Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me. The joke at the end is inspired by a comic I saw by Neodusk on Deviantart.

...

I've become a father.

"Okay, while I understand that, for some reason, you've convinced yourself that I'm a hero worth sticking around with, in the case that I'm not around-"

"W-why wouldn't you be around?"

"Because, realistically, I can't be with you every waking and sleeping second of every day. I mean, you wouldn't want me in the bathroom with you when you have to go, right? Er, wait, you are toilet trained, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh, thank ENIAC, I did NOT want to have to deal with diapers and toilet training."

I've become a father.

"Similarly, no matter how much you might want to, you can't come with me everywhere I go."

"Like when you need to use the bathroom?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of when I have to go to work, but since both things involve heaping amounts of shit, I can see why you'd think they were similar."

"Why can't I come to work with you?"

"You remember that office were we first met, Meicoomon? You remember all those piles and piles of paperwork? Well, I hate to break it to you, but not every day can be as exciting as me ripping the wings off of a real piece of shit. Most of the time I need to sit behind that desk and fill out ream after ream of paperwork for hours, or go to meetings, or have to stand and look pretty for pictures of me shaking hands with important dignitaries."

"That sounds boring."

"Oh, you have no idea. I loathe doing it with every fiber of my being."

"If you hate it, then why do you do it?"

"Because, Meicoomon, I'm a grown-up, and part of being a grown-up means spending most of your life doing horrendous amounts of busy work that you utterly despise for reasons that, honestly, aren't entirely clear. Pray that when you grow up, you manage to avoid that fate."

How did this happen?

"And so, since I don't want you to be literally bored to death sitting in my office being quiet while I fill out paperwork all day, you're going to need to learn to trust some of the other people around here to keep you company while I'm occupied. I know you're having trouble trusting in other Digimon, and I can understand why, but not everyone is out to get you, and I can personally guarantee that some of the other Knights are, no matter how much am I complain about them, pretty swell most of the time, and would probably be good company for you. Of course, we should probably try and get you to interact with kids your own age, but we'll have to take that up with Gallantmon and Sakuyamon. Though I think Beelzemon has some kids who are about as old as you are, too…"

"D-do I really have to?"

"As much as I hate to say it, and I'm sure you'll hate hearing it, it's really for your own good. The only people in your life can't be just me and Mica, and between the two of us, I'd personally prefer the spirit. And, if you're going to be living here with me instead of moving away to Sakuyamon's kingdom like you probably should…"

"I don't want to leave."

"Well, then, you're going to have to learn to interact with others. So, with that said, off the top of my head, you can trust… Let's see…"

I don't know anything about being a father. What am I doing?

"Gallantmon, obviously. He's great with kids, has kids of his own, and has already become part of your life. He can be counted on to help, no matter what. After him, I'd probably pick Omnimon. He's a good, solid second-in-command, and a far better right hand than I deserve. Although, um, if you ever hear him argue with himself, don't worry, he isn't going insane, it's just the two personalities that DNA Digivolved together to create him having difficulty remaining in sync due to an imperfect fusion. Craniamon will also do everything he can to keep you safe, and not just because you're his new favorite test subject, although I'd be lying if I said that weren't part of it. Still, if he needs to go to his lab, I would highly recommend you not go with them."

"B- because he'll do tests on me?"

"No, because there's a good chance something will explode, and I'd rather you not get hurt. You've already suffered too much already. Let's see… Anyone else…hmm. That's troubling."

"W-what is?"

"Having a little trouble thinking of any other Royal Knights you should be safe around. Examon is a good guy, but I'd be a little uneasy leaving you with him for protracted periods of time, since he's actually a LOT bigger than he looks, and despite all Craniamon's assurances that there's nothing wrong with the file compression program he used to shrink him down to our size, all of us are a little worried that one day it'll malfunction and he'll swell back to his true mass and accidentally squish us."

"I don't want to be squished!"

"Neither do I, Meicoomon. Neither do I."

I never wanted to be a father! I don't even like kids! How did this happen?!

"Normally, I'd recommend Kentarousmon as well, since he's pretty reliable, but right now he's got his hands full dealing with several relatives who've moved in with him, and they're a bit rambunctious and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be anywhere near a huge crowd of loud and frenetic people."

"N-no, I don't."

"Thought so. You should stay out of his way until they're gone. Whenever that is…anyway, then there's…um… UlforceVeedramon? You know, I've known the guy for a while, but I honestly can't think of much to say about him. I'm not even positive he has a personality. I know he more or less raised his cousin Magnamon, but given he was also willing to kill the guy-"

"What?!"

"Long story. But yeah, on second thought, I don't want you anywhere near him."

I have no idea what I'm doing. This has to be some sort of mistake. What was I thinking?!

"Speaking of Magnamon, I want you to stay away from him. He's the weakest and most pathetic member of our order and an even bigger failure than me, and I don't want you catching any of his loserness in case it's contagious. Or any of his STDs."

"His what?"

"Not covering that. Also, his armor has a tendency to explode for no apparent reason, so really, he's a walking safety hazard. Stay the hell away from him."

"O-okay."

Is it too late to do something about this? Maybe I should give her to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon after all. I'm sure they'd be happy to have her. She'd be way better off with them than with me.

"And on that note, there are a few other Knights you should try to avoid if at all possible. Leopardmon might seem alright at first glance, but he's actually got deep-seated anger problems related to his ridiculously embarrassing name and body odor, and it doesn't take much to set him off. If you run into him, don't say or do anything that might lead him to believe you think his name is stupid or that he smells like a dumpster fire, it will make him really angry."

"Does he?"

"Does he what?"

"Smell like a dumpster fire?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. It's his natural musk. Can't be helped. Kind of a shame. Let's see, aside from him, there's also Jesmon. Jesmon is… He's friendly and chivalrous, but he's also sort of… Super religious due to being raised by nuns, and that rubs me the wrong way."

"Why?"

"Aside from the fact that he's always praising Yggdrasil- who, take it from me, isn't worth it – – and the fact that there's a lot of stuff Yggdrasil orders us to do that Jesmon is morally against, but would do it anyway just because a tree told him to? The problem with religion, Meicoomon, is that people can use it to justify the most horrific atrocities. So long as they think their God is okay with it, they've got absolutely no problem killing, raping, or torturing people whose only crime is being different from them. If you're going to do evil shit, own up to the fact that it's horrible, don't lie to yourself that you're going to go to heaven for it. Also, his mode change is a ridiculous-looking magical girl Knight form, and that's just wrong."

Now I just have to sell Meicoomon on the idea. Okay, I'll tell her this was a mistake and I'm going to give her to Gallantmon and Sakuyamon to take care of. Right… Now.

"But if they are ANY Knights you should absolutely avoid, I mean, turn the other way and run if you see them walking down the hall, are Crusadermon and Dynasmon."

"W-why? What's wrong with them?"

"Well, Crusadermon hates other women, which is hypocritical because she's one herself. She's incredibly vain, and for years has been trying to keep as many female Digimon away from our headquarters and out of our ranks as possible because she's paranoid that we'll think other girls will be prettier than she is. If she sees you, she'll make all sorts of awful passive-aggressive comments about how you're ugly and stupid and will never be as beautiful or popular as she is. If she says anything hurtful to you, keep in mind that it's not true, and she's just projecting, and secretly is afraid that you WILL be more beautiful and popular than her, and is willing to do anything to keep you from realizing it. Also, she fancies herself an artist, which she… Isn't, really. And doesn't accept criticism well when that's pointed out to her."

"Oh my."

… Why am I not saying it to her?

"And then there's Dynasmon. Just… Dynasmon. Dear programmers, where do I even begin with that guy? He's just… He's the worst, okay? The absolute worst. Like excrement given Digimon form, without being a Sukamon. He's stupid, selfish, cruel, petty, and incompetent. An overwhelming amount of the work I have to do comes from cleaning up the messes he causes. Honestly, the Digital World would be better off if he were to drop dead."

"Wh-why is someone like that part of the Royal Knights?!"

"Because, unfortunately, we're legally required to have a Dynasmon in our ranks whenever possible. Unfortunately, right now he's the only one currently active in the Digital World, so we can't get rid of him until another one shows up. Of course, there's no guarantee that the next guy won't be just as bad or worse, but… Anyway, just stay away from Dynasmon. End of story. Oh, and if you see him with a megaphone, come running for me or any of the other Knights I've told you to trust and tell them right away. I cannot emphasize this enough, Meicoomon. Dynasmon plus megaphone equals very, VERY bad things. If he somehow got his hands on one, the lives of thousands if not millions of people are in jeopardy, and someone responsible has to be informed so they can stop him before it's too late."

"O-okay."

"… Wow, you know, now that I've said all this out loud, it just occurred to me that our headquarters really is not a safe place for a child."

"I-it's okay. It still sounds safer then Primary Village."

"… That saddens me on so many levels."

It's the simplest thing! Open mouth, tell her she can't stay here! I just pointed out it's not safe!

"Anyway, that's pretty much all the Knights. I'm not as familiar with our staff, but I'm certain we can find plenty of Digimon among them you can trust-"

"Wasn't there another one?"

"Hmm? Another one?"

"Another Knight. You know… The one I… Hurt?"

"… Oh. Right. Um. Well, normally I'd say you could rely on Gankoomon, but given that you DID injure and infect him, it might be a bit awkward for you to be around him for a while-"

"Awkward for whom?" Gankoomon asked, suddenly interrupting the conversation.

Alphamon stiffened as the incredibly masculine red-haired warrior stepped out into the hallway, his ever-present companion Hinukamuy looming over him. Meicoomon, who'd been riding on Alphamon's shoulder, cringed and tried to hide behind his head. The monstrous spirit leered at her, until Mica lunged into his face, snarling. Startled, Hinukamuy quickly bowed his head in apology and backed off, making signs of obeisance to the Fox, who he recognized as far more powerful and higher up the spiritual hierarchy than he was.

"Gankoomon," Alphamon hesitantly said. "What a surprise. What, um, are you doing here?"

"… I live here," Gankoomon replied, nodding at the room he'd just vacated, which, sure enough, were his quarters. "What are you doing here? And who is that companion of yours? Something about her seems familiar…"

"Nobody important, just watching her for her mother, giving her a tour of the base, now if you'll excuse me, I'd better get back to doing that-" Alphamon said quickly, trying to push past the bancho.

Gankoomon snapped his fingers. "Wait, I recognize her now! That's the Digimon that wounded and infected me a while back!"

Fuck. "Gankoomon," Alphamon said slowly. "The situation is kind of complicated, so before you do anything-"

"I-I'm sorry," Meicoomon interjected, ears folded back against her head, a look of regret and anxiety on her face. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you, or infect you. I just… I can't help it, there's something wrong with me, and I can't always control myself, and when I lose control I hurt people, and I don't want to, and I'm really sorry please don't-"

"Whoa, whoa, hang on!" Gankoomon interrupted. "Relax, kid. I'm not going to hurt you."

Meicoomon blinked. "Y-you're not?"

"You aren't angry at her for wounding and infecting you?" Alphamon asked warily.

"No! Well, okay, I wasn't exactly fond of the whole infection business, but I'm not the kind of guy to hold a grudge, and honestly? I'm more impressed by your strength then the virus. I'm a pretty tough Digimon if I do say so myself, and it takes a lot to hurt me as badly as you did, let alone infect me with something. As a Digimon with an appreciation for power, I can respect anyone strong enough to do that… Especially one as low as level as you! What are you, a Rookie?"

"Champion, actually," Meicoomon confessed nervously.

"Really? Well, that doesn't change the fact that I'm seriously impressed. Just by looking at you, I can sense you have vast, untapped potential… You know, since Jesmon graduated, I've kinda been looking for a new pupil. How would you like to be my student? I could teach you how to harness that strength of yours, put it to some good use," Gankoomon offered.

Meicoomon flinched back, ears folding back against her head. "N-no! I don't want this power. I don't want to hurt anyone with it. I want nothing to do with it!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it's a part of you," Gankoomon argued. "And if you don't know how to use it, what's to stop you from going out of control again, and hurting someone else? Wouldn't you rather learn how to tame this power, and make sure it never harms anyone again?"

Meicoomon hesitated. "I… Well…"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Alphamon interjected. "Gankoomon, no offense, but I'm not 100 percent sure you're the best fit for this. Especially with how big of a disappointment your LAST student was."

"Jesmon isn't a disappointment!" Gankoomon protested.

"Pretty Pink Princess Mode," Alphamon said flatly.

Gankoomon flinched. "… That's a low blow, mon."

"Doesn't change the fact that you let those nuns convince him it would be a good idea right under your nose," Alphamon pointed out. "Or that you somehow failed to notice that he had a massive crush on you for years."

"… Okay, I'll admit I wasn't as observant as I should have been," Gankoomon admitted. "But I won't make that mistake this time. Alphamon, I believe I can make something great out of this child, if I just have the chance."

Alphamon glanced at Meicoomon, who seemed uncertain. "We'll discuss this at a later date," he said gruffly. "In any event, Sakuyamon has first claim on training her to use her abilities. You'll have to take it up with her and Gallantmon. And remember, the kid has final say. This is her life we're talking about."

"Fair enough," Gankoomon conceded. He cocked his head. "So, what's she doing here, anyway?"

"Long story. Short version is that Meicoomon will be staying with us for… Now. There's a lot about her we're trying to figure out. There's some kind of conspiracy afoot that's been using her to distribute the same virus she infected you with all over the Digital World using kids from a Primary Village as disease carriers," Alphamon explained.

Gankoomon's teeth clenched. "Seriously?! That's… That's just sick. Anything I can do to help?"

"Craniamon is already doing some digging into her data and Gallantmon and Sakuyamon are riding out to investigate the village she came from," Alphamon explained. "I'm not sure what you could do… Unless… Do you think you could talk to your husband about this?"

"My-" Gankoomon stiffened, bristling in rage. "You aren't seriously suggesting that the Seven Great Demon Lords are behind this, are you?!"

"Oh, heavens no," Alphamon said quickly. "They aren't nearly competent enough to do something as sophisticated as this. But, given their connections, there's a chance they might've heard something we haven't."

"… I'll ask him," Gankoomon said grudgingly. "Probably a longshot, but this sounds too important to neglect any possible leads, especially where innocent kids are involved. I'll call him now, and let you know if he tells me anything. Meicoomon, it was nice meeting you, and if you ever change your mind about training, well, you know where I am."

With a brief salute, he went back into his room. "He seemed…nice," Meicoomon said quietly after a moment.

"He's not that bad," Alphamon admitted as they continued on the hallway. "Still, if he tries to push the training issue too hard, let me know and I'll sort him out."

"Okay," she said. "Um… Do you … Do you think that I should train with him?"

Alphamon considered this for a moment. "While his methods might be effective, I think they're going to be a bit too… Intense for you right now. Given everything that's happened to you, you'll probably want something gentler and relaxing, like… Meditation or whatever mystical stuff Sakuyamon intends to do with you. Uh, is that okay with you?"

"I… That might be nice," Meicoomon said hesitantly. "I-I wouldn't mind spending more time with her, I guess."

"I'll be there as much as I can, if that'll make you feel better," Alphamon promised. "And we aren't going to force you do anything you don't want, okay? After all that's happened to you, you deserve a say in what happens to you going forward."

She smiled shyly. "Thank you. I-I really… thank you."

"No problem. Anyway, this is us," Alphamon said, stopping in front of another door. "Home sweet home."

They entered the room. The quarters of the leader of the Royal Knights were oddly Spartan. There was a large bed with black sheets and pillows in gold trim sized for him, a nightstand with a lamp and a tablet, a stand for him to put his armor when he wasn't wearing it, two doors, one of which was a closet and the other led to the bathroom, a bookshelf full of books that hadn't appeared to be touched in a while, and a large television mounted on the wall. There were no paintings, no pictures, no trophies or anything else beyond the armor stand and items on the nightstand to make it look like this was a room that saw frequent use or belonged to someone, rather than some place for you might put up guests for a while.

"Sorry that there's not much here," Alphamon apologized as he closed the door behind them. Meicoomon hopped off his shoulder, looking around the room with wide eyes, Mica poking around the quarters and sneezing when some dust from the bookshelf got in her nose. "I… Don't really spend a lot of time here. I'm usually too exhausted after a long day of work to do anything more than undressing and go to bed. I can't even remember what chapter I was on in the book I was reading." He frowned. "Or for that matter, which book I was reading."

"It's a lot nicer than the room I got back at the Village," she told him in a tone of amazement.

Alphamon cringed. "Yes, ah, I suppose it would be. Anyway, until other accommodations can be made, I guess you'll be staying here with me. You should be honored, or at least, you should be if there was anything honorable about being here. You're probably the first person other than me and the cleaners to come in here in… Well, possibly ever."

"You never have anyone else over?" Meicoomon asked, looking at him in surprise. "No friends, no family?"

"I see enough of the few people I would consider friends on a daily basis at work to want them to intrude upon my private life, minimal as it might be," Alphamon grunted. "As for family… Well, that's totally out of the question."

Meicoomon looked him sympathetically. "Oh. You're… Like me, then. You don't have a family…"

"Huh?" Alphamon asked, surprised. "Oh no, I do have a family. They just don't come over because I hate them more than I hate anyone in the Digital World, including myself, and possibly Dynasmon."

Meicoomon looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

Alphamon nodded furiously. "Really. Meicoomon, my family are the cruelest, vilest, most sadistic bunch of evil bastards that have ever blighted the face of the Digital World, worse than any villain that's ever tried to conquer or destroy it in the past. My cousins are all sadistic degenerates who've committed just about every sin imaginable, and a few that aren't. My brother is a monster so horrific that calling him one is an insult to other monsters. And my father… Oh, don't get me started on my father. Dear old dad is the worst person I've ever had the misfortune to meet, and if he were to die, the Digital World would automatically become a much better place by virtue of him not being in it. They're all the absolute worst, and deserve to die a horrible excruciating death, and I'd be more than happy to do the deed myself if given half the chance and if I believed I could actually pull it off. I wish I were an orphan, because it would be preferable to being related to those walking atrocities." He sighed. "Heck, I technically was an orphan for most of my early life. Didn't even meet my family until later. Before then, the Royal Knights were the closest thing I had to family. But… Well, that was a long time ago."

"You… Don't think of them that way anymore?" Meicoomon asked quietly, clearly startled by Alphamon's rant about his family.

He shook his head wearily. "No, I haven't for a long time. It's… Do you know the story of how the Royal Knights began? No, I suppose you wouldn't. Not many people do these days." He sat on his bed and patted the bedspread beside him. Meicoomon quickly scurried up the side to sit beside him, eyes bright and eager, Mica curling up in her lap. He pretended not to notice how her claws had torn into the sheets. He'd been meaning to replace them anyway. "A long, long time ago, the Digital World was in dire straits, worse than it'd ever been, and worse than it has been since. Evil wasn't just on the rise, it was at its apex. Hope was dead. Light was all but extinguished. Times were so dark even the sun cast a shadow, and no, I don't know how that worked either, it's the Digital World, weird shit happens all the time. Things were so bad, Digimon were killing themselves and hoping they wouldn't be reborn, just to get away from it all.

"And then, a great warrior appeared. Unlike everyone else, he believed there was still a chance to save the Digital World, and restore it to the way it had once been. And this great hero was-"

"You?" Meicoomon interrupted.

"What? No, of course not," Alphamon said, startled. "It was the founder of our order, and my mentor, Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. Not to be confused with our official transport and occasional giant mecha. He was the real deal, a true hero, someone even Gallantmon could take notes from. He'd probably be so disappointed in how we've turned out, especially me. If he could see me now…" He sighed briefly. "Anyway, he knew that the world couldn't be saved by just him. He traveled the length and breadth of the Digital World, searching for others like himself, who hadn't given up the fight. He gathered 13 Digimon together – – and yes, one of them was me – – trained them, and forged them together into a team of unstoppable ultimate saviors, the original Royal Knights. Together, we rode out to battle, again and again. It was hard, very hard, and more than once it looked like we would fail, but eventually, we managed to vanquish the forces of evil and return the light to the Digital World… But only at great cost. Many of our friends and allies were slain the process, including our founder. As Imperialdramon's successor, it fell to me to lead my remaining brethren and help restore order to the digital world. While there was some talk of disbanding once that arduous task was complete, I argued otherwise, believing that we should stay active as a peacekeeping force and watch group, just in case evil of this magnitude ever returned. A formal charter was drawn up, we got new recruits to replace those we lost, and with the support of governments around the world, we stood vigilant and ready for the next great threat to materialize. Only…"

"Only what?" Meicoomon asked.

He shrugged. "The next great threat never appeared. Oh sure, new evil raised its ugly head now and then to cause trouble, but nothing on the sheer magnitude of scale that we had been founded to stop. We did our best to fight these evils, of course, but after a while it became clear that local heroes or law enforcement could handle most of the trouble by themselves. It was looking more and more like we were no longer necessary to the defense of the Digital World, and many of our backers quietly started withdrawing their support, while several of my old comrades either retired or died, and not all of their positions were immediately filled.

"Desperate to prove we were still relevant, I started ranging further and further from headquarters, searching for new villains to throw down or prospective champions to train to join the order and fill the seats that had been left empty, but to no avail. As I spent more and more time away from base, I earned the nickname 'Lord of the Empty Throne,' because I was away more often than not. And, due to my negligence, the order started to decay. Our budget got slashed again and again; more and more Knights quit or died and were replaced by increasingly inadequate successors, the media increasingly made fun of us as a useless relic of a bygone age that nobody cared about anymore…

"And then one day, on one of the rare occasions I actually bothered to show up for the meeting, I suddenly realized I didn't recognize any of the people at the table. All of my old friends were gone. I was the only one left from when we had begun, the only one who remembered the battles we'd fought and the sacrifices we made, the only one who had even heard of our founder and still remembered what it meant to be a Knight… And even those memories were starting to dwindle as time went on. Slowly I began to resent them, and those who inevitably replaced them, for being such shallow limitations of my fallen comrades, too young and inexperienced to understand real duty or honor and mostly wanted the position for its perks, not its responsibilities. I grew to resent the Digital World as well, for turning its back on us and no longer needing us. I even considered, for a moment, disbanding the Knights, but never went through with it, partly because I didn't want to destroy the last piece of Imperialdramon's legacy… But mostly because I was stubborn and angry and didn't want to give everyone else. The satisfaction of being proven right about us not being important anymore. I made more and more compromises to keep us up and running, made increasingly futile and desperate attempts to try and mold the others into Knights worthy of the name, even went so far as to whore us out to Yggdrasil…

"And then one day, I looked in the mirror and realized I didn't recognize the Digimon looking back. That I, too, was but a hollow pretender compared to the person I once was. That I'd failed, completely and utterly, to preserve the good name of the Royal Knights, squandered any chance of restoring our former glory, and ruined the last bit of good Imperialdramon had done for this world, and for me. And, in that moment, I grew to hate myself for being a bigger failure than all the other so-called Knights in our order. And just like that, I… Gave up. On everything. Steeped in resentment and apathy and self-loathing, I stopped caring about myself or others and longed for nothing more than the sweet embrace of death, so that the long disgrace that was my life could finally come to an end." He shrugged nonchalantly. "And that's basically how I've been ever since."

Meicoomon stared him, stunned. Mica nuzzled Alphamon in sympathy. "… I think that's the saddest story I've ever heard, and I've been told for years that I'm an ugly stupid little monster who nobody will ever love."

"The wonderful thing about life, Meicoomon, is that somewhere out there there's always someone who's got it worse off than you," Alphamon said sagely. "A word of advice, kid. Never sell out, and whatever I did that made me who I am today, always do the exact opposite. You can't possibly do anything but succeed if you manage to do that."

"I'll… Keep that in mind," Meicoomon said, looking disturbed. Mica whimpered.

"Anyway," Alphamon said loudly, deciding this would probably be a good time to change the subject, as well as keep himself from wondering for too long why, exactly, he'd opened himself up like that. He wasn't sure if he'd ever told anyone all that before. "The food I called ahead for should be arriving shortly. So, the meantime, why don't we find something on television? We can stream just about any show in both worlds, including stuff that's kid-friendly, so… I don't suppose there's anything you'd like to watch? Er, supposing they let you watch anything back at the Village…"

"Well… Um…" Meicoomon blushed and looked away. "Before… Before things got bad, and they wouldn't let me near the television anymore, there was… One show I really liked. It was really nice, with lots of great songs and colorful friendly likable characters. I only got to see a few episodes, but it was really good, and… I, um, wouldn't mind seeing more, if that's okay…"

"Great," Alphamon said in relief, reaching for the remote. "Let's see if we can find it. Something nice and fluffy and child-friendly should help us get our minds off of our respective emotional turmoil and miserable pasts."

A few hours later…

Alphamon, Meicoomon, and Meicoomon stared at the screen, a seemingly never ending flow of tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes…" Whispered the tall, pale, slender humanoid figure on the screen to the considerably shorter curly-haired boy sitting next to her.

WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING. WHY AM I CRYING. CAN THE CRYING STOP NOW, Alphamon thought desperately.

Another solid minute of emotional music started playing.

GODDAMMIT.