Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it's Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

A/N - I am catching up on the backlog of chapters I have written so I don't know if I will be able to keep up with the once a week updates. If not I'll let you know via twitter. I do have plenty of ideas of where I wanna go with it, but the problem is if I can get it written down. Honestly, it would help if my tablet would stop being a jerk and just work for me. Then I could just go to the library and work without interruption which happens a lot at home.


Chapter Seven

"The pain might just be enough to make me do it. It's already bad enough without someone grabbing onto me," Takeru told him as he turned to look at the two a hand on his hip. "I don't want or need some person randomly grabbing me making it worse than it already is."

"I still do not see you punching someone…" Ken stated as they began to walk to their classroom.

"Sometimes being the nice one has its drawbacks," Takeru deadpanned. "Good thing Aiden's suspension is still in place, though. I would hate to see what would happen if they found out he was a part of what happened."

"Hikari told me he was thinking of taking a leave of absence after the suspension was over to avoid the protests though he is not sure if the school will let him," Ken told the two as they walked. Takeru had a feeling the school would probably give it to him in order to avoid even more trouble. The conversation lagged at that point as they neared their classroom. Once there they told the girls about what had happened before class began so they would know to keep an out when they left the grounds. Then the three went to their respective desks and waited for class to begin.

Takeru was eating lunch with the others when his text tone went off. It was a message from Lee and Aderes via Luna informing him that they had found the problem with his friends and the hotel workers memories. The messaged continued stating that with Aderes' help Lee would be able to overpower what had happened to them. However, it would be best for those involved if the two of them did it at night while everyone was asleep. This way they could be sure that his friends were not doing anything dangerous while the memories restored themselves as it would temporarily cause them to freeze in place. This could be especially dangerous for the older generation who could be driving or something similar when it happened.

"Is something wrong?" Hikari asked him and Takeru looked at her as he pocketed his cell phone.

"No, everything is fine," he told her unsure just how he would explain the text message he had just gotten if he needed too. He was confused about enough as it was he did not want to try and explain it to someone else.

Since nothing was wrong Hikari nodded. "What do you guys think about spending our summer in the US this year?" Hikari then asked as she looked at the others.

"We did that already, a lot actually when we visit Mimi…" Daisuke pointed out which caused V-mon to nod in agreement.

Hikari shook her head then said, "I didn't mean the east coast. I am talking about the west coast."

"Near where Kohana's grandparents live? Or another part of the west coast?" Takeru asked having remembered that they lived over there from conversations he had with Kohana in the past.

"It's more like we will be staying at my grandparents while going around visiting various places located on U.S. Route 101. We will be seeing things like the trees in my paintings, various beaches, a petting zoo and other such attractions," Kohana told them listing just some of the things they could do. "I can get some pamphlets from my grandparents that we can look at." There were a lot of places to visit along the coast and thanks to their Digimon they would not be limited on just where they could travel.

"I think that would be a good idea. That way we will know just what all we can do if we go there," Ken said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll get some later today. It should be pretty easy since I can use Digital Portals," she said happily. The Digital Portals were very convenient when it came to visiting people in other countries.

"Will they be alright to take our Digimon with us?" Miyako asked her not wanting to assume anything and Kohana nodded.

"They have some of their own now and I think they just like the idea of having a lot of people around. They were both from big families even though they didn't have a big family themselves," she answered and Miyako nodded. The others then began to ask Kohana about various things to do with the trip in case they agreed to it. The conversation ended when the bell for classes was about to ring and the group went back into the school.

Takeru's cell phone vibrated partway through his second to last class for the day. He wanted to check it to see what it was but he didn't want to risk getting his phone taken. It would mean more trouble for him than he was already in with the school. Due to this, he decided to wait until school was over before he checked it. He just hoped it wasn't some type of emergency, but if it was they probably would have called instead of sending a text message to him.

When the last bell had finally rung Takeru stayed at his desk to check the text message. It was another one from Luna which stated that she was still going through Taylor's phone as some of the files on it were password protected which Aderes was trying to get through. She had also typed how Aiden seemed to be getting a bit edgy since he was stuck inside for so long. She added that she wondered if there was anything they could do to calm him down before Trace and Aiden ended up in a fight. The way Luna had worded that part Takeru had a feeling that the two had already been in a fight. Takeru wasn't too surprised that Aiden was getting restless. Being just him and his Digimon for so long Aiden was used to coming and going as he pleased. It was a wonder that this hadn't been an issue sooner.

Takeru pocketed his cell phone then put everything he would need at home into his bag. Then he stood up and caught up with his friends at the shoe lockers. They waited for him as he quickly changed his indoor shoes for his regular ones.

"Any chance you can ride a Digimon out of here?" Hikari asked as she glanced at the main gate while Kohana went to check the back one.

"Is it really that bad?" Takeru asked her as he stomped his feet to make sure his boots were on right before he went to join her at the glass doors. By then Kohana had come back.

"Daisuke and Ken are checking both gates to see if anyone looks like the man from this morning hiding amongst the crowd. Ken is afraid they will try to start something again."

"Then was it a good thing to let Daisuke go? He almost started something this morning when the guy grabbed me," Takeru told the two of them as Miyako moved to where she could see the front gate as well.

"He promised Ken that he wouldn't do anything," Kohana told him and Takeru wasn't sure if that was a good enough reason to have let him go. It wouldn't be the first time Daisuke's anger had gotten the better of him.

"Wormmon went with Daisuke as well," Hikari told him and Takeru nodded in understanding. Wormmon wouldn't let Daisuke do something stupid. He knew full well what was at stake and was mellow when compared to Daisuke.

The three of them were still waiting for the others to return when their four Digimon showed up. When Daisuke and Ken finally returned to the group neither one of them appeared to be in a good mood. "I take it by your expressions that there are more of them out there?" Takeru asked and Ken shook his head. That made Takeru wonder just what had them worried then.

"There aren't but the crowds are not very happy. If I had to guess I would say someone has been riling them up while we have been in class," Ken told him and Takeru sighed. Then he shook his head and slipped his boots back off as he began walking back into the heart of the school walking in his socks as he carried his boots.

"That is it I am calling up a Digital Portal," Takeru told them and they must have agreed with his plan since they followed after him. "Luna wanted us to stop by and do something about Aiden. Apparently, he is going stir crazy and is picking fights with Trace," Takeru said as he walked up to one of the computers in the computer classroom and began to run the Digital Portal program on it.

Hikari sighed then said, "I can't really blame him. Maybe we can take him to get something to eat or just some place?" Takeru nodded in agreement. If they could get him out of the hotel there was a good chance things would calm down for a few days. They just had to make sure he didn't do anything rash until his Digimon had evolved to where they would be able to protect him. Then he would be able to go out on his own as much as he wanted.

"It would be better than just having him sit there like he is now. We still haven't found anything else about that laptop he brought with him and haven't heard anything about the data we sent out either," Ken stated and Takeru sent a text message asking Luna to open either her or Trace's laptop to where they could go straight to the hotel from the Digital World. He waited for a reply from her before he opened a portal up and they went through it.

Once they were in the Digital World, they put their shoes on than programmed the portal to take them to Luna's laptop. When it approved of the link and it opened up they went through two at a time giving enough time for the person ahead of them to move out of the way before the next group went through.

"That bad at school?" Trace asked once they had all arrived. Miyako stood off to one side as she sent a text message to Iori to let him know what had happened.

"I think someone is trying to cause trouble for us though I do not know why yet," Ken told him and Takeru noticed Trace had a stick on icepack on his cheek.

"You did get in a fight with him," Takeru stated and Trace rolled his eyes.

"He punched first I swear," Trace told him and the way he said it Takeru had a feeling that Trace had planned to finish it.

"Patients is not my twin's strongest virtue," Luna told Takeru as they walked out of the room into the hallway and over to the room Aiden was currently sharing with Trace. That was probably part of the reason they had gotten into a fight in the first place. Aiden was now used to living with only his own Digimon. While Trace was mainly used to living with his siblings. Plus their personalities were the type that clashed.

Hikari walked up to the door and knocked on it. Aiden quickly pulled it open sporting what would most likely be a fat lip by tomorrow. "Oh, it's you guys," Aiden stated before stepping out of the way so they could come in. Takeru took one look at the room and could already tell that Lee had switched with Trace, as Lee was not only sitting on one bed but his things were also now in the room. That meant Trace was now sharing a room with his Uncle Kyte. Takeru wondered how that arrangement was going to work out.

"We were wondering if you would like to hang out with us today so you can get out of the hotel for awhile," Hikari said as she walked over to check on Minervamon's Egg. From what Takeru could tell it did look a bit bigger, but that was about it. Both of Aiden's Digimon were currently bouncing on a bed with what looked like remains of a large ice cream sundae. Takeru had a feeling that the two were going to be hyper for some time thanks to it.

"Just what do you have planned?" Aiden asked them noting the Chosen were still in their school uniforms. "Not a whole lot judging by the school uniforms."

"We can go to a restaurant or if us being in uniforms really bugs you that much you can wait until we all go home to change then we could go to an arcade or something," Takeru told him as he looked at Aiden. By the way Aiden was behaving Takeru could tell Aiden was the one most likely to have started the fight. Right now he seemed to be trying to chase them off so he could be left alone. It had Takeru wondering just why he was so agitated. He hadn't been this bad the last time Takeru had seen him. "Or is there somewhere else that you would rather go?" Takeru asked him since he really had no idea just what Aiden did for fun. That was the problem with new friends. Takeru knew Aiden preferred to be outdoors but that was about it.

Aiden thought over the question then looked at Takeru and said, "I want to go to the Digital World."

Takeru should have thought that about the fact that he might want to go there. The only times Aiden had been there he had been under the supervision of Kitsumon unable to do what he wanted. "That we can easily do. Any place you want to go or do you just want to go?" Takeru asked him as he watched Lee walk over to the desk in the room and open up the Digital Portal program on his laptop. Takeru had a feeling that Lee was going to tag along with them if he could.

"I don't care where," Aiden answered him and Hikari walked over to Lee to whisper something to him. Lee nodded then typed something into the program then pulled the portal up. Takeru couldn't see the coordinates from where he stood and wondered what Hikari had suggested.

"Alright, we're ready!" Lee told them and soon they were going through the portal. Once they had arrived Takeru easily recognized it as the forest that had been dubbed the Forest of Beginnings. It was where the original Chosen Children, minus Hikari had first appeared in the Digital World.

"Why did you pick here?" Takeru asked Hikari curiously keeping his voice low as Aiden looked around. Trace had tagged along with them which surprised Takeru yet he had probably come because Lee had indeed tagged along.

Hikari looked at him a smile on her face as she answered him, "I just thought this was the best place to pick. Nothing bad happens on File Island anymore since it's smaller than the contents." Takeru nodded as he kept an eye on Aiden who kept looking around. Aiden's two Digimon were now hopping around excitedly looking at everything. For now, Takeru leaned back against a tree after making sure it wasn't one of the fake hollow ones. He really didn't want to take a fall right now.

Punimon and Botamon must have found one because as they bounced at a tree the two vanished into it. Aiden panicked at first as he ran over to the tree then realized what had happened and calmed down. "That explains why you touched the tree before you leaned against it," Aiden commented as he glanced at Takeru.

"Some of my friends had to hide in one before. The idea of falling into one was just not all that appealing at the moment," Takeru told him as Punimon and Botamon came dashing out of the tree over to Aiden. The two jumped up and down in excitement over their discovery.

"Just what is this place?" Aiden asked as he knelt down to pat the two of them on their heads. The small Digimon smiled then dashed back into the tree to look around some more though there was not anything to see.

"We call it the Forest of Beginnings," Hikari answered him from where she sat with Tailmon leaned against a solid tree. "It is where Takeru and the other original Chosen Children appeared for the first time in the Digital World. I picked this place because File Island is the safest place in the Digital World. This is due to the fact any Digimon that has managed to evolve to Adult or higher have moved onto the larger areas."

"I still don't know why Elecmon moved Primary Village to Server. Here was more than safe enough for the village," Takeru commented and Hikari nodded in agreement.

"Maybe he didn't want to think about his baby Digimon having to cross the ocean when they grew up?" Patamon suggested. He was sitting on a branch in the tree Takeru was leaning up against.

"Knowing him that is entirely possible," Miyako said in agreement and Takeru nodded. Elecmon could be a bit too protective of his baby Digimon.

"So… How bad was it at school?" Aiden asked as he waited for his Digimon to come back out of the tree. They seemed to be enjoying it inside if the noises coming out of it were any indication.

"Pretty bad. There seems to be someone there trying to make things worse for some reason. The idiot grabbed Takeru today on his way through the back gate," Daisuke told him as he found a spot to sit down.

"He wasn't there this afternoon, but the parents were even more upset by the time school was over then they were that morning. Takeru thought it would be best to just go through a Digital Portal instead of trying to leave through the front gates."

"Why would someone try to rile up the parents? Aren't they mad enough as it is?" Aiden asked them and he decided to sit as well since it didn't seem like his Digimon would be coming out of the tree anytime soon. As long as they were enjoying themselves he really didn't mind staying here.

"We think they may be trying to make it to where the school has no choice but to suspend us or even expel us," Ken told him then shook his head. "There would be no reason to grab Takeru like he did then try to claim that he did not touch him even when it was obvious that he did except that one."

"Still, I want to know why they would try to do that," Aiden said as he looked at them. "What good would it do to have you guys suspended or expelled? You did nothing wrong."

"Some of the parents may want them gone or it may be connected to what is going on in the UN and the whole question of whether Digimon are safe or not," Hawkmon told him and this Aiden understood.

"I forgot that whole mess was going on…" Aiden said then sighed. "I just hope things end well there. I really don't want your world ending up like mine." None of them wanted that type of ending which was why they were trying their hardest to prevent such a thing from happening. Since no one wanted to really think more about it the conversation tapered off. It helped that the two little Digimon decided to come out of the tree and took off at a rather fast hop further into the forest and the others followed after them. Except for Lee, Trace, and their two Digimon since Lee and Bearmon both had started to climb a tree at that point.

"Are you going to be okay?" Miyako asked as they walked past them.

"We're fine. We'll catch up to you guys in a bit," Trace said as he stood at the base of the tree looking up. Bearmon was able to easily get down from the tree while Lee was taking longer. "You could just jump from that height," Trace suggested to Lee who just shook his head and continued to climb down. Trace just shrugged and waited. He wasn't in any hurry at the moment and figured if Lee could get himself up there then he was more than capable of getting himself down.

The others followed after the two Digimon as they continued to explore the forest. There were a few times they came running back to Aiden when they spotted a Digimon that was a higher level than them. They would hide behind Aiden until it either left on its own or on one rare occurrence chased off. All it took was a few attacks from the Chosen's Digimon and they thought better of it then ran off. The Chosen's Digimon even made sure that none of the attacks had hit Punimon and Botamon.

"That was unusual," Hikari commented as she watched the fleeing Digimon.

"He must be trying to gain more power in order to leave File Island. Some Digimon seems to think the amount of Digimon they beat equal more than beating a Digimon stronger than them," Aiden told her as he tried his best to calm his two Digimon down. "There were a few like that on the content Kitsumon was on that thought my two were easy pickings just because they were smaller than an average Digimon. They found out the hard way that they were wrong."

"That's one thing we don't have to worry about being Chosen Children. Give them a bit and rumors of you will spread and attacks like that won't occur anymore," Daisuke told him as Punimon and Botamon calmed down and continued their exploring.

"That would be nice when it happens because it occurred a lot more than I thought it would," Aiden told him as he followed after his Digimon. He watched as the two Digimon stopped at a rather large flower to investigate it. The way they were moving about the flower it seemed almost like they were hoping it would have a hidden room in it as well. It didn't yet that did not stop them from trying a few times before they just started to enjoy the flower for what it was. That was until an insect Digimon flew past them which they began to chase after causing the others to follow closely in case the insect Digimon got upset with them for following it. From what Takeru and the others could tell it hadn't even noticed them yet, but that could change at any moment.

They only stopped chasing after the Digimon when it flew off a cliff that leads into the lower part of the forest. This did not stop them as they carefully moved towards the edge of the cliff in order to look down. This prompted Aiden to move towards them to scope them up before they managed to fall off. "That way," he told them as he set them down to where they were facing the forest again which lead in a direction different from whence they came from. The two happily hopped off as if they hadn't stopped in the first place. By then Trace, Lee, Bearmon, and Rascmon had caught up with the others.

"Those two seem to be having fun," Trace commented as he watched them continue their exploration.

"Baby One Digimon are easily amused," Aiden said as he continued to follow behind them yet not too closely. This was because when he did they would stop and stare at him. When that happened he had to take a few steps back before they would continue their exploration again. It was almost like they were telling him they wanted personal space. It was strange to him since even as Child level Digimon if something was wrong they would instantly run to him and hide behind him. They would stay like this until they knew what to do or things became alright. They would even hesitate as an Adult level Digimon and higher sometimes when they were unsure of what they should do. At least he never had to worry about them not needing him yet he was not sure if this was actually a good thing or not. The Chosen Children's Digimon did not behave like this as they were confident in their own choices.

When they finally got tired the two just stopped and looked at Aiden with pathetic looks on their faces. It took Aiden a moment to realize that this time they were not telling him to back up again before he walked up to them to pick the two up one in each hand. "Alright now that you have managed to tire yourselves out I don't have to worry about the sugar you two ingested keeping you up all night," Aiden said to the two as they gently rubbed their faces against his thumbs in a show of affection.

"Then you didn't give them the sundae?" Takeru asked him with a confused look on his face.

"No, Lee gave it to them not too long after switching places with his brother," Aiden said causing everyone to look at the younger teen.

"What? They were hungry!" He said in self-defense. "When I asked them if they wanted an ice cream sundae they seemed really happy about the idea!"

Trace pulled his little brother towards him and hugged him with one arm. "Lee I love you dearly but remind me to never let you babysit… ever!" Trace told him causing Lee to look at him confused.

"Believe me Trace after one time I doubt anyone would want him back when they have to deal with their sugar high child," Hikari said.

"What's wrong with a sugar rush?" Lee asked them and Aiden just shook his head. "What?" He asked again as the others continued their walk through the forest. Lee watched them for a moment still confused then followed after them.

Aiden's two Digimon rode on his shoulders as they kept looking at their surroundings. "It must have been strange appearing here for the first time," Aiden commented as he watched a Digimon fly overhead.

Takeru grinned then said, "Actually I was the perfect age to accept it quite readily. It wasn't until a while later that I realized just why my brother and the others were worried about coming here. By then though it was a little late." Maybe in some way, he had been lucky?

"Our friend Jou panicked pretty badly though from what I've been told," Hikari told him then added. "From what I know of Takeru's reaction was actually the mildest of them. He was actually excited to wind up here."

"Hey it was either this or spending a camping trip where the only person I knew was my own brother," Takeru said. He couldn't help but wonder how hard it had been for his mother to convince a school he did not attend to allow him to tag along.

"While I was stuck at home because I was ill," Hikari pointed out. Takeru had no doubt she would have rather gone on the camping trip. Yet unlike him, Hikari did actually attend the same school as the others. She might not have known them but at least they had something in common. "Did you ever get to go to your world's Digital World?" she asked Aiden.

"A few times when I was younger… I don't remember much about it now, though," Aiden answered her as he turned to look at the Chosen. "From what I had been told by my grandmother it didn't seem like it differed much from yours in looks at least. It might have developed differently, though."

"They most likely did being parts of a different world," Trace said as he stopped his brother from climbing another tree. He was starting to suspect that the Digimon weren't the only ones to partake of the sundae. Trace did not want to have to wait for him to climb down again. Lee didn't seem to be put off as he chased after Bearmon making the others follow him now at a slower pace.

"Was it hard traveling through the Digital World?" Aiden asked as they continued to walk. These were questions that Aiden probably would have asked his parents one day if they had survived. It was a bit depressing when Takeru thought of it that way. He couldn't even imagine what it would have been like growing up the way Aiden had.

"It was at times especially since none of us had any real food. Mimi, you haven't met her yet, had a few camping supplies, but they didn't last for very long. Jou had the emergency food supply which lasted longer while my backpack was full of candy that was mostly eaten by the Digimon. It was even worse when Hikari became sick since none of us really had any medicine for that," Takeru told him and Hikari looked at him.

"I think the worst part was actually when our brothers started fighting and got their Digimon involved that one time," Hikari said and Takeru thought for a moment. She had a point though there were other times he could think of.

"Or when we had to face Piemon with just the two of us and Holy Angemon. That was one of the few times that we actually had to fight alone since everyone was usually helping us. If you are really curious about this Aiden I have a rough draft of a book about our first trip to the Digital World that you are welcomed to read. If you don't want to read that I have several notes the others have written about their personal experiences you could read instead," Takeru offered to him thinking of his desk drawer full of the notes from him and his friends. "I think you might be interested to see just how closely we were all connected without knowing it because of several Digimon incidents that happened in the real world." Takeru offered this not because he didn't want to answer Aiden's questions, but because he would get a complete picture this way. Then again Aiden did have trouble reading Japanese so maybe he could get Kohana to translate it for him into English at some point?

"Like how I saw the battle that made Metal Garurumon and Ware Greymon evolve to Omegamon the first time on my computer," Miyako said as an example. "All of us somehow had interactions with Digimon before we actually became Chosen."

"I might take a look at them later, but what about you two?" he asked looking at Hikari and Takeru. "What were your first encounters with Digimon?"

"A Digimon Egg came out of my father's computer when I was little. It ended up being Agumon who later evolved into Greymon to fight a Parrotmon that appeared out of the sky," Hikari answered him. She still wanted to know why that had happened. It had been one of the several things that had never been fully explained to them.

"I witnessed the battle between the two of them with my brother since at the time my parents were still together. There was significant damage dealt to the apartment complex that we, the original Chosen Children, happened to live in at the same time. It was later classified as an act of terrorism since no one could explain what happened after the two Digimon had vanished. After Digimon appeared in the real world again later on the truth behind what had occurred became obvious to a lot of people, but it wasn't officially changed until that long ago," Takeru said as he thought about it and Aiden nodded.

"Did something similar happen to your parents?" Daisuke asked him.

"From what I've been told no. My grandmother told me the first time my parents saw a Digimon was when they found themselves face to face with their own Digimon partners in the real world right before they were drawn into the Digital World by them. She told me they had come looking for help and something had drawn the two Digimon to my parents," Aiden answered as he recalled the stories his grandmother use to tell him when he was a child. She would never talk to him about her own Digimon, but there were times she was willing to talk about his parents. Aiden figured it was because the only way Aiden was going to know anything about his parents was if she would talk about them. He had a few albums stored away in his grandmother's house that he still needed to pick up along with a few other things.

They walked a bit more before Hikari asked Aiden, "Are you willing to tell us which crest and/or Digi-Eggs they held?" This was something most of them had been curious for some time. A few of them had even tried asking him before yet he had not been willing to tell them at the time.

Aiden thought it over for a moment. He knew which person had ended up with what crests thanks to his grandmother. It was just that talking about his parents might bring about more questions. Most of the time he was not willing to talk about them but today did not seem to bother him as much as other days had. "My father had the Crest of Knowledge and my mother…" he trailed off for a moment as he thought about her, "She ended up with the Crest of Hope."

This caused Takeru to blink and a couple of people to stare a bit wide-eyed. "Wait a minute, does that mean the two crests, Hope and Light, switched in your world?" Takeru asked him even more curious about it now.

"Yep, Light ended up going to a young boy. The Crest of Courage went to a male as it did here though the Digi-Egg went to a female who also got the Love one. Friendship was male and he was not related to my mother while the egg went to a young male who also nabbed the Digi-Egg of Faith. The Crest of Love went to a woman who happened to be my aunt. Knowledge, as I said, went to my father while the Digi-egg went to a male who ended up with Purity as well while the Crest of Purity belonged to a female. The Crest of Kindness' owner was a male who married the owner of the Digi Egg's of Courage and Love. Like on your world Hope and Light Digi-Eggs went to the ones who had the Crests," Aiden listed them all off with the hope he remembered them correctly. It had been awhile since his Grandmother had told him all of this after all.