Well, I knew it would come to this sooner or later. I just didn't have time to write another chapter in the last month. (Yay, final exams and working retail during the holiday season…) But I will post the next chapter as promised. It would seem especially cruel to hold off, given that, like I said, this chapter is sort of like a part two to the last one. With any luck, maybe I'll have enough time during the break between semesters to write an extra chapter and get myself back where I was. Anyway…

Oh, and also! I know it's been a few chapters since I've mentioned introducing characters from other seasons… I've decided to use only the Tamers. (Including season four would make things just a little too convoluted, and I ended up not needing them when I got a little farther in the planning.) And you'll see the first of that in this chapter.

Thank you for reviewing chapter ten: ToastyToaster22, Sweet Cari, Guest, Guest, Guest, and Guest, MoonChildTM, and dnofsunshine! I can't believe we've almost hit the 50-review milestone already! You guys have been awesome, and your continued enthusiasm is fabulous!

Chapter Eleven: Commitment

The two exchanged a glance before taking the seats across the desk. To Yolei, Davis always seemed a little fearless. (Stupidly so, she would have said in the past.) But even up-for-anything Davis was looking nervous now. Hiroaki sat stiffly across from them, his hands clasped tightly on the desk. But when he finally began the story, it wasn't where either of them were expecting.

"Three years ago, when TK came back to us, he wasn't… well. Physically, he was unharmed. He was in remarkably good shape, actually, all things considered. But mentally, he… wasn't all there. The doctors could barely get a word out of him. He spent the first week in a daze. Which I guess isn't much of a surprise. He was hardly getting any sleep, what with the nightmares. When he finally did start talking to us, it was too… measured. He claimed he couldn't remember anything, but Nancy and I got the feeling he just didn't want to talk about it."

He was quiet for a moment. And Davis never was good with a quiet moment. "So you really don't know what happened to him?"

"I didn't say that…" Hiroaki answered very softly. It took him another second to find his place. "There was one thing, from the beginning, that seemed to ground TK, bring him back to the present."

"What was it?" Yolei asked when it looked like he was in danger of getting lost in thought again.

"A little plastic… thing. We assumed he'd picked it up in the woods where they found him. But he held onto that thing as if his life depended on it. Got a little hysterical if anyone tried to take it from him. So we just let him have it. Later he told me it was called a… Digivice."

Hiroaki sighed, scratching the back of his head. He skipped ahead. "Almost a year after we got him back, TK disappeared again."

Yolei nodded. "Right. His mother told us that. She also told us that you know where he keeps disappearing to."

The man grimaced, reminding Yolei that TK's parents' relationship wasn't exactly… intact. She wondered if that was why Hiroaki had neglected to come clean and put his ex-wife's worries to rest. As if he could read her thoughts, he said, "Nancy seems to forget that we were both going out of our minds that first time. I'm not trying to say I don't trust her, just… there's a reason I'm the one TK chose to confide in."

"So what did happen?" Davis asked impatiently.

Hiroaki inhaled deeply. "TK described being transported to another world. A… digital world, with monsters, where everything was made of data. He said he and the other kids who'd disappeared had been chosen to save that world from some terrible darkness. I know, this sounds crazy," he hurried to add but stopped when he saw their intent expressions.

Yolei didn't have to tell him. They were so beyond crazy. She was starting to think she'd believe anything. Children plucked from one world to team up with digital monsters and save another? Why not? And Davis had been on that page from day one. So Hiroaki went on.

"Well, I thought it was crazy at first. But it does explain a few things. Like how all those kids could just vanish into thin air. And TK showed me his Digivice—the little plastic gadget—and had me try to break it… It looked and sounded electrical but was completely waterproof. I took a hammer to that thing and couldn't make so much as a dent. And it only showed signs of life when TK was holding it… That was enough to convince me it wasn't of this world. And then I saw it."

"Saw what?" the two asked in unison.

"I saw TK leave. He says he can only get through the barrier between the worlds when he finds weak spots. I don't totally get that part. He says it's just something he can feel. But he found one when he was with me once. His Digivice started going crazy—I'd never seen it that active. And then TK started to glow. And then he was gone."

They were quiet for a moment. Then Davis said, "All right, but what does this have to do with Kari?"

"TK believes that Tai's sister is the eighth child—the final piece to the puzzle."

It surprised Yolei a little to hear him refer to her as 'Tai's sister'. That must be the way TK referred to her. How long had he had his sights on their friend? What did it even mean, exactly, to be the eighth child? She asked as much.

"Well," Hiroaki answered slowly. "I'd be lying if I said I understood it totally myself. But TK said the crests were meant to represent each of the kids' innermost strengths. And that they're stuck in the other world because those crests have been tainted by the darkness they were all supposed to defeat. And if they're going to defeat it and find a way home, they need all eight crests together."

…

"But what good will being together do if six of those eight crests are corrupted?"

TK grinned. "That's where we come in. I don't mean to brag, but… Our crests are a little special. The crest of Hope can't be corrupted. So there will always be at least one of us in a position to fight back and help the others. And the crest of Light is a little more mysterious, but it's believed to have the power to purify those who have been corrupted."

Kari had not missed the lighthearted tone his words had taken. She was still a little doubtful herself. "How do you know all this, TK?"

"Like I said, I've been following every lead I could since I got back, trying to find the others. Some Digimon had seen Izzy and Mimi pass through their village, heading towards some old ruins. I didn't see either of them, but I did find a wise old Centarumon and some ancient cave drawings of the crests and an older model Digivice. To date, it's the only physical evidence I've seen of the legends Leomon told us. Centarumon knew all about the old stories of darkness and the crests."

"But what?" she pressed, for TK's bright expression had clouded over. And Kari had had enough of secrets. If there was any more bad news, she'd rather know it now.

"Well… You saw how a lot of the Dark Ocean looked half-formed. The Digital World can be like that too. I think it's still being created and will always be under construction, bits and pieces getting added on and reformed as long as there continues to be new ideas and developments back in our world."

"Right." What was she in a position to deny at this point? "So?"

"So there was a part of the ruins that was… different from the rest. It all looked ancient, but this one section was… scratched out almost. Centarumon told me that there used to be a ninth crest in the legend… But that it had become almost taboo to speak of it. Most Digimon don't even know the eight-crest legend."

He looked like he really wished they could just pretend this wasn't so. But Kari wasn't willing to overlook any detail right now. "We can't just brush this under the rug, TK. According to this legend, we need all the crests to stop this great evil that you're talking about. But we don't even know how many crests there are?"

"No," he admitted. "But I thought our first priority should be finding and helping the others. And then, once we're back at full power, we can tackle the rest of the legend together."

Well, it didn't sound like such a bad plan, when he put it that way. It wasn't like she had a better one. So she didn't argue. They were quiet for a moment, looking up at the stars.

"We can head for the ruins tomorrow, if you want," TK offered. "You can meet Centarumon, and we can start from scratch. It could be useful, having a fresh pair of eyes on the case."

"Tomorrow?" she asked, startled back to reality. "You want to do this now?"

TK looked equally surprised. "Of course. It took this long just to get you here."

"Yes, but I can't stay." She became a little incredulous at his confused look. "TK, I just disappeared into thin air. I can only hope Yolei is covering for me tonight, but I can't stay away any longer than that. Do you have any idea what that would do to my parents? In fact," she said, on a roll now, "you shouldn't stay here another day! Your mother's a wreck. She knows your dad's been lying to her."

TK winced. "I know this is… hard. There's no perfect solution. But I kind of thought you'd think like I do."

She stared at him. It took her a moment to realize why this conversation hurt so much and put it into words. "No, you don't know. Because you were whisked away to make friends and go on adventures and be a hero. Well, I'm not a hero, TK. And if you'd been the one who got left behind… If you'd had to watch your parents mourn for your brother, you wouldn't even think about doing this to them, running off and disappearing without so much as a goodbye, at a moment's notice, the way you do."

"Kari…" Her tears had returned with a vengeance. Because a part of her did want to forget it all and stay here with TK. She was this close to seeing Tai… She couldn't stand to wait another minute.

But she would. Because all it took was one thought of her mother to know she could never be that callous. She didn't even want to hurt TK, really. She couldn't throw the worst of it at him.

Do you realize that some days it would have been a blessing to have proof Tai was dead? she wanted to shout. To finally be able to put an end to all this waiting and wondering, one way or another? As long as there was some hope he would return, we couldn't even mourn properly.

But she couldn't say that. It wasn't TK she was really angry at. In his own way, she knew he had suffered too. Made it past the first hurdle only to lose his brother later. But she was angry. At this world. At whatever had stolen Tai and the others away and caused so much heartbreak. Had left six families afraid to mourn, yet unable to move on. She would be coming back. She was going to defeat this great evil and bring her brother home. But she was going to do this right.

"You do what you feel you have to, TK," she said, trying to soften her tone a bit. "I'll be back as soon as I can—as soon as I can find a way to get away without being missed."

She turned away from TK's dismayed look then. Her Digivice, which had remained in her hand this entire time, grew warmer now. The sound of frantic clicks and beeps—the sound of data being processed?—reached her ears then. It was no struggle to find the entrance to the Dark Ocean this time, with her Digivice guarding the way. The portal opened its doors before her as if it had simply been waiting for her to ask. And Kari was on her way back home.

…

Cody let out a sharp cry as he fell to one knee, just managing to maintain his grip on the shinai he held out before him, as his grandfather bested him once more. He'd stopped being surprised long ago about the old man's strength and agility. He'd learned to never let his guard down. It had been a long time since one of their sessions had gone this badly.

His grandfather sighed, straightening up. Realizing this meant the end of today's lesson, Cody lowered his weapon, removed his mask, and sat resting on his knees, his head bowed in respect. And when his grandfather addressed him, it was just as bad as he'd been expecting.

"You've been distracted lately. Is there something you'd like to tell me, Cody? It isn't wise to shoulder a heavy burden alone."

"I'm not alone, Grandpa." And while this was true, he still felt… dirty. Disappointed in himself. He hated to tell a lie, but he didn't see how he could explain the truth. But perhaps he could settle for a half-truth. "I've… made some new friends lately."

"Oh?" His grandfather seated himself before Cody, his gaze piercing. "Perhaps these are friends you would be better off without, if they're causing you such distress."

"No, it's not like that." His grandfather remained silent, waiting. "You already know Yolei. It's her friend—Kari Kamiya. And a boy in their class named Davis. Oh, and TK, too," he added, almost as an afterthought, a little unsure of that one himself.

"That's quite a change in such a short time," his grandfather commented.

"Yes, but it's not that they're bad influences," Cody hurried to defend. "It's just… Kari and TK… they're dealing with some things. You've probably heard of them. Their brothers are still missing."

"Ah, yes…" his grandfather replied, thoughtful. "From the incident four years ago."

"Right. The anniversary just passed. It's just… been a difficult time. For all of us."

"Indeed." His grandfather rose to leave the training room for the night. "Do your friends know that night marks the anniversary of your father's death as well?"

Cody winced. His grandfather had always been able to see right through him. "I… didn't mention it."

"Why not?" His tone was carefully unassuming. The worst kind of disappointment. "Your father was a hero. Anyone would think his son would be proud."

"I am! It's just… He's gone. There's nothing we can do for him now. But Tai Kamiya and the others are still out there somewhere…"

"Why do you believe that?"

"Oh, it's just… a feeling Kari has," he mumbled.

"A feeling," his grandfather repeated. Then he smiled. "That's awfully unscientific for you. Perhaps these new friends will be a good influence."

Cody didn't answer, and his grandfather left to retire for the night. The boy remained where he was for a moment before getting up to remove his kendo gear. It was true. He couldn't seem to get his mind off of Kari and TK and the mystery surrounding them. Well, if he wasn't going to be getting much sleep tonight anyway, he might as well put his curiosity to good use.

Cody wasn't sure where to start with the missing kids. He felt like they'd covered those bases as best they could. The others could continue following those leads. Cody would focus on what he did best.

How was it possible for these monsters to exist? What level of sentience did they have? If they came from another world entirely, how were they making the journey?

He pulled out his laptop, searching anything and everything that felt relevant. He came up with a lot of mythological stories, but none of them felt quite right. Perhaps his own prejudices were showing through, but Cody wanted to find answers that felt more… real. Whatever role magic played in this whole mess, he had to believe it was grounded in their reality.

But when he did find something that felt like it was on just the right side of possible, he couldn't say for sure that it was related. Cody soon found himself lost in pages and pages of research on artificial intelligence by one Janyu Wong. The research looked to go back to the man's college years. But, finding a brief blurb about his team of college researchers breaking up for undisclosed reasons, it looked like Wong's ambitions had been scaled back a bit. These days, his work with AI was aimed at enhancing video games, and there didn't seem to be any noteworthy breakthroughs.

Cody was about to move on… when he caught a glimpse of a promotional video further down the page. It was an extremely brief clip, unnamed in any way. A project so new it didn't yet have one? But it was the subject matter that made Cody stop and stare. The video showed the destruction of a bridge, an oversized bird on one side, an enormous bipedal dinosaur breathing fire on the other. The entire video was just that one blast from the dinosaur—which was flickering as if it would just glitch out of existence any second now—that took out the bridge. It likely wouldn't have seemed like anything special to another's eyes. Just some generic video game violence. But Cody watched that one clip play on its continuous loop until his eyes began to water.

It was eerily similar to the scene Kari had described. Too similar to be a coincidence, surely? But what did that mean? Had Janyu Wong also seen something that night? If so, Cody didn't have to wonder why he'd never come forward with his story. Just a few days ago, Cody wouldn't have believed it either.

Cody jumped and whirled around at the sound of a knock on his door. He couldn't help feeling a guilty look cross his face, seeing his mom standing in his doorway. He tried to control his expression. It wasn't as if he'd been doing anything he shouldn't be. He had left his door open, after all.

"Cody? I saw your light was still on. Don't tell me you're still doing schoolwork this late?"

"Oh, no… It's just…" He pushed his chair back from his desk, giving his mother a clear view of the screen. "I was just looking at a game that's in development."

"Really…" his mother looked surprised, but pleasantly so. Had his grandfather shared their earlier conversation? Was she also under the impression that his new friends were a good influence, teaching him to cut loose? "Well, don't stay up too late."

But she closed the door behind her without any real reprimands. Nevertheless, Cody bookmarked the page and shut his laptop down for the night.

Would finding Janyu Wong give them their first definitive answers, he wondered, getting into bed. Perhaps he held some other piece to the puzzle that would make everything a little clearer. This hope was finally able to put his mind at ease a bit, and he settled into a thoughtful sleep.

…

Yolei's mind was not nearly as calmed as she and Davis left the TV station. If anything, Hiroaki's confirmation of all they were up against had left her more frightened than before. Was that it then? Had Kari crossed over into this digital world? Would she be struck there with the others, or would she travel back and forth like TK?

It was driving her crazy to think she'd already given all the support she could. Honestly, how could she be expected to just step back and let Kari face the real danger on her own? After coming this far together? But most irksome of all was Davis, who didn't seem to comprehend any of this.

"So what now?" he asked, entirely too casually for Yolei's liking. "I think we should meet back up with Cody and fill him in. He'll probably be glad to learn it's a computer world we're trying to get to. It doesn't sound as, like, magical." He actually laughed a little, and Yolei snapped.

"What are you laughing at?! It's not a game, Davis! TK's dad said only a Digidestined can go to the Digital World. That means if Kari's already there, there's nothing we can do to help her!" Couldn't he see that?

But Davis was stubbornly… Davis. "Says who? If that's the case, then I'll just become a Digi-whatever!"

"That's not how it works!" she snapped. How had she been so grateful for his company a mere hour earlier?

"Well, how would you know?" he shouted back. "You've already given up!"

He was such a kid sometimes. Yolei knew it wasn't really Davis she was angry at. It was how useless she felt. But she couldn't stand to look at him for another second. She whirled around. "Ugh! You know what? I'll just find another way back. Don't follow me!"

"Yeah? Well… Same to you!" Davis huffed lamely behind her.

Yolei let her adrenaline push her forward for a while, trying to blow off steam. Her anger really was misplaced. She was planning to loop back around once she figured enough time had passed for Davis to be long gone. But the farther she got from the station, the more she calmed down, the more nervous she started to get. Hadn't her initial worry for Kari been that something would happen to her on these unfamiliar streets?

She stopped under a streetlamp. Maybe it was time to pack up her pride and turn back. After all, if ever was the time to band together, it was now, right? They should be avoiding these petty squabbles in the face of the looming, greater dangers, right?

Yolei sighed. She supposed she should try to catch up with Davis sooner rather than later, make her apologies and put this behind them. Her dad always warned her that pride could be dangerous.

But when she turned around to go back, a surprised shriek burst out of her. There was a boy standing under the streetlight behind her, separated by just a few feet of shadows. She hadn't heard anyone following her, and he looked almost oblivious to her presence now, staring off into the darkness. But then he spoke, and who else could he be addressing?

"It wasn't supposed to be like this."

His voice was dull, with the very minimal amount of inflection in his words. Her own voice was little more than a frightened whisper. "What?"

He finally turned to her, and she brought her arms up in front of her almost on reflex. His eyes were as dull as his words. "The children. They've fallen. They were meant to save our world, but they've fallen."

"Do you… Are you talking about Tai and Matt and the others?"

"The connection has been made," he answered mechanically, only confusing her more. "Will you help them?"

For a moment there was silence. And in that moment, Yolei found her resolve. Here was her chance to do her part, provide more than moral support. "Yes. I will."

The boy held out a hand then, and in it sat a strange little device. Yolei crossed the distance between them, reached out to place her own hand on the device in his, and was enveloped in a bright light.

Review please!

I don't own Digimon.

And so the plot thickens! Even more. This story is going to be so busy by the time all the players are in the game… But I am so looking forward to it! Happy holidays, everyone! And thank you for reading!