Y/N: Ah, I had so much fun writing Taichi's part in this chapter, I think I'm finally getting into writing as him. :) About time, huh? Ha ha. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

U/N: So... now that you've read the last chapter i can tell you certain things... i am sorry for Sora's part of the chapter...i DID have this thing planned for her, but it would have added another ten pages to her part and thus i would have had to expanded Yamato's part and for pacing reason's i left it at that... Sora's arc wouldn't really be over yet though... not really... if i have my way.
i hope you like this chapter... in my opinion it's the most epic one yet-and an important one at that-you wouldn't think it's so important but it is...
Also... the story is only three chapters away from being completed... but we were kinda wondering if you want more? just... yeah a yes, no question.
and thanks to everyone who reviews and stuff!

Title: Digimon Adventure 03

By: Urazamay and Yukira King

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

Part 5: Apocolymon's Spell
Chapter 51: Demons and Darkness

Hikari:

"JOU!" Mimi screamed loudly causing me to jump in alarm. The boy had just fallen into a hole, one that was clearly not there a moment earlier... "Jou! JOU!"

And then two more rips opened up underneath Koushiro and Sora causing both of them to fall down into the darkness as Jou had just done. I wanted to help them, but the rips were patching up and returning to a normal, solid ground before I could do so.

"KOUSHIRO!" Mimi cried loudly at the same time as my brother and Yamato screamed out Sora's name. As the two of them screamed they turned to each other and glared and half a second later they were gone, under the ground like the rest. I wanted to help Taichi most of all and it felt as though my heart had ripped out of my chest as he fell... but he wouldn't have cared if I had fallen, so I shook my head and jumped to my feet.

"Yamato!" Takeru cried as I grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. He looked at me and nodded. I wasn't sure what that nod may have meant but I shot him a quick comforting smile as Iori jumped to his feet.

"RUN!" Iori bellowed as everyone else clambered to their feet.

I looked over to my right as Takeru ran after Iori, holding my hand tightly and saw Mimi and Michael. Mimi let out a small scream as the ground opened up beneath her as she was running. Michael had grabbed her hand and started pulling her... I wanted to help, but Takeru was pulling me and by the time I had worked my hand out of his Mimi was gone.

"Hikari come on..." Takeru said, "I want to keep you safe."

I turned around and stared at him, smiling, but my smile fell when I saw his eyes... there was something about them. And then he was gone.

"TAKERU!" I screamed loudly, holding Nyaromon tightly in my arms.I knew he would be ok... he was with the others... and still looking down into the darkness of the hole he had fallen into... I wanted to jump in with him. And guide him through. I readied myself to do so when Daisuke stopped me.

"Hikari!" Daisuke called. "Stick with me!"

"Right…" I said taking his hand and running. He was dragging me a lot more harshly than Takeru had done... and I was a little confused as to why he was trying so hard... I knew he loved me—or he said so anyway... but there was no escaping... we were clearly at a standstill. We'd all have to just accept that Apocalymon was going to get us this time... and then we'd have to work our way out of his darkness.

Soon though Iori had come to a dead end and it was either work our way back or just wait and let Apocalymon get us... and then the ground opened all around us trapping us all in our corner. I was thinking too negatively! We could do this! Behind us was the forest, that didn't mean we couldn't escape! We'd just go through the trees! I went to turn around, but something caught my eyes.

A black spark appeared in front of us, near the holes and then it faded. It sparked again and again until it stayed as a glowing black orb.

Everyone else around me seemed confused at first, but my eyes were trapped... I couldn't look away. The orb was... it was where I needed to go, and soon the people around me didn't exist anymore. I took a few steps forward and found myself stuck, so I pulled my arm hard and it was free.

I walked quickly toward the dark orb... it was imperative that I get there... fast.

"Hikari…?" I heard a distant voice ask. "Hikari!"

"HIKARI!" another one screamed loudly. I looked back over my shoulder and shook my head quickly. The orb was important. I paused before touching it and looked down to the small cat in my hand... what was it?

I shrugged and dropped the ball shaped animal and I touched the orb and smiled as the world around me shifted.

Taichi:

Darkness. That's all I saw. One minute I was glaring at Yamato—because I just knew he had something to do with Sora falling into the ground. Of course, once I'd fallen too, I couldn't exactly blame him for it after all…even though I wanted to still…

"What is going on?" I shouted as loud as I could.

I was met with silence. I figured that someone would answer me. I mean, who magically opens a hole in the ground, in order to collect us digi-destined, and then doesn't have the grace to tell me what I'm supposed to expect. I mean, what kind of bad guy were we facing? Bad guys are always going off, bragging about their plans and how we'd never manage to get free, and how our deaths were impending or whatever.

"Come on! Answer me," I yelled. "Be a mon and tell me what's going on!"

"Losing patience, are we, Courage Child?"

"Come on…" I groaned. I finally had him talking, and he still didn't answer my questions.

"You should not wish to rush me. You're end is coming soon."

"You guys always say that," I said smiling. I was back in familiar territory. And I wasn't even scared. Well…I was, but not too bad, since they're always wrong.

"Quiet, you insolent brat."

I almost chuckled. I mean I was eighteen years old, hardly a child you could call a brat.

"What do you have in store for me?" I shouted out, masking my fear quite well, I thought.

"You will face something you never thought possible. A situation designed to fit your…needs. I will prove just how useless that pathetic crest of yours truly is. What use is courage in a battle of the mind?"

"I'm sure it'll be plenty useful," I said, ignoring the fact that my crest was useless, for now at least. I'd made Agumon into SkullGreymon the first time I attempted to use it…

"We shall see…"

"Do you have to be so ominous?"

He let out a dark chuckle. I figured that meant it was in the job description.

"Our time together is coming to an end, child of courage. Keep your wits about you, you'll need them in the trial you have ahead of you."

"Can't you just tell me what it is, you know, so I can prepare my wits, and whatnot?"

"Ah, I could, but then I wouldn't have the fun of watching you're imminent doom."

"You wouldn't want that, eh," I said dryly.

"You're trial begins now…"

And then his voice kind of just faded away. I was starting to panic, to be honest. I was alone in the darkness, no voice—an admittedly evil voice—no friends, no Sora. Granted Sora was an iffy thing for me at the time. I didn't know if she was my girlfriend, just a friend, my ex. I didn't even have time to finish that thought, before the darkness started fading. I fell from the air, landing with a THUD! on the ground. I hit my head on what appeared to be the ground, and everything faded to black…

"Do you think he's alright?" a woman asked.

"He's a tough kid," a man told her.

"Yeah, he's always had a hard head," a young woman agreed.

They were all familiar though…

I tried to open my eyes, but there was a sort of pounding in my head, making it much more difficult than necessary. I settled for groaning instead.

"Did you hear that?"

"He's waking up!"

"Taichi, can you hear me?"

"Hmm," I mumbled. What was going on? I was supposed to be… Huh… Where was I supposed be? I couldn't remember anything. I was Taichi, I knew that much. Taichi…Yagami maybe? I didn't know.

"Who're you," I asked groggily.

"Oh he doesn't know what he's saying," the woman said a right tad flustered.

"Does he remember us at all?" the younger woman asked timidly. She seemed close to tears. I wanted to tell her not to cry, not to worry. I wasn't worth that, but I didn't say anything.

"I'm sure he does," the man said comfortingly to the two women. "Don't you Taichi?"

"Uh, not really, no," I admitted. I still hadn't opened my eyes. I couldn't place their voices, I felt like I should be able to, but they seemed like strangers at the same time.

"Oh, I knew it!" the woman cried. I heard her break into tears, before shuffling feet—which I assumed was her flinging herself at the man. "How can we make him remember?"

"Yuuko, sweetheart, we'll help him, he'll remember us soon," the man said.

Yuuko. That was even more familiar than her voice. Who was she?

"Do you really think so, Susumu?"

"Of course he does Mrs. Yagami," the younger woman told assured her in place of the man, whose name appeared to be Susumu… like Yuuko, it was frighteningly familiar, yet it was always just outside of my grasp.

"Thank you Sora," the woman… Yuuko said. "He'll remember you for sure. Perhaps you could help him?"

"I'll try," she assured her. I could hear her stepping closer to me; she was right next to me. "Taichi, Taichi baby, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, distracted by the fact she called me baby. Was she my girlfriend? She sounded sincere…maybe she was… I kind of liked that idea.

"Baby, do you remember me? I'm Sora," she said calmly.

"No… Not really," I said. But she placed a hand gently on my shoulder, and my eyes fluttered open. It just seemed to be the right thing to do. So I did. I met her eyes; the beautiful reddish-brown orbs filled me with a nearly overwhelming warmth. I felt loved, and needed. And that was the best feeling in the world.

"You know you're name though, right?"

"Yes, I'm Taichi," I said. "You're Sora, she's Yuuko and he's Susumu, but I only know that because you said it."

"I'm Sora, yes. I'm your girlfriend. I love you," she said. "And this is Mr and Mrs. Yagami, they are your parents. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," I said as the slide into the puzzle of my life. My mom and my father. They were so important, how did I forget that? There were a few gaps left to fill though. I could remember playing soccer now, I remembered my elementary graduation. My old interests, my friendship with Sora, before we got together, the injuries I got as a child, the times I was sick, the times I was happy, my birthdays, parties, everything was flashing in front of my eyes. But there were pieces missing. There was something… something I should remember.

"Come with me, okay? We can just walk to the couch, it's not too far, and then we can relax. You need to put everything back in place, alright?" she said taking my hand, and I let her pull me to my feet. It didn't matter what she said, I was going to go willingly. Her eyes were just perfect. I was drowning in them by the time she finally looked away.

I followed her, as she brought me down the hallway from my bedroom to the living room. The dining table was on one side, the couch and television on the other. A bookshelf containing pictures and what appeared to be my father's old textbooks. I saw a photo of me on my first day of school, my latest school picture, when I lost my first tooth, my first time on a bicycle, and one where I was accompanied by my mom and father… Something seemed off, but I shrugged it off. They'd tell me everything I needed to know. Sora was perfect; she was everything anyone would ever need. Her eyes seemed to tell me so. Whatever was missing wasn't really needed was it?

Not if Sora said it wasn't.

"Here we are," she announced, gently helping me to my place on the couch. Her eyes were warm and beautiful.

"What happened, exactly?" I asked finally tearing my eyes away. I couldn't think when I was trapped in hers.

"You had a really nasty fall, baby," she said softly. "We were really worried."

"Why didn't you just take me to a hospital?" I asked logically.

"There was no need," she said simply, and one look in her eyes told me that that was true.

"Alright," I agreed readily. "Do we have any friends?"

"We used to," she said with a smile. "We had Jou, he's in school right now, he studies so much that we never see him. It's been a long time. There was Mimi too, but she moved to America, and Koushiro doesn't speak with anybody anymore. He's too afraid of social conventions."

"Just three?" I asked confused. "They sound so different, how did we meet?"

"In the digital world silly," she said still staring at me, I found myself lost in her eyes again. "That's where we fell in love. We don't need anybody else."

"You're right," I said without thinking. Of course, she was right though… but there was one name… "What about Yamato?"

"I don't know any Yamato, Taichi," she said her brows furrowing.

"It doesn't matter," I assured her, I didn't like to see her confused or worrying. "I probably just dreamed him up when I was out cold."

"That must be right," she said. "Was he a good friend?"

"Huh… I don't remember. Isn't that funny?" I asked her with a laugh.

"Really funny," she agreed, only a small smile appeared on her face however. I was wondering why that was when she turned her eyes on me again, making me forget everything. I turned away again, looking back at the pictures on the bookshelf… the one of my family in particular…

"Do I have any siblings?" I asked suddenly, thinking I'd figured out what that gap was.

"No," Sora told me. "You're an only child."

And she was right…

Hikari:

I walked along in the complete darkness of the dripping cave the black orb had led me to, a frown plastered to my face. The second I had gotten here I remembered what I had done, how I had dropped my digimon into a hole that Apocalymon had created and dragged myself here... ignoring the pleas of my friends... why was I so stupid?

But I tried to push that out of my mind and focus on what exactly had truly happened to me. I had just touched the orb and appeared in the cave...

There was a light in the distance though, as if the cave was going to end... but it hadn't yet and I had been staring at that light for a long, long time. I heard voices in the cave as well... as if they were following me. But being in this darkness, I just felt safe... like what I couldn't see couldn't hurt me...

But they were familiar. I heard Taichi a few times commenting on what I was wearing... I heard him yelling at me for sending that email... and I heard him telling me that my sickness would go away soon. I also heard Mimi and Yamato a few times. I heard Koushiro trying to communicate with the people of Hong Kong and I heard Takeru and Daisuke arguing a lot. But I didn't bother paying too close attention. They were my memories—I knew them already... there was nothing new. But then a conversation that I did not remember began playing louder than the others, echoing around the cave, drowning out the eerie sounds of the dripping water.

"Did I say I wanted anything?" a deep, calming voice asked, "But you're right... I do want something from you."

"And are you planning on filling us in?" Another voice asked. This one I recognized as Aquilamon.

"Well I suppose that would only be fair..." The first voice said slowly. "See... my leader—you don't know him. His name is Fanglongmon... ring a bell? No? Oh well... he is in hiding—he wishes for us to destroy the digidestined..." This first voice was clearly a digimon... but who?

"Why?" Sora's familiar voice blurted out.

"Why?" The mystery digimon repeated. "Why? Well because of your crests. They are too human for us digimon to reign full control over the world. The traits you posses help the world function—they help it grow and flourish... they help it become what it needs to be. But the world is already at this state and so you are no longer needed and neither are your crests. Instead what is needed is a true leader. One who can truly unleash the powers of the digital world... if you know what I mean."

"I—I don't." Miyako's voice echoed.

This conversation was starting to freak me out a little so I tried to walk faster, but my feet were soaked in whatever liquid, hopefully water, was around the base of the cave, so they were heavy and dragging me down.

"The digital world is full of evil—full of darkness, and your crests are containing it. There is no need for you all to live any longer—the darkness is ready to be free! The darkness will consume all in its path and lead us to a better place."

"Sounds depressing if you ask me..." Aquilamon said.

"I agree." Birdramon sqwacked, "Why would you want darkness when you could have love? Hope... light?"

"Because darkness is what keeps us all moving. Without darkness all of those other crests would be meaningless."

"But without those crests darkness would be useless too... would it not?" Sora asked the digimon, who I realized must have been the sovereign that she and Miyako had faced earlier...

"No. No little one. You are not right—but that doesn't surprise me... the only crest we need to keep is Light." I suddenly wanted to plug my ears and wait for the conversation to end, but I knew I had to listen, so I tried my best to remain calm. "Light will keep the darkness from growing too overpowering and useless... which is why we have instructed an old friend to seek the child of light and keep her with him forever. In eternal darkness... a place of complete and utter despair... The—"

"The dark ocean!" Sora cried out, "You can't do that!"

The conversation was moving too fast for me to even try to figure out what friend they were talking about... who had they ordered to trap me—maybe Apocalymon, but the Sovereign continued then.

"Ah... but we can. And we intend to." The Sovereign said. "While there... her heart will be tainted—tainted enough that we will be able to steal it... and not only steal it—but use the light to our own advantage." Zhuqiaomon

Suddenly the voices began to fade as I clutched my chest tightly... my heart had yet to be tainted by the ocean... it had come close—but I had remained strong... so who was to say I couldn't do it again if I were pulled back there?

"No, No!" The voices were getting quieter still, and the last thing I heard was, "I won't let you have Hikari's heart!"

I fell to my knees in the pools of icy water and sat very still in complete silence. All of the voices and memories seemed to stop for now. And all I could think was how I wanted to leave this place. And I wanted to be home—home with mom... and dad... and Taichi—but I didn't know how to leave. I didn't even know where I was for sure.

But that question was answered soon enough.

I jumped to my feet and stared at the light ahead of me... if this was Apocalymon's doing... all I had to do was get to the light... right? That would make sense. He had been ranting and raving about our crests and how none of us understood them. How without them we wouldn't survive. My crest was light, and I was in a dark cave. So getting to that light was the answer. Right?

I took off at a run and yet the light wasn't getting any closer still. Why was this happening? What sort of spell was this? There seemed to be an emptiness inside of me... almost like a hole inside of me that was filled with darkness and I knew that that was the reason I couldn't get to the light... I had to fulfill something.

I looked behind me and saw that there was a similar light the opposite direction only this one was black... and even in the pitch black cave I could see the shining darkness clearly.

I looked back to the light and then to the darkness again. Perhaps I was meant to examine the darkness before I did anything else? And then, understanding the darkness would help me to see the way to the light! I knew I was thinking too far into this, and besides, walking toward that strange darkness was not at the top of my bucket list.

And then I heard a little giggle.

I screamed and spun around looking for the body to go with the small laughter. And when my eyes came to rest on a small girl with two black pigtails my heart tried to stop. This was terrifying! Who was she? I thought that maybe I was supposed to talk to her, but I didn't want to go anywhere near her... couldn't risk the danger...

"Mommy!" She called out loudly. Her voice was distant, but I could still hear the distinct fear and sadness in her voice. "Mommy! Where am I? Where did you go? Mommy? Mommy...? MOMMY!"

And just like that the little girl faded away. It was another memory... but again, this one was not mine. It was a little girl's memory—unless that was me—but... I never had black hair. So it had to be someone else... but the last memory was about me... so I knew that that one would be of some importance.

And yet, the only thing I could think of now was calling out for my Mommy...

"Where are you going?" A voice asked loudly, causing me to spin around and look at two females. Both with long black hair. One was clearly the mother, who just let her hair fall down her back and the other was a girl, maybe twelve years old, who had her hair in a ponytail.

"I'm going out." The girl snapped. "Does it really matter?"

"You're going back there... aren't you?" Her mother asked her, sadness creeping upon her face.

"Of course not." The girl said, and then slowly she nodded, "Yes mom... I am."

"Please don't go."

"I like it there Mother. It's where I need to be... you wouldn't understand... you don't fully realize how powerful the Ocean is!" The girl growled and then she disappeared.

Her mother stared at the spot where she had stood and sighed slowly, she was holding back tears and then she turned and left.

Another image took the place of that one, this one was the girl's mother, much younger now, with a little boy walking hand in hand with her. His face was filled with pure excitement of course as the two of them walked. They were talking, but no sound was coming out. They seemed to be having a good time though. Then the boy pointed excitedly and pulled away from his mother's hand and smiled up at her. She nodded and then he ran off. Her face suddenly was filled with horror as she screamed at him to stop, but he didn't.

I closed my eyes as the loud sound of a screeching car echoed through the cave. As I looked back up I saw many people, all dressed in black, mourning over the death of the young boy. In the crowd I spotted his mother first thing. And then I noticed another little boy, who was crying... and he was unmistakably my brother. I looked up to the face of the woman who was attached to the leg he was embracing and smiled. My mother knew this woman somehow. How they knew each other didn't matter because the scene changed again and it was just my mom and the mother of that boy. They were sitting at a kitchen table.

"So you're saying that you sometimes see an ocean?" My mother asked slowly.

The other woman nodded. "Ever since the... accident. I know you don't believe me—that's why I didn't want to tell you..."

"I understand..." My mom said, "I think you just need to get more sleep. You'll feel much better—"

"No—it's not like that." She persisted, "It's like... a dark place filled with only despair. I don't want to go there, but when I get there I just never want to leave. I want to stay there forever..."

"You want to be filled with despair?" My mom asked.

"Yes." The woman nodded.

"Mommy!" Taichi yelled running up to my mom, "Can I play with my brother now?"

"Not right now sweetie... go play for a little while longer." Mom said placing her hand on her stomach. I hadn't noticed, but she was pregnant... not nine months pregnant my any means—but still noticeably pregnant... with me.

Both women stared at each other in silence and then suddenly the woman with black hair stood up and left the table, grabbing the teapot on her way.

She was gone for about two seconds when she screamed loudly and my mom jumped to her feet and followed. Soon my mother screamed too and I knew she had seen the dark ocean...

The scene changed again, and this time at a rapid pace showing me my mother sitting down at the kitchen table, and then almost fading away and my father getting very worried. And then she was just walking down the street, still fading in and out. They went on like this, and in each scene I could tell that she was more and more pregnant.

And then finally she stood up while her and dad were watching tv. "It's time" She said.

Then they were in the hospital and my dad was pacing back and forth mumbling to himself.

A nurse ran out of the room and he stopped her. "How is she?" He asked, "Why can't I be in there with her?"

"Sir... it's a little complicated. You can't be in there because something odd is happening. We can't really explain it." The nurse said, "And... I can't be sure if she's going to be ok or not." And then she was gone.

I looked toward the door that she had come out of and soon it was swung open again and I caught a glimpse of my mother screaming and she looked like a poorly stationed television... she was fading strangely while giving birth to me.

Soon though I heard the sounds of... me, crying. "Cut it now!" A man yelled. "Hurry!" and then the screaming stopped.

"Sir she's gone." A woman said slowly.

"Gone? What the hell?" The doctor gasped.

"Hi...kari." My mother's voice said.

"She's back!"

Ok so my mother went to the dark ocean...? Why was this an important factor in my life? I mean... I didn't need to know that—she seemed perfectly happy now though... and as long as she's happy now...

But maybe none of this was real at all... maybe this was all just Apocalymon trying to make me sad... depressed—to trap me in the dark ocean... but I knew it was real... it just had to be.

"Take your pick..." A raspy voice said slowly.

"I don't understand!" My mother's voice filled in.

"Pick between light and dark. Will your child be a beacon of light to guide you through this dark? Or will she be your anchor keeping you here... always?" The raspy voice said as my mother and a Divermon faded into existence. Two doors behind Divermon stood tall, one was pink and white with the symbol of my crest on it... light. And the other was Black door with a simple black circle on it... the symbol for darkness?

"I pick the light!" My mother said. I noticed she was wearing her hospital gown... this was her trip to the dark ocean... "The light. The light! Hikari. Hikari! Hi...kari."

And then she was gone, pushing her way through the large white door.

"Congratulations on choosing the crest of light." Divermon said monotonously.

A large golden clock appeared on the wall and began spinning like mad... I took that to mean that time was passing. And when finally the clock faded my mother's friend with black hair faded in.

"You have the choice between darkness and light." The Divermon said simply. "But light's already been taken. So really you don't have a wide variety."

"What are you talking about?" The woman asked.

"See this door of light? It's locked forever now. It's been taken already. You have to choose the door to darkness." Divermon said. "It just means that your lovely daughter will be less... happy than the other children. But she'll always be healthy... nothing can harm her unless it's darker than herself."

"Nothing can harm her? N...nothing at all?"

"No—not exactly... she can be harmed—but only by a force darker than—" Divermon started.

Without another word the woman stepped forward and pulled open the door to the darkness.

"Congratulations on choosing the crest of darkness for your child."

I froze... crest? There were more crests we didn't know about? I guess it made sense that all the crests in the world didn't just gather around me and my close friends. But at the same time... a crest of darkness out there? And who possessed that crest? Who was the child of darkness? For some reason I needed to find out... I needed to know so badly... I turned on the spot and looked toward the glowing darkness.

That was where I needed to go to find out... I knew it.

I took one step toward it and was suddenly standing right in front of it. I looked up and saw that there was a door in front of me. The same one that was in my vision just a moment ago. I noticed that the door was already open a crack, and so I just pushed on it. The door was a lot lighter than it looked. I stepped through and turned around closing the door behind me.

I looked to my feet and groaned. Sand.

Taichi:

"Dinner's ready," mom called from the kitchen, before coming out into the dining room carrying a tray of succulent lamb chops to place on the table along with the creamy mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.

"It looks delicious mom," I said happily piling food onto my plate.

"Now Taichi," she said somewhat sternly. "You know you can't eat before everyone's at the table."

"Do I know that?" I asked.

"Yes," Sora said, and suddenly, I did know that.

"Right, of course, sorry. It slipped my mind," I said sheepishly.

"That's alright," Sora said. "Mrs. Yagami, where will I sit?"

"In the extra chair," I suggested, looking for what I knew should be there, a fourth chair, and seeing nothing in its usual place. "Huh, that's weird. I could have sworn there were four…"

"It's no trouble. Taichi, go and get her a chair," my father told me. I nodded and went to search for a chair, only I came up empty handed. I was sure there had to be at least four chairs…

"I could only find a stool," I said lamely coming back to my food. It still looked delicious…and that made me feel nervous. I couldn't explain it. Something was wrong with the food. But as we sat down to eat, I could find nothing wrong, and it made me more and more anxious the more I ate. Something had to be wrong, didn't it? I couldn't remember why, but there was going to be something bad about it. There simply had to be…

"Are you ready for dessert?" mom asked with a large smile. "It's a two layer chocolate cake with chocolate fondant and pink roses in honour of the beauty of young love."

"Oh, it sounds entirely perfect," Sora gushed, looking at me in a strange way that made me want to gush over the stupid cake too. We ate the cake in silence just like the meal, until something in the corner of my eye made me stop. It seemed like a hole opened up in the ceiling, allowing a small, green and purple ball to fall through?

"What was that?" I asked standing quickly.

"There was nothing there," Sora said simply.

"Oh, okay," I said sitting back down. "Just a trick of the light I guess…"

"Taichi, don't believe her," the ball said, hoping over to me. But I seemed to be the only one that could see it. "It's me, Nyaromon."

"Do I know a Nyaromon, Sora?" I asked in what I hoped was a casual voice.

"No," she said smiling softly. "You don't."

"Okay," I said. So this thing wasn't real. Got it. "Are you sure there aren't normally four chairs?"

"There are only three Taichi," Sora said firmly.

"We should get another one then," I said still confused.

"The fourth chair is for Hikari," Nyaromon said. "Where is her chair?"

"Do I know a Hikari?" I asked again.

"No," Sora said, only this time her voice was harsher, and she gripped her fork tighter. "I don't see why you are asking so many questions, Taichi."

"I need to rebuild my memory," I said with a shrug. "To pick reality from the mess from while I was out cold."

"Good," she said back to her normal calm self. "You should separate it."

"I will," I said looking at her strangely. But her eyes made me feel all warm and fuzzy again, so I didn't question her like I had thought to. It didn't matter after all.

"Taichi, why are you eating that cake?" Nyaromon asked me. "Your mom made it."

"Is mom a bad cook?" I asked her, only to have three sets of eyes turn on me.

"You tell me," mom asked me simply, with an amused smile.

"I don't think so," I said, taking another bite of cake.

"Usually," Nyaromon said though. "She tried making a celery cake, Hikari said."

There was that Hikari again… I wondered who she was.

"Taichi, why are you looking at the corner?" Sora asked me.

"Sorry, I was just distracted," I lied.

"Don't look in the corner Taichi," Sora told me. "She doesn't exist."

"Wait, how do you know…" I trailed off as her eyes were turned on me.

"How do I know what, baby?"

"I—I don't know, I can't remember," I said.

"Alright," she said, sending a glare to the corner where my imaginary cat-head was sitting.

"I do too exist!" she insisted.

"No you don't," Sora told her. "You must go back now."

"Back where?" I asked only to be ignored.

"No! Taichi needs to help me, Hikari could be in trouble," Nyaromon shouted back.

"Who is Hikari?" I asked again expecting to be ignored this time.

"You. Will. Go. Back. Now," Sora said raising her hand in the cat-head's direction. A gust of wind appeared, and the cat-head rolled into a large shadowy hole.

"Where did she go?" I asked Sora.

"Oh, Taichi, she just went home," she said sweetly. And she was right of course. Where else would Nyaromon go? It seemed like a ridiculous question now.

"Yes," I agreed. "Are you sure I don't know any Hikari, though? The cat seemed persistent."

"She was a figure of your imagination, baby," Sora said staring into my eyes. For a small moment the small conversation that had just taken sense contradicted that statement, until I realized she was absolutely right. There was no cat named Nyaromon. That was a dumb name for a cat anyway.

"And I don't know any Hikari?"

"No, Taichi, of course you don't," she said waving her hand. "Now eat your cake."

"Alright," I said, finishing off my cake, trying to figure out what was so fishy about my beautiful, perfect girlfriend, only to succumb to the power of her eyes seconds later, as if she knew what I was thinking and had to correct it…

But her eyes seemed to fix everything, and I didn't care for much longer.

Hikari:

I had been walking in the sand for a while, after trying to open the door again, but I couldn't. It was shut for good now. The sand was cold and damp, the air was cool and crisp and the breeze that was blowing over me was beyond spine chilling.

I kept thinking back to those memories... and how they all seemed meaningless... maybe they were. Maybe they were to distract me and keep me there—in the dark of the cave forever... like the Sovereign had said? But I felt like there was more than that... who was the little girl whose mother chose the crest of darkness? Of course—she didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter, but she still chose the darkness. My mother knew this woman... and I felt like I should know the girl. Who was she?

"You're back?" A voice asked slowly. I clenched my fist, ready to punch the Divermon I knew was standing behind me. "Should I call for Dragomon?" He asked. I could tell he was smiling.

I turned around slowly, letting my anger out and stared at him. "What do you want me for?" I asked, "I mean... I don't want to stay here with you. I don't plan on being here forever so just let me be! "

"I can't do that miss..." Divermon said, "But on the bright side—geddit? Bright side? We're in the dark ocean, hahaha!" his laugh was like a cold bark. "Anyway... the bright side is that we will make your stay wonderful. You will have our children and then you will be happy and you will raise them to be like you. You will raise them to hold onto the light so we can get out of this world."

I wanted to slap him, but I sort of felt bad for them... all they wanted was to get out of this world...?

"Why me?"

"Because you're the child of light!" The creature smiled. "You were chosen as the child of light because of your mothers trips to the dark ocean while she was pregnant with you."

"Yes that's what I've gathered..." I said, "From the memory cave thing."

"Memory cave?" Divermon asked, then he waved his hand in passing, "You were chosen to have our children by your own mother! Isn't that lovely of her?"

I actually did slap him this time. And then I spun on the spot and started walking up a sand hill, but when I looked to the top I noticed someone else was standing there—at least this one was human.

"Hello?" I said as I reached the top and stood beside her. She was wearing a long, dark cloak.

She looked toward me and pulled down her hood all in one fluid motion. I knew instantly that she was the little girl in the visions. "My name is Kurayami." She said. Her eyes were just black circles surrounded by an ocean of white. Her hair was wavy and reached down past her waist. It was messy but she didn't seem to mind at all. Her bangs were all pulled to one side and she had a dark coloured clip to keep it there.

"Hikari." I said slowly.

"Child of light?"

I nodded.

"Cool." She said, "Your mom was smart... choosing the path of light for you." Kurayami didn't even try to pretend like she didn't know about me and my mother...

"Your mother chose darkness..." I said slowly, "You are the child of darkness."

"I don't like to put it that way..." Kurayami said. "But yes. Yes I am." There was a long silence as the two of us stared out at the water, but then Kurayami continued talking. "I was told once by a man named Gennai that there could be some good found in the darkness... but I never allowed him to finish. I sort of wish I had."

I wasn't sure how to put my thoughts to words—but she didn't seem like a totally awful human being... in fact I sort of liked her presence... so she couldn't be all bad... I looked to her and smiled, "There's good found everywhere. You'll have to find it yourself though."

"Easy for you to say... you have the crest of light." Kurayami said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a crest and tag. Look at this." She thrust it into my arms. Her crest was a simple black circle on a deep grey background. "Where do you see the light? The good?"

I placed my hand on her shoulder and sighed, "Kurayami—"

"That's enough." She said, "Right there... Kurayami... it means "Girl of Darkness"..."

"No... well yes. It does. But my name is Hikari. It means light... and look where I am now. In the dark ocean." I said laughing a little, "Just because your name means darkness doesn't mean that you're going to be trapped in darkness for your whole life. You have to look around you. It's like your eyes. You may be the darkness, but all around you is light—goodness. You just have to join them."

"But I'll always be darkness." Kurayami said.

"Well... yes you will." I said slowly, looking away, "but that doesn't mean that you will be evil." I didn't have anything else to tell her, and I felt like I was already doing a terrible job in making her feel better... I didn't know how to make darkness good. But if Gennai knew there was something there—then there was. "Think about that." I smiled at her, "But I have to get going... I need to find my way back to my friends."

"Try that way." She said staring at the ground, pointing her pale fingers toward the water.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, "Trust me..." She then turned and walked back down the hill the way I had come.

"Alright... I will." I said. I turned and walked down the hill the other way, toward the dark waters. I didn't want to trust her—this was not exactly where I wanted to spend my time here... I usually tried to keep away from the water, but there was no choice now. If she said I had to come here... then that's where I had to go.

As I grew nearer to the water Divermon began to appear in the edge of the water. I was more scared then I had ever been... they were waiting for me... but I had to go. That's where Kurayami said to go—and even though she was the child of darkness... I had to give her some credit... at least a little.

As I came into earshot of the Divermon I could hear that they were all mumbling about my return to them... I grew slightly frustrated that they thought I came here on purpose... again. Why would I purposely put myself through all of this again and again?

I remembered my first time here... and how I had called for help... and finally I had gotten help from a close friend... and then last time how I had tried to pretend like I didn't need anyone else... but I still did. I knew that even though I was getting older and stronger that I couldn't just do everything on my own. I still needed Takeru... and Daisuke—and maybe even... no—I needed Willis, Miyako, and Sora, Mimi and the others... except Taichi.

I stopped walking when I came within five feet of the water. "Why am I here?" I asked loudly and confidently.

"Because you chose to live with us." A Divermon said.

I rolled my eyes. "Did you send the black light? The one that brought me here?" They shook their heads. "Then who did?"

"I don't know miss! Calm down!" A Divermon said. "Let's just call master Dragomon?"

"No!" I said loudly, for some reason finding myself unable to calm down... just when I thought I had a pretty good hold on myself too—I was doing so well... and now I here I was, once again, in the dark ocean, panicking... I needed help... I couldn't be here much longer—I needed out.

I tried to turn on the spot but many Divermon grabbed a hold of my legs and arms as one stood in the water and turned to the endless darkness.

"Lord Dragomon rise!" He called out.

As the surface of the water broke I screamed loudly, trying to pull myself free of the Divermon. Slowly the creature emerged from the waters, once again bringing long strands of seaweed and clumps of mud with him. And once Dragomon was fully out of the water he turned his head toward me and started walking.

"Takeru!" I called out instinctively. "Gatomon! TAICHI!"

Taichi:

"TAICHI!"

The scream broke me out of the trance I was in. What exactly was Sora doing at my dinner table? Where was Hikari…

Hikari!

She was the one who called out for me. But where was she. Was she falling out of another window? I jumped to my feet and ran towards our father's office—it was her go-to spot now that Sora and I were dating—only to find a room specifically tailored for crafts. My mother didn't even do crafts…

"Why did you run to my craft room?"

I turned around coming face-to-face with Sora.

"Why the hell do you have a craft room in my house?" I asked her confused. It seemed like Sora was a permanent fixture in my life now… It was strange to say the least, seeing as Hikari and my mother didn't really approve of our relationship as a whole. Why would my mom want Sora around all the time?

"Taichi," she said in a soft yet commanding voice. "We do not question things, it is wrong to do so. Don't you agree?"

"Yes…wait, no," I said. Her eyes were hypnotic, I reminded myself. I couldn't look into them without feeling the world fade around me. This was wrong, not the questions.

TAICHI the voice echoed in my mind. I had to get to her. But she didn't exist. Yet…if she didn't exist, how could I hear her…

"Mom," I called. "Where's Hikari?"

"Who is Hikari?" my father asked. "It's a strange name, I think. Is it a friend of yours?"

"She's my sister," I insisted. "Mom, where is she?"

"You don't have a sister," my father replied with a scoff.

"Mom," I said slowly. Why wouldn't she answer? Why was my father talking for her?

"Taichi," my father warned.

"Mom," I said firmly, nearly demanding. "I need to know where she is. She's in trouble. She needs my help. She needs me."

My mom finally turned to look at me, but unlike before, I was met only by a vacant stare. It was like a puppet, a fake. This wasn't my mom. My mom's eyes were always full of life and warmth, even when she was sad you could see the love she held for us in them. Even when we fought about Sora, and when I'd bring Hikari outside when she was sick even though I knew she couldn't handle it…

"You're not my mom," I accused her.

"Taichi!" my father yelled. I turned to look at him. He wasn't my dad either. He was a much livelier copy than my mother was, it's true, but he was commanding, demanding, controlling… my father wasn't like that. He had rules, yes, and sometimes he drank too much, but he'd gotten a lot better after our first trip to the digital world. He didn't have anger issues, or anything. This was not him. He didn't yell at us, well…unless we deserved it…and he never treated mom like a lesser being. He felt she was superior to him in every way. She was the apple of his eye, the reason for his heart to keep beating… Everything Sora wasn't to me… Hmm… I'd have to think that through later… Hikari needed me.

Where was she?

"You're not my father," I told him firmly. "And I don't appreciate you pretending to be him. You're doing it all wrong anyway. And you," I said turning to Sora. "You're manipulating me, making me think things that aren't true. You know where Hikari is. Where is she? Sora, tell me."

"I've told you not to ask questions!" she shrieked. Her auburn eyes flared in anger. I couldn't pinpoint exact details that could make her be a fake as well, and that terrified me. She'd been my best friend for years, before Yamato even—even if he and I weren't friends at the moment…

"You want to stay here," she told me, regaining control. Her voice was thick, like honey, and just as sickeningly sweet. "You love me. You want to be with me. You never want to leave me."

I refused to look into her eyes, but even still, her voice was starting to sway me.

TAICHI!

Right. I had to remember Hikari. She needed me. Sora didn't matter as much. And she was really starting to freak me out. Had she always been so… all-consuming?

"You'll listen to me, sweetheart, won't you? You know you want to," she continued. "You love me, and I love you too. We were meant to be together. You know that, I know that. Let's show everyone else how true it can be…"

Her voice was nearly a purr as she came to the end of her little speech. She placed each hand delicately on my shoulders, and came down for a kiss. And I may have sort of panicked. She was really making my skin crawl. She was insane, and she wanted to kiss me! I think I was quite justified in my next actions. I raised my arms, hands clenched into fists, and knocked her arms off of me. Then I sort of…tackled her away from me. She hit the floor with a soft thud, and I was running. I headed to my bedroom, the only room I thought I could be safe in. My fake mother and father were trying to stop me from getting through, but my years of soccer finally came in handy, and I was able to weave my way around them with little difficulty.

When I reached my room, I slammed the door shut, and locked the door. I heaved my dresser in front of it, to block it, before adding my garbage can and my desk chair to the blockade for good measure. One look out the window however proved there to be no escape. There was absolutely nothing passed the glass and the drapes. It was nothing but darkness. The same darkness I'd fallen into when that hole had opened up beneath me.

So if I was here, in this endless darkness, where was Hikari? Did she fall into the ground too, or was she still in the digital world…? Either way, she was in danger.

"Taichi, your sister does not matter," Sora was saying. Her voice was no longer like melted honey, it was getting desperate. She was losing her control. She was getting angry, mad. "All you need is me, don't you remember? We are so good together."

"You chose Yamato over me," I reminded her, remembering with perfect clarity the moment I walked off and left the two of them alone. We'd broke up, or were breaking up… I wasn't exactly sure, but I knew there was something about Yamato…the reason our friendship broke completely.

"No, I didn't. Yamato doesn't exist. I love you, we can't be apart," she told me. Her voice was pleading now. It actually made me feel sick. She was so desperate, it was unsettling. "Let me in, Taichi. Nothing can happen when we're together. Everything is perfect."

"Just leave me alone!" I shouted at her. Her persistence was kind of frightening. "Go back to your house, and leave me and my family alone."

"You don't have a family," she told me, her grasp on sanity was slipping. "It's just you and me, and your puppet parents that I provided. You can't leave me. I won't let you."

The door started shaking, my garbage can rolled off of my dresser. The chair seemed to splinter into nothing but bits of wood. But it was the dresser that scared me the most. The drawers were flung across the room, scattering clothing from one end of the room to the other. The rest of the dresser just sort of exploded. As if it were an everyday occurrence, the door also melted, and in walked Sora. Her usual reddish-brown eyes were now blood red, and narrowed in my direction.

"You. Belong. With. Me," she said, glaring at me, daring me to say any different.

"I belong with my family," I told her, backing against the wall.

"Didn't you hear me? You. Have. No. Family!"

"I do so," I shouted. "I have mom and Hikari and my father. You aren't supposed to be here. We aren't supposed to be here. We're needed in the digital world. Don't you remember Sora?"

"No, Taichi," she said, her voice now nothing but cold. Shivers ran down my spine. I'd never noticed just how scary Sora could be. "You stay here."

"No," I shouted, sounding much braver than I felt. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" she asked sending a death-glare my way. The desk blew up at that moment, when she clenched her fists. The room was a mess, but it wasn't even my room, I realized. Hikari's bed and dresser were missing—which was good actually, you know, so Sora had less ammunition. Her small filing cabinet and stack of scrapbooks were missing, along with all of her camera equipment. It was kind of empty. I didn't like it…

"My little sister needs me," I told her finally. I pulled myself up to my full height, which was taller than Sora, and planted my feet firmly. "And I'm going to find her."

"You can't," Sora said with a smirk, stepping lithely towards me.

"And why is that?" I asked with as much defiance as I could muster. It didn't help that I was actually terrified. I was trying to act my way through this. I couldn't for the life of me remember when Sora started being a demon though…

"She's in the Dark Ocean," she said with a wicked smile that chilled me to the bone. "She's being well taken care of. There's no need to worry."

"The D-dark O-ocean?"

"Yes, you see, she doesn't need you," she purred, wrapping herself around me. "She has Dragomon taking care of her, she loves him. Just like you love me."

That's what did it, really, snapped me out of it I mean. Because I'd realized that I didn't love Sora. I loved my family, and I needed them, and I thought I felt the same about her, but I didn't. I didn't need her. I didn't feel the same draw as I did to my family.

TAICHI!

Right… Hikari needed help, and she was in the Dark Ocean, all alone, and she was scared. Terrified, judging by her scream. And she needed me. She called me, even though I'd been ignoring her, even though I'd acted like I hated her. She'd been interfering, I thought, trying to keep me and Sora apart. But she'd been watching out for me like I should have been her…

Without another thought, I turned towards the window.

"Taichi, don't leave me baby, we need to be together," Sora commanded. But I ignored her voice, just as I ignored the way she dug her fingers into my arm, trying to hold me back.

"Taichi! You can't go, I won't let you, I need you, stay with me, I don't want you to go," Sora whined. She broke into tears, but her voice sounded false. It was an act, I reminded myself, and I pulled open the window.

"You know, Hikari almost fell out of this window once. She could have broke her neck," I murmured. And then I jumped out of it. I escaped the house. The darkness, I thought, would be the closest I could get to the Dark Ocean and just maybe, I'd be able to get there through the darkness…

But everything changed, when a bright light engulfed me.

"NO!" I screamed. I had to find Hikari. A bright white light was about as far from the Dark Ocean as I could get!

"Taichi?" Sora asked.

I admit it, I screamed at the sound of her voice. I looked up and found I was now in a meadow with the relentless demon-girl.

"Get away from me!" I told her as I scrambled to my feet.

"What's wrong Taichi?" she asked cautiously. Trying to lure me into a false sense of security I thought.

"You know what's wrong. I just told you before I jumped out that window," I told her narrowing my eyes to a glare. "You're really freaking me out demon-girl-who-is-not-really-Sora."

"But I am Sora," she said gently, a strange understanding flashing in her eyes. "And this is Yamato, remember him?"

Yamato? I looked to her left, and sure enough, holding her hand, was my ex-best friend. Sora had been so insistent that he and Hikari had never existed… Wait a minute… Holding her hand? Then this couldn't be my crazy stalker Sora, this had to be the real deal… I supposed anyway.

"If you two are here, what about Takeru," I asked suddenly, a plan formulating in my mind.

"He's right over there," Yamato said warily, eyeing me like I was about to blow any second. I supposed he was waiting for a jealous rage or something. He was going to be disappointed. There wasn't one coming. Hikari was in trouble.

"Thanks, good luck with the she-demon," I told him and ran off in the direction he'd gestured. I saw him waiting at the foot of some giant digimon I didn't have the time to identify, in between Koushiro and Mimi, with Jou right next to him. There were other digimon out passed them in the field, and I was pleased to see Nyaromon was with them. That meant demon-Sora had actually told me the truth for once… but I couldn't let that distract me. "Takeru!"

"What? Taichi! You're back," he said happily. I ran up to him though, and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him up to eye level.

"What are you doing?" Yamato yelled angrily. But I ignored him.

"How do you get to the Dark Ocean?" I asked Takeru, staring deep into his eyes, trying to relay the seriousness of the matter.

"I-I don't know," he said quietly.

"You've been there, haven't you? How did you get there?" I asked again.

"H-hikari called to me, she appeared, she brought me there," he explained. There must have been some sort of wildness in my eyes, because he actually looked frightened. It was kind of off-putting to see that look on someone else's face. It had been on my own for so long now…

"Damn it!" I shouted dropping him. He managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground. I ran my fingers through my hair, grabbing fistfuls of it and pulling.

"What's wrong with you?" Yamato demanded grabbing me by the arms roughly. If he thought he was scary then he'd have to think again. After my demon-Sora, none of my friends could really scare me.

"Hikari is in the Dark Ocean, and she needs my help," I told him begrudgingly.

"Did your nightmare vision thing tell you this?" he questioned.

"Nightmare? Is that what that was?" I asked, suddenly remembering Apocolymon's warnings… he said I'd have to overcome my fear, but I hadn't… did I really complete it?

"Yeah, so there's no need to worry," he told me simply.

"Hikari didn't exist in my last… experience, and neither did you. But I heard her, and she was terrified and she wanted my help. Sora told me that she was with Dragomon, that they loved each other or some such nonsense, and I'm not waiting here for news when I know where she is and what's wrong. Now," I said. "I need to know how to get into the Dark Ocean!"

"I've been there," Sora admitted. "It was scary. I was there when I felt hopeless, lonely, unloved."

"Ken's been there," Takeru added. "And Miyako went with Hikari once…"

"Neither of them are here," I pointed out, feeling desperate now.

"I went too, I was all alone, I didn't want to be alone anymore, Gabumon saved me," Yamato admitted.

"Jou, Mimi, Koushiro? Do you have a trip you'd like to tell me about too?" I asked losing patience. They were telling me I had to be depressed to get there, or have Hikari come and get me. Well, if Hikari could come and get me, she wouldn't in so much trouble, would she? She'd be able to escape the ocean long enough to collect me…

"No," they said together.

"Damn," I said. "Hikari. Hikari! HIKARI!"

"Taichi what are you doing?" Yamato yelled.

"HIKARI!" I shouted again. "HIKARI, I'LL HELP YOU! JUST TELL ME HOW!"

"He's lost his mind," Yamato said to Sora.

"TAICHI!"

"Hikari?" Takeru gasped.

"HIKARI, I'M HERE!"

"HELP ME," she called back. And suddenly a glow appeared in front of me. I'd say it was almost beautiful, if it didn't have this whole depressing colourless feel to it. But I didn't stop to think about it. I just ran. My little sister, my baby sister, was in there and needed my help, and I was going to do everything I could to help her.

Hikari:

I stopped struggling as soon as I had called for Taichi. Why would I ever expect him to help me? There was nothing in his mind that still thought of me as someone who needed him. He only ever thought about Sora and I wasn't Sora... I thought back to the last time Taichi had helped me... when I had fallen out of that window—almost... fell out of that window.

"Stupid Taichi..." I said aloud.

"Taichi?" Dragomon grumbled, his deep voice almost too rough to understand. "Your brother? Do you miss him?"

"Shut up." I said flatly, pulling myself out of my own personality. As if I was giving the opposite of light then perhaps I could get them to let me be? Maybe they'd let me go! But I knew it was a long shot. They knew who I was. I needed help... Kurayami was gone, and I barely knew her—I couldn't trust her enough yet. "Let go of me." I hissed down to the Divermon.

"Uh—sorry miss, can't do that."

"Sorry!"

"Very sorry."

"You miss your brother?" Dragomon asked again.

"I hate him. I hate him." I hissed.

"Hate is a strong word girl." Dragomon said, "If you'd like I could crush him... destroy him—"

"NO!" I yelled.

"You don't hate him then, do you?" Dragomon asked, lifting his hand out of the water.

"Yes. I do!" I explained, "But it's not right to just crush everyone who you dislike."

Dragomon held open his hand and I gasped. Taichi was standing there looking angry and confused. I knew he wasn't really there—because as thick as he was, even he wasn't stupid enough not to have a reaction when he was pulled into a world full of darkness and despair.

"No one's gonna come get you." A Divermon mocked.

"You're stuck here with us!" Another one chimed in.

A third one climbed up my body and looked me in the eye, "Here with us. Here with me." I looked away, unable to move any part of my body to get him off of me.

I knew they were right though... I was stuck here all alone—well of course I had the Divermon... but... ew.

"You see this boy?" Dragomon asked. "This is your brother. He is upset."

"Don't hurt him." I insisted.

"I won't." Dragomon said in his grumbling voice. And then very clearly he added, "Yet." My heart skipped a beat at the menacing way he finished his sentence. Taichi may have been an awful brother and an even worse friend... but there was no way I could allow him to be destroyed.

"Hikari..." Dragomon said slowly, "if you promise to stay here forever... then I will not do any harm to your brother. But if you choose to fight us I will kill him."

"And then what?" I asked, trying to keep a straight, calm face while I was truly panicking inside. "After you kill him what do you expect I'll do? Just suddenly love you?"

"If you don't join me after his death, then I will kill another of your friends... and then another and another... and another." Every time he said the word one more image of my friends showed up. First Mimi and Jou, and then Sora, Yamato, and Koushiro, and then Miyako, Ken, and Iori, and then finally Willis, Daisuke and Takeru. He suddenly clenched his fist causing all of the images to disperse into thin air.

"I..." I didn't know what to say. I couldn't join them, but I couldn't let my friends die!

"Don't let us die Hikari." Mimi's voice said. I looked up and saw that Mimi was standing very still by the water's edge. "Join them..."

"Mimi's right." Koushiro said monotonously. I spun around and saw him standing behind me. Then I realized I could move! Where had the Divermon gone? "If we die because of you, you'll never forgive yourself."

"Join them Hikari. Join them quietly." It was Yamato and Jou this time.

"Join them Hikari. Join them." Soon all of my friends were standing around me, slowly walking toward me, repeating the same words in somewhat of a chant. "Join them Hikari. Join them. Join them Hikari. Join them."

Suddenly they all froze. "Listen to them Hikari..." Slowly Sora and Miyako parted to show me Dragomon and the water. At the edge of the water stood Taichi, he was coming toward me. "You know it's the right thing to do. Hikari... Join them." Soon he was standing between Sora and Miyako who both suddenly melted into more Taichi's. And then as if in a domino effect all of my friends turned into Taichi.

They all reached forward and grabbed at me. "Stop! Taichi! Taichi! TAICHI, HELP ME!" I struggled, and tried to push the many forms of my brother off of me, but they were all stronger than me, so I just fell to my knees and closed my eyes, trying to stop myself from crying.

"Join them! Join them! JOIN THEM!" They were all yelling. Suddenly the chanting seemed to stop and I looked up. All the Taichi's were standing in a group facing one other Taichi.

I was beyond confused as he stepped forward and punched the one of the other Taichi's in the face. Soon there was an all out battle going on in front of me and I covered my face in my hands... this was too much... I heard Dragomon mumble something under his breath and I looked up as the rebel Taichi punched the last Taichi who faded into nothingness.

He turned toward me, his eyes still filled with a strange fierceness. He started walking toward me and I backed up a little. As he got closer my heart beat faster and faster... I was so scared and then he reached out to touch me and I growled.

"Don't touch me!" But he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. I screamed and tried to push him away, but then he spoke.

"I'm so... so sorry Hikari..."

This was his voice. That was Taichi! And I couldn't help myself... I broke down into tears. "Taichi!" I cried out hugging him back.

Suddenly Dragomon let out a loud and deafening roar that caused both Taichi and I to release each other and turn toward him. Dragomon, not one of many words, swung his large wet hand toward us.

Taichi grabbed my hand and jumped out of the way. "I'll get you out of here Hikari... I'll keep you safe."

I wiped the tears off of my face and smiled at him, not quite sure what to say to him. "How did you even get here—"

"That doesn't matter Hikari—it won't help us get out of here... we need—"

"I know!" I said suddenly, "Follow me!" I said jumping to my feet, "The doors...there was that— "

Taichi suddenly pushed me hard and I fell to the ground just as Dragomon's arm came crashing down between us and then Dragomon flicked his wrist toward Taichi.

"TAICHI!" I screamed as the hand pulled away. Taichi was on the ground, he looked hurt.

I jumped to my feet and ran toward him, but he was already pulling himself off of the ground. He looked toward me and smiled, "I'll be alright Hikari."

He took my hand and said, "Now which way to these doors?"

I pointed the way I had come and he nodded, "Let's go then."

"Where are you going?" the voice of Takeru asked from behind us.

"Don't look." Taichi demanded. "Whatever you do Hikari... don't look at it."

I nodded as Taichi pulled and started running up the sandy hill that I had talked to Kurayami on. I made a mental note to tell Taichi about her—but now wasn't the most ideal time for exchanging stories.

As we ran I heard the voices of my friends calling out to me, asking me to stay, to remain by their sides... and every single time one of them spoke my stomach churned and my heart ached, but I just replayed Taichi's warning in my head... "don't look."

Soon enough Taichi made a triumphant "aha!" and I looked ahead. There was the large door that I had come through. It was open wide, and I suddenly I remembered how the door would not open for me... Someone else had gone through. Kurayami?

Taichi lead me to the door and he stared at it. "This is the most gigantic door—"

"Not the time Taichi..." I said pulling him through. "Come on—" Once the two of us were through he began running the opposite direction, but I stopped and turned toward the door. How was Kurayami able to open it? Was it because she was the child of darkness? Suddenly I had the strange impulse to close the door.

"Hikari, hurry!" Taichi yelled from a little ways down the cave.

"I'll be right there..." I said slowly, stepping forward and reaching out, back into the ocean for the door. I started to pull it shut when a slimy black hand grabbed my wrist. I screamed and pulled back so hard that I fell over. The door was still wide open.

"Hikari..." The Divermon said, slowly creeping into the cave. "Don't go..."

He reached toward me just as someone touched my shoulder. I screamed as the two hands touched me and closed my eyes. A mangled yelp of the Divermon filled the air and when I opened my eyes he was backing out of the cave.

"What happened?" I asked, spinning around and seeing Taichi standing behind me, his hand on my shoulder.

"You—"

"Hikari..." The low voice of Dragomon said from just outside the cave. "Don't go—"

"Taichi the door." I said quickly.

"No time." He said, "Come on." He grabbed my arm and pulled.

"It has to be closed!" I yelled.

"Hikari just come!" He continued pulling me toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Suddenly explosions occurred all throughout the cave, the walls were opening up and a strange black goop was pouring out into the cave.

We kept running until we reached the door and Taichi tried to open it. "It won't work!" He cried, "it's locked!"

I shoved him out of the way and grabbed the large golden door handle and pulled. The door swung open easily. So it was only me who could open this door? Which means that last door really was opened by Kurayami... in which case she was stuck in this cave.

Taichi pulled me through the door and started to close it.

"Don't!" I yelled, "Leave it open!"

"But you wanted the last door closed so badly..." Taichi said.

"Leave it." I said.

Taichi released the door and suddenly it began to fade. As it was doing so Dragomon roared loudly and the door shook violently. "I'm not done with you just yet Hikari... You wait and see!" He roared one last time, but it faded out as the door did. I looked to Taichi and smiled.

"Hikari?" Takeru asked. I squealed a little as I spun around and saw him and Sora running toward us.

"Takeru!" I smiled as he hugged me and I threw my arms around his neck.

"You're ok?" He asked.

"Thanks to Taichi!" I smiled.

"Sounds like someone's got their courage back..." Sora said looking toward Taichi who flinched just at the eye contact. "Or not..."

"Good... job." Yamato, who had followed his brother over, said awkwardly.

Mimi, Jou and Koushiro swarmed us as well and soon Koromon and Nyaromon were bouncing around us excitedly. But then I turned to Taichi and he looked over his shoulder at me.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment and then suddenly he spun and hugged me again.

Next time on Digimon Adventure 03: We find out where Michael, Willis, Ken, Iori, Miyako and Daisuke were sent, and see just how difficult a seemingly simple task can become.