Hello, this is a one-shot to my Sweat, Tears, and Evolutions story, so heads up if you haven't read that or it's sequel Blood, Mud, and Armor.

To my loyal fans, this story is just a quick scene that I wanted to do but didn't feel like it would've fit in the overall story of Blood, Mud, and Armor, now of course, this story takes place the evening when Chimairamon has been unleashed for some who are wondering. Mostly this story exists because I have a special thing down the road in my story and didn't want it to be coming out of left field.

And finally, this story is dedicated to my mother and father who are still happily married after twenty-six years. Oh, and happy birthday today, Mom.

Once in a Lifetime

Lake Yamanaka, Japan. August 8th, 2002. 1956 Hours.
P.O.V. – Third Person

Phil and Hiroaki were staring at the Rear Admiral's laptop as Koushiro was sending them information and updates about what was going on in the Digital World while they were trying to defeat the Digimon Kaiser. They soon came across the image of Chimairamon and both of them felt their stomachs twist as they knew their children and their friends were facing some serious trouble.
"Jesus…" Phil muttered as he stared at the picture.
"The kids can't really seem to catch a break can they?" Hiroaki believed.
"Yeah… I tell you what, that Vamdemon character gave me the same chills. I guess the only good news is that monster is much smaller than that guy was when the hour struck six, remember?"
"Yeah…" Hiroaki sighed as he walked over to the bench and table and began lighting his cigarette. Phil sat across from him and opened a new can of chewing tobacco before he placed a wad in his mouth. "Sometimes I wonder if there's anything I could've done to keep my boys out of all of this Digimon business."
"I kinda think the same for Ross… but I know it was probably fate or something that gave him this role."
"Still, you don't think that maybe you could have done something more to help? Or more so take the burden for them?"
"You kidding? I'd be willing to go through that hell so fast if it meant sparing Ross from it… I lost too much in my life that I really don't want to lose him…"

"I hear you. I feel the same with Yamato and Takeru… and sometimes get the feeling that perhaps maybe I should've been a better father."
"Hey, you're a fine father, I'm sure of it."
"Not really, Yamato felt himself so isolated that he practically cut himself off from the world. It took Gabumon to help him open up."
"Ross was depressed and nearly took his own life… his buddy Guilmon helped him get out of that dark place. Hard to believe it, but those Digimon cause more good than harm."
"Yeah, but I feel like my failure as a husband led to these events somehow."
"Oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot you were divorced."
"Well, things with me and Natsuko are a bit better since the Digimon. Before then, I barely talked to her, hell; I never even called her to at least say Merry Christmas. However, since that day in August… we've been speaking more; at least saying 'Hi' every few weeks."
"I'd hate to say it, but I'd rather be a divorcee than a widower… there's never gonna be another woman in my life like Sharon."

"How did you two meet?"
"It was the summer of '84, we both had graduated high school. I was at Annapolis while she was attending the University of Houston. A buddy of mine in Houston was having a party at his place and I was in town. Sharon was an acquaintance to a girl that showed up but she was spending most of the party just sitting in the corner. I'm gonna tell you this right now, that whole 'love at first sight' idea; it's bullshit. However, I saw her alone and sat down next to her and we began talking. Next thing we know, we're going out on dates, we're getting married in '86, having Ross in '88… and then she gets killed by a drunk asshole."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"You know, we'd probably not even be here if it was for that. When I got the offer to serve aboard the Shiloh, I took it more because I just wanted to leave Corpus Christi, I was still grieving and the city was just giving me too many painful memories. I suppose if Sharon was still alive, I might not have ever taken up that offer." Phil sighed as he spit out his chew into an empty soda bottle. "After that, I essentially never cared to look for love after that. I found my soulmate, and I lost her; and I gotta live with that."

"Natsuko and I were high school sweethearts. I guess I can kinda understand what went wrong with that. We just weren't ready. It was all going fine, we were going through college until our junior year when we were expecting Yamato then soon after we both graduated we had Takeru down the road. We were both faithful to each other, we never were violent with one another… but we kinda stopped talking. Hell, I didn't even realize there was a problem until a few weeks before she says 'I just need to get some space' and takes Takeru with her. Two weeks later, I'm at our divorce hearing."
"Was it rough?"
"The divorce? Surprisingly not, it was pretty fair; I had to pay a bit extra in alimony, but only until she had gotten truly on her feet which she did."
"Eh, a few guys I know had rougher divorces; of course, they cheated on their wives so…"
"I guess maybe the issue was we just never talked about it. That maybe we knew each other so well that we didn't need to; only to find out we didn't really know each other at all."

Phil got up and walked away from the table before he turned around.
"Quick question: did you ever find any other woman after Natsuko?"
"Not really, a few women were out there but I only went out on one or two dates before I realized it didn't click. There was one woman that I did go out on three dates but she dumped me the moment she found out I had custody of Yamato." Both men chuckled. "I don't know, with my luck, Natsuko was my soulmate… and I obviously let that one get away."
"If you want my opinion, Hiroaki-kun, the true destroyer of a marriage like that is the fact that someone wasn't willing to fight for it." Hiroaki looked up at Phil before he looked down at the table.
"Willing to fight for it…" muttered Hiroaki.
"It's gonna be a long night for the kids." Phil believed.
"Yeah…" Hiroaki put out his cigarette in the ashtray. "It is."

So yeah, like I said, if you follow my main story, it will make more sense later.

Quick thing, that whole Hiroaki getting dumped once the woman found out about Yamato is a 30 Rock joke.
Jenna: "I had an amazing date last night and it's all thanks to Kenneth."
Kenneth: "Oh, it was nothing! Sure, I was legally dead for five minutes, but I did it for true love!"
Jenna: "Oh, actually, it turns out Roger has sole custody of his five year old son so-" *Blows raspberry and give a thumbs down before walking away*
Liz: "Wait a minute, you were dead?"
Kenneth: "Oh, I'm fine... but I think I brought something back with me." *A dark shadow soon floats past him and he breaths frost*

So, hope you liked this little one-shot, take care.

"Push the button, Frank."