Disclaimer: Needless to say, I do not own anything except my OCs. I'm not making any money off this little endeavor, so please no suing.

[a/n: This is a vastly revised repost of a story I wrote in July-September of 2003. While I have saved the original version for my own records, I felt the need to fix this story up in order to incorporate it into my 'portfolio'. (I didn't want to delete it entirely, though I'm sure that would have been much easier.) So, to new and previous readers, I bid you enjoy.

Chapter One

With a heavy sigh Takuya leaned back in his computer chair and ran a hand through his hair. Bored, boring, bored, he thought blandly as he stared at his computer screen. For several minutes he sat still, gazing at the rough rendering he had drawn and scanned long ago of the Digital World, whole and happy – the way he hoped it was in their absence. The image always triggered a sadness that was deep-seated in his soul despite the memories being five years old. Finally unable to look at it any longer, he closed the file and opened a chat window.

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Recovering from the most recent attack, Zephyrmon noticed the enormous black void that had appeared moments before. "What's that?" she asked nervously, her gaze now fixed on the looming darkness that was slowly growing.

Aldamon landed beside her. "I have no idea," he replied uncertainly, staring warily at the rift.

"Now foolish mortals, prepare to meet your doom," Lucemon snarled threateningly. "The Legendary spirits will be mine once and for all!"

Suddenly the vortex gleamed and bolts of black lightning shot out of it; each of the Warriors was struck. With screams of agony they dropped to the ground and de-spirit evolved.

Takuya weakly lifted his head off the ground, his own injuries forgotten in light of concern for his friends. His fear increased tenfold when he saw their darkened forms surrounded by their Fractal Codes. He turned to Zoe, who was nearest to him, and feebly tried to inch his way over to her. "Z-Zoe…" he choked as his strength gave out and he collapsed again. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he looked around at the others, hoping at least one of them had recovered. "No, guys, c'mon, wake up!"

"That was much too easy; I cannot believe that the Legendary Spirits chose such weak hosts. If all humans are this pathetic, conquering both worlds will be practically effortless. How marvelous."

Takuya started as Lucemon began moving toward the others. "No…no, take me instead!" he screamed, floundering unsteadily to his feet.

Takuya started and sat bolt upright, panting fearfully. Sweat dripped from his brow and his hair hung limply. His haunted hazel eyes scanned the darkness of the room, expecting some unknown foe to attack at any moment. Of course, all was silent and motionless. Takuya wearily ran a hand down his face and sighed, willing his pulse and breathing to return to normal.

Against his will his thoughts meandered back in time, back to the actual events of the final battle with Lucemon. Obviously something was bothering his subconscious and as Takuya strove to remember the time he spent in the Digital World, he realized that those memories had faded. Irritated now, Takuya sighed again and the sound was more of a growl. He was restless, looking for a fight. He had noticed that recently, and it troubled him, but he had no idea how to reverse it.

Takuya tossed the tangled sheets aside and stalked over to his closet. He dropped to his knees and began frantically pawing through his belongings, tossing miscellaneous items aside as they got in the way. Finally he happened upon his prize and sat back, holding the deactivated cell phone in his hand. His mouth curved into a disappointed line – for some reason he had expected, or hoped, that he would find his D-Tector in its place. He snorted quietly, shunning his ridiculous thoughts.

"Yea right, keep dreaming pal," Takuya muttered sourly to himself as he rose and paced back to his bed. He dropped the phone on his nightstand, curled up and went back to sleep.

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Takuya groaned and rolled over, fleeing the light filtering through the blinds in his room. The illumination was relentless, warming his back uncomfortably. I thought I had closed those stupid things, Takuya thought irritably, attempting to bury his face in his pillow. Despite his best efforts the sunlight won out and he opened one eye to glare at the slanted patterns of light on the floor.

The alarm clock began screeching and Takuya snarled. With a swipe of his hand he knocked the device off the nightstand, unplugging it in the process. As he started to draw his hand back his fingers brushed against a smaller item and he froze. His quizzical gaze landed on the offending object and for a moment he was so surprised that he stopped breathing.

"My…my D-Tector," he gasped. Tentatively, wondering if he was dreaming, he picked the device up and ran his fingers over it gently. Tears pricked his eyes as the memories that had been so foggy cleared in his mind.

A sudden thought sobered his countenance: What does this mean?

Takuya shook his head; he had no idea. Clumsily he got to his feet, slipping the D-Tector beneath his pillow for safekeeping. At the moment he had bigger things to think about: lunch was being prepared.

The groggy teenager stepped out into the hallway and followed his nose to the kitchen where his mother was cooking eggs and bacon.

"It's about time you got up Takuya," his mother commented without moving her gaze from the stove. "I keep telling you that you're sleeping your life away but you never seem to take that to heart. I have to admit I'm disappointed."

Takuya rolled his eyes; this was an argument he'd heard over and over and was thoroughly sick of.

"I saw that," his mother snapped even though she was not looking at him.

Takuya couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he took his seat at the table. Shinya smirked across the table at him, happy that his brother was being yelled at yet again. Takuya stuck his tongue out at his younger brother.

"Takuya, would you set the table?"

Suppressing a sigh, Takuya rose and started toward the cabinets when he heard his brother snort in a failed attempt to keep from laughing.

"Shinya, you can lay out the silverware."

Immediately Shinya's amusement fled and he sullenly rose to do as his mother asked. It was Takuya's turn to smirk.

Lunch turned out to be a rather uneventful affair. Takuya and Shinya had a few verbal sparring matches that were gently but effectively extinguished by a comment from their mother. Takuya and Shinya were assigned the chore of cleaning the dishes, got into a fight with the soap suds, were reprimanded, and finished the task quickly. As soon as he could, Takuya snuck back to his room, closed and locked his door, and retrieved his D-Tector.