The Reign of Courage

Part Five: Returns and Departures

            (Planned and Unplanned)

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Digimon – not mine. ::sigh:: That includes the storyline of the original series, the fabulous characters, and the digimon themselves. The plot of this story, however, is mine and all mine. Remember, don't steal, and don't sue. Thanks! Now on with the chapter you've been waiting for!

***

Koushiro peered at the strange pendant that Yamato now wore around his neck. "You found it?" he stated. "Prodigious!"

No one bothered to ask what that strange word meant. "Can you tell me which one it is?" Yamato asked impatiently.

"Certainly." Koushiro disappeared amongst the piles of books and reappeared on the opposite side.

"How can you even breathe in here?" Takeru wondered, peering into the strange laboratory from behind his brother.

"It's not usually this bad," Tentomon apologized, moving a pile of books out of the way so the visitors could enter. "He's just been working so hard on this stuff lately he's forgotten to clean up."

Miyako peered hesitantly at a bubbling pot. "Well, at least he takes his work seriously," she noted, trying to look on the positive side.

"Oh yes," Sora replied. "Very seriously."
"So seriously in fact, he hardly ever turns away from it," Daisuke supplied.

"Aha!" the young wizard shouted triumphantly. The visitors slowly made their way past the piles of books and potions and peered over his shoulder.

"What is it?" Patamon questioned, having the best view from atop his partner's head.

"The same symbol that's on my crest," Yamato noted. The drawing was exactly the same as the symbol he had seen on the wall of the well, which was now on his crest.

"This is the crest of youjou," Koushiro replied.

"Youjou!?" Yamato repeated, astonished.

"Friendship?" Gabumon translated. The wizard nodded.

"Exactly."

"How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"How did I get the crest of friendship?" Yamato wondered. He frowned. "Is there any way – I could have gotten the wrong one?"

Koushiro shook his head. "The crest is attracted to the tag," he replied. "The tag is drawn to the crest because it is a channel for your attributes. The crest is therefore attracted to you."

"I don't get it. What's the problem?" Daisuke wondered. Miyako couldn't help wondering herself.

Yamato only shook his head. "I think it messed up. I don't think this is the right one for me."
Koushiro frowned. "There's no possible way you could have a crest that doesn't belong to you," he replied. "They're magically linked to their owners."

"Yamato –," Gabumon spoke up.

The boy just shook his head again in disbelief and left the room before anyone could say anything else.

"Yamato!" Takeru called.

"Just leave me alone, Takeru," his brother's voice called from down the hall. Takeru sighed.

"What's the matter?" Miyako questioned.

Takeru shrugged. "Yamato's never felt very much a part of – people," he explained somewhat meekly. "You know, like a group. I'll bet he thinks he doesn't deserve the crest of friendship." He frowned worriedly.

"Certainly seems that way," Sora noted.

"The crest wouldn't go to someone it didn't belong to – would it?" Daisuke asked, a worried tone in his voice now.

"No," Koushiro restated. "The crests, and the digimentals," he added for Daisuke's benefit, "only go to those who have those particular traits. The crest of youjou would not have responded to Yamato if he wasn't worthy of it. And you would not have been able to lift the digimental of yuuki if you didn't deserve it."

Daisuke appeared a bit less worried now.

***

Yamato leaned on the wall of the balcony outside his room, ostensibly to observe the night sky – as he often did at this time. But he wasn't looking at the sky. Instead, he was looking at the crest that was still around his neck.

Gabumon stood by him, as always, actually looking at the stars instead of pretending to. Yamato caught a glimpse of his partner. Gabumon was a true friend. He never abandoned his partner unless he was forced to.

'Friendship.' Yamato tested the word in his brain and sighed. He had never had many close friends. Sure, there were people that he talked to. Taichi, Sora, even Daisuke and Ken could be considered friends. But they weren't true friends. Surely they didn't view him as a valuable person. And he had never been comfortable in large groups. How was it he was supposed to get a crest to activate if he couldn't identify with that attribute?

Koushiro had theorized that the crests worked in much the way the digimentals did. If that theory were correct, then thinking about friends – wanting to protect his friends – would surely activate the crest the same way Daisuke had described wanting to be brave activating the digimental of courage. But – Yamato couldn't help thinking – what was the use in trying to protect people that weren't truly your friends? Who did view you as a friend?

"Yamato?" Takeru's voice filtered out to the balcony from their suite, and a moment later the younger boy was outside with his brother. "I was looking for you."

The older boy didn't reply, and the younger took that as a sign that conversation wouldn't be appreciated at that moment. Still, he didn't abandon it. He leaned against the wall instead and peered up at the stars, breathing in the cool night air. "Daisuke and I have to finish our match," he reminded him. "Still want to referee tomorrow?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Want to talk?"

"Not really."
Takeru sighed. 'At least I tried,' he reminded himself. "Well, I'm gonna go take a bath," he decided. "I'll be around if you need me."

He waited for a response from his brother, but he didn't reply, so Takeru just went back inside.

***

Miyako pulled the ribbon and the hair pins from her hair and laid them on the dresser. She was dirty from having been outside and sweaty from having run through the grounds. She only had to wait for Sora to finish bathing before she could feel clean again, and was looking forward to it.

"AGH!" a voice came from the washroom she and Jun shared with Sora. In a flash, she was at the door. Jun was there a second later.

"Sora?"

"What's going on?" Miyako questioned.

Sora appeared a moment later, soap still in her hair and a towel loosely wrapped around her. "The tub sprung a leak!" she declared, obviously quite angry.

"What?" Jun repeated. She and Miyako peered around the soaking wet girl into the washroom. The floor was covered with water, and the porcelain tub they used to wash was nearly empty, with only soap lining its edges.

"Great," Miyako grumbled. "No bath for me tonight."

Before anyone else could reply, the door swung open. "What happened?" Daisuke demanded, reacting to Sora's scream. Upon seeing her clad only in a towel, he gasped and covered his eyes with his hand. "Uh – sorry!" he stammered, turning around.

"Daisuke, what are you doing here?" his sister demanded.

"My room is across the hall," he explained, still facing the opposite direction. "I heard a scream and thought maybe someone was having an emergency."

"We are," Miyako spoke up before Jun could interject. "Our bathtub sprung a leak."

"What sprung a leak?" Mimi had stuck her head in a moment later. "Oh dear! There's water all over the floor. Daisuke, what are you doing here? Go fetch a maid and some towels to clean this up!"

"Uh – right!" He was gone a second later, relieved to be rid of the situation.

Jun sighed. "I was looking forward to a bath tonight," she confessed.

"So was I," Miyako agreed.

"You can use ours," Mimi offered. "Momoe and I already took baths."

"Thanks!" Jun replied, grinning.

Sora sighed, rubbing another towel over her head. "I guess I'll dry off. I'm about clean. I'll get dressed and then go to the kitchen for some water so I can rinse out my hair."

"Then come by our room!" Mimi grinned. "We can experiment with hair styles for the celebration."

Daisuke returned a moment later with a small woman wearing an apron behind him. She immediately went to work with a mop to clean the floor.

"Thanks, Daisuke," Miyako said as Jun bounded after Mimi for the use of her tub. He grinned stupidly.

"Um – if you want to – you can use my bathtub," he offered. "It's just me now, and I already took a bath. I won't walk in," he added hastily.

***

Miyako sighed contentedly as she dunked her head under the water and felt the soaps rinsed from her scalp. The bathtub in Daisuke's washroom was (or at least appeared to be) the slightest bit larger than her own, and the servants had filled it nearly to the top. Water splashed over the edges and on to the floor, but she didn't mind. A good bath was just what she needed to get over the stresses of the day.

As she wrapped the towel around her hair, stepping out of the tub, she heard the outside door open and shut, but ignored it, assuming that Daisuke had gone out. She could hear a voice talking, but paid no attention to it either.

Wrapping the thick, luxurious towel over her shoulders Miyako felt the heat of the warm towel envelope her from head to foot. She smiled again, feeling as though she was nearly in heaven, and peered in the full length mirror positioned on the door.

Then the door opened.

Miyako's heart leaped out of her throat and into the air. She swallowed the scream that was coming and could only gasp.

The intruder was stunned and appeared to have a similar reaction. Then, the door slammed shut.

Miyako blinked, stared. Then she quickly rubbed the towel over her body, drying as best she could in what little time she had and then threw her nightshirt over her head and her robe around her shoulders. Ignoring her soaking wet hair, she flung open the door again and stared blankly at the figure that was now occupying the common room of Daisuke's suite.

"You're back."

"Miyako – I – um – that is – I didn't mean to walk in – I just thought – that is," he broke off. "Iori did say I was sleeping in here." He was confused now.

"It's fine," she assured him. "Our bathtub sprung a leak, and Daisuke offered to let me use this one. He didn't tell me you were back."

Ken nodded in response, feeling the speed of his heart slowly returning to its normal rate. "I - just got in a minute ago," he replied. "Your bathtub sprung a leak?"

"Yes – while Sora was using it."

"Oh. Well that was certainly nice of him."

There was an awkward silence for a moment and then the door that lead to Daisuke's bedroom opened. The boy in question peered around the door, curious. Then his eyes grew wide and a smile spread across his face.

"You're back!" He dropped the book on the floor and lunged himself at his friend, hugging, shaking hands, and assuring himself he was truly alive.

"Yes, I just got in," Ken attempted to remain calm while Daisuke reassured himself.

Miyako only blinked. Daisuke blushed slightly, shrugged, and stepped back. "I haven't seen him in a long time," he defended himself. "And – I was worried."

"You should be more worried about yourself," Ken replied. "You're the one who nearly got himself killed."

Daisuke shrugged. "Nearly got himself killed?" Miyako repeated.

Ken was about to get more specific, but Daisuke shook his head. "Sorry. Can't give details."

"Why not?" Miyako asked. Ken wondered the same thing himself.

"Secret."

"So don't tell me – you had to save his life again?" Miyako assumed.

"Of course."

"Why now? Or is that a secret, too?"

Ken glanced to his friend. Daisuke nodded. "Yes. Big secret."

Miyako shrugged. "Whatever. Hey – I wanted to ask you something. About the Airdramon."

"Airdramon?" Ken repeated blankly. 

"Haven't you heard about them?" Daisuke asked. "Miyako was attacked by a horde of them on the way here."

"There wasn't a horde," Miyako corrected. "There was maybe six of them and only one of them attacked us."

"Six is a horde."

"Not even close."

"I consider six to be a horde."

"A horde is a huge amount. Like a hundred or something. There was a horde of Monochromon in that enclosure today. There was not a horde of Airdramon."

"Whatever. Anyway," Daisuke began.

Ken blinked. "Monochromon?"

"That's another story. There were six Airdramon. With tamers."

"Tamers?"

"Yes. And then, when I was on my way here with Hikari."

"Why were you with Hikari?" Miyako questioned now.

"Secret. While I was on my way here and I got the digimental, there was another one. And an Ogremon."

"Digimental?" Ken was rather confused now. They had gone from talking about Airdramon hordes, to small groups of Airdramon, to Monochromon, to Hikari, to digimentals, to Ogremon. And what was an Ogremon?

"I think you should start at the beginning," Miyako advised. "It started when I was on the way here, with Sora, my parents, Sora's mother, and my sister, Momoe. We spotted a group of Airdramon. They were tamed Airdramon, because they all had riders. When Lady Takenouchi – Sora's mother, was threatened, Sora was able to evolve Piyomon, and Birdramon drove away all the Airdramon."

"Except for the rider," Daisuke interjected.

"Yes," Miyako agreed. "Birdramon knocked one of the riders off the Airdramon, and he fell to the ground."

"A huge drop," Daisuke interrupted.

Miyako ignored him. "And he was caught."
"By a Wormmon," Daisuke interrupted again.

"Hey!" Miyako slapped him on the back of the head. "Whose story is it?"

"Ow!" he protested. "What was that for?"

"You keep interrupting me!"

"You were going too slow!"

"That's so he can understand me, dummy!"

Unbeknownst to them, Ken had wandered away during the argument and entered his bedroom. He disappeared for a moment and then reemerged, carrying his partner in his arms.

"Maybe Wormmon can answer your inevitable questions." He spoke quietly, but it was enough for the battlers to stop their argument and look at him.

Wormmon's big blue eyes peered expectantly at the others.

"Was it you?" Miyako blurted before Daisuke could interrupt. He was a second later.

" - that saved that Airdramon rider?"

Wormmon blinked. "Yes," he replied.

"But how?" Daisuke questioned. "If the timing's right – you were with me only a day before."

"Just because Ken was there doesn't mean I was," Wormmon replied.

Ken nodded, agreeing with his partner's statement. "I caught wind of what was going on when I saw Hikari heading to your home late at night," he explained. "I was on my way at the same time, and figured that whatever purpose she had might be better accomplished if I wasn't in the way. So I camped out that night and watched you both leave the next morning."

"We decided I wasn't going to be much help," Wormmon picked up the story. "So Ken had the carriages head back north and wait for him a few hours distance from the palace.  When I saw Miyako and Sora's families heading there, the Airdramon weren't far behind. I didn't see how I could help in that situation. But Sora seemed pretty upset about that rider getting hurt. And I didn't think it would be a good idea to let him get away, either. So I caught him."

"The Airdramon were following us?" Miyako shuddered at the implication.

"Taichi did say that he thought they might have attacked you just because of who you are," Daisuke reminded her.

"I know," Miyako replied. "But still." She shivered again.

"You'd be less cold if your hair wasn't wet," Ken noted.

"Oh. Right." She entered the washroom and found the towel for her hair, which she wrapped around her head. "I guess I should get back," she excused herself with a sigh. "Mimi wants to go over some hair stuff."

Daisuke frowned. "If she says anything to you about flowers, run," he advised his friend. Miyako laughed to herself as she left, heading down the hall to Mimi's room.

As soon as she was gone, Ken peered expectantly at him. "There's no point in hiding it from me. I saw what you did with Hikari."

"You did?"

He nodded. "You went in to town," he replied. "You stayed with that family, and then you went to the prison. Then you helped that Wizarmon and got yourself into a fight, and got kidnapped."

"Yeah, that's about it," Daisuke agreed. He sighed. "You can't tell anyone else."

"Have you ever known me to tell a secret?"

"No," he admitted. "Taichi asked Hikari, or she persuaded him, to go into the villages and report on how the people live. Seems you told him something about poverty and people that were imprisoned wrongly and that sort of thing."

Ken nodded. "He wanted to do something about it?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "All Hikari told me was that he asked her to observe and report back. I don't know if they'll do anything about it. I hope they do."

"So how did it go?"

"Not bad, except for the getting kidnapped part," he replied with a grin. "She seemed to really like Mama and the kids. We walked around for a bit and then went to the prison."

"What did you see at the prison?" Ken questioned, curious to know how the well-bred, sheltered Princess had reacted to the scene.

Daisuke frowned slightly. "We looked around. I told her about the solitary confinement hall and she wanted to see it, so we did."

"And?"

"I'm not sure. We didn't talk about it." He shivered slightly. "I don't like that place, I never have. I didn't want to show it to her, but she insisted. After that, we looked around some more and then we left. Then that Wizarmon came through. We never talked about it." He frowned. "I don't know what she thought."

***

Mimi frowned as she pulled the comb through Sora's hair. "Your hair is just too short to do anything exciting with," she complained. "If it was longer, it would look great pulled up halfway, or maybe curled. But this short, it's just not useful."

"I like it," Sora replied shortly. "I don't complain about your hair. And it's easy to take care of this way."

"Yes, but when you need to make it look special it just doesn't work." She sighed and paused in her combing, examining her subject in the full sized mirror in front of her.

The door from the bathroom opened, and Jun entered, dressed now in her nightdress and with a towel wrapped around her head. "I'm ready!" she cheered happily.

"Fine. Your turn!" Sora replied, standing up and giving her seat to the other girl.

Jun plopped into the chair Sora had vacated, grinning ear to ear. "I know my hair's pretty short, too," she complained. "It's the Motomiya hair. Daisuke doesn't have a problem, but he never has to do anything with it anyway."

"Don't worry," Mimi assured her. "We'll find something to do with it." She removed the towel and began to attack the hair with her comb and brush.

Sora calmly took her own comb and brushed her hair, watching as Mimi struggled with Jun's hair.

Momoe entered the room, her own hair already having been styled by Mimi. It now hung in two short braids on either side of her head. Terriermon trailed behind her.

"Miyako's not here yet?" she wondered.
Sora shook her head. "No. She probably stayed to talk with Daisuke. Or she's still in the tub. She always likes long, luxurious baths."

"Yeah," Terriermon recalled. "Long baths."

"There's nothing wrong with a long bath," Mimi stated. "I like to spend time soaking, too."

"So do I," Jun agreed, nodding and messing up Mimi's attempted hair-doing. "You get cleaner that way."

The door opened then, and Piyomon and Hawkmon entered, both wisely staying clear out of Mimi's range. Thankfully, she was preoccupied with Jun and therefore didn't notice the two bird-like digimon.

"Yeah, but when other people need a bath," Terriermon shook her head slightly.

"Bath?" Piyomon repeated. "Who needs a bath?"

"No one," Sora replied. "Miyako's in the bath."

The door opened. "Not anymore!" Miyako cheered triumphantly. Her hair was still wet, and she swung the towel that was supposed to be covering it in her hands, twirling it as she half-danced into the room.

"About time," Hawkmon noted.

"What are you so happy about?" Palmon questioned from where she sat beside Mimi.

"I'll give you three guesses," Sora observed dryly, smiling slightly. Miyako only grinned wider.

"Really nice soap?" Jun questioned. Miyako shook her head.

Mimi paused in her combing and scratched her head. "I haven't a clue. Are you just happy to be clean?" Miyako shook her head again.

"Well, I don't have a clue," Momoe confessed. "You seem to know, Sora. Mind filling the rest of us in?"

Miyako took the comb from Sora's hand as she twirled past her, dancing through the room and humming slightly.

"I'll give you another clue," Sora replied as she watched her friend spin through the room. "It has to do with a boy."

"Oh!" Mimi gasped.

"Ah," Jun nodded knowingly.

"A boy?" Momoe questioned.

Sora nodded. All four girls turned to Miyako for confirmation. She blushed and nodded, turning now to the window and starting on her hair, still humming.

"It's not my brother, is it?" Jun questioned.

"I'd hope not," Mimi observed. Jun spun in her chair.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I know someone else who has their eye on your brother."

"Who?"

"Oh come now, you haven't seen it?" Piyomon spoke up now. She turned to her partner and sighed. "I thought everyone could!"

Sora shrugged. "Maybe not."

"What?" Jun demanded. "Who's got their eye on my brother?"

Momoe was running through the list of available young men in the area. "Not Takeru?" she questioned.

Miyako shook her head.

"Oh, just a certain girl," Mimi replied in a sing-song voice.

"Not you?"

Mimi laughed. Miyako laughed. Sora laughed so hard she nearly choked.

"No – not me," Mimi replied after she had regained her breath and Sora had drunk a glass of water.

"No one in this room," Sora supplied.

Jun frowned. "Who else is there?" she wondered. "I mean, besides Sora's mother and Miyako's mother, we're the only females here. Unless -."

"Unless?"

"Unless it's someone that's not here?"

"No, she's here," Sora replied.

"Not – Princess Hikari?" Jun finally asked, doubtful. When Sora, Mimi, and even Miyako nodded, Jun shook her head. "I should have known. He's been spending a lot of time with her."

"They are becoming quite close," Hawkmon observed thoughtfully.

Terriermon laughed. "So maybe Daisuke will be a King one day."

Jun shook her head. "Let's hope not!" she stated, and the rest of the room was eager to agree.

"But who has caught the interest of my sister?" Momoe questioned, turning her eyes back to Miyako, who had paid little attention to the conversation.

"Not Daisuke, not Takeru. Not Taichi, right?" Mimi wondered.

Miyako shook her head. "No," she said, speaking for the first time. "He's reserved for Sora."

Sora blushed a furious bright red and peered at the ground. Mimi laughed aloud.

"Aiming high, I see!" she cheered. "Sora the Queen!"

"I don't want to be a Queen!" Sora protested. She glared at Miyako. "You will die."

Miyako tossed the comb back to her friend. "Not right now," she replied. "I've got to go."

"Go where?" Mimi demanded. "I haven't even done your hair."

"The coronation's not for another few days," Miyako reminded her. "You've got time. I wanted to talk to Hikari, if you don't mind."

Mimi looked unhappy about that, but didn't have a chance to protest, as Miyako was already gone.

***

Tailmon frowned. "I really don't see why I would need to look any different," she explained. "I think I look fine the way I do now. Digimon don't wear clothes."

"I'm not saying you have to wear clothes," Hikari replied, combing her hair as she peered into the mirror. "I'm just saying you might want to wear a necklace or something. I've got a few you can use."

Before Tailmon could reply, there was a knock on the door. The feline digimon leapt off the bed and strolled across the room. "I'll think about," she answered, somewhat grumpily.

"Hello, Tailmon," Miyako greeted. "I was wondering if Hikari's free?"

"Come on in, Miyako," Hikari waved her into the room. "I was trying to convince Tailmon to do something different for the party."

"Different?"

"She wants me to wear something," Tailmon clarified, looking decidedly unhappy with the plan.

Miyako frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe you could wear earrings?" she suggested. "Your ears are your best feature."

Tailmon frowned, but considered the idea. "Maybe."

"That's a good idea," Hikari encouraged.

"Whatever." Tailmon waved the idea aside and left the room. "I'm going for a walk."

"Think about it, at least!" Hikari called as the door shut behind her partner.

"I don't think she will," Miyako noted.

"She might think about it," Hikari replied. "If I keep on her about it for awhile, she'll agree." She turned to face her guest. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, really," Miyako confessed. "I just didn't feel like staying with Mimi and Sora. They were in a very talkative  mood."

"Oh? Talking about what?" Hikari was curious.

"Oh, the usual things. Who's in love with who, how to wear their hair." She shrugged slightly.

"Couldn't take the questions, huh?"

Miyako shook her head. "No. And I just had the most embarrassing experience of my life." She quickly went over the details of what had happened in the washroom after her bath.

"So he did come, then?" Hikari nodded. "Good. I was hoping that his family issues wouldn't keep him away. Daisuke seems to really need him."

"They have a close friendship," Miyako agreed. "Very close. Sometimes it makes me wonder if either of them would let anyone else in." She sighed. "We've both made progress, I know, but we're still just on the outside."

"We are," Hikari stated gravely. "But no relationship was built in a day." She smiled. "I wouldn't give up yet, Miyako. Someday he'll realize that you're the right girl for him and you'll live happily ever after."

Miyako grinned cheerfully. "I hope so."

***

Daisuke waited patiently for his friend to finish bathing. Patiently for Daisuke meaning that he paced back and forth through the room for a good portion of the time he was waiting. Eventually, V-mon came in and watched his partner pace for a few moments.

"What are you doing?"

Daisuke nearly hit the ceiling. "What are you doing?" he asked when he had returned to the ground once more. "You scared me."

The blue digimon laughed a while at his partner's discomfort before he was able to answer. "I just came in. You were so absorbed with – whatever you were doing – that you didn't notice." He smiled innocently.

Wisely, the boy was not so gullible. He frowned. "Liar," he declared, but decided to drop the subject. "I was waiting for Ken to get out of the bath so I could talk to him."

V-mon nodded in understanding. He was about to remark on this subject, but didn't have the chance, because just then the reason for the conversation walked out of the bathroom.

Ken had already put on his pajamas and was running a comb through his hair as he walked. He spotted Daisuke and V-mon, waiting for him, and paused momentarily in his combing. "All right. I know there must be something important, or you wouldn't have waited out here this whole time." He ran the comb again through his still-wet hair and walked past them, carrying a small towel in his hands.

"Well, yeah," Daisuke admitted. "I wanted to tell you about the digimental."

"Digimental?" Ken repeated. "Oh. Right. You did say something about that before."

Daisuke nodded. He reached into his pocket, since he always kept his digivice – D3 it was now called – with him, and presented it and the strange white carrying device he'd received to his friend. "I got them on the way here," he explained as Ken made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.

The other boy blinked curiously as he examined the objects. "It changed?" he observed. "And this?" he looked at the flat white box. As he was fiddling with it, the top of it suddenly flipped open, and a strange image of an egg-shaped object appeared inside.

"The digimental container. Koushiro's not sure what they're called. He's probably searching through books as we speak, to see if it has a name," Daisuke explained.

"I'm not sure I understand what a digimental is," Ken frowned.

"Oh, that's easy," Daisuke grinned as he went through the explanation…that it was yet another way to aid evolution, and that he had demonstrated it that very afternoon.

"There's probably not room in here to do it again," V-mon observed with a slight frown. He liked the huge feeling of power that came with armor evolution.

"That's all right," his partner assured him. "We can show him tomorrow."

***

Sora rolled over in bed, some sort of an uneasy feeling preventing her from drifting off to sleep. She yawned and shut her eyes, pulling the blankets over her head, only to remove them again a moment later, still awake.

'Why am I having this problem sleeping?' she wondered, sitting up and peering out at the night sky. 'I never have problems sleeping. Especially not while I'm here. I usually feel so relaxed.' She glanced over at Piyomon, who was snoring contentedly on the bed beside her.

'I don't know who I'm trying to deceive. I'm not going to be able to sleep,' she realized with a sigh as she got out of bed and reached for her robe. Wrapping the warm cloth around her, she opened the window slowly and slipped out on to the veranda outside room, shutting the door behind her quietly so as not to disturb her partner.

Absently, Sora felt for the tag she wore around her neck, now tucked under her nightgown. 'Yamato had such a hard time with accepting his crest. He felt he wasn't worthy. I wonder if we'll all feel that way. I wonder what my crest is.'  

There was silence for a long moment as she turned away from the pendant and out to the palace grounds. It offered her some relief to know that there was no hidden dark figure out there waiting for Miyako – or any of them, probably – to be defenseless and then…

Sora decided not to finish that train of thought. It was rather depressing. She didn't want to think about what she would do if something had happened to Miyako. She was her closest friend – like a sister, even. Or to Mimi, who was nearly as close. Or Taichi. Sora mentally shuddered at that thought. She didn't want to think about loosing any of them. Or any of the other Chosen.

"I guess we've all grown really close," she spoke aloud, even though only the stars were listening.

Suddenly, she was aware of something warm against her hand. Looking down, she saw that she still held the tag, and that it was glowing!

Hurriedly, Sora rushed back into the room and quickly awakened Piyomon, shaking the small pink bird until she peered sleepily through the darkness at her over-excited partner. "Piyomon – Piyomon! It's glowing!" Sora shouted.

Quickly, Sora threw on her slippers and wrapped her robe even tighter around her. "I think it's outside."

"Why?" Piyomon questioned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with one wing and yawning at the same time.

"I was standing on the balcony when it started to glow." She flung open the door into the parlor of the suite and paused. "Come on, Piyomon, I haven't got all day."

"It's night time," her partner responded. "Why were you awake, anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep. Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming. You're grumpy when you haven't slept."

"We all are," Hawkmon's voice interrupted. He stood in the doorway to Miyako's room.

"Sora? What's going on?" Miyako questioned sleepily.

"It's okay, you can go back to sleep," Sora assured her. "My tag started glowing and I want to go out to look for the crest."

Miyako was immediately awake. "Go back to sleep?" she repeated. "Are you crazy? I'm coming with you!"

Hawkmon sighed, but did not comment as he followed his partner out of the room.

A short time later the two girls were outside. "It must be this way," Sora decided, following the glowing light through the wet grass in the pre-morning light.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Piyomon mumbled, yawning.

"Probably about three in the morning," Hawkmon replied in a similar voice.

"Actually, more like four," Miyako replied, though her exhaustion didn't show in her voice. They walked for some time, changing directions several times. Finally, Sora paused in front of a very tall tree.

Piyomon peered back in the direction of the castle. "Hey! This is in direct line of sight from your window, Sora." She pointed back to the building, where they could see the window, identifiable because the window was still left open.

"I guess that must be why my tag reacted," Sora noted. She peered at the tree. "I think it must be up there."

"You're not going to climb?" Hawkmon questioned.

"I don't have much of a choice," she replied. She grabbed the lowest branch. "Give me a boost?"

Miyako stepped behind her and helped her to climb up. As soon as she had ascended, she began to hoist herself to the next branch, and then the next, until she was quite some distance above them.

"Is it there?" Miyako called up.

"I don't – see anything," Sora answered. Her voice sounded softer because of the distance. "I wonder if something's wrong?"

"It doesn't seem right." Piyomon frowned and flew up to perch beside her partner. "Yamato said that when he found his crest, the entire side of the well was glowing. This tree isn't."

Sora sat on the branch beside her. "Something doesn't feel right," she agreed. Suddenly, something moving caught the side of her eye. "What is that?"

Miyako peered up at the sky. "What?" she asked.

"That!" Hawkmon spotted it. A dark, long, sinister looking shape that flew through the darkness, silhouetted against the brightness of the moonlight.

"Airdramon?" Piyomon wondered.

"Looks like it," Miyako observed. The dark shape was barely discernable in the night, but she was able to make it out. "Um – Sora? It's coming this way. And –."

"And there looks like there's a rider," Hawkmon finished. "I thought you said they weren't foolhardy enough to attack the palace?"

"Maybe we were wrong. There's only one," Piyomon observed. She flew away from the tree to get a better look.

"No," Sora noted, her voice shaking slightly. "There's more than one."

"I see – three," Miyako stated. "Sora? I'd get out of that tree if I were you."

"Right." Sora began to slowly make her way down from the higher branches. Miyako began to panic slightly.

"Sora! Sora! It's coming this way!" her voice was definitely panicky now.

"Just – just stay calm," Hawkmon decided, sounding somewhat disconcerted himself.

What happened in the next few minutes, Miyako was never quite certain of. She did know that it was dark, and that accounted for why they didn't know the Airdramon were as close as they were. And why she wasn't quite aware of what was happening while it happened.

Miyako did the first thing that comes to any rational person's mind when a large flying object is hurtling at them. She flattened herself upon the ground, hoping to make herself as flat as possible. Even so, she could feel the rush of air as the giant flying digimon flew over at a speed she could not recall having ever experienced.

And she screamed, of course, but that can't be considered rational even at a time like this.

Hawkmon threw himself upon the ground as well, and then, when the attacker had finished, he busied himself with the first order of business, which was, of course, making sure Miyako was all right.

Miyako was, and then she turned to the tree. Sora, unfortunately, had not been so lucky. The rider of the Airdramon had somehow managed to pull her from the tree, and now she was gone, Piyomon was gone, and the Airdramon was gone.

"What the - ?" she wondered as a piece of paper fluttered down to rest at her feet. She read the letter and then let loose a stream of words that probably wouldn't be considered very ladylike. They were, however, quite appropriate at a time like this.

***

Sorry it took so long to get all this up…vacation and all that left me busier than I'd thought. And now I have to start classes in only two days! Oh well.

Anyway, about this chapter. Ken finally shows up, five chapters in. At least this one isn't named after him… Sorry for the cheesy romantic scenes and the mindless fluff. I got that picture in my head of Miyako bathing and Ken walking in and so I found a way to introduce him. I also had great fun with the "discussion" afterwards. She and Daisuke argue easily. Later on this story will get a bit more serious (as I'm sure you predicted from reading The Dark Bandit), so I'm including mindless humor in the beginning to lighten it up. ^_^

For those of you concerned about the future of this plotline, there will be at least one, possibly two more stories in this series. I'm already full of ideas about the next one, but I want to finish this one before I start that one.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, criticism, and support. Especially for the rotten tomatoes, they're great to use when I get back to school. ^_^ The next one won't take so long to get up. Probably a week or so, so see ya then!