Wow, I finally made it to the Final Chapter. It seems a little... Sad. This is the longest story I've ever written and I loved it. I loved every minute of writing this story, particularly the parts with Lucy, and it's kind of a shame that I'm finished with it.

Well, with this half.

By the time you read this chapter, I will already have three or more chapters of 02 written up and ready for posting.

That said, there is one thing I feel it is only fair to tell you now. I have decided to pair up Tai with Lucy. I have decided this after months of internal debate and taking into consideration the opinions of those who have made theirs known. I wanted to tell you now so you can decide whether or not you want to read a story with that pairing. Just thought I'd let you know.

Chapter Fifty One: The Fate Of Two Worlds

Apocalymon was, naturally, shocked when the Digidestined and their digimon reassembled from Data World he had banished them to. His yellow eyes had widened noticeably, his muscles tensing with anger. This was not right! They were defeated! He had won!

And what's more, all of the digimon stood with the Digidestined, their evolutions topped out, raring to go.

"What?" he demanded, the limbs hanging off his main mass lashing about with barely contained agitation.

"You're dealing with the new and improved Digidestined!" Tai announced confidently. As one, the group of children readied themselves for the fight to come. Frowns on their faces and fists held at the ready were the current fashion statement making the rounds. Even Izzy had his yellow gloved hands held up for some fisticuffs.

"It's impossible!" Apocalymon roared, "How did you Digivolve without your Crests?!"

"Nothing's impossible!" Matt grinned, "At least, not when you've got your friends helping you!"

"You said it, Matt!" Tai said before turning around and facing their ultimate enemy, "Now, time to fight!" He threw one fist into the air.

"Yeah!" The entire group agreed, all of the children throwing their fists up as well. Their digimon moved as one, picking up each of the kids and pulling them along into the fight.

Tai rode on the back of Wargreymon, holding tight to his shoulder armor. Matt was riding Metalgarurumon like a horse. Sora looked miniscule, standing on Garudamon's shoulder. Joe stood on Zudomon's head, hanging onto his horn to steady himself. Mimi was carted along by Lilymon holding onto her hand. Izzy rode on the back of Megakabuterimon. TK, Kari and Lucy rode piggyback with MagnaAngemon, Angewomon and Wildangemon. All nine children and all nine digimon glared forward at the mutant digimon, ready to take the fight to him. It was time to save both worlds!

Purple electricity raced along Apocalymon's torso and his muscles rippled, "So, you want to fight?" he sent one of his transforming limbs forward, "Death Claw!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon yelled, bringing his hammer down and sending a bolt of energy slamming into the claw, destroying it before it could transform.

"Alright!" Joe cheered, "Your hammer nailed it!"

"You can help out, too, right, Lilymon?" Mimi asked her digimon.

"Hang on," the pixie grinned.

"Hang on for w-Wah?!" the girl's question turned into a scream as her partner tossed her screaming through the air. She barely missed getting grabbed by one of the claws, but letting go of the human girl freed Lilymon's hands up for her signature attack.

"Flower Cannon!" The green blast struck the claw with explosive force, completely destroying it. Then she went and caught Mimi by the hand again.

"Next time, Lilymon, can you use someone else as a boomerang?" the girl quailed.

"Sorry, but I wanted to make sure you came back to me," the pixie said to her with a smile.

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon shouted again, taking out a claw that was about to grab Lilymon and Mimi.

"Tai! Now's your chance to go for his body!" Joe shouted up to their wild haired leader.

"Alright!" Tai grinned, before his face dropped, seeing an attack coming from behind the blue haired teen and the girl with the pink hat, "Huh?!"

"Joe! Mimi! Look out behind you!" Sora cried.

The two Digidestined and their digimon turned around in time to see the attack coming, but couldn't move quick enough to destroy the claw coming.

"Gate Of Destiny!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

The arrow from Angewomon destroyed the claw and MagnaAngemon's gate absorbed the debris from it.

"Don't worry about it, guys," TK said, peeking over his digimon's shoulder, "We're here to protect you!"

"We'll go for the other claws, too!" Kari told them, smiling.

"Leave it to us!" Lucy piped in.

"Thanks, Kari!" Mimi called up to the little girl.

"We owe you one!" Joe agreed.

"Hey, Matt!" Tai called to his blonde friend, "This is better than any video game!"

"I'll say!" the blonde agreed with a grin.

"Death Claw!" Apocalymon tried again, sending another chained limb toward Tai and Matt.

"Wild Tempest!" the glowing whirlwind shot out like a bullet, destroying the attack before it could reach the boys and their Mega Digimon.

Just behind Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon, Megakabuterimon and Garudamon flew in on their heels, ready to do their part in this battle.

"Hey, why should you guys have all the fun?" Sora jested, "Save some for me and Izzy!"

"We'll distract Apocalymon while Matt and Tai concentrate on attacking!" Izzy told everyone from his digimon's back.

"Watch our backs!" Matt called back to them before facing forward again.

"Let's end this!" Apocalymon roared, "Virus Grenades!" The chained limbs retracted and the mutant digimon began firing hundreds of little red bombs in every direction.

But his aim was horrible, the grenades exploding all around the Digidestined, but not a single one hitting them.

"Megakabuterimon, protect Sora!" Garudamon said as she dropped her partner off on his back with Izzy.

"Got it," the huge red bug nodded, falling slightly back.

Garudamon, once sure Sora was safe, crouched in on herself as she focused her power, her body alighting with fire before she straightened out, sending the flames high into the air in the form of her signature attack, "Wing Blade!"

The massive attack vaporized the rest of the bombs and nearly struck Apocalymon, causing the evil digimon to growl angrily.

Her attack spent, Megakabuterimon moved up to her again and Sora hopped off his back and onto Garudamon's shoulder again.

"Thanks, guys!" Sora called back to Izzy and his digimon.

Apocalymon was angry, gritting his teeth so hard they were creaking. He then decided to try another tactic, going for a more accurate long range attack. One of his claws faced toward the Digidestined and turned into Machinedramon's upper torso, cannons included.

"Giga Cannon!" The yellow blasts of negative energy actually got to fire, but they wouldn't reach their destination.

"My turn," Megakabuterimon said, his ax shaped horn sparking with electricity, "Horn Buster!" The orange bolt circumvented the attack entirely, destroying the claw that had shot it, causing it to terminate prematurely.

"You can't beat me!" Apocalymon roared, infuriated, "I have the powers of all your enemies combined! I'll destroy you all!" He pulled another claw forward, "Grizzly Wing!" The claw turned into a shadowed Myotismon and sent out his vicious swarm of bats.

"You know the problem with copying our enemies?" Lucy asked, grinning brightly, "We already beat those jerks! Do it, Wildangemon!"

"My pleasure! Spear Of The Sky!" Lucy hung onto her digimon tightly when her spear started to glow the color of the sky and she rushed forward, getting within twenty feet of the swarm and lashing her spear horizontally, creating a wall of blue energy that completely destroyed, not only the bats, but the claw that fired them, too.

"Grah!"

"Now!" Tai ordered.

"Attack!" Matt shouted.

Metalgarurumon moved first, his head lifting skyward as he gathered the white blue energy of his strongest attack, the light leaking between his teeth, "Metal Wolf Claw!" The beam streaked through the air too quickly for the evil digimon to evade, freezing him in place for Wargreymon.

"Terra Force!" the Mega digimon pulled his bladed gauntlets together, summoning first a spark of raw energy, then a sphere of pure heat that burned as brightly as the sun. He lifted it above his head, adding energy to the sphere making it grow until it was larger than him and Metalgarurumon combined. He tossed the sphere at the frozen Apocalymon.

Immobilized as he was, the evil digimon couldn't dodge or block. He was completely vulnerable. And when the attack landed, it exploded so brightly that the children had to cover their eyes for a moment. Tai and Matt were just barely able to see it as Apocalymon was deleted from the waist up.

"We did it!" Matt exclaimed as the light receded and all that was left was the black twelve sided die form.

"We destroyed all of his claws!" Joe cheered.

"Still think you're so tough?" Tai called out, not expecting an answer.

"Ha! Is that your best shot?" The voice of the evil digimon came from everywhere again as his huge body began to pulse with a sinister purple light.

"You know you're beaten!" Matt frowned at the evil digimon as a black mist began to drift away from him, "Face it like a 'mon!"

"You think so, huh?" the pulsing of the light began to grow more and more rapid, "I may be beaten, but I won't go down so easily! I'll take you and both worlds with me!"

"What?!" Tai yelped.

"You still haven't seen my ultimate attack," Apocalymon said in way of explanation as his body began to collapse into itself, spinning faster and faster, "Total Annihilation!"

For a moment, nothing happened, then he exploded outwards with tremendous force. The white light and black electricity denoted what would be the end of two worlds. Even with all their forces arrayed against him, the children didn't know what to do now.

He's going to destroy everything! Matt realized.

I should have made out my will! Joe realized as the attack proceeded.

Mimi was wailing, but they couldn't hear it over the explosive energy, I'm too good looking to go!

I want my mommy! was all TK could think.

There must be a solution, Izzy reasoned.

We wont give up! TK's brother decided, calm coming over him.

We're stronger than he is! Tai decided.

We have the power to do this! Lucy affirmed confidently.

Because we're a team! Joe thought to himself.

It's destiny! Sora thought.

After all, Kari began in her head.

And the group finished as a whole out loud, "We're the Digidestined!"

In answer to their resolve, the Digivices began to activate. One by one, they began the high pitched keening the kids grew to associate with Digivolution, shooting out beams of pure, yellow light.

First Kari's, then TK's, then Lucy's, followed by Sora's. Every single Digivice spilled forth an arching beam of light until the entire blast was covered in a sphere of purifying energy. It began to spin rapidly before beginning to shrink into nothingness, taking the attack with it until it was so small as to be invisible. A couple of seconds later, it exploded, but the result was so small that all the children saw was a streak of light in the darkness.

"What was that?" Zudomon asked, staring in awe.

"I'm not sure," Metalgarurumon answered, equally struck.

"What happened to the explosion?" TK asked.

"It was completely contained by the power of our Digivices," Izzy surmised.

"Then it's over!" Tai grinned, "We actually won!"

"Looks that way," Matt said, his announcement getting smiles to spread among the group.

Joe, however, walked by, looking exhausted as the adrenaline drained away, "Excuse me while I throw up."

"I guess we saved the world," Sora piped in with a big smile on her face.

"Mmhm!" Kari nodded.

"This makes us all heroes," Lucy said, holding her hands behind her head with a big grin.

"Hey!" came the growling voice of Ogremon as he and Andromon came running up to them from the darkness, Elecmon riding with Andromon.

"You did it!" the android exclaimed.

"You're amazing!" the green digimon gushed, "Remind me to call you the next time I have trouble with my land lord."

"It was nothing," Mimi said jovially.

"Thanks, for everything," Andromon told Izzy in particular.

"Well, I did have some help, you know," he joked, earning laughter from the rest of the group and their digimon. After the battle they had just experienced, this was almost the perfect stress relief.

+-9

In the human world, the results of their victory came almost instantaneously. In cities all over the world, the rampaging digimon disintegrated into raw data, leaking back into the broken sky, just as the fissure between realities closed.

In Japan, in the remains of the Odaiba district, the families of the Digidestined got to watch as the sun peeked through at them again. Their parents couldn't be any proud of their children if they tried. Missus Tachikawa even broke down crying from the sheer relief that it was over and pride in her wonderful daughter.

Jim adjusted his glasses, smiling serenely, "I guess Joe got the sun to come up, after all."

+-9

Approaching from the far off darkness was a mote of light. The kids and their digimon watched as it came closer, somewhat warily, but grew less worried when it turned out to be a Mekanorimon accompanied by Centarumon. Even if those two wanted to start trouble, they'd be no match for the digimon gathered with them.

Fortunately, when the dome on the mechanical digimon popped open, it was Gennai that popped out.

"Sorry I'm late," he said to them, "I forgot to set my alarm. Is it over?"

"Yeah!" The kids said as one, smiles all around.

"So, what's gonna happen to the Digital World, now?" TK asked curiously.

"See for yourselves," Centarumon told them, "Look down."

"Huh?"Even as they looked, right beneath their feet, the darkness began to chip away, one small piece at a time until it rapidly grew into huge portal.

"It's File Island!" Tai exclaimed. Indeed it was. From the beach where Agumon first became Greymon to Infinity Mountain, everything was returned to its normal state.

"It's home," Lucy said softly.

"Ancient prophecy says after the great darkness is lifted, the first thing to be reborn will be the island," Centarumon explained as the view of that narrow corner of the world rapidly expanded, "From that Island will come the land and the seas." And so they did, the oceans filling in, and spreading out. The scene almost looked like the darkness was breaking down and becoming the Digiworld once more.

"Yeah, but what does that mean?" asked Mimi, looking for a simpler explanation.

"It means the Digiworld will start over from the beginning," the centaur said.

"What's happening down there?" Izzy asked, watching as more and more data poured into the landscape.

"The Digital World is being reborn," Gennai told the brainy boy, "As are all the digimon from the past. We're gonna need a lot of diapers," he grinned.

"Alright!" Tai said, catching onto what that meant, "Let's go!" Their digimon took hold of them and they made their way down to File Island, a specific destination in mind.

"Primary Village!" Sora announced once they arrived. What had been blackened by the corruption of Apocalymon and the Dark Masters, what had been broken and destroyed, all of it was repaired, brightly colored and just waiting for its inhabitants to return.

"And Everything's back to normal," Elecmon said happily.

"It looks like it's starting to rain," Joe said, pointed up.

But instead of drops of water from cloudy skies, digi-eggs rained down from the blue sky, of all colors and patterns.

"Whoa! A digi-egg storm!" TK exclaimed, running forward with laughter in his throat, Patamon right behind him.

"Wait!" Elecmon called out as he started after them, "Those eggs are my responsibility!"

They all stopped a short distance away, watching as the eggs landed softly, no worse for their fall.

"Are you going to count them all?" The blonde boy asked the red and blue guardian of Primary Village.

"Are you crazy? You never count your digi-eggs before they hatch," Elecmon told the boy.

Kari walked up behind them, "What are you doing?"

"Helping these digi-eggs hatch," Patamon said with a smile.

"Are you gonna hatch them all?" Kari asked, picking up an egg that fell over in her path. It was white with orange horizontal stripes.

"What do you suggest? We make an omelet?" Elecmon snarked, "Of course we're going to hatch them all! The future of the Digiworld depends on it." The rain hadn't stopped in the slightest, thousands and thousands of digi-eggs dropping out of the sky, just waiting to be hatched.

Kari couldn't help the smile on her face as she saw the rain continue, "Yay!"

"You can help," TK's partner told her, "Just rub it gently."

Kari nodded, softly rubbing the egg in her hands, "This is fun."

"We should be done in about sixty years," Elecmon quipped, he, TK and Patamon also rubbing eggs to hatch them.

Standing with the rest of the kids and digimon, Ogremon came to a realization.

"This means Leomon will be reborn," he commented, happiness clear in his voice.

"That's right! And Piximon and Whamon and Wizardmon, too!" Mimi exclaimed happily, tears coming to her eyes from the joy of it all.

"Yes," Gennai agreed, "Someday."

"We should take a picture," Andromon said, "To commemorate this special occasion."

"A picture? Sure!" Tai agreed.

"Good idea," Sora complimented, "Let's do it!"

"I'm in," Matt nodded.

"I'll go get TK and Kari, so we can all be in the shot," Lucy said, running off to do as she told them.

"And I'll shine my head," Gennai said with a grin, already rubbing his gloved hands over his mostly hairless scalp.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered together for the picture. They were in four rows. In back, from left to right, it was Gennai sitting in the Mekanorimon with the dome open, then Ogremon with a big smile on his face, then Centarumon. In the second row, again from left to right, it was Matt, Sora, Tai, Mimi and Joe. In the third row, it was Gabumon, Tentomon, Izzy, Lucy with Skymomon on her shoulder, Biyomon, Agumon, Palmon and Gomamon. Finally, in the first row, it was Elecmon, Kari holding the digi-egg, Gatomon and TK with Patamon on his head.

"Okay," Tai announced, "We're ready."

"Say 'cheese'," Andromon directed them.

Before they could, the egg in Kari's hands wiggled, causing her to gasp.

"What's wrong?" TK asked, the other kids looking to the girl.

Suddenly the egg exploded in a cloud of pink, obscuring the whole group for a moment just before Andromon's shutter closed and he took a picture of the crew, all of them looking at the brand new baby digimon in Kari's hands.

"What is it?" Gatomon asked curiously, looking at the little black digimon in her partner's grip.

"Look, it hatched!" Elecmon said happily.

"It's so cute!" Patamon said as Kari held the little creature, a Botamon, up, rubbing it on her cheek and admiring the softness.

The Botamon seemed to like the treatment, cooing out, "Bo, Bo, Bo!"

The whole group giggled and laughed at that, finding a warm comfort from the scene.

The only on uncomfortable was Ogremon.

"I'm outta here," he said, pulling on a black cape and a wooden hat.

"Huh?" the group asked, confused.

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" Mimi asked.

"It's time to hit the road," Ogremon said, turning away from them, "Take off. Make like a tree and leave."

"But, Ogremon," Palmon said, taking a step forward, "Why not stay here with us?" She looked sad to see a digimon that had become a friend willingly leaving.

"Look," he lifted the brim of his hat and looked over his shoulder, "I'm a Virus type digimon, you guys are Data and Vaccine types. If I hang around here too long, I'll get sick to my stomach," he faced away from them again and started his trek into the wilds, "Catch ya later!" And then, before their very eyes, he simply disappeared.

"He vanished!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"He just can't face the fact that he likes us," Gomamon said.

"Hmm, never heard of a Virus giving someone a cold shoulder," Tentomon quipped.

"Don't say that," Gennai lightly scolded the beetle, "Do you remember the time that Agumon Digivolved into Skullgreymon?" the old man turned his squinted gaze skywards, "At the time I said it was the wrong thing to do, but the truth is, when it comes to Digivolving, there is no right or wrong," he looked down at the group again, "A digimon's destiny cannot be changed. That day was a real eye opener for me. Of course, I haven't been able to open them since," he joked.

"Well," Agumon turned his nose up, crossing his arms, "if that's the case, next time I'll just Digivolve myself into the next Dark Master."

"No way!"

"Don't think so!"

"You wouldn't!"

That was the general consensus from the other digimon in the group, but they soon devolved into laughter, starting with the children and quickly spreading it to their partners.

"Hey," Matt said after they all calmed down, "let's go see some of the old sights, like the lake. Today's perfect for a dip."

"Totally," Tai agreed, "What do you guys think?"

"I'm in," TK nodded with a grin.

"That sounds fun," Kari spoke.

"I could do with a good swim," Lucy said.

"I wonder if we can have another fish barbeque like last time," Mimi said then looked up, putting a finger to her chin, "Though, I kind of hope Seadramon wont be as cranky this time."

"I can agree with that," Sora said with a nod and a smile.

"I think I'll pass on the swimming, but a picnic sounds nice," Joe told them.

"I'll stay out of the water, as well," Izzy told them, "however, it sounds like a prime time to collate all the data I've collected recently.

"Alright!" Tai said with a huge grin, "It's unanimous, let's head to the lake!"

"Yeah!" Agumon exclaimed.

It didn't take them very long at all to reach the lake. Just like the very first time they had come to the Digiworld, there was the little island with the trolley on it, a stone bridge leading over to it. The kids found themselves lounging next to the lake, looking up at the sky and just relaxing. As much as they wanted to play, saving two whole worlds was really tiring.

"This place brings back a lot of memories," Sora said wistfully, "This is the exact spot where we spent our first night in the Digiworld."

"That's right," Izzy nodded, "This is the place where Gabumon first Digivolved into Garurumon and fought Seadramon."

"Yeah! And this is the place where I fainted for the first time," Joe said, "Well, for the first time in the Digiworld, anyway. Boy, it sure is great, strolling down Memory Lane, isn't it?" The blue haired teen stood to his feet, "Hey, do you think, when we all get back, we'll be some kind of heroes?" he turned to face the others, "And win a whole bunch of awards! Like an Emmy, or something."

"Joe," Gomamon sighed. The boy didn't see that his words had started the children and digimon thinking about home. Specifically, the fact that the digimon and Lucy called the Digiworld their home, while the rest of the children wanted to eventually go back to Odaiba, on Earth.

"Sorry, you know me. Open mouth, insert foot," the teen chuckled nervously, "I mean, we can always come back, right guys? Right?" That didn't seem to be the right thing to say, either.

"Joe," the seal whined again.

"Oh. I forgot, faux pas," the boy laughed even more nervously, "Time passes differently here than in our world. You guys will probably be long gone," the boy paused, thinking over what he'd just said, "Oops, there goes the other foot."

"You know," Lucy said, standing up, "We won the battle with the big bads. All of them. I don't know about you guys, but I think that deserves a reward, don't you?" the girl stated with a hopeful smile, "Couldn't we stay here on vacation for a little while?"

"Yeah," Matt said, laying back with his arms behind his head, "That's right, we've got a lot of summer left. Maybe we could stay 'til school starts again."

"Yeah!" Tai said, perking right up.

"That's a great idea!" Joe agreed.

"If Matt's stayin', I'm stayin', too!" TK proclaimed.

"Me too!" Kari announced loudly, "Is that okay, Tai?"

"Sure!" the wild haired boy agreed.

"I'm staying, too," said Mimi.

"Me too," Sora spoke next.

"We might as well," Izzy said with a smile, "We've got plenty of time. Since an entire day in the Digital World equals just one minute in the Human world, and we've got four weeks left of summer vacation."

"Then we can stay here in the Digital world for up to," Joe began, then looked up and to the left, adding it all up in his head, "Let's see, carry the four, divide by three..." he smiled at the group, "A really, really long time!"

"To be precise," Izzy drawled, "It's forty thousand, three hundred and twenty days. That's about a hundred and ten years!"

"Alright! We're staying!" Tai announced.

"Yeah!" everyone else cheered, everyone getting to their feet.

"Hey, look!" Agumon said suddenly, pointing to the sky. The sun hung high in the sky, but a dark spot began to work its way across the sphere, starting from the bottom right side.

"It's an eclipse," Izzy explained.

"Yes, it is," Gennai said as he walked over with Centarumon, "and there's something very important you should know about it, children."

"I know!" Mimi chirped, "You're not supposed to look directly into it."

"True," the old man nodded, "That's not all. This eclipse could cost you your lives."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy said, grimacing, "Don't tell me it's another evil digimon."

"No, not at all," Centarumon said, "That shadow is a gate that connects your world to the Digital World. I'm afraid the eclipse will only last for two more hours."

"That's not a problem," Matt said with a shrug, "We'll just wait until it opens up again."

"Yeah!" Mimi said, "After all, we still have over a hundred years of summer vacation left!" Beside the girl, Sora didn't look too sure. Even Lucy was looking a little apprehensive about this.

"Actually, when Apocalymon appeared, the flow of time here and in your world became synchronized," Gennai told them somewhat morosely.

"So, then we still have four weeks left, right?" Mimi said next, desperately looking for anyway to stay with their digital friends.

"Plenty of time to have fun," Matt agreed.

"Well," Gennai bowed his head slightly, "Actually, you only have the two hours, because once the portal is closed, it's closed forever."

"You mean..." Lucy began, her heart clenching, "We can't go back and forth between the worlds anymore?"

"I'm sorry," the old man apologized, "It's time to say goodbye."

The mood, once so high on the battle and their impending century long summer vacation, was brought low by the facts. The kids all looked to one another, then to their digimon and nodded. They all separated, preparing to say goodbye to their friends in their own ways, privately.

Sora and Biyomon had climbed a tree, sitting on one of the branches, trying not to become too deeply depressed. It was an uphill battle.

"I'm sure going to miss you, Sora," Biyomon told her dejectedly, "Be sure to say hi to your mom for me when you get back."

"Sure," Sora said softly, "I want to thank you, Biyomon. Before I met you, I didn't get along with my mom very well. We argued, she would never let me do anything," the girl looked up, a smile beginning to form, "But thanks to you, I understand her a lot better. You showed me how much my mom really loves me."

"You mean it?" the pink bird looked up at the girl.

"Of course!" she nodded with a smile.

"That makes me so happy to hear you say that!" the bird digimon said, feeling better, "Sometimes I thought I was just bothering you, and getting in your way all the time." Tears gathered in the corners of their eyes as Sora embraced her digimon.

"Don't be silly, you're not a bother, you're my best friend!" she nuzzled the digimon, "Oh, Biyomon, I'm going to miss you, so much!"

Along the beach, Joe sat next Gomamon, the blue haired boy occasionally tossing stones out into the lake. After a long silence he sighed and looked to the seal digimon.

"I know it's gonna be hard to find a friend as great as I am, Gomamon, but you'll have to try," Joe told him.

"Not a problem. I'll take an ad out in the personals. I've got five interviews lined up for next week," Gomamon joked, looking up at the teen.

Joe just smiled and held his hand out to the seal.

"What?" Gomamon asked.

"At least, let's shake hands," Joe said.

"Okay," the digimon nodded, putting his flipper in the human's hand after rubbing it off of the dust.

"Wow," the teen said suddenly.

"What?" the seal digimon asked again.

"For someone without a hand, you've got a pretty strong grip," the boy commented, earning a few chuckles from his partner, eventually getting them both laughing lightly.

Gennai had moved to the trolley car on the miniature island, using the tools in the Mekanorimon to fix some of the wiring.

In the cab of the trolley, Izzy was doing his part as he sat with Tentomon, his computer open on the dash board.

"Tentomon," the boy said after a solid hour of work.

"Yes, Izzy," Tentomon replied.

"There's something I want to tell you, before we part ways," he turned to his digimon, "Okay?" he paused for a moment, then smiled as he closed his eyes, "I love you."

"Wha-oh!" Tentomon yelped, knocked out of his seat by the surprising admission.

Izzy acted quickly, trying to catch him and accidentally knocking his computer down and starting up the windshield wipers.

"Tentomon! Are you okay?" he holding the bug up.

"Yes, I'm fine, but I was a little take aback by your sudden display of emotion," the digimon told him.

"You're right," Izzy bowed his head apologetically, then looked him in the eye again, "I'm sorry. I don't usually get emotional, but this was a unique occasion."

"I understand," Tentomon told him, "You don't have to say it. I know how much our friendship has meant to you, and, in the name of our friendship, I need to ask you one last favor."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Would you please turn off those windshield wipers!?" the bug almost shouted, the squelching squeaks getting on his nerves.

Izzy could help but smile, "Sure thing, pal. Anything for you," he then pulled his friend into a tight embrace, "Give me a hug!"

"Ack, uch! You're choking me!" the poor bug flailed comically.

Outside the cable car, Lucy approached Gennai, Skymomon on her shoulder.

"Gennai, can we talk?" she requested.

"Certainly, let me just turn this off," the old man said, powering down the Mekanorimon before hopping out, rather spry for his apparent age, "Now, what did you need?"

Lucy looked away from the old man, thinking about how to word things. This was important, and there was no room for misinterpretation.

"I'm staying," she said finally, looking up at the eclipse for a moment before turning to look at the aged Guardian, "The human world isn't my home, Gennai, the Digiworld is. So... I'm not going back."

"Oh?" the Guardian intoned, "Are you sure about this? What about your friends? I'm sure they'll miss you if you stay."

"I know," the little girl heaved a sigh, "and I'm going to miss them, too. I'm going to miss all of them, and my parents in their world, and I'm even going to miss going to school, as crazy as that sounds," she smiled a little, knowing that Izzy and Joe would be the only ones who wouldn't blanch at that, "But, like I said, I belong here. This is my home. Here, with Skymomon, with the other digimon."

"I see you've made your choice," Gennai said, holding his hands behind his back, not arguing against her staying, "But I don't think that's all you wanted to say, is it?"

"No," she shook her head, taking a deep breath and pulling Skymomon around to her front so she could hug her for comfort, "I love my adopted parents. They raised me for all these years. They never treated me like I was anything but theirs, you know?" She paused to take another deep breath, fighting back sad tears at the thought of never seeing them again.

"You told us that, once that gate closes, it's closed for good," Skymomon nuzzled against her partner, trying to keep her from being too depressed, "but you used to have agents in the human world, like my adopted parents. You had to keep in contact with them somehow," Lucy looked directly at Gennai, "How?"

"Oh, I see," the old man smiled, "I was going to save this, make it a surprise for everyone, but I think it's okay to give you yours a little ahead of schedule," Gennai reached into his pocket and pulled out a device about four times the size of the Digivice. It had a symbol on the back in silver that looked like Skymomon. It also had a hinge, allowing it to open.

Taking it in hand, Lucy asked, "What is it?"

"Flip it open and see," he urged.

Skymomon looked over her shoulder at the device as the girl opened it with one hand. There was a screen, a miniature keyboard and what appeared to be a small camera. Opening it had turned it on, showing the device to be a laptop, at least fifteen years more advanced than the computers on Earth.

"Your friends will each be getting one of these, too," Gennai said, smiling, "Theirs are on the trolley. It comes with a lot of programs and even a few of my favorite games. With these devices, you'll be able to stay in contact, no matter where you are. Even with your parents in the human world."

The girl closed hers, slid it into her front pocket on her hoodie and embraced the old man, "Thank you, Gennai."

The man placed a hand on her shoulder, the opposite one from Skymomon, "Think nothing of it, my dear. I'm glad to have you here. Just as I'm sure Skymomon is, too."

"You bet," the little monkey said, nuzzling Lucy's cheek, "I want to stay with you forever, Lucy."

"Same here, Sky," the pink haired girl said as she pulled away from Gennai to look her digimon in the eye, "Same here."

In a field full of flowers, not far from the lake, TK sat side to side with Patamon, the two of them wailing their heads off, tears pouring down their faces.

"TK, please stop crying," Patamon said through his sobs, "You're making me cry."

"I was just crying cause you were crying," the boy wailed.

"If you're crying because I'm crying, and I'm crying because you're crying, then neither one of us needs to be crying, do we?" the young digimon continued to sob for a moment, long enough for them to realize how silly they were being.

"Oh, yeah," the little boy said, taking a deep, calming breath.

"Besides, I'm sure we're gonna see each other again one day," Patamon assured him.

TK smiled and nodded, "Yeah, just like we saw each other again after that thing with Devimon."

"That's right, we did," the bat eared digimon agreed.

"Let's make a pact," the little boy suggest, crouching before his digimon, holding out his hand, "We'll see each other again, promise?"

"Promise!" Patamon put his paw over TK's hand and the two grinned at each other now, this time wallowing in each others' good feelings.

Matt was on a nearby hill, watching over his brother, as always, Gabumon right beside him.

The two of them were humming back and forth at each other, letting the gentle breeze caress them as they watched the flower petals flit through the air. After a few minutes of this, Gabumon closed his eyes.

"That says it all," he breathed.

"Yeah, it does," Matt agreed.

"I wouldn't mind hearing you play your harmonica," the fur wearing digimon looked at his friend, "One last time?"

"Glad to," the blonde said with a smile, pulling the instrument from his pocket.

As Matt began to play his harmonica, the soulful music echoing across the entire lake, Gabumon sat there and listened, his eyes closed as he was absorbed in the beautiful sounds his human friend could make.

Near the shore, Tai was having to bite his lip to keep from shedding tears. He was standing right at the waters edge, his hands in his pockets and looking up at the wondrous sky that was so different from his own.

"Stupid Matt and his harmonica," the boy said grumbled without any real heat.

"What's the matter?" Agumon asked him.

Tai wiped his eyes before turning around to face him, "Nothing."

"Yeah, sure," the yellow dinosaur said, clearly not believing him, "Hey, come over here and look at this," he gestured behind himself to a patch of ground, "This is the spot where I first made my Pepper Breath, remember?"

The wild haired boy walked up behind him with a smile, "Remember? How could I ever forget? That's where you you burned Seadramon's tail and he attacked us," he crouched down next to his yellow friend, getting him in a playful headlock, "Your aim hasn't gotten much better since then, either," he joked.

"Hey," Agumon said indignantly, "You don't really believe that,do you?"

"Hmm? Well, look at the bright side," he grinned, "Your aim hasn't gotten any worse," he laughed openly.

"Come on, Tai," even as he said it, Agumon couldn't keep his frown up and he began laughing, too.

Across the way, Kari stood before Gatomon, with a smile on her face. She had removed her whistle from around her neck and held up up for the cat.

"For me?" the digimon asked.

"Uh-huh! Here, let me put it on you," the Ninth Child said cheerfully, "It doubles as a flea collar." She slipped it over Gatomon's head and ears and stood straight after giving it to her friend.

The cat took the whistle in one paw, looking down at it speculatively before looking up at her partner, "Thanks, Kari."

"It looks good on you," the little girl assured her.

"Gee, thanks!" a bit of a blush showed through Gatomon's fur as she looked off to the side, "I guess this is..." she glanced at the girl, "Goodbye."

"Yeah," Kari actually didn't sound that sad, "'til next time." And that was why. She had no problem believing that they would meet again.

"Next time?" Gatomon asked.

"Yep," the girl nodded with a bright smile, "That's right!" Her assurance was enough to get Gatomon to smile as well. If Kari said they were going to meet again, that was good enough for her.

Mimi was walking through the forest, looking desperately for her partner. She had disappeared when Gennai had said they needed to leave.

"Palmon!" Mimi called out, "Where are you? I want to say goodbye!"

"Huh?" a Gekomon said, seeing the girl, "Princess Mimi, what are you doing?"

"Palmon's disappeared," she explained, "Have you seen her?"

"Not recently, sorry," the other Gekomon apologized.

The girl sighed sadly, staring at the ground, "I don't understand how she could leave at a time like this," he gaze turned skywards, "There's only a few minutes left."

Indeed, the eclipse was almost over, the sun once again only partially blocked out.

"Palmon! Where are you? I'm leaving soon," Mimi yelled as she moved on, her hands cupped around her mouth.

Off to the side of the path, hiding among some large flowers that looked like the one on her head, Palmon watched her partner go tears in her eyes.

+-9

About ten minutes later, everyone gathered at the trolley again, all but Palmon.

"Has everyone finished finished saying their goodbyes?" Gennai asked as the kids approached, "You can take the cable car home on one condition. You have to promise to take it back to San Francisco, where I borrowed it from."

Towards the middle of the group, Mimi was sobbing openly. She had never found Palmon, never got to say her goodbyes. Never got to tell the plant digimon how much she loved her.

"Can't we just have a little more time? Please, Gennai, do something!" Sora begged.

"I'm sorry, Sora," the old man said sadly, "The gate wont wait any longer. What's the problem?"

"Palmon seems to have disappeared," Agumon explained.

"Why'd she run away? Why?" Mimi wailed.

In the forest, looking up at the fading eclipse, Palmon was also crying openly, though she was trying to suppress it.

It was the sound of her crying that drew the Gekomon.

"Palmon, so that's where you're hiding!" One of them said.

"Mimi's looking for you," the other told her.

"Yes, I know," the flower headed digimon said, her voice cracking with grief as she hugged her knees to her chest, "But I don't wanna see her."

"I don't understand," said the first one.

"It's simple. If I don't see her, then she can never say goodbye to me," she sobbed the last bit, her emotions refusing to be trampled down.

"Is that what you really want?" the first asked.

"Seems like you'll regret it one day," the other said.

"It's too painful to say goodbye," the plant digimon defended.

Back at the trolley, they had stalled for as long as they could.

"I'm sorry, Mimi," Sora said, rubbing her back comfortingly, "We can't wait for Palmon any longer."

"It's time," Gennai announced, "Get on the cable car, everyone."

"C'mon," Tai said sadly, turning to get in the vehicle, "Let's go."

One by one, they all got on the car, none of them eager to go, until only Lucy was left.

"Lucy," Sora said, looking back at the girl, "Aren't you coming?"

"No," she shook her head, "I belong here, Sora. I'm going to be a Guardian, like my parents."

"Oh," the girl bowed her head sadly, "Well, good luck. Be sure to write us... if you can."

"I will, I promise," she then walked up to the cable car, next to the window Kari was sitting in front of, "Kari."

"Yeah, Lucy?" the little girl asked.

"Make sure to keep an eye on your brother," she said with a playful smile, "And don't be afraid to give him a good knock on the noggin if he starts getting too reckless again."

Kari giggled, "Will do."

"Hey, don't tell her to do things like that," the wild haired boy said, though he was grinning, "Besides, how reckless can I get."

Lucy and Kari shared a flat look and the little girl swatted her brother's arm.

"Hey!"

The rest of the cabin laughed and Lucy stepped back, "I wish I had something to say for all of you. Something specific and to the point, different for each one of my friends," she took a deep breath and continued, "But in the end, the message would always be the same: I'll miss you. Everyone," she bowed her head and wiped her eyes. When she looked back up again she was smiling a little sadly, "I'll be waiting for you guys to find a way back, okay? Until then, I'll just watch over our friends, make sure they don't get into too much trouble," she said as she stepped in line with the digimon.

The rest of the kids all gathered on the same side of the trolley, looking sadly out of the windows, but smiling, glad for having known their digimon partners.

"Well, guys, this is it," Tai said, looking at his partner, "What can I say?"

"Try goodbye," Agumon suggested.

Gatomon stepped forward then, the whistle in her mouth and blowing into it loudly.

That seemed to be the go signal, electricity arching off the towers in the lake until it reached the cable car. The antennae on the roof rose up, the lights at the front turned on, and the wheels began to move. It rolled forward to the edge of the island, then began to lift into the air on a slight incline.

At once, both the kids and digimon began to shout out a cacophony of goodbyes, and advice, all of them waving energetically.

The only one left out was Mimi, who was still crying into her hands. She couldn't believe how much it hurt, not being able to bid farewell to Palmon. The plant had practically become family. It was going to be hard enough relearning how to live without her without being able to say goodbye.

"...mimi..."

A quiet voice broke through her sobbing, getting the girl to look up.

"Mimi, look!" Sora said suddenly.

The girl smiled, quickly turning around and sticking her head out the window.

"Mimi! Mimi!" her digimon partner yelled, running along the edge of the lake with the car, waving her arms frantically.

"Palmon!" the human girl cried out, her tears switching to ones of joy.

"Mimi! I'm sorry!" the plant digimon called out.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," she waved to her digimon now, just like everyone else on the car, "Goodbye, Palmon, thanks for everything, I love you!"

"Goodbye, Mimi! Whah!" Palmon shouted back before tripping.

Mimi gasped, leaning a little further forward, allowing her precious pink cowgirl hat to be taken by a breeze.

Palmon popped right back up and kept running, joined by the rest of the digimon and Lucy, all of them waving at the Digidestined for as long as they could.

The cable car lifted higher and higher into the air, flying straight for the sun, eventually flying right into it and disappearing just as the last darkness of the eclipse vanished.

Lucy stood amongst the digimon as she stared at where her friends had just left, for who knows how long. She wondered what they would be like when they got back. What would change? What would stay the same? Would Mimi be as fashionable when they saw each other again? Would Joe still be the tallest of the bunch? Would Matt have joined a band? Would Tai be a soccer star? Would TK hit his growth spurt? Or would Kari get taller first? And would Izzy still be connected at the finger tips to his computer?

She smiled slightly to herself as she pulled out her Digi-terminal. A dinging noise made her laugh a little when she noticed the red blinking lights of a train crossing guard denoting the Digidestineds' departure.

She started typing a message on her terminal, smiling brightly.

"What's that, Lucy?" Agumon asked, noticing the ten year old typing away.

"It's a D-Terminal. Gennai made it for us. He said that everyone's got one on the cable car. I'm just sending them a message, to let them know that," she turned to the digimon group, "even if we're worlds apart, we're still just an email away from one another." she clicked send, put the device back in her pocket, and looked up at the sky, "Let's all hope they come back soon."

The digimon nodded to her, all of them looking up at the sky themselves, smiling as they thought about their human friends, eager already for the day they came back.

Chapter Fifty One: End

For the final time with this story, Please Enjoy.

The sequel will be up in two weeks, under the title Digimon Adventure: Revolution. TK, Kari and the Digidestined will be listed as the main characters.

Epilogue: The Message

Riding a cable car through an extradimensional rift that was centered on an otherworldly solar eclipse was one heck of an experience. Unique didn't even begin to cover it.

And it was depressingly long. Long enough to allow some of the children to regret their decisions to go back to their world, rather than stay with the Digimon.

TK and Kari were surprisingly not the most affected by leaving their partners behind. They simply knew that they would be coming back. It was that simple.

Sora was leaning back on one of the seats, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she stared out the window at the truly indescribable scenery. She was thinking about Biyomon and Lucy. Thinking about how she had just left them in the Digiworld. She was wondering if she made the right choice. She heaved a sigh and wiped the corners of her eyes with her free hand, not willing to cry. She had to believe they would see each other again.

Joe was looking at the duffel bag in his lap and thinking that it felt so depressingly empty without Gomamon weighing it down. He unzipped it, looking at the remains of his supplies, wishing that his little buddy could have come with. He zipped the bag back up, and like Sora, heaved a weary sigh.

Matt was sitting next to TK, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. He refused to be depressed, absolutely refused. He had no reason to be. He was going to see Gabumon again. That's what he kept telling himself. He'd keep telling himself that until it came true.

Izzy was sitting away from the rest, typing away on his computer, just as fast as ever. He was over looking the data he had gathered in his time in the Digiworld. It was doing wonders for his mood, keeping his mind solidly away from leaving Tentomon behind. He also believed that, by studying what he had gathered on that world, he just might find a way back to it from his.

Mimi was sighing occasionally, switching between melancholy and brightly smiling. She was remembering all the times she shared with Palmon. At first she'd remember something that would make her smile, but that would remind her that the flower headed digimon wasn't with her anymore, and that would make her sad. Then it would start all over again.

Finally, Tai was on his feet, leaning against the front section of the cable car, looking back over his friends, realizing how empty the group felt without all their digimon friends and Lucy. Like TK and Kari, he was sure that they'd see them again, but he didn't know when. And that was the real bummer. As one might guess, Tai Kamiya was not the most patient boy, he never had been. Not knowing when they could see their friends again was gonna be torture.

It was only a few minutes later when a musical tone and the sound of something vibrating filled with cable car, seeming to come from under one of bench seats.

"What's that?" Kari asked, looking at the seat speculatively.

"I don't know," her older brother admitted, moving over to the bench. He crouched down, looking underneath it. What he found was not one or two odd devices, but eight, all duct taped to the bottom of the seats. And the one with Agumon on the back was, for lack of a better word, ringing. "What in the world?" He pulled it off the bottom of the bench and flipped it open.

"What does it say?" Izzy asked.

Before the boy could answer, the other seven devices started ringing. The kids looked at one another, then reached down to find their own. As might be expected, they could tell whose was whose by the digimon on the back. Agumon was Tai's, Gabumon to Matt, Biyomon to Sora, Gomamon to Joe, Tentomon to Izzy, Palmon to Mimi, Patamon to TK and Gatomon to Kari. They all opened the devices, revealing the same message, sent to them all, from Lucy.

Hey, guys! We just wanted to say, we're going to miss you. All of you. We can't wait for you all to come back. So, I decided to give you all a memento, just to make sure you'll always remember our times together.

Below the short message was the picture Andromon had taken of everyone in Primary Village, with the words 'Best Summer Vacation EVER!' written on the bottom left corner.

From Lucy, Skymomon, Agumon, Gabumon, Gomamon, Biyomon, Palmon, Tentomon, Gatomon and Patamon, your friends, forever.

Looking up from the screens, the kids all grinned at one another, folding the devices closed and slipping them into their pockets. Tai walked towards the front of the trolley car, looking out of the window into the interdimensional portal, the grin still on his face.

"Don't worry," Tai said, fingering the D-terminal, "We'll never forget you. Any of you."

The End.

For now.