Setting: France—2 ½ years

Character: Takeru, age 16

Takeru Takaishi was tired.

He didn't want to dwell long on why, because it brought back the memories of things he'd chosen to rather not think about.

A chime from his backpack caught his attention. He knew what it was, and he wasn't even sure anymore why he still read them, but he couldn't quite bring himself to stop. Takeru had almost been about to leave school for the afternoon but took a seat on a bench in the school's yard instead. He slung his backpack onto the bench next to him and opened the front pocket, where his kept D-3 and D-Terminal. He hadn't used the D-3 in almost three years now, but he'd taken it wherever he went ever since he was eight and old habits were hard to break. He ignored the device for now and picked out the D-Terminal. He opened it and couldn't resist the tug upwards on his lips as he read the words in the email displayed on the screen. It wasn't anything important, just Daisuke complaining about some kid on his soccer team that missed a goal in their practice that he, Daisuke, could have so easily made. Then he frowned and did the same thing he did with every message he received from Daisuke: he deleted it without a reply.

He was about to put it away, when he heard a voice above him. "What's that, Takeru?"

Takeru looked up to find his classmate and friend of sorts, Mathis, hovering above him pointing at his D-Terminal. It was still odd to him a bit to have so many people addressing him by his first name. Back in Japan, really only his family and the other Digidestined had called him Takeru. "It's a thing that I can use to email my friends in Japan," Takeru said, slowly, still learning the language a bit and using the simplest words possible.

"Cool," Mathis said. "The Japanese always have the coolest things. Like this!" he said, reaching into Takeru's backpack and pulling out the D-3, holding up the green device. "I bet this is some kind of awesome technology we'll never get here in Europe."

"No!" Takeru exclaimed, standing up and easily snatching the D-3 from Mathis's hand. "Please don't touch that. It's important to me." Mathis stared at him with confusion and shock on his face. Takeru realized he had slipped back into Japanese in the panic of his D-3 in someone else's hands. "Sorry," he said more calmly, this time using French. "It was a gift from an important friend."

"Oh," Mathis said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." Mathis smiled at him. "I didn't think that you got mad about anything. You've always seemed so laid back."

Takeru offered a rare smile, which brought back the memories of times when it was him not smiling that was the rare thing. "Not much can," he said.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," Mathis said.

"Tomorrow," Takeru said, waving to him as Mathis ran away. He put away his D-3 and D-Terminal back into the front pocket of his backpack and slung it back over his shoulder. He walked home like he usually did, trying not to think about anything.

"I'm home," he called out of habit as he walked into his apartment. There was no answer; he wasn't really expecting one. It was a rare day indeed if his mother was home when he got back from school. His afternoon went about as it usually did. He did his homework, watch a little television (he still didn't know the language very well, but he could follow the shows, mostly), and when it became clear that his mother was not going to be home for dinner, he fixed something up and ate alone. He lounged about the house watching the minutes tick by as he sort of waited for his mother to come home. As the day lagged on, he figured that his mother was probably doing another late night at her office and decided to just call it a day.

He opened the door and walked into his bedroom. Once he closed the door, he sank to his knees as sudden feelings of despair and hopelessness crowded into his heart.

You're alone…everyone has abandoned you.

Takeru shook his head. This wasn't right; that couldn't have been his thought. They didn't abandon him. It was the other way around.

If they really cared, they would have tried harder.

No, he had pushed them away. It was his fault. He leaned back against the door and covered his face with his hands. He was so tired. Tired of fighting his mother about the Digital World. Tired of trying to interact in a foreign culture. Tired of deleted messages he never responded to. Tired of pretending his heart didn't ache every time he thought of the others.

Alone…

This wasn't right. It couldn't be right. His hands fell from his face as another thought crept into his mind. He wasn't usually prone to these thoughts of despair. He wondered if it could be possible that he was being attacked by the darkness from the Digital World. He didn't know how it could be possible, but somehow he knew it was true.

As soon as this thought occurred to him, the darkness seemed to grasp tighter in his chest. He felt like he was sinking. He didn't know how to fight this. The darkness had never attacked him like this before. He feared the darkness was going to win, like it had beaten Ken all those years ago, and the others would suddenly become confronted by him in the worse way possible: as another Digimon Emperor. Once that thought took hold, he felt like he was just sinking further into the pool of despair. He wondered if this was how Hikari felt when the Dark Ocean took her.

Hikari…

Just the thought of her brought a small smile to his face and he felt the darkness recede just a little bit. His eyes wandered to the picture on his desk. He often ignored it, but never quite managed to gather the will to put it away. It was of him and Hikari, over four years ago, when they had gone to visit Mimi in New York. He had been so happy then with Hikari at his side; she was smiling that soft smile he loved so much. Images began to flash through his mind; of their first true meeting once Myotismon was defeated; looking after her for Taichi when she was sick; reuniting after three years; finding their Digi-Eggs; finally, saying goodbye to her before climbing into the car for the airport.

Images of the other Digidestined and their times in the Digital World ran across his mind. He shouldn't have given up trying to convince his mother. He should have explained better how important it was to him. One day, they would see each other again. Takeru had to believe that; hope for it. He knew it.

A soft golden light began to emanate from him. He realized that the darkness was fleeing his heart, but was too stunned by the fact that he was glowing to think much about it. As suddenly as it came, the gold light faded. He remembered the time Hikari had begun to glow to save the Numemon. Perhaps the Digital World had reached to him to help him dispel the darkness.

He stood up and walked over to his desk. He picked up the picture and just stared at it for a minute. He knew. He didn't care how long it took or what it would take to get there, but he knew he had to go back to Odaiba. Back to her.

He rested the picture against his forehead. "I'm coming home, Hikari," he whispered.