He felt horrible. He had nothing to compare it to. He was caught somewhere between awake and asleep, and he felt every motion around him and every ache within him as acutely as if he were in a battle. He heard every sound and every word said around him. He was trapped in a nightmare.

He'd felt a burst of energy when he'd heard danger arise. He didn't feel normal… but when he awoke, he'd seen that large Digimon attacking his friends and he'd felt… feral. He was no stranger to the sensation of instinct overpowering reason and logic… he'd known he couldn't stand up to something that powerful… but for that moment, he'd been like Skull Greymon and attacked without thought or reason.

And when he returned to being trapped in that in between, that had terrified him.

He knew Hikari was holding him. He knew when she picked him up… her scent was familiar and reminded him of home. He heard the Elder Koromon speak about the connections of the Digimon and Digi-Destined and… that Taichi was the reason he felt like this. It only made him feel worse. Tai wasn't doing it on purpose.

If only he'd been strong enough to defend Tai!

A while passed in silence… and he felt closer to full awareness than he had in a while. As Kari pulled him into her arms, he blinked up at her. She wasn't paying attention, but she was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen up until that moment, and he smiled at her. He'd make up for his blunder and she'd shine again.

He smelled as they moved toward Matt. "Here, I think Tai'd want you to hold on to this." Tai's Digivice… he more sensed the item change hands than anything. "Thank you for letting me hold on to it last night."

"Kari… he'd be okay with you holding on to it also, you know. You don't have to give it back to me. You keep it, alright?" Matt's voice was soft and sad.

She shook her head. "No. You'll keep it safe better than me. And Taichi trusts you. You've held it this long, keep hold of it." Matt made a sound that was akin to an acquiescing grunt, and Kari began walking into the small breeze, washing his scent away.

He looked up at her. Her eyes were focused far away, and she seemed almost on autopilot. It was a far cry from how Hikari normally was, and he nuzzled further into her hold in a small attempt to convey comfort to her. Which drew her gaze down to him. "Koromon?" she whispered, and he looked back up at her.

"Hi, Kari," he whispered back.

Her smile grew, genuine, and he grinned back at her. "I'm glad you're better…" She looked away. "We're staying in Koromon Village. Did you want to talk to anyone?" He shook his head, wiggling into her arms again and closing his eyes. He didn't need to. He'd heard the Elder speak, even if no one knew he had. "Okay. Tell me if you change your mind. Are you up for a walk? We can go sit by the river." He nodded, happy just to be awake and able.

She began humming some time into their walking. He could still hear the voices of the others… Mimi's in particular was pronounced, and it was oddly comforting to know the entire group was together again… even if they were still missing Tai. Together, they'd be able to find him and everything could go back to normal. Real normal… where they all hung out together again.

Her hand stroked along his tendril and he purred. Or, he wanted to purr… showing appreciation in the way Miko or even Gatomon did was nice, and he wished he could make the sound naturally. He still felt sore and achy, and it was nice to have a soft touch to remind him he wasn't alone.

"Hey! Genai's back!"

Koromon's eyes snapped open at the excited call. It sounded like TK, happy laugh included. Kari stood quickly, scooping him from her lap (he hadn't even noticed they'd stopped walking), and turned toward where it sounded like it had come from. Various cheers went up through the village and everyone crowded around.

"Where were you?" Matt asked over the noise. Kari turned him to face forward and he could see the annoyance and worry on the blonde's face. "We were worried about you. Izzy left and hasn't come back! What happened out there?"

Genai bowed his head, which was strange on the usually rigid old man. It called a hush through the chatter, even from the inhabitants of the village. "I did a little bit of scouting on my own. If Izzy left to find me, I did not see him." Which was… not good. "I realize I should have warned you."

"Ya think?" even Joe wasn't very happy. "You just took off in the middle of a battle. You could have been captured or anything… and we had no idea until it calmed down."

An ironic, if tiny, smile played about Genai. "I apologize. However, it was necessary." He turned away, looking up into the sky. "The storm is growing." The sky here above Koromon Village was blue and cheery. But further away… over the mountain and in the distance, it was dark and ominous.

Matt blinked dubiously, but Joe was the one who slumped. "Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that that storm is not ordinary?" He groaned, shifting. "And, yep. That's where Izzy disappeared to, because isn't that the direction the tunnel leads out of?"

"You'd be correct, Joe," Genai nodded whimsically. "It is not normal. Wendimon's appearance was enough to solidify that for me."

"So… what's at the base of the swirling vortex of doom?" Daisuke asked, crossing his arms as he stared at the mountains.

"That would be the enemy," Genai returned.

Joe made another groan, although his comment was quiet, "Great. You've really got to love the stereotypical creepy factor involved in whatever this is."

"My father," Wallace rasped at the same time and the old man nodded.

Daisuke jumped forward. "Then we've got to go there! We have to teach him Digiworld's not bad!" he paused, blinking. "Well… I mean, yeah, there are some scary Digimon, but yours aren't, and I bet others aren't… right?" Koromon nearly giggled at his sudden wariness as hope began to bubble within him.

Matt shook his head slowly. "It's not that simple." Frustration and stress trumped the earlier annoyance at Genai. "We need a plan if we go there. Let's not forget, we're not in the best shape right now."

The new boy balled his fists and Koromon almost saw one of many fights from the past over lay the present. Almost. "We can't just sit here and do nothing! That's not going to fix anything!"

"I didn't say we were. I said we need to think-" Actually… it really was a lot like Infinity Mountain, now he thought about it. Almost word for word… "-we can't just get up and go-" Matt vs Tai… "-We have injured. We're down Izzy and Tentomon. Pichimon isn't going to stand up well for Joe… he's just a Baby. You don't have a Digimon here to help you either." But Matt's argument was valid, and Daisuke wasn't Tai.

"There isn't much time left."

Matt swung a burning glare on Genai. "Alright, enough!" He growled like Garurumon, and Gabumon twitched at his side. "Stop skirting whatever you need to say and just tell us what you know. I'm tired of guessing games!"

When Genai stayed silent, Kari moved her eyes up to him, the motion slow and Koromon realized she'd not been looking anywhere but the dark distance for a long time. Her eyes were moist with unshed tears. "Please… I just want to help Tai…" A jolt went through him and he blinked up at her in a strange mix of fear and anguish. Her words were only whispered, but they rang around in his head like a thousand bells. "He's there, isn't he? I know he's at the center."

Genai turned slowly back to the storm and nodded. "Yes. Taichi is at the center of that chaos." Which only served to spur everyone into chatting and commenting and making noise… All Koromon wanted to do was curl in on himself, feeling sick.

"See? We have to go!" Daisuke gestured wildly at the storm. He missed Matt spinning around, hands shooting out like lightning and pushing the younger teen down. "Hey!"

"You don't get it, do you?" There were tears in Matt's eyes now. "That makes a plan ten times more important! We don't know what's being done to Tai. We could cause him serious harm if we screw up! Just rushing in gung-ho is bound to kill us!" Daisuke froze, wide eyed. Koromon whimpered quietly, knowing it was true.

"All of you, listen. There are things you need to know," Genai spoke up, silencing the village once more. Oddly enough, Genai seemed even older now, more worn down that Koromon could remember seeing him as. "It's time you all hear the truth."

"The truth?" Mimi asked, her voice carrying confusion.

Genai glanced at her. "You asked me once, Mimi, if I was a Human or a Digimon. I chose the easy answer. The one you needed to hear." He turned away again. "And it was frighteningly easy for me to do so… to say that I am and am not a Digimon. In actuality, I am, or once was, a Human."

=/=/=

A/N: Remember those liberties? Haha. This chapter was difficult, as, it's changed point of views around five times and has had about as many revisions because of that.

On the other hand, the chapter I was looking forward to is up next.