"Missile Flame!" roared Kimeramon, sending a fire-covered missile at Magnamon.
"Rosetta Stone!"
"Star Shower!"
Nefertimon and Pegasusmon's attacks blew the missile to pieces. Kimeramon glared at
them. "Fire Blaster!" Both armors dedigivolved into their younger selves. T.K. and Kari
ran forward, crying out their digimon's names.
"Gold Rush!"
"Tempest Wing!"
Another Fire Blaster smashed into Halsemon and Digmon, reducing them to
Armadillomon and Hawkmon.
Miyako raced forward. "No, Hawkmon! Please get up!"
"Armadillomon!" Iori yelled, following Miyako.
Daisuke sat up shakily from where he had been thrown by the initial blast. "What--who--
Magnamon--where am I?"
"Daisuke, get outta there!" T.K. shouted above a series of attacks.
Rubbing his head, Daisuke tried to stand up and failed. "Owwwwww...that hurt..."
"Run, everyone!" Magnamon yelled as Kimeramon's fist collided with his face. "I'll be--
all right, just go!"
Miyako nodded sharply and picked up her tired digimon. "Hang in there, Hawkmon."
Iori followed suit, grabbing Armadillomon. T.K. and Kari did the same with their
digimon. Daisuke just lay on the floor between the battling monsters, too dazed to move.
The rest of the digidestined began to follow the newer digidestined.
Suddenly the telltale light of dedigivolving began to glow around Magnamon. "Looks
like we lost," he murmured before becoming Veemon.
Kimeramon laughed evilly. "I agree wholly."
"WAIT!"
The digidestined whirled around in complete shock at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Wormmon!" Kari shrieked, jumping backwards impulsively.
"I'm going to help you...for Ken."
"What? Why?" Daisuke asked.
"For Ken," Wormmon repeated. "Ken needs me. I have to prove I can really battle! Plus,
the darkness is going to get him. I have to save Ken! I have to make him find himself
again before it's too late!"
"Whacked out!" Izzy exclaimed. "I don't believe a sidekick of Ken's could help us! OR
that Ken could be taken by darkness! He IS the darkness!"
"You get all sorts these days," Miyako said, eyeing Wormmon warily. Kimeramon
laughed, a throaty sound.
"A puny creature like you dares to defy me? MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Wormmon, get out of there! It's not worth it!" another familiar voice cried. Once again,
the digidestined whirled, and this time Mimi screamed.
"KEN!"
Ken gave a sharp nod and then turned back to Wormmon. "What are you doing, you'll get
killed, I'm FINE, don't sacrifice yourself for me!"
"You're my digi-partner, Ken. I have to save you!"
Tai blinked. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeird..."
Daisuke stood shakily and stumbled over to the rest of the digidestined as Wormmon
drew himself as high as a little green worm can.
Kimeramon laughed and leveled a cannon at Wormmon.
"NO!"
Ken tried to run forward, but Tai grabbed his arms. "Ken, let him do what he has to do!
You won't gain anything by running in there! Believe me, I know!"
"WORMMON!" Ken shouted as the courageous little worm ducked a Fire Blaster.
"STOP IT!"
Wormmon jumped at Kimeramon and bit his leg. The much larger digimon stumbled
backward. "Use the Dark Digivice, Master!"
" 'Dark Digivice'?" Daisuke asked. "You have a digivice, Ken?"
"I invented it way back when I tried to control Greymon!" He looked at the black digivice
on his belt loop. "But I don't think it will work..."
"Just try it!"
Suddenly Kimeramon fell to his knees; somehow Wormmon had managed to effectively
harm him. The combination digimon managed to send a devastating Missile Flame at the
smaller digimon before disintegrating.
"WORMMON!" Ken shouted, breaking out of Tai's grip and running to his fallen
digimon. "Wormmon, are you all right? Speak to me...God, I'm so sorry..."
"K-Ken, it's okay. I-I'm just fi-ine..." Wormmon said slowly.
"Jeez, Wormmon, look at you, you are NOT okay! It's all my fault, I should have used the
Dark Digivice or something--"
"Please, Ken, stop trying to t-take over the D-Digital World," Wormmon coughed. "Try
to f-find yourself again."
Mimi gasped as she remembered something...
~~~
"No...why won't anyone help me?..."
"Hey there, Mimi."
"Sora?"
"Do you know what that awful dream was trying to tell you?"
"I'm sorry, Sora, I'm so sorry..."
"You know what you have to do to make things right."
Mimi nodded, and Sora smiled. "Atta girl, I knew you'd find yourself again!"
The dreamy atmosphere dissolved into the glowing green of the Crest of Sincerity. "The
crest!"
~~~
"Find yourself Ken...for me..." Wormmon whispered as he dissolved into dust.
"Wormmon! No! Don't go! Oh, Lord, WORMMON!!!!!" Ken buried his face in his
hands, not seeing the digidestined. Mimi was crying on Joe's shoulder while he tried not
to cry himself and make his glasses fog up. Matt had his hand on T.K.'s shoulder and was
simply staring, open-mouthed, at Ken. T.K., in turn, was attempting to comfort a sobbing
Kari. Sora had pressed her hands to her mouth. Tai stood behind her, gazing, bewildered,
at Ken. Izzy had dropped his laptop with a loud clunk and slid to the floor, startled by this
sudden show of emotion. Daisuke was staring at his 'worthy adversary,' hardly daring to
believe what he was witnessing, not noticing that Miyako, like most of the girls, was
crying. And finally, Iori sat on the floor, surrounded by the digimon.
Eventually Ken stood up and walked over to the digidestined, obviously trying to pretend
that he didn't care. "It's all yours. The Digiworld. I'm going to give up control right now
by destroying the dark things I created." He turned and began to walk out the door.
"Ken. Wait."
Daisuke stepped slowly forward. "Ken, I think Wormmon was right. You CAN change.
You can be a digidestined, if you want. I officially accept you onto the DigiTeam."
Ken smiled slightly. "Yes, I suppose I wasn't the only evil guy around at all." He glanced
at the place where Wormmon had once been. "I guess--I guess it's what he would have
wanted me to do. I officially accept your offer to accept me onto the official DigiTeam."
He paused. "That didn't sound right, did it?"
Everyone started laughing, except Matt. Ken's just like me, he realized. He's the cold,
aloof one of the group, asking to be accepted. Just. Like. Me.
~~~
"Tai, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how much this friendship means to me..."
"It's okay, Matt, I do."
Then a glimmering light surrounded the boys and their digimon, and unheard by anyone
else, a warm voice whispered, "Yamato, you are once more part of this team. Go now, do
your part."
~~~
"Ken," Matt called over the noise of everyone alternately talking and crying.
"Yes, Yamato?"
"Matt. I'm Matt. If you aren't ready to go home yet, you can spend the night at my house.
Dad would never notice...that's how busy he is with his job."
The younger boy nodded slowly. "I think...I think I would like that."
~*~
Matt tossed a pillow down on top of the sleeping bag that lay on the floor. "Sure you
don't want to use my bed for tonight, Ken?"
Ken laughed. "You have no idea how nice it is for you to call me 'Ken' instead of
'Kaizer.'"
Matt flipped off the light switch and put on a stern face. "Now, Mr. Ichijouji, if you don't
go to sleep I'm calling your parents."
Ken laughed again. Matt closed his door to discourage his father from looking in on him
and took a running leap into bed. "Good night, Ken, see you in the morning."
Ten minutes later Matt heard a soft noise from the floor. He raised himself up on his
elbow and peered down at the floor. "You all right?"
"Y-Yeah, just fine."
Matt slid his feet out of bed and knelt beside Ken. "Hey, it's okay to cry."
"When my parents split up, I vowed that I would never let anyone see me cry. But really,
all I wanted to do was cry..."
"You can cry, Matt."
"Gabumon..."
"Wormmon...Matt, it's all my fault...if I never wanted to become so powerful, I never
would have gone to the Digiworld...he would be here with me, saying things like he used
to say...'Shouldn't you be going home soon, Ken?' 'Master, I'm having a little trouble
standing...' 'Remember the problems you had with Andromon...' 'Speak to me Master, two
words, one even,' Jeez, Matt, if I listened to him we would be okay! I was always so
mean to him..."
"Hey, man, it's not your fault at all." Absentmindedly Matt began to stroke Ken's hair as
he had done so often with T.K. in the Digiworld back when everything was so new to
them all. "You wouldn't know our story, of course, but what you've done is nothing
compared to me. At the beginning, Tai and I fought over everything. But then,
somewhere during the Myotismon era, we became friends. Then we lost it all...all
because I believed a stupid tree. That Cherrymon, he tricked me into believing Tai was
my rival and that I had to kill him. Gabumon...Gabumon promised he would stay with me
no matter what. So he warp-digivolved and we tried to kill Tai. Kari saved us, luckily, but
I left, and because of me, Mimi and Joe left the group, too. I was trying to find myself,
just like you are, but I nearly lost because of the darkness."
In the darkness of Matt's room, Ken nodded. "So then what happened to you? After the
darkness tried to get to you?"
"Gabumon saved me. I had to learn to cry, just like you did. I was eleven then, your age. I
understand more than you could ever believe."
"Your digimon isn't dead."
"Yeah, well, last I heard, a whole bunch of innocent and not-so-innocent digimon died
because of me. Pumpkinmon, Gotsumon, VenomMyotismon, Puppetmon, Piedmon,
Apocalymon, Cherrymon, and a lot of others, too."
"You didn't use Dark Rings to take over innocent digimon. You didn't sic old friends on
your enemies to make them not fight. You didn't instruct a Gardromon to trap Kari in the
Digiworld. You didn't--"
"Enough already with the guilt trip. It wasn't your fault." Matt gently stroked Ken's head.
"We're here for you, and don't you ever forget that."
"Thanks, Matt," Ken said softly. Matt was shocked to realize how much Ken sounded
like T.K. at that moment.
Matt climbed back into bed, but he didn't sleep. He laid there, staring up at the ceiling.
Ken might be a genius, but he's still just a kid, Matt reminded himself. He still needs
guidance at times.
Then Matt did something he hadn't done for over a year. He softly walked over to his
dresser and took out his precious harmonica. Raising it to his lips, he began to play. The
soulful sound echoed through his small bedroom, its notes spilling off the walls. The
music was practically tangible as it floated through the air.
Ken stirred a little and opened his smoky blue eyes. Matt immediately stopped playing.
"Gomen nasai, Ken. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? That's beautiful."
Matt grinned. "Arigatou, Ken-chan." Matt put the harmonica down and fell asleep.
~*~
The next morning dawned clear and sunny. Matt yawned and stood up. "Hey, Ken, if we
disguised you, you could probably come to school with me. Do some high school math
problems, you know. Math...such fun." Matt made a face.
Ken blinked. "You don't like math?"
Matt grimaced and shook his head. "Forget it, man. You can wear my old clothes and
pretend to be my cousin. And do something about that hair!"
Ken sighed. "Sheesh, and I thought something just a little more interesting than school
would happen on my first day back. Something like...I dunno...trying to take over Odaiba
with a Control Spire, maybe..."
Shaking his head, Matt laughed. "Sarcasm, kid. You're learning from the master." He
walked to his closet and searched through his clothes, eventually throwing some faded
jeans and a black T-shirt at Ken. "Dad's probably at work, now. You go get ready, and I'll
make breakfast."
While he flipped a pancake over in the pan, an irrelevant thought surfaced. ~How does
Ken do it? Act like nothing's wrong? If MY digimon were dead I wouldn't be making
jokes. Actually, that's not right, is it? Never mind...~ "Hey, Ken, you ready yet?"
Ken appeared in the doorway and Matt's jaw dropped. The eleven-year-old didn't look
like himself anymore; he had borrowed a pair of tennis shoes that made him an inch
taller. The jeans and T-shirt were nothing compared to his hair, which was combed back
under a hat so it didn't look so long. He had sunglasses on so that no one could see his
eyes.
"Wow, Ken, you're GOOD!" Matt cried.
Ken sighed. "This is SO weird. For lack of a better word, this is SO weird!"
~*~
At school no one paid much attention to Matt's "cousin" except his friends in the band,
who didn't notice, the teachers, and an occasional person who looked like they had
figured it out, but really hadn't.
Finally the last bell rang. Matt shoved his English book into his backpack. "Where to
now, Ken?"
"Your house, I have to get out of these clothes, no offense," Ken said.
Twenty minutes later Ken, back in his normal clothes, appeared in Matt's kitchen. "When
will your dad get back?"
Matt slowly shook his head. "Dad just called. He's coming home now because he works
better here, and he has a report to finish." Matt was silent for a minute and then said
quietly, "It's time for you to go home now, Ken."
Ken's eyes widened. "Home? After all I've DONE? No way!"
"Ken, you HAVE to go home sooner or later, sooner rather than later."
"Yeah, but..."
Matt grabbed a light jacket. "Come on, Ken, let's go." Ken silently followed his friend.
~After all I've done, I can't go home. Why was I so darn stupid?!~
~*~
Ken was trembling slightly by the time they reached his apartment building. He and Matt
ducked into the shadows.
"I can't do this, Matt, I can't! What'll I tell my parents?"
"You have to, Ken. You have to. I'll go first, if you want, tell 'em you're here."
Ken shook his head. "Nah, that's okay. I'll go with you. Looks like there's no police here
right now."
Matt gave a sharp nod, and the two started forward. Ken reached out to touch the
doorknob. "It's been a long time..."
"Hey, dude, it's your apartment building. Go in."
But Ken didn't have to. Obviously his parents had seen him coming, because the door
opened, startling Ken into jumping back. Then he threw himself forward. "Mom! Dad!
I'm so sorry!"
Neither Matt nor Ken noticed the rather short redhead leaning against a building opposite
them. The boy smiled and closed his eyes...
~~~
"Mom...Dad!"
And somewhere close by, "It's times like this I wish I had a Digi-mommy!"
~~~
Tentomon never knew that Izzy knew he had been watching...but Izzy did know. The boy
turned and walked away.
~I think Ken finally found himself...~
~I think Ken finally found himself...~
"Rosetta Stone!"
"Star Shower!"
Nefertimon and Pegasusmon's attacks blew the missile to pieces. Kimeramon glared at
them. "Fire Blaster!" Both armors dedigivolved into their younger selves. T.K. and Kari
ran forward, crying out their digimon's names.
"Gold Rush!"
"Tempest Wing!"
Another Fire Blaster smashed into Halsemon and Digmon, reducing them to
Armadillomon and Hawkmon.
Miyako raced forward. "No, Hawkmon! Please get up!"
"Armadillomon!" Iori yelled, following Miyako.
Daisuke sat up shakily from where he had been thrown by the initial blast. "What--who--
Magnamon--where am I?"
"Daisuke, get outta there!" T.K. shouted above a series of attacks.
Rubbing his head, Daisuke tried to stand up and failed. "Owwwwww...that hurt..."
"Run, everyone!" Magnamon yelled as Kimeramon's fist collided with his face. "I'll be--
all right, just go!"
Miyako nodded sharply and picked up her tired digimon. "Hang in there, Hawkmon."
Iori followed suit, grabbing Armadillomon. T.K. and Kari did the same with their
digimon. Daisuke just lay on the floor between the battling monsters, too dazed to move.
The rest of the digidestined began to follow the newer digidestined.
Suddenly the telltale light of dedigivolving began to glow around Magnamon. "Looks
like we lost," he murmured before becoming Veemon.
Kimeramon laughed evilly. "I agree wholly."
"WAIT!"
The digidestined whirled around in complete shock at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Wormmon!" Kari shrieked, jumping backwards impulsively.
"I'm going to help you...for Ken."
"What? Why?" Daisuke asked.
"For Ken," Wormmon repeated. "Ken needs me. I have to prove I can really battle! Plus,
the darkness is going to get him. I have to save Ken! I have to make him find himself
again before it's too late!"
"Whacked out!" Izzy exclaimed. "I don't believe a sidekick of Ken's could help us! OR
that Ken could be taken by darkness! He IS the darkness!"
"You get all sorts these days," Miyako said, eyeing Wormmon warily. Kimeramon
laughed, a throaty sound.
"A puny creature like you dares to defy me? MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Wormmon, get out of there! It's not worth it!" another familiar voice cried. Once again,
the digidestined whirled, and this time Mimi screamed.
"KEN!"
Ken gave a sharp nod and then turned back to Wormmon. "What are you doing, you'll get
killed, I'm FINE, don't sacrifice yourself for me!"
"You're my digi-partner, Ken. I have to save you!"
Tai blinked. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeird..."
Daisuke stood shakily and stumbled over to the rest of the digidestined as Wormmon
drew himself as high as a little green worm can.
Kimeramon laughed and leveled a cannon at Wormmon.
"NO!"
Ken tried to run forward, but Tai grabbed his arms. "Ken, let him do what he has to do!
You won't gain anything by running in there! Believe me, I know!"
"WORMMON!" Ken shouted as the courageous little worm ducked a Fire Blaster.
"STOP IT!"
Wormmon jumped at Kimeramon and bit his leg. The much larger digimon stumbled
backward. "Use the Dark Digivice, Master!"
" 'Dark Digivice'?" Daisuke asked. "You have a digivice, Ken?"
"I invented it way back when I tried to control Greymon!" He looked at the black digivice
on his belt loop. "But I don't think it will work..."
"Just try it!"
Suddenly Kimeramon fell to his knees; somehow Wormmon had managed to effectively
harm him. The combination digimon managed to send a devastating Missile Flame at the
smaller digimon before disintegrating.
"WORMMON!" Ken shouted, breaking out of Tai's grip and running to his fallen
digimon. "Wormmon, are you all right? Speak to me...God, I'm so sorry..."
"K-Ken, it's okay. I-I'm just fi-ine..." Wormmon said slowly.
"Jeez, Wormmon, look at you, you are NOT okay! It's all my fault, I should have used the
Dark Digivice or something--"
"Please, Ken, stop trying to t-take over the D-Digital World," Wormmon coughed. "Try
to f-find yourself again."
Mimi gasped as she remembered something...
~~~
"No...why won't anyone help me?..."
"Hey there, Mimi."
"Sora?"
"Do you know what that awful dream was trying to tell you?"
"I'm sorry, Sora, I'm so sorry..."
"You know what you have to do to make things right."
Mimi nodded, and Sora smiled. "Atta girl, I knew you'd find yourself again!"
The dreamy atmosphere dissolved into the glowing green of the Crest of Sincerity. "The
crest!"
~~~
"Find yourself Ken...for me..." Wormmon whispered as he dissolved into dust.
"Wormmon! No! Don't go! Oh, Lord, WORMMON!!!!!" Ken buried his face in his
hands, not seeing the digidestined. Mimi was crying on Joe's shoulder while he tried not
to cry himself and make his glasses fog up. Matt had his hand on T.K.'s shoulder and was
simply staring, open-mouthed, at Ken. T.K., in turn, was attempting to comfort a sobbing
Kari. Sora had pressed her hands to her mouth. Tai stood behind her, gazing, bewildered,
at Ken. Izzy had dropped his laptop with a loud clunk and slid to the floor, startled by this
sudden show of emotion. Daisuke was staring at his 'worthy adversary,' hardly daring to
believe what he was witnessing, not noticing that Miyako, like most of the girls, was
crying. And finally, Iori sat on the floor, surrounded by the digimon.
Eventually Ken stood up and walked over to the digidestined, obviously trying to pretend
that he didn't care. "It's all yours. The Digiworld. I'm going to give up control right now
by destroying the dark things I created." He turned and began to walk out the door.
"Ken. Wait."
Daisuke stepped slowly forward. "Ken, I think Wormmon was right. You CAN change.
You can be a digidestined, if you want. I officially accept you onto the DigiTeam."
Ken smiled slightly. "Yes, I suppose I wasn't the only evil guy around at all." He glanced
at the place where Wormmon had once been. "I guess--I guess it's what he would have
wanted me to do. I officially accept your offer to accept me onto the official DigiTeam."
He paused. "That didn't sound right, did it?"
Everyone started laughing, except Matt. Ken's just like me, he realized. He's the cold,
aloof one of the group, asking to be accepted. Just. Like. Me.
~~~
"Tai, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how much this friendship means to me..."
"It's okay, Matt, I do."
Then a glimmering light surrounded the boys and their digimon, and unheard by anyone
else, a warm voice whispered, "Yamato, you are once more part of this team. Go now, do
your part."
~~~
"Ken," Matt called over the noise of everyone alternately talking and crying.
"Yes, Yamato?"
"Matt. I'm Matt. If you aren't ready to go home yet, you can spend the night at my house.
Dad would never notice...that's how busy he is with his job."
The younger boy nodded slowly. "I think...I think I would like that."
~*~
Matt tossed a pillow down on top of the sleeping bag that lay on the floor. "Sure you
don't want to use my bed for tonight, Ken?"
Ken laughed. "You have no idea how nice it is for you to call me 'Ken' instead of
'Kaizer.'"
Matt flipped off the light switch and put on a stern face. "Now, Mr. Ichijouji, if you don't
go to sleep I'm calling your parents."
Ken laughed again. Matt closed his door to discourage his father from looking in on him
and took a running leap into bed. "Good night, Ken, see you in the morning."
Ten minutes later Matt heard a soft noise from the floor. He raised himself up on his
elbow and peered down at the floor. "You all right?"
"Y-Yeah, just fine."
Matt slid his feet out of bed and knelt beside Ken. "Hey, it's okay to cry."
"When my parents split up, I vowed that I would never let anyone see me cry. But really,
all I wanted to do was cry..."
"You can cry, Matt."
"Gabumon..."
"Wormmon...Matt, it's all my fault...if I never wanted to become so powerful, I never
would have gone to the Digiworld...he would be here with me, saying things like he used
to say...'Shouldn't you be going home soon, Ken?' 'Master, I'm having a little trouble
standing...' 'Remember the problems you had with Andromon...' 'Speak to me Master, two
words, one even,' Jeez, Matt, if I listened to him we would be okay! I was always so
mean to him..."
"Hey, man, it's not your fault at all." Absentmindedly Matt began to stroke Ken's hair as
he had done so often with T.K. in the Digiworld back when everything was so new to
them all. "You wouldn't know our story, of course, but what you've done is nothing
compared to me. At the beginning, Tai and I fought over everything. But then,
somewhere during the Myotismon era, we became friends. Then we lost it all...all
because I believed a stupid tree. That Cherrymon, he tricked me into believing Tai was
my rival and that I had to kill him. Gabumon...Gabumon promised he would stay with me
no matter what. So he warp-digivolved and we tried to kill Tai. Kari saved us, luckily, but
I left, and because of me, Mimi and Joe left the group, too. I was trying to find myself,
just like you are, but I nearly lost because of the darkness."
In the darkness of Matt's room, Ken nodded. "So then what happened to you? After the
darkness tried to get to you?"
"Gabumon saved me. I had to learn to cry, just like you did. I was eleven then, your age. I
understand more than you could ever believe."
"Your digimon isn't dead."
"Yeah, well, last I heard, a whole bunch of innocent and not-so-innocent digimon died
because of me. Pumpkinmon, Gotsumon, VenomMyotismon, Puppetmon, Piedmon,
Apocalymon, Cherrymon, and a lot of others, too."
"You didn't use Dark Rings to take over innocent digimon. You didn't sic old friends on
your enemies to make them not fight. You didn't instruct a Gardromon to trap Kari in the
Digiworld. You didn't--"
"Enough already with the guilt trip. It wasn't your fault." Matt gently stroked Ken's head.
"We're here for you, and don't you ever forget that."
"Thanks, Matt," Ken said softly. Matt was shocked to realize how much Ken sounded
like T.K. at that moment.
Matt climbed back into bed, but he didn't sleep. He laid there, staring up at the ceiling.
Ken might be a genius, but he's still just a kid, Matt reminded himself. He still needs
guidance at times.
Then Matt did something he hadn't done for over a year. He softly walked over to his
dresser and took out his precious harmonica. Raising it to his lips, he began to play. The
soulful sound echoed through his small bedroom, its notes spilling off the walls. The
music was practically tangible as it floated through the air.
Ken stirred a little and opened his smoky blue eyes. Matt immediately stopped playing.
"Gomen nasai, Ken. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? That's beautiful."
Matt grinned. "Arigatou, Ken-chan." Matt put the harmonica down and fell asleep.
~*~
The next morning dawned clear and sunny. Matt yawned and stood up. "Hey, Ken, if we
disguised you, you could probably come to school with me. Do some high school math
problems, you know. Math...such fun." Matt made a face.
Ken blinked. "You don't like math?"
Matt grimaced and shook his head. "Forget it, man. You can wear my old clothes and
pretend to be my cousin. And do something about that hair!"
Ken sighed. "Sheesh, and I thought something just a little more interesting than school
would happen on my first day back. Something like...I dunno...trying to take over Odaiba
with a Control Spire, maybe..."
Shaking his head, Matt laughed. "Sarcasm, kid. You're learning from the master." He
walked to his closet and searched through his clothes, eventually throwing some faded
jeans and a black T-shirt at Ken. "Dad's probably at work, now. You go get ready, and I'll
make breakfast."
While he flipped a pancake over in the pan, an irrelevant thought surfaced. ~How does
Ken do it? Act like nothing's wrong? If MY digimon were dead I wouldn't be making
jokes. Actually, that's not right, is it? Never mind...~ "Hey, Ken, you ready yet?"
Ken appeared in the doorway and Matt's jaw dropped. The eleven-year-old didn't look
like himself anymore; he had borrowed a pair of tennis shoes that made him an inch
taller. The jeans and T-shirt were nothing compared to his hair, which was combed back
under a hat so it didn't look so long. He had sunglasses on so that no one could see his
eyes.
"Wow, Ken, you're GOOD!" Matt cried.
Ken sighed. "This is SO weird. For lack of a better word, this is SO weird!"
~*~
At school no one paid much attention to Matt's "cousin" except his friends in the band,
who didn't notice, the teachers, and an occasional person who looked like they had
figured it out, but really hadn't.
Finally the last bell rang. Matt shoved his English book into his backpack. "Where to
now, Ken?"
"Your house, I have to get out of these clothes, no offense," Ken said.
Twenty minutes later Ken, back in his normal clothes, appeared in Matt's kitchen. "When
will your dad get back?"
Matt slowly shook his head. "Dad just called. He's coming home now because he works
better here, and he has a report to finish." Matt was silent for a minute and then said
quietly, "It's time for you to go home now, Ken."
Ken's eyes widened. "Home? After all I've DONE? No way!"
"Ken, you HAVE to go home sooner or later, sooner rather than later."
"Yeah, but..."
Matt grabbed a light jacket. "Come on, Ken, let's go." Ken silently followed his friend.
~After all I've done, I can't go home. Why was I so darn stupid?!~
~*~
Ken was trembling slightly by the time they reached his apartment building. He and Matt
ducked into the shadows.
"I can't do this, Matt, I can't! What'll I tell my parents?"
"You have to, Ken. You have to. I'll go first, if you want, tell 'em you're here."
Ken shook his head. "Nah, that's okay. I'll go with you. Looks like there's no police here
right now."
Matt gave a sharp nod, and the two started forward. Ken reached out to touch the
doorknob. "It's been a long time..."
"Hey, dude, it's your apartment building. Go in."
But Ken didn't have to. Obviously his parents had seen him coming, because the door
opened, startling Ken into jumping back. Then he threw himself forward. "Mom! Dad!
I'm so sorry!"
Neither Matt nor Ken noticed the rather short redhead leaning against a building opposite
them. The boy smiled and closed his eyes...
~~~
"Mom...Dad!"
And somewhere close by, "It's times like this I wish I had a Digi-mommy!"
~~~
Tentomon never knew that Izzy knew he had been watching...but Izzy did know. The boy
turned and walked away.
~I think Ken finally found himself...~
~I think Ken finally found himself...~