"Taichi!" Sora yells. But it's no use. Taichi had vanished, along with MetalGreymon and Etemon. Although the sky was clear and the sand had settled, the victory the children had obtained was hollow. They were all left without their leader.

"Wh-what happened to them?" Jyou asks.

"The explosion…" Koushiro says. "It must have—"

"No!" Sora shouts and she bolts off in the direction Taichi had gone, looking this way and that. All the while, she calls out his name. The others watch helplessly. Soon, Takeru begins to cry, covering his face with his hands.

"He's gone!" says Takeru. "Taichi is gone!"

Yamato lays his hand on his brother's shoulder. Mimi bows her head, hiding her face beneath the brim of her hat. Yet, her body trembles with sadness.

Eventually, Sora falls to her knees in futility and tears start to flow from her eyes.

"Taichi…" she whispers mournfully. For a time, the entire group is silent and none of them knows what to do.

"M-Maybe he's not dead!" Jyou says suddenly. "Maybe he just went…somewhere else…."

"Jyou…" says Yamato, trying to hush him; but Jyou keeps on talking.

"He probably just got sent somewhere else, right? Maybe he's not—"

"Jyou!" Yamato shouts. However, Takeru stops crying and looks at Jyou with hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"D-do you think so?" He asks. Not just Takeru, but Mimi wipes the tears from her

eyes, replacing her downcast fast with a bright look of optimism.

"He might be right!" She says. "Taichi might still be somewhere out in the desert." She then turns to Koushiro and asks him, "Is that even possible?"

"Hmm..?" Koushiro ceases his own melancholy to consider. "Well, I don't—" he begins.

"No!" Yamato says, interrupting him. The rest of them turns their heads toward Yamato, collectively shocked. Nevertheless, Yamato crosses his arms and proceeds to lay things out:

"Look," he says, "We can't just…look around the desert blindly hoping that Taichi might be out there. After all, you all saw what happened." For Yamato, it seemed prudent to assume Taichi was dead. However, he found it difficult to ignore the pained looks of the others around him. "Taichi's…gone," he tried his best to avoid the word "dead." Saying "gone" didn't seem to help much either. "I know it's hard, but we need to accept that. We shouldn't—"

"Shouldn't what?!" says Sora, harshly. Yamato turns and sees that she's rejoined the group, her frowning face streaked with tears. "Are you saying we're just going to abandon him out here?!" Sighing, Yamato chooses his next works as carefully as he can:

"We can't just wander about the desert aimlessly hoping that Taichi isn't…gone. We should prioritize finding our way home." As he speaks, Sora continues to glare at him and she clenches her fists. Nevertheless, Yamato continues: "Moreover, we need to find out how to activate our Crests. If there are more Digimon out there like Etemon, we need to ready our Digimon to face them—"

"Idiot!" Sora shouts, apparently none too taken with Yamato unspoken pronouncement of Taichi's fate. Yamato just looks at her, a bit stunned at how quickly her anger rose against him. "You're so willing to abandon Taichi!" Sora yells at him. "But you never liked him anyway. You want him to be dead so you can take his place. Well you'll never replace him. Never!" Then, Yamato opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. He's too taken aback to say anything to Sora. Arguing with Taichi seemed like such an easy thing to do; so why was it made harder when it was Sora?

"Sora…" Jyou says, trying to calm her down. However, Sora isn't done:

"What about Takeru?" she says, motioning to Yamato's younger brother. "What if it had been Takeru instead of Taichi? Would you abandon him too?" Yamato's shock instantly dissipates at the mention Takeru's name and now his blood begins to boil.

"That's not fair!" He shouts back at her. However, Sora ignores his glare and continues to stare daggers at him herself. Her fists are also raised. For a moment, Yamato thinks she might lunge at him, similar to what Taichi had done back on File Island. And so, he braces himself.

"Sora, please…" Piyomon says, tugging at Sora's leg. "Stop this. This…this isn't like you, Sora." Sora gasps and unclenching her fists. She looks down a Piyomon, proceeding to kneel and level with Piyomon's face. There, Sora begins to plead with Piyomon, a note of desperation in her voice.

"No, you listen," she says. "Taichi risked his life to save us—both of us. We can't just abandon him. Not after all he's done for us—for all of us." Sora turns gives everyone else and earnest look. "You all saw it, right? His Crest glowed! Greymon evolved! Don't you see? We need Taichi more than ever right now…" Sora's voice falters as she begins o tear up again. She hugs Piyomon, hiding her face in her partner's feathers. Graciously, Piyomon returns the embrace. Mimi also runs up to comfort Sora. Cooling his anger, Yamato looks at Sora helplessly and wonders if he was wrong.

"Big brother," Takeru says, tugging at Yamato's shirt. "Are we really going to abandon Taichi?"

"I…" Yamato replies, nervously. His mind races for an answer, mostly preceded by the question, "What would Taichi do?" But often proceeded by the answer, "Why am I even asking myself what Taichi would do?" For a while Yamato doesn't answer.

"Big brother…?" Takeru says again. Then, Yamato turns to Koushiro.

"Koushiro!" Yamato states, as if in announcement. Then, all eyes are on Yamato once more, including Sora's. Yamato cringes, not at all used to this kind of attention. For Taichi, this always seemd to come naturally. However, Taichi's burden had now been placed on his shoulders, and oh what a weight it was. Yamato digs his hands inside his pockets, one of which grips his harmonica tightly. How he longed to put some space between himself and everyone else right now and paly some tunes.

"Yeah?" Koushiro says, awkwardly. He too wasn't used to Yamato putting him on the spot. Nevertheless, Yamato approaches him and places his hands on his shoulders in patronizing fashion. Even as he does so, he remembers Taichi had done the same thing to him back on File Island. Was that it then? In the process of establishing himself as Taichi's surrogate was his every action going to mimic that of Taichi?

"Can you find Taichi?" Yamato asks.

"M-me?" Koushiro replies with a look of confused. "But how am I—"

"With your computer!" Yamato points to it. "Can your computer find him?"

"Oh! I see…uh…" Koushiro thinks for a moment. "I suppose…it…might be possible?"

"Okay," Yamato says, seemingly satisfied. He then turns towards the rest of them. Noting their anticipation, the blood begins to drain from Yamato's face as he struggles for the right words to say. He addresses everyone, but tries his best to avoid eye contact.

"Listen, guys," He says. "We're going to find somewhere Koushiro can connect to the network again—"

"But where?" Mimi asks. "The sphinx was destroyed. We have no way back—"

"I know." Yamato says, not at all pleased at being interrupted. "We'll find somewhere else that Koushiro can connect his computer and try to find Taichi. Like I said before: It'll do us no good to wander about the desert aimlessly trying to find him. Especially if he's dea—" he catches himself, "…gone." Collectively, all but Sora all voice their approval. However, Yamato lifts a finger up and they all quiet down again. "However," he says, "If Koushiro isn't able to find Taichi, then…we move on. Are we clear on that?" Reluctantly, they rest of them nod in affirmation. All except Sora again, whose eyes drift back out towards the emptiness of the desert.

"Sora?" asks Yamato.

Sora nods, but she refuses to look at him.

So, the six children and their Digimon partners set off, making their way across the desert in the direction of a nearby mountain range. Still using had the map that had been provided to him back on File Island, Koushiro had suggested they take refuge amidst the mountains before deciding where to go next. To get there even faster, Tentomo and Piyomon evolve and take flight, carrying the others on their backs, until they reached the end of the desert. This speeds things up quite nicely.

The flight lasts for a couple of hours before the mountains come into range. As the desert sand turns to grass and the children look about for any signs of water.

"Look! There's a lake!" Yamato shouts over the winding hum of Kabuterimon's wings. The others look in the direction he's pointing and sure enough, a large lake is there, nestled within the canyons of the surrounding mountains. Kabuterimon and Birdramon land at the edge of the lake, and revert back to their child forms. Mimi gives them some provision from her tote bag so that they can recover their energy.

Having arrived, the children go about a routine that they'd kept in practice ever since their first night in the Digital World. However, this time they are without Taichi, and they all can feel his absence. Not many words are said among the children as they set up camp and make meal preparations. Mimi and Takeru volunteer to head out with Palmon and Tentomon and forage for fruits and vegetables while Jyou and Sora go look for firewood, followed closely by Piyomon and Gabumon. Koushiro goes fishing, aided by Gomamon who's taken to swimming about in the lake and herding the fish to Koushiro's pole.

"Just be sure you don't hook me!" Gomamon tells Koushiro with a wink.

"I'll be careful," Koushiro assures him. As he fishes, Yamato approaches him and sits beside him. "What is it?" Koushiro asks. He's surprised to see that Yamato is holding his laptop computer. Tentatively, Yamato opens the laptop.

"Koushiro, can you…can you show me how to use this?" Yamato asks him. Koushiro reacts in surprise.

"Use it?" he asks. Yamato nods and explains:

"I mean, I know how to use my dad's computer back at home, right? But…I never learned how to type and…well, I don't know a thing about all those markings you were messing with on the walls and…"

"I see," Koushiro says. "Sure, I can try to teach you. But, why all of a sudden are you interested in this?"

"Well…" Yamato says, taking a deep breath. "I guess because…Taichi's gone now and so everyone is scared…"

"Even you?" Koushiro asks. Yamato doesn't answer his question, yet continues speaking:

"Everyone is looking to me for guidance, right? But I'm…I'm just not ready for this." His voice trembles. "Anyways, you said this world was in a computer, right?"

"Yeah, something like that. The Digital World is actually far more complicated, but you've the basic idea."

"I want more than the basic idea. I want to know exactly what I'm dealing with. If everyone is going to rely on me, then I should know what to do."

"Okay, then, here," Koushiro sets his pole aside and begins to adjust Yamato's hand placement on the keyboard. "You put your hands here, with your fingers on—"

"Hey! What gives?!" Gomamon shouts, coming up for air.

"Sorry, Gomamon," says Koushiro. Looking at his fallen pole. "But, I need to help Yamato with this. But you should manage fine without me." Koushiro then continues helping Yamato.

"Huh?" Gomamon says, cocking his head to the side. The two children, now thoroughly preoccupied, pay him little attention. Shrugging, Gomamon dives back into the water.

In the meantime, Jyou and Sora have made quite a collection, each eagerly carrying a large bundle of sticks back to camp. Yet, all the while, the four of them don't say a word to each other. Gabumon glances at Sora worriedly every now and then and, eventually, Sora takes notice.

"Gabumon?" She asks. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asks.

"Oh…I…" Gabumon stutters. "I'm sorry."

"Gabumon…" Sora says, noting his downcast face. Her heart goes out to him. "You're…you're a good friend, Gabumon." Sora tells him. "…and….Yamato is lucky to have you as a friend too."

Gabumon lifts his head suddenly, surprised at the compliment. His footing stumbles a bit, almost causing him to drop his sticks. As he regains his composure. Sora can't help but giggle at his bashful behavior.

"S-Sora," Gabumon says, still a bit nervous. "May I ask you a question?"

"You don't have to be so formal about it," she tells him. "Ask away."

"O-Okay, then…" Gabumon swallows hard. "I…uh…that is…"

"You want to know why I treated Yamato the way I did back there, right?" Gabumon grunts in affirmation. Sora looks away from him, pondering, but soon shakes her head in dismay. "I don't think I can give you a good answer, Gabumon."

"Oh…" Gabumon replies, and his face becomes downcast again.

"It's just that…" Sora continues. "Yamato needs to know…he can never replace Taichi…"

Gabumon grunts again and they continue on. Noting the recent conversaion between those two, Piyomon perks up and starts running alongside Jyou.

"Jyou…Jyou…" She says, her voice rising in intonation each time she says his name.

"Eh?" Jyou replies. "What's up with saying my name like that?"

"Well, Sora was talking with Gabumon." Piyomon says. "And I just thinking; I've never really talked with youJyou. So, I wanted to say, hello…Jyou. Would you like to be my friend…Jyou?"

"Stop doing that," Jyou says in annoyance. "Why do you have to say my name so many times?"

"Hmm?" Piyomon asks, her face marked with genuine confusion. "Do you not like your name…Jyou? It is very easy to say…Jyou…"

"It's not that," Jyou says. "But why do you say it…like that?"

"Oh, Sora asked me that once," Piyomon explains. "She says I'm like a—" she turns to Sora, "—what did you call it?"

"A mockingbird." Sora replies.

"Yes, a mockingbird!" Piyomon says joyfully and then continues chanting Jyou's name. Jyou sighs in derision.

"Well you got the 'mocking' part right…" he grumbles.

As for Mimi, Takeru, Palmon, and Tokomon they're stocking Mimi's tote bag with food from the local plantlife.

"How do you know so much about the plants here, Mimi?" Takeru asks.

"Palmon showed me," Mimi replies, winking at Palmon. Palmon's turns away bashfully, her green cheecks turning a shade of purple. Before long, Takeru happens upon a large brown mushroom growing from the base of a tree. He points to it and motions to Palmon.

"Is that one okay to eat?" he asks. Palmon comes up beside him.

"Oh, yes," Palmon replies. "Those are very delicious!" And so, Takeru picks it and takes a big bite out of it.

"Mmm! These are delicious!" He remarks. "It tastes like chocolate!" He then takes a piece and offers it to Tokomon whose eyes light up as he chews on it.

"Wow! You're right!" He says. "So sweet!"

"Justy be careful you don't eat too many," Palmon warns. Takeru looks at her worriedly; but Palmon giggles and says, "If you eat too many of those, you'll become extremely gassy! Even Numemon will try to avoid you!" The four of them share a laugh together.

From a distant perch, Tentomon hears them laughing. Not in on the joke, he wonders aloud, "What are they laughing about down there?" Nevertheless, he continues eating to his heart's content, for he's found a bundle of bananas hanging from a tree that he's been snacking to his heart's content. Just as he's about to take another when, all of a sudden, a speeding rock strikes the stem of the bundle, causing the entire thing to drop to the floor!

"Wha—" Tentomon exclaims, jumping back and looking this way and that. Then, he spots his adversary: It's a small green-furred monkey, wearing a toga and wielding a slingshot that was about the size of its own body.

"Koemon!" Tentomon says. Not just one, but a dozen Koemon pop out of the trees, each one readying another stone to fire at Tentomon.

Down below, Mimi, Takeru, Palmon and Tokomon are soon startled as Tentomon comes flying in, telling them to make a run for it. Even as he does so, rocks come hailing in, pelting the ground and the nearby trees with incredible force. Quickly, Mimi takes up her tote bag and their recent haul while Takeru pick up Tokomon. Then, grabbing Takeru by his other hand, they make run for it back to camp with Tentomon and Palmon following close behind.

Mimi's screams don't go unnoticed by the others. Dropping their sticks, Sora, Jyou, Gabumon, and Piyomon run towards the direction of Mimi's voice. Yamato, Koushiro, and Gomamon also take off. Soon, hey all meet up with each other, albeit they find Mimi's tote bag has been torn and its contents spilled across the floor of the forest.

"My bag…" she says in dismay. "…and all the food…"

"Please, don't cry, Mimi." Takeru says, trying to comfort her.

"What happened?" Yamato asks.

"It's Koemon!" Tentomon reports. "This must be their territory!"

"Koemon?" asks Koushiro.

"Indeed," says Tentomon. "They're a bunch of monkeys wielding slingshots! A bunch of troublemakers, it seems."

The Koemon soon catch up to the group and begin assaulting them with a volley of stones. However, this time, the partner Digimon retaliate, answering stone with fire, electricity, vines, and—of course—a barrage of "Marching Fishes." As the fight continues, A stray bullet comes very close to hitting Takeru.

"Takeru, look out!" Tokomon shots, leaping from Takeru's arms.

"Tokomon, no!" yells Takeru as Tokomon bravely takes the full force of the bullet. Takeru picks up his fallen partner, caressing the bruise; yet he sees the little Digimon is still breathing, apparently having been knocked out cold.

The Koemon prepare another volley and Yamato jumps to Takeru, covering him, attempting to shield his brother and Tokomon from the onslaught.

"Gabumon!" Yamato calls to his partner. Nodding in understanding, Gabumon evolves into Garurumon and proceeds to catch the next volley. The bullets glance off Garurumon harmlessly. Following Gabumon's evolution, Piyomon, Tentomon, Palmon, and Gomamon also evolve and all the adult Digimon fend off the Koemon.

"It's working! They're retreating!" Jyou shouts in triumph. Indeed the Koemon are retreating, hooping and hollering as they do so. Yet, as they fall back, the silhouette of a much larger figure emerges from amidst the trees. As it comes into to view, the children behold an ape-like Digimon covered in jagged, golden fur. It readies a large bone to be used as a weapon.

"What is that?" Koushiro asks.

"I can't be too sure," Kabuterimon replies. "But I think that's…Hanumon; he's a legendary ape."

"Legendary?" asks Mimi. "Why is he legendary?"

"Well, nobody's even sure he exists." Kabuterimon replies.

"Well…I guess we know now?" says Jyou nervously.

"Yes, it would seem that way—GAHH!" In a flash, Hanumon is upon Kabuterimon, striking his head with his club, causing the giant insect to fall backwards, stunned. The rest of the partner Digimon retaliate, but Hanumon proves too agile. He maneuvers about Garurumon and Birdramon's fire while Togemon's needles and Ikkakumon's missiles bounce harmlessly off his golden fur. Togemon then engages in close-quarters combat, throwing a series of punches. Deftly, Hanumon dodges every punch and counters with his own fists.

"Maen Moubakuken!" He shouts, throwing a series of flaming punches at Togemon and knocking her from the fight. The strike causes her to revert back to Palmon. Garurumon, Birdramon and Ikkakumon close in, but Hanumon is ready for them as well. He then shouts, "Dohatsuten!" and a barrage of needle-like hairs fire from his back at the three of them, impaling Birdramon and Ikkakumon. Dispatched, they too revert back to their child forms, leaving Garurumon standing alone—his mithril fur having protected him from the spines.

The two Digimon then square off, each one attacking and lunging at the other in equal measure, but neither one making any ground on the other. Everyone watches in anticipation, breath held, including the Koemon who have stopped their assault to watch from the branches above. Eventually, Garurumon gets a strike it, scratching Hanumon's chest with his claws and leaving a flesh wound. Hanumon barely managed to evade the attack. The ape studies his wound for a moment and then looks back to Garurumon.

"You have impressive skill," Hanumon compliments him. Garurumon says nothing, but merely growls in return. Yet, as the fight continues, manages to get a hit in and strikes Garurumon's side with his club and causing the great wolf to stagger and fall back, injured.

"Garurumon!" Yamato criest out. Hanumon beats his chest and closes in, but to his surprised, Yamato has rushed into the fight and now standing between him and Garurumon.

"Yamato, what are you—?" Garurumon begins to say.

"We're in this together, Garurumon," says Yamato. Then, whispering to himself, he says, "Just like Taichi and Greymon." He looks toward Sora who is attending the recently fallen Piyomon. Sora looks back at him, her faced marked with fear and dismay.

"Step aside, little one!" Hanumon demands. "You cannot hope to prevail against me!" But, Yamato stands his ground. Garurumon lifts himself up, groaning under the pain of the recent blow. Yet, he comes to Yamato's side, baring his teeth and snarling at Hanumon. A blue light now surrounds Garurumon and it emanates from Yamato. Hanumon is taken back in surprise and he lifts his arm up to shade his eyes. "What—?!" he shouts.

"We're stronger than you think!" says Yamato. Before Hanumon can do anything else, four arms grab from behind, locking him in place with vice-like pressure. Kabuterimon, having recovered from the recent blow, has now taken hold of Hanumon and that same blue glow surrounding Yamato and Garurumon has extended to Kabuterimon, strengthening him.

"Well, it looks like I got the drop on you, this time!" Kabuterimon says to Hanumon. Seizing this chance, Garurumon leaps in and blasts the ape with fire, causing Hanumon to roar in pain and drop his club. Garurumon then takes the fallen weapon into his jaws and *SNAP* chomps it in half. "Well done!" Says Kabuterimon. "Now, shall we finish him off?" Snarling, Garurumon readies his fiery breath once again. However, Yamato speaks up:

"Wait! Garurumon!" He says. And so Garurumon stops and looks at Yamato expectantly. Lifting himself upon Garurumon's back, Yamato gets at eye level with his adversary and addresses him.

"Hanumon," Yamato says, getting close enough address the golden-haired ape properly. Aside from being surrounded by that blue glow, Yamato's forwardness causes Hanumon to look upon him with a sense of wonder. Yet, Yamato hesitates, wondering what he should say; once again not at all being used to taking charge in situations like these. The sweat builds up about his brow as Yamato looks around and notes all eyes are on him yet again. Suddenly, he blurts out, "Hanumon, why did you attack us?"

Hanumon cocks his head to the side at Yamato's odd behavior. Nevertheless, he answers: "I was protecting the Koemon. They…they're my little brothers. I promised to defend them from anyone who would do them harm." As he speaks, he winces in pain and shifts his body around uncomfortably. Nonetheles, Kabuterimon maintains his grip.

"You were…protecting them?" Yamato asks incredulously, and looks at Mimi.

"But they attacked us first!" Mimi protests. "We were just looking for some food and they jumped us!" At Mimi's words, Hanumon's eyes go wide. He looks about the trees scornfully.

"Is this true?!" He demands.

A chatter can be heard throughout the trees as the Koemon talk amongst themselves. One of the Koemon leaps down and points at Kabuterimon.

"Thief!" it yells, holding up a single banana peel.

"Huh?" Kabuterimon asks in surprise.

"Are you serious?!" Hanumon shouts, causing the lone Koemon to jump back in fear. "You went to war with these strangers over…a few bananas?!" The lone Koemon doesn't say anything, but hangs its head in shame and retreats back into the trees. There's an awkward moment of silence before Hanumon speaks again. Contritely, he apologizes: "Please, strangers; forgive my behavior." Then, glareing at the surrounding Koemon who all shrink back in fear, he adds, "…and please forgive the…manner in which my younger brothers have treated you."

Yamato breathes a sigh of relief and soon the blue light that had been surrounding him fades. Garurumon nods at Kabuterimon who then releases the his grip Hanumon. However, Hanumon falls to the ground in a heap, still badly injured.

"Oops, sorry about that." Kabuterimon says, lifting him again and gently setting him against a nearby tree. The other children readily approach Hanumon now and Mimi digs through Jyou's supply bag for a first aid kit.

"So, you're not an evil Digimon after all?" Sora asks.

"Evil?!" Hanumon says, perplexed. "No, I'm an honorable warrior who would never do harm to the innocent…" Annoyedly, he looks up at the surrounding Koemon again and adds, "…not intentionally anyway." As Mimi proceeds to apply an ointment to Hanumon's burnt flesh, he looks at the children with wonder. "Who or what are you guys? You're not like any Digimon I've ever seen."

"That's because we're not Digimon," says Koushiro. "We're human children from another world."

"Human children…" says Hanumon, bewildered. Takeru continues to explain.

"Yes; at File Island, a Digimon named Leomon told us that we were brought here to save this world from evil. And so we need to fight bad guys like Devimon and Etemon." When Takeru drops Etemon's name, Hanumon's looks at him in surprise.

"Etemon?!" He exclaims.

"Yes," Yamato replies. "Do you know about him?"

"Indeed," replies Hanumon gravely. "Long ago I tried to fight him, but…" He hangs his head in shame, "…I was no match and so was forced to retreat deep into this forest along with my brethren."

"Then you'll be happy to know that he's dead now!" Jyou proudly declares. "You should have seen it! It was amazing!"

"Jyou…" Yamato says, noting Sora's look of unease. However, Jyou continue to prattle on:

"Taichi's partner, Greymon evolved into MetalGreymon and shot some missiles at him, causing him to explode and—"

"Jyou, shut up, will ya!" says Gomamon.

"Huh?" says Jyou, looking at his partner. Gomamon then motions his head towards Sora. Jyou places his hands over his mouth and says, "Oh…I'm so sorry…"

"'Sorry'?" Hanumon asks. "For what? What's wrong?" All goes quiet for a somber moment, save for the chatter amidst in the trees as the Koemon continue to talk amongst themselves. Then, Yamato then answers him:

"When Etemon died we…we lost two people. Taichi…and his partner Agumon. It was Taichi who destroyed Etemon, but when he did…well…there was an explosion and…" Yamato trails off, but Hanumon nods solemnly.

"I understand," Hanumon says. Mimi does her best to apply more ointment to Hanumon's tender flesh, but soon realizes there's nowhere near enough to cover the extent of the burns. Soon, Hanumon thanks her but waves her away, insisting that "strong warriors must be willing to bear much pain." Then, lifting himself from the ground, he peers about the branches at the surrounding Koemon. "Listen up, you little scamps!" He says, addressing them. "You will provide these children and their Digimon with food and water. Help them in any way they ask of you." The Koemon chatter increases, but Hanumon continues. "Don't you realize? These children—" he gestures towards the children, "—they conquered Etemon! Even at the cost of two of their own they defeated him! We owe them a debt of gratitude that we cannot repay—even with a thousand bananas!" The monkey chatter increases again, turning to hooping and hollering. However, the children cannot tell if the noises are good or bad. Nevertheless, Hanumon smiles and looks at Yamato, "They're overjoyed." He tells him, "We'll get you all the food you can carry and more if needs be." Yamato smiles and nods in return.

By nightfall, the children were partaking in a grand feast provided by their newfound monkey friends. The Koemon helped build a roaring bonfire and were dancing for joy as they brought bundles of fruit and vegetables from their local stock for everyone to partake in. It was plain to see that the Koemon were more than pleased to be providing for the children, especially after Hanumon's words. According to Hanumon, many Koemon had died by Etemon's hand as he found it a sport to hunt about the jungle. Yamato hadn't even begun to appreciate how profoundly the Server Continent had been affected by Etemon's removal from it. How long had Hanumon and the Koemon been made to go into hiding? How joyous it must have been to know they could now roam freely once again.

"…and it's all thanks to Taichi." Yamato thinks to himself. He then looks for Sora amidst the crowd of Koemon and spots her sitting beside the lake and looking out across shimmering water. Piyomon is nestled nearby, asleep. As much as Yamato wanted to go out and talk with her, he couldn't think of what he should say. Should he have apologized for electing not to remain in the desert and search about blindly for Taichi? But there, he remembers what she'd told him earlier—he'd never have left Takeru behind, right? As if on cue, Takeru runs up and hugs Yamato, interrupting his train of thought.

"Big Brother, you were so amazing!" He says excitedly.

"Uh…Th-thanks, Takeru," Yamato replies bashfully.

"And your Crest, Big Brother!" Takeru points at Yamato's chest. "Did you see it?"

Startled by this revelation, Yamato pulls his tag and Crest from his shirt, and looks at it. "No," he replies. "What happened with it?"

"Your Crest was glowing!" Takeru tells him. "And so were you! It looked so cool!"

Yamato looks at his Crest in amazement. He'd been so caught up in the fight with Hanumon that he hadn't even noticed what was going on with his Crest.

"I thought for sure Garurumon was going to evolve then," says Takeru. "But I guess he didn't need to; you stopped the fight! It was still awesome, though!"

Yamato gives Takeru an appreciative smile, thanking him once again. But then, Yamato kneels down and places a hand on Takeru's shoulders, looking him square in the eye.

"Takeru," he says. "I need to know something."

"What is it?" Takeru asks.

"If…If it had been you instead of Taichi. What would you want me to do?"

Takeru gasps as he realizes what's being asked of him and then, he takes a few moments to consider the question. He peers over at Tokomon. The baby Digimon, having recovered from his recent blow, is now feasting on an apple—his large teeth carving through it with ease. Takeru looks bat at Yamato, an earnest look on his face.

"When Angemon died, all I wanted was to have him come back," Takeru says. "And…he came back to me! Just like he said he would. And that makes me happy…but…"

"But…?" Yamato asks.

"It's just…it's not like it was, Big Brother," he admits. "I mean, Tokomon is the the same but he's…he's not the same..."

"Well, you've changed a lot, Takeru," Yamato suggests.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you're not the little brother I once knew…and I'm not talking about before Mom and Dad…y'know. I mean ever since File Island, I notice you've been really different." With a keen look of determination, Takeru takes out his Crest and studies it.

"I wonder," he says, "if, someday, I'll glow like you and Taichi."

"For sure you will!" Yamato replies. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, yeah!" Takeru tucks his tag and Crest back into his shirt and gives his older brother his full attention. "Well, what I mean is that even though Angemon came back, like he said, he needed to grow up again…and that means I to take care of him."

"Right," says, Yamato, "that is important, but what does it have to do with Taichi?"

"Don't you see?" Takeru says. "After Angemon died, I needed to be stronger than before. For him, for you and…for all of us. Y'know, just in case we need Angemon to help us again; that means I need to take good care of Tokomon, right?" Yamato looks at his younger brother in amazement as he realizes the point he's making.

"So," Yamato replies. "What you're saying is, Taichi would want us to stay strong?"

Eagerly, Takeru nods, "Yes! Like Angemon!"

"Right, like Angemon."

Taking his little brother's words to heart, Yamato looks around at all his friends. He sees Koushiro, Mimi, and Jyou, all enjoying a meal alonside their Digimon partners in addition to their new Koemon friends. He sees at Gabumon chatting with Hanumon in the distance, and notes they're bonding even after having previously been adversaries. He then peers over at Sora and Piyomon again, the former of whom is still gazing at shimmering lake in her melancholy. Finally, Yamato turns back to Takeru and extends his hand out to him.

"Okay, Takeru," he says. "Let's be strong…together." Takeru nods and takes Yamato outstretched hand, gripping it as firmly.

"Yes," says Takeru. "For Angemon…for Agumon…and for Taichi!"