Insect

Italic print is Wormmon, bold print is Ken, and bold italic is both.

Nights in the digital world could be especially beautiful sometimes.  The air 
was calm and peaceful, the stars lighting in the sky as tiny as fireflies, 
yet making one feel incredibly small beneath that wide expanse.
"Ne, don't you think so, Ken-chan?"
"Shut up.  I'm the Digimon Kaizer.  And what do I think?"

I had a dream last night.

Innocent eyes looked up to face the tiny lights.  "It makes you feel like 
you're...like you're an insect or something."  He giggled slightly at the 
irony.
"Insects."  He growled the word, crossing his arms over his chest.  "I am not 
an insect!"
"Iie, master.  You're not."

You were dying.  You were so small, and so still.  Your eyes were wide, 
pleading.

"The world is insects!  Miles and miles of meaningless insects!  None of them 
compare to me!"
"Hai, master..."
"None of them have what I have!  None of them can command a world the way I 
do-" 
"Daijobu."

I knew I only had a few moments.  A few instants to look at you, one last 
time.  To see if I could reach you.

The boy tensed, and then looked down to see the tiny green Digimon staring up 
at him. 
"What are you talking about?"
"Daijobu.  It's ok, Ken-...sama.  It's ok..."

But I couldn't!  You couldn't-!  No!  None of them cared, and neither could 
I.  I can't care about-

"What-"  He stopped, gritting his teeth, letting his voice take on a darker 
and angrier tone.  "What do you mean?"
"I'm here.  I'm here for you, Ken-chan.  Ken-sama.  Master..."
"Keep to one name, damnit!"
"Oh, but they're all you, Ken-chan.  I know that, Daisuke and Takeru and 
Hikari know it.  They're all-"
"Stop!"
Wormmon tumbled back a few feet, but the physical abuse didn't stop him.  It 
never had before.

And so you spat on the ground...and turned away...  Not even when I was 
dying, could you pretend to be my friend.  Could you pretend to love me...

"I understand!" Ken mocked, "Daijobu!  Daijobu!  No, it's not ok, Wormmon! 
You can never understand, nobody can ever understand!  And it'll never be ok!"
"Strike me.  I'll get back up."
"And I'll make sure you never live to call me anything again."
Every word was harsh, angry, abusive.  Every word made those innocent eyes 
grow larger and more loving.  He hated it.  He needed to run away, from 
something, from anything and everything-

I woke up in a sweat.  It haunted me every day after.

A star suddenly fell, bathing the area in a light that contrasted the scene. 
Frightened, hurt, the tiny Digimon that was his partner turned to the fallen 
beacon of light.
"Make a wish."
Timid, loyal, patient innocence.
"Stars are balls of gas, baka.  And from that far away, they're of no more 
use than you."

I don't know how I stand it.  I don't know how I keep going this way...and I 
don't know why I love you, for all you've done to me.  But I do.

"Just insects, right, master?"
"...Just insects.  Tiny and useless like little fireflies."
"Then I'll wish.  I'll wish for me, and maybe for you."
"I don't need anything!"

And with all this...with the hurt and the insults and the anger, with the 
threats and the darkness...

"Hai, of course you don't."
Wormmon had his eyes shut for a moment, and then he opened them again, a tiny 
smile on his face.
"...What did you wish for?"
"I can't tell you.  Or it won't come true."

Can my wish come true?
Can you love a mere insect like me?