But Are You Okay? [Kath]

---

"We're home, mom!"
"Welcome home, Kath, Arianna. Oh, you brought Jasmine today. How was school?"
"Hi there, Miss."
"It was great, María. I had a lot of fun, nonoroku! ...  And it's definitely an interesting place."
"C-Could you not call my mom by her first name...?"
"Interesting place? Didn't Katherine say you have gone to the same school for over a year now?"
"O-Of c-course we have! S-She just means it was different seeing all of the Christmas ornaments they put and such."

Bullet dodged. Keeping a digimon transformed into a human at your home making it seem like she was just a classmate was not always easy.

While she posed in front of the mirror, Katherine examined a couple of brand-new additions to her wardrobe. Hats. They were two very simple, small pieces of headgear.

"Oh, by the way, mom." The teenager raised her voice so María could hear her from her bedroom, while Arianna (in her human form) started dressing in her own outfit for the day, after getting out of that dull uniform. "A friend invited me and Arianna to spend the night at her place. Since it's Friday, and I'm free tomorrow, I think I'll go."

After throwing the more flashy of the two to the bed, Katherine placed a simple, red red hat over her head, showing a smile. Along with some tight blue jeans and a black, semi-transparent sweater, she actually thought she looked pretty nice!

"Why can't we tell your mom I'm your classmate too?" A holosuited Jazz, walking up the hill towards Akemi's house along with Katherine and Arianna, asked.
"Because I don't think my mom would let me have two friends staying at my place for days. I'm lucky enough she lets me have Arianna." The teenager noted, her green irises glancing at the new addition to their group. The Wind Warrior herself. This time not looking like a warrior, but like a regular human which, in the case of Arianna, was basically a Fairymon with regular clothes and no visor.
"Besides, Jazz, you can turn into a small digimon and hide in Mrs. Katherine's backpack can't you? I couldn't do that even if I nonoroku wanted~!"
"Don't worry." Katherine sighed. "Most likely, my mom will be out of the country for work in a couple of days and you'll be able to hang around the house freely."

Dark jeans and a simple green tank-top was Jazz's outfit for the evening. Arianna? She had conjured (quite literally) a pink skirt and a pink blouse. She loved pink.

"I wonder how a sleepover is like. I'm so excited, Nonoroku!" Hiding her face behind two fists, Arianna squealed.

... Not that Katherine could provide an answer, really. Other than that time she stayed at Amelie's place because of a life-threatening situation... "Well, this is my first time too. But... I think you'll like them." A backpack on her back, which should have everything she could need for tonight, the human kept leading the group towards Akemi's house, following the GPS on her cellphone.
"It's been at least a couple of weeks since I saw Anzu. I wonder what she has been up to." Jazz muttered, her index finger over her lower lip.
"I wonder how you two will get along seeing you are... definitely less chaotic than before now."
"Why haven't you stayed at Mrs. Akemi's place before?"
"Well... we didn't meet that long ago, honestly. I had told her it was something I wanted to do with a friend, so maybe that's why she's inviting me..." Katherine muttered, thinking thoroughly.


The conversation went on until the green-eyed teenager finally stopped in front of quite the big house!

"Oh, oh! I had only been to your apartment so far! But this is actually a house!" A smile on her face, Arianna just stared at the structure.
"It's definitely less... restrictive." Katherine noted, ringing the doorbell.

Hopefully, this was the place!

"I-It's a digimon." For someone who could detect digital forms from miles away, Arianna was slightly startled by the Blackgatomon lurking around Akemi's garden.
"It's so cute..." There was someone who was easily captivated by different species of Gatomons. Katherine slowly approached Empress, extending her hand and crouching. This was more like a handshake than her actually calling for a regular cat. After all, it would be dumb to treat a digimon like an animal.
"She's a Blackgatomon." Jazz noted while staring at the cat.

Immediately, the sound of the door opening made Kath reincorporate and Jazz and Arianna turn their heads. Immediately, a smile appeared on those three faces.

"Hi there." The green-eyed greeted her best friend while she made sure to return that hug so Akemi didn't fall or anything. "Well, I told you I would come, right? Sorry I couldn't give you more details... I took Arianna to school and had to make sure she wasn't doing anything weird, so I was too busy to chat." The teenager glanced at the Wind Warrior, who just scratched her head while she looked at both Anzu and Akemi.

"I nonoroku did it still!" Well... yes, she had been weird, even if Katherine tried to stop her.

Meanwhile, Jazz was dealing with her own hug.

"It's been a while since I saw you in your holosuit." Jazz noted while looking at the pink-haired human version of Anzu. While the exchange happened, the brunette remained on the ground, just having her best friend on top of her after that tackle. "You definitely look cute. I wish I had a uniform like this." The holosuited Lopmon remarked.

"Since she went back into her Lopmon form, Jazz is a lot less... frenzy than before, I think." Katherine admitted to Akemi, while her green eyes trailed off for a second towards her partner. "Although I feel Anzu will get her all pumped-up in no time." She giggled.

Upon receiving the compliment, she looked at the garnet above her head. "Oh. Thank you! I bought it recently. Arianna wanted to conjure one for herself but..." Katherine puffed her cheeks. "I told her she couldn't. It's not nice when two girls use the same accessory for a social event." What? Those types of things were important for her!

"Well, Mrs. Katherine, while I loved the idea of putting a beautiful hat on my head, you must know I'm still a nonoroku excellent contender to your beauty." Leaning forward, Arianna blew a kiss while winking.

"T-That's the Wind Warrior for you." Jazz sweatdropped. The last time Akemi and Anzu had seen Arianna it had been on the battlefield, where she was a lot scarier. Maybe it would be weird for them to watch her act like this?

"We'll see..." Katherine squinted, looking straight into Arianna's own fiery eyes!

Aaaaaanyways!

"How have you been!?" She asked, her green eyes going towards Akemi. "I... think I already met Empress." She had told her about this cat before!

It was a shame Piere wasn't able to remain hidden for long. Arianna's abilities to detect digital life forms around her were exceptional, even stronger than Fei's themselves. The Blackgatomon was very cute, though! Regardless of what she herself said.

"M-Maiden?" Katherine's cheeks had gotten a pink tone when she heard those words coming from the cat. The color disappeared not long after, while the exchange with Akemi, Anzu, and Arianna took place. "W-Well it didn't go super smoothly, honestly. She is easily amazed at regular Human World objects or customs that she hadn't seen in the Digital World." Could she really blame her? "I can't really say it's the first time I've gone through it since it kind of happened with Jazz but... Arianna is a lot older and she had been trapped for so long that... it's definitely different." The curly-haired girl explained as the group went inside Akemi's house and she and her entourage took off their shoes.

"W-Who did you call old!?" That, along with Akemi's comment about her beauty, was NOT well received by the Wind Warrior. "Well, I think you're obviously biased!" Arianna folded her arms and frowned. "Maybe we should ask Ja-"

"Anzu is the cutest." Before the conflict reached her, the holosuited bunny had quickly defused it. "Look at her. Besides, she's my best digimon friend." The digimon stated with an honest smile, while she patted Anzu's head, who was shorter than her even in her holosuited form!

Once again, the spotlight was put on the newest addition to the team! "Well, yes! Of course it's the same. I'm still a very fierce warrior, you know? I just... like to look pretty while I do it." She punctuated that with a wink and made the peace and love sign with her fingers. Katherine just giggled at the whole exchange.

"I can't say it hasn't been fun having her around." The human remarked, before kind of moving on to Akemi's question. "I had been a bit... consternated about what happened at Terminus. So living with her and Jazz has helped." She muttered while Arianna and the rest of the digimon kept talking. Since she was speaking directly to Akemi, Katherine couldn't quite hear the details of what they were saying. However, it seemed like Arianna was asking Piere if she wanted to be the 'Wind Warrior's official beast sidekick', under the argument the cat looked 'majestic'.

However, Katherine was more interested in Akemi's situation. "Why do you say you've been better?" A tilt of her head accompanied the question. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?" They should probably sit or something? In what part of the house should they hang?

Akemi’s place made Katherine… smile, genuinely. It was a quite comfy home with a very peaceful vibe.

“This is a very cute house.” Arianna noted, looking everywhere. That was, of course, before engaging in the previously explained conversation with the rest of the digimon. “It is.” Katherine reaffirmed.

To Anzu’s ‘modest’ statement? Jazz giggled quite audibly. “That cute?” She asked rhetorically. “So you admit you are cute.” That last sentence came with a very-much teasing-filled grin. Akemi’s second comment about the whole thing just fueled the conversation even further so, while she and Katherine took a seat in the living room, the digimon would continue their own chat while standing in the hallway. Maybe they should move somewhere else?

“You only say that because you have not experienced being my sidekick, Empress.” Arianna insisted. “… Not that I had ever had a sidekick, though. But Fei and the rest of the warriors used to say that I was pretty cool to work with, you know?” Her previously pensive voice had disappeared and she had regained her most confident tone.

“Oh! Right.” Jazz seemed to have remembered something she had been wanting to ask for a while. “You are quite old too, aren’t you, Anzu?” She looked at the holosuited bean for a second.
“I AM NOT OLD.” Arianna stomped a foot on the floor.
“Oh. I believe Kath told me Piere has lived for quite a while too.” Jazz looked at the Blackgatomon, who now seemed to be part of this very strange conversation.

It was then when Arianna cleared her throat before elegantly looking at the cat. “You have lived a long life too?” She asked. “Then… could you please explain to Jazz that we are not, by any means, old?”

“I believe the difference between you two and Arianna… is that she has never died before. She has never become a Digitama.” The brunette remarked while now staring at the Wind Warrior. Maybe because of Undying Curiosity, or maybe because of something completely different, Jazz had become interested in Anzu (and Piere’s) past.

Meanwhile, Katherine and Akemi discussed the Amaya’s nightmares, which seemed to involve the monster she had turned into while fighting Luke.

“Well… Jazz and I didn’t get to see… that thing, much.” Her green irises trailing down towards the floor, Katherine reminisced about what had occurred. “But I did hear it was quite terrifying. Arianna said it reminded her of a very horrific creature that existed centuries ago. N-Not like we had talked much about what happened that day, though.” She admitted.

Then, the curly-haired girl’s green eyes went back to her friend while she scooted back on the couch. “Do you think those are caused out of the shock of the situation? O-Or… do you think they might be related to something else?” She locked her gaze into those brown eyes.

"I have nothing else to tell you about me." She then added with a smile. "Unless there's something you want to ask about."

“So you were Anzu’s sidekick and you wouldn’t be mine!?” Leaning forward, Arianna questioned Piere’s ways. “No way.” She immediately shook the cat’s request about how to be called. “Empress is a lot more… elegant. A dainty lady like me wouldn’t call you for your most basic name.” It was likely the BlackGatomon (and probably Anzu, too) were getting to understand how the fairy’s mind worked a bit better. Hopefully, they wouldn’t hate her, though!

About the 'old' thing? It seemed that even someone like Arianna could get tired of a topic. Especially when she received no support whatsoever. “Ugh. I wouldn’t expect you to understand the true essence of the Wind Warrior. I’m just wise and long-lived.” Immediately, she folded her arms to show a more… teasing countenance, while looking at Piere and Anzu. “I could only say you two are pretty short-lived. What the hell were you even doing that got you killed so many times?”

That was actually a good question! Which conveniently came before that brief exchange between the two dark-themed creatures about Anzu’s past. Something that the bean didn't seem eager to talk about!

“I remember having access to a lot of information about Anzu the times we have fused.” Jazz noted, her index finger resting over her lower lip while she stared at Anzu, who was leaning on her. “… I didn’t get the time to actually go through those memories and… I somehow lost that knowledge when we unfused.”

While she listened to Jazz, Arianna just nodded repeatedly. “Of course. Since Jazz didn’t actually explore that part of your memory while you two were one, that didn’t stay with her when you separated. It’s like if a 'memory' were magically inserted into your brain. It might be there, but if you don’t try to remember it, you won’t know the content of that memory. Now that you separated, Jazz can’t get access to it again.”

… This had somehow turned into a very interesting conversation and, ironically it had come after discussing if Arianna was old or not for over ten minutes.

---

While Akemi stared at her hand, seemingly a little worried, Katherine extended her own to give it a tight squeeze. “You’re going to be okay. If it’s all in your head, I’ll help you get through it, okay?” Those green irises denoted commitment. “Let’s give it some time. If it continues to occur, we can talk to Nei and he’ll check what’s in your dreams. In case it’s something else…” For only a second, her eyes trailed downwards while she considered the possibility. Then, she locked them back into Akemi. “… We’ll get it out of your head somehow.”

Was she willing to do anything to help her friend, just as she had been to help her? Yes. Yes, she was.

Then, that previously fierce expression turned into a smile. “I’m glad to be here too, even after… everything that happened.” Not that they wanted to talk much about that, though. “I know I’ve said it before but… thank you.” She stated while looking at the couch, seemingly a bit embarrassed.

“A thing to… ask?” Katherine murmured after Akemi’s own words, before crashing into her very peculiar suggestions! “W-What?” She blinked while an evident blush appeared around her cheeks. It would be too cynical to pay attention to her first two potential choices first, ignoring what Akemi had given as a third option.

Katherine let go of her friend’s hand out of pure shock, before silence took over the room. “We… agreed we weren’t going to do... that… anymore, remember?” She asked in a whisper. Hopefully, the digimons hadn’t heard that!

“… I’m okay with whatever you have for us to drink, though…” Hmmm yes. She probably couldn’t just pull that off after that awkward exchange.

In an act that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Arianna didn’t hesitate in participating in that staredown! The fact that she could now look at the former-cat eye to eye didn’t seem to stop her! Instead, it only fired her up more! “Well, I would! Because I like how it sounds. I couldn’t care less about its origins.” With a shook of her head, the fairy stated that firm declaration. Only to… show her tongue to ‘Empress’ in mockery right after.

The rest of the conversation seemed to distract Arianna from this clash. It was actually a very interesting exchange. It seemed like Anzu had some pretty hectic lives before. The Wind Warrior held no doubt she was a mighty fighter, though. She had witnessed that herself.

“I definitely won’t let you die again.” Instead of finding these stories any sort of interesting, Jazz was frowning with a determined look on her face while staring at Anzu. She seemed to mean that!

“… T-That is so sweet.” With a pink tone appearing around her face, Arianna recognized the tenderness of that moment. “You would give your life to protect her, even if any enemy that takes Anzu down has to be pretty strong themselves. If that’s not the purest form of companionship, I don’t know what that is!” The ancient digimon seemed very touched by this gesture.

To this declaration, Jazz blushed a little. While this was something that wouldn’t have any kind of special effect on her while in her Cho-Hakkaimon, when she was a Lopmon she was a lot more… sensitive. For a second or two… she just… stared at Anzu. What could she possibly be thinking of?

A shook of her head opened up the holosuited digimon’s next sentence. “Y-You don’t have to tell us about it. It’s not really necessary.”

“Right.” Arianna nodded, showing half a smirk to Anzu. On the other side… ! The Fairymon placed her hand around her chin, looking at the ceiling. “I wonder if fusing with someone can help me remember things. There is stuff that I simply cannot remember and… well, someone having access to those and then telling me would be great.”

That was an interesting premise! Did Priere or Anzu think that was possible?

---

Although Katherine could feel that would not be the last time they discussed the haunting image that was invading Akemi’s dreams, it was a topic that had been shadowed by some… other subjects. For the green-eyed, this was probably the most awkward silence that had ever generated between her and her best friend. Her eyes trailed towards the window, observing how the light of the sunset crossed the crystals while the conversation continued.

First, a sigh. A very long one. Slowly, Katherine scooted a bit back, finding her place against the back of the sofa. “I guess you’re right.” She admitted. That was a technicality, but that didn’t make it less true. However… “Well… even if we don’t have to follow it…” Those green irises promenaded through the floor… the table… the paintings on the wall. But never back to Akemi’s eyes. “… I still… kind of… want to do it.” That phrase gave a closure to that whispered sentence.

However… she knew her friend deserved an explanation. Katherine couldn’t just run away from this. She said she was not running away anymore. And that include these types of moments. “That’s okay.” She dismissed that apology with a shook of her head. “I don’t think we really had time to discuss any of this before.” That was true!

Katherine kept examining every bit of the living room while she added something else. “And I think we needed that. Not… having the time to talk about it, you know?” Where was she going with all of this? “I feel that time helped me realize… we were better before we started doing that. Everything turned a lot more complicated after our day in the beach. I don’t want our friendship to be ruined by some kisses.” Playing with her index fingers, Katherine now stared at the floor. “I think us not… doing that anymore is for the best.”

Another long sigh.

“… I-I’m okay with whatever you want to drink.”

“B-Boomer?” What kind of strange, Human-World term was this!? Arianna demanded an explanation! Why were these digimon so familiarized with human stuff? She still found it fascinating!

Jazz, on her side, blushed a little upon being hug like… that, by Anzu. Oh god. What was this? She felt funny! Her bean friend was just too adorable for her to handle! It definitely felt like their dynamic had changed since she had gone back to being a Lopmon. Was that a good thing? It definitely felt good. They were still this pair of hyperactive digimon willing to take over the world when they were together but… now they were also so supportive and affectionate towards each other. Why? Could it be a result of them fusing? They had shared the same body, after all. Had their connection become even more special after that?

“Right.” Focused on the subject, Arianna folded her arms, listening to Piere closely. “The thing is… the people I have a connection with are all dead or… trapped inside gems.” She noted. Okay, that was a problem. “Maybe Fei or the beasts in the forest could work…” There was a problem with one of those options, though! “… I did promise I was not going back to the forest until all of this was over, though. I don’t know… I wouldn’t feel okay about doing that now with them.”

“What about Fei, then?” Jazz asked, still leaning her head on Anzu’s. That was a good option, wasn’t it?

Arianna nodded firmly. “I might try that. But…” And now she turned towards Priere again. “… How good are you to find memories?”

Huh!? What could be the reason Arianna didn't consider Fei a good DNA partner?

---

The interactions between Akemi and Katherine had taken them to the kitchen, where their conversation about this complicated matter continued.

After letting out another sigh, Katherine just looked at the kitchen floor again. The orange light of the sunset going through one of the windows and bouncing off it here too. “I’m really sorry too.” She admitted, looking into those brown eyes again. Akemi deserved that much. “When I was… you know, there…” The hatted girl would probably know what Katherine meant, even if it was something they didn’t feel like talking about. “… I met someone. A digimon.”

The curly-haired girl looked visibly uncomfortable about mentioning this. “We actually talked about love. He told me love was the most selfish of feelings. At first, I didn’t quite get the concept. But after hearing his story… I think he might be right.” What kind of story could that be? It was probably something too long to recap just now but… everything that had happened at… that place, had changed Katherine forever.

“O-of course I never wanted to hurt you.” The green-eyed made some special emphasis in this. “And I know you didn’t want to hurt me either.” She added. “I want to heal too… I want to feel better about all of this. And that’s why I want us to just… stop. I mean… stop hurting ourselves should be the first step to start healing, right?”

That made sense for her.