He couldn't say when he'd come to this world. Time had long since gone blurry. Wizardmon had no idea how many stretches of solitude he'd endured.
But surely—this lonely season was almost over.
Sand howled across the wastes. A lone figure pressed on through the storm along a road that pointed nowhere he knew. Just as no one knew he'd ever passed this way, his tracks were erased the moment he made them; he could vanish and no one would know.
Dreams? Only a vague idea. He didn't know if he had them. So even being alive felt meaningless. If he disappeared completely, maybe this loneliness would stop. Maybe there would be no pain at all.
People say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. He remembered nothing—because in all his memories he was walking alone. No friends. Always by himself, hungry by himself, exhausted by himself. Even when he collapsed, no one came.
He fell in the street, and as his eyes slid shut—at the moment he realized his life was about to end—a white silhouette appeared.
The white one held out a bowl of water.
He gulped it down, then passed out for good. Yet he knew he wouldn't die. Before the dark took him, he heard Gatomon's voice: "Hey—what happened to you? Hey, hang in there, Wizardmon." When he woke again, night had fallen. A bright fire crackled nearby. He turned his head toward the stranger—Gatomon, whom he'd never met until now.
"You're awake?"
"You saved me."
"I wouldn't call it some big favor."
"Why save me?"
"Do I need a reason to help?"
"But I need one."
"I just can't ignore someone dying in front of me."
"…Thank you. I'm going."
He felt something stir—his first brush with being moved. That empty stream of data inside him had finally been given something.
"Don't push yourself." He could have walked on, but those simple words stopped him.
"You saved me. I don't know how to repay you."
"I don't need repayment," Gatomon said, turning with a small smile.
The night was as dark as ever, but he knew he wasn't the same. He wasn't alone anymore.
The campfire warmed his body; Gatomon's smile warmed his heart.
"So, you've lived alone for a long time too?"
"What do you mean?"
"Live alone long enough and the heart goes hard. People without friends—sooner or later their hearts root over. Me included." Gatomon seemed to slip into memory; by the end she was speaking as if to herself.
"Waiting. Waiting for someone."
Wizardmon listened quietly as she sank into the past.
"I kept waiting. From when I was a Fresh and then an In-Training, I waited for her to come get me. Day after day, I never gave up. I waited and waited. But no matter how long I waited, she never came."
Wizardmon felt the loneliness in her—just like his own.
"Later, when I reached Rookie—Salamon—I could fend for myself. I stopped waiting and started searching. I traveled and searched and never found her. Until one day, Myotismon appeared. He wasn't the one I was looking for—I just knew it somehow. Then the hopeless days began. He hit me every day, just because he hated my eyes. I was born with them—how is that my fault?"
Wizardmon had no words; he only listened.
"So I became one of Myotismon's subordinates. Every mission made me sick. Every time I used my Holy Beast form to trick kind Digimon into joining his ranks, I drowned in guilt and shame. But I gritted my teeth and kept going, for the day I'd meet her again. I believed I would. That belief was the only reason I could keep living."
Gatomon lifted her head. The light in her eyes was so clear. Gold irises like twin suns; the campfire reflected there, shining hope.
"Maybe we could be friends," she said.
"We already are," he answered.
So I followed her to Myotismon's castle and joined his forces—not for him, but so I could stay beside her until she found who she was looking for. I only wanted to protect that smile. But as time went by, I wondered if she still remembered she was searching at all. Even so, I would remain by her side.
From a long time ago, Myotismon had been gathering an army—clearly preparing something big. Today the castle felt different; everyone was tense. I asked a Devidramon and learned the Metal Empire was here to attack. They're always strong—maybe weak at the very top—but their endless mechanical soldiers make anyone despair. Today they came here.
Gatomon followed Myotismon down to the underground gate to another world. I went after them. Suddenly the ceiling shattered under a massive blow. A child and WarGreymon burst in. WarGreymon was overwhelming; Myotismon's techniques meant nothing before him. Myotismon used a trick to slip through the gate. Gatomon tried to leave, but the child blocked her. He walked toward Gatomon—clearly ready to act. I could not allow him to harm her, even if it cost my life. I hurled lightning—he slipped it easily—and WarGreymon strode over. There was no escaping this day. The life Gatomon had extended… perhaps I would return it now. Repay her kindness at last.
But then, to my surprise, the child offered us a place—with one condition: spare Gatomon. For her sake I agreed. Gatomon did not run—she immediately declared she would join with me, that she would not leave me alone. I glanced at her. Her eyes had gone clear again, like the night she first saved me.
Strangely, he gave us no orders. Datamon simply assigned us rooms and left. No tasks. No restrictions at all. The child left the castle too. Day after day we were idle—something that had never happened under Myotismon. After a few days, all the mechanical troops stood down and hid. The castle grew quiet. Datamon told us to come with him. He led us to a room with a small viewing window into the hall with the great gate—the place Myotismon used. There we saw a group of children and their Digimon; they opened the gate and went through. The last to enter—the boy with Agumon—looked toward our little window. Something in his eyes reminded me of the Metal Empire's master—the same child who had defeated Myotismon just days before.
Datamon rushed us out and sent us through the gate, handing us a communicator and saying someone would contact us. We stepped into the unknown. I don't know what waits for us there. But I will protect Gatomon—until my very last moment.
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