Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Crest of Purity (English sub) = Crest of Sincerity (English dub)

Chapter 10: Purity

EVOLUTION_

The brilliant white light shining from Yamato's D-arc blends with the harmonious blue light from the crest to form a single beam to strike Gabumon head on.

"Gabumon evolve! Garurumon!"

"What?" Evilmon cried out as he watches the scene unfold. The knife on Yamato's chest disintegrated into data and reforms into a tag and crest hanging loosely around his neck. It shone a bright brilliant blue as it lay on his chest.

"Fox Fire!" Blue flame erupted from Garurumon's snout and engulfed Evilmon, causing him to break down into data.

Garurumon flashed white before reverting to his original form. "Yamato!" he cried as he made his way to the fallen boy.

When Gabumon reached him, Yamato was still lying on the ground, panting heavily as adrenaline coursed through his blood. "Gabumon…" he whispered as his hands reached out towards his partner. "Am I…"

"Yamato!" Gabumon gave him a warm smile. Tears were falling from his face, wetting the fur around his eyes. "I thought I lost you… Why…" Tears continued to fall as he choked on his words. "I… I thought I failed you…"

"Sorry." Yamato managed to croak out, tears threatening to fall.

Gabumon kept his smile and put out his paw to help Yamato up. "It's okay that you're fine now…"

"Onii-chan!" A sudden cry from behind them shook the duo out of their small talk. Two arms came around Yamato to embrace him tightly as he sat up.

"Takeru… I'm sorry…" he said as tears began to blur his vision.

"Idiot." Takeru scolded as he released his grip and his lips curled into a slight smile.

He tried to smile, but was shocked when another pair of arms enveloped him from behind. The hold had a softer touch to it, compared to the gruff and abrupt one he felt from Takeru earlier on. "Sora…"

"Ouch!" Yamato yelped, surprising Sora who was suddenly thrown back.

"Taichi!" both of them cried. "What did you do that for… Oh."

Sora sat there shaking her head. "Boys…"

"Don't ever do that again!" Taichi said.

Yamato turned to Taichi and spotted the entire group gathered. He sighed. "I… I'm sorry…"

"Yamato-san… We understand." Daisuke spoke.

Yamato turned to the others, to be greeted with nods from all of them. He silently nodded thanks as he slowly stood up, with Gabumon beside him supporting him if he stumbles.

It took a few minutes for all of them to take in the fact that Yamato, who is almost dead, was standing in front of them. Yamato, on the other hand, fiddled with the crest hanging from his neck.

"So, what's next?" asked Takato, trying to break the silence.

"We could explore the doorway we were locked in." The cool-headed Koushiro suggested.

The Tamers shrugged. The Chosen Children were still a little dazed, but small nods were coming from them.

"Let's go then." Taichi said simply as the group headed towards the doorway.

Walking through the passage

"Yamato, why did you stab yourself?" Sora queried as she walked beside him.

"I… guess it's just that you guys are trapped and he… he was threatening Gabumon, Takeru and… y-… all of you. It just… kind of seems better if I die than you guys. I… Sorry." He said sincerely.

"But… you will die." She spoke up as tears filled her eyes. "We are not worth that… We could have fought harder… We could have…"

"Hey." Yamato said firmly as he placed an arm around her. "But it turned out right, didn't it?"

"B-But what… what if…"

"Sora, look here." Yamato said as he stopped her. His hands rose to her chin and tilted it up. He was now staring straight into her ruby red eyes. "I-I… didn't die. So I guess… We shouldn't dwell too much into what could have happened, kay?"

"I…" she stared straight back into his greyish-blue eyes. Her gaze held on as she desperately tried to form words in her mouth. "… guess." She sighed as her eyes darted away from Yamato.

Yamato gently placed his arms around her in an embrace. "We better start moving." He whispered quickly to her. Sora eyes widened and quickly removed herself from Yamato's embrace, eliciting a light chuckle from him. Her cheeks flushed pink at the sight of curious eyes boring into her.

"Let's go." She said softly, pacing forward as her eyes glued to the terrain of the ground under her feet. The group shrugged and followed the embarrassed girl deeper into the passage.

This time around, the passageway didn't sound as quiet as it did before. The trod of footsteps were being overpowered by the murmurs that filled the air.

"Do you think they're together already?"

"Na… Onii-chan would have probably kissed her then if they were. Or he would have told us by now."

"Good point. It'll certainly take some time to get used to it if they did get together."

"Yeah… Wonder how Taichi-san would take this?"

"Onii-chan… I don't know. He seems quiet though." Hikari pointed towards their leader, who's at the front.

"Losing a best friend to another best friend. Ironic…"

"Takeru!" She whacked his arm playfully, followed by Tailmon knocking his head with her paw.

"Hey!" Patamon cried as he wobbled to balance himself on Takeru's head.

"Sorry… But that was mean, Takeru."

Hikari pondered. "Maybe they should bring Taichi along for their dates."

"What? You're talking as though they're together already." He pointed out.

Hikari pouted. "Aww… But they are going to get together, right?" She looked at Takeru with hopeful eyes.

Sora, who was directly in front of the two youngest members of the original eight Chosen Children, blushed a bright red. She gently nudged Yamato who was walking beside her. "Did you hear that?" She squeaked.

Yamato tensed. "What?"

"I mean Takeru and Hikari's conversation…" she said as her face reddened.

"Uh… What did they say?" he questioned.

"Never mind…"

Yamato shrugged and continued walking forward. Sora lagged behind, and felt a light tap on her shoulders. "Sora-san?"

"Yes, Takeru?"

He shot her a guilty look before asking his question. "How do you feel… erm… about onii-chan?"

"Takeru!" Two cries were heard as his head got hit again.

"Woah!" Patamon cried out once again as he lifted himself into the air.

"Oops, sorry again." Tailmon apologised.

"Takeru, I asked you to ask Sora-san but that doesn't mean you have to ask directly. You could have… Ugh. But besides the point, Sora-san?" she asked, looking expectantly at her.

The red in Sora's blood rushed to her face and ears as she desperately tried to will it back. "I… Erm…" She stammered.

Yamato moved beside her and eyed curiously at the scene. Sora shrugged and decided to stay silent, and her reddened cheeks were hidden by the darkness of the passageway.

After that, their journey continued, with chatter still present amongst its members.

After a while

"What's that?"

"It's a door, Takato." Ruki commented and whacked Takato's head.

"Ruki!" cries came from the three other tamers, with a giggle coming from Shaochung.

"Sorry."

"Moumantai." Terriermon chirped.

Whilst the tamers were conversing, Koushiro and the Chosen spread out to find a way to open the door. The door was huge, being more than double the size of the humans present. It was made of pure bronze and carved with many different symbols, which are part of the language of the ancient Digital World.

Koushiro removed his laptop from his bag and booted it. Meanwhile, the others were trying different ways to break through the door.

"V-mon Head!"

Bang! V-mon's head created a dent in the door, but he fell back, almost unconscious. "Dai-Daisuke…" he managed to mutter out before he was out cold.

"Maybe I should try…" Yamato commented as he fished out his D-arc.

"Stop!" Koushiro hollered. All eyes turned to focus on him. He gave a cough, before continuing, "You're destroying the carvings on the door."

"Okay. Any ideas how we can open the door without destroying it?" Taichi asked.

Mimi shrugged. "Since it's a door, why can't we just open it?"

"Huh?"

"I mean we knock and push open the door. Isn't that what we normally would do?"

There were a few nods within the group, but most eyed her with sceptical looks.

"Mimi, when have things ever been so easy in the Digital World?" questioned Taichi as he rubbed his forehead.

Mimi shrugged. "It doesn't hurt trying though, right?"

"Sure."

Mimi moved forward, knocking on the solid bronze door, sending reverberations down the passageway they were in. As she moved her hands to touch the door, a creak is heard. She jerked back her hand and the door began to swing open on its own. The small opening revealed a brilliant lime green. Mimi shielded her eyes as it blinded her, but the warmth of the light seemed vaguely familiar to her.

"Mimi… That's…" Palmon gasped.

"My crest." Mimi yelped.

She moved forward as the light died down and headed straight for the crest floating within a beam of solid green light. She reached out her hands slowly as the barrier of light disappeared to grab her crest. The Crest of Purity.

Behind her, Taichi stood, stunned, along with many of the Chosen.

"Come on, let's go!" Mimi cried cheerfully to the rest of the group.

The group obliged and proceeded on with Mimi, into yet another passageway.

However, this time, the passage is no longer barren with stone walls, but lively, filled with glowing moss and plants. Small white creatures could also be seen flying by, the DigiGnomes.

"What are these?" questioned Miyako as she pulled out her D-arc. "It doesn't give any information."

"DigiGnomes. They are DigiGnomes." Jianliang spoke up. "They are creatures that reside in the Digital World even before the Digimon."

"Wow. They're cute." Mimi said as she looked into the eyes of one who hovered in front of her.

"Come on, let's go." Taichi urged.

The group shrugged and continued forward.

"I wonder when these passages would end…" Takato complained to Guilmon. "It sure is interesting moving in it, but everyone is getting something while I don't."

"Takato, don't worry."

"Yeah, don't worry. You'll get yours soon enough." Takato blushed at the smile on Juri's face.

"Thanks."

Guilmon's eyes narrowed.

"Digimon?" Takato questioned.

"No." Guilmon answered, rushing forward.

"Wait up!" Takato cried as he struggled to catch up to Guilmon.

"Takato!" Juri cried.

Guilmon rushed ahead of the group and started sniffing the air, before he picked up a scent and dashed forward again and stopped beside a dead tree. He smelt it once and started to claw it oprn.

"Wha-What are you d-doing?" Takato asked, still panting.

"Finding something." Guilmon continued to pry the tree, trying to break it apart.

"You mean the tree has something?"

Guilmon gave a nod and continued his task.

Crack!

The tree broke. It revealed a hollow inner core, with something floating within it. It looked like a tiny little figurine of a fat brown robot on a pedestal.

"What is it?" Takato asked as he fished out his D-arc. "The human spirit of wood."

The spirit glowed, before shrinking and entering Takato's D-arc. A Chinese character wood is shown on the screen.

"There. You got something now, Takato."

"Thank you." Takato said as he hugged Guilmon.

A/N: Sorry for the shortness and grammar errors of the chapter. I'm busy (seems like I keep using this as an excuse). But seriously, with exams up this week, I'm really busy. Hope you liked the chapter though. :) If you need the explanation for purity, I guess it's just "pure" thoughts (ie normal thinking, acting on instinct rather than thinking of the problem in a complicated way). My opinion on what purity means. (PS. Crest of Purity is dubbed as Crest of Sincerity in the English version)

Once again, thanks and pls review! :)