The snow fell quietly and lazily on a cold December night. Takeru Takaishi was staring at his computer screen. He was in the middle of writing his paper for Economics class. For some reason, he felt...odd lately. Even though everything in his life was relatively normal, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. Takeru contacted Patamon and asked him if everything was fine, and he said it was. Takeru traced his hands over his D3. It had been two years since he had been to the Digital World...since he saw his best friend and partner. Of course he had still kept in contact; but it wasn't the same.

He figured that his paper wasn't getting done tonight, he just felt too weird. He saved what little progress he had and shut down his computer. Takeru pulled on his pajamas and then crawled into his bed.

As soon as he shut his eyes, he was thrust into a place he didn't recognize. He was running through a spacious meadow. Takeru couldn't control his movements nor where he looked; he just kept running.

"Trump Sword!" A dreadfully familiar voice shouted.

Four swords whizzed through the air and struck Takeru...except that it wasn't Takeru...he suddenly felt fear swell up inside of him. Something very bad was about to happen. The attacker walked towards Takeru, who could not get up. Piedmon came into view and the horror that dwelt within Takeru nearly doubled. He bent down and ripped something out of Takeru's mouth. It was small and made of yellow crystal, probably made of topaz. In his last moment of dream consciousness, Taeru saw the crest of hope, when suddenly it all made sense.

"PATAMON!" Takeru yelled at the top of his lungs. Sweat was trickling out of his forehead and his D3 was gripped tightly in his hand. Yamato, who had been staying the night, ran into Takeru's room.

"Takeru! Are you okay?" Yamato said a bit frantically and went to his brother's side.

"P...Patamon...he's in trouble, Yamato," Takeru said with obvious panic in his voice.

"How do you know?"

"Piedmon...he hurt Patamon and stole something from him...and I think it has to do with the crest of Hope,"

"I've had similar dreams as of late, but...I passed it off as a nightmare because I believed our time in the Digital World was finished..." Yamato admitted a bit guiltily.

"I think we definitely need to contact the others and see if they have had similar dreams. But in any case, I think we're going to have to return to the Digital World," Takeru said quietly.

Yamato nodded and then hugged Takeru very briefly. He knew that it would be his brother's third "expedition" to the Digital World and that had to be hard to imagine. Takeru hugged Yamato back and laid back in his bed.

"You won't be of any use if you are tired and sluggish," Yamato said with a small grin, "So get some sleep."

Takeru nodded "Goodnight, bro," he said quietly.

When Yamato exited, Takeru stared up at the ceiling He knew that he needed sleep, but he just couldn't stop thinking about Patamon. Was he okay? Had Piedmon done anything else to Patamon, and what was that item that he took from him? Takeru tried to shut his eyes, but his head was pounding. After about a half an hour, Takeru finally lulled into an empty and dreamless sleep.

The next morning Yamato went to wake Takeru, but when he went into his room, he was already up. Now that Patamon was in danger, nothing could keep him delay him from finding his friends...especially not something as trivial as sleep.

"It's early..." Yamato said quietly.

"I don't just want to sit around while Patamon could be hurt!" Takeru said, the tones of panic in his voice still fresh.

"Its too early for me to call the others right now, but after breakfast I'll call them," Yamato said reassuringly. Though he wasn't the most emotional person in the world, he did care about Takeru almost more than himself.

Takeru merely nodded at hid brother. He didn't mean to pass off as rude or aloof, its just that he was so focused on finding and helping Patamon. He went over to the stove and placed a few strips of bacon on the sizzling stove. As it crackled, Takeru desperately tried to remember what it was that Piedmon had stolen. It couldn't have been the Crest of Hope, it wasn't the proper shape. It also couldn't have been the Digimental of Hope, because it wasn't egg shaped nor was it big enough. Whatever it was, it had to have some value, otherwise Piedmon wouldn't have been after it.

When he bacon was done, Takeru brought it over to the table. He took two strips for himself, which left three for Yamato. They both ate in relative silence. Takeru ate rather quickly and didn't understand how Yamato was so calm. Wasn't he worried about Gabumon? It didn't seem like it.

Yamato was in fact, very worried. He kept his cool as usual; but it was harder than usual. In his dream Gabumon was mortally wounded. He didn't know if Gabumon was still alive. He finished his food at looked at Takeru.

"I'm going to go phone the others," Yamato said.

Takeru nodded and at at them table. He stared at his D3. He missed Patamon so much. More than any word could express. Yamato first dialed Taichi and Hikari's number, then Sora's, then Koushiro's, then Jou's and finally Mimi's (who had since been living in Japan.) Yamato didn't mention the dreams; but they did all agree to meet at the park they so often frequented. Yamato walked back into the kitchen.

"They've all agreed to come," Yamato said quietly.

"Okay," Takeru said. He perked up a bit. He stood up. "Let's go Yamato!"

Yamato nodded and grabbed his digivice. They both pulled on their shoes, coats, and Takeru, his hat. They exited and walked down the sidewalk. They walked at a fairy brisk pace and were the first ones to arrive at the park. Takeru sat on a swing and Yamato stood next to him.

Sora was the first to arrive. She was wearing her hair down and had on a tennis skirt and top. She smiled nicely and walked up to Takeru and Yamato.

"Hey guys," She said in her soft, gentle voice, still a bit sluggish from the early morning.

"Hey Sora..." Takeru said distantly.

"Hello Sora," Yamato said friendily.

She walked over to a swing that was next to Takeru's and they waited in an awkward sort of silence until the rest of the "gang" filtered in.

"Why are we here so early?" Taichi said with a whine. He would much rather be sleeping in his warm bed for at least another five hours.

Takeru took a deep breath and looked at everyone. "We're here because...well...I believe that our digimon are in trouble. You see, I had this horrible dream where Patamon was hurt and stolen from him," He continued quietly, "It seemed more real than a dream. When I told my brother about it, he also said that he had a weird dream about Gabumon. We were just wondering if you guys have had any weird dreams lately."

Mimi was the first one to speak up "A few nights ago, I had a dream that Palmon was trying to hide something...but I didn't really get the vibe that she was in danger."

"Well I think we ought to go back, just to check on things," Koushiro said quietly, his expression was full of worry for Tentomon.

"I agree," replied Jou.

"Yes," said Sora and Taichi in unison.

"So its official then," Takeru said quietly "We're going back to the Digital World."