“Thank you,” Glynn whispered weakly through parched lips.
   Mishka just smiled and quickly went about making a small meal of tea and some crackers with a little cheese for her.  He also brought her a glass of water, which he made her drink all of.  Her exhausted body wouldn’t accept much else and Glynn hardly touched the tea or crackers.
   The fever and hallucinations had begun to fade in the last hour and Glynn had regained consciousness.  The haunted look in her eyes bothered Mishka, but there wasn’t anything that he could do, which frustrated him even more.  After nibbling on the crackers, Glynn lay her head back down and dozed lightly.  Mishka took that time to go into the adjoining bathroom to run her a bath.  He even poured in some of her favourite oils.  When the bath was ready, he went and gently woke Glynn up.  He helped her to stand and half carried her into the bathroom where he sat her down on the lid of the toilet.
   “Will you be okei?” he asked.
   She nodded her head and murmured something under her breath that he couldn’t quite make out.  He asked her to repeat what she had said.
   “I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.
   “Sorry for what?”
   “Sorry for everything.  Sorry for making you take care of me. Sorry for being such a pain.  Sorry for being sick,” she trailed off, tears falling down her cheeks.
   Mishka placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes.
   “Don’t be sorry,” he said gently, “look at me Glynna, do I look like I don’t want to be here?  You are my best friend, and I will always be here to take care of you.  Do you understand? Always.”
   “But why?” she asked in confusion.
   “Because you are everything that is real in this world.  You are the light, and you are the hope. And you are the most important thing in this world, at least to me. Okei?
   Glynn just nodded mutely and tried to smile.  Mishka gently wiped her tears with his thumbs.
   “I’ll be in you’re room, I’ll leave the door open a bit in case you need something,” he said as he got up and left.  She nodded after him and painstakingly began to undress to get into the bath.  Her exhausted mind and body made even a small task like unbutton her top almost impossible.  Finally she managed and slowly got into the water.  She lay there for quite a while, just letting the water soothe some of her aches.
   After a time, she washed her hair and then pulled the plug.  She managed to wrap herself in her towel and pull herself up onto the side of the bath, but she couldn’t seem to make her legs carry her towards her bedroom.
   “Mishka?” she finally called out in defeat.
   “You’re done?” he asked coming into the bathroom.
   “My stupid legs won’t work,” she muttered, frustrated.
   Mishka picked her up and carried her to her bed, which now had fresh sheets on it.  He then brought her a long night gown and some underwear. 
   She slowly got dressed, feeling some of the aches returning.  When she had finished, she crawled over to the now closed sofa bed and leaned against it waiting for Mishka to come back. 
   She had begun to doze again when she felt a hand on her head. She opened her eyes and found a beautiful, concerned pair of eyes staring back at her.
   “I’m okei,” she murmured and leaned forward to let him sit down on the sofa behind her.  She drifted off to sleep again as Mishka slowly brushed out her long, wet hair and plaited it in two braids down the each side of her head.  When he finished, he picked up her sleeping form and tucked her into bed. 
   Once Glynn was settled in, Mishka pulled open the sofa bed and collapsed down in exhaustion on it.  He was asleep before his head hit the pillow, but his dreams would not be peaceful ones.
*****

   Before Mishka stood the same shadowy figure from the garden.  The Watcher.
   But beside the watcher stood a little girl.  She must have been around 6 or 7.  She looked like a japanese doll, her long dark hair pulled up in traditional style, her small dark eyes belying a wisdom far beyond her years.  She was dressed in a simple yukata of deep sapphire.
   Mishka had never seen the girl before and he was curious as to why the Watcher was showing her now.
   “Who are you?” he asked.
   “Winter,” she replied simply.  She had the voice of a child, but the tone of one much older. 
   Before Mishka could ask anymore questions, the dream faded and he woke up.

   “Gatomon? Patamon? You guys in here?” T.K. called into Kari’s room.  Recognizing his voice, the two digimon quickly came out of hiding.
   “What is it, T.K.?” Gatomon asked concerned, “Where’s Kari?”
   “She’s in the living room, and I think we all need to sit down and talk,” T.K. answered, his voice edged with the slightest bit of annoyance.
   The three of them quickly joined Kari, who was sitting, still somewhat dazed on the living room couch, her eyes had a strange light to them.  Gatomon quickly ran up to her and in a single look, she knew.
   “Winter?” she asked cryptically.
   Both T.K. and Patamon were confused now.  Kari just nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
   T.K. quickly went and sat beside her, taking up her hands in his own.  He turned to Gatomon.
   “What’s going on here?”
   “Winter,” Gatomon simply replied.
   “That’s not an answer,” he glared at her.
   “That’s all I can tell you T.K., I’m sorry,” she answered, her own eyes glimmering with tears.
   “Sorry?” he mimicked sarcastically, “You’re sorry?? You, all of you digimon, seem to know what’s going on here but you won’t tell us. Why? What’s so bloody secretive that you can only spoon feed us the information?? Is that it? You don’t think we can handle it??  We’re not children anymore--”
   “Stop it T.K.!” Kari shouted at him, “Leave her alone! There are things in this world that people just aren’t meant to know.  And there is a very good reason for that.  Human curiosity is a good thing in small doses, but in big doses it becomes a problem. If we knew everything we would be gods, T.K., and we’re not.  We’re not gods, T.K.,” she finished on a whisper.  She got up from the sofa and moved to pick up Gatomon.  Fresh tears were streaming down her face.
   T.K. just got up and left. Patamon starred after him in shock.  Realizing that T.K. had actually left the apartment, that he was really gone, Patamon quickly took off after him. 
   Boy, T.K. sure is mad, he thought, he’s almost all the way home already and that usually takes him at least 20 minutes to walk. 
   By the time Patamon had caught sight of him, he was just around the corner from his apartment building.  T.K. had stopped walking and was crouched down in front of something, talking quietly.  When Patamon reached him he saw a little girl huddled against a wall in an alley way.  She must have been about six and she was wearing a sapphire yukata.  She had a small cut on her cheek, which T.K. was wiping at with his sleeve.  Patamon quickly ducked back behind the corner, before either of them had seen him.
   “Kari’s right you know,” the girl said suddenly.
   “What was that?” T.K. gasped sharply.
   “Winter,” she said to him and with that she vanished.

End of Chapter 4
Please let me know what you think...Do you have any idea how discouraging it is writing a story that you get the impression that nobody is reading...I'm sorry this chapter is so late, but I wasn't too worried about it coz I'm sure hardly anyone even noticed.
If you'd like me to continue with this series please email me at takarigato@lycos.com coz  at this point, I almost feel that it's useless to keep writing if nobody but me reads it...
Thank you to the few of you (all 2 of you) who have emailed me...It truly makes my day, and it's because of you that Chapter 4 even got started.

Back to Fanfictions
To Chapter 5