Episode 5 - Bearing the Weight

That morning, Sofi woke determined; if Talyn could find and summon Digidestined of old, then so could she.
She perused her desk, examining shreds of paper, scribbles she had taken hurriedly, looking over pages worth of information they had gathered so far. She had been sorting it out for most of the previous night; her school work had taken a day off.
She read through Sora's account of her adventure for the fourth times, and the one they had discovered at the Digiworld Temples, she noticed gaps, missing information that only the Digidestined could have filled.
There were, apparently, several generations of Digidestined preceding them. Sofi had never been completely interested in history, but she found this task fascinating. Two worlds' constantly colliding and sharing stories over decades, a history Talyn, Amy and she were part of.
Noticing the time, she attempted to put them into some thought-up order before she hid them behind the draws of her desk, and packed her bag for another Thursday at school.
Thursday's were her best day to get into the Digiworld, she had a mere two hours of lessons in the morning, and the rest was free to her. If she wasn't a Digi-Guardian, she'd be studying.
Outside, spring had finally settled in, and the morning air was fresh and crisp. She didn't meet Talyn on the way to school, he'd already be there, ready to leave on the trip his Law class were having. Amy however, had decided to meet her.
"Morning!" Sofi said happily as she saw her waiting at the crossing.
"Hey!" Amy called back.
"What's it like having only one lesson?" Sofi asked.
Amy laughed, "Well, I usually spend the rest of the day at home, which is really boring most of the time," she replied.
"I'm glad you agreed to come anyway," Sofi said.
The day before, they'd agreed to venture into the Digiworld together once Sofi had finished with two single lessons of Maths and English.
"Isn't it nice, in spring?" Sofi asked as they were walking.
"It sure is, but bring on summer!" Amy laughed, "Does the Digiworld have seasons?"
"You know what? I don't know!" Sofi realised, "I wouldn't think so, there's not really a 'sun' it can go around, I think the weather and climate just change depending on where you are. We've been in places that have been covered in snow, and then the same place the day after it'd be boiling hot, I think it's just random. Are you excited?"
"To go there? I am," Amy smiled, "It'll be nice to spend the day away from home. School's alright for escaping, but it has its own problems."
"Like what?" Sofi asked.
"Well, just… people," Amy said, "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Hmm, would you like to know what I'm going to try to do today?" Sofi asked.
"Go on then," Amy replied.
"See if I can find another Digidestined like Talyn did, so we'll be doing a lot of travelling," Sofi explained.
"Gatomon's no good for travelling," Amy said.
"It was alright for Patamon, he could fly around as Angemon, I've been thinking about this and I don't know how we're going to cover a lot of ground, but I'm going to try," Sofi exclaimed, "I might activate a distress beacon and see if we can draw anyone in like Talyn did, I can't believe we never thought of doing it before, seems like such an obvious idea now."
"To be fair, you never expected to find another Digidestined," Amy interjected.
Much to Amy's amusement, the past week she had been going there with Talyn and Sofi, all Sofi had wanted to do was find Digidestined; she was sure they were avoiding her on purpose.
To Amy, Sofi seemed like an obsessive person at times; when something new or exciting happened, Sofi wouldn't stop talking about it for days.
They parted upon entering the gates, Sofi heading her way up the stairs to Maths, whilst Amy went straight to the library, she could at least try to get some studying done in the first hour.
Not five minutes after she'd sat down, another person sat in front of her, and her stomach twisted.
Donald smiled at her as he retrieved books from his bag.
"Morning," he said quietly.
"Hey," she replied, equally as quiet.
"Only four months to go," he said, not looking up from his work.
'Only?' she thought, exams weren't even on her horizon yet.
"Do you still play your flute?" Donald asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Not much, there's not much point, since I didn't do the diploma," Amy replied.
"There are other ways to get qualifications with it though, surely?" Donald suggested.
"Maybe I don't want other qualifications," she said, a little bit more harshly then she'd meant to.
Something flashed in his eyes, and she knew she'd made a mistake. Amy was a surprisingly good reader of people; her Mum usually said it was more of a curse, because she had also been particularly good at it.
"Sorry Donald, I didn't mean it like that, it's just-"
"Never mind, it doesn't matter," he replied, not even looking at her anymore.
He was just like Sofi academically, they both did as much as possible, and at times Amy envied them for having the determination to get things done; she had never been so strict with herself.
With thirteen years of education coming to an end, she looked differently at the grown-up boy sat in front of her, her boyfriend, who had his future set in stone. He had restrictions but plenty of push, whilst she had freedom but no direction.
Her conversation with the Librarian flashed into her mind, and she looked back at Donald. Could she talk to him? He was concentrating again, would it be fair if she disrupted him just to talk about her?
'How do people choose what they want to do?' she wondered.
The weight of the world was pushing her shoulders forward, but she didn't know what it was pushing her towards. She couldn't direct it, in the past she'd tried things, like the flute, to see if she fancied something along those lines, but it just turned out to be another hobby.
'Why does he not notice me?' she thought.
Donald sat in front of her, in the best position to see she was troubled, yet he ignored her.
She looked up to the book cases, thinking of what lay beyond… an entirely different world. She couldn't go there yet, not until Sofi had finished her lessons.
Amy had visited the Digiworld several times now over the last couple of weeks. For some reason Salamon hadn't Digivolved again, Sofi said the first time was probably a fluke from the 'stressful situation', and that the more she visited, the closer she'd get. They had been taking her around the villages close to the forest, getting her established as a Guardian first, whilst searching for Digidestined. Sofi had even lent her the book she'd been 'writing', so she could learn about some of the Digimon they'd met. Mostly it was just a name and level with a location; the information gathered was not vast by any means.
She realised she'd been staring at the same pages of the book again, it must have become a habit now, she quickly made herself look busy, glancing up to see if the Librarian had noticed; she hadn't, and neither had Donald.
When the hour had passed, Amy was more than relieved to pack her things away and said "bye" to Donald.
She almost ran out of the library to go to her Psychology lesson, eager to distract herself and kill the time before she'd go in the Digiworld with Sofi.

"Did you get Talyn's distress beacon?" Amy asked when they were finally in the Digiworld.
"Yeah, the other guys in class thought it was my phone," Sofi mused.
"He's the first one out of you two to face a Mega Digimon then?" Amy asked.
"Apparently so," Sofi replied, she was obviously sour about that fact.
"I'm sure there'll be others," Amy tried to reassure her.
Sofi laughed, "I certainly don't! According to Talyn it was massively powerful."
"That's not what I meant!" Amy said quickly, "I just know how much you hate missing out on things."
Sofi laughed, "Don't worry about it, I know what you meant. Even I know how bad I can be at times, Lopmon keeps pointing it out to me."
"Where are they?" Amy asked, noticing Lopmon, Salamon or Patamon weren't in the clearing.
"I don't know, they usually never go far away," Sofi replied. She sat on the floor and begun to wait for their Digimon to find them.
They sat quietly and listened to the sound of the Digiworld for a while. The forest was calming, the day was bright and the air was warm, Sofi hadn't removed her scarf however.
"I love your shoes," Amy said.
"Thank you! I wish I could get some like these in the real world, but I've not been able to find them," Sofi replied, looking at the orange canvas shoes the Digiworld had, for some reason, decided to give her, "I actually blend in with some of the flowers here."
Amy laughed, feeling her heart lift. Donald had ignored her for the entire morning, and had simply uttered a "bye" when she'd left. Amy wasn't a petty person, but that had stung.
Now she was in the Digiworld, she felt her real-world problems had shrunk back into the screen she'd come through, leaving them all behind.
"Lopmon?" Sofi finally said into her Digivice again, "Where are you?"
"Coming, we've got a surprise for you."
"She knows I hate surprises," Sofi muttered to Amy.
Amy giggled to herself. She had been here a few more times with Sofi than with Talyn, and had noticed the subtle bonds they'd got with their Digimon. Sofi and Lopmon were both intellectual, and enjoyed discussing things, and teaching each other as much as they could about their worlds. Equally they both joked about with each other, managing to keep each other's feet on the ground.
Salamon wasn't like Lopmon or Patamon, she was just adorable in Amy's opinion. The constantly happy dog always broke Amy out of her own thoughts, and demanded a lot of attention; she was nothing short of eager.
"Have you written anything about your adventure yet?" Amy suddenly asked.
"Talyn and I? No, not really, it's not been much of an adventure," Sofi replied.
"Sure it has! You must have done loads, you've been here for two years," Amy replied.
"We're not Digidestined, it didn't seem right to include us in something like that," Sofi said.
"But you've still been here, as humans in the Digiworld," Amy argued.
"I don't know… I'll think about it," Sofi said unconvincingly.
Amy paused, "You and Talyn… are you… you know?"
Sofi's eyes widened, and then she laughed, "Together? No."
"Sorry," Amy smiled, "But you can see why I asked."
"We're more like… brother and sister, in a way," Sofi explained, "It's strange though, he hardly talks to me outside of here."
"Would you like him to?" Amy looked at her.
Sofi thought about it, "Yes, he's cool once you get to know him. I wouldn't mind hanging around with him in the real world."
"I get the impression he doesn't like me that much," Amy murmured.
"Talyn? Why do you say that?"
When Amy had been in the Digiworld with Talyn, he'd been quiet, subdued. He hardly ever said a word to her, and instead just muttered instructions for her to follow idly.
"Oh, he's like that, you'll get used to it," Sofi explained, "He's probably just uncomfortable having a new member of the team, he'll warm up to you eventually."
"Are you sure? I didn't want to ask Patamon in case he took it personally, but it's got me worried," Amy said.
"I'll talk to him," Sofi replied.
A rustling behind them caused them to turn, as Salamon bounded into the clearing.
"Amy! You're back! You're back!" she shouted, and jumped on her, Amy managing to catch her.
Lopmon strolled in casually afterwards from the bush.
"Sometimes you could pretend to be happy to see me," Sofi joked.
"Oh Sofi, you'd see right through that," Lopmon replied.
"What's the surprise?" Amy asked.
"Before you see it, you need to promise me something Sofi," Lopmon said, "Don't faint!"
Sofi gave her partner a confused look, but when more rustling came from the trees and two figures stepped into the clearing, her face turned into one of shock and disbelief; another Digidestined with her partner, a bird very similar to Biyomon, but with different colours.
"What- Where- How?!" Sofi asked.
"They were in the village nearby causing a 'ruckus', we heard it all the way over here, and brought them back," Lopmon explained.
Sofi looked at the girl, who must have been around their age, "What's your name?"
"Yolei Inoue," she replied.
"And I am Hawkmon," said the bird Digimon standing next to her, "We're pleased to meet you."
"This is Sofi, and that's Amy," Lopmon said to Yolei, she turned to Sofi, "We got talking on the way back, she's ready for your questions."
"Oh really? What brings you here Yolei?" Sofi asked. She didn't have the confidence Talyn had when addressing strangers, so she tried to sound friendly.
"Well, I had a day off work. I come here often enough anyway," she said.
"How often?" Amy asked.
"At least twice a month, usually just to have a walk around and to relay messages from my busier Digidestined partners," Yolei laughed.
"Busier?" Sofi asked.
"Yeah, they've all got stuff going on now, most of them have jobs and they don't really get the time to come here," Yolei explained, "But we still keep in touch and since I'm now the one with the most time, I'm the one who comes here."
"So, when did you come to the Digiworld?" Sofi asked.
"Oh, a few years ago now, we came when I was about… thirteen, and I'm going on 18 now," Yolei said.
"I don't suppose you know a Digidestined called Sora?"
"Sora Takenouchi? I know her! She's one of my closest friends, we were the Digidestined who followed them," Yolei said.
"You were the third set? How many of you were there?" Sofi asked. She had already retrieved a notebook and was writing notes down.
"She's very direct," Amy muttered to Lopmon, who only nodded in reply, and rolled her eyes.
"Well, right at the beginning we thought there'd be three of us, until two from the old team joined us, then we met someone called the Digimon Emperor who turned out to be a kid just like us, and he later joined us," Yolei said, "But there were Digidestined all over the world."
"All over the world? I guess that's possible, since we're from England but… to think there were that many at one time is just… remarkable," Sofi said, more to herself than anyone, "I've heard of the Digimon Emperor, from the temples, it said nothing about him becoming good though, just that he was taken from power by the Digidestined."
"There are temples?" Yolei asked, "Are we legends now?"
"Very much so, they chronicle most of the big events in the history of the Digiworld, Sofi's been trying to collect as much information as possible and put it all in one book," Lopmon interjected.
"I have a friend who's doing the same! His name's T.K," Yolei said.
"He is? Maybe I should meet him!" Sofi laughed.
"Maybe not," Lopmon retorted quietly to Amy, "Else the universe may just run out of time."
"Are we going to stand around here all day?" Salamon suddenly asked, and received a stern look from Amy.
"That's rude Salamon, we have a guest," she said.
"It's ok! We can go for a walk if you'd like, I'm sure we have lots to talk about," Yolei suggested.

They wandered out of the forest, and Amy suddenly realised she wasn't going to get much training done today. Sofi's attention was absorbed by Yolei as she recounted her adventure, and Sofi still wrote down notes.
"What am I doing wrong Salamon? I've been here plenty of times by Talyn's opinion, and you haven't Digivolved once since the first time," she asked her partner, who was walking next to her.
"I don't know, I'm just happy you're here," Salamon usually was no help, but Amy couldn't help but smile.
"Talyn and Sofi do it effortlessly, all on their Digivices, yet the option has never come up on mine, are you still tired from the first time?" she asked.
"No, that was weeks ago now!" Salamon said, "I'm ready to Digivolve when you are."
"Talyn said I shouldn't push it, that it'd happen naturally as we grew closer or something like that," Amy explained, "Wait, what do mean 'you're ready when I am'? You're the one Digivolving."
"It takes two," Salamon said.
Ready when you are, Amy thought. Was she ready to Digivolve Salamon again? She felt like she was…
"Amy, we're heading to a village just north of the mountain, apparently there've been a couple of attacks, so this could be the perfect opportunity for you," Sofi suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
'So she didn't forget,' Amy thought, realising Sofi could probably have a million things to do and remember all of them.
"Have you ever come across the term 'Tamer'?" Sofi asked Yolei.
"Tamer? No, what is it?" she replied.
"We don't know either, but our other partner, Talyn, met another Digidestined, but she apparently called herself a Tamer," Sofi explained, "You're from Japan right?"
"Yes."
"Is there a Digimon card game there?"
"Not that I know of, and I used to work in a shop that would sell something like that," Yolei smiled.
"How strange," Sofi mumbled, "Ok, what about Biomerge Digivolving?"
"We could Armour Digivolve and DNA Digivolve, but that was about it," Yolei replied.
"Oh, what're they?"
Amy sighed as Sofi spun off on another tangent of questions.
"She's unstoppable, huh?"
Amy hadn't realised Lopmon walking next to her and Salamon, "You don't say," she replied.
"She's trying to understand everything so she has a better grasp of what may come," Lopmon explained.
"What may come?"
"Sofi thinks that because your time here may almost be over, then there may be something coming, something possibly evil, or good, but something, and if she retraces the steps of every human who's been here, she'll have a better idea of what to do about it," Lopmon explained.
"But we're apparently not Digidestined, why would anything come and get us?" Amy asked.
"Let's just say we've been noticing a few irregularities, so we're just preparing," Lopmon said, "We don't know for certain your time ever will be over, you may do this for the rest of your lives, but if it does end, something has to signify it."
'The rest of our lives?' Amy suddenly thought.
She watched Sofi and Yolei from behind, thinking of the trials Yolei had described, imagining herself coming here when she was older, could she uphold something like that? She couldn't even put her heart into playing the flute. Maybe that was the reason she was reluctant to Digivolve Salamon; once she achieved it, she'd be part of it for good.
"Why is it foggy?" Salamon asked, breaking her thoughts.
"Good question," Sofi said from ahead.
Lopmon sniffed tentatively at the air, "It's not fog, it's smoke."

They rounded the corner to see a village by the side of a large lake under attack. A serpent-like Digimon was in the lake attacking.
"Know what that is?" Sofi asked Amy.
Amy shook her head.
"Seadramon, champion level, we've faced a few before," Sofi said, "Ok Amy, you're up."
"What?" she asked.
"Save the village of course!" Sofi said.
"What are you doing?" Yolei asked.
"We're training her," Sofi said.
"Training?"
"I'm new," Amy smiled and took a breath, "Come on Salamon."
The dog happily jumped after her, running ahead as if she was eager to face the monster.
"Would you like assistance?" Hawkmon asked Sofi.
"Not yet, let's see if she can get Salamon to Digivolve."

Amy manoeuvred between the Digimon fleeing and those fighting, trying to get to the front of the battle scene. She hoped to avoid fighting, and intended to talk the Seadramon down like Sofi had shown her how only a week ago.
It seemed Sofi's preferred tactic of dealing with incidents was to avoid fighting at all costs, whereas Talyn attacked without hesitation if he knew the Digimon had committed a crime.
"Seadramon! Stop attacking!" she called out to it, hoping to sound more confident than she felt.
The sea monster barely noticed her, and instead, turned its attention to the Digimon attacking it.
She looked over at Sofi who was watching, wondering what to do.
"Shout louder," Sofi said through the Digivice.
'Great advice,' Amy thought.
She grabbed an escaping Digimon, "You! Go tell those fighting to stop attacking; I'll try to settle this."
The Digimon, one she didn't recognise, nodded unsurely but ran back anyway to start speaking with the attackers.
They looked over in her direction, and slowly stopped. It seemed a Guardians presence was quite something after all.
"Seadramon!" she shouted again, this time louder. The Digimon stopped its onslaught and turned to look at her.
"Guardian?" it asked; its voice as slimy as its body.
"Um, I guess so," she replied.
"For the Revolt! Ice blast!"
Amy barely had time to move before Salamon jumped in front of her and took the blow again.
"No!" she cried as Salamon fell to the floor.

Sofi placed a hand on Yolei's shoulder.
"Give her a chance."

"You didn't have to attack! I only wanted to talk!" Amy shouted at the monster, but it didn't seem to listen, instead it sent out another attack.
Amy was ready this time, and as she held Salamon in her arms, she ran and jumped to avoid it.
"Why are you attacking?!" she asked angrily.

"What is it with these Digimon and wanting to attack us?" Sofi thought out loud.
"Huh?" Yolei asked.

"Where are the others?" the Seadramon asked.
Amy didn't answer it, "Why are you attacking? What did these Digimon do to deserve this?"
The next blast sent her flying backwards. She crashed through the roof of a house, and hurt all over.
"That wasn't fun," Salamon said.
Amy lay in a daze, wondering what to do. Sofi had given this chance to her, she shouldn't mess it up, and she'd already promised the residents she'd fix it.
"I do get myself into some situations," she muttered, "Come on."
She cradled Salamon to her chest, but as she stood up, yet another blast came, though less direct. The house shattered around her, and she fell in a heap of rubble.

"This doesn't look too good, come on Amy," Sofi whispered.
"Do you usually leave her to it?" Yolei asked.
"She needs to Digivolve, it's a long story," Sofi said.

The other Digimon had started attacking again, and Amy realised the Seadramon wouldn't listen to her.
'How can Talyn and Sofi do this?' she thought, 'It's much too dangerous.'
"Amy, we have to help," Salamon said, squirming her way out of Amy's arms.
"You can't! You can't fight that, it's way too big!" she argued.
"I have to try," Salamon said.
"Why do you?" she asked.
"Because those Digimon need my help, and I have to protect you," Salamon replied, still wriggling, "Why are you stopping me from Digivolving?"
The question caught Amy off guard, "I'm not!"
Was she? Maybe she was stopping Salamon from Digivolving. She looked at the Digimon fighting, each one without fear, facing an enemy they probably couldn't defeat alone. She had the power to help them, but she was afraid.
"What are you thinking?" Salamon asked, looking into her eyes.
"If you Digivolve… Then I'm stuck here… possibly forever. Forever trying to save the Digiworld, and I don't even know what from!" she replied slowly, realisation dawning on her, "How can I make that choice? I don't even know what I want to do with my own life, let alone the lives of millions of Digimon!"
"It's your choice," Salamon said, "I'm ready to save you Amy, I'm ready to save the Digiworld; I just need you."
Her Digivice flashed, the option popped into existence but all she could do was stare at it.
"If you Digivolve… then I'm a Guardian. They'll know I am, and this whole world will know there's a third, and that means I'll have to come back with Talyn and Sofi, I'll be as trapped here as I am in the real world," she muttered.
"You're not trapped!" Salamon argued.
"I… I don't know!" she cried, "I can't do this! Look at them fighting for their lives! I can't do that! I shouldn't be a part of this! This is all a mistake!"
"Amy, it's alright," said a new voice.
She turned to See Sofi behind her, her hand on Amy's shoulder.
"No one's making you do anything, we'll deal with this," Sofi said; there was a strange look in her eye, but Amy couldn't recognise it.
"Lopmon, Digivolve to… Turuiemon!"
"Hawkmon, Digivolve to… Aquilamon!"
Sofi strolled out of the destroyed house, with Yolei close behind, and Amy watched as they organised the attacking Digimon, Turuiemon attacking Seadramon from the land, whilst Aquilamon distracted it from the air. They were holding back, trying to weaken it.
She watched Sofi, how she moved her arms and ordered the Digimon into positions and organised the chaos. Yolei watched over Aquilamon, making sure her partner was alright, calling to it; to him.
"Being a Digi-Guardian is not about responsibility, it's not about life or death chances," Sofi explained to her, "It's about knowing which fights to fight, and which to avoid. We don't come here to save the Digiworld; we come here to keep it going. We're not meant to save it, that's beyond you or Talyn or me. We weren't chosen for great things, we were chosen as an interlude, a pause whilst the Digiworld decides what to do next."
Tears of frustration sprang into Amy's eyes, they weren't Digidestined, but she wasn't even a Guardian. She was just a stranger, hopeless, useless, a human who couldn't make her own choices. She watched Yolei and Sofi fighting with expertise, fearlessly, and she realized what that look had been in Sofi's eyes; determination.
Sofi had her mind on one goal, and it wasn't destroying Seadramon, it was guarding the town.
Aquilamon and Turuiemon weakened the Seadramon to the point where it escaped back into the water and out of sight.
Sofi and Yolei returned to Amy and sat down in the rubble of the house with her. The Digimon all around were carefully helping each other and reorganising the town. They didn't look mad that she'd let it get to this state, they just looked tired but relieved.
As Sofi looked at Amy, her eyes held only sympathy; somehow she knew what Amy was feeling, and it was ok.
"I'm so sorry," Amy said quietly.
"Don't apologise," Sofi said.
Her Digivice had returned to its lifeless state, but Salamon didn't even look disappointed.
"It's just-"
"Responsibility?" Yolei asked.
Amy nodded.
"It was easier for the Digidestined before us, they came to the Digiworld and had no way of going back, they could focus their attention solely on one thing," Yolei explained, "It was harder for us, we had access points like you do. We used the school's computer to get in and out."
"It's just another thing I feel like I've been forced into," Amy said, "And, I can't do something unless I'm absolutely sure I want to do it! There's just so much going on right now, I don't know what I want to do, what I have to do, or what I should be doing."
"I had to juggle school work, working in my family's shop, looking after the others, saving the Digiworld, and my free time," Yolei said, "I know how tough it can be. Everything's begging for attention all at once, and especially at this point in your life, when it's most important."
"How do you do it Sofi!? You do so much, and I can barely manage what I've got!" Amy said.
"I just… get on with it," Sofi admitted.
"You know what you want to do! You've got it all sorted out, I don't even know if I'm coming or going anymore!"
"Know what I want to do? Amy, I haven't got a clue what I want to do," Sofi laughed.
"What?" Amy asked, looking up, "But you do all that stuff so you can get into University, you get top grades, you play piano better than anyone in the school, you're on the head-girl team."
"That doesn't mean I know what I'm doing," Sofi explained, "I'm just as clueless as you are. I haven't even applied to University."
Amy's eyes widened, "You haven't?!"
"I'm not going to pick a degree out of a hat now am I?" Sofi said, "I do all that stuff so that when I know what I want to do, I'll have the best chance of getting it, why do you think I took Maths, English and two sciences? I hate maths! But it's a good subject to have."
"The three most generic subjects anyone can do," Amy said to herself, "And a music diploma, I guess that makes sense."
Sofi laughed, "I'm telling you, not even half of our year knows what they want to do! You just have to ask and you'll find out for yourself."
"So I'm not crazy," Amy smiled.
"You just have to plod along and wait for opportunities to come your way," Yolei added, "They'll be abundant in school, you'll have plenty of chances to find out what you want to do."
"I think your boyfriend Donald is one of the only ones who's dead set on his future," Sofi exclaimed.
"My boyfriend's set on becoming a detective," Yolei said, rolling her eyes.
"You and Donald don't seem to be getting along much these days?" Sofi noted.
Amy hesitated, "He's busy studying… Oh who am I kidding!? He sits there and doesn't even notice me anymore! It's driving me crazy!"
"Talk to him?" Yolei suggested.
"I want to," Amy admitted, "I really do want to, it doesn't even feel like we're together anymore."
"Do you still want to date him?" Sofi asked.
"I don't know. He's changed, we both have," Amy said.
"Another thing for you to think about," Yolei said.
"Amy, you have some serious responsibility issues," Sofi laughed, "Maybe I shouldn't have brought you along after all."
Amy laughed, and wiped her eyes clean on her sleeve, "I'm sorry, I've felt like such a mess recently, everything's just so uncertain with me at the moment."
"Does knowing you're not alone help that?" Sofi asked.
She nodded, "Very much so."
"Hey, you know, as your 'exclusive' Digi-Guardian teammates, we're required to look after each other, because we're not just teammates," she held out her hand, "We're friends."
Amy smiled and took it, allowing Sofi to pull her to her feet.
"And the most encouraging thing," Sofi added, "Is that you came closer to Digivolving today than you've done since the first time!"
"I guess you're right," Amy said, she looked at Salamon, "I'm sorry Salamon, I let you down."
"It's ok Amy, partners always forgive each other," the Digimon smiled.
Sofi's attention inevitably returned to Yolei.
"Oh my goodness! How many more questions can you have?!" the Digidestined laughed.
Amy laughed too, and they helped the village Digimon fix the houses before it was their time to leave. The remaining one and a half hour went by quickly, and by the end of it Amy felt much better than before, a small piece of the weight she'd had on her shoulders recently had gone.
The sun had descended to below the trees when they were walking back to the access point. The Digiworld had grown marginally colder, but the air around them was still comfortably warm.
"I never got to see armour Digivolution!" Sofi complained.
Yolei turned, surprised at how quickly the attention had whipped back to her, "I've got two, love and sincerity."
"Like the crests of the Digidestined?" Sofi asked, "The temples mentioned them, I didn't know they were passed down."
"They weren't, the crests were different. We found the Digi-eggs, ancient relics or something like that, and our Digimon adopted their powers," Yolei explained.
"And they're placed between champion and ultimate?" Sofi asked.
"We think so, somewhere between there depending on the Digimon," Yolei replied.
Amy checked her watch to make sure Sofi wasn't intending to stay the night. As much as she liked the Digiworld itself, without all the Digi-Guardian stuff, she didn't relish the idea of being in it at night.
"The access point's just up ahead," Sofi said, "We can reprogram it to your access point in Japan."
The clearing was darker due to the surrounding trees, and it was hard for Amy to locate the screen, seeing as it held only the black screen of the dark room in the real world. Luckily, Sofi knew exactly where to go.
"It's broke again," Sofi said after tapping options on the screen for a minute.
"What do you mean it's broke?" Yolei asked.
"It happened before, it may fix itself again, but it won't let me through," she said.
"Give it a good whack," Patamon called from atop a branch in a nearby tree. Amy jumped, having not seen the Digimon when they entered, but then she remembered Talyn telling her their Digimon usually stayed around this area.
Sofi did as instructed, much to Yolei's protest, and the access point flashed back into life.
"Magic," Patamon said happily.
"Well, it's all set," Sofi said, "It was lovely meeting you Yolei, and you too Hawkmon."
"Yes, good luck with your adventure; I'll try and see you again soon!" Yolei replied, "And Amy, don't worry too much! Nothing is decided and you have plenty of time! And sort that guy of yours out!"
"Thanks Yolei," Amy laughed.
Yolei pointed her Digivice at the screen and flashed out of existence.
"Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you, I will return to my home village now," Hawkmon said, and took off into the air.
Sofi watched the bird flying way for a while, and then smiled at Amy, "Come on, let's go."

In the real world, the bell rang just as they left the dark room.
"Amy, please don't think I'm disappointed from today, because I'm not. Talyn and I, we both know what it's like learning the ropes, and realising the role you have to play," Sofi said, "I just want you to know that we are here for you every step of the way, and we're your friends, whether we speak or not." She smiled at the last part.
"I know, and thank you Sofi, despite what happened, today was good," Amy said, "Same time next week?"
Sofi practically lit up, "you can count on it."