The Next Creation

by Cyllya

The DigiDestined return to the DigiWorld and are split up. It's a long time before they can go back to the Real World, but they don't go willingly. With the older heroes in the Real World, the newest generation of DigiDestined has no one to turn to but th

3. New Lives

Digimon: Digital Monsters

The Next Creation

#2: New Lives

by Seruyamon
(Cyllya)

"We need a song that they'll really like," Mimi said, "Maybe something profound, since they liked 'Vessel.'"

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm drawing a big fat blank," Gomamon said miserably. He was sitting opposite of Mimi at a small square card table. Joe and Palmon sat at the remaining sides. They were in Mimi's dressing room.

"Me too," Joe said.

"Me three," Palmon moaned.

"You could sing "Vessel" again," Joe suggested.

"I'll do that," Mimi said, "but I'll need something new too. You guys wanted to help, so start helping."

"Do you know all the words to 'Wide Open Spaces?'" Joe asked.

"I don't think so, but maybe," Mimi thought, "Any other ideas?"

"I know a good song, but it would sound awkward in the DigiWorld," Joe sighed.

"Maybe something by… what was her name? Faith?" Palmon asked.

"Faith?" Mimi asked, "Yep, that's her. I think I know 'El Vida Loca.' It's like, 'El Vida Loca, over and over. Destiny turns on a dime. I go where the wind blows. You can't tame a wild rose. Welcome to my crazy life.'"

"That's a nice one," Gomamon commented.

"Yeah," Mimi said, "Since I can't be sued here, I can do that one, 'Vessel,' and 'Wide Open Spaces.'"

"Good plan," Joe said.

"I'll rehearse," Mimi said, "And the rest of you try to write me a song."

Joe, Gomamon, and Palmon sighed.

***

One year later…

"Okay everyone," TK said to a group off about twenty baby Digimon, "Use your counters to count it out. Come on. Two plus one. You can do it."

They were sitting in the grass atop a small hill near Primary Village's Hatching Grounds. Each of the twenty Digimon had ten inch-wide plastic squares on the ground in front of them. They all nudged two squares over to one side and then added a third one. A Pabumon in the front row hopped up and down.

"Do you have an answer?" TK asked it.

"Pabu! Pabu! Pabu!" Pabumon said.

"That's correct," TK said, "Good job." He looked at his watch, clapped his hands together, and said, "Alright, class, preschool's over. Go on home everyone."

The Digimon hopped down the hill toward the eggs and cradles.

"Goodbye, everyone," TK said as he stood up and waved to them, "See you tomorrow."

Patamon flew up the hill toward him, and he felt someone's arms wrap around his shoulders from behind.

"Having fun, Aino-chan?" Kari asked as she put her head on his shoulder.

"You bet," TK said cheerfully. He kissed her cheek, and she hugged him a little tighter. Gatomon landed on top of their heads.

"Now that that class is over," she said lightheartedly, "it's time for your education to continue!"

TK groaned.

"Oh, you knew you couldn't run from those quadratic equations forever," Kari said, "Don't feel bad. Math annoys me too, but I'm having trouble with language."

"Digi-Code?" TK asked.

"Yep, but I have all three alphabets down."

"Cool."

"Come on," Gatomon urged, "Or I'm giving you both a tardy slip."

"Hold your Ponimons," Kari laughed, "Come on, TK" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the hill with Gatomon right behind them.

"Hey, wait for me!" Patamon cried before coughing, "I think I have the flu!"

"Don't even try to fake sick!" Gatomon ordered.

***

"Two years and three days," Izzy mumbled to himself. He turned his head upward away from his computer to look wearily through the tree branches and at the gibbous moon.

"Already?"

Izzy turned to Levia and Pasthamon. He'd assumed they and Tentomon were asleep. Apparently Pasthamon was, but Levia looked up at him and sighed as he nodded.

"Isn't time still synchronized with the Digital World and the Real World?" she asked.

"To the best of my knowledge," Izzy answered. He shut his laptop down, sat it next to him, and laid down with his backpack for a pillow.

Levia got up carefully so she wouldn't wake Pasthamon and laid back down next to him. She sighed sadly and mumbled, "We'll get back, won't we?"

"Someday…" Izzy said.

"Someway…" Levia mumbled, "Good night."

"Good night."

***

A golden squirrel-like feline Digimon cringed as a fair-skinned human fist slammed down on the table she was laying on. Several gray-cloaked figures around the stone- and metal-walled room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the raged-filled teenager by the table.

"What's wrong, M'nai?" the Digimon asked cautiously in her high gentle voice. She was a little under two feet long, excluding the long bushy tail of the same length. Her legs were short, and she had big brown eyes.

The girl who had pounded the table angrily turned her mahogany eyes toward the Digimon. She inhaled like she was about to shout, but she collapsed onto the table and began to sob.

"He's gone, isn't he?" the Digimon asked as she walked silently over to the girl on all fours.

The girl stood up straight, nodded, and brushed her short neatly-trimmed brown hair out of her face. She stammered, "Y-yeah…yeah, he's gone."

"I'm sorry, M'nai," the Digimon said sadly.

"Yeah," M'nai sniffled and tried to smile, "but it's okay. I miss him already, but I can take care of things. I mean, I'm sixteen now, and I'm really responsible. So what if the fate of two worlds rests on my shoulders for the next, um, decade or so? I can handle it. I'll be j-just fine."

"I'm sure," the Digimon said, making a mental note of the fact that M'nai didn't sound very confident. Her hands quivered and fidgeted with her gray cloak, like she was teetering on the brink of insanity.

He eyes flicked over to the people around her. She turned toward them and demanded, "What?! What are you looking at?"

The cloaked figures hesitated. One of them ventured to say, "Well, M'nai, we sincerely regret your grandfather's decease…but you are in charge now."

"I know that," M'nai said simply. After the men neither said nor did anything, she demanded, "What?! Do you need orders?! Hmm…Let's go bake cookies! C'mon you nitwits! You know what you have to do! We have a prophecy to help forfill here! Get back to work!"

As the men scrambled back to their places, M'nai raised the hood of her cloak and turned wordlessly to a nearby computer console.

***

"Thanks for writing this song for me, Palmon," Mimi said. She was backstage wearing a short blue dress.

"No problem," Palmon said, "You came up with a lot of the lyrics. I just had to fill in the blanks and give it a tune…. In fact, you had such a strong idea on the topic, I could've swore that you were personally thinking the same thing…."

Mimi laughed, "Don't be silly. Who could I possibly be singing to?"

Remembering her promise, Palmon said, "Good point."

"Besides, those Numomon think I'm cute," Mimi said, "It works out."

"Yeah," Palmon agreed, "Well, you'd better get out there, your fans are waiting. Good luck."

"Thanks," Mimi said. She walked onto the stage right as Joe and Gomamon came up behind Palmon. She took a deep breath, straightened her dress, switched on her microphone, and flashed Palmon the thumbs-up sign.

"Don't play in the first song," Palmon said to Gomamon, "It's 'Do You Really Think.'" She took out a small recorder-like instrument, went around an irrelevant curtain to be with Mimi's band, and switched on a nearby microphone. Gomamon looked confused, but he didn't say anything. He looked at Joe, who shrugged and began to open the curtain as the music played.

"I just wanted to let you know," Mimi sang before the curtain even opened all the way, "That the other day I overheard; something you should tell me; 'cause I don't think you're a nerd."

"Did we rehearse this?" Joe asked Gomamon as quietly as possible.

Gomamon shook his head.

"When I heard it I could not believe; this was something I could not conceive; I'd love it if you would relieve; me, by telling me; do you really think…? I've been your friend awhile; but this is something new; and until I overheard you; I just didn't have a clue. But now I see little hints; you blush and can stare into space; but if you really think that; then just say it to my face."

"I think Palmon wrote this," Gomamon said.

"When I heard it I could not believe; this was something I could not conceive; I'd love it if you would relieve; me, by telling me; do you really think…? I think we can start something here; but I gotta know do you really care? It doesn't matter if I'm beautiful; If all you like's my hair. When I heard it I could not believe; this was something I could not conceive; I'd love it if you would relieve; me, by telling me; do you really think…?" Twice, following a couple quick beats of Numemon's drum, she repeated, "Do you really think…?"

"And the encore," Palmon murmured to herself.

"Do you really think I'm cute?" Mimi sang, trying to sound surprised. As the mostly-invisible crowd went nuts, she glanced at Joe and smiled.

"Gomamon," Palmon said, "You can play now."

Gomamon picked up his tambourine and joined the band. He asked, "'Wide Open Spaces,' right?"

"Mmm-hmm."

***

"Wake up, Tai," Sora said. She, Tai, Matt, and Vanessa were wandering around with their Digimon and had come to a prairie and a small stream. They had chosen a spot by the steam to camp out, but now everyone but Tai was ready to keep moving.

Tai groaned in response to Sora's request.

"Come on, get up," Sora ordered, "or we'll just leave you here."

"See ya later," Tai mumbled.

"Oh, don't be so stubborn," Sora said.

"But I'm tired." Tai moaned.

"Get up, Tai," Agumon said.

"The others are waiting," Biyomon said.

"But I can't move," Tai said.

"Get up and get moving," Sora commanded. She pulled on his arm to no avail. She grinned, stood up, and walked over to the stream. She came back with her hands cupped and full of water, She dropped the water in Tai's face.

He sputtered, tried to dry his face on his shirt, and rolled over to be face down in the grass.

"You lazy bum," Sora complained. She knelt next to Tai and whispered something to him.

"I told you I couldn't move and I meant it," he grumbled.

"Matt came over and said, "Jeez, Tai, I think you've lost your persistent edge. Think about the others…and Kari."

Tai was instantly on his feet. He said, "Okay, let's get going." He pulled Sora and Agumon by their wrists until they matched his pace.

"It's about time," Vanessa laughed as Tai power-walked past her. She and Picamon fell into step behind him. Since she was having a hard time keeping up with him on two legs, Picamon dropped down to all fours.

"You know, you do look awfully tired, Tai," Sora said.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Tai explained, "I couldn't go to sleep."

"Oh," Sora said.

After a few minutes, Matt started to say something but stopped. Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continued.

"Never mind," he said.

Everyone continued to wait for him to speak as if they thought he had something important to say.

"I said 'never mind,'" Matt repeated, "…If you must know, I was about to ask if anyone had tried to keep track of how long we've been here."

"I didn't start counting soon enough because I didn't think we'd be here very long," Tai said.

"I… never really thought about it," Vanessa admitted.

"I lost track," Sora said, "but I think we've been here about two years."

"Oh," Matt sighed.

"Two whole years, huh?" Tai asked.

"About," Sora nodded.

"I…I have trouble picturing Kari at age twelve," Tai said.

"No kidding…" Matt said, "I was hoping I'd have a driver's license by now."

"Are we sixteen?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah," Tai said.

"Man, that is so weird," Vanessa said.

"How old were you when we all first met?" Biyomon asked, "It's hard to tell with all the time differences."

"We were eleven," Sora said, "We've known you about five years now."

"Wow," Biyomon said, "A whole half a decade!"

***

"A whole half a decade" later…

Izzy, Levia, Tentomon, and Pasthamon were walking along a forest trail again. They were tired, hungry, and bored.

"Hey, Izzy?" Levia asked tiredly, "Where are we now?"

Izzy wordlessly opened his laptop and did some quick typing. He held the screen toward Levia to show her a map of their area. A red dot flashed on the map. Some places around the dot were purple while the rest was green.

"We've been in the purple area?" Levia asked.

"Yep," Izzy said.

"We've been to a lot o' places," Pasthamon commented as she observed the map.

"Yet we haven't even heard about the others," Tentomon said.

"I'm not getting any readings from their Digivices either," Izzy moaned, "I can't locate them or send them transmissions. It's inconceivable."

"I keep having this feeling that someone almighty and implausibly powerful is trying to keep us apart," Pasthamon said, mostly to herself.

"Do you think so?" Levia asked nervously.

"Oh, it's just one of those gut feelings," Pasthamon said, "I've never trusted those before."

"You know, I'm getting one of the gut feelings too," Tentomon piped up.

"You feel that our separation is deliberate?" Izzy asked.

"No, I feel that I'm hungry," Tentomon said.

Izzy sighed.

"I wouldn't suppose your computer has one of those things that they have on that one TV show…Star, um, Track? Trek?" Tentomon questioned, "You know, one of those things that make food?"

"Unfortunately, no," Izzy said.

"Put it on your shopping list," Levia advised.

Izzy sighed, "I'll do that…."

"I'm sorry," Levia said, "about you having to deal with three people that aren't anywhere near as, um, aptly intelligent as you."

Izzy began to feel a little guilty about his repeated sigh. He said, "I'm not questioning anyone's intellectual advancement. Let's go find something to eat."

"Okay," Levia said.

The act of looking for something to eat consisted of walking just a tad slower and paying more attention to the surrounding vegetation as they went.

Pasthamon's ears twitched. She smiled and said, "Hey, I hear water."

"That's our girl," Levia said, "You can pinpoint water a mile away."

"Nah, about a kilometer," Pasthamon corrected.

"Where is that water?" Tentomon asked.

"This way," Pasthamon said. She waddled into the brush. The others followed, and it wasn't long before they emerged onto another trail. There was a stream on the far edge of the trail and another trail on the far side of the stream. Pasthamon rushed over and started drinking.

"Be careful," Tentomon warned, flying after her.

"These are edible right?" Levia asked as she held a leaf up to Izzy.

"Yeah," Izzy said after looking at the leaf.

Levia tore it in half and sniffed it. She made a face and said, "I remember this bush. It's the one that's perfectly safe unless the taste kills ya." She held her nose, at both of the leaf's halves, and began harvesting more off the bush.

"YAHH!" Pasthamon cried. Levia spun around just in time for Pasthamon to land fearfully in her arms. Her long neck let her pass Levia's shoulder and then turn to look over the other one. Tentomon hovered cautiously backward.

"What's that?" Levia asked. There was a Digimon emerging from the water. It was a serpent-like Digimon that was about ten feet long and looked a little burnt. It was green with a white underbelly. The front of its head ended in a slender beak-like snout. There were to horns atop its head and a wavy transparent blue fin down its back and on the tip of its tail.

"Limimon," Tentomon said, "He's a carnivorous sea dragon. If he looks familiar, it's cause he's the Rookie form of Seadramon."

"Do Limimon and Seadramon travel in schools?" Levia asked nervously.

"A Seadramon won't fit in that stream," Izzy pointed out.

"Good point," Levia acknowledged, "This one seems a little extra crispy."

Pasthamon bared her teeth and screeched at the creature. It screeched angrily back, surveyed its surroundings, and began to swim downstream.

"Well, its gone," Tentomon said.

"Help!"

"Huh?" everyone murmured as they turned their heads upstream. Running along the trail towards them was a robot of sorts. It was about four feet tall.

"Is that a robot or a Digimon?" Levia asked.

As Izzy readied his computer, Pasthamon said, "He's both. His name is Automon—he's a robotic Digimon and those limbs on the front of him can be used as arms or legs—whichever he needs most. That's all I know about him."

"He's a Data Champion," Izzy added.

"He seems to need help with something," Tentomon said.

"Help me, please!" Automon cried in his mechanical voice as he skidded to a stop in front of the group. There was a glass dome over his head that was held on with two rounded pieces of metal. Within the dome was a hard drive of sorts and a pair of small antennae. His torso was a rectangular prism with a two small green lights on his chest. He had arms and legs in the standard places, but there were two more arms on the lower part of his thorax which he had used while running. The extra hands had two claw-like fingers, while the normal two had three.

"What do you need?" Levia asked.

"My comrade is in extreme tribulation!" Automon moaned, "Despite my abilities, I was unable to help him. Do you think you may be able to help him?"

"I suppose we could try," Izzy said.

"What does 'tribation' mean?" Levia whispered to Pasthamon.

"Judiciary?" Pasthamon suggested.

"He's on trial?" Levia wondered.

"Oh, thank you," Automon said to Izzy, "Please follow me. I'll take you to our laboratory."

He turned and ran back the way he'd came. Izzy beckoned for the others to follow him and ran after Automon.

They soon arrived at a big mansion at the bottom of a cliff. There were two streams, one coming from each side of the mansion, that flowed into the first one. At the place where they joined, there was a hexagon-shaped wooden platform acting as a three-way bridge.

"Woah, nice place," Levia commented.

Without hesitating, Automon ran across the bridge toward the house, and Izzy quickly followed. Levia, Pasthamon, and Tentomon rushed to catch up. Automon burst through the front door and went left through the door in the first room. The others looked surprised to see his friend.

It was the shape and size of a medium-sized dog. Presumably, that's what it was—save the fact it was made of metal. Its green glass eyes were unlit, and the metal plates that covered the top of its head had been removed. The absent metal, a few wires, several screws, and various tools were strewn around atop the table with the heap of metal that had once been a canine robot.

"That's your friend?" Izzy asked.

"Yes," Automon said urgently, "We were attacked by an evil Digimon, who injured him greatly. We drove the Digimon away, but not before my friend—his name is Canimon—was pushed into the stream. For the most part, the two of us are waterproof. But with some of Canimon's wires torn, an electrical surge went through the water, and he was offline after I pulled him out."

"You're abnormally smart, Izzy," Tentomon said.

"Yeah, you try to fix him," Levia said.

"But, I…" Izzy stammered nervously.

"Please," Automon begged, "No one else can help him, but you look pretty capable to me. At least with you he has a chance. Please try."

"I-I'll do my best," Izzy said uncertainly. He went over to the robot, picked it up, and inspected it.

"He looks like he'd be heavy," Levia said.

"It's about twenty pounds," Izzy said, "The heaviest part is the outer shell." He laid Canimon on his side and looked worryingly at the three gashes on the metal of his flank. There were torn wires within. He asked, "What Digimon did this?"

"Panthemon," Automon informed, "She's a feline Digimon with claws of steel."

"Hmm," Izzy thought. After looking over Canimon's lifeless form several, he said, "I think he just short-circuited. The power surge fried his wires. If the wires are replaced, he should be fine, but I don't know what to do if he needs a new hard drive."

"His hard drive is like his brain," Automon said, "If you got a new brain, you'd be a completely different person. If his hard drive is broken, he's dead and nothing will revive him. I have some spare wire, and anything else you need."

"Okay, let's see…" Izzy said, "We have to fix this injury first." There were several thin interlocking metal plates making up the Digimon's ears, neck, tail, and middle part of the torso to allow smooth realistic movement. For the next two hours, Levia, Pasthamon, Tentomon, and Automon watched him carefully separate each plate.

After the fiftieth sigh from the others, Automon said, "I understand that, for organic creatures such as yourselves, the mind works better with food and rest."

"Mmm-hmm," Pasthamon mumbled tiredly.

"Would you like something to eat?" Automon asked. Everyone's head instantly snapped up. Sensing their enthusiasm, he said, "This mansion is actually the inn I run, so there's plenty of room if you'd like to sleep for awhile."

"Thank you," Levia smiled.

***

"This sure was nice of Automon," Izzy said to Tentomon as he wiped his face with a washrag.

"Well, you are helping to repair his friend," Tentomon said logically while aimlessly using his claw to make tiny splashes in the water that filled their bathtub.

"Yeah, but there's no proof that I can fix him," Izzy said.

"Well I for one think you're perfectly capable," Tentomon said, "And I'm sure Levia and Pasthamon believe in your abilities as well."

"I…I suppose," Izzy said.

"I wonder how the others are doing without Izzy around to help them think?" Levia, who was on the other side of a wall, said to Pasthamon.

Pasthamon didn't answer. Rather she continued to do flips and somersaults in the water. Levia rolled her eyes and continued to scrub her soap-filled hair. A few seconds after Pasthamon started swimming in figure-eight's around the tub, her tail scraped the rim of the tub. She stopped swimming in response to Levia's angry groan.

"I told you to be careful…" Levia grumbled angrily. She held her glasses up by one arm while the rest of them dangled, then dropped into the water.

"Oh…I'm really sorry, Levia," Pasthamon said sadly, "Maybe Izzy can fix your glasses."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to trouble him," Levia sighed and picked her glasses back up, "In the meantime…" She began to feel the rim of the tub where they had been and continued, "help my find one my contacts. It must have fallen into the water."

She moved closer to the rim, winced, gasped, and cringed.

"W-what's wrong?" Pasthamon asked.

"I found that contact," Levia said painfully and sat back. She clasped her hands over her right knee.

"Is it stuck on your knee?" Pasthamon asked. She squeaked as she saw something pinkish billow out lightly in the water.

"I squished it and cut myself," Levia said, having recovered from the initial pain. She raised her knee out of the water and inspected her cut. She said, "It's just a little cut…. Can you help me avoid walking into anything until I can get my glasses fixed?"

"It's the least I can do," Pasthamon accepted.

Levia inserted her intact contact, got out of the tub, and put on a light pink bathrobe that had been hanging on the wall. Pasthamon followed her into a third room that was smaller and didn't have any tubs. It had a table with Izzy and Levia's newly-cleaned clothes folded neatly atop it. Levia took her clothes into their first room and changed.

"I'm just worried I'll do something wrong and screw him up," Izzy said.

"Screw…funny…" Tentomon said blandly.

"No pun intended," Izzy informed.

"Just remember that your Canimon's only chance," Tentomon said, "Without you, he has no chance of seeing another day."

"Yeah, but…" Izzy mumbled.

"Let's change the subject," Tentomon suggested, "Automon doesn't expect you to get back to work until tomorrow morning, so you should keep your mind off Canimon until then."

Okay," Izzy accepted. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Uh, just out of curiosity… are you and Pasthamon a couple or something?"

Tentomon seemed rather alarmed by the question. He snapped, "No!"

"Okay…."

"Okay, so she's kinda cute for a reptile…but that doesn't mean anything…."

Izzy laughed.

Later he sat on the edge of a bed near a lit desk lamp with Levia's glasses and a tiny screwdriver. He bent the arm of the glasses to make sure it was on right as Levia walked into the room. He sat the screwdriver on the nightstand and handed Levia her glasses.

"My hero," Levia said laughingly as she put her them on. She sat down and kissed him.

"I do my part," he said.

"You're wonderful," she said. She glanced at Tentomon and Pasthamon, who were asleep and curled up together at the foot of the bed. She said, "I wonder if they're, like, an item or something?"

"They're not," Izzy laughed, "I already asked. Tentomon seemed a bit unsettled by the question."

Levia sighed, sat her glasses on the nightstand, and scooted further back on the bed. She laid down and pulled Izzy with her.

"Good night, Koushiro," she whispered.

"Good night," Izzy said.

***

One year later

TK and Patamon, who wore a thin sky-blue chain around his neck, slipped quietly into the small house in the northwestern part of Primary Village. Patamon's chain had a sky-blue and lavender rounded-rectangular charm hanging from it. The charm had DigiCode carved into it. TK closed the door while keeping one hand behind his back. He looked down the hall and around the living room. Seeing no one, he opened the door to his right and took a step into the kitchen.

Kari, Gatomon, and four other Digimon turned to look at them. They had been surrounding the tray of cookies that Kari was holding. She used her foot to close the oven door.

"I told you he'd be popping in," said the dark-skinned five-foot-high Digimon to Gatomon's right. Her face had the vague shape of a canine and was partially covered by a pink veil. Her just-past-shoulder-length mauve-colored hair was partly hidden by the dark red cloth that was tied above her forehead. It had small white dots on it and two holes for her short floppy ears—each of which was pierced and held a gold hoop—to hang out. She had a ragged tan dress, a frayed grayish apron, and a pair of makeshift sandals. She jangled her bulky necklaces almost triumphantly.

"You make him sound like the plague or somethin'," said the short reddish-brown-furred Digimon that sat on the counter said. She was about Gatomon's size and shape and had long narrow pointed ears and big round black eyes. She had a curl of long fur hanging down in front of her face, and her tail was long, fluffy, and ended in a curl.

"We'll come back later," TK said.

"But can't we—?" Patamon began. He started to fly into the room, but TK used his unhidden hand to grab his tail and pull him back.

"We'll come back later," he repeated a bit more loudly.

"Okay, okay," Patamon said as he and TK left and closed the door.

"What's up with them?" Gatomon wondered. She had a chain with a charm like Patamon's, save that her charm had a small amethyst gem at the bottom.

The tall jewelry-covered Digimon placed her fingertips on her temples and closed her black eyes. She relieved herself of the pose and said, "They have something to ask…but TK has two somethings to ask."

"Really?" Kari asked, "Do you know what?"

"Yes…but I should leave it them to ask you two," the Digimon said to Kari and Gatomon.

"Uh, okay," Kari said.

"Sheesh, Oramon," said the red-brown Digimon, "For a Digimon whose prophesizing abilities are second to none, you sure are secretive about what you know. You may have everything from a crystal ball to a deck of trick cards, but sometimes I wonder how much you really know."

"Tykemon, you shouldn't be questioning anyone's future-seeing abilities," said Kari and Gatomon's third friend. From the waist up, she was human-like with a tan midriff to cover her essentials. Her long hair started dark brown and became white with black specks about two thirds of the way to her tips. The bottom part of her hair was a lighter brown. She had short pointed ears with the same color pattern poking out from beneath her hair higher up than human ears. From the waist down, she had the body of deer. She blinked her big blue eyes and said, "You're a wanna-be officer for the fashion police that lives for the moment."

"Don't forget that she can't fully understand the concept of secrecy," the forth one said, "She hasn't heard of something that's not worth saying." She was almost six feet tall and had ten or so tentacles for legs. Her skin was yellowish-green and rubbery. She had seaweed for hair and sea-foam-green eyes.

"Like you should be talking, Poseimon, you slimy…thing!" Tykemon shrieked.

"I'm not slimy," the fourth Digimon insisted as she rolled her eyes.

"And you, Roemon," Tykemon said to the half-deer Digimon, "should remember that, if I were the fashion police, you would have long since been arrested…not that you have much of a life anyway. You may be good with your bow, but your people skills are totally scanty."

Neither Roemon nor Poseimon seemed to be very hurt by her insults.

"You know that she's just shy," Kari said, "Now everyone stop arguing; we're all friends here. Help me with the next batch of cookies. Add the peanut butter chips to the cookie dough."

"Why are we making cookies again?" Tykemon asked as she took a back of peanut butter chips and poured some into the bowl of chocolate cookie mix.

"Because it's springtime," Kari said, "About seventy percent of DigiEggs hatch in spring."

"Those DigiBabies gotta eat somethin'," Poseimon said and stirred the dough.

"So you either help bake cookies, help mix baby formula," Gatomon said, "or help Elecmon pick dead fish out of the river."

Tykemon had been in the process of trying to sneak a baked cookie into her mouth. Right before she bit into it, she made a face at the third of her choices and sat it back on the tray.

"What's this batch?" Roemon asked as she scooped blotches of dough onto a clean cooking tray.

"Chocolate with peanut butter and chocolate chips," Kari said.

"Sounds great," Gatomon said.

After the next batch of cookies had been baked, Poseimon, Roemon, Tykemon, and Oramon had to leave. Kari changed in the bathroom and French-braided her hair. When she stepped out, she looked like she was ready for a karate class. She straightened her non-karate-like belt and went into the bedroom. TK rushed to put his hands behind his back. Patamon turned to look at her and flashed an innocent smile.

"Hey, don't you knock?" he asked.

"This is my room too," she reminded, "None of us have ever knocked before."

"Oh, yeah…."

T.K rolled his eyes.

"What's that?" Kari asked as Gatomon came into the room.

"What's what?" TK stammered.

"What are you hiding?" Kari questioned.

"I'm not hiding anything," T.K said.

"Oh, yeah, that's believable," Gatomon said sarcastically.

"Well, Patamon and I have something to ask you two," TK said as he sat down on the end of his bed, "As in me and Patamon." He pulled the nervous looking Patamon closer to him.

"Ask away," Kari said, leaning casually against the wall.

"Um, Elecmon is trying to find a nice home for a couple of baby Digimons that need them," Patamon said.

"And I know a perfect home for one of those babies," TK said, "but we need the permission of all the residents of that home before he can move in."

Kari and Gatomon looked at them questioningly. Patamon and TK nodded at each other. TK stood and slid over to Kari's left. He held his hand out in front of her to show a fist-sized light-sky-blue ball of fuzz with black eyes.

"Isn't he cute?" TK asked, "Look at that face. Can't you tell he likes you already?"

As Gatomon climbed onto her shoulder to see the baby Digimon better, Kari asked, "Excuse me?" The fuzz ball showed no facial expression.

"Come on, you two," TK begged, "He wants a place to call home—and what better home than with the two most beautiful, kindest, powerful-est females in the history of the DigiWorld?"

"Or the R—"

"Keep your paw out of your mouth, Patamon," TK interrupted.

"Oh, sorry."

Kari and Gatomon stared at the Digimon. Kari asked, "What is it?"

"Rumon," the others said in unison.

"But Rumon digivolves to Subjimon," Kari said.

"Yeah…" TK said, "So?"

"We don't need a butler," Kari pointed out.

"And it's crowded in this little house already," Gatomon said.

"It's not crowded; it's cozy," Patamon corrected, "We're all one big happy family."

"And little Rumon wants to be part of it too," TK said as he pulled everyone into a group hug and sat Rumon on Gatomon's head.

"I don't know…" Gatomon mumbled.

"Don't worry, Gato," Kari said and pounded her chest, "I have a wall in here. That little fuzzy-mon ain't gonna get to me." She smirked at Rumon, then frowned at it. She said, "Don't even give me that look." She snorted, crossed her arms, and turned her head away.

TK gave Patamon, who nodded, a quick hand gesture. He said to Kari, "Would you deny little Rumon the chance to grow up in your Light?"

"All of the babies in the village grow up in my Light," Kari said.

"I gotta figure out who told her that, and why," TK mumbled to himself.

"You told me that," Kari pointed out, "Last week, 'cause you were trying to suck- up then too."

"Oh," TK realized. He said, "But if we don't take in this little guy now, after he Digivolves and leaves the village, he'll wander the DigiWorld 'til he finds a master. And who knows who that'll be? What happened to the clemency that makes you glow? The compassion and sweetness that earned you the right to be called a queen? The heart that made you Queen Kari, the Child of Light, a gold-banded Lunatsu warrior, and the closest thing to an angel any living human has ever come to?"

Kari didn't respond.

"Queen Kari, you are burying your heart behind your wall," TK said almost poetically, "It may seem like nothing now, but that cursed wall is gonna get bigger. What'll happen if Rumon ends up serving Cifermon? Then the next time the dratted rabbit attacks the village, guess what royal compassionate woman might just end up with little Rumon's blood on her hands….

"I don't know about Gatomon, but I know you can't refuse Rumon, Kari," he continued, "You haven't had enough time for your heart to be eaten away. Because of that and the fact that you're headband is gold, you can't turn him away."

"What?" Kari questioned.

"Your headband is physical proof of you being an Elite Lunatsu warrior," TK said, "Lunatsu—the word in some really old language for 'moon will'—is a martial art of honor, courage, kindness, and having a mind like the moon. The gold-banded warriors are the most advanced. Because you have your gold headband, you cannot disobey your honor. Because of who you are, you cannot disobey your heart.

"If you're gonna turn him away, you have to do it honorably. If you're the reason he can't stay, then you're the one that has to tell him personally. He's on your other shoulder, on Gatomon. Just turn your head toward him, look him in the eye, and say, 'I don't want you; you can't stay here.' Do that, and I'll take him back to Elecmon. What do you say to that?"

"I say that the three of us and Rumon," Kari said, "should back away real slow and not make any sudden moves…."

"Oh, sorry," TK blushed, "I guess I got kinda carried away there…but it's true. Go ahead and tell him he can't stay."

Kari turned to Rumon and looked at his eyes, "I…."

"Be strong, Kari," Gatomon urged, "Remember: you have a wall. You are invincible."

"You…" Kari began.

TK leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Your wall is weakening…."

"You…c…."

"His fate is in your hands, your majesty," TK whispered.

"I don't w—"

"You're not looking at him," TK said.

Kari renewed her stare and said, "I don't w…I don't want…t-to say this…."

"And the wall comes crashing down!" TK cried triumphantly as Kari slumped in defeat.

"What about you, Gatomon?" Patamon asked.

"You have to do the same thing," TK said, "Turn him away yourself."

"But we don't need a servant," Gatomon insisted.

"Don't hate him for what he'll digivolve to," Patamon said, "So what if he'll do everything you say? He'll still be an equal member of our family."

"He's potty trained," TK said.

Gatomon didn't say any thing; she seemed to be in thought. She took Rumon off her head and looked at it. The reflection of a different tiny Digimon could almost be seen in her eyes.

The little green snow-covered Nyaramon.

"Gatomon?" TK asked, "A—?"

"Okay!" Gatomon screamed, glaring up at him with angry and teary eyes. She calmed down a little and said, "The little puff ball can stay…."

"Alright!" TK and Patamon cried. They gave each other a high-five.

"Welcome to our big happy family, Rumon," Patamon said cheerfully.

"Ru! Ru!" Rumon squeaked happily.

"Speaking of Lunatsu," Kari said, "We're late for practice."

TK squeaked and snatched a white outfit off his bed before running into the bathroom. Kari sighed and took her inch-wide gold headband out of her dresser.

A minute or so later, the big happy family was running, flying, or being carried down the streets of Primary Village. TK and Gatomon wore silver bands, and Patamon had a copper-colored collar. They skidded to a stop outside Aikimon's padded dojo. Kari calmly knocked on the doors. A gong sounded and they slid open.

The first thing they saw was a greenish-blue blur bouncing off the walls and swerving around the area full of about ten randomly placed vertical two-by-fours in the corner of the room. The blur slid to a stop on the mats a split second before the two-by-fours blew to splinters.

Kari, TK, Gatomon, and Patamon gaped at the round fist-sized Digimon. He had short arms and legs and a pair of fluffy white ear-like feathers atop his head. His face was lighter colored than the rest of him, and he had black eyes that reflected the hardness of an experienced warrior.

"Did he destroy that wood?" Patamon asked.

"If he keeps that up, Spritemon'll digivolve back to Mega in no time," TK said

The Digimon's black eyes flicked over to them. He said, "I am only a Champion. I have a long way to go before I am Piximon again."

"Children," Aikimon's voice came from the left, "You are late."

"Forgive us, sensei," Kari said as she turned to him and bowed, "We were having a family discussion." Aikimon and the others bowed.

"Spritemon," he said as the little Digimon walked up to the group, "You're session is over. Good day."

"Good day, Master," Spritemon said. He and the sensei bowed. He turned to Kari and the others and bowed to them before they bowed back. He left.

***

"If I were a…" Tai counted on his fingers and mumbled, "seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl who'd been lost in the DigiWorld for eight years, where would I go?" He surveyed the trees almost desperately as the group passed them.

"Talking to yourself again, Tai?" Matt asked.

"Oh, put a sock in it," Tai insisted, "I'm on the brink of insanity; I can ask myself corny questions anytime I want."

"He's got the right to be insane for the same reason you do," Vanessa pointed out. After a moment of thought, she added, "So that's why you've been acting weird the last few years."

"That's not funny," Matt said, "I'm no weirder than the rest of you."

"You're right," Tai nodded, "At least about the 'that's not funny' part. We're missing the other six members of our group, and one of those six is my little sister…. Last time I saw her, she was nine-and-a-half, and she'd nearly bite off my head if I forgot to say the 'and a half' part…. But now she's seventeen, or maybe even eighteen. If I ever see my baby sister again, she won't be a baby anymore."

Matt looked a bit sad and guilty for bugging him. Vanessa sympathetically put her arm around his waist.

"You know she wasn't a baby last time you saw her," Sora said to Tai.

"Yeah, but she wasn't an adult either," Tai moaned, "She still had a year or two before she was a teenager."

"Cheer up," Sora said and kissed his cheek, "Life is always tougher when you're gloomy. Kari misses you too. Just because she's older doesn't mean she doesn't love you anymore."

Tai seemed surprised by what she said, but not much happier.

***

After their class, T.K, Kari, Gatomon, and Patamon walked back home. Rumon was sitting on TK's shoulder, and Patamon was sleeping on his head. TK and Gatomon seemed pooped as well, but Kari looked as fresh as a slightly sweaty daisy.

"Hey, TK?" Kari asked.

"Yeah?" TK mumbled.

"Oramon said you had two things to ask me," Kari said, "I guess one was about Rumon, but what was your other question?"

"Uh… I'll asked you later," TK said, looking nervous.

Kari looked at him strangely but said, "Okay."

TK looked relieved. Gatomon looked up. She hissed. The others followed her gaze.

"Vilemon," Kari realized as she saw several black dots in the sky. After a horn sounded, she said, "The same flying monkeys used by Cifermon and Peidmon."

"They just don't give up," TK said, There were vertical pipes over the exterior wall of fluffy blocks around Primary Village. Big pink bubbles bubbled out of the pipes and formed a dome over the village.

"Gatomon digivolve to, Angewomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!"

The smaller Digimon fled the street while Angemon, Angewomon, and other strong Digimon spread out through the streets.

Angewomon floated out above the fountain in the center of the village. The Vilemon were hacking at the bubble dome, and something else was climbing up it. The bubble at the center of the dome popped.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon called. Her arrow hit the Vilemon as it came through the hole. She tried to hit the orange tadpole-like Gizamon that dropped down, but she missed and hit another Vilemon.

Kari shrieked as the Gizamon landed on her shoulder.

"Kari!" Angewomon cried. TK pried the Gizamon off her and pinned it under his foot.

"Are you okay, Kari?" he asked as she clutched her bloody shoulder and the shredded cloth covering it. She nodded. TK stomped on the Gizamon until it dissolved.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon cried. Several Vilemon and Gizamon vanished as the tried to enter the dome.

"Inferno Cannon!"

"Cifermon?!" Kari demanded.

The rabbit's huge fireball blew a bigger hole in the bubble dome and knocked Angewomon into the fountain. She disappeared.

"Angewomon!" Kari cried.

"Salamon! Look out!" Angemon warned. He was distracted by her and mobbed by the attacking Digimon. Salamon tumbled out of the top basin and splashed into the next one right before a Vilemon would've gotten her.

"Salamon—!" she sputtered and coughed, "digivolve to… Nefertimon!"

"Nefertimon?" TK and Kari wondered.

"Nefertimon is an alternate Champion form of Salamon," Oramon said as she jogged up behind them. A bluish crystal ball appeared in her hand. She held it toward the advancing enemies, cried, "Revelation Fire!" and used it to shoot a blast of blue fire at them. She ran off in hopes of being useful elsewhere.

"Like Pegasusmon for Patamon," TK said.

Nefertimon was a half-wild-cat-half-human-like creature with a pair of large white wings. She stood on fours, her upper body was armored, and she had jeweled gauntlets the ended in green red-striped paws. Her cat-like ears and short hair looked like they were made of yellowish-beige stone. She had gold plating on her forehead and chin, with a snake sculpture on her forehead. Her skin was silvery. Her lips and pupil-less eyes were silvery purple. Her tail had purple stripes and Gatomon's green ring.

She roared, jumped out of the fountain, and shook herself dry. She glared with utter hatred at a similar Digimon that flew in from one of the holes in the dome. It looked almost exactly like Nefertimon, and the biggest difference was the color. The new Digimon head black fur where Nefertimon's fur was white. Her stone-like hair was a dull gray, and the front of it was long, curled down, and adhered to her jewel-less armor. Her dull-gray ears were more pointed, her skin seemed languid, and her eyes were bright red. She had the shredded black wings of a demon, and had the skull symbol of a virus Digimon in place of the jewels on hr gauntlets. She didn't have the green ring of her tail or the snake sculpture on her forehead, and her face carried an evil grin.

"What's that?" TK asked only a split second before Angemon landed on him.

"Oh, are you two okay?!" Kari cried.

"Uh-huh," TK said painfully. Angemon stumbled up and helped him stand.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," TK nodded and picked Rumon up. As Angemon took flight and rejoined the battle, TK spotted Tykemon and Spritemon running toward them. Nefertimon and her near-look-alike had already begun a violent aerial battle.

"What are those things?" Tykemon asked, looking at Nefertimon and the other Digimon. She turned to a nearby Gizamon that another Digimon was battling. She cried, "Yowling Beam! Arrooo!" and shot a white blast from her mouth that destroyed the Gizamon.

"One's Nefertimon," Kari said.

"Oh, I've heard o' her," Tykemon said.

"The other one is… Darknefertimon?" Spritemon wondered, "or Panthemon?" He brought out something that looked vaguely like a six-by-four-inch remote control and said, "I picked this little gizmo up the last time I was out travelling, which was about a month ago."

He handed it to T.K, who asked, "What is it? A cell phone?"

"It's suppose to be a Digimon Analyzer," Spritemon said.

"I wonder if it's anything like the one Izzy has on his computer," Kari thought.

TK pushed the largest of black technical-looking buttons on top. The top half of the plastic plating of the device flipped open to reveal a small screen on its underside and the spot it was hiding. The first screen showed Nefertimon and her opponent ripping at each other with their claws. It zoomed in on the other Digimon as TK pushed another button. The screen froze the picture of her while the Digimon continued to fight. The word, "PANTHEMON" appeared at the top of the screen and the second screen lit up.

"Her name is Panthemon," TK read, "'She's sometimes called Darknefertimon because that's partially what she is. She digivolved from a Salamon with a computer virus.' She's a Virus-type Champion." A white feather floated down in front of his face. He looked up to she Angemon having trouble with the Vilemon. He cried, "Be careful, Angemon!" His symbol of Hope glowed.

"Angemon digivolve to… Magnaangemon!"

"Spritemon, we oughta get to the Hatching Grounds and see how Elecmon's doin,'" Tykemon said.

"Right," Spritemon said. TK gave him his Digimon Analyzer back, and they ran off. Kari spotted a Vilemon flying at her.

"Hiya!" she cried, startling TK, as she jumped and kicked it. It landed dizzily on the ground. Her shoulder was injured, but she used her good arm to pick up the creature and put it in a lethal headlock. It squirmed vainly until it ran out of oxygen, went limp, and dissolved.

"You've always been a weakling," Panthemon mocked as she and Nefertimon continued to battle.

"So have you," Nefertimon shot back, "but I got stronger when I stopped working with Myotismon. It's been a decade and you're still a dolt."

"Cifermon gives me power, fool!" Panthemon exclaimed, all the while slashing at her opponent.

"Kari gives me power," Nefertimon gloated, "and I'm not a slave to her."

"You're a nincompoop," Panthemon insisted.

"Takes one to know one," Nefertimon said. Their battle stopped as she disappeared from sight.

"Where are you, Nefertimon?!" Panthemon demanded. She flew higher and surveyed the area.

"Knock, knock…."

She didn't feel like playing games, but for lack of a better response, she cautiously asked, "Who's there…?"

"Panther."

Panthemon looked up suspiciously, but saw the remainder of the pink bubbles. She asked, "Panther who?" And glanced down.

"'Panther' no 'panth,'" Nefertimon giggled as she somehow tackled her from above, "you're goin' swimmin'!"

Panthemon yowled as Nefertimon's tackle caused her to land heavily in the fountain. Nefertimon landed mockingly atop a nearby wall of giant toy building blocks.

"You're melting…! Melting…!" she jeered.

Panthemon grumbled as she took flight and shook the water off herself. She gave a loud roar. The attention of all the Vilemon and Gizamon seemed to shift to her.

"Get Nefertimon and Magnaangemon!" she ordered and quietly added, "'Cause I have bigger fish to fry and more important jobs to do…."

As the Vilemon and Gizamon regrouped on the two Digimon, Panthemon observed the area. Most of Primary Village's defenders were knocked out and banged up. They were most likely alive, but they were most definitely unimportant. Her eyes stirred to TK and Kari.

Kari was getting beat up pretty bad by the few Digimon that bothered to attack them after Panthemon's order, but she did a fair job of defending herself with her Lunatsu moves. TK was warding them off with what had been a randomly discarded piece of plywood. Rumon was still on TK's shoulder, but he was crying his eyes out.

Panthemon roared and rushed at them.

"Run!" Magnaangemon cried.

TK took his advice, tossed away the plywood, got a better grip on Rumon, grabbed Kari's arm, and bolted.

"Where are we running to?" Kari demanded.

"Anywhere that she's less likely to rip us up," TK said.

"But I…" Kari insisted, "I can take her…really!"

"Yeah," TK said, "When pigs fly… and Patamon's a hamster, not a pig."

"She's not as tough as she looks," Kari protested as they turned between the back walls of some small houses and a wall of giant toy blocks.

"When Tarzan wrestled lions in those old movies," TK said, "They were really exaggerating his strength."

"Why," Kari demanded as they tuned sharply between two houses, "won't you let me try?!"

Panthemon flew past where they'd turned and had to turn back as they turned again. TK said, "You haven't figured out yet?!"

"Nope!"

"Well, duh, it's 'cause I love you!"

Kari visibly softened. She said, "Only you can sound angry and mushy at the same time…!"

"Curse of the Queen!" Panthemon yelled. A shadow-like blob missed TK and Kari's heels by inches. They turned by another street.

"Ya know, if you're question was important," Kari gasped, "you might want to ask me now… just in case you don't get a chance later…."

"Uh…" TK said nervously as they turned again, "I think… that I'd rather wait some more…."

"Suit yourself," Kari accepted.

"Curse of the Queen!"

Again, the attack missed them by inches.

"Then again," TK squeaked, "Uh, I…I, um…. I planned this a lot differently…." They turned again. They were getting closer to where they'd started.

"It's okay," Kari said sweetly yet tiredly, "You know you can always ask me anything."

He blushed upon her smile. His hand slid from her forearm to her hand. He sighed and tried to think as they ran.

"Curse of the Queen!"

"Will you marry me, Tenshi?" he blurted.

"What?!" Kari demanded. As Panthemon's attack hit the ground, it sent a small rock flying. The rock hit Kari in the back of the head. She wasn't hurt badly, but she lost her footing and fell to her knees.

"Are you alright?" TK kneeled by her as Panthemon cast a shadow over them. Vilemon dropped Nyaramon and Tokomon in their laps.

"Sorry," they moaned.

"We're out of energy," Tokomon squeaked.

"Yeah, I…" Kari mumbled to TK. Her eyes widened and she smiled slightly, "The Light…."

"Huh?" TK asked.

"I haven't even hit you yet," Panthemon said, "Don't you think it's a little early to be going into the light?"

Kari seemed to be looking at and trying to touch the sunlight that twinkled in front of her face. The symbol of the Crest of Light glowed on her chest. She began to glow white. TK and their Digimon looked at the bright light easily, but it made the evil Digimon cringe.

Tokomon and Nyaramon went through several digivolving stages so fast that their words slurred together. Pegasusmon and Angewomon took flight as Kari went limp.

"Magi-Blast!" Spritemon cried as he jumped up and hit Panthemon with a star-shaped disk that was thrown like a boomerang.

"Yowling Beam! Arrooo!" Tykemon cried after getting up.

"Cyclone Siphon!" Poseimon hit the enemies with water.

"Lunar Chop!" Aikimon karate-chopped the Gizamon.

"Eminent Shot!" Roemon said as she used the glowing bow and arrow that appeared in her hands.

"Revelation Fire!" Oramon called.

"Thunder Strike!" Elecmon cried.

"King of Beasts!"

"Avian Strike!"

"BUBBLE BLOW!" cried the fifty or so In-training Digimon in the village.

Panthemon used the last of her strength to stay in flight and pushed the remaining Vilemon in front of her.

"Heaven's…" Angewomon began, "Charm!"

The attackers were blown to digi-dust, but Panthemon managed to escape through the shattered remains of the dome. After another horn sounded, the Digimon began to cheer.

"Hail Queen Kari!" they cried. Angewomon and Pegasusmon de-digivolved to Gatomon and Patamon.

"Is she okay?" Gatomon asked TK He was still kneeling by Kari and holding her up.

"Yeah," he said, "She just fainted…like last time."

***

"Come on, Tentomon, lighten up. Can't ya take a joke?"

"I can take jokes just fine," Tentomon grumbled, trying to removing the mud from his wings, "Muddy jokes, on the other, are a different story."

"Yeah, Canimon," Pasthamon said, "You wouldn't want to get all muddy, would you? You're easier to wash off anyway."

"Yeah, good point," the metal canine said, "Sorry, Tentomon."

"It's okay," Tentomon said, "Or at least it will be once I get this mud off."

"Water Blast!" Pasthamon cried. Her blast of water knocked Tentomon onto the ground on the far side of the mud puddle he'd fallen in and washed away the mud that coated him.

"Gee, thanks," Tentomon muttered.

Pasthamon laughed and asked, "Hey, you guys want to play water tag?"

"Uh," Canimon mumbled uneasily, "Let's play regular tag instead."

"Okay," Pasthamon accepted.

"Wow," Levia said. She was sitting in a lawn chair on the patio of Automon's inn with a glass of punch. She looked at Canimon, Tentomon, and Pasthamon run around closer to the river. Izzy, who sat next to her, looked up from his laptop quizzically.

"Wow what?" he asked.

"Even if you're sick of me saying so," Levia told him, "every time I see Canimon playing around with the other Digimon, I can't help but think that he wouldn't be here if it weren't for you…."

"Levia…" he sighed.

"You saved his life, Koushiro," she said, "and nothing you say will stop me from thinking you're amazing."

"Aw, cut it out…" he mumbled modestly and blushed.

Levia pushed her chair closer and hugged him.

***

Kari's eyes fluttered open and looked around. Rumon was on her forehead and looking at her eyes. She was in her bed. Gatomon and Patamon were curled up together on her left. TK was sitting in a chair to the right of the bed and had his head on the edge of her pillow.

She smiled, then looked sad. She quickly wiped away some tears. TK woke up as she kissed him.

"Yes, Koibito," she said. After seeing TK's confused look, she said, "I'll marry you."

"Wow." He beamed and hugged her, "I love you, Tenshi."

"Ru! Ru! RU!" Rumon squeaked, sensing the happiness of the moment.

"If you say that five times fast, you'll sound like a fire engine," Gatomon mumbled as she woke up.

Patamon looked up and saw TK and Kari hugging and Rumon bouncing happily on the pillow. He asked, "Why is everybody so perky?"

"Did you ever get his second question?" Gatomon asked as she stretched.

"Yep," Kari grinned.

"Really?" Patamon demanded, "What'd ya say, what'd ya say?!"

"She said yes," TK said.

"Hey, cool! Congratulations!" Patamon said, "Aren't you happy, Gato?"

"What was the question?" Gatomon asked.

"We're getting married," Kari explained.

"Oh, wow! The big question!" Gatomon exclaimed happily as she hugged Kari and T.K, "Congratulations!" She looked at the charm that hung from her neck and smiled at Patamon.

***

Two months later.

"Do you honor this pendant and its powers?" Elecmon asked, "Do you acknowledge the respect, honor, justice, commitment, and love that it and its counterpart symbolize? Do you swear to hold it always as a key to one another's soul?"

"Yes," TK and Kari said in unison as they slipped a pendant similar to Gatomon and Patamon's over each other's heads. He took her hands in his.

They were assembled among their friends in the prairie in the northern parts of Primary Village, and they wore less-than-tradition wedding attire, by the Real World's standards. TK's suit was definitely not what you'd call a tuxedo, though it was similar. Kari wore a semi-fancy white gown with pinkish lace at the collar. She had a pair of lavender veil-like ornaments in her hair that hung fancily from round gold clips. Elecmon turned to TK

"Do you take her to be your lawfully, tangibly, and spiritually wedded wife? To have and to hold—in sickness or in health, in richness or destitution, in war or peace? To love, honor, and care for until far past death do you part?"

"I do," T.K said humbly. Elecmon asked Kari similar questions.

"I do," Kari answered.

Elecmon held up and six-inch-long smooth white feather. He said, "Hold out your right hands."

They held their right hands out next to each other at chest height.

"To be equals; to be a single being, yet individuals; to be deified and blessed by your bestowed gift; to be a two hearts that beat in unison until far beyond the death of time itself," Elecmon said.

He made four quick movements with the hand that held the feather. The sharpened quill left a cross shape in the palm of TK and Kari's right hand. They didn't cringe or wince as the cuts were made or as blood oozed out of them.

"For honor and Hope," Elecmon began. He swept the downy tip of the feather across TK's cuts, making it bloody, and said, "and for love and Light…" before sweeping the cleaner side of Kari's cuts, "you share your heart as the other's blood runs through your veins…." He swept the opposite sides of the feather over their cuts again. He said, "By the power invested in me by data, the Village, the sky, and an angel's feather…."

He threw the feather upward. It went unnaturally high for a feather, glowed, exploded, and showered TK and Kari in soft bloodless bits of down.

"…I now pronounce you Takeru and Hikari Takaishi, human and wife…" Elecmon said, "You may now kiss the bride."

"Wow, so happy," Patamon whispered to Gatomon and Rumon as he used a camera to take a picture of TK and Kari kissing, "My eyes are so teary, I can't even see what I'm taking pictures of."

"That why I'm video-taping," Gatomon whispered. She turned her head to see past her video camera and said, "I know they wanted Tai, Matt, and the others here, but they know that the rest of the gang wouldn't want their lack of presence make them upset."

***

One month later.

"And you can kiss…!" Mimi sang, "Kiss this—and I don't mean on my rosy red lips. 'Cause me and you; we're through; and there's only one thing left for you to do! Just come on over here one last time; pucker up and close your eyes…and kiss this… goodbye!"

The crowd cheered as the curtain lower and Mimi bowed. Joe came over to her from backstage and started to say something, but she practically collapsed on him before he got the chance.

"Imagine, if you will," she said, "trying to sing and dance in front of a bunch of Digimon with a watermelon strapped to your stomach."

"You did a good job anyway, Hon,'" Joe offered, "You're remarkable. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Mimi mumbled, still using him for balance. Instead of one of her usual oddly stylish outfits, she wore a long dark blue dress, sandals, and the traditional wedding pendant. The pendant was dark blue and turquoise, and the dress was baggy enough for her to be comfortable with her round augmented belly.

"That's good," Joe said, "I love you, Mimi." His hair was more neatly kept than it had been when he was younger, and he had new glasses. He had more professional looking clothes, including a white shirt, blue blazer, and khaki pants.

"Do you really think I can handle being a mother and a music star?" Mimi asked hopefully.

"As your doctor, I say yes because you and the baby are very healthy; you just have to take it easy for a while," Joe answered. "As your manager, I say yes because you are a terrific singer, and no miracle of birth will change that. As your husband, I say yes because I believe in you."

"You're sweet," Mimi said.

"Maybe you should take maternity leave for a while," Joe suggested. Seeing Mimi's pained look, he said, "Mimi, you're seven-and-a-half months along; I'm sure you don't want to go into labor or have a contraction in the middle of your show."

"Yeah, sure," Mimi said, "No more shows after what's scheduled until I get back on my feet."

"Ya know, that DigiEgg we found?" Gomamon asked Palmon, behind Joe and Mimi, "It sure is taking its time about hatching…. I'm wondering if it's real."

"We'll see in due time," Palmon said, "Not all DigiEggs are cooperative with the 'just rub them gently' rule."

"Yeah…" Gomamon said. Seeing Mimi's upset expression, he offered, "Don't worry, Mimi Your adoring fans won't quite keel over and die if you go on a vacation for a while."

"Hope you recover soon," said Gekomon, who was behind them with a small guitar.

"We'll still rehearse, right?" Numemon asked from his seat at the drum set.

"We'll rehearse even if she can't sing with us," Otamamon said, randomly playing a few notes on his keyboard.

"I will sing with you," Mimi said almost defensively.

"Even if she can't dance," Palmon added. She aimlessly twirled her recorder in one hand. Mimi groaned.

***

Soon… I'll rip them apart. Light Creatures are miserable without their offspring…almost as miserable as me….

Six months later.

"Are you going to publish that?" Tentomon asked Izzy, who slipped on a pair of glasses and continued typing at his laptop.

"If it's worth it," Izzy answered. He leaned back in his chair.

"What's it called?" Levia asked.

"Robotics: The Key to Efficiency," Izzy answered, "Unless I decide on a better title."

"Is it about how efficient robots are?" Pasthamon asked, "If so, you can't get a better title."

"Hello?" someone called.

Levia dashed to the lowest section of the service counter in the room as two Tsunomon and a Punimon bounced through the front door of the inn. As she spoke to them, Tentomon asked Izzy, "Do you think those portable Digimon Analyzers you made were helpful to people?"

"Probably," Izzy said, "I hope the others get a hold of some of those."

"They'd certainly be very useful," Tentomon agreed, "Speaking of the others, isn't it time for our daily rounds?"

"Yeah," Izzy nodded.

"Let us know if you need room service," Levia said as a Tsunomon handed her some money in exchange for a key, "Otherwise, lunch is in about an hour and a half."

"Thank you," the Digimon said.

"We're going searching again," Izzy called to Levia.

"Okay, be careful," she said.

"Don't worry," Izzy said.

"Good luck," Pasthamon said.

Minutes later, Kabuterimon flew over the forests surrounding Automon's inn. Izzy gripped his helmet-like carapace with one hand and held up a set of binoculars with the other. He held the binoculars down and let go of Kabuterimon just long enough to pull his Digivice out of his lab coat pocket and look at it. He sighed, seeing no signal, and returned to his previous position.

"Any preferred direction?" Kabuterimon asked.

Izzy considered a moment. He sighed again and shouted, "West."

"Gotcha," Kabuterimon said. He turned away from the late-morning sun.

Izzy continued his role in the search. He murmured to himself so quietly that he could barely hear himself over the buzzing sounds of his Digimon's wings, "The others have to be on File Island. They wouldn't leave unless the group was together. It doesn't make sense…. When we first came to the DigiWorld, we had no clue of what we were doing, and the island was split to pieces… and yet we still found our ways back together.

"But now the island is whole, we have a lot of experience, and our Digimon are strong… but after eight years—eight whole years—we're still lost. How…?" They approached the coast, so he called, "Follow the shoreline a while."

***

"Toy Town," Matt released as he, Tai, Sora, Vanessa, and their Digimon gazed beyond the treetops to the tips of the castle-like towers.

"Maybe Monzeamon's still there," Sora said, "He might know where the others are."

"Maybe," Tai said.

"Won't hurt to check," Vanessa said optimistically.

"Mmm-hmm," Tai mumbled. He stood straighter and more assertively said, "Let's go," before taking the lead. The others made no attempt to copy his falsely-energetic strides as they trailed wearily along behind him.

A few minutes later, they stood in an intersection of the cobbled roads of Toy Town. A small army of wind-up toy soldiers marched past them.

"This place is weird," Vanessa mumbled as she watched them pass.

"Monzeamon?" Biyomon called loudly.

"Are you here, Monzeamon?" Agumon called.

A toy fire engine drove in front of them, parked, made a few pinging noises, and began to drive down the street before them. Picamon looked at it questioningly.

"Even if Monzeamon isn't around, I'm sure there's another Digimon around to run this place," Gabumon pointed out.

The fire truck began to drive backward until it was in front of them again. It repeated its previous actions.

"Maybe we should follow this little truck," Picamon suggested.

The truck pinged loudly.

"Wouldn't hurt to try," Agumon said. Tai started of after the truck, and the others followed.

Sure enough, they followed the truck to a workshop and found Monzeamon there. He had been repairing one of those 'Techno' robotic dogs. He stop what he was doing and hugged them all at once.

"How have you all been?! It's great to see you! You so look different!" he said.

"Time will do that to you," Matt gasped under the force of the bear's hug.

"When was the last time you saw any of the other DigiDestined?" Tai asked.

Monzeamon sat them down and thought. He said, "The time Togemon freed me from that Black Gear."

"Man, that was ages ago," Sora said.

"Mmm-hmm," Monzeamon agreed.

They began a five-hour-long conversation starting with the Dark Master, then how they'd been while in the Real World. A question about the Techno continued the conversation about Monzeamon's toy repairing and how he needed some workers to help him. The mention of salaries shifted to talking about DigiDollars versus Yen and US dollars. It was then that everyone realized Vanessa and Picamon had not been introduced. After the introduction, nobody remembered where the conversation had been, so it went back to the toy-repair business.

As if everyone's stomachs had gotten together and planned the whole thing, they all growled unison. Monzeamon seemed a bit surprised.

"You all look like you haven't eaten in months!" he said, "Come have some soup."

Over the greedily eaten soup, the conversation went back to the toy-repair business.

"Are the eight of you unemployed?" Monzeamon asked.

Apparently no one had realized that they were, in fact, unemployed adults. They said, "Yes," is unison. Monzeamon smiled.

***

6 months later…

"'Listen; can you here the sound?'" Mimi sang, "Hearts beating; All the world around? Down in the valleys; Or out on the plains; Everywhere in the DigiWorld; A heart beat sounds the same.

"'Black or white, pink or crimson; It's the heart of each dear Digimon; Oh-oh, beatin' away; Oh-oh, beatin' away; Oh-oh-oh, beatin' away.'

"'Listen; Can you hear the sound? Laughter; All the world around? Up in a mountain; Or down in the sea; Everywhere in the DigiWorld; Laughter sounds the same to me.'

"'Black or white, pink or crimson; It's the sound of each dear Digimon; Oh-oh, laughin' away; Oh-oh, laughin' away; Oh-oh-oh, laughin' away.'

"'Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; LA…………O-o-o-oh…. Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; Ooh, la, la, la, la, la; LA…………O-o-o-oh….'

"'Listen; Can you hear the sound? Singing; All the world around? Out in the desert; Or by signs for a street; Everywhere in the DigiWorld; Singing always sounds so sweet.'

"'Black or white, pink or crimson; It's the voice of each dear Digimon; Oh-oh, singin' away; Oh-oh, singin' away; Oh-oh-oh, singin' away…; Oh-oh, beatin' away; Oh-oh, laughin' away; Oh-oh-oh, singin' away.'"

As Mimi's voice and the music faded away after a four-second long note on the last syllable of "away," Joe applauded quietly. The little blue-haired girl in his lap applauded just because he was. A tiny black Digimon that sat atop her head bounced up and down enthusiastically to make up for the lack of hands.

Mimi gasped for breath and slumped wearily. She forced a smile toward her three fans before walking over to them. Gomamon, Palmon, Numemon, Otamamon, and Gekomon sat their instruments down and went about ordinary business.

"Bibu! Bibu, bibu!" the little black Digimon squeaked. She looked a lot like Yokomon' baby level: tiny, black, and having the appearance of a plant seed with a tiny seedling sticking out upward. It also had, however, tiny little fins and a tail to make it look like a fish. She apparently began bouncing a bit too hard.

"Gah!" the little girl squealed. She reached up and smacked the baby off her head.

"WAHHH!" wailed the baby after landing unharmed on the floor.

"Kasandora," Mimi reprimanded, "Bad girl! You have to be nice to Bibumon. She's almost like your twin sister. She hatched just a few seconds after you were born. Be nice and give Bibumon a hug." She picked Bibumon, who then stopped her wailing, up off the floor and handed her to Kasandora. Kasandora hugged the little Digimon.

"There ya go," Joe said, "Good girl."

Mimi smiled.

"I got a call this morning," Joe said to Mimi, "You interested in Vegimon's Diner? The pay's good."

"Sounds good to me," Mimi said.

"I have a big list of places further off that want you to perform there," Joe said, "How would you like to go on tour? For about a year? Starting six months from now."

Mimi blinked for a few seconds. She stammered, "T-tour…? Oh, wow! I'd love to go on tour! We might finally find our friends! Where to?"

"There's…" Joe pulled out a notepad and read it, "The Koromon Village, Analytical City, and Machi City on Server. Then there's Glaci Village, Dossier Town, and Gizaville in the Arctic North. Then there's the Kittimon Village, the Yokomon Village, and Primary Village here on File Island."

"Great!" Mimi said, "I can't wait!"

"Well, while you're struggling to wait," Joe said, "Work on "Listen." You seemed a bit off pitch…."

Mimi groaned and trudged back to her microphone. As her band assembled, Joe put Kasandora with Bibumon in a nearby stroller.

"Ya know, Mimi," Palmon said, "You did seem awfully off-pitch. Maybe you're just having a bad day."

"Do some vocal scales," Joe suggested, "I'll get you something to drink."

"Thanks," Mimi said. After Joe left and Otamamon gave her the first note of the keyboard, she sang, "Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do…do, ti, la, sol, fa, mi, re, do…."

"You are having a bad day," Numemon said.

"You were flat coming down," Gekomon informed.

Mimi sighed and started over.

"Do?" Kasandora wondered from the stroller, "Rrrr…."

"Bibu?" Bibumon questioned.

"Mi," Kasandora voiced.

"Bibu! Bibu!" Bibumon said excitedly.

***

6 months later…

"I-I can't believe it…" Kari stammered, her eyes full of joyful tears, "I'm…I'm a mommy… I can't believe it!" She was sitting up in bed and smiling at the baby in her arm. TK was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders.

"He's cute!" Patamon said cheerfully as he flew over the baby's head.

"What'd you say his name is?" Gatomon asked. She sat on the bed near Kari's waist. She was leaning forward on a DigiEgg. It was white with yellow and pink horizontal stripes.

"Hikeru," Kari answered softly.

"Your tea, madam," a Subjimon with lavender spots and bright blue said quietly as he entered the room with a cup of hot tea. Kari handed the baby to TK and took the cup.

"Thank you Subjimon," she said, "but please don't call me madam."

Subjimon started to say something, but stopped. He hesitated and sat on the edge of the bed. Kari smiled and thought, He was probably about to say, 'Yes, ma'am,' or something.

Gatomon suddenly squeaked and jumped so high she nearly hit her head on the ceiling. She landed back on the bed and relaxed and she looked at the wiggling egg.

"It's…hatching," Patamon said, astonished.

"'Bout time," said Gatomon.

POOF! When the pink dust cleared, there was a tiny pink Digimon where the egg had been. It was round and a little smaller than a person's fist. It had small triangular ears, black eyes, and a tiny black nose. It probably had a mouth, but that wasn't visible.

"Taki!" the baby squeaked. It jumped at Gatomon.

"Hey!" Gatomon protested before she realized it was only jumping into her arms.

"Taki! Taki!" the baby cooed.

"Takimon?" Gatomon wondered. She smiled.

"Why do I get a feeling we're going to adopt another kid?" TK whispered goodheartedly to Kari. She just smiled.

"Hello, Takimon," Patamon said to the Digimon after Gatomon set him down. He sounded more caring than he usually did when aquatinting himself with newborns. Takimon attempted to hug Patamon and then started to wander around and become familiar with the others in the room.

Hikeru giggled as Takimon hopped up onto him.

"Taki!" Takimon said.

"Wow, they're friends already," TK said. He glanced at Kari, expecting her to comment. Yet she just nodded, smiled warmly, and sipped her tea. Her eyelids were drooping; she was probably still tired.

TK kissed the top off her and brushed her hair out of her face.

***

1 year later…

"Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon!"

Matt jumped up onto Garurumon's back. Vanessa handed him a box and a piece of paper. He said, "Stop giving me that look like you're never gonna see me again. I'm just gonna drop these toys off at the Kittimon Village. I'll be right back."

"Are you sure that map's reliable?" Vanessa asked.

"Who made it?"

"Sora, Picamon, and Monzeamon."

"Then it's fine," Matt insisted.

"We have to go," Garurumon insisted.

"Say hi to my friends for me," Picamon requested.

"Okay," Matt said, "Bye, Vanessa."

"Hey, be careful!" Vanessa cried as Garurumon ran off.

"Don't worry," Picamon said, "He'll be fine. He should be back by tonight."

***

"Hold still!" Izzy snapped at the horse-like thing he was fighting with. It stopped its struggling abruptly. It was a robotic version of a Digimon, a unicorn with short flightless wings. Izzy continued stretching the furry pink cloth over the robot's chain-mail-like plating. The cloth had long thin gold strings hanging near the zipper, so it looked like a golden mane. The mane was shorter along its spine, it had had a tail that nearly touched the ground. The pink "fur" along the back of the bottom half of all four legs was a bit longer and hid the zippers well.

The robot made a nickering sound as Izzy stepped back to check out the alignment of the thing's fur. The horn was steel-colored instead of white, and it's mane was messy. Otherwise, it looked perfect.

"Levia!" Izzy called.

"Just a minute!" Levia called. She came in, followed by Tentomon and a short non-realistic wheeled robot that had busboy hat and a tray of sandwiches. She walked through the room full of tables that were piled high with metal, wires, and blueprints.

"What do you think," Izzy asked.

"Wow. Is that it?" Levia asked, "It looks just like a real Pengamon."

"That's it," Izzy said as Pasthamon came in.

"Looks nice," she commented, "Which one is it?"

"RPM3000C," Izzy said.

"You'll give fur to A and B too?" Tentomon asked. Izzy nodded.

"But she's so cute," Levia protested, "Can't you give her a cuter name? She's got to have a nickname. You're going to get tired of saying, 'RPM3000C,' every time you give her orders."

"It'll respond to 3C," Izzy said defensively.

"No matter what the nickname is, robots—even cute robots—need robotic names," Tentomon said, "Unless they're Digimon."

"If you don't say it like it's a number and a letter," Levia said, "Thresee is a cute name. Don't you think so, Thresee?" She stroked the robot's nose. It nickered.

"Hmm…" Izzy wondered.

"'Hmm' what?" Tentomon asked as Thresee rubbed her head affectionately against Levia's lab coat.

"It seems a bit different than the other 3000's," Izzy said, "It's acting more emotional. I may have made an error in its programming."

"You call stronger artificial emotions and error?" Tentomon asked.

"Yes, but only because it wasn't intentional," Izzy said, "As long as there are no other problems, I'll keep it the way it is."

"I hope you don't have to reprogram her," Levia said, "She's perfect just the way she is now."

Izzy sighed, "See, this is why I didn't want to give her a personalized name. Once you name something, you get attached to it. If something happens to it now, you going to be upset."

"Izzy, you're more robotic than your busboys," Levia said. She started to gesture toward the robot in the busboy hat, but it had already set its tray down and left the room.

Izzy stiffened and said, "I'm just being practical."

"I'll take her out and get some food," Levia said.

"Uh," Izzy said quickly.

"What? Isn't that what she's for?" Levia asked, "Transportation?"

"But I don't know how disrupt her programming is," Izzy said, "I don't know how reliable she is."

"You put tracers on them all, don't you?" Levia asked, "I'll take Pasthamon with me. None of us will get lost."

"But she might be dangerous," Izzy insisted, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You know that I don't want you to get hurt."

"I thought you didn't like to get all mushy while you're at work…."

Izzy sighed, exasperated, and said, "You can go if you take the Sparrow."

"Fine, change the subject," Levia said, just to annoy him. She accepted, "I'll take your little flying camera if you want. See ya."

Izzy sighed and said, "Bye."

***

"Hello, everyone," TK said as he and Patamon entered the kitchen. He ruffled Hikeru's brown hair. The baby was sitting in a highchair near the table while eating some cookies. TK turned toward Kari, Gatomon, and Roemon and immediately had something square-shaped and the size of a small cookie shoved into his mouth.

"We're perfecting a new pie," Kari informed, "What do you think?"

"Ish guh," TK mumbled. Seeing that this wasn't very understandable, he gave the thumbs up sign.

Kari smiled, "That's good…. It's good to see you." She kissed his cheek and hugged him. He swallowed the pie fragment and started to say something. He was cut off by the emergency alarm.

"Trouble," Gatomon said.

"Subjimon, watch the kids," Kari ordered. She dash out of the kitchen, followed by everyone but Subjimon, Hikeru, and Takimon.

A few minutes later everyone rushed out of the quaint-looking little house and saw a huge pack of Gizamon. They were attacking a frightened-looking huddle of Tanemon.

"Gatomon digivolve to…Angewomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

The angels took flight as a group of Limimon appeared from around a building. They were only Rookies but they had sharp fangs and high numbers.

Something recently added to TK and Kari's belongings were swords, which were often sheathed at their waists. TK pulled his sword out, and Kari started to until she heard Leomon's voice from down the street.

"Kari! We need you on defense!"

TK stood protectively in front of her as Kari's hand left her sword hilt and she closed her eyes and pictured things…. Hikeru playing with Takimon or giggling as she lifted him up, Gatomon and Takimon bouncing playfully around the living room and making a mess, or her and TK spending time together. Her Crest glowed pink as the rest of her became white. A pair of glowing wings sprouted smoothly from her shoulder blades, and the glowing stopped.

TK stood out of her way and gave her a nod of encouragement. She gave her wings some flightless test flaps and folded them around her shoulders before running out to provide some help to her fellow Primary Villagers.

"Eminent Shot!" Roemon shouted, shooting a nearby Gizamon.

Despite the hundred or so evil Digimon that had invaded the village, the battle was over very quickly with few casualties for the villagers. Leomon, Spritemon, Remogremon, Roemon, Poseimon, Oramon, Reptimon, Aikimon, Angemon, Angewomon, TK, and Kari were the village's best fighters. Kari couldn't fight with her wings, but she could used a lot of energy by flying with them. She could shield Digimon as well, while she helped them get to the hospital.

After the fight Gatomon, Patamon, TK, Remogremon, and Reptimon went up to Kari after the battle. She was on her hands and knees in the street. Her wings had faded away and she was breathing hard.

"Are you okay, Kari?" TK asked, kneeling next to her.

She nodded and smiled.

"You did a good job today," Reptimon said cheerfully. He was a three-to-four-foot-long green boa-like snake. He had four short legs, small claws, yellow-green diamonds along his back, and big friendly blue eyes.

"Not a fatal wound at all," Remogremon said. He looked a lot like Ogremon, having Digivolved from him. He looked like a very large, fairly handsome, green-skinned human. He still had long white hair, spikes, and a club.

"That's good," Kari said, "'Cause I'm…" she yawned, "…tired…."

"Let's call it a day then, Tenshi," TK said. He lifted his tired wife into his arms and carried her back to their house.

He set her in a chair at the table and gave her some coffee. He sat quietly as the others came in.

"Is somebody hiding something?" Kari asked, noticing everyone's silence.

"No," TK said, "We're not hiding anything, we just haven't put forth the effort of letting you see it yet."

"What's up, Koibito?" she asked.

TK moved his chair closer to hers and began stroking her hair. He said, "Elecmon wants Patamon and me to go run an errand for him. Pick something up from the Yokomon Village and Toy Town."

"So?" Kari asked.

"Is that it?" Gatomon asked, "I was expecting some big news."

"Uh…" Patamon said, "We're picking up too much for us to carry. We'd have to go with a cart."

Kari spit out her coffee in surprise.

"What?!" Gatomon demanded as Kari coughed.

"A cart?!" Kari cried, "A cart, as in a four-wheeled piece of junk made of wood that's too big to fly with? That has to be pulled and moves slowly?"

"Yeah…that's it," TK said.

"So…how long would this trip take you?" Kari asked silkily.

"About a day and a half," TK said.

"One way…" Patamon specified.

***Earth Date: 3 years AA***

***DigiDate: 14 years AA***

(AA = After Apocalymon)

M'nai's sharp brown eyes watch the screen in front of her from beneath the hood of her cloak. The golden Digimon was draped across her shoulders asleep. It hadn't been hard to fall asleep there since M'nai had leaned against the control panel and had remained perfectly still for a long time. She stood up, dumping the startled Digimon onto the floor.

"Can't you warn me before you come out of one of your statue phases?" the Digimon said irritably.

M'nai lifted a tiny inch-high copper hourglass off the metal shelf near the screen. The silver sand had nearly filled the bottom half, but only one grain dropped every two minutes or so.

"We're running out of time," she said, "We have six more days." She turned the hourglass upside down, but the next grain of sand fell upward, so she righted it and sat it back on the shelf.

"Six kids have to be born in six days?" the Digimon asked, "Is that possible?"

"Not for humans," M'nai said, "It takes nine months."

"So…we have a problem?" the Digmon concluded.

"Not quite," M'nai said, "Do you now how some baby Digimon are born, Flaxemon?"

"They all come from DigiEggs," the Digimon said, "but some DigiEggs are formed from the Love of two Digimon. Wasn't that how the five new Digimon were being born?"

"Mmm-hmm," M'nai nodded, "It takes copies of their genetic code, so the child is biologically theirs." She turned toward Flaxemon with a slight grin, "But it works on humans too, doesn't it?"

"I have no idea," Flaxemon answered.

"It has to," answered M'nai. She turned back to the screen. It showed TK and Kari arguing about the trip to Yokomon Village and Toy Town. Gatomon and Patamon were sitting nearby, looking disgruntled, while Subjimon cleaned the coffee of the table and Hikeru and Takimon obliviously ate cookies.

"They're fine, aren't they?" Flaxemon asked. M'nai nodded.

The screen flipped to show Mimi dancing with Kasandora, who was two years old now, while Bibumon bounced up and down on a drum.

"Fine," M'nai mumbled.

The screen changed to show Tai and Sora walking in the streets of Toy Town holding hands. Sora laughed as Tai made a joke about something. M'nai clicked on each of them, pushing a series of buttons on the keyboard. Two windows popped up in the corner, each with a red cloud-like thing faintly resembling the Crest of Love. More buttons were pushed. The windows and the cloudy things merged together, forming a reddish-gold egg. The same thing happened with Agumon and Biyomon, forming a pinkish-orange egg with hearts and suns on it.

The cloudy things—Love—for Matt and Vanessa formed a blue-green egg. Picamon and Gabumon's egg was yellow with green diamonds and blue Friendship-shapes.

Izzy and Levia's Love formed an egg of a purplish color. Tentomon and Pasthamon, who'd long since gotten over their denial of caring for each other, had a light blue egg with darker stripes.

M'nai pushed a few more buttons. The screen switched to the Hatching Grounds. The six eggs landed on the cushions. One of M'nai's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"The humans' ones are bigger," Flaxemon said, stating the obvious.

"No matter," M'nai said, "To Elecmon, children are children, and children come from eggs. They'll be fine."

***

The next afternoon…

"Hey, Pegasusmon?" TK asked, "Do you have any suggestions as to what to write?"

"Hmm," Pegasusmon said from his position at the front of the cart he was pulling, "Tell her we walked."

"I did," TK said. He impatiently tapped his pencil against the pad of paper he was holding. He was wearing a white and gold cloak over his white Primary Village Council uniform.

"What do you have so far?"

"'Dear Kari and Gatomon,'" TK read, "'How are you? The weather is fine and we're moving quickly. Today we walked and then we walked. After that we walked some more. How was you day? Tell Subjimon and the kids we said 'hi.''"

"Close it," Pegasusmon said.

"Fine," TK shrugged and wrote, "'See you soon, TK and Pegasusmon.'"

***

One day later…

TK and Patamon were in the grass to the side of the dirt trail they'd been on. They were underneath the cart. The area was cramped, but not that difficult to be in, seeing that the rain was pouring.

"'We'll be two days late,'" TK said as he wrote.

"This is about a day-long delay," Patamon said.

"But it's always nice to have things turn out to be not quite as bad as you expected them to be."

"So you're lying?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Oh, well."

***

One day later…

"What are the boxes for?" Matt asked as he stuffed a bunch of teddy bears inside them. He was in a store room with Tai and Monzeamon.

"I'm sending the toys to Primary Village where there are kids to play with them," Monzeamon said, "We have to pack everything quickly. We need to have ten boxes full in thirty minutes."

"We already have three boxes," Tai said.

Thirty minutes later, one of the Bukamon that worked at Toy Town turned upon a salutation from someone behind him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to pick something up for Primary Village," TK said, standing next to Pegasusmon.

"Oh, I'll take you to the stuff," Bukamon said. As they went through the cobbled streets, they passed a Tanemon and Nyaromon.

"Ooh, who are they?" the Nyaromon asked.

"I don't know," Tanemon said. She drooped and moaned, "but they're married!"

"Here it is," Bukamon said, once arriving before the building, "I'll go get Monzeamon." He hovered into the building.

"Why don't you take a rest?" TK said to Pegasusmon.

He de-digivolved and said, "I wonder if they'll mind me taking a look inside." He flew inside and the first thing he saw was Gabumon at a bench sewing up a teddy bear. He stuttered, "G-Gabumon?"

"Yes?" Gabumon asked, looking up. He looked surprised.

"M-M-Matt's G-Gabumon?"

"Uh-huh…" mumbled Gabumon, looking awed.

"Boom Bubble! Pwah!"

Gabumon leaped out of the way of Patamon's Boom Bubble. He shouted, "Patamon!" and thought, There have been previous times where good Digimon were turned evil. Is that why Patamon's attacking me? He looks awfully mad. He yelled, "Blue Blaster! Hah!"

"Pwah!" spat Patamon. His Boom Bubble dissolved the Blue Blaster and added another splotch on the wallpaper.

"Gabumon!" someone yelled as they ran in sensing trouble, "Pepper Breath! Poy!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Sparkle Blast!"

"Pwah! Pwah! Pwah!" The bubbles blocked the attacks easily.

"Hey, what's going on in here?!" TK demanded, rushing through the door. Monzeamon, Bukamon, Vanessa, and Sora came through the other door.

"ELEVEN YEARS!" Patamon screamed to Picamon, Biyomon, Agumon, and Gabumon, who were cornered in the edged of the room, "ELEVEN WHOLE YEARS! YOU WEREN'T AT THE KOROMON VILLAGE! YOU WEREN'T AT THE KITTIMON VILLAGE! YOU WEREN'T AT THE YOKOMON VILLAGE! AND YOU TRAVEL SO MUCH, WHO KNOWS WHERE YOU WERE?! But ME?! I'm always in the same place! Primary Village! But did you visit me?! Did you call me?! Email me?! Send me a letter?! Give me anything to even suggest that you're even still alive?! NO! YOU DIDN'T! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU MORONS?! I outta rip you to shreds! Or maybe blast some holes into your thick sculls so that those little rotted pea-sized over-dense cobweb-covered ROCKS that morons use as brains can get some oxygen!

"But I won't! Ya know why?! 'Cause I missed you!" These last words were whiney as Patamon hugged Gabumon.

"Did I miss something?" TK asked.

"TK?" Sora demanded, "Is that you?!"

TK turned to her. He blinked several times. He stuttered, "S-Sora? Vanessa? I am TK."

After a moment of silence, the girls rushed forward. Sora cried, "Oh, TK! It's great to see you again!"

"You bet!" Vanessa cried as they hugged him.

"Oh, last time we saw you, you were so little!" Sora said as they pulled away.

"But now you're taller than us," Vanessa said. After a moment of consideration, she added, "And you're cuter than Matt!"

"Matt?" TK asked, "Is he here? And the others?"

"Just us, Matt, and Tai," Sora said, "Come on! Ya gotta see 'em!"

"So why didn't you visit me?" Patamon asked irritably after the girls dragged TK out of the room. He took flight.

"Uh… I forget where you lived," Gabumon said.

Patamon moaned in disbelief and fell to the floor.

***

One day later…

TK and his old friends decided that they'd all go back to Primary Village, but TK was flooded by a tidal wave of questions which he promised to answer on the way. The others didn't mind riding in the back of the cart in front of the boxes.

"Do you know where Kari is?" was the most commonly repeated question, asked by Tai obviously.

"What have you been doing all these years?" Matt asked.

"How'd you make a living?" Sora asked.

"How'd you get the fancy clothes?" Vanessa asked.

"Are any of the others in Primary Village?"

"Has Cifermon been bugging you?"

"Have you been eating okay?"

"Do you take care of baby Digimon?"

"Why are you picking this stuff up?"

"What's in the boxes from Yokomon Village?"

"Does anyone know where you are?"

"Wait a minute! Only ten questions at a time!" TK protested, "Yes, teaching and fighting, teaching, Kari and her friends sew, just Kari, yes, yes, yes, Elecmon asked me to, I think it's baby formula, and Kari and Elecmon have the basic idea…. I think I got those in the right order."

"You do know where Kari is?!" Tai asked excitedly.

"Well he should know where she is!" Picamon said laughingly, having climbed up into the front seat next to TK, "After all, according to the pendant he's wearing, he's married to her."

TK's face reddened and he closed his hand shyly over his wedding charm as seven pairs eyes widened in surprise.

"Um, yeah," he stammered. There was an odd moment of silence in which he looked at Pegasusmon and thought, Can't you move any faster, you sorry excuse for an equine animal?!

He wondered if he'd said it out loud when Pegasusmon turned his head and looked at him questioningly. The steed's wing-like ears twitched.

"Uh, congratulations," Sora said, breaking the silence. Vanessa nodded,

"You're married?" Matt asked in disbelief.

"To my sister?" Tai demanded.

"Um, yeah," TK repeated nervously.

"You know," Tai said, mostly to Matt, "eleven years ago I knew they liked each other. But I said to myself, 'They're still little kids, they're not even dating yet. I'll wait another year or so before I scare TK witless with the keep-your-hands-off-my-sister talk.'"

TK was pulled by his hair to a position where he was leaning backwards and couldn't avoid eye-contact with Tai, who said, "But I assume you did anyway, right? Being the intelligent, trustworthy, still-living, person that you are…."

"Uh…. No comment," TK said.

Tai sighed, sounding angry, and let go of TK's hair. TK sat back in his seat and concentrated on the road until a large purple pelican-like Digimon landed next to him.

"Package?" the Digimon asked.

"Here," TK said. He pulled an envelope out of his cloak and handed it to the Digimon. The Digimon stuffed it in the bottom half of his beak with more mail and started to fly off. TK called, "Oh, wait! I forgot to finish addressing it!"

"Does it have your wife's name on it?" the Digimon called down.

"Yeah, but—"

"It'll get there, trust me!"

"Do you hear something?" Pegasusmon asked, slowing slightly.

TK listened for a moment, "Nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"

Pegasusmon stopped completely and listened. He said, "Give me a moment," and unfastened himself from the cart.

"Hey!" TK shouted as Pegasusmon ran off into a nearby stand of trees, "Where do ya think you're going without me!"

"Stay there! I'll be right back!"

"Jeez," TK muttered, "If he has to go to the bathroom he could just say so…."

"Moro-o-o-o-o-o-oh!" something bellowed after a few minutes.

"What was that?" Sora demanded.

"I don't know, but I've heard it before," TK said.

"Same here," Tai said. Matt and Sora nodded. They all waited for several minutes.

Pegasusmon… TK thought, What's wrong with you, going off by yourself? Come on, get back here….

The sound of galloping hooves approached.

"Oh, here he comes," Vanessa said.

"That's eight hooves," TK said.

"Wha kind of Digimon has eight hooves?" Matt asked.

TK shook his head, "He's being followed. He's running fast and…."

He trailed off as Pegasusmon bust into view yelling, "TK! TK! Look who I found!" Another horse, a pink one, followed right behind him. The two steeds skidded to a stop, revealing the rider of the Pengamon.

"Levia?!" Sora demanded.

"Hi everyone!" Levia beamed. Pasthamon was in her lap. A small silver sparrow-like thing began circling her head. She raised her hand and smacked it away with little thought and went back to greeting everyone in a smiley manner.

***

One day later…

"Bo, bo, bo!" Kari sang into a metal pipe just large enough to roll a baseball inside of it. She smiled at the Botamon inside.

"Bo, b-bo, bo, bo!" sand Botamon.

"Bo, b-bo, bo, bo!" mimicked Kari. She smiled, giggled, and hopped back a step. Botamon wiggled forward a few inches and continued singing. Kari copied him and hopped back again.

"I thought she was supposed to be getting him out of there," Tykemon said to Remogremon, who held the pipe at Kari's chest level, Gatomon, Reptimon, and Elecmon.

"She's got some kinda plan going," Gatomon said.

She mimicked the Botamon several times, always jumping back a few inches. The Botamon wiggled forward in response, and he accidentally left the pipe which he'd tried so hard to hide in. She caught him, giggling, "I caught you! I caught you! Now come play with us, cutie!"

"Bota!" Botamon squeaked cheerfully, his bad mood having been erased because he didn't object or hold a grudge from the fact he was tricked.

"C'mon!" Kari said. Her wings glistened in the sunlight as she jogged over to Hikeru, Takimon, and the other baby Digimon.

She placed Botamon among the others and tossed a large red ball into the air. Some of the babies grouped together and bounced up underneath it. It was knocked back up, and it landed by Hikeru. It bounce and knocked him down when he tried to grab it. He made a face and started giggling. Kari caught the ball when it bounced passed him and helped him up off the cushioned ground.

"Hey, Takimon," she beckoned.

"Taki?" the little pink Digimon asked as he came over. Kari knelt down next to him.

She quickly tapped him, jumped back, and giggled, "You're it!"

"Taki!" Takimon exclaimed as the group of baby Digimon erupted into chaos. He squeaked and jumped, tackling a Poyomon.

"Poyo!" Poyomon whooped. He tagged another Digimon. After several Digimon were It, Hikeru was tagged.

"Who's it?" Kari called among the mob of babies. She felt a tiny hand press against the back of her leg. She looked down to see her son.

"Mama!" he said.

"Oh, I'm it, huh?" she asked cheerfully, "You sneaked up on me! Yes, you did!" He giggled as she got on her knees and tickled him.

"Bo-Bo-ta!" a Botamon called to her.

She stood up and called, "Who wants to play BUBBLES?!"

The babies stopped bouncing all over and bounced excitedly in place. They began exhaling little bubbles. Kari laughed and pulled her wings close to her and concentrated. She quickly expanded her glowing wings as far as they'd go, and hundreds of bubbles burst from them. She giggled with the baby Digimon as they sprang all over the place. The air contained so many bubbles that she had to wave them away from her face to breathe.

"Oh!" she squeaked as one baby Digimon bumped her from behind and knocked her over. She landed on her back and bounced a few times. She laughed as Hikeru waddled over and landed on her belly. Takimon landed on his head. Suddenly, all the baby Digimon piled on top of them.

All but Kari's wingtips were invisible beneath the heap. She forced her hand out and mumbled loudly. Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her up. The babies spilled off her, but she was left holding Hikeru, Takimon, and a few other babies that had managed to cling to her.

"Oh, thanks, I—" she stopped and gaped at the person who'd helped her up. Her wings glimmered green for a moment. They changed to purple, then silver, then back to white, as she noticed the people behind the other person.

The first person's big red-brown eyes blinked uncertainly, "Kari?"

"Who are you?" Kari asked.

"Mimi."

"…Mimi!" Kari hugged her old friend and nearly knocked her over.

"It's great to see you!" Mimi cried, "It's been so long, and you've grown up so much! You're so pretty, I love your earrings, where'd you get them?" She fingered Kari's earrings, which were a trio of white feathers hanging from a small pearl.

"I made 'em myself," Kari said, "Angels molt too."

"Angel feathers, huh?" Mimi asked; she moved aside and said, "Say hi to Joe and Izzy!"

"Hey, guys!" Kari exclaimed. She sat Hikeru down and hugged them both at once as her wings flickered turquoise. She asked, "Who's that?"

"Who's who?" asked Joe.

Kari looked around until she spotted Kasandora behind Mimi. Her short blue hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing a pink dress. She smiled, and said, "How cute!"

***

It was later that night after Kari had managed to talk everyone into going to bed. Gatomon's purring had lulled Takimon to sleep, and Subjimon had been tired enough to conk out right away. Yet Hikeru was still restless, and Kari couldn't go to bed with him awake.

With her wings out as she cradled her child in her arms, she paced the side of the bedroom. Her wings dimly lit the room as she sang softly and rocked Hikeru to sleep, "When darkness is all around you; And you don't know what to do. Don't fear 'cause even when I'm not here; I'll be there for you. Please don't live within a shadow; It's brighter in the sun; You're hero's famous for his work; But I'm sure he had a lot of fun. You can feel my heart; You can feel my Light. 'Cause their inside of you. Shining so bright. My love will keep you safe and sound; Even though I may not be around; For I'd do anything for you; I love you.

"A sing man with Courage; Makes the majority. Goodness is Light that lights the world; So everyone can see. Love is the very breath of life; More than a diamond makes a man and wife. Integrity is part of virtue too; Respect'll make your heart true too. Persistence is to keep going on; Even if your trail is all uphill. Knowledge is but power; Intelligence comes from strong will. Sincerity remembers; Who your real friends are. Reliability, do what you need to do; Even if you gotta go far. You never want your heart to harden; Friendship makes your life go far. Hope's the most important of them all. It lets you believe and wish upon a star. You can feel my heart; You can feel my Light. 'Cause their inside of you. Shining so bright. My love will keep you safe and sound; Even though I may not be around; For I'd do anything for you; I love you… I love you, Hikeru…."

Now that the baby was asleep, she kissed him and laid down with him. She didn't notice her wings momentarily flicker a light reddish-gold color.

***

TK, Tai, Matt, Sora, Vanessa, Levia, and their Digimon reached Primary Village that night. A voice came from the little booth near the only entrance to the city.

"Who's there?"

"Just us, Tykemon," Pegasusmon said.

"Oh, hi, guys," Tykemon said, "I thought you weren't gonna be back 'til tomorrow."

"Eh," Pegasusmon shrugged, "How have Kari and Gatomon been the last four days?"

"They're okay," Tykemon answered, "Gatomon more so. Today they were great 'cause some of you guy's friends dropped by. They're probably tired though."

"Who?" TK asked.

"I don't know," Tykemon admitted, "Kari introduced them to me, but I don't remember their names."

"Were they Koushiro—or Izzy—and Tentomon?" Levia asked. She swatted the little bird-like robot out of the way again.

Tykemon's ears perked as she noticed the others and asked, "Who's that?"

"Another old friend," TK answered, "These are Levia, Pasthamon, Matt, Gabumon, Tai, Agumon, Sora, Biyomon, Vanessa, and Picamon. Everyone, this is Tykemon."

"Hi," Tykemon said, "I think Izzy and Tentomon were two of them."

"Two of them?"

"There were four humans and four Digimon."

Tai counted in his mind, "There's the six of us, plus Kari and Izzy. Assuming the other two were Mimi and Joe, that's all ten. Who else?"

"I don't know," Tykemon said, "But you might want to let them all sleep since they've had such a long day."

"We'll keep that in mind," TK said, "We gotta go, bye."

"See ya tomorrow," Tykemon said as Pegasusmon pulled the cart off. They stopped near Elecmon's house to leave the cart and walked to TK's.

"Nice place," Tai said.

Patamon sighed and said, "I remember the good ol' days when we didn't have to lock the doors…" as TK fumbled with a ring of keys.

"You do?" he asked. He finally stuck the key in the keyhole, but the door opened.

"Hi, Koushi-chan," Levia said.

"Hi…" Izzy said, "um…everyone."

After everyone quietly reacquainted themselves with Izzy, they finally went inside.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" TK asked, "We have a guestroom."

"Joe, Mimi, their daughter, Gomamon, Palmon, and their daughter have the guestroom," Izzy said, "How do you fit six people in one bed?"

TK shrugged and said, "I don't know, but we managed seven. Is everyone asleep?"

"I think so. They're all in bed," Izzy gestured toward Tentomon sleeping on the back of the couch.

"Joe and Mimi have a kid?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Izzy nodded, "So—"

"I'll go see if Kari's awake," TK interrupted. Tai and Patamon followed him down the hall.

"If she's asleep," Tai said, "I won't mind waiting until tomorrow to see her. It's been eleven years; what's a few more hours?"

"Good point since Tykemon said she had a long day," TK said. He opened the door and whispered, "Tenshi? Are you awake?"

There was no response. Kari was asleep on her belly with one arm tucked under her. Her other arm held Hikeru close to her, and her wings were folded above her. Takimon nestled up against Gatomon, and Subjimon was curled up at the foot of the bed.

"Who's Tenshi?" Tai asked. He looked over TK's shoulder. He said, "So you weren't joking about her having wings."

"Nope," TK said, blushing a bit from Tai's question, "but she usually retracts them when she's indoors."

He started to close the door when Hikeru's eyes fluttered open. He opened them fully, sat up, extended his arms, and yelled, "DADDY!" at the top of his lungs.

"Shh!" TK gestured urgently, but it was too late.

"TAKI- TAKI- TAKI- TAKI!" Takimon shouted as he began rocketing excitedly around the room like some giant whacked-out pinball. A white blur arched from the bed, ricocheted of the wall following Takimon, and ended up going out the door. Gatomon landed in the hallway, her paws trapping the panicked Takimon.

Subjimon whipped his head up so fast he fell off the bed. Kari got onto her hands and knees and stared intently at the door as she waited for her eyes to adjust. She blinked, grinned, jumped off the bed, and ran into TK's arms.

"Koibito, you're home, you're okay," she mumbled. She wrapped her wings around him and made light purring sounds.

"Yeah, but," TK said.

"How did everything go? You weren't attacked, were you?"

"No, but—"

"Did you see Mimi, Joe, and Izzy?"

"Just Izzy, but—"

"What about Levia?"

"I found her too, but—"

"How's Patamon?"

"He's great, but—"

"That's good," Kari said, hugging him tighter.

"Yeah, but," TK paused, expecting her to interrupt again. When she only rubbed her head against his chest, he said, "Guess who else I found."

"Monzeamon?"

"Him too," TK said, "But I found your brother."

It took a few a few seconds for this to sink in.

"What?!" Kari demanded. She looked over TK's shoulder and blinked at Tai in disbelief. He seemed frozen in place. He nervously mouthed the word, "Hi," but no sound came out. She ran and threw her arms around his neck, knocking him into the wall.

"Kari," Tai whispered, his eyes filled with tears, "I was afraid I'd never see you again… I…."

"It's okay," Kari answered, "We're together again." She closed her eyes and her wings flickered different colors. She said, "We're all together! And that stupid rabbit won't break us apart!"

***

"Well, some of us won't be getting any sleep for a long time," Kari said as she poured twenty cups of coffee for the humans and Digimon crammed around the dining table, "We'll be up all night, and I have to work tomorrow."

"What do you do?" Tai asked. He was holding Hikeru, who was gulping down a bottle of milk. Tai looked rather uncertain about what he was doing.

"I bake, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I sew, too. And teach."

"What do you teach?"

"Whatever TK teaches when he can't, and Lunatsu. Plus other types of battle training."

"You? The motherly winged person with the unusually perfect suburban life?" Matt asked, "A combat instructor?"

Kari giggled lightly at the humor and blushed.

"Don't feel bad," TK said, "Even I still have trouble believing it. Wait 'til ya see her at work…."

"Oh, sure, encourage them to give me an audience…" Kari said dryly.

"You mean add to the audience you already have?"

"What ever," Kari said, "You guys can shoo off those little Digimon."

"What little Digimon are those?" Levia asked.

"The ones that are totally awed to see the angel that taught them nursery rhymes beat the stuffing out of a punching bag," TK laughed.

"What do you teach?" Matt asked him.

"Primary school. Ya know, the equivalent of kindergarten through third grade."

Matt nodded. He said, "Beats my job. We repair toys."

"Izzy's got it good; he builds robots," Levia complimented.

Izzy blushed as everyone who hadn't already heard this information turned to look at him. Mimi, who cradled the now-sleeping Kasandora, asked, "How'd you get that job anyway?"

Izzy explained what had happened with Canimon and repeatedly blushed at Levia's endless supply of compliments.

"So I basically have the equivalent of a Ph.D.," Izzy said, "Not that it matters in this type of war though."

"It makes running a hotel easier," Tentomon piped up.

"Yeah, imagine being twenty-one robotic busboys less," Pasthamon said.

"Where's Thresee?" Izzy asked.

"She's out front," Levia said, grinning.

"What?" Izzy asked, noticing her grin.

"You called her Thresee, like it's a name not a number."

"Yeah, only because hearing you do it so much made me make a habit of it," Izzy said irritably, "I still don't think you should have named her. She's just a machine."

"But she's a good enough machine to be worth being called 'she' by you," Levia responded mockingly. She giggled at Izzy's visible frustration. She ruffled his hair affectionately, but pushed his head forward enough for him to need to hold his glasses on.

Oh, we're together again! Kari thought with utter happiness as she watched Izzy and Levia's argument turn into sappy stuff, And nothing will ever tear us apart!

***

"Come on, Kari!" TK cried as his wife ran toward him, her battle suit fitting her graceful flight-like movement perfectly. Her foot landed in his intertwined hands, and her jumped out of his kneeling position, propelling her upward. She landed on the back of one of ten-or-so large bat-like Digimon that filled the air above the village. She wrapped her arms tightly around its neck and squeezed hard. It flew erratically in an attempt to shake her off. It slammed its back against a wall, but only ricocheted off the cousins and smacked face first into another wall.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon cried. His attack hit about four of the evil Digimon. Two of them dissolved, and the other two were severely weakened. This suggested that they were low-level Ultimates.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon roared, destroying one of the weakened bats.

"Freeze Beam!" Mermaimon shouted. She froze a strong bat with her attack. The ice-sculpture fell to the ground, where it was destroyed by Kabuterimon's Electro Shocker.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called. She destroyed a weak bat and weakened two strong ones.

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon destroyed a bat.

TK cut at a low-flying bat. Her bat having been reconfigured, Kari landed expertly next to him. Soon, all the bats were gone and the Digimon de-digivolved.

"Well, that was easy," Matt commented as the group congregated in the streets of the village.

"Almost too easy," TK thought. He dismissed it with a shrug and said, "It must be because you guys are here. Right, Kari?" He turned to see her with her head bowed and whispered, "Never mind."

"What's she doing?" Tai asked.

"I have no idea, but she's been doing for seven years now," TK said, "I've learned it's best to not interrupt her."

Kari's head came up as she gasped.

"Something wrong, Tenshi?" TK asked.

"Uh, I…no," Kari stammered.

TK looked at her worriedly but turned back to the others.

"Hey, TK! Kari!" Elecmon cried as he ran up.

"Elecmon!" TK called, "Did you see the other DigiDestined within the last decade?" After Elecmon reacquainted himself with everyone, TK asked, "Did you have something to say?"

"Oh, yeah," Elecmon said, "There are a couple of really big eggs on the Hatching Grounds, and I figured it was interesting enough to let you know."

"Didn't Kari and I already hear this?" Gatomon asked.

"I didn't," Kari said.

"You weren't paying attention," Elecmon rolled his eyes.

"Big DigiEggs, huh?" Mimi asked, "I'd hate to meet the digital chicken that laid them."

"Mommy!"

Everyone's attention was turned to Hikeru as he waddled out of the house. Subjimon was instructing Kasandora to stay put while he went after him, but she was through the door the moment his paws left her. Takimon and Bibumon began creating deliberate chaos for the fun of it.

"Go inside, you guys!" Kari called. She walked over to Hikeru, pointed firmly at the house, and gave an motherly-authoritative look. He stuck out his bottom lip and tried to look cute, but his mother didn't relent, so he turned and walked back to the house. Takimon sighed squeakily and followed. Seeing that their playmates had been defeated, Bibumon and Kasandora went in as well.

Thirty minutes later, Primary Villagers had reoccupied the open areas and the kids were allow outside. The DigiDestined still stood together, thinking of the battle.

"Are there a lot of fights like that?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah," Kari said, "Usually they're harder though."

"Hmm," Izzy nodded.

So strange that there were only ten attackers, even at Ultimate, Kari thought, Cifermon's attacks are usually once a day with at least twenty soldiers and—"They'll attack again!"

"What?" every demanded, the conversation having shifted to a topic concerning Primary Village's bakery. After all, cookies don't fight.

"Cifermon will attack again," Kari specified.

"He always attacks again," TK said.

"No! He'll attack again today!" Kari stressed.

TK thought for a second, then said, "Tell Leomon!"

Kari started to turn toward Leomon's house, but froze upon hearing, "Inferno Cannon!" The DigiDestined scattered as the blast hit the ground where they'd been standing and blew them off their feet.

"Gatomon…!"

"Patamon…!"

"Agumon…!"

"Gabumon…!"

"Biyomon…!"

"Picamon…!"

"Tentomon…!"

"Pasthamon…!"

"Gomamon…!"

"Palmon…!"

"…digivolve to…!"

"Angewomon!"

"Angemon!"

"Greymon!"

"Garurumon!"

"Birdramon!"

"Zappermon!"

"Kabuterimon!"

"Manteemon!"

"Ikkakumon!"

"Togemon!"

"Inferno Cannon!" Cifermon cried, coming to a stop atop the fountain in the center of the village. His fireball hit Angewomon in the wing. Her flight faltered, but she flew back up safely.

"Spread out! Don't give him an easy target!" Tai yelled to the many Digimon that were helping fight as about forty bat Digimon filled the air.

The defenders looked confused until Kari yelled, "Do what he says!"

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon yelled, but Cifermon ducked the blow, laughing.

"Tsunami Whirl!" Manteemon roared. Her blast of water was easily avoided by Cifermon's strong jumping ability.

"Rapid Blast!" Cifermon laughed. He rapidly emitted several slightly weaker versions of his standard attack in all directions. Soon all the Champion and Rookie Villagers were out of the battle. The DigiDestined's Digimon de-digivolved save the Ultimate Angewomon.

"Crush that rabies-holding vermin, Angewomon!" Kari shouted.

"Pummel Whack!" Remogremon yelled.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon roared.

"Revelation Fire!" Oramon shouted.

"Celestial Arrow!" cried Angewomon.

"Heehee!" Cifermon laughed, dodging easily, "Is that your best? Rogumon! GO!"

The bat-like creatures—presumably Rogumon—charged. Cifermon chuckled as eight or more of them tackled each defending Digimon.

"Shine!" Kari yelled, charging at Cifermon with a sword. He grinned and fired at her with his Inferno Cannon. She was guarded from the worst of it by her Crest of Light, but she was still knocked back over by TK.

"Kari!" Tai called.

"She's okay!" TK reassured.

"Flashback Syndrome!" Cifermon yelled. Suddenly all the DigiDestined were glowing faintly black. The glow stopped after a moment, and the rabbit Digimon cracked up laughing. He said, "That's my best attack! You'll see why in about thirty seconds or so!"

They heard a high-pitched incoherent yell, and everyone turned that direction. Kari yelled, "Hikeru!"

"No," TK moaned.

"How cute," Cifermon said, noticing the baby as well, "But we can't have any competition now can we? Inferno Cannon!"

"No!" Kari cried.

Just as Cifermon fired, something baseball-sized hit him extremely hard in the jaw. His head snapped to the side as the thing blew past. The fireball hit the ground far enough from Hikeru to do little more than knock him over.

The weak- and injured-looking Takimon landed on the ground in front of his target.

"Why you!" Cifermon roared. He almost fired at Takimon.

"Hyper Kick!" Subjimon jumped into the air toward Cifermon from wherever he'd been standing, executed an impressive somersault, and delivered a power kick to Cifermon with his strong legs. He knocked Cifermon off the fountain and began running toward Takimon. He narrowly missed a blast as he scooped both children up and ran toward the house.

"Subjimon can fight?" TK demanded.

"He is a Rookie so—AHH!" Kari screamed. The black glow was back, engulfing her and the other DigiDestined to a point were they couldn't be seen. When the glow faded, they weren't there.

"In—" Cifermon began.

"Heaven's Charm!"

Cifermon cried out in pain as Angewoman's attack hit him. And then he was gone….

***

"I can't believe they're gone!" Gatomon cried as the ten Digimon walked aimlessly around the Hatching Grounds, "Oh, Kari! I feel like I let her down!"

"We didn't let them down," Patamon mumbled rationally, "And you were the one who destroyed Cifermon."

"I know, but…" Gatomon mumbled.

"What about Hikeru and Kasandora?" Agumon asked.

"Gomamon and I are willing to take care of Kasandora," Palmon said, "And I'm sure Gatomon and Patamon would do the same for Hikeru without giving it a second thought."

"You bet," Patamon said.

"It would make TK and Kari happy to know that their child is well taken care of," Gatomon said.

"Hello," Elecmon said quietly as they passed. Remogremon and Leomon were there and nodded. Three large DigiEggs and three normal-sized ones were nearby.

"Hi, guys," Pasthamon said as the group stopped. Everyone mumbled a greeting. They appeared to be about to start a conversation, but no one said anything.

Suddenly all six eggs began wiggling, drawing everyone's attention away from the discomfort of the silence. They all popped open at once, and the air was filled with baby sounds.

"Those are odd-looking Digimon," Leomon said, covering his ears.

"They aren't…" Elecmon said, "They aren't Digimon…."

"They're…" Gomamon began uncertainly.

"Humans!" Gatomon cried.

The three human newborns laying where there had once been a trio of large DigiEggs was the center of attention. The three Digimon from the other three eggs didn't seem to realized they were being ignored. They hopped around until they seemed satisfied with the human that was near them. The perfectly round black DigiBaby with gem-like crimson eyes snuggled up near one of the human babies. The round red Digimon with blue-iris eyes and four useless leg-less paws hopped jovially near another. The pink blob-like Digimon with small black eyes, a button-nose, bubble-like ears and tail, and a tiny pair of fin-like arms calmed the noised cause by the only female of the three humans.

"Humans…" Elecmon murmured in disbelief. He looked expectantly at the Destined Digimon, who were still gaping at the human children. Tentomon noticed him when he spread his arms as if to say, "Well?"

"What are you looking at us for?" Tentomon asked.

"The ten of you have the most experience with humans," Elecmon said, "I now Gatomon, Patamon, Palmon, and Gomamon have their paws and leaves full, but what about the rest of you? You know more about humans than I do."

"I don't think that's a very good idea…" Gabumon said uneasily, looking uncomfortably at Picamon as the little red DigiBaby rubbed against her paw. The human that that particular Digimon had seemed attracted to looked at Gabumon with newly opened blue eyes.

"Pasthamon, be careful. Don't get attached," Tentomon said to Pasthamon, "Human babies are probably hard to care for."

"But look at those eyes," Pasthamon said softly. She was looking into the little girl's bright green eyes. Pasthamon mumbled, "So bright and…."

"I think it's brainwashing you."

"…and hyper…"

"Don't look at it!"

"…and persistent-looking…"

"Step away from the baby!"

"…and intelligent…."

"Intelligent?" Elecmon asked, "At her age? Two, going on three, minutes?"

An hour of so later, Tentomon muttered, "How did we get talked into this?" He was flying with the little girl, who now wore a diaper, in his claws. Pasthamon looked up at him and smiled.

"Because they're so cute!" she said. She had the pink blob-like Digimon, which had identified itself as Panemon, on her back. Biyomon and Patamon were flying overhead as well. The round black red-eyed Digimon had had itself known as Vanamon, was on Biyomon's back. Agumon was carrying the brown-eyed boy in his arms. Gabumon had the third human on his back piggy-back style. The red blue-eyed Maffimon had perched itself on Picamon's head.

"And because this kid reminds my of Tai," Agumon moaned under the noisy boy's weight.

"How?" Gabumon asked.

"He's obnoxious."

"Let me make sure I have all their names right," Gatomon said. She pointed to the little girl and asked, "Chimari," to the pink blob, "Panemon," to the blue-eyed boy, "Kenji," to the red Digimon, "Maffimon," to the brown-eyed boy, "Hiroshi," and to Biyomon and the round black Digimon, "Vanamon. Is that right?"

"That's right!" Pasthamon smiled.

Kenji burst into wails for some unknown reason and nearly made Gabumon drop him.

"This is gonna be a long sixteen years," Tentomon sighed.