AN: This is the first Fanfic that I have written in years, so my writing may be a bit (understatement) rusty. And it's also the first Digimon FanFic that I've written as well. This is meant to be a prologue for a Digimon story that I'm planning to write at the end of the year once my A-Levels are over. But for now, this will be a one-shot. Do feel free to put down your reviews on this story. Happy belated Odaiba Memorial Day!

And btw, credit goes to Akeemi-chan for the cover page that inspired me to write this fanfic! Do check out her art!

Odaiba, Highton View Terrace, 1995

It was the first day of summer, which marked the start of the summer holidays. The playground was filled with the sounds of children playing. They were the sounds of laughter and joy, as the older children were finally liberated from the humdrum of school. The colors of the playground were still fresh and bright, despite the years of wear and tear due to constant use by the city's children. The rhythmic creaking of swings went back and forth, as a group of children took turns playing the swings. None of the adults present seem to pay heed to the riotous cheers, instead choosing to peacefully succumb to the drowsing effects of the warm summer breeze.

At the sandbox sat a young boy, roughly four or five years old. He had sky-blue eyes, and a mop of dirt-blonde hair that seemed to compliment it. His shoes were discarded to the sandbox corners; otherwise he would risk getting sand in his shoes.

Takeru Ishida, or TK as his family called him for short, was sitting alone in the sandbox, using the buckets and digging toys left behind to try and build a sandcastle. Almost everyday around this time, his older brother Matt would take him to the neighborhood playground to have fun while their parents were working. Matt would always be with TK to keep him company, playing together with him on the swings or on the slides.

However, today was different. Matt was busy playing a game of soccer with another boy around his age. The boy had spiky brown hair, and wore a light blue tee shirt, black shorts and a pair of white sports shoes. However, the most defining feature of him was the pair of goggles that hung loosely over his neck.

For the past few days ever since they first met, Matt and the boy have been starting to play with each other more often every time the brothers go to the playground. This meant that TK would have no one to play with him. Despite TK's insistence for Matt to continue playing with him, Matt would respond by warmly saying, "Why don't you play with the other kids at the playground? Maybe you can make some new friends?" before resuming his game.

However, because TK had always been playing with Matt ever since they went to the playground for the first time, he wasn't sure of whom to play with now that Matt's busy. He felt like a lost sheep without a shepherd. So he decided to settle playing by himself for a while, much to his own disappointment.

The boy was juggling the soccer ball, which was almost as large as his head, with such finesse and ease. Matt stood facing the boy with an impatient look, arms folded in annoyance.

"Look, Tai. Will you quite showing off? You've been hogging the ball the whole time. Pass me the ball." Matt grunted with a tone of exasperation in his voice.

Without warning, the boy playfully kicked the ball, which flew high forwards in the air. The ball then bounced onto Matt's crown, before bouncing back to Tai as Matt let out an annoyed grunt from the landing.

As Matt gave Tai a cold glare, the goggle-wearing boy simply responded with a cheeky grin on his face. "What?" his grin widened even more. "You said to pass it to you. Don't blame me if you can't catch the ball."

Tai then passed the soccer ball back to Matt, this time by kicking it gently across the grass they stood on. Matt stopped the ball with his heel, still having that irked look on his face. He let out a sigh as he calmed down before attempting to juggle the ball the same way that Tai did, though with evidently with less success, as Tai could not help but let out a chuckle as the ball landed on Matt's head a second time.

As TK continued to scoop up sand into the sand bucket with a toy shovel, a sharp and crisp sound, like a whistle, burst out of nowhere. Startled, TK let out a yelp as he jolted backwards, accidently knocked over the bucket, causing some of the sand to spill out. The blonde boy, ignoring the mess made, looked up and saw what caused the noise that nearly scared the living daylights out of him.

A girl around his age with short brown hair and reddish-brown eyes stood in front of him. She wore a red shirt with short sleeves, lemon yellow pants that reached down to her ankles. The afternoon sunlight that shone brightly showed off her rosy cheeks, which were puffed up. Held in her mouth was a whistle that hung loosely around her small delicate-looking neck. Despite that, TK could tell that she was smiling at him.

TK's heart skipped a beat as they continued staring at each other in what felt like a few minutes, feeling his cheeks warm up for some strange reason. He recognised the girl, always seeing her accompanying Tai to the playground. Shuffling himself awkwardly, he hoisted himself up to meet her face to face, and to break the awkward silence between them. He crawled out of the sandbox and put on his shoes, completely ignoring the fact that he still had sand on his soles. The two of them were roughly the same height, though TK felt that she was slightly taller than he was, which embarrassed him even further.

"Um…" TK murmured as he wiped his clothes clean of any remnants of sand that may have clung on while he was playing. "Hi…" He fidgeted rather awkwardly as he waved at her politely, unsure of how she would respond.

With the whistle still in her mouth, the girl did not make so much as a gesture, much less a reply. She continued staring at him, her brown eyes boring into TK's own. Suddenly, she tilted her head to the side before responding back with a polite wave of her own, making TK blush unconsciously. TK had never talked to a girl before, much less one who is roughly his age.

"So…" TK began, "Want to play with me?"

Matt did suggest that it's a good time to start making friends, so this is probably a good start.

To his surprise and delight, the girl happily nodded before grabbing hold of TK's wrist, making him blush again. She pointed enthusiastically at one of the vacant teeter-totters as she playfully dragged TK towards them.

The girl sat on one end of the teeter-totter, while TK regained his composure as he got onto the other side. Once the two of them readied themselves by gripping onto the handles, TK decided to take the initiative, and planted his feet into the ground before pushing himself upwards. The girl responded by doing the same, pushing herself up into the air as TK lands gently back down. As she moved upwards, she blew into her whistle, letting out another crisp sound.

As TK pushed himself up again, the girl landed back down gently. She responded with another puff of her whistle as she pushes herself up. This little game continued, with the girl letting out another sound of her whistle every time she is lifted upwards, creating a sort of rhythmic beat.

By the fifth turn, TK couldn't help but let out a giggle. Not at the girl's habit of blowing her whistle, but at the fact that for the first time, he was having fun with someone other than his family.

After playing at the teeter-totter for a while more, the pair decided to turn their attention to the swings. They took turns gently pushing each other into the air. Whenever it was TK's turn to push the girl, she would blow her whistle again and again. The sounds of the whistle would fade as she soars higher and higher. Afterwards, they played at the slides, taking turns to go down the large slide.

As they were about to go for their tenth round, TK heard his brother's voice call out to him.

"TK! It's time to go home!" Matt called out, accompanied by Tai. Both boys looked rather exhausted, after spending the whole afternoon playing football. Halfway through their game, Matt messed up his juggling again, prompting Tai to let out a laugh. This resulted in Matt chasing after the goggles-wearing boy around the playground.

To his surprise and disappointment, TK saw that the sun was setting, the fiery-red orb starting to sink into the pomegranate clouds. TK was having so much fun with the girl that he had failed to keep track of the time.

TK ran up to meet his brother and held on to his hand, while the girl ran up to meet Tai and did the same. As the pair were about to go their separate ways, TK and the girl turned back to face each other. Both of them had beaming smiles on their faces that would have brightened up the playground once again.

TK waved goodbye to the girl, who responded the same way, the whistle still in her mouth.

As the Ishida brothers were walking back to their apartment, realization hit TK's mind as he mentally slapped himself. Oh no! He thought to himself. I forgot to ask her for her name! Caught up in his own shyness and in the fun they had together, TK and completely forgot to ask for the girl's name.

Oh well. At least I can still ask her next time. TK thought to himself, confident that he would meet her again.

Unfortunately, Fate wasn't so kind that day.

/

Two nights later…

Late at night, both Matt and TK spotted from out the window between a large orange dinosaur-like creature and a giant green parrot, butting heads against each other. To their shock, they saw a familiar-looking boy and girl amongst the chaos of the fighting. The dinosaur was soon blasted away by a bolt of lightning from the parrot's head, knocking it out. The parrot readied another charge of lightning, when the ear-splitting sounds of a whistle echoed across the neighborhood.

TK's eyes widened in shock. Is that her? A thousand thoughts raced across his mind. How did she get there? Why is she there? Why is she with that monster? Is she okay?

A triumphant roar soon cut off his thoughts. TK looked down again and saw the orange dinosaur, fully revitalized as if in response to the whistle's cries. With renewed strength, the dinosaur let out a massive stream of blue flames that fully enveloped the parrot. Soon, a burst of light engulfed the entire neighborhood. TK and Matt shielded their eyes from the blinding light.

As the light finally dissipated, TK and Matt opened their eyes. Both the dinosaur and the parrot had vanished without a trace. They could hear the cries of the girl that split the silence, just as the sun began to rise above the clouds.

/

The incident that night was labeled as a terrorist attack, though the police could not prove that. TK's mom, a journalist, began investigating on the incident as well, but could not find any evidence either. TK was tempted to tell his mother the truth, but Matt discouraged him from doing so. He said that no one would believe what they saw.

However, another pressing issue soon arose. Because of the destruction caused that night, the Matt and TK's parents decided that for the safety of the family that they move out from Highton View Terrace.

TK was utterly devastated by the news of them having to move out. He had locked himself in his room for hours, not wanting to get out until Matt managed to talk him out of it. TK knew that if he moved out from the neighborhood, it would be very unlikely that he would ever meet that girl again, the first friend that he ever made.

And he didn't even know her name…

But fortunately, Fate was kind. Because in three year's time, both of them would cross paths once again.

END