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Stay Tuned As Life Continues	By : DanielGar Category: Digimon > General Views: 4361 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of the characters in the show. I make no money off of this story.

Chapter List
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An hour and a half later Takeru stood in front of a door. His stomach had twisted itself into a large painful knot. He was nervous; after all there was no way of knowing how this visit would turn out. As he knocked on the door the reverberations shot through his body, tensing it. His heart began beating faster. Thoughts of all the terrible consequences of his actions fled through his head, but it was too late to leave as he heard a voice on the other side. As he listened to the sounds of the door being unlocked a shiver went down his spine; had he done the right thing?

Takeru knew where the nearest staircase was. Perhaps if he ran as fast as he could he could reach the safety of the stairs. But the sound of the door opening stopped the thought before Takeru could even get a reaction from his stiff legs. Takeru looked at the open door; his legs weakened. A woman with long graying blonde hair stood in the door way.   The woman gave Takeru a greeting smile but her blue eyes narrowed and looked at him coldly. “Can I help you Takeru?”

Unable to find the courage to make his voice work, Takeru nodded.

Nancy’s smile warmed but her eyes remained just as inhospitable as Takeru remembered. “Come in Takeru. It’s cold outside. What kind of mother would I be if I left my son outside and he caught a cold?”

The absurdity of his mother’s statement made Takeru’s stressed brain laugh, and before he could contain it, a laugh escaped his lips as well. Even though he quickly ended the laugh, it made the situation even more awkward, if that was even possible for Takeru. He cleared his throat as if the laugh was some mutant cough and reluctantly stepped into the apartment he had once called his home.

The apartment was just as he had left it months earlier. While the familiarity was comforting, the memories it brought back worsened the pain in his gut. The thoughts of terrors past were cut short as he felt slender arms wrap around him and hold him. His mother’s head rested against his shoulder. “I’m just so glad my little Takeru has come back home.” The shocked look on Takeru’s face remained until Nancy let her youngest son go. Nancy looked her son over, “Has your father not been feeding you? You’re just skin and bones! Is that why you’re here? I bet he hasn’t made you a single nice dinner since you’ve been visiting him. I know he never made me one…” Nancy began dragging her son to the kitchen.

“No mom, it’s nothing like that. Dad feeds me plenty.”

Nancy stopped and tilted her head, “Oh. Then what brings you here?”

“It’s Yamato. He…”

Nancy dropped her son’s arm that she was pulling him by. What little warmth that she had shown her son instantly vanished. “I knew this visit was too good to be true. You just had to mention him and ruin your visit.”

“Mom. It’s not what you think.”

“Wait…” A bit of warmth returned to Nancy and this time it was her turn to let out a laugh. Laughter is supposed to make one feel light and happy. But his mother’s laughter had the opposite effect on her son. It unsettled him, and made the hairs on his neck stand on end. She raised the motherly finger, and began to wag it. “Takeru I tried to warn you that that relationship was wrong and wouldn’t work. I warned you that Yamato would just use you and then throw you away. He’s a selfish little boy that should have dissap…”

Takeru placed his fingertips to the side of his head, as if the words had caused a headache. He held up his other hand to silence his mother. “Mom. Nancy! PLEASE!”

Nancy shut her mouth and left Takeru in the hall way as she marched past him back into the living room. Takeru followed her and sat across the coffee table from her. She sat quietly but the raging flames in her eyes were enough to tell Takeru that if their conversation soured any further that there would be dire consequences.

“I came here today to get the truth.” Takeru began.

Nancy started to speak, “I always tell you the…” Takeru gestured for his mother to stop. She reluctantly obeyed.

“I’ve asked Yamato some questions but he won’t tell me anything. So I’ve come to you in hopes that you will tell me the truth.” Nancy nodded with a slight grin. If it was possible, her grin unsettled Takeru more than her scowl. However it told him what he wanted; that she would indeed tell him the truth, if for any other reason just to paint her eldest son as a villain. “You see… I’ve been having dreams for a few months now and…”

“What kind of dreams?”, Nancy butted in.

“I was getting to that. Some of the dreams are strange. They started in a forest, with a large demon and angel fighting over me.” Takeru saw a flash of recognition go through his mother’s eyes, just as it had went through Yutaka’s eyes earlier that day. There was something special about that dream, Takeru knew it. Takeru began telling her of the next dream that he had. He told her of the evil clown that Yamato had fought against, and upon losing had been turned into a key chain. Much like the previous dream he told her, with this one Takeru had noticed an odd behavior from his mother as he discussed it, this time she had looked up at the ceiling as if she was looking for something, however when he looked up he noticed nothing odd about ceiling. Takeru then told his mother about the dream where he was fighting Ken, and while Nancy listened he could plainly see that she indeed knew something.

Once Takeru was done explaining his dreams the room became quiet. Takeru looked at his mother, waiting for her to release the information that he knew she knew. But he had to come to the realization that she wasn’t going to speak a single word until she knew how to spin the information properly. After a few moments she smiled, “excuse me Takeru, I need to fetch something.” Nancy stood from her chair and walked to her bed room.

While waiting for his mother to return with whatever she needed, Takeru looked around. He felt uneasy, after all, the apartment looked like it was the epitome of comfort and acceptance however, it only took a few minutes in the actual environment to fill someone with dread. The clash between the illusion and the reality was enough to cause a mental break down. The thought of leaving before his mental state deteriorated anymore brushed his mind. While he may snap, it was worth gaining the “truth” from his mother.

Nancy returned and placed a rather bland shoebox in front of her youngest son.

Takeru reached for the box but Nancy placed her hands on the box keeping it closed. “They’re pictures and they’re to help me prove what I am about to say.” Nancy took her hands off the box and placed them on top of her son’s. “Takeru, I know what your dreams are.”

Takeru’s attention spiked, he was finally going to get answers. He could feel his heart beat in anticipation.

“Takeru, your brother has been lying to you. He’s been manipulating you, withholding information.” Takeru began to pull his hands away from his mother’s. He already knew his brother wasn’t being truly honest with him, he didn’t need her telling him that.

Realizing her son’s sudden withdrawal she got to the point. “Takeru, they’re not dreams at all.”

Takeru began to protest, “They are dreams mom. I have some every night.” He began to greatly regret going there as his mother seemed to not be taking him seriously.

Nancy shook her head and squeezed her son’s hands. “That’s what Yamato would like you to believe, that they are nothing more than simple dreams. But Takeru they’re really your memories.”

Takeru was certain he mom wasn’t being honest, after all, how could she be? It couldn’t be possible for such outlandish dreams to be real. Could it?

“I don’t know why your brother hasn’t told you the truth. There’s no harm in it. He must be withholding the information for some terrible reason.” It was at this time Nancy took her hands off the box and allowed Takeru to remove the lid and begin to look at the pictures.

The box was filled with loose pictures of all sizes, he pulled out the large picture off the top of the pile and examined it. He quickly spotted most of his friends. While everyone was much younger they were easily recognizable. Taichi, Yamato, Mimi, Sora, Koushiro, Jyou, and himself were all looking very shocked at a kneeling Hikari that had a small black fuzzball in her hands. Throughout the picture there were monsters of all kinds. While some appeared like they could have easily been stuffed animals, ones like the large centaur and ogre couldn’t be real, they were just mythical creatures after all. Perhaps they were just men in rubber suits, because they had to be fake. Didn’t they?

Takeru set the picture off to the side and grabbed the next picture, this one appeared to be taken a few years after the previous picture, as Yamato, Taichi and Koushiro looked like they would be in high school at that point. Daisuke and Hikari were dancing while Iori, Miyako and him were wrestling on the floor. At first glance it looked like Koushiro’s arms were filled with stuffed animals, but upon closer examination he saw two of the monsters from the previous picture while there were three new ones.

Takeru continued to pull pictures out of the box at a faster pace; each picture featured a monster of some sort as well as one of his friends. “What are these?” Takeru paused from the pictures and looked at his mother. He knew there were strange new fads constantly coming and going but whatever these monsters were, they were lasting years and seemed more real than a simple stuffed animal fad. He finally voiced his thought, “These can’t be real. Because how could it be possible?”

“I wondered the same thing Takeru.” Nancy sighed and paused, as if reflecting on her heavily tortured life. “You were eight when they first abducted you. You were at summer camp. I wanted to keep you home but your father demanded that the two of you spend time by yourselves. He assured me that you would be safe there; if not by the councilors than at least your brother might protect you. But they all failed you. Those things…” Nancy pointed to the pictures. “Took you and your friends to their own world, they had kidnapped and held you there until you to fixed their world. There were many monsters that tried to kill you Takeru, but instead of protecting you your brother would run away and leave you for the beasts.” Nancy scanned the pictures and found one of a monster laying on top of Takeru’s head. “This little…thing’s name was Patamon. It was the only thing that cared about you. It was the only thing that protected you.”

Takeru took the picture from his mother’s hand and looked at the picture. Takeru could remember seeing that monster in his dreams. It was the one that tried to protect him from the giant devil in his first dream. Takeru felt a pain shoot through his heart, and his eyes began to tingle as if they were about to cry. Why would his heart fill with sorrow if the monster wasn’t real? And if it was real, why did he feel so dead inside all of a sudden?

Nancy cleared her throat and began to speak again, “You eventually were able to escape from the monsters’ world and return here, where I was finally able to protect you. But some of the monsters came here also, and there was a big battle, a battle that your so called friends drug you to. And just when I thought you had been returned to me, the monsters and your brother spirited you back to that monster world. They had torn holes in the sky, and forced us to watch as your brother abandoned you once again, allowing you to be captured by monsters and almost killed. Eventually you had saved their world again and returned to me. Not knowing if they were ever going to try to kidnap you again, I moved us all over to get away from the monsters. It worked for about four years, before they returned and kidnapped you again. That time however, your brother was too obsessed with himself and his band to go with you. Too self centered to look after his only brother.”

                Takeru continued to look through the pictures, but he kept a hold of the picture of him and Patamon. Foggy images ran through his head, as if he had watched a movie years before, and was now being forced to recall every minute detail. His head hurt as more of these ‘memories’ began to step out of the darkness. “What happened to them?”

“After your friends and you had saved the monster’s world again, they just disappeared. They must have returned to their world for good, because they haven’t returned in almost six years.” Nancy looked at her son and saw the way he clenched a picture in his hand. Her son looked clammy and pale. Had she done the right thing by showing these things to her son? “Takeru you look ill. Perhaps we should stop, and you can lie down for a bit.”

While the story his mother told seemed beyond the realm of possibility, something inside of him knew she was telling the truth. Takeru continued to look through the pictures. There were so many of them. Each one was another part of his life that he had forgotten. Each part was a memory emerging from the darkness of his injured mind. Each was a source of hatred for those that helped kept them locked up. His head felt like it was going to split open with a flood of remembrance. The last picture he pulled out was of his arms wrapped tightly around Patamon. Takeru had his head bowed to touch the top of his friend’s head. There were tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Takeru’s eyes began to water and his throat tightened. A lack of feeling now existed where his heart once was. He no longer noticed if his heart beat or if he took a breath. He stood up onto shaky legs, “I should go.”

Nancy breathed and nodded. She quickly gathered the pictures up and stuffed them back in the box. She handed the box to her son and smiled. “Take these.”

Takeru responded with the only acknowledgement he could muster, a nod, but as Nancy handed him the box he found himself being hugged by her. He felt her cold arms surround him. He searched for warmth in the frigid kiss she placed upon the top of his head, but there was no feeling to be found. “I love you Takeru.”

“Thank you for the pictures Mom.” Takeru stammered out. He slipped out of his mother’s grasp and made his way to the door, down the stairs and to the bus.

While the bus passed the buildings along side of the road at a steady pace, Takeru stared at the last picture he had taken out of the shoebox. What was it about that picture that made him feel dead inside? What was it that made it feel as if all hope had been drained from the world?

                When Yamato heard the front door open and close he stopped stirring the brown sugary batter he was making and waited to hear one of his favorite sounds. He heard the familiar soft footsteps that belonged to his younger brother. Yamato waited for his brother to walk into the kitchen to join him; instead the younger blonde passed the kitchen and continued down the hallway. Yamato shrugged his shoulders with disappointment and went back to stirring his cake mix.

Yamato had set the timer when he began to wonder where his brother was. After all, if he was just putting his schoolwork away it wouldn’t have taken so long. He washed his hands and took off the dirty pink apron and walked to his bedroom. His knuckles gave two quick knocks before entering into the room. He saw his brother sitting on the bed, his duffel bag and backpack lumped together, and clutched in his hands was a shoe box.

“I thought you weren’t leaving until after dinner?” Yamato asked.

Takeru grabbed a strap of his backpack and strung it over his shoulder. “I forgot, I told Dad I’d be home early.”

Yamato’s eyebrow perked. Why would their dad want Takeru home so early, when he wouldn’t be home till midnight at the earliest?”

Takeru avoided looking at his brother, knowing without looking that his brother was questioning his previous statement. “Besides, I should try and cram as many study sessions with Mrs. Sato in as I can. Graduation and tests are coming up.”

Yamato stepped closer to his brother. Just like he could tell his brother’s footsteps, Yamato knew the subtleties of his brother’s voice. “Takeru is everything alright?”

“I’m fine.” Yamato reached out a caring hand but before Yamato could place it on his brother’s shoulder, Takeru flinched and jerked away. Yamato wasn’t the only one to know his brother’s moves.

“Did something happen between you and Iori at the library?” Yamato asked.

Takeru shook his head, “No. I told you I’m fi…”

“Don’t try to lie to me Takeru” responded Yamato.

Takeru stood up slumping his other bag over the free shoulder. “I need to go.”

“Hold on Takeru. You’re upset about something and I want to know why.”

“Why? So you can pretend to care, and lie to me some more?” Takeru asked sternly.

Yamato was taken aback both by the hostility and the question itself. “What is that supposed mean?”

“It means that once again that you can lie to me, but I can’t lie to you.” Takeru barked, his voiced filled with hostility.

Yamato was silent. He didn’t know what to say. Takeru walked past his older brother, allowing his duffle bag to hit him on his way out.

After Takeru had left the room Yamato snapped out of this funk. He turned around and began to pursue his brother. “Takeru wait!” Yamato called out again but his brother continued to walk to the door. Yamato caught up with his brother as he begun to slip on his shoes. “Takeru wait just a minute. Just tell me what happened. How can I have a conversation with you if I don’t know what we’re talking about?”

“I talked to mom.” Takeru growled.

Now it made sense. “What? Where? How? Did she track you to the library?” Yamato could see the fire in his brother’s eye. Did it matter where he saw here at? No, it just mattered that she had talked with Takeru and had riled him up again. Yamato’s hands closed into fists, ready to fight, just at the thought of the woman.

Takeru grabbed his jacket and reached for the door.

“Wait.” Yamato said and grabbed his brother’s arm.

“Let go of me Yamato!” Takeru screamed.

“Not until you tell me what is wrong.”

“Just let me go. I want to go home.” Takeru pleaded. He opened the door.

Yamato was desperate to keep his brother with him. He pulled on his brother’s arm to get him to stay; The young blonde didn’t budge but the shoe box that he was holding did. The box fell to the ground and its contents littered the ground. Yamato dropped down and began to apologize. He saw that the box was filled with pictures, but he didn’t have the time to process what they were of. But just as Yamto had the first handful of pictures stuffed back in the box, Takeru bolted out of the door. Yamato swept the pictures back into the box as fast as he could and chased after his brother, pictures still in hand. When he got to the elevator he could hear the elevator already a couple floors down. Yamato swore under his breath at the recent turn of events.

Yamato leaned against the elevator doors and slid to the floor. Would this relationship ever settle, or was it doomed to keep shifting until it broke? If it was to settle, he still had much to learn about being a brother, and even more about being a boyfriend. He sighed and opened the shoe box to toss in the remaining pictures he still held in his hand, when one of the pictures caught his eye. He looked at the picture and knew the answer to why his brother was so furious. “Fuck.”

Takeru ran down the streets, not paying any attention to the burning in his legs or the strain on his back from the heavy bags. He felt terrible for having to leave all of the pictures behind. Because they weren’t just pictures. They were lost memories that he wanted back. But as he started to run again he took condolence in the fact that the one memory he wanted back the most, was safely tucked away in a pocket, right above his heart.

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Author's Note: Holy Shit I'm alive! And by alive I mean broke and living off of crumbs, but that's a story for a different day as the main focus today is an update in this story after a *gasp* SIX MONTH hiatus! I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this out to the public. I was completely computerless for one of those months and so I have gotten a new laptop. The truly sad part Is that this chapter has been done for some time I just haven't liked it and have been tweaking it numerous times and have finally decided it is decent enough to see the light of day. The next chapter will come along shortly. I mean it when I say it this time. It's been done for a spell too but was the ugly step sister to this "hills have eyes" reject. So it is going through a beautification process as well.

Anyways, I love and want to thank all my readers....err... reader for following this story. While I may not have posted anything, I have visited the site from time to time. When ever I was down in the dumps I would come back and read all the wonderful reviews. So thank you, even months(or years) after they were written they still brighten my day. Also, this story has 2000+ views now. How awesome is that! I had a quiet celebration when I saw that. Once again it wouldn't have been possible if it was for you readers. Love ya!
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