Digimon Adventure 07: Virus

by YukiraKing

Moments after the last story ended we find our heroes in a situation that there may be no possible solutions to. They find themselves in situations and locations that test the very fibre of their beings and force themselves to limits they have yet to see, all for a common goal that the world promised them: Peace. [took out the humor genre because there's nothing funny about death.]

37. Never Grow Up

Y/N: This is Ryou's story. It was a long one to tell, and it was really difficult to piece together enough of his actual story so that he could fit in our world, but still be true to the character he's meant to be for the Tamer's story. He's that elusive character that somehow was in all sorts of games and in 02 and in Tamers and he's kind of confusing. As such, it took a really long time to even want to tackle it, and so his chapter was actually the last part of this story to be written. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but it was really intimidating when it was still unwritten. His one-shot (part of the Gennai one) is actually the opening of it, since it seemed like a pretty important part of his story, and I didn't think it made sense for him to skip over the beginning of his tale when he was telling it to Takeru, Hikari, Koushiro and Ken. But I hope you enjoy what I managed to cobble together, and I hope you end up liking our version of Ryou.

Title: Digimon Adventure 07: Virus

By: YukiraKing

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 3: Land of Dreams and Witchenly

Chapter 37: Never Grow Up

Ryou Akiyama:

I was being stupid. Yeah, I was mad at my dad, but storming out of the house wasn't probably the right way to deal with that anger. I should've gone back immediately to face the music, but I couldn't. I knew he was wrong. I was totally responsible. Granted, my running off did not help my case any, but I was generally a pretty positive person, and I've found over the course of my life—however short it'd been thus far—that positive thinking was typically rewarded with positive results. It wouldn't take too long for me to prove just how responsible I was, to earn dad's trust. I knew how hard getting a pet would be, and especially so for the dog I so desperately wanted. I'd have to take him on walks daily, clean up after him, buy food and treats, purchase dishes, brushes and toys, groom him, train him, teach him tricks. It was a lot of work, but I was up to it. I wasn't just a little kid anymore. I was growing up. It would be good for me to have such a big responsibility. I had to start preparing myself for the big world out there sometime didn't I?

But dad wasn't as sure as I was. In fact he was my exact opposite. Where I always found a ray of sunshine, he desperately searched for storm clouds. He was the most negative, pessimistic person I'd ever met. Mom wasn't much better—strictly neutral on almost all topics. I couldn't fathom where I got my sunny disposition, but I wasn't complaining. I was very thankful for it actually. It made me a ton of friends, and I just loved being around people. Dad hated it. He was always telling me to be thankful while it lasts, because once I get lost in the storm of real life I wasn't going to be able to hold onto happiness. Just look at him.

Yeah…

That was one conversation between us that I couldn't find a positive spin for. He hated his life. Not that it was anything new, he hated everything.It was just that mom and I were a part of his life too. And Uncle Tadao. God, dad hated him more than he hated anything. Tadao went places with his life, unlike dad. Tadao traveled the seas with some ship he called Whamon. I'd never been allowed to ride on it though. I'd never even seen it. I would someday though. I was sure of it. And I'd love every minute of it, because Tadao and I, we were like two peas in a pod.

Tadao always told me that I reminded him of the stories my grandfather told him, from when grandfather was younger. I had the "same spirit" he'd say. I didn't know what it meant exactly, but dad always forced Tadao to leave after he said it. Our visits were never as long as I'd like them to be. Sometimes—very rarely, mind you—I wish that Tadao would just take me with him when he left. Dad would probably be happier in his negativity if I wasn't there. I was pretty sure my sheer happiness made him more miserable than he was on his own. He needed a break, and for a chance to go somewhere exciting, I was more than willing to give him one.

I kicked at a stone on the path in front of me, watching it bounce along the cement walkway before kicking it again, making a game out of it. I'd wait just a few more minutes before going back to see dad. I wasn't getting a dog just yet, I knew that much, but I could probably talk him into a gold fish, and that would be fun too.

"Well—" the loud voice of a girl came behind me. No. Not a girl, a young woman. She slammed into the back of me. I was going to tell her it wasn't a problem, since she started to apologize. It was never a problem when a really pretty girl—young woman—knocked you down. Ever. And she was really pretty. She had wavy light brown hair and bright eyes that were just brimming with stories of adventures long past. Oddly specific, I know, but Uncle Tadao had the exact same look whenever he looked at me and told me stories of his life. The young woman was loud though, and had several companions with her. One with her hair tied back with a clip and a pencil skirt and blazer, like reporters on television, and the second clearly had a severe humidity problem, because her hair seemed to be growing by the second in the hot summer heat. It was the third companion—a pink and green flower with eyes, legs and arms—that puzzled me though, but I didn't get the chance to say anything about it.

I didn't get a chance to do more than glance at the lot of them.

Suddenly, justas sudden as their appearance, they were gone. But so was the park. I was still falling through the air, never having reached the ground. The trees and the path melted into a dark cave-like tunnel. There was only one sign of life there, and that was a horrifyingly disfigured and discoloured tree. I stepped towards it, reaching out to touch it. I wanted to know what was wrong with it. I'd worry about being lost in some weird tunnel—and wonder how I got there—later.

But I didn't get a chance to touch the tree either.

The tunnel melted away to a path in the woods. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was the very park I'd been walking in just moments before. But it clearly wasn't. The trees were far more vivacious, and the sky was clear, not a sign of smog or pollution to be seen. I could hear the gentle rush of soft waves rolling into the shore, and took off down the dirt path—not concrete—towards the sound. I emerged from the trees to see a beautiful, crystal clear lake in the middle of the forest. What was that doing there? I could've sworn there wasn't a lake there. If there was, wouldn't someone have mentioned it? But it was far too pure to have been discovered by human eyes before. Someone would have capitalized on its beauty by now.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

I turned to see a man walking towards me, seeming far livelier than his age would suggest. He was clearly an old man, short too.

"Prettiest I've ever seen, sir," I agreed, and turned back to continue staring at it. What would Tadao give to be able to take his boat out on this? He wasn't going to believe me when I told him.

"I've been waiting for you to arrive," the man told me. "I wasn't sure how you could get here, to a place so far from your own time, but I'm pleased to meet you regardless."

"Who are you?" I asked, not being able to tear my eyes away from the water. This place was surreal. I couldn't figure out where I was, or how I got there, but I didn't even care that nothing made sense. It was too awe inspiring to worry about.

"I am Gennai," he informed me.

"I'm Ryou," I replied.

"Ryou Akiyama," Gennai elaborated. "I know. You have a great destiny before you. You must complete it in order to return to your own time."

"Wow," I gasped, finally looking away from the sparkling lake to look at Gennai more carefully. He seemed to be honest, and so I took his word for it. "I time travelled. That is so cool."

And it was. It was probably the most exciting thing that would ever happen to me in my entire life. No one would believe me, but who cared? I time travelled! This was great!

"Where am I then?" I asked bouncing excitedly on my feet.

"I think the better question might be when," Gennai said with a low chuckle. "It is, on Earth, the year 1999. Here we have experienced far more years than they have. Our time is out of balance, but I expect it will be a problem soon dealt with. As for where, you are in the Digital World. It is a world that lives in tandem with your own. Do not worry."

"I'm not," I assured him. He sent me a small smile.

"You will have many adventures here," he promised. "You will have to. There are many years between now and your home in 2027."

"You're right," I said with a grin. "I'll have way more adventures than Uncle Tadao ever did on Whamon."

"Whamon?" Gennai questioned quietly.

"It's his boat," I explained.

"Whamon is not a boat," Gennai corrected me firmly. "A Whamon is a digimon. A digital monster, he's one of the inhabitants of the Digital World."

"Okay, cool," I said. I was a pretty calm guy. I wasn't going to get all huffy because Tadao didn't tell me something this big. I would just roll with the punches and see where it got me. "So it's like a whale then?"

"Exactly," Gennai said smiling at my easy acceptance. "You have a partner as well."

"Another Whamon?" I asked.

"Oh no. Yours is specifically tailored to your needs. All partners are. They are two pieces to the same puzzle," he said.

"Like soul mates," I decided. Mom was a hopeless romantic, which kind of sucked since she married Dad, but whatever. She was always telling me that someday, if I'm lucky—so as not to get my hopes up—I would find my other half, the missing piece to my puzzle. She wasn't wrong. She just didn't realize that I was missing two pieces. No big deal. She didn't realize she was missing another one either, so it was cool.

"I suppose so," Gennai said slowly. "Unfortunately, your partner is lost. You'll have to find him on your own. We didn't realize you would be here so soon. 2027 is still a ways away, you see. We thought we had more time to find him."

"Not a problem," I told him. "That could be my first mission."

"Perhaps," he said cryptically. "I do need you to promise me something."

"Sure," I agreed easily.

"You need to trust in other digimon to help you along the way. You cannot do it alone, and until you find your digimon partner, you will need all the help you can get," he told me seriously.

"I can tell who to trust, no problem," I said. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Someday…maybe…" Gennai told me awkwardly. He hugged me then. A totally random thing to do to a guy you'd just met, but I let him. I even hugged him back. A small price to pay when it made the old guy so ridiculously happy. "Goodbye, Ryou Akiyama. Take this digivice, it belongs to you. Your partner will explain its workings when you meet him."

"I'll take good care of it," I promised. "And the Digital World."

"I have no doubts," Gennai told me.

I hurried off into the trees, completely stoked about the journey lying ahead of me. I couldn't wait to explore this new world. I had loads of time. Twenty-eight years worth of time, give or take a few, since the Digital World wasn't on track with Earth right then. This was going to be great!

I started running, desperate to meet a digimon, and see more of the world. I had to stop on a dime though. I heard a noise to my left and had to know what it was. I tried to be as quiet as I could, so I didn't scare whatever it was. There was a blue dinosaur-thing standing in the trees, eating some fruit he'd just picked from the branches. He looked completely trustworthy. I decided I'd better go and talk to him.

"Hey," I said happily. The digimon paused his eating, a piece of fruit was raised halfway to his mouth. "I'm Ryou."

"Hello, Ryou," the digimon said confused. "Do you need something?"

"I'm on an adventure," I told him. "And I've been told I'm going to need some digimon's help. I was wondering if you'd be that digimon for now."

"Yes!" the digimon cheered, playing along with the suggestion as well as I had been. I knew we would get along great. "Where are we going? What are we doing?"

"I don't know yet. But we'll find out," I said with a grin. The digimon tossed his uneaten fruit on the ground and hopped to his feet, and started running ahead of me. I rushed after him, laughing as we ran through the trees. "By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Veemon," the dinosaur told me. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Yeah," I said happily. I didn't need a pet. I'd have digimon friends instead. If some old guy that I'd never met could trust me with the fate of his home world, I was definitely responsible enough to do it. He seemed like a pretty smart guy. And no goldfish could give me this much of an adventure. "Let's save the world!"

Veemon and I didn't save the world together, like I'd originally thought we would. It wasn't meant to be. But we did have a lot of fun over the year we spent together. We became really good friends, and we helped anyone we saw that was in trouble. We saved a little Pagumon from drowning, and I thanked my Dad for insisting I took swimming lessons for years, because the current in that river was tough to swim against. He was always such a downer, so pessimistic, but for once, his fear of me drowning really paid off—and the Pagumon thought so too. We spent a good two weeks trying to navigate through the woods and desserts and fields, trying to find the Pagumon village, so we could bring the little guy home.

"Are you sure you don't know where it is?" Veemon asked, tired of walking around in circles. "We've been looking for forever."

"I don't know!" Pagumon insisted. The little grey guy looked kind of like a dog's head, and I wondered if he was my partner. He was a dog, and I'd always wanted one. That made sense to me, but Gennai had said that my partner would know who I was, and would explain my digivice. Pagumon hadn't done that yet, so I guessed he wasn't my partner, but I kept hoping.

How cool would it be to have a dog digimon for a partner? My dad would never see it coming. The red eyes were a little unnerving sometimes, but I was sure I'd get used to them if Pagumon turned out to be my digimon soul mate.

"I just digivolved from Zurumon," Pagumon explained. "I just left Primary Village."

"What's that?" I asked, always eager to learn more about the world I was meant to save. It was so much more interesting than going to geography class. It was more fun to actually explore too. I didn't know how I was ever going to be able to sit through class again. I also didn't know if I'd have to. I was twenty-eight years in the past. I was only fourteen when I got here, so that meant I'd be forty-two when I got home….

That was great! I wouldn't have to go to school anymore, and I couldn't wait to see the look on Dad's face when I got home. He was going to be so surprised to see me. I'd be over forty. That was so old. It was going to be great.

"It's the place that all digimon hatch out of our eggs," Pagumon said. "Elecmon watches over us all, and all digimon are born there."

"Not even true," Veemon said shaking his head. "I wasn't born there."

"Are you sure you're a digimon?" Pagumon asked with childlike innocence.

"Yeah," Veemon said, sounding annoyed. "I'm sure. I think I'd know if I was a digimon. I was born in the same place as all of my tribe…I think. I don't remember being born actually. It was a long time ago."

"Like, forty years?" I wondered, still stuck on the idea of being so old myself.

"Longer than that," Veemon said, sounding like he was thinking of the distant past. He was caught up in his wonderment. "I've been around since the Digital World was. I was here longer, I think. It's hard to remember. I just know that the rest of my tribe aren't here. I was taken from them long ago…I don't remember who took me. But I was taken from the wild lands. And then I was with the humans. But the humans didn't want us…so then there was darkness. Only darkness. But Gennai came and gave us a home. I remember that bit, because I was so happy to see the moon again. I always missed the moon."

"You're really old," Pagumon said in awe. Veemon sent a playful glare Pagumon's way, and then stuck out his tongue. "I'm not that old. Do you think I could be?"

"Probably," Veemon said with a grin. "But it'll take a real long time."

"I can wait," Pagumon said. I laughed, because he would have to, but it was an admirable goal. I hadn't even realized that digimon could get that old. I wondered how long my partner had been waiting for me, and I felt kind of bad that I wasn't able to get here sooner. But, I mean, I had to time travel to get here this early, so really, my partner couldn't complain. There wasn't much more that I could do. I'd done something that I'd thought was impossible, you know?

Eventually, we did find the Pagumon village. I didn't want to say goodbye, but I had a partner to find, and a world to save. We couldn't exactly stick around forever, even if I wanted to keep hanging around Pagumon. He was happy to be in his new home, and the other Pagumon's welcomed him excitedly. He would be happy and had lots of new friends to play with, so Veemon and I moved on our way.

Our next venture was building rafts. We were eventually planning to make the journey across the ocean, leaving File Island behind us, and making our way to explore the Continent of Server. Veemon and I always worked together. It was more fun when we weren't alone. Also, Veemon insisted that I wasn't allowed to be alone, since the world was so full of potentially dangerous monsters that I didn't stand a chance against. It was a nice gesture on his part.

While we were wandering through the forest, looking for fallen trees that we could actually lift—since neither of us knew how to cut a tree down—we heard a soft whimpering. We looked everywhere, behind all the trees, and we couldn't find anything. We figured we'd both just made up the same sound somehow, but then we heard it again. It wasn't coming from the ground, like we'd thought. It was above us. We shrugged and looked up. High up in a tree, there was a tiny digimon. It kind of looked like a cat, but without the typical cat body. Instead, it was just the head and a tail. I couldn't understand how it had gotten up there in the first place, but it was a cat, and they could always find their way up—it was getting down again that gave them trouble.

The problem we were having, was that neither of us could fly—though that would be awesome—and there weren't a whole lot of branches in order to climb. It was a true adventure, and we both wanted to have a go at it. We played rock-paper-scissors to see who'd get the first go. I lost, but I was really excited to see if Veemon would be able to do it, so I wasn't upset by my loss.

Veemon's arms and legs weren't as long as mine, but he did have claws. He had to use them too, because he couldn't reach around the tree to hold himself up. He got only half way there when he tumbled down to the ground. After checking that he was alright, I laughed at him, and he groaned, because he lost.

It was my turn now, and I wrapped my arms around the tree trunk. My legs squeezed the sides of the tree, and I slowly inched my way up, laughing triumphantly when I made it to the lowest branch—higher than Veemon had managed. He stuck his tongue out noisily at me, and I laughed harder. I had to climb up the branches before I could reach the cat. When I found it, I sat on the branch beside it.

"What're you doing way up here?" I asked.

"I'm stuck," the cat said. "I can't get down!"

"I'll help you," I said simply. "I'm Ryou."

"My name is Nyaromon," the cat told me. I smiled, happy that I finally had a name to call her. It wasn't nice thinking of her just as a cat.

"When did you get here?" I asked.

"I was hatched here," she whispered. "I've been stuck here a long time."

"Are you ancient, like Veemon?" I wondered.

"No," she said quickly, glancing down at Veemon who was waving cheerfully. "I'm not that old, but I've been here my whole life, and that's a long time to be stuck."

"Sure is," I agreed. "Have you never tried to get down?"

"I'm waiting," Nyaromon told me. "I'm waiting for my partner. She's going to come for me. I think. Maybe not. I hope so though."

"You shouldn't just wait around for your partner," I decided. "Mine's not hanging around for me. We're both on separate adventures, and once we meet up, we'll get to tell each other all about it. You don't know when your partner is going to get here, so you might as well live your life while you wait. She could take years to get here."

"Do you really think so?" Nyaromon asked.

"Sure," I said. "You could even digivolve, that's a thing right? You'll be able to protect her better the stronger you are. Don't depend on someone else to make you strong. You can be that way all on your own."

"You're right," she said. "I should digivolve. I've been waiting, because I thought she should be here."

I got to see my first digivolution that day, as Nyaromon digivolved into Salamon. We parted ways not long after that, because I knew she wasn't my partner, and I wasn't hers. We had different journeys we had to take before we could find the ones we were meant to be with. She was headed for an incredibly creepy castle, and Veemon and I were looking out at calm, clear seas. I mean, if I was her, I wouldn't have picked the castle, but it was her choice, so I let her make it.

After we said our goodbyes to Salamon, Veemon and I got to work on our raft. It was almost done. We only needed a few more ropes—which took forever to make because we had to weave them with vines—and something to make a sail out of, and then we could be off. It had only taken us a month or so to whip together. I had twenty-eight years—well, twenty-seven now—to kill, a month was like no time at all. Aging in the Digital World was different too,

"We're almost done!" Veemon cheered, as he wove fibers of vines together. The sail wasn't even close to being done, because we needed to weave it as tightly as possible to prevent the air from just passing through it, but otherwise he was right, and it was very exciting.

"I know!" I said, grinning. "Do you think I'll meet my partner on the Continent of Server?"

"I dunno," Veemon said. "Maybe you will—or maybe I'll finally meet mine."

We were so busy being excited that we didn't even notice the woman that was watching us. She scared the crap out of us—thankfully not literally—when she spoke. "You won't meet yours there, Veemon," she said knowingly. We screamed and jumped, dropping the vines we were working with. She was smiling at us, and had really pretty curly hair. She was wearing a ball gown that was red and purple, which I thought was strange, because we were on a beach, and most people don't wear ball gowns while at the beach, but it looked good on her. I told her so, and she smiled at me.

She also had wings, but I wasn't too surprised by them. I'd seen a lot of weird things during my year with Veemon. The ball gown was definitely weirder.

"Where will I meet him?" Veemon asked.

"Soon," the woman said. "He will come for you, and he will need your help, but he will not find you if you are wandering the world. He will come to the Digital World, and he will find the Digimental of Courage. When he does, he will refresh its power, and you will be able to digivolve in a way that no others have for many, many years. But you will need to be within the Digimental."

"I'm not gonna fit," Veemon said sheepishly, sounding like he may already know what a Digimental was. I didn't though, but I was interested to find out. "I'm not a Chibimon anymore."

"It's not a problem," she said. "I've got magic. But I need to know you are willing. You have a great destiny ahead of you, should you chose to accept it."

"I don't know…." Veemon said hesitantly. "Ryou needs me."

"No," I said quickly. He looked to me, confused and a little bit hurt. "I'm not going to be selfish, Veemon. You have a chance to find your partner. You're going to go on so many new adventures. I don't want to take that from you. I'll find something else to do. Just, tell me about your adventures if we ever meet again, okay?"

"Deal," Veemon decided as he hugged me, and then he went with the winged woman, disappearing in a flash of light, and then I was alone on the beach.

The raft wasn't such a fun idea anymore, since Veemon wasn't there to help me, and it would take two people to properly sail it anyway. It was kind of a waste since we put all that work into it, but I didn't want to do it without him. I had to find another digimon that could help me on my quest to find my partner.

It was three months before I found anyone. I'd seen plenty of other digimon, mostly living in villages, and I'd seen a factory that both manufactured and disassembled their product, which seemed pointless, but it was fun to watch. I'd spent four days just wandering around, watching the different machine's do their job. It was very entertaining.

I'd left the factories and the villages behind and trekked through the forests, first Misty Forest, and then I headed for Tropical Forest. I only knew which was which because of a helpful Numemon, who was kind of gross, but really cool anyway.

Deep in Tropical Forest, I decided it was time to find a place to sleep for the night, and I stumbled upon a cave. I thought it was really awesome that I found it, and since it looked like no one was around, I walked right on in. There were leaves scattered all over the floor of the cave, and there were markings on the wall—images that showed brave warriors fighting to protect a little winged…thing. I didn't know what they were trying to tell me, but I was starting to think that the cave wasn't as uninhabited as I'd thought. I didn't let that stop me though. I was just going to have to ask for permission. I wasn't planning to be a bother.

I finally reached the heart of the cave, and saw that there was a pedestal that was home to that same winged thing that was on the walls. There was a symbol that looked a lot like a heart, but wasn't quite right, in the middle of it. A fire was lit in the centre of the bulbous room, and the warm light danced across the silver object. It was very beautiful, so I went over to get a better look. I reached my fingers out to touch it, and a feather imbedded into the wall next to my hand.

"Next time I will not miss," a deep, frosty voice assured me. I turned to see a bird digimon. He was red, and he looked like a pretty cool guy, even if he was threatening me.

"Cool," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm Ryou. I came to ask if I could stay here for the night."

"That's absurd," the bird said sharply. "How could I possibly allow a thief to stay in my shrine? No. I would be a disgrace to all Hawkmon, to all my people. I can't allow it."

"Aw," I whined. I was tired, and I wanted to go to sleep. I couldn't fault him though. It was his house, and it probably did look like I was going to steal it, even if I wasn't. "I'm not a thief," I told him. "I'm just a teenager."

"A likely story," the bird—Hawkmon, I assumed based on what he said—sneered. "Yet here you are, hand still outstretched as you try to take the coveted artifact of my people. I am the last of my kind, and you sir are not walking out of here with that Digimental. You'd have to kill me first."

"I'm not going to kill you," I assured him. "I don't even need a Digimental. I can't use one. I don't even know what they're used for, except Veemon will get to digivolve with one, so I guess they're used for that. I don't know. I don't even have a partner. What about you? Do you have a partner?"

"I haven't time to have a partner," Hawkmon said shortly. "If you could back away, I would greatly appreciate it. I don't want to hurt you. But I will. I swear I will. I'm the last of a warrior race. I can beat you without trying."

"Probably," I agreed. "I don't know how to fight, and you're a digimon, so you've got extra attacks."

"You don't plan on leaving," Hawkmon guessed. I shook my head. It was getting dark, and there were plenty of hostile digimon that called Tropical Forest home. I was better off taking my chances with Hawkmon here. He sighed. "Very well, just know that I will harm you if you attempt to take the Digimental of Love again."

"Love," I realized, slapping my forehead. That was why there was a heart symbol on it. It made a lot of sense now. I wondered what the symbol for courage looked like, momentarily, before shrugging. It wasn't like I was going to stumble upon the Digimental that had Veemon inside it. It wouldn't matter if I did. I wasn't his partner, and only his partner could free him.

I noticed that Hawkmon had been out foraging for food, and I offered to share my supplies with him. He was skeptical at first, but he was very hungry, and he gave in. By the time we'd finished eating, I'd completely won him over. He was still very secretive, and got defensive if I asked too many questions about the Digimental, so I didn't ask any after awhile.

Morning came and went, and I didn't leave. Hawkmon was alone in his quest to protect the Digimental, and that didn't sit well with me. He couldn't watch it all the time, not if he needed to forage for food. It was better that he had someone around that could help him. I offered, and though he wouldn't let me guard the Digimental, he was more than happy to let me go collect food.

We spent seven months together, just the pair of us, guarding that Digimental. By the second month, Hawkmon was going stir crazy, and he finally trusted me to protect the Digimental while he left the cave. After that, we developed a system. I spent the morning outside, and he spent the afternoon out and about. We both stayed in during the evenings and nights, except when we went to the mouth of the cave to watch the stars.

On the fourth month, while we were out doing just that, Hawkmon told me his story. It wasn't happy, but it was a story he needed to tell. He couldn't hold it to himself anymore. I let him go at his own pace, never taking my eyes off the stars, so he wouldn't feel pressured to continue if he didn't want to.

"I was part of a mighty race," Hawkmon said. "We were warriors, and we were numerous. We were entrusted by Gennai, to guard the Digimental of Love as it was detrimental that no evil being got its hands on it. Love is the most important of the traits you know. It's the most universally known."

"Love makes the world go round," I murmured.

"Exactly," Hawkmon said. "And my people were entrusted with protecting it. It was an honourable task, and we swore oaths to the cause. I hadn't. I wasn't old enough. I wasn't there during the wars that raged over it. All evil digimon tried their hands at taking it one time or another. But none have ever succeeded. But one almost did. I was newly hatched then, just a little Pururumon. The only task that was given to me, was learning of our history. We were taught young, right from the egg, of our mighty clan."

He paused for a long time, and I thought that maybe that was all he wanted to share. But he took a deep breath and continued with a shaky voice.

"The darkest of all evils came for the Digimental while I was receiving a lesson. I could feel him right down to my digi-core. I was so scared. I was too small to be of any use. I would be in the way. I was collateral. They should have left me, but they didn't. My mentor, a wise, old Valkyrimon refused to listen to my pleas. She took me and stowed me away with the Digimental, joining the battle when it was nearly lost. The monster, he was ruthless. He slaughtered them all. I'd been taught that digimon regenerated, when they were killed, and that you could see their data before it reconstructed. But there was no data. The monster—Apocolymon—he'd concocted a virus. His attacks did not refresh them as all others did. It ate away at their core until there was nothing left."

He started crying then. I didn't want to move, for fear of startling him, but my heart went out to him. It was horrifying to know just how evil the digimon could get. I wondered if this Apocolymon was the evil I had to save this world from. I couldn't even guess at how I was supposed to do that. I was just a kid—and I had no partner. I could stand no chance against a virus spreading horror.

"It acted slowly," he continued, tears still streaming down his feathery cheeks. His voice was hard to understand now, with how it warbled, but I worked it out with a little concentration. "He left, angered that he could not find the Digimental. He thought that we were a front. That Gennai spread a rumour to keep the real guards from being found. He didn't try to find me. He thought he'd gotten everyone. I wormed my way out of my hiding hole, and I saw the destruction. Our once mighty race was lying in ruins. They were dying slowly, and there was nothing I could do to save them. I was a baby. Valkyrimon would not let me touch her, when I found her. She did not want to risk spreading the virus to me. She hid her pain, as did the others, and continued to teach me of our people. Days passed in the same way. Poromons were lost first, not having the strength of the others, and we mourned their passing together. The Hawkmons were next, and once again we all mourned. The Sylphimons and Valkyriemons passed last, going one at time, each trying desperately to hold on longer, to share part of our people's vast wisdom with me."

He stopped, unable to push through the tears as he relived losing each member of his race. His friends, his mentors, his neighbours, they were all gone. His sobs rang through the night, and I could no longer leave him be. I put my hand on his shoulder, and he leaned against me, crying for all that could have been.

"Valkyrimon was the last to go," he said, after a long while. "She and I were all that was left. She made me swear, with her dying breath, to not try and avenge them. I wanted to. I wanted to become powerful enough to destroy Apocolymon for what he did, but she would not let me. We had taken an oath to keep the Digimental safe, and from her dying lips she asked for me to take that same oath. I could not refuse her dying wish. I took the oath, and here I am, still protecting the Digimental with all I have, even though I don't have much."

"She would be proud," I assured him. "You've taken your people's oath seriously. It's still here because of you."

"But my people are not," he told me. "They are gone. There wasn't anything left of them! The virus destroyed them entirely, and Apocolymon leveled our village. I am the last of my kind. I am not enough, I can't be."

"You've got me now," I reminded him. And he did. Those seven months might not have been as fun and exciting as my year with Veemon, but I learned a lot from Hawkmon. And I knew that he needed a friend after such a long time of being alone. He needed someone to understand. He was the only one of his people left, and I was—as far as either of us knew anyway—the only human in the Digital World.

Our time alone ended, though, early one morning while it was still dark, when a loud yelp woke us. I was on my feet as fast as possible, but Hawkmon had still beaten me. He was already flying for the cave's entrance. He called back to me, "This is it! An enemy has come for the Digimental. Protect it with your life!"

"I will," I promised him. I followed after him, until I was at the cave's entrance. I couldn't stray any further. I could not leave the cave open for intruders. From where I stood, I could see a small, yellow digimon being chased by what appeared to be shadows. I rubbed my eyes, convinced I was seeing things, but they were still there. There were shadow men chasing a crying digimon…and the digimon was headed straight for us. I didn't know what to do. Hawkmon had sent his feather attack towards the shadows, but they didn't appear to be effective in any way. Shadows weren't tangible. There had to be something thought that could dissipate a shadow.

Light.

I raced back into the cave, and grabbed one of the sticks from the fire. I was glad we'd decided to keep one lit, now that the weather had gotten a tad colder. It wasn't a big fire, it didn't need to be. It just needed to keep the chill out of the air, but it was big enough for what I needed. I took my burning stick and ran back to the entrance. The little yellow digimon was already in the cave, running passed me, nearly knocking me off my feet. I didn't bother to worry about him. He didn't seem to be the issue. It was the shadows that needed taking care of first.

The shadows fled when I started waving the fire at them. They couldn't bear the light it gave off. I laughed triumphantly, and looked to Hawkmon, thinking I'd find him just as happy, but he wasn't. He was staring at the cave with horror. I thought maybe I'd missed a shadow, but it wasn't that. The little yellow digimon was inside, and no one was guarding the Digimental. He flew in there faster than I'd ever seen him move, ready to attack the digimon if need be.

But as it turned out, he didn't have to.

The digimon was huddled up beside the fire, so close that he was practically on top of it. His eyes were shifting about, as if the darkness in the cave was going to reach out and grab him. He was terrified. He wasn't here to steal the Digimental. Even the ever paranoid Hawkmon could see that. He dropped out of his fighting stance, and walked over to the digimon, placing his wing on the little guy's shell.

"Are you alright?" Hawkmon asked.

"Are they gone?" the digimon countered.

"Yes," I said.

"Then I guess so," the digimon decided. "But they'll come back. I know they will. I'm so scared. I don't want to go back with them. I won't. Don't make me."

"Why would we do that?" I asked, confused. "They weren't very nice."

"They're horrible," the digimon confirmed. "They chase after me and the others. They don't want us escaping. They try to sacrifice us for a chance to enter the land of the living again. Is that where I am? Is this the land of the living?"

"This is the Digital World," Hawkmon supplied.

"What do mean 'of the living'?" I asked, curious about the distinction.

"Those were the spirits of the damned," the digimon explained. "We were in the Dark Ocean, and then we weren't, but I don't understand how. The last thing I remembered before I got here was trying to run from them. They were going to use me to get their chance in the sun."

"Maybe they did use you," I suggested.

"No," Hawkmon countered, shaking his head. "He's still alive, for starters. And if that's how it worked, I would've seen more digimon like him around here."

"All of us Armadillomon are in the Dark Ocean," the digimon said sadly. "We're servants there. We weren't always, but I don't remember that far back anymore. The Dark Ocean is so dreary that it makes the happy memories fade."

"That sucks," I said. It was an understatement, but it was still true. He nodded.

"And the rest of them are still stuck there?" Hawkmon asked. Armadillomon nodded, and started crying at the very thought of it. Hawkmon sighed. "There's nothing to be done about it. You'll just have to stay here with us."

The two of us became three, though it took awhile for a real friendship to form. Hawkmon was still nervous about letting anyone but me near the Digimental, and Armadillomon was rather quiet most days, caught up in his memories. It was difficult at first to get them to open up to each other, but by the time our four months together came to a close, no one would've been able to tell, since they acted like they'd been friends their entire lives.

We were out watching the stars again, when we received guests. Two winged women arrived, similar and yet very different to the one that took Veemon away. Both were wearing ball gowns, though the blue one was sleeker than the green, which seemed to have a life of its own with how big it was. Their wings were glimmering in the starlight. It was a very pretty effect.

I had a feeling I knew what they were there for, and I resigned myself to going off on my own once again. These two were needed on a new adventure, and I really needed to continue on with mine.

"Hawkmon," the one in the blue said. "You have done admirably, protecting the Digimental, but now, it is time for you to join it, and await your partner. She is coming for you, and together, you will be strong enough to keep the Digimental out of enemy hands. In fact, you will get to use it."

"It will be safe?" Hawkmon clarified.

"You will be within it, and no one except your partner will be able to move it," the blue fairy assured him. He looked to me, hesitating, but I nodded encouragingly and he accepted her offer.

The green fairy knelt down in the dirt, in front of Armadillomon. "You've been through so much," she murmured, running her hand over his head. "But there is much yet for you to do. I will make sure your partner finds you. You shall hide within the Digimental of knowledge, and no shadow will ever reach you there."

Armadillomon didn't hesitate for a second after hearing that. "I'll do it," he said quickly. She laughed, pleased, and then the light came, and they were gone. I went back into the cave alone. It was empty, without the two digimon, and the Digimental had disappeared along with them. It was me and the fire, and once morning came, I put that out.

I was starting a new journey now.

I left the Tropical Forest, since it had little to offer me now, without my friends, and tried to find another fun adventure to take. I ended up on a beach, though it was different than the sandy one I'd been on with Veemon. The edge of the land was sudden, as though it had been cut off. It was above the water that crashed against the face of these tiny cliffs—if they could even be called that. I spent an afternoon tossing rocks, trying to get them to skip, succeeding a few times.

But the last rock I threw didn't bounce; it didn't even sink into the deep waters. It just sort of floated there. I was understandably confused, since the rock wasn't moving, but then it started rising, and as it did so, the water fell away, revealing the rubbery skin of a whale.

"Whamon," I gasped.

"Are you the one throwing rocks?" Whamon asked me, grumpily.

"Sorry," I said, still in awe. I didn't know if this was my uncle's partner, but it was definitely a Whamon. I tried to picture Tadao sailing around the world on the back of this noble creature, and it was amazing. I wished he could take me along with him. Not for the first time, I got excited about the idea of being a grown up when time finally caught up for me. Dad wouldn't be able to refuse me. Having spent more time in the Digital World, I realized I was aging slower than expected. I hadn't even grown a whole inch yet, but I was sure I would keep growing. Time was still passing, and time would always have an effect, no matter how strange it seemed. I had been here two years, and two months, but I had nothing to really prove that, other than the fact that I'd been counting the days.

"Are you going to keep staring?" Whamon asked, sounding embarrassed by the attention.

"Do you know my uncle Tadao?" I asked him. He didn't, and I was disappointed for a few seconds, before I realized that it didn't matter. He didn't need to be my uncle's digimon partner for him to be amazing. "Do you want to sail the ocean with me?" I asked, excited about the prospect. I could have a story that uncle Tadao could relate to. He'd be so surprised to hear that I sailed around the Digital World on a Whamon just like his.

We spent that day traveling across the water. We didn't stray too far from the shore, because he wanted to test out my stomach. He didn't want to go for a long journey if I was going to get sea sick. I didn't, and that night, he brought me to shore so that I could gather supplies for a long journey. We were going to take a scenic route, rather than a direct course. It would be more of an adventure that way.

I couldn't help but feel like a pirate as I collected fruits and nuts for the trip. I would be sailing the seas, hunting for adventure. Maybe I'd even find some sort of treasure at the end of it. It was exciting to think about. Whamon told me to sleep on the shore, because he was going to sleep at the bottom of the ocean, and I wouldn't be able to breathe down there.

We'd picked pretty much the spookiest place ever for me to sleep. We were next to Overdell, which turned out to be a graveyard filled with ghostly digimon named Bakemon. They made haunting noises all night, and I tried to mimic the sound, in case I ever needed to tell a scary story, because they were bone chilling. It was exhilarating. I wasn't able to sleep much that night, but it was okay. The excitement that was building in me about our sailing trip was enough to keep me awake for the day.

Whamon and I traveled to all the little islands between File Island and the Continent of Server. It was so much fun to see the different fruits and digimon that lived on each one. They were all very welcoming—for the most part anyway, once Whamon refused to let me get off, because the digimon that inhabited the island were all trying to summon an ancient digimon called Daemon, and Whamon didn't want me to be there if it worked. Apparently, Daemon was as evil as it got. I wasn't too bothered by missing out on that adventure.

We spent four months traveling on the sea to different islands and places along the coast of Server. Whamon left me on land each night so that he could sleep, and I could restock my supplies. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't wait to share everything with uncle Tadao…

But I mean, I would wait, because I had to.

I was still in the past, and even if I waited until it was 2027 again, I still didn't actually know how to get out of the Digital World.

Whamon was curious about my story, and he waited patiently while I explained about my time travel, and my quest to find my partner—who wasn't Whamon, as it turned out, just like Gennai had told me—and how I was going to be a whole lot older by the time I finally got to go home to see my parents and uncle again.

"That's unfortunate," Whamon commented.

"Yeah, a bit," I said. "But it can't be helped. I'm too far in the past, and I don't know how to go into the future. I only time traveled because some girl tripped me through the time stream. It's okay though. It won't make that big of a difference. I just won't get to see my friends anymore, because they'll still be kids, but I'll have a whole bunch of new friends, right?"

"I can offer you something better than that," Whamon insisted. "I'll bring you to Neverland. Time doesn't affect things there."

"I won't grow up?" I asked, confused by the thought.

"You'll stay a child, yes," Whamon explained.

We sailed around to the farthest reaches of Server, and when we arrived, all I saw was a forest. He insisted that it was Neverland, and I believed him. Whamon and I had to say our goodbyes, since he couldn't cross the land, and wouldn't fit down the little stream that connected Neverland's lagoon to the sea. It was sad to see him go, but there was so much left for me to do.

I wandered through the trees, trying to find anyone that could help me find a place to stay. When I finally found a pair of digimon, they were fighting one another. They were dueling, and the smaller one looked to be winning.

"I'll get you yet, Petermon," the pirate promised.

"You can try, CaptainHookmon," the kid taunted. The pirate left then, and the kid spotted me. He blinked, and tilted his head. "You're a long way from home," he commented.

"A lot longer than you think," I said. He didn't understand, but he didn't give me time to elaborate. Instead, he dragged me through the forest to a small collection of huts. There were dozens of small digimon playing in an open field, and a tiny fairy came flying towards us when she caught sight of Petermon.

"Hey Tink," he said, with a smile. She beamed at him. "Do you think you can help the new guy?"

"Him?" she asked, looking me up and down. Compared to the digimon around here, I was pretty big. But I was still just a kid. Petermon nodded, and she reached out and took hold of one of my fingers with her tiny hand and led me to the largest of the huts. It had to be Petermon's home, because he would not fit in any of the others. She settled me in on a mat on the floor, and flew out the door, coming back not long later with a coconut shell filled with some sort of sweet beverage. I took it, and drank it. It was delicious. I told her so. She smiled.

I got settled easily enough. I just had to wait a whole bunch of years before it was 2027 again, and I wouldn't be an old man. Well, I guess forty-two wasn't that old, but it sure seemed it to me. Now that I didn't have to be old, I was kind of glad for it. The things I thought would make it exciting weren't enough for me to want to leave Neverland, and the timelessness that it offered me.

Once the digimon stopped thinking I was a grown up because of my size, we played games all day, and had a ton of fun. I was never allowed into the actual city of Neverland where Petermon often ran off to, but I didn't mind. I was still encompassed in Neverlands timelessness and that was enough for me. Maybe one day they would let me see the city. It wasn't hard to believe almost eight months had passed since I'd arrived. It didn't feel like it had been that long. It actually felt like I'd just gotten there. It was so strange.

"So what exactly is Neverland?" I asked Tinkermon. It had been a question that had been niggling at the back of my mind the entire time I'd been there.

"This is," she told me with a smile, but her smile faltered. "Well, this is what's left of it."

"What about the city?" I asked her.

She looked up, "Huh?" Then she realized, "Oh, it's not really a city. More of a junk yard. It's where the city fell apart. There are all kinds of odds and ends there, but nothing real useful."

"What happened?" I wondered, figuring maybe this was what I was brought here to do. Would one of these Neverlanders be my partner? I could only guess.

"We were ripped from the homeland," she said. "It wasn't a clean break. We were scattered. The Tunnel of Time was lost to us, and our clock tower disappeared. We're nothing but the shattered remains of a once peaceful nation. But that's alright. We've got the magic of time protecting us, and not far from here, the River of Time runs through to Piximon's hidden land. We've got enough. We're not entirely lost."

"Is anything in the Digital World's history happy?" I wondered to myself out loud. She didn't know the answer, and shrugged. Hawkmon's clan was eradicated by a virus, Veemon was stolen and didn't know what happened to his tribe, or if they were alive. Armadillomon was trapped in the Dark Ocean with his race, acting as servants for demons. There's evil lurking around every turn, with mentions of Daemon, and Apocolymon, and that was only the ones I knew by name.

How did Gennai expect me to save a world that was in so much peril?

"Probably not," Tinkermon told me. "This whole world was made because digimon were discarded. They were on Earth, and the people didn't want them. A man built this world for us, using his computer—hence the Digital World. We're getting by. But we brought someone from Neverland with us. He's messing up the time stream."

"What do you mean?" I asked, getting a rather foreboding feeling about it.

"He's not a very nice digimon," Tinkermon warned me. "He thinks he can be the Lord of Time. He can't, of course, but he's trying his best. He's got the worlds going at different speeds. This world is going much faster than your home world."

"So I'm not getting any closer to going home at all, am I?" I asked, feeling a little down about it. Neverland was fun, but I didn't want this waiting to take longer than it had to. I didn't want to be stuck here for an eternity before I was finally able to go home. The thought alone exhausted me.

"No," she said sadly. "If Millenniummon could be defeated, then time would return to normal. But until someone can beat him, things aren't going to get better for you. I'm sorry."

"Maybe that is the mission I'm meant to take on," I said, feeling hope rising within me. "Gennai said I could save the world. Maybe it's Neverland that I'm meant to save, not the Digital World."

"Neverland is beyond repair," Tinkermon reminded me. "But it would be rather freeing if Millenniummon was gone. He's giving Neverlanders a bad reputation."

"That's what I'll do then," I promised her.

"He's using the Digimental of Desire to fuel his power," she informed me. "He's broken it into several pieces. There are nine in all. I don't know where he's hidden them. I'm afraid to leave Neverland. He's watching Petermon and I. He's expecting us to stand up against him. If we don't leave, he won't attack us."

"But I can leave. And I can find those pieces of desire," I said, really getting into the idea. She was worried about my safety, but I was so ready to get going on this. I said my goodbyes that night, and I slipped out of the town into the darkness.

I knew thanks to continued pestering, that Milleniummon was on File Island. The issue I had now, was that I couldn't get there. It was too far to swim. I needed Whamon. I didn't know where to find him, but I knew I'd have to look around the shore. I found him easily enough. He was talking to a green worm digimon that wanted to go to File Island as well. I called out to them, asking them to not leave without me, and we all made the trip together.

Being on Whamon's back for hours led to some talking, naturally, and I discovered that the green worm was called Wormmon, and that he was on a mission and that he had moved out of his library home, and that he upset the other Wormmon by doing so. Apparently they were all meant to be stationary and protect two Digimental's. I hoped a lady wouldn't come and take Wormmon away too. He was a nice guy.

"My partner's coming soon," he said excitedly. He was slightly nervous too. I wondered if I would feel that way, or if I would feel it at all. "I can feel it in my code. He's coming. Ken is coming."

"You know his name?" I asked, confused.

"I've been waiting forever for him," Wormmon said nodding his head. "I know all that I can. I sent him my digivice and everything. I just have to wait for him now."

"That's so cool," I said happily. "I've got my digivice too, but I can't find my partner anywhere."

"You'll find him or her, don't worry," Wormmon assured me.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, returning time to normal, but I'll keep looking after that's done," I told him. He looked up sharply.

"You're finding the pieces of Desire in order to defeat Millenniummon?" he clarified.

"Yup," I said.

"Then we're on the same mission!" Wormmon said cheerfully.

I didn't know how Wormmon received his mission but it was clear to me that I wasn't the only guy on a quest to save the world, and so it made sense somehow. I was happy to have someone to work with though. We talked strategy until we got to File Island. When we got to land, we had a picnic of sorts with Whamon, to thank him for all of his efforts. He was happy to help, and happy to see me again. I was happy to see him too, and I assured him of that. We had to leave though, after that. We were following Wormmon's instincts. It took a lot longer than I expected find this Ken. A month into our search, we found a purple dinosaur digimon named Monodramon, and he wanted to join us in our quest.

I secretly hoped he was my partner, because he was so sarcastic and deadpanned and hilarious. But he never said anything about it. I waited for him to, but it never happened. Eventually, the urge became too strong and I had to ask him. "Are you my partner?"

"No," he said firmly. "I'm no one's partner now."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My partner is dead," he said flatly. "I will never get to meet the other half of me."

"That's so sad," Wormmon cried. "I don't know what I'd do if I never got to meet Ken."

"You'd be bitter, and miserable I expect," Monodramon said, rolling his eyes.

"You can stay with me forever if you want," I told him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I might just do that," Monodramon said softly. I knew he was mourning for his lost partner. I didn't know how long ago that partner died, but I didn't think it would really matter. Eventually, he would change into a different person, and maybe he'd get a new partner, but for now, he was missing the other half of himself. It was really hard to try and empathize with. I didn't like the thought, so I tried not to think about it.

It was another two months before we found Ken. He was a lot smaller than we'd imagined, and he really had no idea what he was doing in the Digital World. He was unprepared for the journey ahead of him, but he stepped up to the challenge. Together—with his advice—we found all nine pieces of Desire, and reformed the Digimental. Wormmon digivolved for the first time, and we faced off against Milleniummon. Ken got hit with a black spore of some kind, and blacked out, and while he was unconscious, Milleniummon announced that he was the partner I'd been looking for all that time. I was a little apprehensive, but Monodramon decided that he wanted to be my partner too, and the two of them fused together, creating Cyberdramon.

By the time Ken regained consciousness it became apparent that he'd lost his memories. And then he disappeared back home—the lucky little duck—and Wormmon was left to wander the world without him, for however long it took for Ken to find his way back. I felt bad for the little guy and offered to bring him to Neverland with Cyberdramon and I, but he didn't want that. He wanted to wait somewhere that Ken might be able to find him.

I couldn't argue with that, even if Ken had lost his memories.

Cyberdramon spent some time in Neverland, before we were visited by Gennai. He was warning us of an eclipse that would refresh the world, deleting anything that wasn't inherently digital, and reverting the land back to the way it was before the Dark Masters had messed with it—it was the first I'd heard of them, since Neverland wasn't really up to date on the current events, now that Millenniummon was gone. I had a choice. I could leave and live out the rest of my time on Earth, actually being forty-two when I got to see my parents again, or I could stay and be erased.

It wasn't that hard of a decision.

I didn't like it though.

I had to say goodbye to my partner. I left him in Neverland, knowing he'd be happy there, and let Gennai kick me out of the Digital World. He was a jerk about it, because instead of leaving me in Japan, he left me in Turkey, which was a difficult place to live as a penniless fourteen year old that didn't speak the language. I got by on things I managed to forage, and I found odd jobs that let me save up money. Whenever I got enough money, I used a computer at a local café to check up on the Digital World, praying that the gate would open once more.

And seven months after I'd been kicked out, the gate did open.

I was checking the computer, and I saw two young boys, younger than I was rooting on their combined digimon partner, Omnimon. They were facing off against Diaboramon and they needed emails to help slow him down. I sent as many emails as I could in that short amount of time, knowing that I had to do whatever I could to help these guys.

At the same time though, I was trying to get my digivice to work, so that I could get back into the Digital World, hoping I could wait the rest of my time in Neverland with my partner. I was able to access the gate, but I wanted to wait until the battle between Omnimon and Diaboramon looked like it would play out in our favour. Once Diaboramon started moving at a snail's pace, I knew this was my chance. I wouldn't be able to get in if I waited any longer.

So I did it.

I was back in the Digital World. I didn't waste any time in trying to find Neverland again. Things looked a little different. They were livelier. It was nice, but it was making navigation a little difficult. It took me almost a week to get there, but Cyberdramon's surprise at seeing me was enough to make up for it. The little digimon were excited that I was back too. Petermon and Tinkermon threw a party, and I was embarrassed by the attention, but I loved it.

Things were going great, until Gennai came to stick his nose in it again. Only this time he wasn't an old man, he was younger, like he had been refreshed too. He didn't come alone this time. There was a woman that was also an angel, but was also a dog. It was very confusing, but I thought she looked really pretty anyway. He wasn't happy, and she wouldn't stop staring. It was all very unnerving.

"Ryou," Gennai said sternly. "I told you to go back to Earth."

"Yeah, while the world was refreshing," I pointed out. "It's done now."

"You are disrupting the delicate balance of the world," he growled. "The darkness has shifted once more into a dominant position."

"That's hardly my fault," I told him. "I'm pretty sure it was Diaboramon that did it. This is not my problem."

"Ryou, you will go back to Earth and you will stay there," Gennai ordered. "That is final."

"No," I snapped loudly. My shouts frightened the small digimon, and Petermon ushered them into their huts, afraid that this would end in a fight. "I won't. You brought me back in time to save the world for you, and you think you can toss me aside just because Millenniummon's not trying to take over the world now? That's not how it works, Gennai. I'm not from here. Anywhere I go, I could upset the space-time continuum. Your balancing act won't matter if I mess up the fabric that makes up the universe. I know these things. You think that I'm just going to bow down to your every whim because you brought me here, and you know what? I say screw you. You've messed up my life enough. I don't want to be as old as my uncle. I'm his nephew. I want to stay his nephew. I want to see my friends, and be my mom's baby. I don't want to be stuck in the past and have to figure out how to live all on my own. I'm just a kid, Gennai. I don't know what I'm doing."

"That's all well and good," Gennai said. His stubbornness seemed to be wavering, but he was sticking to his instincts. "But you've got to go."

"No," the woman said firmly. Gennai whirled on her, betrayed that she would side against him. "He's a child, and it's your responsibility to either get him home, or keep him that way."

"D'Arcmon," Gennai scolded. "It was hardly me that threw him through time. I don't know how to fix that."

"Then you'll leave him be," she said simply.

"But the balance—" he protested.

"Is already off kilter," she pointed out. "I will stay with him. He will not shift the scales further. He will do no harm while I guard him."

"But—"

"The Digidestined will fix the mess," D'Arcmon said boldly. "You chose them for this very purpose. They will fix this and restore the balance, just as they did before. You must simply wait for destiny to take control."

Gennai wasn't able to win the argument that day, and he left, but D'Arcmon was true to her word. She stayed to watch over me. I didn't understand why. She didn't know me at all, but she cared about me anyway. She held me, when I cried that first night. Everything had built up, and it was too much for me to handle anymore. I wanted to go home, but I had so long to wait. She held me tightly, and sang to me until I fell asleep. I felt like a baby, but when I woke up, my shoulders seemed a little lighter.

She never pressed me for information, and never dug too deep. She simply watched me play with the small digimon with a smile on her face. She and Cyberdramon had quiet conversations a lot, and I didn't intrude, so I didn't know what they were talking about.

I asked only once, why she cared so much for me. Her response caught me entirely off guard.

"You remind me of someone very precious to me," she said. "My son. He and I can never reunite. We are separated by the worlds, and nothing will be able to fix that. He made a miscalculation when he sent me here. We were meant to come together, but without a digivice, he was unable to make the journey, and now I am unable to return. I am trapped within the confines of this manufactured world."

It was a heartbreaking story, and I felt really bad for her. I could imagine what being separated from my mom felt like, because my mom didn't know I even existed at that time. I wasn't even a thought that crossed her mind. I wouldn't exist for years. And even then, I didn't know if I'd actually be able to get back to her. Gennai had to send me out the first time around, and he liked me then. He was mad now, because I was staying when he told me not to.

What if he kept me here forever?

I never let myself dwell on that thought, and took comfort in D'Arcmon's presence. She wasn't my mom, but she was warmer, and more willing to show affection. My mom was very neutral to everything. She was the exact middle ground between my negative father and my own sunny personality. She didn't like to cross that line. So while D'Arcmon was a pleasant change, she wasn't a very good substitute.

But two years, nine months and twenty-one days later, that didn't matter anymore. Our days of lounging around Neverland were over. MaloMyotismon was making his stand, and the Digidestined, and the chosen children of the world were banding together to stop him.

So Cyberdramon and I decided to head out and see if they needed our help. D'Arcmon followed behind us, keeping an eye on us just like she'd promised. I was worried she wouldn't let us help, but it didn't end up being an issue. There were so many chosen children and Digidestined fighting against MaloMyotismon that I wasn't needed.

"Look there," D'Arcmon told me, gesturing to the large rip in the sky that opened to another world. "You and Cyberdramon should go there."

"It's an unknown world," I pointed out, confused.

"I have a feeling that it is where you need to be," she told me. "I do not want to say goodbye to you. I will never want that, but I can feel it in my heart. I know that is the world that you are meant to wait in. Don't waste this opportunity. You may never get this chance again, and I feel that you are needed there."

"I'll go," I decided. Cyberdramon agreed, and D'Arcmon cried as she pulled me into one final hug. I cried just a little bit too, but pretended I wasn't. D'Arcmon was nice enough not to point it out. "Tell the others bye for us, since we won't see them again."

"I will," she promised.

Cyberdramon and I ran through the portal while everyone else was too busy fighting MaloMyotismon to notice us. I didn't want to answer any questions. Cyberdramon and I hid, while we watched MaloMyotismon's defeat, and we saw the struggles of the man that just wanted to be in the Digital World. I was confused when he turned into butterflies, but it was still beautiful.

And then the gate closed, and we were trapped.

It's been twelve years and seven months since we stepped foot in this world, give or take a few days. I haven't grown, though I feared I would. It took us a couple of years to figure out that I wasn't growing, and even longer to realize why. Our fight has changed from enemy digimon to the nightmares that plague this land.

I've been away from home for a long time now, but I still have twelve years to go.

Next Time on Digimon Adventure 07: Between Takeru and Willis and their feuding there is enough Bad Blood between the Digidestined for me to write a terrible blurb about the next chapter. :D