Jyou blinked and looked around him. They were back. Just like that, they were home once again. The campground the group of children landed in was all-too-recognizable, well, except for the giant trolley car that sat lifelessly in the center of the field by the lake. Their surroundings were dreary now- the bright colors of the digital world were gone. One by one, his friends climbed down out of the car and looked around them, their eyes tired and empty and drained.
But, there were fewer of them now. The friends they had made- the friends that had been by their sides for the past few months were suddenly gone. Their voices, the way they all laughed, the evolutions, the battles, they were all memories now. But they were just there. Couldn't they have begged Gennai to give them time? There must have been something they could have done to stay- just for a little longer. The 'what ifs' were killing him.
The boy pushed his glasses up higher on his nose and looked towards the sky. Was that how they'd gotten back? Was Gomamon up there somewhere feeling as strange as he was? He could only wonder. He may never know for sure. Out of the corner of his eye, Jyou saw Taichi walk off towards the side of the lake. Sora followed closely behind him while Yamato found a patch of grass under a tree to sit in. He waved Takeru over- the smaller blonde looked like he had tears forming in the sides of his tiny eyes, and if Jyou wasn't mistaken, he might have seen one quietly roll down the so-called lone wolf's cheek as well. Yamato, crying? That made the boy's stomach churn. The blonde quickly rubbed it away and looked around, checking to see if anyone had seen, but it was too late. Jyou had felt his sadness. Koushirou leaned up against the side of the trolley, contemplating about opening his computer. A few times, he opened it up and shut it again, eventually deciding to put it on the ground beside him. The young redhead leaned back and looked up as well. Mimi and Hikari apparently hadn't come out of the trolley yet. Faint crying could be heard from inside it, along with a small comforting voice.
This was the end of their journey. Usually at this point, the heroes went home. Was that what they were? Heroes? They were a group, that was for sure. If it wasn't for the digital world, Jyou doubted he would have met any of them. What a different person he would be. He supposed he should be thankful for everything that happened to him this summer, but it was odd to think about. He didn't really want to think at all. For once, he wanted his worried mind to rest. He wanted to sleep, then maybe everything could come back.
Jyou looked back over to the lake's edge where Taichi was now skipping rocks. Sora was sitting down a few feet away, digging in the sand with a stick. No words were being exchanged between them. What were they going to talk about though? It was all over now, and for as interesting as it would be to recall all their adventure, the memories were so close they would be painful. The silence only emphasized the small voices that used to be there- Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, Palmon, Gatomon, Patamon... Gomamon.
The digimon's name hit Jyou like a rock to the gut. Gomamon was no longer there, and the boy had no idea if he'd ever actually see him again. The bonds they made, the growth Jyou experienced because of him- that was all over. It was gone. Those adventures were replaced by a now meaningless sense of existence. In a few weeks, Jyou would be back to doing what he wished he was doing the entire time he was in the Digital World. He'd be sitting in a classroom, listening to a professor go on about the geography of Japan or how to do algebra. Even though they'd just saved the world, everything would be normal. It would be as if those adventures hadn't happened- at least to everyone else. Jyou would always hold those journeys close to his heart, as he was sure everyone else would. Just for now, the crisp memories were so close that he felt he could reach out and pull them back if he tried hard enough.
The boy kicked at the ground with his foot. The silence was getting to him now. It looked as if Takeru had fallen asleep on Yamato's shaking shoulder, and Hikari was leading a teary-eyed Mimi out of the trolley. They were his friends. He was happy to know them all. And for as long as they stayed with each other, he decided their adventures wouldn't actually be over. Of course at some point they'd have to go home, just not yet. Not now. They were still a group- they were still the digidestined. They were spread out across the campground, but they were still together, still away from society, still gone as far as anyone else knew. Until it became dark, Jyou would insist on staying there in their silence. It was unlike him, but he'd grown, he'd changed. Suddenly, going to school didn't sound good anymore. The home cooked meals didn't sound so good anymore. His bed didn't sound so good anymore. He was sure that once he was sitting in the dreary classrooms, in the uncomfortable desks, his mind would be on the digital world, and he would be wishing he could go back. Oh, he'd give anything to relive that summer. Back in the moment, he had no idea how much he would miss it, and that made Jyou frown. If he was feeling like this, he could only imagine what the others were going through. They would surely be sitting in their chairs, their minds off in distant places. The warm September sun would be beating on their skin through the school windows, reminding them of their summertime adventures. How were they supposed to return to normal after their time in the Digital World? It had come and gone so quickly.