A/N: This is set many years after 02. It's really strange at first, but it makes more sense later. If you want to count this as having Takari, Jyoumi, and Sorato, I suppose you could, since it somewhat deals with their marriages. But it doesn't matter all that much to the story, because it's based on Sora and Yamato's daughter (partly T.K. and Kari's daughter... it may sound strange but just read). But Sora and Yamato do play a part in this story as them as a couple before (and after) their daughter's birth.
Protection, Part 1
A young girl, about eight, picked up an old-looking photo. Her hazel eyes grew wide, and she pushed her blonde hair out of her face. "Momma?" she asked. The woman on the couch looked over at her daughter. "Yes?" "Are these my real parents? With Uncle Taichi, you and dad, and Jyou and Koushiro?" the girl questioned, handing the photograph to her mother. "Y... yes... Where did you find this?" she asked. "Madelin gave it to me. She found it at her house." The woman pondered for a moment. Why would her brother have a picture like this out where his daughter could find it? Isn't this special to him? "Well, we'd better give it back to Uncle Taichi. This is a very special picture. But you can look at it if you like. Just don't wreck it." The small child took the picture in her hands, and looked at the smiling faces of everybody in the picture. She laughed. Uncle Taichi looked just the same. Her mom looked sort of different, but she'd seen pictures of her before so she knew it had to be her. Standing next to her was obviously her dad. He looked exactly the same as he does now. Jyou had the same face he still has now, although he wears contacts today. Koushiro looked... well, he looked like Koushiro. There was something there that never changed about him.
Then there were the two who had, before she thought about it, looked like strangers. Her real mom and her adoptive mom looked slightly similar, in hair color and eye color. But that was nothing to the distinct similarty between her real dad and her adoptive dad. She didn't know much about her real parents. She didn't even know their names. All she had was now this picture. It hurt her mom and dad too much to talk about them, so they must have been real close friends. It was then the girl noticed something. In the picture, everybody had a necklace thing around their necks, in the same shape. She couldn't see well enough to pick out if the designs were similar, but they had different colors to them. Then she recalled her mom having two necklaces that looked somewhat like that. One had what looked like a ribbon on it, the other was just a pretty design. She never wore them, though. She wondered if her mom would be angry or upset if she asked to see them.
She decided to forget about the necklaces, but she still had more questions. She'd already sort of upset her mom today, so she decided she'd better try and talk with her dad. She finally found him in the kitchen. He heard her come in, and glanced up from peeling potatoes to look at her. "What's that?" he asked. "It... It's a picture. But Dad? Do you have a minute?" He stopped and put down the potato and the peeler, and came and sat down at the kitchen table, where she was now sitting. "Yes?" he asked. "Dad, what were my real parent's names? And why don't you like to talk about them?" His face looked somewhat surprised. "What has all of a sudden made you think of them?" She pushed the photo towards him. "Oh my gosh..." he whispered, looking at the smiling faces. All of the original Digidestined were there, aside from Mimi who was taking the picture. He was there with his wife. His now brother-in-law was there, as well as Koushiro and Jyou. His daughter's real parents were there too, smiling. "How... how did you know these two were your real parents?" The girl swallowed. "Momma told me... But what were their names, and why don't you want to talk about them?" she asked. "I... I don't know how to say it, honey. But the truth is... Your real parents... their names were Yamato and Sora. They died in a shooting at the school they worked in... They were both teachers there. So that ment leaving you in either my care or your real mother's mother's care. Your grandma, though she was still young, couldn't take care of you. So I took you. Your Momma and I got married when you were two. We're actually younger than your real parents. They were Uncle Taichi's age. Momma doesn't like to talk about them because it hurts, same reason I don't. They were her very good friends. And as for me, your real mother was a wonderful person and a very good friend, but I'll never forget your father. He was my older brother."
The young girl gasped. "You mean my real dad was your brother? So even though you're legally my dad, you're really my uncle?" Her dad nodded. "Yes. You know what? I think I should give Izzy a call. He could probably tell you a little more, plus he knows what it's like. He was adopted too, you know." The girl gave her dad a strange look. "Izzy? Who's Izzy?" she asked. Her dad laughed. "Oh, that's an old nickname we had for Koushiro. And I know you know who he is," he explained. The girl laughed too. "Izzy? That's a funny name!" she said. She looked at her father, and after he didn't say anything for a while she ran off to her room.
Her dad picked up the phone and dialed Koushiro's number. He luckily picked up. "Moshi-moshi?" said the other line. "Izzy! I need your help."
"Takeru! Hey! I can't believe you still remember that old name... And you need my help? With what?"
"Julia. She found an old picture with Matt and Sora in it. I explained who they were and stuff, and she doesn't look like she's got a real problem with it, but do you think you can talk to her? I think maybe you could do a better job than I can, since you were adopted too. I have some other friends who were adopted, but she knows you pretty well. That's why I thought of you."
"Oh... I see. She can come over here if she likes. I'll take her out for ice cream and we can talk it over. How's Kari?"
"Kari's pretty good. Julia asked her first... you know, about Matt and Sora... So I don't know how she's doing with remembering them, since she asked her just before she asked me. I should probably go see how she is."
"You should, so I'll let you go. Should I pick up Julia today? I can right now if you like. It'll take about ten minutes to get there, but that's it."
"If you have the time, that would be great! If not, it's alright."
"I have plenty of time. My wife won't be home until tonight."
"Okay, see you soon then. Sayonara!"
Takeru set down the phone where it belonged, and went to find Hikari, his wife.
"Kari?" he asked. "Kari, where are you?"
"I'm here, honey," she said. Her voice was coming from their bedroom. Takeru walked in there, and sat on the bed next to Kari. "You okay?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes... I just couldn't help but thing what happened to them, TK. They had to die so much younger than they normally should have... I mean, they were only twenty-eight! All because of somebody being stupid. But I suppose, I should be thankful we still have Julia... She's like a miracle to us." Takeru nodded and hugged his wife close to him. "It happened years ago, Hikari. They're at rest now. I'm sure they went to heaven." Kari nodded, but buried her face deeper into Takeru's chest. "But if only they knew that we needed them here... It just makes me sad that Julia will never know her real parents... She was only three months old when they died."
TK sighed. Kari was right, she wouldn't ever know her real parents. Everybody except for the Digidestined and their close friends and relatives thought that Julia was their child. She certainly looked it, although she had Sora's personality, plus Yamato's shape of eyes. He just hoped that Izzy's talk would be good for her.
*~*~*~*~*
Julia was smarter than she looked. She knew Koushiro was coming over to get her, and she loved him, really she did. But she had a feeling there was something about her parents... Something nobody bothered to tell her. That's why she left... Towards the place where she thought her parents might be buried. She didn't know thier last name... She'd have to look through the whole place. But she didn't really care. In her hand, she clutched a necklace like her adoptive mothers' necklaces. She'd found it in an old box in her closet she'd never bothered to look through. It had the shape of a heart on it, and something led her to believe it had belonged to her mother. The only thing she left for anybody to have any clue she'd gone freely was a note on her bed... It simply said she'd be gone. She just didn't know what she was getting into.
*~*~*~*~*
Once Julia made it to the cemetary, she looked at every single grave
marker. None said anything even close to her mother or father's name. "Hey.
What are you looking for?" asked a sudden voice behind her. She turned
around quickly to see a man with dark green hair, and bright green eyes.
"W-w-what do you want?" Julia asked. "I'd like to help you. I know who
you are. In fact, I know you're name. You're Julia Ann Takaishi, though
your first true name was Jessica Ann Ishida. It was changed when you were
adopted by your uncle." Julia started shaking. How did this man know so
much about her? In fact, he knew more about her than SHE did. Her original
name was Jessica Ann Ishida? Was that the name her mother and father had
given her? It must have been. "H-how do you know so much about me?" she
asked. "Hmmm... I suppose you're old enough to know. You're eight now,
right?" the man asked. Julia just nodded. "Okay... You have a right to
know. Come with me." He took her hand, and she felt almost comforted for
a second, like this man was someone she knew. But he couldn't be, could
he? She'd never seen him before in her life... She's certainly remember
somebody with such green eyes as his, and how his hair was a strange form
of dark green. Suddenly she thought maybe she should run... What if this
man wasn't as nice as he seemed? But it was too late now... he already
had her. The only thing she could do was follow him to wherever he was
taking her.
A/N: So, how'd you like it so far? A little strange, I know, but hopefully
it will get better. And I have a fairly good New Year's resolution I thought
up last night: I will NOT diss my own fics anymore, unless they're really
truly bad. I will at least try to do that. Please R/R!