Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

62) Eclipsed Gold

School was drawing nearer as the end of summer vacation approached. The conclusion to August was on the horizon, less than two weeks out by this point. It didn't feel like the Chosen Children had been given much of a summer break though; their time had been eaten up by either fighting through Daemon and Dagomon in the Dark Ocean or trying to power their way through Piemon's attack. With the information of yet another enemy waiting for them, it was clear that they weren't going to get much of anything in terms of relief from the disaster they had found themselves at the center of. They were simply going to have to try and move past it even though that was much easier said than done. 

Takeru didn't think he was going to be ready to go back to school. He knew that he was going to have to, but that didn't do anything to fix the sickened feeling in the center of his stomach from the knowledge that he may have to leave behind Patamon's egg if it didn't hatch before classes began. Takeru hadn't left the apartment much since the final battle with Piemon took place. He was exhausted both physically and emotionally, and he barely had the strength to drag himself out of bed, much less find other things to do in the outside world. Everything seemed as if it had fallen so far out of his control that he didn't have a way to pull himself back together again. Some of the pieces were hidden under something and others had been outright destroyed, and Takeru didn't think that he was ever going to get the completed image again. 

It was late one night and Takeru couldn't sleep when something in his mind seemed to shift. He wasn't sure where the change came from, but he knew that there was something that was changing the way he looked at the rest of the world. A frown appeared on his face, and he wondered if perhaps his mother had woken up. She had gone to sleep a few hours ago, but Takeru couldn't hear any noises from elsewhere in the apartment. In other words, he was either being dramatic and ridiculous or the source of the shift was coming from somewhere inside of his own room. 

Takeru let out a gasp when he heard the gentle sound of something cracking. He glanced down to see that the egg in his grasp had gained a small fracture along one side. The crack was tiny, but it didn't stay that way for long, starting to spread outward rapidly before Takeru could fully register what was happening. His eyes went wide, and something deep in his chest began to swell. Could this truly be real? 

It most certainly was, something he realized a few moments later when the egg gave way to a familiar outline. Poyomon appeared from the inside of the egg, eyes bright and dark in the ways that Takeru remembered them being. Takeru let out a gasp as the egg disappeared from view, crumbling to data that vanished on the wind in his room that didn't exist to begin with. He could hardly bring himself to care though, instead pulling Poyomon in tightly against his chest. "You're here...!" Takeru murmured to himself, not thinking he had any other words that could possibly articulate just how relieved he was to be able to see his partner again. The tension in his body was still just as prevalent as ever, but for the first time in what felt like ages, Takeru finally felt as if he was able to have hope for something once again. 

Poyomon didn't say anything on account of not being able to say anything, instead simply curling up against Takeru's chest and relishing in the warmth his partner provided. Takeru pulled him in close, stroking one gentle finger across the head of his jelly-like partner. Poyomon let out a small noise that showed just how comforted he was, and Takeru let out a small laugh that sounded so much like a sob he couldn't tell what it was meant to be. He supposed it didn't matter though; he had Poyomon back, and that meant they were one step closer to returning to everything they had once been. 

"Hey, Poyomon," Takeru whispered a moment later, glad that he was finally able to have that name on his lips again. It hadn't taken anywhere near as long for Poyomon to hatch from the egg this time around, and as far as Takeru was concerned, that was the greatest blessing he could have been granted. There was still so much he didn't understand about all that was happening, and having his partner there for an added bit of comfort meant more than his weight in gold.