[OPEN] These dreams go on when I close my eyes

[givesalittlewhistle]

Who: Hikari Yagami & OPEN
When: IC: (late July) /OOC: (early June)
Where: Gardens
What: As a Child of Light Water, Hikari's been having some...interesting Dreams the last few days. The kind that are keeping her up at night, leaving her exhausted during the day.
Rating/Warning: Some potentially Dark themes involving children. Mentioning of Death. Basically, if you've ever seen the season 02 episode, His Master's Voice, it's a little like that.

---

"Hikari? ...Hikari?"

The eight year old girl in question's eyelashes fluttered softly, face scrunching up as she was lightly shaken, before slowly opening. It took a few seconds for her vision to readjust before she sat up. Glancing around at her surroundings and...trying to remember where she was.

"Tailmon?" Voice heavy with sleep, she glanced down at her digimon companion, who was looking up at her in concern. "What...?"

"You fell asleep. Again."

There was little surprise at the news. Because she knew it was true. And why.

Straightening, Hikari glanced around at the park they were currently in. The ground was soft, a pleasant breeze blowing across her cheeks from beneath the shade of a large tree. Any other time, and it would have been no wonder she'd fallen asleep. The little sketchbook she'd purchased some time back was still in her lap. The camera she'd been using to take pictures for inspiration, at her side.

Except...the dark shadows beneath her eyes told of a slightly more troubling story.

"I'm sorry," she offered in the middle of stiffening a deep yawn. Rubbing at one eye that stung a little in the morning light.

Tailmon's ears dropped at the apology. Worried not only for Hikari's health, but saddened that she felt she needed to apologize at all. "...you had that dream again last night, didn't you?"

Not knowing what else to say, Hikari nodded. Her gaze drifted over to where there was a small pond. The waters still, save for the occasional little ripple. An increasingly familiar sight to her these days, though not for the reasons one might think.

Comments

[givesalittlewhistle]

She shook her head.

"No, not here. Back home. In the Digital World. When digimon...die...they get deleted. Sometimes, they can go back to the Village of Beginnings and be reborn again, but it doesn't always happen."

[cresthopes]

He wasn't going to argue with that! The moment he saw the pinkie out, he wasted no time in giving out his pinkie too! As he wrapped around hers, he couldn't stop giggling.

"Then good! Because the last thing I want is for you to keep on being scared from your nightmares!"

[notsosolo]

Han nods. "And you're dreaming that that keeps happening. Because you're afraid that it will?"

That's the simplest explanation for a dream like that. It doesn't fix it, but it at least makes sense.

[sunnymerc]

Soleil took a moment before nodding. "Yeah, but where's the fun in that? Hehe."

She hunched down to eye-level with the little girl to get a closer look at the cat. Tailmon was a bit of a strange name, but she kept that to herself. She was still totally unaware that this unordinary cat could talk.

"Heh heh." She just stared, giggling to herself for a moment. "Can I pet her?"

[givesalittlewhistle]

It wasn't so much the thought of physical contact itself that bothered Tailmon--she had been pet before--but...something about this girl, in particular. Without seeming too rude, she leaned back. Scooting a little closer to Hikari all the while.

"No...thank you." Though the thank you seemed more of an afterthought. "You're a...very strange human, aren't you?"

[givesalittlewhistle]

She nodded.

"I don't want any more digimon to die because of me."

[givesalittlewhistle]

She giggled too, if only because his own laughter was infectious. His presence, really; she had a hard time feeling scared or worried when it was the two of them like this. Together. Safe.

"Me too. I miss being able to sleep. It's hard to concentrate when I'm tired. And then everyone starts worrying about me, and I don't want that, either."

[notsosolo]

"Any more?" That implies that she at least thinks it's happened before. "Sometimes my bad dreams are about people I could have saved, if things had been different."

[givesalittlewhistle]

She didn't just think; she knew. As in, she remembered. Because...the memory from her dreams was of another time. One that she couldn't recall properly at the moment. The first time, however...

"I don't know what I could have done. He did it to save us. Vamdemon...he was trying to kill me and Tailmon, and Wizarmon stepped in and the attack hit him instead."

[encourageous]

"...I get what you mean." He won't make her say that last word. But her story sounds kind of familiar.

"You mean like... with WaruMonzaemon, and the Numemon?" But if she didn't recognize them, could it have been a different occurrence?

[givesalittlewhistle]

She gave him a...strange look. Hikari was not one to joke--not about things like this--and yet her eyes told him of complete unfamiliarity with either of those names:

"WaruMonzaemon?"

Was this another of those timeline things? Did...would something happen to those digimon because of her too?

[notsosolo]

"It sounds like there wasn't anything you could have done." Not that that helps, he knows that. She'll probably still keep trying to find that something. "He must have cared a lot about you two to do that. It's normal to be sad about that."

[givesalittlewhistle]

"He was Tailmon's dearest friend. Long before we met. That's...all I know."

That was all Tailmon had been willing to tell her so far.

[encourageous]

Now that was an odd look. It felt like just yesterday that he had to revise a tall tale because of the Numemon. But now she looks like she's hearing a foreign word...

"Yeah! That big bad teddy bear guy. You remember, right?"

[givesalittlewhistle]

She thought about it. Long and hard. Then shook her head. Not yet worried because she had one theory already in mind:

"That's...is this another digimon I'll meet in the future?"

[encourageous]

"...In the future? I thought you were past that, Hikari. You know, with the Numemon..." He hates to remind his sister of something that's saddened her so much, but he doesn't see any other way.

[givesalittlewhistle]

"What about Numemon?"

There were no signs of sadness this time, though. Not even a hint of guilt. Her face was as blank as if he were speaking an entirely different language.

[encourageous]

"You have to remember. That... that time when they helped you..."

[givesalittlewhistle]

She shook her head.

"Not really. Was this when I got sick again?" Because that would explain why she didn't remember; a lot of her memories of that time were...a bit fuzzy. Most likely from the fever.

[encourageous]

"What? you don't remember...?" Taichi stares blankly. "It was after you got the medicine... Maybe you might have still been a little sick, but... I know you remembered them."

[givesalittlewhistle]

Okay, now she was starting to look a little nervous. Worried. Was...was something wrong with her? If Taichi said she'd already had her medicine by then...

"No. I don't. I'm sorry, Oniichan. What...?" She looked down, feeling bad for even having to ask. Like she had done something wrong. "What happened?"

[sunnymerc]

Soleil paused. It took a moment for her to process that the cute cat was the one who just spoke. She blinked and shook her head, but was positive she wasn't hearing things.

"Whoa! A cute cat...who can talk?" She didn't seem to catch the 'strange human' comment. She also almost didn't catch the 'No thank you' comment, either, as it was taking her all the restraint she possessed to not pet her.

[givesalittlewhistle]

Hikari glanced back and forth between the two, awash wish second hand emotions from observing the scene before her. The other girl...it was clear she meant no harm, and yet Tailmon was still nervous. Very much so. Not even the Dark Masters themselves had forced her into such a retreat before.

"Tailmon's not a cat. She's a digimon."

[encourageous]

"The numemon protected you from WaruMonzaemon... Doesn't that ring a bell?" He says softly as he places his hands on her shoulders.

[givesalittlewhistle]

Again, she shook her head.

"They...protected me?" She noticed Taichi was talking about her, specifically. Not the Chosen Children as a group. Like she'd been separated from them for a time. "Why would they do that?"