calling has been on tour over here in Japan and I listen to their music everytime I'm at Rika's house."
Takato just looked at Jeri a moment with a blank expression on his face, then raised one eyebrow. "Well that settles that I guess."
"Wait.. you're taking her just because she heard the music at Rika's house?!" Kazu exclaimed loudly, causing a few heads to turn in the small resturant.
Takato glared at him, a signal for him to shut up. "No." he snapped. "Because I want to. I won the tickets, not you. It's my decision, okay? You have a problem with that?"
"Well yes I d---" Kazu was pulled into the seat again by both Kenta and Jeri just as Henry and Rika walked into the resturant and spotted them.
"Don't make me look like an idiot in front of them.." Kenta growled in his ear.
"Dude, we already do look like idiots in front of them..." Kazu growled back, and immediatly tried to think of a way to grab those tickets from Takato.
The light of the TV screen flashed a blue color across the sofa Rika and Henry sat on in the dark, crashes from planes echoing in the living room of the Wong apartment.
Another parental date had been set that night, and Rika's mother was at a fashion shoot, so both Rika and Henry were stuck with Suzy-watching duty, which neither really minded. She usually just sat back in her bedroom playing dress-up with digimon, usually having them parade around in pink skirts, or whatever she dug out of her mother's closet for Renamon to wear, mostly causing Henry and Rika to burst into fits of roaring laughter, a rush of red going across the digimon's faces, Renamon in particular.. and Suzy knew it'd make them laugh, so she threw up to four hats on each and used up all the fake lipstick she had received for Christmas.
But now, it was past eleven at night, and Suzy was well off into bed, Henry about there too by the nodding of his head Rika saw out of the corner of her eye.
"Go to sleep, Henry..." she said simply, smiling at him.
"No.. no I'm not going to leave you out here alone."
Rika almost laughed at the sudden remark he made. "It's your house, Henry.. not a digital field.. I'll be all right." She pointed towards a sleeping orange cat curled up in one of the chairs. "And that's Mittens, not a deva..."
"I get the point..." Henry sighed, summoning all his strength to stand up, and still letting out a slight groan.
"Goodnight Henry.." she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the sofa as he bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight Rika..." he responded, then vanished around the dark corner leading down the hall.
Rika settled herself back in the couch again and stared at the TV, making her eyes ache from the flashing light, and soon she flipped the channel off the violent movie to a calmer show, and flipped a single light on, sending a soft glow across the room, and soon the silence was broken by soft footsteps coming from down the hall.
Rika looked up from her seat at a small child rubbing her eyes with her fist, clutching a stuff pink bunny to her chest with one arm.
Rika smiled warmly at Suzy, and extended her arms to the child, a gesture for her to come towards her.
Suzy was soon pressed against Rika's side, wrapped in a throw and half asleep.
The volume of the TV was turned down drasticly, and was barely audible, and with a slow turn from Suzy, a silent remark to Rika that she was still awake, Rika ran her fingers up and down the small child's back and started to hum a soft song that seemed to be coming off from the top of her head.
She soon broke into nothing more than 'la's, singing the same tune over again until the small girl fell sound asleep, but she kept on singing, a sense of peace washing over her own self from the tune.
Henry lay awake in his bedroom, his bed on the same wall as Rika sat on the opposite side, and he listened to the soft song being sung, and rolled over, drifting off to sleep himself.
---------------------
"Oooooooh....." Renamon's voice was heard in a mocked tone, echoing through Rika's head the next morning as she reached up and took a sticky note off the door of Rika's room that had quite possibly been stuck there the night before.
"Shut up.." Rika snapped in her old voice as she scanned the note over.
------------
My one and true love Rika,
Your eyes are like a beautiful sunset sky, your voice like a million angels singing..
My heart flutters whenever I lay eyes on your beautiful face...
Please, give me the honor of your company tonight at the Shinjuku Pier at sunset.
Forever yours,
Your secret admirer.
------------
"Oooooh..." Renamon repeated, receiving a glare as she came into view.
"It's probably from Takato as some joke..." Rika snapped quickly, yet her eyes fell back on the letter, and she fell silent.
"But it's not his handwriting, and you know he can't write that beautifully." Renamon pointing out, half joking.
Rika was still silent, knowing exactly what she'd find at those docks that night.
"Well are you going?"
"... I have to..." Rika finally responded, running her thumb across the letter. "Something inside me says I know this writing."
Renamon gave her a skeptical look. "What about Takato's joke?"
"Drop it.." Rika waved her hand at Renamon, turned, and walked back into her room.
"Henry?"
Rika looked up from the stool at the Katou family resturant at her friend Jeri, currently reading that morning's paper that had been dropped off at the front door.
"No.. not Henry.. Henry would've signed it."
"Does this guy know you have Henry already?"
Rika shook her head and sipped from the cup of iced tea in front of her, then set it down with a small clank.
"I don't believe so..."
Jeri folded the paper together briefly and looked at her. "What do you mean you don't believe so? If you're going tonight, you'll have to know that.."
"Not really.." Rika shrugged, and took another sip of her iced tea as Jeri, with a loud rustle from the newspaper, unfolded it with a twist of the wrist and went back to scanning the pages.
"If you believe it's smart to go.."
"I do." Rika replied with her old sharp edge to her again.
Jeri raised one eyebrow and looked at her, then back at the paper. "Careful young lady.." she said in a tone that sounded almost like Takato scolding Rika, that made both girls roll into giggles just as the bell above the door let out a tinkling noise as another customer walked in.
"WAY too much giggling going on in here.. let's go find somewhere else to eat..." the voice of Kazu remarked.
"Hold it right there.." Jeri put her one hand on her hip and glared at the two boys that had walked in. "You come in that door, least you can do is sit down and talk.."
Rika grinned at the expressions on Kazu and Kenta's faces, took another sip of her drink, and turned back in the stool to look at Jeri.
"Do we have to?" Kazu groaned in his normal whiny tone of voice he had with Jeri.
Rika giggled again, and Kazu grinned. For the past few days, his passion had been to prove to Kenta he could make Rika giggle more than Henry could ever dream of.
Jeri rolled her eyes. "Com'on guys just sit down."
"Fine." Kenta growled, slumping into the chair on one side of Rika, Kazu sitting in the other leaning on the bar to look into Rika's face.
"So how's the most beautiful girl in the world doing this lovely morning?"
Rika gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Fine. How's the most annoying guy in the world who could easily get the role of the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz from personal experience with the 'if I only had a brain' concept?"
Kenta roared with laughter as Kazu's face stiffened into a scowl.
"Very funny.. well if I'm trying out you're trying out for the tin-man.. you not having a heart and all.."
Kenta roared louder, and Jeri almost glared at him, even though she was laughing as well.
"Hey I heard Ryo's back in town.." Kazu changed the subject, and everyone quieted.
Ryo... that was the name... Ryo. Rika slipped into her sub-concious mind like she always did now when she was in deep thought.
"Earth to RI-KA"
Rika jumped out of her trance and looked over at Kazu staring at her with a weird look across his face. "Hey you okay?" he asked, the look of abnoxiousness softening into concern.
Rika nodded, standing up from the stool and walking towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow you guys.."
"Hey Rika?"
Rika turned around and looked at Jeri who had paused from her usual cleaning to look up at her. "Hmm?"
"Are you going?"
Rika hesitated with her answer, looking quickly outside the glass door, then back at Jeri with a solemn look on face, as if to be deep in thought again.
"Yeah... yeah I think I will."
Kazu and Kenta looked back and forth between the two girls with puzzled looks.
"Uh.." Kenta started, but was cut off by the bell above the door ringing and Rika suddenly letting out a pleasurable gasp.
Both boys looked over at Rika, arms draped around a tall indigo-haired boy's neck.
"Go get a room.." a high-pitched voice growled and soon Terriermon was on the floor beside the two tamer's feet and walking over to the stools, glaring back at his tamer. "I liked it before where you weren't caught up in her ey--- Are you even listening to me?? HENRY!!"
Henry looked up at his partner digimon. "I'm sorry.. what did you say?"
Terriermon started up his ranting but Jeri cut him off, smiling.
"What he said was you two should go take a stroll together and I'll keep Terriermon here..."
"Wha?" Terriermon started to protest but Jeri scooped him up and pushed him up the stairs to the small apartment above the diner just as Rika and Henry vanished without a trace.
Rika waved her hand at Renamon for the twelvth time that day, but this time as the orange rays of light reflected off her white tank top and tight blue jeans, the sound of seagulls echoing calmed her a bit, and Renamon immediatly vanished... out of sight, but not completly away. She wasn't sure what to expect out of the girl who'd been half out-of-it all day.
A shadowed figure stood at the end of one of the docks, easy to see that despite the warm weather, he wore a trench coat over his jeans and t-shirt. His hair spiked up like Kazu's, and for a second, Rika thought that was who it was and her heart sank, but then in a low, mesmorizing voice, the boy spoke.
"Hello, Rika... remember me?"
He turned as she neared him, a pair of crystal blue eyes meeting hers, and Renamon felt herself go almost limp at the sight of him. This was what all the commotion was about? This was what Rika's problem had been? This.. normal boy?
But Rika's attention was clearly caught by trying to identify the boy's name again, knowing the face, but not being able to put the rest of the picture together.
"You came... so you think we should start over?" was one of the first things he said, and caught Rika off-guard as the name suddenly came back to her, along with the memories of the time they had spent together.
The boy stumbled back, grasping his cheek and staring at her in shock as she rubbed her hand. "I forgot how hard a cheek you had.." she sneered, lowering her hand back down to her side.
"Same old Rika Nonaka I see.."
"What do you want?" Rika growled, tapping her foot impatiently on the wooden dock.
"I wanted to see if we could start over... as I said. I've missed you Rika..." his hand reached up to stroke her hair, and she glared harshly at him, enough to make him pull his hand back and sigh.
"Already been claimed I see.."
He turned back around and walked to the edge of the dock, and stared out into the water, the wind that swept over the sea rustling his deep brown hair.
Rika shoved her hands into her jean pockets and rocked back on her heels. "For quite some time now.. Ryo you had your chance with me... you lost it." she said fiercly, turning around and walking back through the ships, until a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. "Tell me who beat me to you... tell me who the man is who's stolen your heart."
Rika ripped her arm away from him in disgust. "And why do you want to know that?"
"To write his name on a dart board and throw darts at it all day..." he raised one eyebrow at her to show he really wanted the name.
Rika sighed, turned and started to walk away. "Wong..." she said quickly.
"Henry Wong.."
------------------
--
April 14th
Dear Diary,
I know I usually write about Henry, maybe Ryo at times when I pick you up every night, but today, the digidestined team was shattered.
Takato announced at an 'urgent' meeting that the trips last summer to America were for a reason, and that he's leaving in a few weeks, and not coming back. Jeri was completly devastated, of course, and soon both poured out all their feelings to each others faces, right in front of everybody else.
I have to admit, no matter how much I try to not believe it, I'm going to miss that gogglehead. Probably miss making fun of him to his face more than anything else, but none the less I'll miss him.
Oh and that weird idea I got in my head about Henry wanting to propose to me? Not true. The whole secret was he dug up some information on my father for me. I'm meeting him tomorrow to see it. Maybe I'll finally crack the case of my father's identity. But I'm sure, soon enough, Henry will propose, and when that day comes I'll be ready to look him in the eye and say yes.
My doctor's appointment was today, he looked me over, asked me some questions, and told me that he believes all my memories have returned, and I'll be back to normal completly in a few weeks. It's better than not having them all back I guess, but my patience is going quickly. Takato told me that I'm missing one memory, he started explaining it in little details and I believe he's right, but he keeps harassing me about it, and says I better remember it before he leaves or I'll never get 'it' back. It's probably where my CD went to that I've been looking for.
Oh, and our school is pairing up with Henry's once more for a dance. This time, I'm not letting Henry down. That and I'm letting Mother pick out the dress, as long as there's not any lace, but I think she's understanding slowly what she's allowed to put on me.
Well I only have two more pages left in you, Diary, and I have a feeling I'm going to take up both them tomorrow if I find my father's identity.
- Rika Wong
(A girl can dream, can't she?)
-- The End --