Something More

by: Megaraptor

                Monodramon growled slightly as he stood beside the windowsill, watching the world outside.  He was already growing restless.  Though he could control his instincts better in rookie form, the desire for battle was swiftly overcoming him.

                Monodramon looked away from the window, and his gaze fell on Ryo.  His partner was sound asleep, and for the first time in months, in a bed.

                "Are you sure it's wise to keep that thing?"

                "This 'thing' is what kept me alive all this time dad.  And his name is Monodramon."

                The dragon digimon's thoughts drifted back to the conversation earlier that day in the car.  Ryo's father had been expressing anger towards Ryo all day, most likely because he'd been gone so long in the digital world.  Monodramon had tried to be on his best behavior, supressing his instincts as best he could.  But his curiousity got the better of him, and Monodramon got yelled at for, of all things, fiddling with some buttons.

                Not much was said for the rest of the car ride...

                Ryo was greeted with hugs from his mother and grandparents, who were relieved to see the boy again.  But no attention was paid to Monodramon, who made himself scarce, sitting all by himself for most of the night.

                Thinking about him made him growl with anger.  Why should he want to be accepted by them anyway?  They weren't his tamers.  Ryo was...

                Fighting and Ryo.  That was all that mattered to him.

                ... Ryo.

                He was so unlike Monodramon.  Calm, cool, confident.  He wasn't perfect, like he tried to convince others he was.  But he wasn't a loose cannon, like Monodramon.

                Before Ryo, Monodramon's life was directionless.  He battled everything he saw.  He won a lot of fights, but lost more.  Then he bio-emerged into the real world, and met Ryo.   But aside from the random wild one, there were no battles to fight.  As Cyberdramon, he began to grow restless.

                .... Then for some reason, Ryo left his home, his family... but why?  To keep Cyberdramon from harming them?

                His own tamer feared him?

                And why shouldn't he?  He was a creature of power.  He was meant to fight, to impose fear on the weaker.  Ryo... Ryo just increased his chances of succeeding in battle.

                But Ryo had forced restraint on Cyberdramon's part.  He used that energy leash to keep him from going crazy on every digimon he saw.  Cyberdramon should have hated this.

                The exact opposite happened.  The violent dragon began to learn.  If anything, Ryo's methods kept him from seriously harming himself by facing foes that were too strong for him.

                But when it all came down to it, all that Cyberdramon's life had been about was battles.  Battles and scars.  Fighting until he found that one enemy who would either kill him, or bring an end to his desire to fight...

                Now, for the first time in his life, he wondered if that was worth it...

                He'd seen digimon die for that desire.  Those who lived for battle died in battle...

                Is that my destiny?  To die fighting?

                Monodramon looked back at Ryo.  Despite all Monodramon had done before, the human boy still cared for him.  Monodramon rarely reciprocated those feelings...

                Maybe it was time he did...

                Sighing, Monodramon looked away, resting his head on the pane of the glass.  He closed his eyes, and sighed as he drifted into sleep.

                Not long after that, Ryo's eyes fluttered open.  He saw Monodramon at the window.  He frowned, and got up out of the bed.  He walked over and picked up the purple dragon.

                Monodramon's eyes opened slowly. "Ryo...?"

                "Come on boy, you shouldn't sleep like that.  I'll get you a pillow and blanket, alright?"

                The dragon nodded slowly.

                "Thank you Ryo..."