#digitalwolves

The egg was cold in his hands, its shell still as death, reminding the one who held it that the creature inside was dead. His own partner, the little blue-and-white creature, touched the egg from where he was hanging off his shoulder. The egg didn’t hum anymore. It was silent.

He hadn’t been to the Digital World since Ken’s death. He couldn’t bring himself to go back after his partner had died saving him. He was the leader. It should’ve been the other way around. He should have been the one to protect Ken, to take all that burden. Ken didn’t deserve to die.

For some reason, Primary Village, which still existed in this mixed Digital World, seemed like the place to take Wormmon’s egg to. He didn’t feel right keeping it forever. Wormmon should be back where he belonged. Two months. It had been two months that he’d hung onto this egg, one of the only things he truly had left of Ken, but he couldn’t hold on forever. It wasn’t right.

Seeing all the baby Digimon and the digieggs made him want to cry. They were all so innocent, being born for the first time or being reborn from their last life. Wormmon had been reborn here. V-mon had been reborn here. It just felt right to bring Wormmon’s egg here, as if he could eventually be reborn again.

It was a stupid thought.

One of the trees in Primary Village was that of a cherry blossom tree and the pink blossoms reminded him so much of Ken that he knew he had to put the egg to rest underneath it. His hands were shaking as he climbed the hill and stepped into the shade of the tree. Soft petals fell, a few getting tangled in his mess of spiky hair. The petals—they were so pink, soft but bright, and he clenched his jaw.

Kneeling down, he ignored whatever Chibimon was mumbling to him, resting the egg in the crook of the roots, looking at it for just a moment. Chibimon jumped off his shoulder and put both his small paws against the shell of the egg, whispering goodbye, because this was probably the last time he’d ever see Wormmon’s egg. Wormmon, his digibrother and jogress partner, was gone. It was time to say goodbye.

Somehow, Daisuke knew it was time to say goodbye too. For the past two months, he’d held on, a small part of his mind convinced that this was just a bad nightmare and Ken would throw a shoe at his head and laugh and then Daisuke would know the whole thing wasn’t real. Except, it was. He couldn’t believe that anymore. Ken wasn’t coming back, Wormmon wasn’t coming back. They were gone forever.

He stood, picking Chibimon up.

“Bye,” he mumbled, voice dead as the egg before him. He turned away and took a few steps before a light erupted from behind him.

He turned again.

The light was coming from the egg.

It was too bright—and suddenly the light was gone.

Leafmon was sitting where the egg had been.

And next to him—Ken was laying against the tree, in the same clothes he’d been in before, untouched, his eyes fluttering open.

—————————————————————————

Daisuke flinched back, stumbling over one of the (luckily) empty baskets behind him and falling to the ground. He stared with wide eyes as he watched this person slowly blink open his steel blue eyes. He could feel Chibimon wriggling to get out of his arms, but he wasn't letting him go no matter how much he asked. He heard the stories before, of how Sora had been cloned before, and it wasn't a far cry to think that the Digital World may have heard his wish to get Ken back. He didn't want it this way though.

There was movement and whoever or whatever this was looked around with confusion before looking at him. “Daisuke?”

The voice was so familiar that it made him flinch and he couldn't stop his eyes from watering because as cruel as he knew the world was, this was something else all together. He could never truly wash the feeling of Ken's blood soaking into his clothes and over his skin away. Here he was, trying to make things better, trying to let go to move on himself because he knew that he had to, and now the Digital World did this.

He watched the thing get up, holding his partner just like Ken used to. He watched as it turned towards him and took a step in their direction, but that prompted him to jump to his feet, holding Chibimon close. “Get away from me.”

It looked concerned. So maybe it could replicate emotions. “What's wrong?” He blinked. “How did...when did you change clothes?”

Daisuke looked down at himself for a moment, wondering what this not-Ken was talking about. His orange vest and blue shirt that he used to love had been stained with the real Ken's blood, and he had Ember burn them, but what did that matter? What did matter was that it was slowly approaching him.

“I don't know what you are,” Daisuke all but snarled, feeling anger starting to creep up with the pain and fear, “but this isn't funny. Stop trying to look like him. Stop!”

“Dai,” Chibimon muttered. “I think that's really Leafmon.”

“I don't care,” he shook his head and held his partner closer. “I don't care. Get away from us!”

“Daisuke, what the hell is wrong with you? Did I throw that shoe too hard this morning?”

“Stop it!” Daisuke yelled. “Stop it! Just go away.” He didn't mean to, but the words came out as more of a whimper as he backed up, once again tripping and falling. He hugged Chibimon to his chest, and the little digimon just hugged him back, deciding that Daisuke's well being was more important than seeing if that really was Leafmon. “I was letting go. I said goodbye. Why are you doing this? Just go away.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks now as his shoulders shook. “Why can't you just leave us be?”

“Daisuke, what are you talking about?” The Ken look-a-like was obviously confused. “What are you going on about? Letting go, saying goodbye? To what?” It looked around and frowned. “Why are we in Primary Village? We were out by the ocean before.”

“Chibimon?” Leafmon piped up, staring at the blue Digimon. “Chibimon, why’s Dai-chan so scared?” Without a second thought, he jumped out of Ken’s arms and hopped to Daisuke, though it only made the maroon-haired boy inch farther back. Tears welled up in Leafmon’s eyes. “Are you mad at us, Dai-chan?”

As soon as the baby Digimon got closer, Chibimon knew it was really Leafmon. That connection they’d formed when they’d first Jogressed was still there, that mental link that worked differently from Daisuke and Ken’s. “Dai, it really is Leafmon,” he whispered to his partner. “I don’t know what that is”—he pointed to Ken—“but that’s really Leafmon. I can feel it.” That kind of made sense, in some part of Daisuke’s frazzled mind. Leafmon could be reborn. He was a Digimon. But this—this Ken-clone…that was too much. Leafmon hopped closer and Daisuke kneeled, picking him up. Leafmon cooed happily and nuzzled into Daisuke and Chibimon, who hugged him.

Ken took a few steps forward.

“Motomiya Daisuke, tell me what’s going on right now. This isn’t funny.”

In a rush, Daisuke stumbled back again, holding tightly to two Digimon now, staring at the form of his dead boyfriend. His blue D-3 had fallen from his pocket when he’d fallen backwards and the clone was kneeling now, grabbing a hold of it. Daisuke wanted to lurch forward and rip his digivice from its hands, but he couldn’t bring himself to get near it.

It sighed. “Daisuke…fine. I don’t know what prank you’re pulling on me, but whatever you think is funny really isn’t. When we’re back in the human world, I want my D-3 back.” He held up Daisuke’s D-3. “Digital Gate, open.”

With more light and a spinning sensation, they both disappeared, reappearing moments later in the living room of the leaders’ house, a laptop behind them. It was rubbing its head, having hit it. “Nice one, Ken,” it mumbled to itself. It was just like Ken, even wearing that stupid off shoulder shirt that made Ken look like a girl and the white capris he’d been wearing before that had been stained with blood. Daisuke remembered it too vividly.

“Get…away…” he panted, grabbing both Digimon. “Go away! I—get out!”

“Daisuke?” Takato’s voice was heard from the kitchen as he walked into the living room. “What are you—” He stopped dead, dropping the bowl of brownie mix and letting it shatter on the floor as he too looked at the Ken-clone in horror.

Daisuke didn't look towards Takato, though he did manage to get to his feet and hurry back to his friend's side, keeping his eyes locked on the Ken-clone. Takato could see him too though. That meant that Daisuke wasn't imagining this, that it wasn't just a twisted dream.

In a way, that made it worse.

The shattering of the bowl instantly drew attention from the others. The first ones to appear at the door were Takuya and Masaru. Takuya just gaped at Ken, not even bothering to hide his surprise, while Masaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. “What the hell?” Though tempted to storm over and hit this person, he instead chose to grab Daisuke and Takato, pulling them back behind him.

Taichi, Taiki and Tagiru all showed up together, and while Tagiru just stared with confusion, the older two quickly took in the scene and put themselves in front of the younger ones. If anything, Taichi looked angry while Taiki seemed lost in thought.

Then an awkward silence fell over them all. No one dared speak for a while, and this Ken-clone looked very confused, angry, and slightly alarmed.

“Who is that?” Tagiru finally blurted out, unable to stop himself. “Ken's dead.”

“He appeared in the Digital World,” Daisuke said, his voice shaky. “I took back the egg. Leafmon hatched and he just appeared.” He hugged the digimon closer to him, while Takato and Takuya both put a hand on his shoulders to try and comfort him, or to at least remind him that they were there.

“What are you?” Taichi demanded. “Do you think this is fucking funny?” He knew all too well that people could be cloned, that the digital world wasn't always what it seemed.

“Taichi,” Taiki spoke up suddenly, and the other boy closed his mouth, keeping in whatever else he was about to yell. Taiki stared at Ken with suspicious eyes. “What's your name and what's the last thing you remember?”

Before anyone else could say anything though, there was the sound of paws on the floor as a blue, nine-tailed fox appeared, first looking towards Daisuke in a rather worried way before her eyes landed on the Ken-clone. Ember froze, before her fur stood on end and she let out a snarl of a growl, launching herself at him.

Ken didn’t have a chance to respond, because Ember’s front paws hit his chest and she was biting at him, effectively ripping open the left sleeve of shirt and biting down on his wrist. Ken didn’t fight back aggressively, instead trying to calm her down, because anyone knew he wouldn’t hurt her. It was only after she tried to bite him again that the fox was lifted off the ground, still growling and yipping, by a psychic force courtesy of Ora. The Gardevoir was staring hard at the Ken-clone, before she looked furiously at Ember and set her down. Ember didn’t attack again.

Ken was nursing his hurt arm, ripping the sleeve of his shirt and wrapping it around the bite marks carefully.

“What is with all of you?” he snapped. “You’re acting like I’m an alien! Jeez, I know I’m not the most likeable person, but…” He then stared hard at Taiki. Taiki was the logical one. If anything, he could make sense of what was going on. He sighed. “My name’s Ken Ichijouji, I’m 15 years old, my partner is Wormmon and the last thing I remember was Daisuke and I being attacked by Phantomon, then a MetalPhantomon, and I remember it aiming for Daisuke and I pushed him out of the way, then nothing until I woke up and this idiot started freaking the hell out,” he finished, gesturing to Daisuke.

“There’s no way that’s Ken,” Taichi muttered to the elder leaders. “No way in hell.”

“I agree,” Masaru responded. “I saw his body.”

“You guys are not funny—” Ken was cut off when Ora held out his D-3, D-Terminal and Crest to him. Blinking, he took them. “Thanks Ora.” Ora nodded.

“Holy shit,” Takuya muttered. “That really is Ken, isn’t it?”

Ora was a psychic-type and could see into his mind. She’d ultimately know if he was real or just a copy. Obviously, he was real.

Ken wasn’t dead.

“What the hell are you talking about? Obviously I'm not dead!” Ken snapped at them. “What's going on?”

“Ken,” Taiki spoke up his voice calm as he crossed his arms in front of him. “You did push Daisuke out of the way, and you died. Two months ago.”

“That's real funny, Kudou,” Ken said after a moment, a hard edge to his voice.

“He's telling the truth,” Taichi said. “We saw you afterwards. Tohma did something...Tohma!” He looked around at Masaru. “Call him. Get all of them over here.” Masaru gave Taichi a thumbs up and left to find his cellphone.

When he looked at Masaru though, Taichi caught sight of Daisuke, who was far too pale and shaking, clutching Chibimon and Leafmon like his life depended on it. “Hey, I think you're choking them.”

“It's not him,” Daisuke said, shaking his head. “He died. He died because of me and I was going to say goodbye and then this thing just showed up.”

“Dai,” Takuya managed to get his attention. “Ora thinks it's him. She can read his mind.”

“Ember doesn't. Ember believes me.” Almost like a confirmation, the pokemon walked to Daisuke's side and whimpered a bit.

“Ease up on the digimon.” Takato managed to get him to loosen his grip. Leafmon hopped out of his arms, staring with confusion, while Chibimon climbed up onto Daisuke's shoulder and poked his pale face.

“It's not him!” Daisuke burst out as he took a few steps back, Chibimon jumping off his shoulder and landing beside Leafmon. He didn't worry about them now though, they would be safe with everyone else here. The look of pure horror and heartbreak never leaving his face.

“I think it is,” Taiki spoke up to him. “I really-”

“What if it was Akari?!” Daisuke yelled at him. “What if you held her when she bled to death and then suddenly a copy that everyone is saying is her showed up?!” He shook his head. He was confused and horrified, but he knew that was mean. He didn't want anyone to feel the way he was feeling. “I'm sorry, I just...that's not him. He's gone.” He took a few more steps back before quickly retreating upstairs, Ember casting Ken a suspicious look before she hurried after Daisuke.

“I don't understand,” Leafmon squeaked out, looking at Chibimon, who was eating the brownie mix off of the floor. “We didn't die, did we?”

“Yes, but you're really you and you're back so that's good. Dai took your egg back to the Digital World. We had it for a long time but it was making us even more sad so he decided that it was time to say bye.” Chibimon looked at Ken. “Then you showed up. You are Ken, right? I don't want Dai to hurt anymore. I don't want him to hurt himself anymore. So if you're not Ken, you need to leave or I'll make you. I think you are, but just in case.”

“Of course I’m Ken, Chibimon.” He cradled his hurt wrist to his chest and shot a defensive glare at the leaders. “But the fact that you’re going along with this too is horrible. I don’t know how this is funny to any of you, but it’s not funny to me!”

“We are not lying—”

Ken whirled around to face Taiki. “Kudou, don’t you even start with me. I have had enough of this sick joke you guys are playing. I don’t even know how you convinced Ember to attack me, but it’s not funny. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home to clean up my wrist and if any of you try to stop me it’s not going to be pretty because I have no patience.”

With his good arm, he scooped up Leafmon and walked past Chibimon, slipping out the door and right past Tohma, who immediately swung open the door.

“What is going on?!” he demanded. “That—Ken—what is happening?”

Taiki went to speak up, but it was Ora that pushed a finger against Tohma’s head, replaying the situation at lightning fast speed. Tohma blinked a few times and then nodded.

“I was the only one home, I believe, so at least we won’t have one huge freak out.” He sighed. “Ora says she believes it’s him. I have no reason not to trust her. I can’t even begin to imagine how…” He shook his head. “I mean—I digitized his body. It’s data in the Digital World! I have no idea how…but Daisuke brought back that egg…hm…”

“Sir?” Gaomon muttered, looking up at him and then at the door.

“Right. Follow him and make sure that he doesn’t get hurt. I…I need to figure out how this happened and what to do about it. I have a theory, but it’s illogical.” Gaomon left. “I digitized Ken’s body. Did it react to the egg…? I can see Leafmon being alive, but Ken? This just doesn’t make sense…”

Nobody quite knew or say what to do as Tohma rambled on. This whole situation was completely mind boggling and impossible. People don't come back from the dead, they just don't.

—————————————————————————

Daisuke was up in his room, completely new and redone, since that was one of the things he decided to do to make things new, to distract himself. He was sitting on his bed, staring out the window when he saw Ken leaving, storming away. He took a deep breath, but kept watching him.

“How can it be him?” If it was, shouldn't he have been happy? Instead, it was like the pain from that day was ripping at him all over again. He couldn't deal with this, not right now.

Daisuke flopped back onto his bed, hugging Ember and burying his face in her warm, blue fur. A few minutes later, he felt Chibimon climb up with them, and Ora curl up at his back, all in the same positions that they stayed in just after Ken died.

“This is your fault.”

“How's it my fault? You were the one using the blender.”

“Yeah well you were the one who came up behind me and distracted me.”

Taiki chuckled a bit as Akari pouted at him. Maybe that was true, he did come up behind her just as she was making a 'nice healthy smoothie' that suspiciously looked like a chocolate milkshake and not a smoothie at all. Still, he didn't expect her to get so distracted by him just hugging her and placing a couple kisses on her shoulder to hit the on button without putting the cover on it.

“I really wanted my...smoothie.”

“Uh-huh,” he put his finger on the messy counter. “Looks like chocolate sauce to me.”

“You're crazy.” She batted her eyes innocently at him. “It is not.”

“You sure?” He dabbed his finger on the nose, laughing as she let out a strange sound, wildly trying to wipe the sticky syrup away.

“You jerk!” She was about to smack him with the towel she was using to wipe up the spilled milkshake, but Taiki grabbed her wrists playfully spinning her around, so that she was trapped in his arms with her back against his chest. Akari struggled a bit, letting out a giggle when he tickled her side. “Stop it. We're supposed to be cleaning up the mess you made.”

“It's almost done.” He managed to hold onto her with one hand, wiping the rest of the mess into the sink with the other, having got the cupboards and, much to his amusement, the ceiling, while she cleaned the floor and the wall right behind the counter. “There.” He tossed the rag into the sink and went back, running his fingers against her sides again, grinning as she giggled and squirmed a bit in his arms. “Ticklish?”

“No.” She could feel his fingers moving over his skin again and smiled against her will as she tried to squirm away. Looking around, Akari moved quickly in his arms, hitting the on button for the blender again.

Taiki let out a yelp of surprise as the remaining milkshake inside splattered everywhere, letting go of her. Akari turned it off, beaming proudly when she saw that she managed to get some on his face.

“Smoothie, my ass.”

She laughed at him and took another rag, dabbing it off his face. “It looks good.”

They were just going to have to clean it up all over again.

Mmph!:Our muses accidentally kissing.

“I'm going to fall!”

“You're not going to fall!”

“How was this a good idea?”

“It's a great idea!”

Akari let out a small scream as she stumbled forward, unable to stay upright on the ice even though she was wearing skates. Taiki laughed as he caught her, keeping her upright and pain free. Falling on ice was never any fun. Ice skating was his idea, and while she seemed reluctant to join him at first, he managed to convince her, though that may have been the promise of hot chocolate afterwards that drew her in.

“This was a horrible idea,” she pouted.

He held her hands as she regained her balance and said, “Here, don't let go, and I'll help you out.” They were on a homemade, outdoor rink. A rarity that would soon be gone no doubt, so he wanted to bring her there while they still had the chance. There was actually a bit of snow built up around the edges, and luckily for her pride, they were the only ones there. Then again, they might have been the only ones crazy enough to go at night.

Akari slid a bit, but holding onto Taiki's hands as he skated backwards in front of her (show off), she was slowly able to get the pattern, grinning broadly when he let go and she was able to skate on her own.

Unlike indoor skating rinks though, this one had a small bump that neither of them noticed. Taiki missed it by luck, but Akari hit it and ended up pitching forward with a scream. She crashed into him, and the surprise and force, combined with her legs tangling with his, caused Taiki to fall back into the snow just outside of the little drink. Akari landed on top of him, and he let out a gasp as she elbowed his stomach by accident and he lost his breath.

Akari moved to check on him, to make sure that he was okay, but she was instantly distracted because she moved her head and her lips brushed against his, completely accidental.

She pulled back slightly, staring down at him to make sure that he was okay. Taiki stared up at her for a moment before he let out a laugh and then pulled her closer again, kissing her (purposely) this time.

Hot chocolate could wait a little while.

I Kind Of...:My muse confessing that they love yours.

It was quiet in the room that they were snuggled up in, both laughing out on a slightly uncomfortable couch, Taiki's arm around her waist, holding her close to him as she buried her face into the collar of his dress shirt, the jacket he wore with it over the back of the couch. They were definitely a strange sight, just curled up and holding each other, in dress clothes, he with his crisp black pants and she with her dark red, flowing gown. They were supposed to be somewhere else, downstairs interacting with people at his grandparents' request, but there were so many people, and he could see how she was becoming more uncomfortable as more people crowded her, so Taiki took her hand and pulled her away when no one was looking.

His grandparents had a huge house, so it was easy to find a place to hide. As it was, he wanted nothing to do with anyone else right now, far beyond annoyed with every person but one.

Akari sighed against him before looking up, and he smiled a bit at her content look. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied, though he wasn't sure if she meant thanks for dragging her from that stupid, stuffy party, or for cuddling with her when she said that she was cold. It didn't matter, he'd do more for her than that any day of the week.

Taiki reached out, playing with the strands of hair that framed her face, smiling at her contently. “I'll never get used to this type of thing.”

“Me neither. Lets not try to impress people when we're older.”

“Nah, we'll just stick to our pillow forts and horror movies, even when we're old and winkly.”

“Mmm I like the sound of that,” she nodded her head. “We should go home and do that now.”

“If we can sneak away. Though they are my grandparents.”

Akari grinned up at him, reaching up at pushing his bangs out of his eyes. “You don't mind. You love me more than them.”

Taiki chuckled, knowing that she was only partially teasing him. “That's not true at all.”

“Huh?” She actually looked a bit startled, and Taiki remembered back to the letters he found, the ones she wrote to him but never sent, that showed him just show scared she was of approaching him again, afraid to lose him before she even had him at the time, let alone now when she did have him.

He sent her a reassuring smile. “I love you more than anything.”

Akari's confused look turned into a happy one as she curled up close to him again. “Good, because I'm not letting you go. Ever.”

A Little Sleepy:Your muse falling asleep on my muse.

"I’m exhausted," Daisuke whined as they walked down the road, kicking a bit of the slush that was in front of him. 

"I told you to study earlier on, but no, you had to try and cram everything all last night."

He made a face at his boyfriend. “I do better studying like that. Doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Tanaka-sensei was so boring. Besides! You weren’t even there! You were off in your fancy school.”

Ken rolled his eyes at Daisuke, because what else could he possibly do in that situation. “Well you didn’t have to come all the way out here to meet up with me. It’s way out of the way for both of us.”

"Of course I had to. Otherwise Ember would have tried and she’s a giant blue fox now so that wouldn’t be good. Come on! We’re gonna miss the bus!" Daisuke grabbed Ken by the wrist, tugging him along. They got on the bus just in time, and Daisuke managed to squeeze past some people until they got to the very back, finding some seats there. He let Ken take the window seat, he always did. He never really asked if Ken wanted the outside seat, but he always figured that his best friend wasn’t always comfortable around people he didn’t know, so he might as well stop that situation before it happened.

"You’re going to pass out as soon as you get home." Ken rolled his eyes at him. "Next time listen to me."

"Yeah, yeah, you’re always right," Daisuke yawned again. He opened one eye and looked at Ken. "In a few months we won’t be taking this bus ride anymore."

"Right, we’ll be in the same school."

"They might let you on the soccer team, if you can keep up with me."  He yawned again.

Ken snorted. “Keep up with you? Please.” He fell silent for a few moments, staring out the window before he felt something fall on his shoulder. He looked around at Daisuke, who fell asleep on his shoulder and chuckled a bit. “Yeah, just a few more months.”

Cuddles:Our muses cuddling.

"It’s really cold."

"It is not, you’re just being a baby."

"No I’m not, it’s really cold."

"I’m busy."

"You prefer your book over me?"

"Right now, yes."

"Keeeen."

"No."

Daisuke pouted and watched Ken for a moment. He was studying hard, but that wasn’t surprising since their finals loomed closer and closer. Still, he was bored and he was cold. Looking around the room, Daisuke watched Chibimon and Minomon chasing each other around, and Ember and Ora snuggled together sleeping. So really, there was nothing else to entertain himself with.  All Ken had was books.

Looking back at Ken, Daisuke studied him for a moment before grinning. Without warning, Daisuke jumped on him, knocking the book out of his hands and cuddling him close.

"Motomiya! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Cuddling is warm."

"Let go or I’ll throw a shoe at your head."

"No."

"Motomiya."

"No."

Ken was silent for a moment before sighing. “Fine. I guess a quick break couldn’t hurt.” He rolled over, cuddling Daisuke closer to to him.

All Daisuke could do was grin.

Hold Me…:Your muse has had a nightmare and comes to cuddle mine for safety.

It was just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare with blood and screaming and so much more but that’s all it was. Everything was fine. Everything always turned out fine.

Daisuke pushed himself up from the floor, unable to stop seeing the horrible nightmares from replaying before his eyes again and again as he padded his way out of his room, making his way down the stairs to locate his phone that he vaguely remembered leaving on the coffee table.

Overstepping several sleeping pokemon, Daisuke finally found the phone and was about to start texting a number when he stopped, eyes locked on something else. With a shaking hand, he reached forward and picked up the phone that was beside his. The screen was shattered, with bits of blood trapped in the cracks.

He reeled back, suddenly hurrying back up the steps. No, it was just a nightmare, that’s all it was. He had nightmares a lot, and he’d always call Ken and meet him half way, either coming over there or going over to his house, where they would just hold each other to let the other one know that everything was okay.