Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, big surprise. But I'm going to borrow some of the characters.
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Mimi tied together two small branches with a piece of cloth she tore from her own clothes to make a small cross. She held it tightly to her chest as she silently cried as the sunlight of the late morning shined upon the ruins of what was once a great castle. She pulled together a collection of soil into a small pile large enough to support the cross on the land.
She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes and said a silent prayer for Panjamon. "You swore to protect me, and you did my hero, Panjamon. May you be reconfigured to one as noble as your former self."
He had sacrificed himself to protect the one with the purest of hearts, just like the Leomon before him. He would be remembered with the same love and affection and tears as a part of the family. He had been a chosen Digimon.
**
"So I guess things haven't changed very much," Miyako said as she took Yamato's hand. He had been quiet the entire flight down towards the south of the world. Koushirou, Yamato, Miyako and Hawkmon had taken their places on the back of Mega Kabuterimon while he flew them across the land and through the air. Upon Holy Dramon's back sat Daisuke, Takeru, Iori, and Hikari along with their respective Digimon. Jou, Mimi, Sora, and Taichi were all in Garudamon's palm as she flew them along with the other two Digimon.
He had been staring at what sat in Garudamon's palms the entire time, focused on specifically on Taichi and Sora. He saw them laugh together, so happy and so euphoric to see each other once again after nearly a year of separation. His heart ached for Sora, and to be able to laugh along with her.
"What do you mean?" he said, as Yamato broke away from his daze.
She took her hand away and shook her head, then said, "Nevermind." She clutched onto Hawkmon tighter, as he slept off the darkness of the nightmare of his past.
"Nothing has," Koushirou said. "He's been like this since we met up with them."
"What are you two talking about?" Yamato asked, already knowing.
Koushirou smiled, "It's nothing to worry about. Miyako, how much farther?"
"Just over that hill," she said as she pointed forward.
Several minutes passed and Mega Kabuterimon came to a stop in the air, and signaled the other Digimon to come down to the ground along with them. Miyako, who seemed as if she was trying to remember a dream, looked around the forest floor at the base of a large cliff. She was silent as she examined the stone formation, trying her best to remember where what she sought was kept. Hawkmon stayed by her side as she wandered around.
The others only watched as she searched, because they knew less than she did and could have been little help. After ten or so minutes, Miyako held her chest and said to Hawkmon, "Does this look like it?"
He shrugged. "My memory of those times has become gray at best."
She nodded, "I know what you mean." The pain of those times had repressed many memories that only a day ago Miyako or Hawkmon could have recalled with great ease. She then knew how it must have felt like for Ken to come out of his short phase of brainwashed evil. She totally understood now, all that pain he had endured was now a part of herself and Hawkmon. "Try it."
Hawkmon nodded and took the feather from the back of his head and threw it at the collection of rocks before them, saying, "Feather Slash!"
The force of the single feathered attack was enough to break the rock face open and reveal a small empty area within which was only big enough for a small child or Digimon to crawl through. Hawkmon bent down to peer through the hole as Miyako said, "Do you see it?"
"I believe so," he said. "V-mon, if you could help me?"
He nodded and ran up to Hawkmon as he crawled out of the hole.
"There is a container in there," Hawkmon said. "I cannot grab it with my wings, please see if you can pull it out?"
"Sure thing, no problem," he said cooperatively. V-mon crawled in and made his way though the hole. Halfway though he mumbled, "I hope there aren't any spiders in here."
After a few minutes, V-mon returned with the metal container that was now rusted on all its edges. He handed it to Miyako, who took a key from around her neck and struggled to get the lock open. When she succeeded, she smiled to the others and said, "This is it."
She opened the box and took out a set of D-Terminals. "All of your D-Terminals were in my backpack when we tried to go to the Digital World."
She could remember it quite clearly. Her friends had come to her family's store to buy food for the picnic, and they all set their D-Terminals on the counter. They had almost forgotten them, but luckily she placed them in her backpack.
"Ironic, isn't it," she said more to herself then to the others. "I had all these and I was the only one to turn to darkness. They would have done you a lot better then they did to me. I was ordered by my master to hide these here and to never let you find them."
She handed back the devices that looked like hand-held laptop computers to their owners. Taichi, Koushirou, Daisuke, Iori, Hikari, Takeru all took their personal D-Terminals, leaving Miyako one for herself, and one for ken.
"We should probably take that back to him," Jou said. He smiled and said, "At least now we can keep in contact with each other. And your Digimon can Armor Digivolve. Might come in handy sometime."
Miyako flipped hers open, and there on the screen were the two symbols of her two Digimentals that would allow Hawkmon to Armor Digivolve. The Digimentals of Love and Purity, two traits that she could hardly say that she had. She remembered the maps that she used to search through the Digital World that could be seen on her D-Terminal, and apparently now, she had maps of the New World.
"There is a city not far from here," she said. "Maybe we should make a home for ourselves before we go to see Ken."
"I'd really like to change my clothes," Mimi said. She sighed. "We need to get jobs again."
"And then what?" Daisuke asked. "How are we getting home?"
They were silent, looking to the ground.
"You mean we're here forever?!"
"I wish I had my computer," Koushirou sighed.
**
"Little one, you have returned to me!" Flowra exclaimed as she dropped a loaf of bread and ran around to corner to tackle Yamato with a hug. "Oh my, you are hardly a little one anymore," she said as she moved his hair out of his face.
"Hello Miss," he said softly. "As promised, I have returned."
"And you've brought friends," she said with a very large smile.
In the several weeks that followed, the eleven Chosen Children found themselves in the city of Sitka, the place that Yamato had found himself in when he came to that world. It was ironically close to the land that had resided in, and if he had gone towards the north rather than south, he probably would have gotten a signal from her and be capture by her and the others may have never found each other.
Taxes were low and spirits were high throughout their state. Employment was high and so was the pay, as there were many jobs to fill and plenty of people to fill it. It wasn't hard for the children to find a place to live, which was only a block away from Miss Flowra's bakery. It wasn't quite big enough for all the kids and their nine Digimon, but it did make things interesting.
Their home was cozy, a small two level flat with open rooms. A small iron stove was in the corner of the bottom level and a ladder led to the top level. Over the course of their making a home out of the empty building, furniture started to accumulate as their separate jobs started to bring in enough money to purchase things like chairs and tables and mattresses.
It was agreed that the three girls could make use of the top level and the boys would make their home on the ground floor except for Hawkmon, who the girls tolerated in all scenarios. This proved most logical because the boys had no reason to ever go up there and make for any embarrassing moments, as the girls were much more modest than the boys, although sometimes they allowed Takeru to come up and cuddle with Hikari.
Flowra took in Yamato and Taichi to help sell her baked goods and Iori and Miyako to help with the actual baking. She also allowed the Digimon to stay in the attic of her bakery where Yamato once lived during the day while everyone was working. Jou of course became a doctor once again at the local hospital while Daisuke and Takeru became couriers for a small delivery company. Sora started growing flowers once again, and would sell them every Saturday at the weekly market. During the rest of the week, she would work at a small flower shop in the Town Square. Mimi and Hikari also found jobs at the center of the city, waitressing for a small Inn that tended to several guests a night. As for Koushirou, a place in the city's library was open and he spent most of his time reading instead of working.
With life calm and stable, it was decided that it was time to bring Ken home. Or rather, to bring home back to Ken. "Miss," Yamato said one evening. "I and my friends are going to visit a friend of ours."
"Will he be visiting back?" she asked kindly, always ready to greet a new guest.
"We hope so," he said. "If not, then it will be good to see him either way. It shouldn't take more than a week to get there, since we actually know which way to go this time."
"Let me pack you and your friends some food," she said, already standing up from her seat at the counter heading to the back to collect some breads and sweets."
"Please Miss," Yamato pleaded, "it's really not necessary."
"Nonsense," she said from the back of the bakery. She was already getting bags ready for her Yamato and his friends. Yamato smiled at her kindness and figured that he was once the one she saw as her son. She must have been very alone when Yamato left, and now she had enough love to not only give to Yamato, but also all ten of his friends. They were gone by the next day, at the beginning of a new journey, and a new chapter in the challenges of their destiny.
Authors Notes: This was a really short chapter, yes I know, but it serves as transition from the children finding each other to a new story of them finding themsleves. Next chapter up soon I hope.