Author's note: Decided to insert a Taichi chapter due to an inspiration. This Taichi is the Taichi blessed with the Crest of Miracles from 'Digimon Adventure Zero Two: The Alternate Destiny'. How he ended up meeting Daigo and the aftermath. This chapter is also linked to my other side story 'Digimon Adventure: The Alternate Destiny - Boku ni Totte'

Digimon is not mine.

Side: Yagami Taichi

The very first thing in the morning, Yagami Taichi would do was to feel for his beating heart. He felt grateful, grateful to be well and alive.

Year 2000

He had a heart defect when he was young and had gone through a major operation. He thought he had got over the ordeal and even started to play soccer. Unfortunately, things did not turn out as he expected. Taichi suffered from relapse not long after his adventure in the Digital World. That time, he was informed that he needed a heart transplant in order to live on. Taichi was devastated even if he did not show it.

Yamato was a very good friend. He visited him often. Taichi's condition had been deteriorating as the day passed by, still, Yamato would be there whenever he needed him.

He could no longer get up on his feet and the interval he could stay awake was becoming shorter and he needed life support as his heart was no longer functioning optimally.

"It should be anytime this week." The doctor announced. Yagami Yuuko fell on her back to be caught by her husband. She broke down at the news. It was too fast.

"Unless we can find him a suitable heart, I'm sorry..."

Taichi was in an induced coma enabling him to rest. It was hard for him to even breathe properly to sleep.

That night, Yamato sat beside his bed after the visiting hours were over.

"Taichi, I'm so sorry." Taichi could see tears from Yamato's eyes when he barely managed to regain his consciousness.

"There's nothing to apologise for, Yamato." Taichi spoke up weakly.

"You're awake." Yamato was surprised as Taichi should be too weak to even wake up. Yamato held his hand. He could feel that he was trembling. Taichi's hand was cold in sweat.

"Yamato, I'm scared." He confessed in a weak voice through his oxygen mask.

"Taichi?"

"I thought I made peace with it after going through death over and over again." Taichi continued to talk.

"Taichi?"

"I wonder why this time. I'm scared that I can't wake up if I fall asleep." Taichi stared at Yamato blankly as he continued mumbling about his fear.

"I scared I'll die. I'm trapped." Taichi said in his muffled voice.

"Yagami Taichi!" Yamato shook his shoulder. Yamato was really afraid as much as he was afraid he would die. He did not know how he could help him.

"I dreamt of going through heart transplant, I'll recover, I'll go back to play soccer and go through the next adventure with you guys. Come to think of it, it'll never happen. I'm doomed to die over and over again."

"Yagami Taichi!" Yamato was pleading him to stop.

"It's just my wishful thinking. No matter which dimension I'm in, I'll still die. I ask for it. I'm cursed." Taichi began to cry. Yamato hugged him despite all the wires and tubes hooked on him. Taichi needed it.

"You are Yagami Taichi." Taichi's eyes widened when Yamato shook him as hard as he could to get him look him into his eyes holding him by his shoulder.

"Our Yagami Taichi. The Yagami Taichi we know never say die, he never stops, and he never gives up. You are that Yagami Taichi!"

"Yamato..." Taichi barely got back to his senses.

"Yes, you never say die, you never stop, and you never give up. Every one of us believes in you." Yamato grabbed him by his shoulder. He was never good with words, but he tried his best to communicate to him what he had in mind.

For the past few months Taichi was admitted to the hospital, Taichi had been fighting hard. He was always haunted by nightmares. He had shared with Yamato once about his personal adventure, about his wish to the crest, about the curse.

"Thank you, Yamato, for everything." Taichi smiled. It was his usual smile. That was the last time Taichi confided with him before his condition worsened to the extent that he could not even wake up. And the day came, when Taichi knew he would be lost to fate. The doctor urged Yamato and his parents to see him for one last time.

Taichi smiled. He was happy to see Yamato and his parents. They were his treasure. Maybe he would still see them again when he woke up after he fell back asleep when he would be given another go on his life.

Tears flowed down his cheek. Taichi tried really hard to stay awake but his body was no longer obeying him. The pain from his ailing heart was fading. His death this round would set a new record as this would be the first time he died at the age of 12.

"Taichi, don't fall asleep." Yamato tried to stop him from closing his eyes holding his hands and shook him.

Taichi was a little surprised when he found himself woke up well and alive. His hands trembled when his hand found his way to his chest. Taichi teared up when he could feel the beating of his heart. It was not his weak and irregular heart; he felt a lot of strength from the heart within him. That was when Taichi realized he managed to get a heart transplant in the nick of time.

"Taichi, are you in pain?" Yagami Yuuko was suit up with medical gown in order to keep her boy whose immune system had been compromised company. She noticed her son stirred and felt a sense of relief. Taichi placed his hand over his heart and she was worried if he was in a lot of pain.

"Kaasan…" His voice was muffled under the oxygen mask. Taichi was in happiness rather than pain. His eyes drooped after some time. He was still too weak and his body was still recovering and fighting any possible infection. Taichi mustered his strength to grab his mother's hand. He did not want to let go.

"It's alright, just go to sleep." Yuuko urged her son. She knew Taichi would be okay. He would be able to wake up despite his fear. Taichi eventually nodded and closed his eyes giving in to sleep. All he knew was his battle to live on was over.

Year 2005

Taichi himself was surprised when he was reunited with a mysterious old man with a clock-like Digimon by his side.

"You're dead. " The old man informed the boy who stared at him in horror. The old man pointed at a broken clock behind him.

"This cannot be." Taichi felt his head bursting from headaches trying to recall how he ended up here.

*Flashback*

Taichi shoved Yamato and Mochizuki Meiko away in the nick of time from an attack by Jesmon who was engaged in battle with Alphamon, Raguelmon and Omegamon.

Taichi urged Omegamon to rescue Yamato and Meiko. He was not the Taichi who needed to be saved and protected like a damsel in distress.

"Taichi!" Yamato yelled watching his friend running away from cracks from the ground. Of course, he was worried about him.

"Don't worry Yamato, I have the Crest of Miracles, I will not die." Taichi seemed to be very confident on his chance of survival with the possession of the crest until he found himself losing his balance falling off into a huge crack under his feet. No one was there for him.

*End Flashback*

Taichi's eyes widened in horror could not believe what was happening. He had the Crest of Miracles, he could not have died. This must be a sick joke.

"Because you're too full of yourself. Did you think you're invincible?" Old Clock Shop Man ruffled the boy's hair squatting to his sitting height. Taichi stared down on his hands.

"I'm too full of myself?" Taichi muttered still in shock. All his efforts had gone down in drain. Taichi tried to recall his journey to break his curse, how much emotion baggage he had carried to find a dimension with the Crest of Miracles, and he could finally live on. He questioned himself if this was still not the one?

"This is definitely the one if you're wondering, boy." The old man's partner Digimon spoke up. "We passed by and stopped your clock." He pointed to the clock with a pin. Half of the clock was missing. Should the seconds needle move to the part of the clock which was missing, he would disappear.

"It must not have been easy for you." The old man remarked. Taichi felt his emotions bubbling up. The old man was aware about what he had been through. Taichi kept his experience to himself. Other than Yamato, he did not tell anybody about the curse.

Since Taichi woke up from his heart transplant, he thought he had finally found a dimension he would live on peacefully with his friends.

"With the dimension travelling, you had done, multiple realities had been created." The old man shared with Taichi. "Have you wondered about those dimensions you had involved in, what happened to them? Taichi nodded quietly.

"There is nothing I can do to prevent my death. Their lives were theirs to live." Taichi knew his friends would have to suffer from the pain of losing him. "All the more, I have to live my life now to the fullest so that I would not have lived in vain but I still messed up." Taichi said with his face scrunched up in regret.

"Did you think your death is an accident?" The old man asked. Taichi shook his head resigning to his fate.

"There is a curse on me. Of course, I'll die. It's my fate. It's already a miracle, I'm alive until now." Taichi said punching his fist on the ground. His foolishness landed him into this state. He truly regretted it.

"What makes you think you'll die from a curse?" The old man said trying to hint Taichi about something. Taichi raised his head in confusion.

"There is a cause and effect to everything. Have you wondered why they come after your life?" The clock Digimon led Taichi on to think. They had something in mind and Taichi had to follow up on it.

"There is a place known as a Vault which you had not encountered here. Someone had destroyed it before the first batch of Chosen Children had their adventure in another dimension. It caused some repercussion." The old man said to the leader of the Chosen Children. He was curious if Taichi could really create a miracle once more since he specially granted him a dimension key rather than granting it to Daisuke in the timeline when he was not killed by Piemon.

"As a result, there is still a missing piece from your mission to survive." Taichi clenched his fist. His journey was not over. He would need to find the dimension with the Vault destroyed to complete his quest.

Taichi was jaded and tired from dimension travelling. He had gone through dying in many of the dimensions. It appeared that there were times that, he could never remember the curse as he traveled through the course of time until he found himself dying again. In these dimensions. he was not killed by Piemon and was able to live past his first adventure.

Taichi caught a glimpse of the power behind who had made an attempt on his life. He was shot by a sniper for trespassing the restricted area. The sniper was in a trance when he pulled the trigger. It only hit Taichi who saw his eyes when he felt the bullet tore through his chest embedding itself within his heart. He did not know better until Yamato sang him a song he actually recognized before his death at the age of 14.

"There is someone else." Taichi updated the old man who had been watching over him while he went on his quest to find the dimension with the missing puzzle.

"I got a feeling that those who had a hand to cause my death was controlled by someone but I'm unable to identify it." Taichi raised his arm a little which covered his eyes warily. He was thinking hard. That Yamato he encountered in his last travel was not the one Taichi from that dimension should know.

"It was the song he was going to sing for the debut of his band but the timing did not seem right." Taichi could not forget the tune when he overheard Yamato's singing while passing by the band room in their high school. Yamato sang it when he was dying in his arms when they were in their middle school year.

"Yamato attempted dimension travel." Taichi realized he found a clue. A dimension out of the norm. Taichi was pretty sure Koushirou was trying something new again. Koushirou shared with him his idea to find a way to open up the Digital Gate anywhere they were without a D-3. If it was Koushirou, he might succeed.

"Hohoho, you have a bunch of good friends who is trying to help you, it seems." The old man said brushing his beard.

"I'll like to try to find the dimension that Yamato came from. Maybe I can find the missing piece." Taichi finally found some hope.

"I'll uncover the truth and get a closure." Taichi decided not sharing the doubt he had when he saw a certain figure appearing around the sniper back then.

Taichi woke up in pain. This time, he wounded up in the dimension where he went through falling into the hole again. He was not dead apparently. Someone else protected him from harm.

Taichi looked at the figure in shock as he held up his phone with the flashlight on. The person smiled at him weakly.

"Nishijima-sensei?" Taichi called out. His teacher was covered with blood. Taichi felt nausea at the sight which reminded him how much pain his friends endured seeing him in that state for too many times to count.

His teacher was very glad that he was safe. Taichi gritted his teeth when he realized that Nishijima-sensei was a Chosen Child before his team. He remembered his adventure. Taichi realized he was in the dimension where the Vault was destroyed. He was getting closer.

Taichi was horrified to find Daisuke and his team being confined in the capsules in the other room. Daisuke at the dimension was safe in the Real World in his own dimension.

"Daisuke, everyone!" Taichi was shocked to see Daisuke, Ken, Miyako and Iori imprisoned in the capsules. It was a lab Yggdrasil held them captive. Daigo got himself to a chair with his remaining strength to activate the lab.

"He who fight monsters should be careful that he does not become a monster himself." Taichi could recognize the voice and Dark Gennai appeared before them.

"If you gaze long an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." The man flicked his finger to stop the life support system.

"If you want to save them, just send them to the Real World. But, as soon as you do that, this place will go boom. Your seats had been prepared thanks to the merciful Yggdrasil-sama. There was only one seat…" Dark Gennai was twisted. Taichi was pretty sure of that.

"Learn how helpless you humans are! Face it! None of you can do anything without Digimons!" To him, they were just clowns basking in reflected glory.

"Now show me you pathetic last struggling cries, Chosen brats!" Dark Gennai said with a twisted expression. "Take that human!" Gennai waved and sizzled off disappearing from their view. Taichi and Daigo watched helplessly.

Taichi had been through so much, he was not going to give up. He felt his heart beating in his chest. He was not hurt there; he was not going to die.

"There had got to be something! Has to be." Taichi took off to a seat across and typed away. Daigo stood up.

"Yagami!" Daigo called out.

"There has to be a way to save everyone!" Taichi tried to convince himself and the door to the capsules opened. Taichi ran in.

"Check the transfer device! If we can transport to the Real World, we might be able to communicate through it!" Daigo gave the instruction. Taichi was naïve enough to take the bait. It was an attempt for his teacher to dupe him into the capsule and save himself.

Taichi banged desperately on the glass panel. No one else should die for him. He was well aware that Daigo was dying from all the blood loss from his own experience of dying he had from the other dimensions. Taichi needed to save his teacher and he was unable to pay attention to what Daigo was saying.

"I'll pass it on to you. Our grown-up hope. No matter how hard reality is up ahead, don't ever give up. You guys go build the future. Dream big!"

"NOOOOOO!" The Crest of Miracles on his wrist glowed and engulfed Taichi.

"There's a world someone will die for me. I can't accept it." Taichi decided to save Daigo when he found himself arriving in the same location at the same point in time. He was glad that his crest activated. Taichi raised his flashlight and shined on Daigo who was covered in blood.

Daigo tried hard to trick him but he failed because Taichi knew. He pulled Daigo's arms over his shoulder, his expression, devoid of feeling.

"Did sensei think I'm going to leave you alone?" Taichi asked looking away and carried him carefully.

"Yagami, don't. You should go." Daigo retorted tugging the boy weakly begging him to let go of him.

"I'm not going to fall for this again." Taichi explained as he helped Daigo to the capsule and sat him in the seat and buckled him.

"Are you coming in with me?" Daigo gazed up to the boy.

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I can't go where you came from." Taichi pressed a button and retreated quickly as the door was heard shut airtight.

"Yagami… don't…" Taichi ignored Daigo's plea. He was not going to give in. He was going to maximise Daigo's chance of survival he was always deprived from. Besides, there could well be another Taichi in this dimension since he arrived here utilising the Crest of Miracles rather than resetting from his own death. The timer for the transfer had begun its countdown.

"This time I'm finally one-step ahead of you, Sensei. Sensei still have something to do until the end. You told me this before, the future will continue and become connected." Taichi felt his heart beating in his chest and realized he would die in a different manner.

As the countdown finally reached zero, he shut his eyes tight to embrace his doom.

"Sensei, dream big!"

Taichi opened his eyes abruptly. The monitor stated that the transfer was completed but the explosion did not occur as he expected. Taichi feeling relieved that he survived, stood up and turned around. He gasped in horror when Dark Gennai appeared before his face as he injected a needle to his neck.

"This should cause you to have a relapse." Taichi crumpled to the ground feeling pain on his chest. He felt he was having a cardiac arrest. He could only stare at Dark Gennai with gaped mouth. It seemed that he had another boy who was captured lying nearby against the wall unconscious. Taichi recognized the boy from somewhere.

"Ichijouji Osamu?" Taichi barely managed to call out the name that came to his mind. Although he had never met him in person, he knew he was the donor who saved him in his own dimension. He was the late brother of Ken. Taichi could not believe he would meet him here and he was in the same high school uniform as he did.

Memories of him, though vague, flashed by Taichi's mind suddenly, the boy was always around like the god of death when he was about to die of heart injuries such as the time he was shot by a sniper near Mt Fuji when he trespassed the restricted area. Taichi felt confused by his memories. He was the same person he had yet to meet in his dimension. Yet, he was the one who saved his life.

Taichi struggled to wriggle towards the boy despite being in pain. He wanted to be sure if he was not mistaken before he lost his consciousness and forced to reset. However, the sharp pain on his chest prevented him from doing so.

"Still trying to stay conscious, you're impressive." Taichi could barely hear Dark Gennai. That man was sick.

"Our merciful Yggdrasil-sama need your help after witnessing your feat in altering somebody's destiny." Dark Gennai said pulling Taichi's hair as he yelped in pain. Taichi struggled to catch his breath and forced his eyes open to glare at him. They had been waiting for him to finish his job before taking action.

Taichi was drifting in and out of consciousness when he sensed another figure approaching them. He wanted to see who that figure was. Dark Gennai released his grasp on Taichi's hair and Taichi found his face back on the cold ground. Taichi found it really hard to stay focus as the drug took over him.

"Shall we begin, Yggdrasil-sama." Taichi could vaguely hear the greeting before falling into oblivion.

The old clock shop man was a character from Xros Wars in case reader did not know. I have this setting whereby the old clock shop man deployed the leaders from various worlds traveled through time and dimensions to assist Daisuke to cover the void from Taichi's death. The boys met Daigo once and fed him with some information regarding his own death.