More Than Enough
Tian opened her eyes and looked around. She found herself in a dark, misty place, with nothing at all to see.
Where am I? Tian thought. Wisps of fog drifted past her face.
“Hello?” she called out, her voice echoing curiously. “Renamon? Akira?” She looked around again. “Anyone?”
Suddenly, she was surrounded by shadows, and a brilliant light flashed in front of them.
She looked around as the light illuminated the shadows around her, revealing them to be the other seven kids and their Digimon partners. Renamon stood stoically by her side.
What’s going on? Tian thought. She watched as the others walked slowly toward the light, then stopped dead. They turned around and shot Tian looks of longing. Distress. Anger. Distrust. Sadness. Then they started walking back into the darkness.
“Wait!” Tian called out, “Where are you going? Why aren’t you going toward the light?”
“You showed us compassion, but it wasn’t enough to matter,” a cacophony of voices echoed across the void.
“You cared for us, but it wasn’t enough to see us through.”
“You gave us love, but it wasn’t enough to help us win.”
“Wait!” Tian shouted, “Don’t go!”
One by one, the shadows of the others disappeared into the darkness. When they all faded away, Renamon walked away.
“Wait, Renamon!” Tian screamed, reaching out for her desperately. “Don’t leave me!”
Renamon disappeared from view, then there was a blast of cold wind. A lone figure with dark, tattered robes and a silver staff emerged, laughing cruelly.
“Mataymon?” Tian said in disbelief. “Impossible! We defeated you!”
“Love? Compassion? Care?” Mataymon said mockingly, “They are nothing compared to oblivion!”
He raised his staff and pointed it toward Tian, firing a pulsing beam of darkness toward her.
Tian abruptly woke up, a scream in her throat. She looked around wildly, not knowing where she was.
“Whoa,” a familiar voice said, “Calm down. Breathe.”
Tian took a few deep breaths and eventually calmed down. She looked over to see Ryou, sitting next to her and staring at her with concern. She slowly looked around, seeing the familiar white walls and messy tabletops of the Infinity Lab. The other kids and Digimon were sleeping soundly around her.
“Are you okay?” Ryou asked.
Tian nodded. “Yeah.”
“Bad dream?”
Tian nodded again.
“Want to talk about it?” Ryou asked gently.
“Hmm…” Tian reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. The screen showed 4:28 am. She sighed. “Might as well,” she said, “I’m not sleeping again after this.”
A loud snore interrupted them, and Ryou shook his head, chuckling. “Let’s go someplace quieter,” he said.
He led Tian up a few flights of stairs, past the CEO’s office, and onto the roof of the building. A cool breeze blew, and the dark, pre-dawn sky was filled with stars.
Ryou walked over to the railing along the edge of the roof and leaned against it. “No one ever comes up here, so it’s always nice and quiet,” he said, “I always come here whenever I’m feeling anxious or upset.”
“The view is beautiful,” Tian said, smiling as she looked out at the city lights.
Ryou nodded, and looking at her again, he asked, “Do you want to talk about your dream?”
“It was more like a nightmare,” Tian said, as she recounted everything she had experienced.
Ryou listened carefully, and by the time she was done, he frowned. “That’s rough,” he said, “Your subconscious mind telling you that you’re not good enough?”
Tian nodded. “My subconscious in the form of our greatest enemy that we already defeated.” She chuckled grimly. “Talk about insult to injury.”
Flashes of the others walking off into darkness flowed through her mind again, and she shivered.
“I guess my greatest fear is that I wasn’t enough,” Tian confessed. “That my love, my compassion, and my care wasn’t enough to make a difference in anyone’s lives.” She looked up at Ryou. “And that it’s because I wasn’t enough that we would fail.”
Ryou reached for her hand and held it tightly. “I can tell you right now that none of that is true,” he said immediately. “You didn’t fail. All of you won, and you did it together.”
Tian nodded. “True.”
“Not only that,” Ryou continued, “I’ve seen how everyone’s eyes light up whenever they talk about you. You’re like their second mom. You care about them, during the times they need it most. They love you!”
Tian wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and laughed a little. “It’s so hard for me to see that for myself,” she said.
“We’re our own worst critics,” Ryou answered, “Just know that you are enough. You are more than enough.”
Tian smiled through her tears. “You should be a therapist.”
Ryou laughed. “No way. I couldn’t be like this for anyone else except you.”
He was silent for a moment, as if he was struggling with something, then sighed. “If I told you I loved you, would you believe me?” he asked quickly, the words tumbling from his mouth.
Tian stared back at him in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. “I…” she said slowly, “I would be hoping, against all hope, that what you said is true.”
“And if I said that it is true,” Ryou said, taking both of her hands in his, “what would you say?”
Tian smiled, her eyes shining bright as the sun began to rise over the city skyline. “I would say that I feel the same way.”
Ryou blinked, looking surprised as what she said sank in. “You… you do?”
Tian nodded. “I love you too, Ryou.”
Notes:
After writing so many scenes shipteasing these two, I finally got around to writing the confession scene!