Chika looked around, completely confused. This wasn't right. Piyomon said they were in the Digital World...

So why was her hometown visible right in front of them?

She turned to Piyomon, only to see him just as confused as she was. "But we're in the Digital World..."

The young girl looked down and tightened her grip on the digiegg that she had found.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a twig breaking from behind the two of them. Chika spun around, and saw two kids her age. One a girl with... violet hair?... and the other a blond boy, standing behind her. Both of them looked shocked. She let out a smile, trying to calm them down. "Hi. I'm Chika! It's nice to meet you two!"

Piyomon sighed and walked up to them. "Are you two alright!?"

A ball of air shot towards Piyomon, and Chika and her partner turned to see a rather large flying hamster thing with orangish fur. "Stay away from them!"

The Yokohoma outskirts sure held some memories.

Chika turned to Yuka and Relena, who were bickering as usual. She let out a sigh. "Stop that. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention once we go in."

Piyomon had already gone on ahead, so it was time for her to bring the youngsters in, and time to go visit an old friend.

.o0o.

Broken Dreams
Written by: CustomMagnum

Chapter 04: Old Friends and the Past

Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Bandai and Toei Animation. No profit is being made off this work.

.o0o.

Yuka looked around the city, doing her best to seem like a normal kid. Tsukaimon was in her digivice, shoved into the little small box that was its screen.

Tsukaimon took every moment to make his displeasure with it known, his face pressed against the screen like a little kid trying to go through a window.

Yuka was just as annoyed with this arrangement as her partner was. Chika-neesan wasn't making Piyomon hide in her digivice, so why did she have to hide Tsukaimon?

Relena must've noticed how annoyed she was with the whole thing. "Try to calm down and relax. We don't want anyone to know were not from here."

Yuka snorted and sent Relena a glare. Like a girl wearing a large cape covering her front wasn't going to attract any attention from the locals.

Chika sighed from behind the two of them. "Will you two please stop fighting until we get to where were headed a least!?

Yuka turned back to look at the young woman. Chika's eyes were darting all over the place, like every other time she had looked back at Chika since the last night. Yuka couldn't tell why the caution was necessary, the people here might hate DATS and Digimon, but they didn't seem to notice that Chika was actually in a DATS uniform at the moment.

Well, they had been taking side roads and alleyways the entire time, so they didn't see too many people. But still, Yuka thought that Chika was acting extremely paranoid.

Finally, the group came to a house in the suburbs that looked vaguely familiar to Yuka, but the young girl couldn't place where she had seen it before.

Chika walked up to the door and knocked quickly. After a moment, the door opened, revealing a woman with shoulder length violet hair, dressed in a plain white shirt and black skirt. "Chika-san?" the woman asked, her eyes wide.

Chika sighed, a small smile gracing her face. "It's nice to see you again, Miyako-kun."

The woman smiled, opening the door wider and stepping to the side. "Come in."

They walked in, Chika coming in last and closing the door behind her. She then turned to Yuka. "You can let Tsukaimon out for now."

Yuka smiled and grabbed her digivice, the screen facing her palm. "Tsukaimon! Realize!"

With that command, Tsukaimon appeared in a flash of light and promptly fell to the ground, letting out a small squeal of pain.

Yuka bent down to her partner. "You okay?"

"Idiot," Yuka heard Relena whisper. The young girl turned around and fired a glare at the teenager. "You take that back!"

"Calm down you two!" Chika ordered, moving in between the two girls.

Yuka wasn't happy to hear Chika just ignore the insult to her partner like that, but she didn't say anything. She just turned around and looked away from Relena. Her eyes scanned the inside of the house, and the layout seemed familiar like the outside, but she couldn't place the furniture at all. It was weird.

"So," Miyako began. "What brings a famous DATS member back to Yokohoma?"

Chika sighed and shook her head. "Well, we need to find a ferry to File Island, but before that we kinda need to borrow some clothes from you."

Yuka heard Miyako groan, and she turned around. The violet haired woman was shaking her head, and her fingers were lightly massaging her forehead. "You do realize how hard that's going to be, right?"

Chika nodded. "It can't be avoided. The nearest port that can take us directly to DATS HQ right now is on the other side of the country," Chika paused to send a glance over at Relena, who didn't seem to notice, or care. "We really don't have that kind of time to waste."

Miyako's gaze followed Chika's, and the woman blinked. "Is she Touma-san's sister?"

"I am," Relena answered. "But why does that matter?"

Miyako turned back to Chika. "What's she doing over here!?"

"That's Kurata's fault," Chika said, her small smile replaced by a frown.

Miyako let out a deep breath and clenched her fists. "And the other girl?"

"She's Noguchi Yuka," Chika answered. "In her case, she and her partner sneaked out."

Yuka and Tsukaimon both gulped when they heard that.

Miyako shook her head. "Geez..." The woman paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "Fine, I'll help. We're around the same size now, and some of my old clothes should fit those two."

"Thank you, Miyako-kun," Chika said. Yuka looked over at her, and Chika's eyes suddenly seemed to widen. "Where's Ken-kun?"

"He's down at the precinct," Miyako answered, leading the group deeper into her home. "There's been a lot of activity outside the city lately. A lot digimon have been sighted outside the city limits. The city council's worried they're going to try something."

"Were they a bunch of Goblimon lead by an Ogremon?" Yuka asked.

Miyako shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe. While my husband does keep me up to date on some things, right now that's not one of them."

"Well, if they are than Chika-neesan and Piyomon already took care of them!" Yuka bragged.

Miyako blinked at her and looked over at Chika. "Really?" She then shook her head. "You know what? I shouldn't even be surprised at what you do anymore." She dropped her hand back down to her side. "Anyway, feel free to make yourselves at home."

The four of them walked into the living room. As soon as Yuka stepped in it Tsukaimon flew out of her hands on onto the couch, sighing happily. She saw Relena grab the remote and turned the T.V. on to some anime before sitting down on the far end of the couch. Yuka went and sat down next to her partner, who was now curled up on the cushion, reminding Yuka of a little puppy.

"Where's Piyomon?" Yuka heard Miyako ask to Chika.

"He's looking for a ship".

"Shouldn't you be doing that? Its dangerous for a digimon to do anything alone in this city."

"Well, when I pointed that out he reminded me that we really don't have a choice. Kurata's after Relena."

Yuka's eyes widened and darted quickly to Relena. who was looking at her out of the corner of her eyes. The blonde then shook her head and turned back to the TV.

It was then that the young girl realized that she was being too obvious in her listening.

"Are you two sure about that?" Miyako asked.

"Yeah."

"That man's the cause for everything thats happened," Miyako commented bitterly, before her voice got sweeter sounding. "Do you three want anything?"

Yuka turned around and saw both women standing with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Just lunch," Relena answered. "We haven't eaten since last night."

Yuka nodded, as her stomach growled. She blushed. "Same here".

Tsukaimon just let out a sound that sounded like agreement.

"Alright, well go order something before we do anything else, Chika said, before she and Miyako turned and went into another room.

Yuka went to get off the couch, but was stopped when Relena told her not to bother following them. "Why?" she asked. The teenager really got on her nerves sometimes. "They might be discussing something else thats important."

"Yeah, and this time they actually care about us hearing about it," Relena answered. "Otherwise they would've just gone into the kitchen over there to make something." She pointed to the kitchen that was connected to the family room they were currently in.

Yuka shot Relena a glare, not caring that she had been doing this much more often since she snuck out of the base to rescue her. "But why do they want to keep stuff from us?"

"Maybe because were only here because we got kidnapped by bandits?" Relena asked, before turning back to the T.V., obviously not expecting an answer from Yuka.

Yuka groaned, and leaned back into the couch, her head resting on the soft backrest. What could they do now that Chika-neesan didn't want them to know something?

.o0o.

Later, after eating and having Miyako throw clothes at the three them until they found something that would fit; Yuka and the others found themselves heading to the port.

"I hate this thing!" Tsukaimon mumbled from inside the digivice.

Yuka sighed, making sure that the digivice was hidden in the pocket of the old but functional jeans she was wearing. "It's just until we're out of here."

"But I don't like it!"

Chika chuckled a bit, before turning serious again. "Alright, be quiet now."

Yuka turned to look at the older woman, who was wearing a purple tank top with black spandex-like shorts, and didn't seem to enjoy wearing them. The young girl then turned around again, and noticed a group of people in front of them. She gulped and hoped they wouldn't be recognized by anybody, even if Chika was really the only person who was well known.

"Stop acting so nervous," Relena whispered at her.

Yuka sent a quick glare over at the blonde, frowning as she realized that was the third time that she'd done that today at least.

Relena giggled a bit a Yuka's reaction, the sky blue dress she was dressed in moving tightly with her body.

Yuka turned away, and the three of them went and approached a nearby sailor. She just hoped that Chika knew what she was doing.

"Excuse me, but would you happen to know where most of these ships are headed to?" Chika asked, her voice laced with politeness that Yuka only really heard in the woman's voice when she was speaking to her mother or someone higher ranked than her.

The man looked over at Chika for a few moments, and Yuka could see his eyes moving up and down. He then took a quick look at Relena and herself, before turning his attention back to Chika. "Most of these ships are headed out of the country," the man replied. "They're cargo ships for the most part though, so they don't usually take passengers. Well, except for the eight brats who are headed to File Island, but I think a group of nice girls like you would want to stay away from them. Especially with your younger sibling with you."

Chika blinked. "Really?" she asked. "Do you know why they're going there?"

The man shrugged. "Why should I know or care? But they're nuts, going to a place crawling with digimon like that. And those strange devices that they had, if I hadn't seen DATS digivices before I'd swear they were DATS agents." The man's voice just leaked hatred with those last words.

Chika's eyes narrowed a bit, although the man didn't seem to notice. "Thank you sir, we'll keep that in mind," she said, bowing quickly before leading Yuka and Relena away from him.

Yuka looked over at Chika. "Why are there other DATS agents here?" she asked, figuring Chika would know why.

Chika just shushed her, putting a finger to the young girls lips. "You'll give us away!" she whispered, removing her finger and looked over at them. "I'm not sure though. We should probably check it out." She looked around, and suddenly turned around. The young woman started walking over to a pile of cargo crates that didn't have anyone near them, and Yuka and Relena followed her.

"What's wrong?" Relena asked as the three of them walked behind the crates.

"Nothing," Chika answered. "We just need a secluded space to meet with Piyomon." She looked up to the sky.

Eventually a figured descended from the sky, causing Yuka to almost cry out in shock. She heard Chika tell her to relax, and it wasn't long before she realized that the figure was Piyomon.

Piyomon sighed, looking over at Yuka. "Sorry about that, I needed to make sure I wasn't seen by anyone."

"You almost gave the kid here a heart attack," Relena commented.

Yuka didn't even bother to turn around and glare at Relena this time, even as her fists clenched.

"Stop baiting each other for five seconds, will you?" Chika asked. She then turned her attention to Piyomon. "Did you find a ship willing to go to File Island?"

Piyomon nodded. "Yeah, there's a small boat manned by seven kids around Relena's age and one about the same age as Yuka. I don't think they're part of DATS though, even with those strange devices that they have."

"That explains why I didn't know they would be here," Chika said, her hand massaging her chin. "Do you think they can be trusted?"

Piyomon was silent for a few moments, deep in thought. "I think they can be trusted to take us to File Island, but I'm not sure if they can be trusted to keep our involvement a secret. They weren't exactly hiding where they were going."

Chika nodded. "Well, as long as we don't mention our full names or my real name at all we should be fine."

Yuka blinked. It seemed like they had way too easy a time finding a potential ship to take them where they needed to go. She didn't mention this out loud though. If she could think of it, Chika probably already did.

"Do you know when they're leaving, Piyomon?" Relena asked.

He nodded. "They're leaving in a couple of days."

Chika groaned and Yuka turned to look at her. "We're going to need to check into a hotel then." The young girl saw Relena give Chika a confused look. Chika turned slightly to Relena, and seemed to notice it too. "We're trying to stay hidden, and using any of our credit cards to pay for the rooms would reveal that were related to DATS."

"Why don't we go back to Miyako-san's?" Yuka asked.

Piyomon, Chika, and Relena all turned their attention over to her. "We can't impose on her that much!" Relena shouted.

"Are there any other pro-digimon people in Yokohoma that you know about?" Yuka asked.

Chika shook her head.

"Yuka does have a point," Piyomon said. "Miyako is pretty much our only option."

Chika sighed and shook her head, her hand going up to her forehead and gently brushing against her bandanna for a moment. "Alright, we'll go and ask Miyako if we can stay."

.o0o.

"Thanks again, Miyako-kun!" Chika said as they once again ended up at Miyako's place.

"It's nothing," Miyako said. "It isn't like Ken's going to be one to complain."

After saying that, Yuka saw Chika look around the house. "Where is Ken-kun? Still at the precinct?"

Miyako nodded.

Yuka decided to look around a bit as Tsukaimon rested happily in her arms. "That digivice is uncomfortable," she heard her partner say. She looked down at him and smiled.

Relena looked over at Chika. "How long is it going to take Piyomon to get here?"

Chika turned to Relena. "He'll be here as soon as we open a door upstairs." And as soon as she said that, the woman ran to the stairwell.

Yuka was pretty confused there. "Where's she going?" It didn't look like Chika was lost or anything, but with the anti-DATS state Yokohoma was in, she doubted Chika could have come here that often.

"Probably to her old room," Miyako answered.

Yuka's eyes widened. "This used to be Chika-neesan's house!"

Miyako nodded. "I have the feeling she never really wanted to leave. If this place hadn't gotten so anti-DATS around five years ago, she probably wouldn't have."

"Poor Chika-neechan," Tsukaimon said sadly.

Yuka stroked her partner's fur absent-mindedly. She knew that DATS used to have the Japan base here, but she didn't realize that meant that Chika used to live here also.

A few seconds later Chika and Piyomon came down from the stairs. "Are you sure its alright to stay here?" the digimon asked.

The older woman nodded. "It's fine. Besides, Yuka and Relena should give me some practice for the next decade."

Chika and Piyomon looked over at Miyako, and the younger woman's eyes were open wide. "You're having a baby!?"

Miyako nodded, a goofy smile on her face.

Chika's face broke into a wide grin and before Yuka even knew it, Chika was hugging Miyako tightly. "How far along are you!? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Yuka looked over at Chika and blinked. She couldn't remember Chika-neesan acting like a little kid in a candy store about anything since well... ever.

"One question at a time Chika!" Miyako exclaimed, but her face still had a smile.

"Oh," Chika said, blushing as she released her friend from her embrace. "I'm really happy for you, Miyako! I need to visit you more though!"

Miyako laughed. "You always did go gaga over babies."

Chika's blush deepened and Piyomon nodded. "You should've seen her ten years ago before the fusion when she was helping me take care of the baby digimon."

Chika turned to her partner. "And you should've seen me taking care of you."

Piyomon blushed.

"Isn't it going to be hard for you to visit though," Miyako said, ignoring Piyomon and Chika's little side conversation. "I mean, you're in DATS and Ken and I aren't."

Chika frowned. "I'm sorry, Miyako-kun."

Miyako sighed and shook her head. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault."

"But..."

Piyomon coughed, and Chika turned her eyes to look at him. Yuka then saw the older woman looking over at her and Relena.

Chika laughed faintly. "Maybe we should get something to eat."

Miyako's cooking was delicious, and it wasn't long after dinner that Yuka, Relena, and Tsukaimon went off to bed.

But for some reason, Yuka couldn't fall asleep. She knew that Chika-neesan was hiding something, and it bothered her, even though she knew that everyone had they're secrets. Since Chika-neesan was a DATS agent, she should have more secrets to keep than most people.

But it still bothered her.

The young girl brought herself out of bed, and started heading towards the kitchen. She needed a drink of water.

"It's nice to see you again, Chika", a man's voice said downstairs. Yuka thought that it was probably Miyako's husband; this Ken-kun Chika was talking about earlier. She moved closer to the stairs, she was pretty curious and her drink could wait a bit.

"It's nice to see you too, Ken-kun," Chika's voice replied. "Congrats on the baby."

"Thanks," Ken said. "How many days are you here for?"

"At least a few," Miyako's voice answered for Chika. "They need to wait for a ship to leave to File Island."

There was silence for a moment. Finally, Ken spoke up. "Be careful, File Island's still controlled by Devimon, even if he did decide to make it a neutral area in the conflicts."

"And a resort," Miyako commented.

"Even so," Ken continued. "It may be a safe haven for now, but that can change at any time."

"You know, I wouldn't expect someone almost partnered to a virus digimon to be prejudiced against them, Ken-kun," Chika teased.

Yuka thought that was interesting. Ken, and probably Miyako, had almost been in DATS.

"I'm just speaking the truth," Ken replied. "Besides, you know about Takeru's history with Devimon."

"That's something between Takeru-kun, Patamon, and Devimon," Chika shot back. "None of us are part of it."

Ken laughed. "True. But really, Takeru is your friend, right?"

"That doesn't mean we have to help each other in our personal vendettas that we don't want help in!" Chika shouted.

"What's Takeru-kun been up to anyway?" Miyako asked.

Chika sighed. "He's been pretty busy, being a combat instructor for the DATS Trainees," she answered. "He's probably going to be really annoyed at Yuka once we get back."

"That's good. Didn't see him doing that, but its nice to see that at least he's doing well," Ken answered.

There was silence for a moment. "What about the digimon around the city?" Miyako asked.

"They're still around, but there are a lot of angel digimon among them now," Ken answered.

Chika cursed. "That explains what Dominimon was doing around this area then."

"You're sure it was him? I mean, one of the six generals of the Virus Busters being out here?" Miyako asked.

"Yeah," Chika answered. "He tried to get Piyomon to join him again."

No one said anything for a moment. Obviously Ken and Miyako were kept somewhat in the DATS loop, even if they weren't agents. Finally, Ken spoke up again. "This isn't good. I'm going to have to go and report this information tomorrow."

"But that'll give Chika away!" Miyako protested, and Yuka's heart sank. If that happened, they would probably be kicked out of Yokohoma.

"Don't worry about it," Chika said.

"I'll tell my bosses that it's a source I trust," Ken said. "Chika's name wont be brought up, although now I guess its a good thing neither Miyako nor I joined DATS."

"I'm sorry you two," Chika began, "because of me Hawkmon was..."

"It wasn't your fault!" Miyako shouted, followed by a loud slapping sound that made Yuka's eyes widen. "That was Kurata! He's the one to blame for everything!"

"But if it weren't for me, he'd be alive!"

"And you'd be dead instead!"

Yuka heard Piyomon sigh. "I always tell her this, but she never listens."

"Piyomon..." Chika said, her voice dripping with sadness.

"I loved Hawkmon like he was my son, but what happened to him was not your fault!" Piyomon exclaimed. "Let's just focus on Dominimon and Kurata for now, alright!?"

"...Okay."

Yuka turned away, and started heading back towards the guest room. Her drink of water was forgotten.

That was when Relena's scream pierced through the silence.