Fleeting Hope

Chapter 6

After what felt like ages Takeru decided to stand up and dust himself off, he was never getting out of here if he sat on the floor wallowing in self-pity. With a sudden, new spark of determination he continued his search for the TV they had traveled here through. He never actually saw his friends leave the digital world but based on the last words he had heard he figured that's what they had decided to do. He sighed, even Patamon.

Takeru smacked his cheeks lightly, no, he was not going to let the situation get the best of him. He knew that was probably exactly what his pursuer was trying to do, but he couldn't help himself when it came to the new and even rearising doubts cluttering his mind. There were so many things he had thought he had gotten past with his second and even first adventure in the digital world, but now he wondered if he had just been lying to himself this entire time. Maybe he was still just a scared little boy who could do nothing but rely on others.

He scoffed and shook his head.

He felt the urge to cry. Takeru knew Daisuke would laugh at him, maybe even the others, so he resisted. He thought back to Patamon's words from almost 6 years ago, "we're working on the crying thing." Somehow, it felt like there was still so much work to go.

As he finally found the spot they were dropped off in, a blank television screen stared back at him, great. Tears welled behind his eyes again and he wiped at them harshly, frustrated with himself. Takeru didn't even understand why this was bothering him so much. It wasn't as though he hadn't been through much worse time and time again. He silently hoped it was just the stress of the nightmares, he was better than this. Had to be better than this.

"Takeru!" He heard a cry, snapping him out of his distress. His heart sunk when he turned to see Patamon flying towards him. He gulped, unsure if he had it in him to watch his partner die, again.

He stared solemnly at the figure, awaiting the inevitable.

"Takeru?" The boy shook his head.

A slight expression of shock on his face he spoke up, "Are you... real?"

Patamon giggled a bit, but the lack of humor behind it was apparent, "of course I'm real."

Takeru continued to stare skeptically, but then he mentally scolded himself, he knew he could always believe in his partner.

"Daisuke tried to come with me, but once I was here, I couldn't see him anymore," Patamon explained, and Takeru sighed in relief.

He moved to hug his partner tightly and suddenly bright yellow light began shining from his pocket. Pulling his Digivice out, he discovered an image of the crest of hope on the screen, but it was almost as though pieces of it were missing, as if they had been chipped off. He looked to Patamon for answers, but the small Digimon didn't have any. He stepped back towards the TV, pointing the light towards it and it slowly booted up. Crying out in excitement, Takeru and Patamon were pulled back to the real world.

They crashed into the ground of the computer room, met with three equally concerned faces.

"Where are your Digimon?" Takeru asked ignoring the obvious.

"We went to the Digital World to drop them off, remember?" Miyako raised an eyebrow at him as he glanced at Patamon.

Hikari looked him up or down, as if assessing if there was any physical damage done, "Where were you?"

"I was there" Takeru said.

"We checked there, we didn't see you, dude" Daisuke argued.

"I think..." Takeru paused in thought, "I think maybe I was there, but also not? I saw you guys, but you couldn't see me."

Patamon whined, "I told you I knew he was there."

Hikari smiled slightly, "Sorry Patamon, should've known your feeling was right."

"So, what do we do now?" Miyako asked, "there's still an evil Digimon out there."

"It's annoying, but all we can really do is wait," Takeru frowned at Daisuke's words. The other boy didn't understand. Takeru wasn't just 'waiting around', this was constantly happening to him and out of his control.

Takeru stood up suddenly, "If we aren't doing anything, I'm going home."

He didn't miss Hikari step forward to travel with him, but he ignored her and dragged Patamon out of the room hurriedly.

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Takeru dragged his feet as he walked into the apartment he shared with his mom, Patamon was chattering encouragingly in his ear, but most of the words went completely unheard. The boy could feel his phone buzzing from his pocket, and he groaned, there were multiple names he was hoping to not see grace the screen. He placed his Digivice down on the table before traveling into his room.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Patamon asked before flying into the other room, presumably to grab something or really just give the boy some space.

Dragging his hand down his face, he flipped the phone open, answering the call not bothering to check who it was, "what?"

"What a nice way to greet your brother," Yamato chuckled, Takeru could hear the smirk dripping in his tone.

His eyes widened a bit before he smiled a little, happy to hear the familiar voice even if he wasn't sure he wanted to be interrogated right now, "sorry, sorry, what did you need?"

"Hikari called me-"

"I'm going to cut you off right there," Takeru chirped satirically.

Takeru could almost hear the eyeroll through the phone, "Don't make me come over there and knock some sense into you."

Laughing slightly, he shifted the phone against his ear, "as if you'd ever hurt me."

"If I have to, I will," the humor in Yamato's voice was gone, replaced now with worry, "Hikari thinks you're losing hope, I hate to admit I agree with her."

Takeru thought back to his Digivice and the worn away image of his crest, but he shook his head to himself, "Do I need to be hopeful in this situation?"

"It's kind of your whole thing," Yamato argued, eliciting a groan of frustration from his brother.

"It shouldn't have to be, I'm allowed to be upset too, especially considering everything going on," Takeru turned to the mirror on the wall, barely recognizing his disheveled self. Eyebags were strikingly prominent on his face and the usual cheerful light in his eyes was dull and easily missed. The frown gracing his features was something he knew he didn't see often, but he couldn't help himself.

Yamato sighed, "Everything going on is the exact reason you should have hope."

"Having hope doesn't save anyone," Takeru cried into his phone to his brother, "my crest is useless, I'm useless."

Yamato scoffed from the other end of the call, "It has... you already have, several times."

Takeru's eyes widened, but he didn't respond before dropping his hand down with the phone in it. He leaned backwards into the wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor, Yamato just didn't understand. He could vaguely hear his brother's voice through the abandoned phone, but everything he could hear was warbly, like he was underwater.

Patamon flew into the room in a panic, Takeru's digivice sitting in his small hands, "Takeru, look!"

The small emblem of his crest had faded, barely visible and he sighed, "It's over..."

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oh my goodness I am so sorry for the wait! I hope it was worth it, I've been so busy, finding time to write (and be motivated to do it) has been difficult, but the story must go on! Hope everyone is having a great day/week/month :)