Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Story Title: Being of Two Worlds
Chapter Title: Angel's Fair Face
Story Word Count: 8,908
Chapter Word Count: 8,908
Rated: PG-13
Romance: Adam Park x Angewomon
Notes: This is set after Countdown To Destruction and three years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02. Digimon are known to exist, but except for the partners of the international Chosen, have not spread out of Japan as of yet. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: One former Power Ranger. One angelic female Digimon. One mission to save the world. And to fall in love with each other.

"Hand me the pliers, would you, Adam?" Billy Cranston didn't even bother to look up from the work he was doing as he held his hand out. Adam Park dropped the appropriate tool there carefully and leaned back in the chair he'd been occupying since his arrival only a few minutes earlier. "Thanks."

"So what are you trying to do again?" The dark-haired ex-Ranger asked his old friend.

"Simple." Billy started to work carefully. "If I can get this repaired, I should be able to tap into the teleportation system that the Power Chamber used. If I can get that working, I might be able to get the schematics of the system worked out."

Adam nodded slowly, processing all of this. "And if you do that, then it'll be one big help getting Terra Venture off the ground, and give the people a way to get from one end of it to the other without running their legs into the ground or using up extra fuel for those little cars someone was talking about having there to get from one place to another. They're going to need all the fuel they can get, after all. No place to stop for a refill out there."

"Exactly." Billy worked carefully, the main focus of his attention on what he was doing, not the conversation. He knew this was going to work. It had to work. You really should be asking one of the Alphas for help with this. His conscience murmured to him. He tried not to pay attention to it. He knew that it was right; but it was a point of pride for him to work this out on his own. I can do it. It's not that hard.

The former Green Ranger watched his friend work, and couldn't help but be reminded of all the times he'd seen that before, back during their active Ranger days. It's like his natural state is fixing something. He knew Billy could do so much more than that, but still, fixing things just seemed to be what he did.

"How much longer do you think you're going to be working on that thing?" Adam wondered. He hadn't come by here just to watch Billy work, no matter how nostalgic that was. "It's almost noon, you know: lunchtime."

Billy moved slightly to peek out at him. "I know. I'm only going to be another couple of minutes. This is a critical point here, though."

"I've heard that before, Billy." Adam rolled his eyes slightly. "Whenever you get really wrapped up in something, everything else takes a back seat."

The ex-Blue Ranger didn't say anything else, only went back to what he'd already been doing. Adam shook his head; he knew Billy knew he was right. The only thing he could really hope for was that Billy stopped for food at some point. He'd run himself into the ground and not even think twice about it if someone didn't make him stop.

He was just about to get up and make some kind of a food run when Billy pulled himself from under the consoles he'd been trying so laboriously to put back together. "All right, just one last thing to try." The young genius' fingers danced across the keyboard next to him for a moment, looking intently at the screen before him. "I'm going to need some help here, Adam."

"Help?" Adam looked a trifle confused. "What kind of help?" He wasn't quite certain just how to handle this. He'd talked to enough of the Rangers over the years, and known Billy long enough, to know that helping in one of his experiments could have some very odd side effects. This seemed doubly so when he was trying to work on anything that could be Power Ranger related.

Billy nodded, turning to look at him. "I think I have everything set up right, but the problem is, I need to test it, and it has to be on something living, and something intelligent enough to be able to understand instructions. The only thing around here that qualifies is you."

Adam blinked for a moment, running that over in his head, then grinned. "If I ever figure out that there's an insult to me in there somewhere, you're in for it, you know that?" The teasing tone took any venom that might've been in his words out of them as the two of them grinned at one another. "All right, what do I do?"

"Do you still have your communicator?" Billy asked, and Adam lifted his wrist, showing the device. "Good. Now, I'm only planning on sending you about ten miles away, so you should be able to still contact me. Much more than that, and you'd be out of range, so don't go wandering off." He started to press keys and flips switches and dials on various things. "Once you get where you're going, I want you to contact me. I'll see what kind of strain, if any, the system took and then bring you back here. That's all it should take. No sweat."

Adam nodded quickly. It seemed simple enough, but he wasn't going to take it for granted that it would stay that simple. This is Billy and one of his projects we're talking about. He came over to where Billy indicated he should stand and waited. He'd lost track of all the times and ways he'd been teleported since he'd first made the acquaintance of the Power Rangers, but never had he been quite as uneasy as he was now. This thing is in bad shape. He took a quick glance over everything, and tried very hard not to visibly wince.

Billy had set up a small workshop in the ruins of the Power Chamber. He'd spent weeks sorting through everything until he found all the necessary parts for the teleportation system, and then he'd gotten to work repairing it all. It had taken almost two months to get it all found, and another month afterwards to repair. Things weren't as simple as they'd been back when the Power Chamber had had all the tools he needed to get things done.

But it looks like everything is ready now. Adam watched a trifle nervously as Billy continued to program things. He tried very hard not to notice just how bad things were here. No one had really done anything with the ruins since their initial destruction. There was just too much else to be done, in other places. They'd been left to the elements for so long now. Maybe we should try and clean them up or something. Maybe get a memorial put here for Zordon.

That would be something he'd talk about with the others once this was over. For now, he had this little obstacle to get through first. "Everything going all right there, Billy?"

"Yeah, just fine. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be for this. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm scared." Adam fidgeted just a bit. "Let's get it done."

Billy grinned over at him. "Ready over here." He reached down, one finger hovering over the enter key. "Let's hope this works out."

"Trust me, you're not hoping half as much as I am, Billy. Are you sure this thing is safe?"

The ex-Blue Ranger grinned teasingly at him. "If I'm wrong, I'll pay for the next three dates you have. Deal?"

"Deal." Adam spoke the word before it actually hit him just what Billy had said. If this device wasn't safe, then the odds were very good he was going to be dead or worse, and Billy was offering to pay for a meal?? He jerked his head up to glare at his friend. "What?"

"It's a joke, Adam. This thing is perfectly safe." Billy jabbed his finger onto the key and Adam felt the familiar and long unfelt shiver of teleportation wrap around him. Things began to dissolve into a silvery white haze, and he shivered briefly.

"This is...weird." He knew it was different from the other times he'd teleported; they had been instanteous, this was taking up much more time. "I feel so...whoa!!"

All of a sudden, his body had jerked, and everything around him faded away into nothingness. Then, all of that was replaced by the harsh clear noon light of the desert, and Adam dropped briefly to his knees, panting. A teleportation had never taken that much out of him before, and it wasn't a good feeling.

"Adam? Adam?" He looked down at the communicator on his wrist and just managed to bring it up to his lips. "Oh, man, I hope nothing went wrong, I checked everything and it seemed to be all right."

"Billy." Adam croaked the word out. "Billy, I'm okay, I just feel like I got kicked by the Super Zeo MegaZord, that's all. Kicked hard." He groaned, staring down at the desert floor beneath him. Guess the only way to find out if I'm going to be able to do this is to do it. He took in several gulping breaths first, trying to gather up the nerve to try and get up.

There was a moment of silence, then Billy's voice came back. "Sounds like I still need to do some refining on it. I should be able to bring you back without killing you though."

"If it feels like this when I get back, only twice over, I think I'd rather be dead." Adam groaned as he levered himself to his feet. "But let's get it over with."

He didn't hear what, if anything, Billy said in response, only felt the teleportation grip him again. Everything seemed just like it had before at first...then there was something that felt like an explosion.

He had time for one thought. What in the world is going on??? Afterwards, there was nothing but pain, darkness, and disorientation for a very long time.

Angewomon coursed through the jungle, wishing for the thousandth time that she had been able to bring Hikari with her. If something happens and I get knocked back down to Tailmon or even Plotmon, then I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. She tried not to think too much about that, however. Trouble was best not borrowed ahead of time.

It wasn't as if she didn't have enough problems to deal with, of course. Being without her partner was bad enough, but what was worrying her even more was if she somehow failed on her mission.

Can't happen. Won't happen. The beautiful angel tried to cheer herself up. She hadn't failed a mission since...well...since Vamdemon had sent her to find Hikari. And it was debatable if she'd really failed that one. I found her, but I could never have destroyed her. She was grateful for that as well.

She came to a rest on a tree branch, looking around for a moment to sort out where she was. She had never been fond of travel in the human world, and doubly so when she wasn't even on the Earth that she knew passably well. It's better if I'm with my partner. That had to be part of the problem. She had spent quite a long time without Hikari, but she'd also had Wizarmon with her then, and the others of Vamdemon's service. Only Wizarmon had been her friend, but at least the others had been some form of company for her.

That was the real problem, then, she decided. She was lonely. This was the first time in all her life since coming into Vamdemon's employ that she had ever truly been alone. It was unnerving. Wizarmon first, then Hikari. Then when she had to go, I had the other Chosen Digimon. They'd been very good company for three years, but she was definitely glad when the gates had opened and Hikari was there with her again.

Since then, she hadn't been alone even for a heartbeat. Until now.

Being alone isn't important. She chided herself. What's important is getting the Angelic Talisman and bringing it back. She pushed her golden hair out of her way and looked around again, trying to find just which way she should go. Gennai couldn't have given me a map or something.

As she looked this way and that, she frowned briefly. What's that? A small globe of white light had lit up the jungle for a moment not that far away. If she hadn't been looking in just that spot at just that moment, she probably would have missed it. "Maybe it's the Talisman!" Her eyes lit up behind her helmet for a moment, and she quickly took off to check the situation out.

It only took her a few minutes to get there, and if it had been clear terrain instead of the thick jungle everywhere, she probably could have seen what it was from where she'd been in the first place. Where is that thing? She couldn't see anything that would even resemble a light, or a fire-trail if it had been something like that. Everything seemed normal...if you don't count that human down there.

For a heartbeat she almost missed it. Then, as her mind grasped just what it was that she had seen, she arrowed down swiftly and landed, folding her wings close to her body as much as she could to keep them out of the way of the vines and tree branches.

There he was. He was curled up in a fetal position, much bigger than most of the kids and older teenagers she tended to associate with. She couldn't see his face from the way he was laying, but she was very certain that he was strong and probably into martial arts. He had the same kind of coiled readiness that she'd seen in Ken, Iori, or Iori's grandfather Chikara. Just looking at the evidence of that strength, in the well-made muscles, and relaxed but ready posture, made a delicious shiver go all throughout her. Now why would that affect me when I see it in him, but not when I see it in people I know? Well, Chikara was old, and Ken and Iori weren't all that mature physically. Whoever he was, he was definitely adult, and that made all the difference.

He also didn't seem to be moving all that much, though his regular breathing told her that he was alive. She had no idea what he was doing here, his outfit seemed more like the type someone in a town or city would wear, not something a jungle-dweller would don. And what do you know about people who live in the jungle? The only thing you've seen of it is when you were watching old movies with Hikari and Taichi!!

She almost jumped out of her uniform when a soft groan issued from the stranger. I shouldn't be bothering with him. I have an important mission to deal with. She couldn't bring herself to leave him though.

He turned over slowly, his eyes fluttering, and then opened, blinking to clear his vision quickly. "Whoa..." It took her a moment to understand what he was saying, then it sank in he was speaking English. She thanked her lucky stars that Hikari had been doing very well in English and that her partner had taken the time to educate her in the foreign tongue. "That hurt..."

"Are you all right?" She watched him carefully, ready to fly away at a moment's notice if he turned out to be hostile. It wasn't as if their enemies didn't know where she was going...

He looked up at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened in shock. "I...I must be seeing things...you can't be an angel!!"

"And why can't I be?" Angewomon replied a tad tartly. This was not a reaction she'd had before. "I'm Angewomon, a Perfection level Angel Digimon, and I'd like to know why you think I can't be an angel!"

The stranger blushed a little as he sat up. "Well, I've never met an angel before. The only time I've ever heard of someone meeting one was if they were dead. And I hurt too much to be dead."

"You're not dead, and I know that I'm not." She looked him over carefully. "Just who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Adam Park. I was helping a friend of mine with something and there was some kind of accident, and I came here." He looked around even more, then his head snapped around to her. "You're a Digimon??"

Angewomon nodded casually. "I always have been and I always will be. Haven't you met one before?"

"Never." Adam shook his head. "I've heard of them, but all over in New York City. I'm from California."

"I've never been there." Angewomon instinctively reached out to help him up. "But what are you doing here?"

Adam looked around carefully, trying to recall just where he'd seen vegetation like this before. "Where is here? I didn't think I was anywhere near a jungle."

"You're on Phaedos. At least, that's why Gennai told me this place was called." Angewomon held onto his shoulder until he seemed ready to stand on his own. "I've never been here before myself, so I don't know."

His eyes went even wider. "I'm on Phaedos??" The thought was definitely shocking.

"I guess you've heard of it before?" She wondered a tad dryly. From his reaction, she was very certain of her assumption. It did look as if this was one of the last places he'd ever expected to be, however.

"You could say that. I came here a long time ago with some friends of mine. I never imagined we'd come back, though. I wonder if Dulcea's still here. Maybe she can help get me home." He looked all around, then looked back at her. "What are you doing here, though? I've never heard of a Digimon who can travel off of Earth...though I guess if you can go between dimensions, that's not so impressive."

Angewomon shrugged. "I was sent here. Gennai, our guide and mentor, had me come here."

"Why?"

She looked at him for a moment, not quite certain if he was trustworthy, then remembered what she'd been told. Phaedos and the many powers it contains are guarded by Dulcea. Anyone that she has permitted there can be trusted. "I don't know if you've heard about it or not, but in the Digital World, there is a powerful evil Digimon called Demon. We had banished him some years ago, but now he's returned, stronger than ever. Normally the attacks of a holy Digimon such as myself, or Holy Angemon, would be able to deal with him, but he has acquired the Talisman of Shadow. As long as he wields it, he is immune to our strongest attacks." She shook her head sadly. "Demon must be stopped. If he can take over the Digital World, then it's only a matter of time until he also takes over the human world."

Adam shuddered at her description, then looked at him. "What does that have to do with what you're doing here, though?"

"According to what Gennai told us, long ago there was an opposite to the Talisman of Shadow: the Angelic Talisman. It increases the power of holy Digimon to the point that the Talisman of Shadow cannot protect against it. If I can get it from the person who is protecting it, and bring it back with me, then Demon will be defeated, and our world at peace once more."

The young man looked at her, then stood up quietly. "If you want help, I'll give it. I've never let anything evil take over this planet before, and I'm not going to start now." He looked at the incredulous expression on her face and smiled a bit. "I guess you haven't heard of the Power Rangers in the Digital World, have you?"

Angewomon knew she looked just as amazed as he had when he'd seen her, and tried not to feel too ashamed of herself. Why did she feel so strange around him? This was so different from anything she'd ever felt before. She tried to keep her mind focused on what was important here. "No, I haven't." She spread her wings and started to hover a few feet off the ground, feeling a thrill when he stared at her as if he'd never seen anything like her. And he probably hasn't. "Why don't you tell me about them as we go along? It'll pass the time."

She had no idea why she was accepting his offer of help, but one thing she had learned during her years with Hikari: never turn down a potential friend.

Angewomon kept her eyes mostly on the path ahead, but every now and then they kept drifting over towards Adam. He moved quickly and smoothly, any after effects from his unexpected arrival here having worn off already. As they traveled, he told her about what it was to be a Power Ranger, and she found herself mentally comparing it to the sentai shows that Hikari still liked to watch. Some of the enemies and foot soldiers they had to deal with sounded quite similar to what she'd seen on some of the shows.

"I wish I'd went to visit Zack in New York. He's another former Ranger, like me, and he lives there now. We've kept in touch over the years." Adam commented as they worked their way through a particularly rough patch of jungle terrain. "The last time he e-mailed me, he told me his cousin Sam had a Digimon."

Angewomon thought for a moment, thinking back to the various Digimon she'd seen partnered with the American Chosen Children. "Oh, yes, that must be Flarerizamon's partner. The last time I visited them, he mentioned something about having a relative who once came from California, but I haven't actually met him myself."

"It might've been nice if you had went." Angewomon grinned at him. "If you had we might've met there. Hikari visits her friend Mimi there quite often, at least once a month or so. I think she's considering going to college there after she's done with high school."

Adam glanced over at her. "Do you always go where she does?"

"We're partners." Angewomon reminded him. "Partners stick together." For a moment she looked sad. "I went too long without her not to stay with her."

The ex-Ranger hesitated briefly. He could tell something had disturbed the beautiful angel, but he wasn't quite certain if it were right for him to ask about it. Finally he decided on the safer question. "Where is she now? I mean, if you guys are always supposed to be together, but you're here alone..."

She appeared much more relieved by him asking that than anything else he could've asked. "I had to come alone. I didn't want to, but Gennai said it was important for some reason. He doesn't always give explanations, just tells us what is necessary for us to do."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Adam muttered under his breath, his mind flashing back to all the time he'd spent with Zordon and Dimitria.

"I'm not really even certain how I got here, there are no Digital Ports." Angewomon looked slightly concerned. "And I really don't know how I'm going to get back once I get the Talisman."

Adam ducked under a tree branch and shrugged. "Since we're on Phaedos, we should be able to find Dulcea somewhere. She should be able to send us both back to where we came from."

"Good." Angewomon nodded abruptly. "The others can't be doing well. Demon's powers are too great." For a few moments she was silent, then she shook her head. "I'm surprised my English is so good. I didn't think I'd been studying that well."

Adam recognized a change of subject when he heard one, but he didn't feel like protesting right now. "You speak it very well. I didn't know Digimon could do multiple languages."

"Well, since you said you'd never met a Digimon, I'd imagine there's a lot you don't know about us." She grinned at him, and he was struck all over again by just how flawless she was. He couldn't see her full face, but he didn't seem to need to. Everything else was just perfect the way it was.

"I guess you're right." He set a foot carefully on a moss-covered branch and started to haul himself up carefully. He would've preferred, really, to travel more on the ground, but around here things were too thick for any kind of pathway. "Do you have any idea how far it is to where you're going? And are you going to see Dulcea?"

"I believe so. Gennai didn't give me any name for the guardian of the Talisman, but he said it was protected by the strongest of warriors."

Adam nodded. "That's Dulcea, all right. She took down Tommy in under a second flat, and I've never seen anyone doing that before." Of course, he'd also been off guard, but Adam had seen other attackers try to take Tommy when he was off guard and none of them had been able to succeed.

"Do you know where to find her, then?" Angewomon looked at him hopefully, and bit back disappointment when Adam shook his head. "Then how did you meet with her the last time?"

"We were on the beach and were attacked by Tengu." Adam recalled. "They were tearing us apart, until Dulcea showed up."

He described the battle and how the guardian of the Great Power had saved them all, then brought them to the Ninjetti Temple to have their powers restored. "We haven't seen her since we left there, though."

Angewomon heard something in his voice, something she couldn't identify. It sounded just a bit like longing, but she wasn't all that certain. "Do you miss her?"

"Kind of. She was an amazing person and I wish I could've gotten to know her better." Adam carefully twisted around a tree and looked around. "This looks a little familiar." He frowned, then darted ahead quickly to peer through some trees and foliage. "I was right! Angewomon, come here, I know which way to go!"

She fluttered over to him, wincing faintly at the pain that was starting to shoot up her wings. There's not enough space here for me to really stretch them, and they're starting to cramp! She landed beside him and peered the way he was looking. "It's a bunch of old bones."

"I know." Adam grinned as he squirmed through to stand by them. "So I know how to get to Dulcea's temple from here. When we were on the way to the Monolith from the Temple, we ran into these bones here." He laid a familiar hand on one of the bones and smiled.

The smile dropped off of his face as the bones heaved up suddenly, reknitting themselves together in the blinking of an eye. Angewomon looked around quickly, then leaped up into the air, hovering a few feet off of the ground. Not space enough to really fly, but I think I can manage to pull off a Holy Arrow. But would that work? Her mind had shifted almost at once into battle mode.

Adam leaped back as the bones became animate once more, forming the shape of the creature he and the others had fought way back when. "I don't mind nostalgia, but this is going just a bit too far!"

The bone-creature started to slug towards him, moving as quickly and easily as it must have in life, glowering at him with non existent eyes. It's horned head swung towards him, and he backflipped quickly, needing room to fight.

"This thing's as ugly as SkullGreymon." Angewomon hovered for a moment, her attention never leaving the creature as she prepared to attack.

"I'm gonna guess that's really ugly!" Adam whirled back, one powerful leg kicking into the skull of the creature as he did so. He needed to get on the back of it, where Tommy had been, to remove the bone that kept it together. Of course that was kind of impossible when it wasn't letting him move more than a few inches, and none of those were anywhere near where he needed to be.

She nodded quickly. "You have no idea. But do you have a plan?" If he'd fought this thing before, he might know weaknesses she didn't. This wasn't a Digimon, and she didn't have any experience fighting non-Digimon enemies. "What's this thing like, anyway?"

"Trouble. That's pretty much it." Adam dodged a swing of the heavy horns and tried to grab onto one without getting skewered by them. "See that bone on it's neck?" He caught her nod out of the corner of one eye, then dodged another shake of the horns. Those things were impossible to grab!! "If we can get it out, then it should fall apart. That's what happened last time, anyway. That's got to be it's weak point. Tommy just yanked it out, and that stopped it, if we just do that, it could pull itself together again somehow if someone else comes along and touches it. We need to destroy it." All of that wasn't as easily spoken as it may seem, as the words came out between various dodges and flips meant to keep himself in one piece as he squirmed this way and that.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Angewomon spread her wings as wide as she could and shot up as far as the overhanging cover permitted. "Keep it busy!"

"What does she think I'm trying to do?" He muttered to himself as the creature stalked closer, baleful eye sockets on him. He darted back and forth as he tried to figure out just what it was that Angewomon was doing. He couldn't see her...

Then a blazing white light lit everything, and Angewomon's voice rang out as clear as could be. He understood a little Japanese, and he mentally translated what he heard instinctively.

"Holy Arrow!!!"

The light grew brighter, and then something very near him exploded, and he was showered in bone fragments, dust, and churned up pieces of turf. He couldn't see anything for almost a minute, and shook his head violently to try to clear his eyes. "What was that?"

"My primary attack, Holy Arrow." Angewomon was very near him, and he felt a gloved hand touch his face gently. "Are you all right? I shouldn't have fired with you so close. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, I don't think so." He blinked as the dazzle faded and he could see the angel so close to him. For some unaccountable reason he blushed deeply at the sight of her concern, and glanced back to where he'd been, looking for the creature.

All he saw was a pile of bone fragments. He blinked a bit. "That's one powerful attack you've got there." He grinned over at her, and she smiled back.

"It does come in handy. Come on, if you know the way from here, let's go. I don't know about you, but I'm running out of time."

Adam knew the way now, and his feet flew across the branches and moss and all else underneath as he moved closer and closer to the Ninjetti Temple. Angewomon flew much slower than she could have in a clear sky situation, but she wasn't objecting, she didn't want to leave the only guide she had behind.

"How much farther?" She called out, ducking under a trailing vine and making certain it didn't foul her wings. When I get home, I am never going anywhere where I can't fly to the skies again!! It was almost to the point where she'd make better time walking than flying, and to a creature with wings that was very annoying.

"Not too far." He peeked around a tree and grinned to see the jungle thin out ahead of them and a mesa rising overhead. "In fact, you could probably fly there in a minute or so, but it's going to take me longer."

She came over to where he was and looked in the direction he was pointing. "That's it? That there?"

"Yeah." He grinned, remembering when they'd been going in the other direction, full of the power of the Ninjetti and hoping with all their souls that they were able to save Zordon. "Up at the top there."

A quick check of available airspace gave Angewomon the information she needed, and she started to take off. "Have you ever wanted to fly, Adam?" She grinned at him, and he looked a little confused for a moment. That cleared up when she scooped him up into her arms and spread her wings, lifting higher and higher into the air.

You know, you could've done this earlier and saved a lot of time on this trip. Her conscience told her. She didn't really feel like listening to it right now though, and shot back with, No, I couldn't have. He knows the way by ground, not by air, and things look difference once you're a few hundred feet up or more. This is the best way.

She was almost certain that her conscience, who had a tendency to sound like Wizarmon, had just sort of hummed at her as if saying Yes, dear. Whatever you say, dear. That was the kind of thing that could really get on one's nerves.

"Whoa..." Adam had flown a few times on trips to other states and countries, but none of them had the same immediate feeling that it did to be in Angewomon's arms. He felt a thrill go down his spine at the way her arms felt around him, and tried not to pay that much attention to it.

It had been a while since his last relationship. In fact, he'd been a Ranger when it had happened. He and Tanya Sloan had dated briefly, but shortly after they'd passed their powers on to Carlos and Ashley respectively, they had both decided it would be best if they went their separate ways. Ever since then, he'd dated intermittently, but never steadily, and never the same person twice. So why am I suddenly feeling like I'm fifteen again and wondering if the gorgeous blonde wants to date me?

He was so close to Angewomon that it was easy to breathe in the unusual fragrance that surrounded her. It didn't quite have the aroma of perfume, not like what his mother used, but it wasn't a bad smell either. It was hard to describe, but he was certain that he liked it. It was one that was very easy to get used to as well, as was the soft sweep of her wings, and the silken feeling of her hair against his skin. I hardly know her, how can I... Adam was not going to use the phrase 'falling in love' with her. He'd never believed in love at first sight, but he had to admit, the first sight of her had been a very very pleasing one.

Angewomon carefully lifted the two of them through the air, relishing the feeling of her wings flexing and bending easily. It was a good feeling. What was an even better feeling was carrying Adam. He seemed to fit in all the right places in her arms. This is so strange. I've never met anyone like him before. She reminded herself that she was a Digimon and he was a human, and they lived in two different countries. It wasn't workable. She had to stay with Hikari, and he had his own life to go back once he was off of Phaedos. That doesn't mean you can't visit him. A little voice murmured in her mind. She promptly ignored it. What was important to her right now was the Angelic Talisman and defeating Demon, nothing else.

As she rose over the mesa, she could see what was spread out all over it: a ruined temple that covered the entire top and echoed with a sacredness that resonated in the part of that was an angel Digimon. She carefully headed downwards, keeping her eyes open and every sense ready for anything that might attack. As far as she knew, this Dulcea wasn't expecting her, and she didn't want to waste time in a battle if she could get around it.

"Dulcea?" Adam called out as they landed and Angewomon put him on the ground carefully. "Dulcea, it's Adam Park...and a friend. Remember me?"

"Adam?" They both turned to see a tall woman behind them, dressed in the same green bikini and boots that she had been when he had last seen her, and carrying the same staff, her stance clearly one ready for battle. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned a bit lopsidely. "I came here by accident, really. One of Billy's projects didn't work out quite the way it was supposed to and I got thrown off course by a few trillion miles."

"I see." Dulcea came closer, her eyes on Angewomon. "And you have quite an unusual companion, I see."

Angewomon stepped forward. "Dulcea, Guardian of Phaedos, I am Angewomon, an Angel Digimon from the Digital World, partner to Yagami Hikari, the Chosen Child of Light. I was sent here by Gennai, one of the spiritual protectors of the Digital World, to acquire the Angelic Talisman. Demon has the Talisman of Shadows and is using the power it grants him to destroy all of the Digital World. The others are resisting it the best they can, but without the power of holy Digimon's attacks, there isn't much they can do to stop him. Sending him back to the Dark Ocean won't help again, he can escape from there. May I have the Angelic Talisman?"

Dulcea blinked once or twice, then shook her head sadly. "I don't have it here to give. It was placed, for reasons of safety, in the Shrine of Salnos. The journey there is not as dangerous as the one from here to the Monolith, but once you arrive there, you will be tested. I am not certain just how, the protections that were placed upon it were not made by me, but it will be a testing that could kill you." She looked from one to the other of them. "It is not a testing that one makes lightly or alone."

Adam stepped forward. "I'll go with her." The words came out of his mouth without asking permission from his brain and he did a mental doubletake. That was very silly of me.

"Adam?" Angewomon looked at him, and he just shrugged. "I thought you wanted to go home."

"You need help." He found a reason to keep going with her and tried to look as if he'd been planning this all along. "I'm a trained ninja, and I know a little bit about Phaedos. I'm available."

Angewomon smiled a little. "All right, if you insist." Dulcea knew her world, and if she said that it was not something that should be done alone, Angewomon was inclined to believe her. Besides, why should I turn down free help?

Dulcea tapped her staff on the ground. "Your willingness to help speaks very well of you, Adam, but without the Power of Ninjetti, there will be no way you can fully assist Angewomon." She raised a hand to silence him as Adam opened his mouth in unformed protest. "I can return that power to you."

Adam stared in surprise. "You can? But why..." He broke off, not entirely certain just how to form what was in his mind. If it was so easy to return the power, then why had they had to go through all the changes of power that they had endured?

"It isn't something that is done lightly. Everything must fit into it's proper time and place. Ninjetti had it's time with the group: and now it is your time once again." Dulcea's depth-filled eyes pinned him in place. "Rest for now. You've had a hard journey, I can tell. I'll let you know when it's time." She motioned briefly towards one side of the ruins. "Wait there, and I will bring you both something to eat."

The two of them exchanged slightly confused and concerned glances as Dulcea vanished into the darkness surrounding the ruins, then went over to where she'd indicated they should rest. Angewomon took a careful seat, making certain to be where she could take off in a hurry if she needed to, and looked all around.

"This is a very beautiful place." She commented. She liked the way it looked, the exotic aromas that drifted through the air, with a background melody of a stream that was flowing somewhere. "I can feel how special it is. It's not hard to understand why so many secrets are protected here."

"I've dreamed about it before, after I left here." Adam settled down, leaning against a section of all. "I didn't spend that much time here, but it just stuck in my head. I've wished a lot of times that I could come back, if only for a visit." He had to grin. "Guess I got what I wanted."

The angel nodded in agreement. "I can see why you'd want to come back too. In fact, I'm not all that sure I can see why you left in the first place." She stifled a yawn and tried not to blush. I hope I don't de-evolve. For a lot of reasons. She avoided the thought that Adam might be attracted to a beautiful angel, but he would definitely not be attracted to a white-furred cat or any of her other lesser forms. Even evolving would be a bit annoying, since she doubted he'd find a huge holy dragon any more appealing than her Tailmon level. She also avoided thinking about why this was important to her. She had a mission to deal with, and that was enough to worry about for the time being. Missions of the heart were something that could come later.

Assuming Demon leaves enough of us left to worry about later.

The light of the moons of Phaedos framed both Adam and Angewomon as Dulcea came over. She watched for a moment, not quite certain if she wanted to awaken them. The pair slept so peacefully, both turned towards one another, and she was quite certain it was unconsciously.

It has been quite a while since I have heard anything from the Digital World. Phaedos had never been much for contact with the dimension that was so closely linked to Earth, since the level of technology required for it was something her people had never been that fond of.

Phaedos had, however, had contact with other planets where the Digital World was very much a part of their lives. The Power Rangers had never been called to deal with the Digimon since Zordon and later Dimitria had known full well that there would be Chosen Children who could deal with the problem.

I would help if I could. But the only way that I can is to restore Adam's power. She watched, and her lips twitched just the faintest of bits. She could see what they couldn't at the moment, and it was rather amusing. But that was for the future. For now, she had a task to do.

"Adam. Adam." She reached out and carefully shook him by the shoulder. It was nice to see that his reactions were still sharp, as he struck out at her for rousing him from his sleep. She moved back quickly to avoid the hit and chuckled. "Adam, wake up. The moons are high and it's time."

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around, his gaze lingering for just a moment on Angewomon, who hadn't yet moved. Dulcea mentally chuckled. "It's time, Adam. You two do not have that much time to waste."

The former Ranger looked back at her, then quickly got up, swinging to get the kinks that came from sleeping on the ground out. "So what do I do?"

"I'm sure you remember." Dulcea smiled quietly as she moved back over to her place, awaiting Adam. He moved over to the other side of the fire and waited.

Dulcea pulled out a handful of the dust she used, and watched him for a moment. He had changed and grown since the time she had met him, but inwardly, he was still the same. Still a warrior, a defender, a protector. She smiled to herself. He was definitely quality material.

"Buried deep within each of us is an animal spirit waiting to be released," she whispered the words with the ease of practice, then blew the dust into the fire, causing it to burst up and flare. For a moment, a sparkling field of energy surrounded Adam, and obscured him for the space of a heartbeat before fading away, leaving him garbed once more in the familiar ebony ninja attire. She came closer to him as he removed his hood and grinned at her. "Once again, Adam, you are the Frog, clever and able to survive. The power of Ninjetti is all you need from now one: remember that to those who are Ninjetti, anything is possible."

He smiled quietly at her. "I remember, Dulcea. That saved our hides...and Zordon's life."

She smiled back at him, then her eyes flickered over to a point behind his shoulder. He glanced to where she seemed to be looking and saw Angewomon awake and on her feet, looking at him. At least he thought she was; it was a bit hard to tell with her helmet covering her face like that.

"That's an unusual outfit you have on now." Angewomon broke the silence and he felt his cheeks reddening a little.

"It's a Ninjetti uniform." He smoothed the fabric a little, his eyes resting the best they could on the gleaming golden coin with the symbol of the Frog. "My Ninjetti spirit animal is the Frog."

Angewomon reached out to place a gloved hand on it, and he felt a faint shiver run all through him. "It has power. Not like a Digimon's power, and it's connected to you." She frowned a little. "No, the power is in you, and this is just the symbol of it."

"That's the way Ninjetti is." Dulcea told them. "The power resides within the person." Her eyes seemed to bore into Adam's for a moment. "The power can be used when it is most needed for things you can not even imagine at the moment. But when you need to...you will." She smiled at them both, raising one hand for a moment in her usual benediction. "May your animal spirit watch over you."

She faded away and where she had been there was a snowy owl, which spread white wings and flew away into the soft depths of the Phaedosian night.

"Things are definitly odd here." Angewomon shook her head lightly. "I've never seen anything quite like that before."

Adam looked over at her. "I'm sure you've seen stranger things, coming from the Digital World."

"Maybe stranger to you." The blonde told him. "To me, they're normal." She hesitated just a moment, then continued. "I don't always look like this, Adam. This is my Perfection form."

The Black Ninjetti grinned. "Well, it's probably a bit forward of me to say it, but you definitely look perfect."

She resisted the urge to blush and kept her eyes on him. "Digimon come in many levels, or stages. We start off as Digieggs, and hatch out into Baby I's, and then go to Baby II's. After that we hit Child stage, Adult, Perfection, and maybe Ultimate. Ultimate Digimon are very rare, especially ones who can stay that way for long periods of time. They're usually very old and very powerful." She looked away for a moment. "Demon is an Ultimate."

Adam listened to her, then nodded. "So, you can't stay in this form forever?"

"Someday I will be able to." She promised him. "Gennai did something so I could stay like this for as long as necessary while I'm on this quest, but it won't last forever." She shrugged a touch. "I might de-evolve once this is over with though, back to my Adult stage."

"And what is that?"

There was no reason that she should be ashamed of what she was, but she hesitated just a little before telling him, "Tailmon. The nearest description I can give to you is a cat. A white cat. I can usually only evolve to Angewomon when my partner is in danger."

"I see." Adam didn't look offended or repulsed or anything. There were a lot of ways she could take that. Either he wasn't feeling even the faintest romantic hints towards her, or it didn't matter to him. She was hoping it was the latter. She had never felt romantically towards anyone, and she was starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she was starting to feel them towards Adam.

She turned away for a moment, intending on going back to where she'd been and finishing out her night of sleep. Whatever it was, her mission, as she had told herself repeatedly, was to get the Talisman and go back home with it. He wouldn't even be able to come with her; only Chosen Children could make it into the Digital World. Oikawa wasn't a Chosen Child and he was there, if only for a few moments.

The angel Digimon refused to acknowledge the whisper in her mind and started back to where she'd been. She could almost feel Adam's eyes on her back, and refused to react one way or the other.

"Angewomon?" Adam asked, and she paused for a moment. "This is probably a weird question, but why do you wear that helmet that you can't see out of?"

She glanced back to him and smiled. "But I can see out of it. No one else can see in, but I can see everything in my field of vision."

"Do you have eyes?" The question came blurting out, and she was fairly certain that he hadn't really meant to ask it. She turned back to him.

"I do. But I can't show them. It's not considered polite for angel Digimon to remove their helmets except in very specific situations." Angewomon smiled gently. "If one of those situations happens to come up, you'll be the first to know. Let's get some rest now, though. We have a long way to go in the morning."

She settled herself back where she had been resting, and folded her wings about herself to make a makeshift blanket. Adam watched her for a few moments, thoughts of all kinds wandering through his mind. What in the world is it like being a Digimon? He could hardly wrap his mind around hatching out of an egg, much less all the rest of what she'd said.

She really is something else. Something else, an entirely different creature entirely. He'd seen a few pictures of Digimon, but had never really thought about them as being living, viable, intelligent creatures equal to humans. I don't know why, though. It's not like I haven't met non-humans who look even weirder. Goldar wasn't any prize for looks or intelligence, that's for sure.

He made his way back over there to where he'd been and resumed his seat, this time finding that things were a lot more comfortable. His Ninjetti suit probably had something to do with it, and he found himself grateful all over again for it. He didn't quite feel too tired right at the moment, however. He knew he was, he just didn't feel that way right now. Indeed, his mind felt preternaturally clear and sharp.

Adam looked up to see the moons of Phaedos treading their great dance with the stars overhead, and heard a light wind that touched his face with invisible fingers that sent chills of pleasure down his back. It had been quite a while since he'd been camping, and he missed it. This was a nice change, if an unexpected one. He hadn't planned for this vacation, but there was no way he was going to back out of it.

I need to send a message to Billy somehow, he's probably going out of his mind with worry. He needs to know what's going on, where I am. Maybe Dulcea can do it. I'm guessing I can get home with the Great Power, it worked last time. So that won't be a problem. But what about Angewomon? I can't really just leave her. The thought kept on worrying at him until he deliberately shoved it out of his mind and kept on watching the stars go by. His eyes flicked briefly over to Angewomon, and smiled to see the light framing her so sweetly. She had called her partner the Chosen of Light, and he could see the light shining in her. He never even noticed when he fell asleep.

To Be Continued