A cool afternoon breeze fluttered through the room, causing the window blinds to faintly knock against the windows. The windchime on the porch released pleasant music, soothing the complicated atmosphere.

Rika simply stared at Renamon, jaw agape. She knew Renamon had only told the important parts of the story, yet she could simply not believe it all. Cyberdramon didn't really say much, but the fact he spoke about any of this at all meant he clearly was affected by those events.

"That certainly takes the cake," a grim voice stated.

Rika looked around wildly, her eyes landing on the speaker.

"And what are you doing here?"

Ryo stepped out from the shadows. "Renamon had called me here as well you know." He gave Cyberdramon some affectionate scratches behind his ears despite the menacing growls his partner produced. "Something I want to know is why only tell us? Everyone else deserves the right to know this."

Renamon nodded. "Yes. We know." The Rookie's tail swished back and forth agitatedly. "It was never the correct time to talk about what had happened to us. We had to focus on keeping you safe."

The door to Rika's room slid open. Her grandmother stood in the doorway, a large smile on her face. "Rika, Renamon, time for lunch," She caught sight of Ryo and Cyberdramon. "Oh my, I wasn't expecting guests."

Rika rolled her eyes. "They were just leaving Grandma."

Grandma shook her head. "Nonsense! I made plenty, they can stay for lunch. I'll go put the kettle on." She gave Ryo a smile. "Make yourself at home dears." With that she left, shutting the door behind her.

Rika and Ryo were left alone with awkward silence. The interruption had broken their train of thought. Sure it broke the tension, but Rika just felt even more puzzled and confused.

However, Renamon easily solved this by speaking aloud her thoughts. "We must find Sora." Her normally narrow concentrated eyes softened for a moment. "We need to thank him. For everything. He's been through too much; deserts, blizzards, rampaging Digimon, injuries. He saved all of us yet again when that Digimon nearly deleted us. "

"Of course we need to try and find him. I'm not saying we shouldn't." Ryo agreed. "But there's no way we can. Not with the hospital keeping his records locked up."

Cyberdramon gave a savage growl. The Ultimate suddenly swung out one of his claws, easily pinning Ryo to the wall.

"C-calm down Cyberdramon," Ryo ordered, struggling against the clawed hand of his partner.

His partner did no such thing. The dragon Digimon leaned in close, his snout mere inches away from Ryo's face.

"We WILL find him," Cyberdramon growled, pure rage evident in his rarely used voice.

Rika stared in awe as Ryo calmly stood there. His Digimon was one wrong comment from attacking him, and he wasn't so much as flinching. This is how his partner treats him? Cyberdramon is a ticking time bomb!

Slowly, Cyberdramon lifted his claw away. Despite having calmed down, it was still trembling, as though as if Cyberdramon were having to fight his instincts? Perhaps the ability to harm was too deeply ingrained into him.

Ryo inhaled deeply, his hands behind his head. "So," he asked, turning to her with a smile. "How about that lunch?"

Rika simply nodded. "Um yeah, sure." She led him and the two Digimon into the dining room where her grandma was currently setting the table.

"Glad to have you here," Rika's grandma smiled. She gestured towards the table. "Have a seat, lunch will be out shortly."

Rika and Ryo sat down onto the plush cushions in front of the table, their Digimon doing the same on the other side.

Her grandmother returned with a hot kettle, pouring their tea into the mugs already set. "I hope you like chamomile. It tends to help calm a situation," she explained, a knowing look in her eye.

Rika and Renamon both pressed their hands together and gave a small bow, picking up their mugs to take a sip.

Ryo looked a bit confused before shrugging his shoulders, then copying them. Cyberdramon simply gave a snort, grasped at the cup and gulped down the tea in a single swallow. Rika watched in amusement as Ryo politely put his own mug down, having some difficulty swallowing.

"May I have some water please?" he asked.

Rika's grandma gave a heartfelt chuckle. "Not a tea lover I see,"

"I had never had tea before, decided to give it a shot."

The elderly woman left, leaving them alone once again. Rika really hated awkward silences, although, she supposed she enjoyed them more than people who just wouldn't stop talking. Kazu and Takato came to mind.

"So, how do we begin with this?" Ryo asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Begin what?" she asked, confused. What's he plotting now?

Ryo side glanced at his partner from across the table before speaking. "Finding Sora,"

Rika wracked her brain, trying to think of something. However, nothing came to mind.

"Perhaps we can Digivolve and attempt to track him," Renamon suggested, her mind clearly wandering back to the time she had attempted to find him.

Rika knew her partner was trying to be positive, but they both knew if he was to be tracked, his scent was long gone.

Ryo had another idea. "We should ask around, someone will have had to see him somewhere."

Cyberdramon gave a loud growl, snapping at the air in frustration.

"If you want to find someone, then the easiest way is to do nothing," Rika's grandma stated, reappearing in the room with a glass of water and numerous bowls.

Renamon stood up, attempting to help her, but she waved her hand dismissively as she gave Ryo his water.

"I hope you like chicken curry." Rika eagerly began to eat at her portion, grateful not to have another tense moment with Cyberdramon.

Ryo on the other hand took another cautious bite. His face lit up immediately. "This is delicious. You're an excellent chef," he praised, putting another bite into his mouth.

"You don't travel the world and become a renown chef for nothing," she crowed.

"So," Ryo began in between mouthfuls, "What did you mean by doing nothing?"

"When something or someone does not wish to be found, you will never find them." Rika's grandma returned to sipping at her tea. "If you simply bide your time, being productive and improving yourself, you'll stumble upon them eventually. That's how I applied to become executive chef at Gounichi's."

"That's amazing," Ryo gasped in awe. "Gounichi's is one of the highest rated restaurants in all of Japan!"

"It wouldn't be that way if I had gone charging ahead recklessly now would it?" her grandma winked. "I'm sure if you just wait, you'll find your friend in no time."

"Thanks grandma," Rika thanked. Finally! Even if it's just waiting around, at least Renamon looks hopeful again. "You always have the best of advice."

"Old people tend to," she replied with a hearty laugh. A thought seemed to occur to her. "Oh! I'll be right back." With that, she left the room again.

Rika watched her go before returning her gaze to the table. Cyberdramon had not touched his curry, Ryo eyeing it like a starving puppy.

The Ultimate gave it a powerful shove across the table, the bowl colliding with Ryo's chest and fall into his lap. "Take it if you must," he snarled. Despite the tension his partner was feeling, Ryo happily munched on the curry.

Renamon's gaze was distant, her mind clearly at work, looking for a solution. "Perhaps it is time to relax after all," she said unexpectedly.

"Renamon?" Rika asked.

"We all missed two years of your lives. Yes, there is school, but this will be our chance to catch up what we have missed." She locked eyes with her, looking quite serious. "We're never leaving again, not if we can help it."

Despite the obvious meaning, Rika suspected this was also an apology for the incident when Renamon had run off. She nodded.

"I know we've said this a lot already," Ryo began, "But I'm so happy everyone is back. It's hard to believe sometimes." He set the second empty bowl before him on the table before sipping his water.

"Likewise," Renamon agreed.

Rika's grandmother reappeared, a plate in hand. "Glad to see everyone is in a better mood. Food is a great problem solver, I should know." She walked towards the table and placed the plate. "I bought these from the Matsuki bakery yesterday, I just couldn't resist." She wore an impish smile.

Sitting on the plate were an arrangement of cookies. Each had yellow and white frosting, the cookies cut in an all too familiar shape.

"Is this-" Renamon grabbed a cookie and held it close. "-my face?"

Ryo laughed rather outrageously, clearly savoring her confused expression. Rika couldn't help herself and gave a small smirk.

"Yeah," Ryo answered. "Each Digimon has their own line of baked goods. They change every month." He raised his eyebrows mischievously. "You should see the Renamon bread."

Despite her initial confusion, Renamon took a bite, nibbling on her cookie ear. A pleasant smile found its way to her face. "I'm honored to taste so delicious.

"Lemon and vanilla frosting. Aren't they just the most adorable cookies?" Rika's grandmother gushed.

The five of them sat there, munching their cookies and making polite conversation. They even managed to get Cyberdramon to try a cookie, the Ultimate chomping it down in one bite. It wasn't until 3:36pm that Ryo sat up, pushing his chair in.

"I've had a wonderful time here, but Cyberdramon and I should be heading home now."

Her grandmother began to get up, but Rika stopped her. "Don't worry grandma, I'll show him the way out." She and Renamon trudged through the house, arriving at the courtyard with Ryo and Cyberdramon in tow.

Ryo held his hands behind his head. "You're grandma sure can cook."

Rika nodded. " Part of why I never skip a meal. She gives great advice, as you just learned."

"It was nice to relax for once," he said wistfully. "Everything has been so tense lately, it was nice to kick back and enjoy a meal with some friends."

"Just don't make it a habit. Otherwise I'll make my grandma serve you nothing but tea."

"No need for that Wildcat, I'm leaving now." Ryo said in mock fear. The Tamer began to crawl onto Cyberdramon's back. Once he was settled, he turned to look at her. " Before I came over, Takato gave me a call. Said he wants all of us to meet at the playground tomorrow after school."

"Not the park?" Renamon asked.

"No. Apparently, Doggymon and Swanmon having been hanging out there lately. Takato said he only wants us to talk with people we trust."

"And right now, those two are on thin ice." Rika finished.

"Yeah. After all the horde of Digimon disappeared, Henry and Takato told me that both of them had run off before any of it started. It's possible they have something to do with it."

"So we're just supposed to ignore them and pretend they don't exist?" She could feel her anger rising. Leave it to Takato to sweep everything under the rug and do nothing. "We need to take action. If they had something to do with this, we should just pound them until they start talking!"

"And we are," he said levelheadedly. "Everyday, we have a Digimon take a shift at spying on them."

"How do you know all of this? Why did nobody tell me?" She clenched a fist. He better talk, otherwise he's getting a knuckle sandwich. That should make him not hungry anymore.

Ryo gave a long sigh. Cyberdramon seemed impatient, snarling. His Tamer patted his head reassuringly. "Almost done," he promised. "That's why Henry said to keep it on the downlow. He knew you and Kazu would be wild cards. And if it makes you feel better, we didn't tell Ai,Mako, or Suzie for obvious reasons. But we have been borrowing Impmon to help with the spying. As long as he returns with ice cream though, his Tamers couldn't care less."

Rika put two and two together. "So this is why you're leaving, to do a shift."

"Yeah…" he trailed off. "It was supposed to be my shift for the whole day, but when Renamon told me to come here, I asked for Kenta to take my place."

"Go then." She heard herself say dismissively. She shifted her gaze to the ground, glaring at a particular carefree blade of grass.

Rika didn't look up again as she heard wingbeats flapping and the hulking presence of Cyberdramon disappear.

"Rika," Renamon began.

"Forget it for now. Let's just go inside." With that, she stomped back towards her room.

Rumiko Nonaka and her mother watched as Rika talked with the boy outside. Her back was to them, so they could only really see his expressions.

"Try not to let her see you," her mother warned. "We'd never hear the end of it."

"I know I know." Rumiko set her binoculars down to look at her mother in the eye. "Rika has certainly been spending a lot of time with this boy." Her forehead scrunched. "What was his name again?"

"Ryo. From the way he was at lunch, he's a very pleasant young man."

A burst of excitement ran down her spine. "Rika's finally becoming a girl!" She peered through the binoculars again. Ryo now had a frown on his face. "Oh no," dread replaced her positivity.

"What's wrong?"

"It's horrible! I'm sure he just friendzoned her!" Rumiko could feel herself growing faint, only for an idea to take shape in her mind. "She'll need some motherly support!"

Her mother sighed behind her. "I don't think that's what I meant."

WHOOSH

The large dragon the boy had been with had lifted into the air, flying away from the house.

SLAM

The door to Rika's door was now shut against the outside world.

So much for mother daughter time I guess.

"They'll be fine," her mother said, a knowing smile on her face.

Rumiko had other ideas. "I don't think so. Firsts are always the hardest to get over. Men are too inconsiderate."

"I guess we will make things interesting." Her mother walked to away and returned with her purse. Rummaging around, she procured her wallet. "I bet you twenty dollars things will be fine."

Shock flowed through her mind. "Gambling Mother!?" Her mother couldn't possibly be serious. However, as she looked her in the eyes, she could see her determination.

"I accept," she said confidently. I pray I am wrong, mother. For my daughter's sake.

Fridays at the bakery were always the most busy. Not only was there a special sale of buy one pastry, get another half off, Friday was also the only day of the week that the infamous Guilmon Bread was created. Based on the business, it was clearly their hottest item yet.

Takato was currently in the back with his father as they kneaded the dough for the famed product. His mother was up front, taking orders from the customers. Guilmon, the mascot of the bakery, was passing samples out to the customers, as well as complying to the numerous pictures taken. To sway his partner from eating the samples himself, Takato's father has promised the Rookie three whole loaves of the peanutbuttery goodness.

"Keep kneading that dough son, I'm going to get this filling going before the customers decide to break the door down," his father chuckled.

"Sure thing Dad." Takato increased the pressure of his hands, shifting to the left and allowing his dad to pass him.

"So," Takato could barely hear his dad over the numerous voices coming from the front. "Is everything okay with you and your friends?"

Takato cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean exactly dad?" Too much has happened for things to simply be "okay" anymore. Invasions, evil Digimon, missing kids, where does it end?

"I haven't really seen too many of your friends at the bakery lately. During the storm the other day, you also seemed pretty spooked when you and Guilmon came home. You always seem to shut yourself in your room and you haven't been eating too much either. Your mother and I are worried."

Takato could feel his voice catching in his throat. He had been distant from his parents lately. His friends were most likely attempting to reassure their own parents that everything was okay. He peered out of the kitchen, watching his mother hand an elderly couple their order of sesame bagels.

If he told his parents everything that had happened, they'd just worry, especially his mother. The two of them already seemed to have some sort of issues they needed to sort out. Despite the bakery and its chaos, he'd hear his parents arguing a lot, sometimes his mother crying. They didn't need more stress in their lives.

"It's alright I guess. A lot of them are just sick." Sick of all these problems.

"We'll just have to keep you under watch then. You could be catching what they have," his father sounded quite relieved.

He must be imagining a worst case scenario...Like with the D-Reaper.

Takato's thoughts were interrupted when a hand found its way to his forehead. "You do feel a little warm, champ," his father observed. "I suggest going upstairs. We don't want to contaminate the bread."

"Are you sure," he asked, shocked.

"Your mother and I can take it from here. Guilmon can come join you once the afternoon rush is over."

"Um, sure thing dad," With that, Takato walked past his mother who was busy taking orders, and walked upstairs.

"Takato," his mother called before he opened his door.

"Yeah mom?"

"Your friend Kenta is here."

"Thanks!"

Friend in question appeared at the base of the stairs. "Hey Takato," Kenta greeted, seemingly out of breath.

"Everything alright?" Takato looked around. If this was important, he didn't want his parents to hear any of it. "C'mon up," he said, motioning for Kenta to follow.

The two of them entered his room, Takato closing the door behind him. Kenta sat at the chair at his desk, leaning back.

"So what's up?"

Kenta looked at him, his usual meekness returning. "Nothing wrong I mean," he stammered. "I just came from the park and wanted to tell you what I saw."

Takato was confused. "But today was Ryo and Cyberdramon's turn. What were you doing there?"

Ever since the large invasion force him and Henry had seen when they were flying with Beelzemon, Takato had been on edge. After sharing stories with him, Henry had agreed with him that Swanmon and Doggymon were now suspects. They had taken to living in the park for the past few days. Henry had devised the strategy of having a Tamer and their partner keep watch.

"Yeah. But Ryo told me he had something important to do, so he called me and told me to take his place."

Not like Ryo to skip out. Especially when he shares our views. Wonder what's up? Takato shook his head to stop thinking. "Did you see anything happen?"

Kenta shook his head. "Not really. They're just seem to be hanging out in Guilmon's hut. I didn't see Swanmon, but I did see Doggymon walking around. It seemed to be patrolling or something."

"What are they up to?" Takato wondered aloud.

"I wish we knew. I could barely keep MarineAngemon entertained the whole time. He ate through six chocolate bars!" Kenta exclaimed, holding up six fingers dramatically.

Takato gave a small snort. MarineAngemon was just like Calumon, known to be addicted to sugar, especially chocolate. "It's not chocolate, but we are making Guilmon bread. I can get you a loaf if you'd like."

He nodded. "That'd be great. We didn't exactly do much, but I want to give him some sort of a reward." Kenta began to look at his shoes. "I'm scared I'm going to wake up and he'll be gone."

Takato knew how Kenta felt. He felt similar feelings with Guilmon. His partner still seemed to be a bit shaken up with what happened to them in the Digital World, but was slowly becoming the Guilmon he loved and remembered. "All we can really do is protect them as best we can."

"I guess."

"Where's MarineAngemon by the way? Didn't he come with you?"

Kenta blushed embarrassedly. "Some of the girls from our class kind of took him. Said he was 'adorbs' and started taking pictures with him."

"Girls can be very weird sometimes," Takato agreed. However, only one came to mind.

Jeri had seemed to have disappeared. Since the day of the storm, he had not seen her at school. He called her house a few times, her dad answering and telling him she was home, but he was worried. He'd taken to taking her small amount of homework their substitute teacher gave them and delivering it to her stepmother.

"Anyways I'm going to go rescue MarineAngemon before he gets kidnapped...again." The way Kenta said it, this was apparently a common occurrence. Takato was glad he designed Guilmon too big to be picked up and stolen.

Takato led his friend downstairs, the Tamer quickly running out of the shop towards his partner.

"That was quick," his mother observed, handing a customer their order. "Thank you come again!"

"Yeah, he was just here to say hi, haha," Takato laughed nervously.

"You should get back upstairs and get some rest, young man," his mom ordered. "We can't have you missing school. I don't care if your friends are skipping, you will not have bad grades, not in this house."

"Yes ma'am," he confirmed, slowly trudging upstairs. Opening the door to his room, he shut it behind himself before laying down on his bed.

Not even thirty seconds after his head hit his pillow, his cellphone rang. Ugh, can't even have a moment's peace.

He pulled it off of his desk and answered it. "Hello?" Man, I even sound tired!

"I'm a wildcard, hmm?" an irate familiar voice boomed into his ear.

Aw nuts, Rika!

He bolted up, terrified to be hearing her this angry. Even on the phone she could be scary. "C'mon Rika, you can't blame me. You know you can be a bit-" he paused trying to think of the right word.

"A bit what?" she asked suspiciously, clearly egging him on.

"-unpredictable." he finished.

"Unpredictable," she seethed. Takato shut his eyes, bracing himself. " You'll wish predictable is the only thing that I am!"

"Rika please. I'm sorry."

"Too late for that Gogglehead." With that, she hung up.

Takato groaned. That could've gone better.

A large monitor lay hidden beneath a thick layer of dust. Yamaki simply stared at it. Two years had gone in the blink of an eye.

Nothing could make him forget what had taken place though. Digimon, the D-Reaper, the whole Hypnos operation. These events would be seared into his brain for as long as he lived.

But that was the past. This was now. The new Hypnos was now a program used to establish peace, between both Digimon and humans. He still didn't get these creatures, didn't understand them one bit, but that didn't mean he couldn't learn.

Headed by Shibumi and Janyu Wong, the team of programmers was currently attempting to recreate Grani. The multimillion dollar project may not have had too long a spotlight, but it had been an essential role in destroying the D-Reaper. If there should ever be a similar string of events, humanity needed to be prepared.

They couldn't always count on children to save the world.

However, having to recreate Grani's blueprints was clearly taking its toll on his group of Monster Makers.

"Ah, Janyu," Yamaki greeted.

Co-founder of the Monster Makers shambled over, clearly lacking sleep. Black bags sagged beneath his bloodshot eyes. "Yamaki," he nodded.

"I was curious how progress was coming,"

Janyu ran his hand through his disheveled hair. He'd been here at the Hypnos building for three straight days now. No shower, many takeout boxes littering his work area, the only living person in the building besides Yamaki himself.

"Not as well as I'd hoped. I've managed to recreate the fundamental components to recreate the Ark, but I can't seem to stabilize them."

"Good," Yamaki nodded. "I'd suggest you go home now, return to your family."

The scientist shook his head. "I can't, not yet. I need to recalculate the numbers. If I can just crack Shibumi's theory, maybe call Daisy in and have her do some number crunching, we can hopefully get a simulation going."

"Your wife insisted you come home. She's called me and told me to 'stop making my husband work himself to the bone and allow him some vacation days.'"

Janyu's eyes widened. "Oh dear. I guess I've forgotten to tell her I've come here of my free volition. I'll just give her a call and tell her I'm staying longer." He reached for the phone on his desk.

Yamaki removed his sunglasses, giving him a hard look. "Go home Wong. You've done enough work."

"No, I haven't!" Janyu exclaimed. "If my son has to go out there and keep risking his life, then I've clearly not pushed myself hard enough."

"You can't do all of this in one go."

"I can try," he growled. "I took away Henry's best friend. And not just his. I hurt all those children. None of them deserved to be split up. And now that they're reunited? I can't allow them to save us time and time again."

"Janyu," Yamaki began.

"No," he snarled. "I deserve to be tired. I deserve to be drained of all emotion. Because no matter what I do, it'll never amount to what I put these children, and my own children, through. All their pain and suffering on my account."

Yamaki gave a long sigh, he really didn't want to do this. However, it seems like he had no choice.

Two minutes later, the sleep depriven Monster Maker was slumbering on a lumpy couch. A makeshift pillow and blanket had been made from both his and Yamakis' jackets.

Yamaki was now seated at Janyu's desk, an icepack on one hand, and a telephone in the other.

He certainly is hardheaded. Quite literally.

The phone on the other end rang about three times before someone picked it up.

"Hello?" a young feminine voice asked.

"Ah, Suzie," Yamaki breathed. "I need to talk-"

He could hear crinkles as the phone was placed into the hands of another person.

"It's sunglasses man," he could barely hear her say.

"Yamaki?" a different voice ask.

"Henry," Yamaki greeted.

"What's the occasion?" Yamaki could tell Henry was quite eager to hang up the phone. He couldn't blame him, not with what had happened in the past.

"Actually, I need to speak with your mother."

"She's a bit busy cooking at the moment. Care to leave a message?" he joked bitterly.

Yamaki sighed, Henry could certainly try his patience. "Please. It's fairly urgent."

"Dad alright?" he asked, his tone of voice losing its edge.

"He's fine. Just please give her the phone."

The phone crinkled yet again. "Hello?"

Finally. Yamaki cleared his throat. "Mrs. Wong."

"Yamaki," she recognized. "You managed to get him to sleep?"

He looked from the icepack on his hand to the man knocked out on the couch. "It took a bit of persuasion, but I did."

sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness. I knew he wouldn't want to come home. Since Terriermon and Lopmon have been back, his guilt's been too much for him lately. He's been having a lot of nightmares."

"I see,"

"He tends to get bury himself in work to hide from it. I knew he'd be there for a while, and I know he'll be there longer. Can you do me a favor and take care of him for me?" she pleaded.

"I'll see what I can do,"

"Thank you so much Yamaki. You're truly a great friend." With that, she hung up.

He was a friend now was he?

Yamaki sat in a chair next to the couch Janyu currently occupied. He knew the Tamers were reunited. It is part of way he had not reached out to them. If he could avoid using them unless it were absolutely necessary, they could perhaps have some sort of a normal life.

It shouldn't be too much a problem. A few weeks ago, Shibumi had said the Digital World was all but dead. After that, him and most of the Monster Makers had been off the radar, even Yamaki himself had no clue where they all went. Probably grieving the loss of their creations most likely.

The only ones who had stayed behind originally were Janyu and Daisy, however, Daisy was currently on vacation in Hawaii. This left only Janyu and Yamaki to work on Grani.

Yamaki may be a technical genius, but he was nowhere near the level of Janyu and his team. It wasn't much, but at least he could supply them with the money they needed to progress the project.

A muffled beep called out, echoing throughout the room. A beep Yamaki hadn't heard in two years. He raced into the other room, one his colleagues Riley and Talley once occupied. A room where they were to keep watch for activity on the Digital Plane. He looked at the screen, his suspicions correct.

A Digital Field had opened.

Digimon

Yamaki

Janyu

Rumiko

Rika's Grandma

Kingdom Hearts

No New Characters