Title: Depths of Dreams
Characters: Takeru, Yamato||Romance: allusions to Piemon x Takeru/Takeru x Piemon, hints of potential Takeru x Daisuke/Daisuke x Takeru
Chapters: 1-2||Words: 750||Total: 750
Genre: Family, Drama||Rated: G
Challenge: Diversity Writing Challenge, C5, two-shot with 750 word chapters; Mahjong Tiles, prompt 'calm'; Jigsaw Puzzle, #18, borrow; Include The Word Boot Camp, #14, satisfy
Notes: I decided this would be the same world as For You, Anything after all, as well as a breeds-universe.
Summary: Takeru wakes from a horrendous nightmare and his brother is there to soothe him.

"No!" Takeru's eyes shot open, hands clutching at the sheets beneath him, his heart pounding fit to burst from his chest. He drew in unsteady breaths in an attempt to clear his mind.

He wasn't certain if he'd actually said anything out loud, until the door opened and Yamato hurried inside and over to Takeru's bed. Takeru tried not to shake. He was seventeen, he wasn't going to shake because of a nightmare.

That didn't stop him from actually shaking. But he tried anyway.

"Nightmare?" Yamato murmured. He didn't hold Takeru, but Takeru could feel his warmth and that helped far more than he really wanted to admit. Takeru nodded a trace, dropping his gaze so he saw only his wrists crossed in his lap.

Which wasn't the most comforting view, not with his soulmate mark clearly visible on his inner right wrist. He shuddered and turned his wrist over so he couldn't see it anymore.

Yamato said nothing about that for what seemed like forever, the silent moments stretching out and growing heavier and heavier.

"Was it about..."

Takeru nodded again, not looking up. He hated that mark, the crossed swords over the Crest of Hope. He didn't have any idea who decided who would be soulmated to who, but if he ever found out, he intended to have a few words with them on that subject, because his made no sense at all. Yamato rested an arm on Takeru's shoulder, after a quick glance for unspoken permission. Yamato didn't touch other people often, and whenever he offered a hug, Takeru could not help but feel proud and honored. Feeling that arm around him helped get rid of the images his dreams conjured up.

"You know, I think tonight would be a good night for some hot chocolate, don't you?" Yamato asked after a few quiet minutes, most of those spent with Takeru breathing quietly and reminding himself on every possible level that it had only been a dream, that it didn't matter what the marks said, he could choose for himself.

He told himself those things after every nightmare he had, and while they would work for a while, sooner or later, the dreams always came back.

"That sounds good," he said, still not having lifted his eyes up that much. "Thanks."

Even knowing he'd get chocolate, Takeru didn't like it when Yamato slipped away, and he could hear the sounds of him puttering away in the kitchen. He glanced at the clock; three-thirty in the morning? He sighed; he wasn't going to do all that well tomorrow, and he knew it. Too many tests, not enough sleep. But it would soon enough be over.

You wouldn't have to take those if you were with me, my dear.

Takeru ground his teeth together and refused to listen. That wasn't a real voice. That was just the lost images of a dream and nothing more. He would never, ever listen to it, even if they came from the actual Piemon standing before him.

But that couldn't happen. The fact his soulmate mark itself remained faded, only a vague sketch to mark that it existed, said so clearly. That was what happened when one soulmate died and the other remained alive.

He knew that Digimon could be reborn, but from what Koushirou managed to learn, Viral Digimon didn't always get reborn in the Village of Beginnings. If he was, though, if Piemon did somehow get reborn, there was always the chance that he would be… different. That he wouldn't be the monster that Takeru and all the rest of them knew, but maybe something… better? Someone that Takeru would want to be with?

Yeah, like that could ever happen. He wouldn't be Piemon then. He'd still have the same soul no matter what.

And the same soul meant the same person. That was the point of soulmates. Some people even thought they'd been reincarnated and been bonded to the same person more than once. No one really knew for certain.

He wrapped part of his blanket around his wrist and looked up when Yamato came back in with two cups of hot chocolate. His brother settled down next to him and handed one cup over there: perfect hot chocolate, no marshmallows, just the richness of the chocolate. Takeru took a long, careful sip. Yamato always knew how to make it just right.

"Want to talk about it?" Yamato asked quietly. Takeru sipped again, letting the richness fill him.

"All right."

To Be Continued

Notes: There will, eventually, be a Piemon returns story. I just don't know when.