Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I wrote this story solely for the entertainment of its readers; no profit has been involved.

The Return
A Short Story

By Ductapophiliac



"Mom! Dad!"
"Son!"
"Hi Mommy, Hi Daddy!"
"Oh we're so glad you're all right!"
"Mama! We're back!"
"Oh, thank God, you're back!"

Cries of happiness, tears of joy, shouts of rejoice -- the sounds of children being reunited with their parents. For the adults, these children had only been gone for a matter of hours, but their wait seemed like a lifetime. The children, however, had been gone for almost a lifetime, and they had risked their lives to ensure that the fate of two worlds would not be plunged into darkness. The safe return of the children not only reunited the homesick, tired, and exhausted children with their worried parents, but it also meant that the world was safe once again. Everyone was happy.

Everyone, except me.

"TK!... Matt!..." Nancy Takashi chocked out between her tears of happiness. My younger brother, TK, ran over and embraced our mother. "Don't ever go running off like that again. Your father and I were so worried."

"Looks like you boys did a pretty good job," said my father, proudly, but trying to hold back his tears. He ran his hand through my hair. It messed up my hair, and usually when he did this, I'd get mad. But, this time I didn't care. It was good to be back, wasn't it?

All around, the Digidestined hugged their parents. They all shed tears. They were glad their ordeal was over, and they were glad to be back.

Tai and Kari embraced their parents.
Sora and her mother cried on each others shoulders.
Mimi jumped into her mother's and father's arms.
Izzy ran up to his adoptive parents and embraced them as if they were his real parents.
Jim gave his younger brother, Joe, a hearty slap on the back to congratulate him, knocking Joe's glasses off of his face and onto the ground.

"I'm really glad to be back," shouted TK. "I missed you, Mom."

"I know TK," replied our mother. "I missed you so much."

"I'm glad you're back, son," said my father as he gently placed his arm on my shoulder.

Am I glad to be back? I asked my self. Images of the Digital World flashed through my mind. Will I be leaving all of this behind -- forever? The words, "Matt and Gabumon: friends forever," echoed through my mind.

I also thought of TK. When the summer started, TK and I were so distant that we didn't even seem like brothers. I tried to act like a good brother, but I just didn't know how. Eventually, I learned, making too many mistakes to count; I finally had become a good brother to TK. But now this... this fantasy, was about to end.

The reality of it all was coming back to me. He would go back with his mother to live all the way across town in a completely different district of the city. Before this fateful summer we hardly saw each other; the same would be true now. After my parents first got divorced, it took a while to get used to not having little TK around. No one to talk to, no one to play with: loneliness. But soon, I got used to it. It's not like he and my mom were with my dad and me for that long.

But now, it seemed, I'd have to get used to it all over again. It'd be a lot harder to get used to this time, though. I think TK and I developed a deep bond this summer. We both learned from each other what it was like to finally have a brother. It's a feeling that you never forget, ever.

It's not just leaving TK behind that got to me. In the last two hours between the defeat of Apocalymon and our return, we spent with our new found friends. When I went to summer camp, I expected the normal. Hang around with the other campers, meet some new people, maybe make a new friend who you would promise to write to after camp was over, but you never would. I never expected to make a lifelong, unforgettable friend.

That's right, I'm talking about none other than our Digimon companions. We've been thought a lot together, through snowy mountains, to scorching deserts, to forests of irrelevant road signs. And it's not just the places we've been together and the battles we fought side by side, it's that they've always been there for us: to teach us, to support us, to comfort us, to guide us, and to save us. They were always there no matter what. Ever since we first met them, each of us has developed a deep bond with our Digimon, a bond so deep that it's unbreakable; friendships that will last a lifetime:


Tai and Agumon
Sora and Biyomon
Izzy and Tentomon
Joe and Gomamon
Izzy and Tentomon
TK and Patamon
Kari and Gatomon
Matt and Gabumon: friends forever.

The phrase echoed through my mind again. He was a true friend. He taught me the meaning of friendship, and he never let me forget it. Even when Cherrymon convinced me to fight Tai, he stuck through it with me. He never left my side, even for a minute. "Friendship and loyalty aren't just words Matt," he would say. Now, because of him, I knew the meaning of those words.

My mind wandered back to when Gabumon and I were lost in the dark cave. I had created a deep darkness inside of me. All of my negative thoughts were plunging my life into an abysmal pit of despair. Only Gabumon was able to pull me out. I had never confided in or trusted someone as much as I had with Gabumon. I told him everything, and he told me what I could do to make it all better. I swear to God, I would sacrifice my life for him, because he'd do the same for me. That's how deep our friendship was.

I had never really known true friendship before I met Gabumon. I had always felt distant, isolated from the others. I never really got close to anyone. But that wasn't the same with Gabumon. I felt I could trust him with anything. I could talk to him about any of my troubles, and he'd understand. Unlike with my parents.

But, Gabumon was gone now. I'd probably never see him again. The gate to the Digital World had been sealed. I had gone from a world of fantasy, to the world of harsh reality: a world of brothers and friends, to a world of divorce and alienation. I though of all that I would be losing: my brother and my best friend. The thing is, a brother and a friend have been all that I'd wanted.

"Well, Nancy," my father said, approaching my mother. "Our kids our back safely."

"Yes, I'm glad," she replied. The two adults, whose path had separated long ago, looked longingly at each other and their children. But years had passed since we had all been together. We all knew it would never work out if we tried.

Everyone was looking at each other, trying to find things to say.

"You've grown a lot since I've last seen you, Matt," said my mother. That comment was probably more true than she'd ever imagine.

"Yeah," I replied, in my usual, nonchalant voice.

We stood there for a while, sometimes conversing, sometimes silent. But, I knew, soon the inevitable would come.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Nancy as she and TK turned to leave.

TK's expression changed, as he realized what this meant also.

"Aw, but Mom, do we have to go?" he pleaded.

"Yes, TK, it's getting late. It's time to say goodbye."

Yes, this was a time to say goodbye -- a goodbye to the dreams of a friend and a brother, and a return to the world of separation.

Why can't we be together? I mean, my mom and dad were here, together, supporting each other, worrying about their children. Maybe things would change.

"We don't have to say goodbye," I spoke up. It was our only chance, a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

"What do you mean?" asked Nancy.

"I mean, can't we be a family again?" TK's eyes lit up as I spoke. I could tell that he wanted this as much as I did. "Together again."

"Matt... I'm sorry, but..."

"C'mon, Mom," said TK, so full of hope and optimism. "It'd be just like old times. We'd be happy together. I know it!"

Nancy looked down at TK, and tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry, TK... Matt... It just... It just won't work."

TK turned to my dad as if he were his last hope.

"I'm sorry, TK, but your mother is right," he said. I looked at my dad. In his eyes there was the glimmer of the happier times of our past. But, there was also the understanding of the present and reality. "It wouldn't work out."

"But you two were here, together, holding hands when we left," I said, trying to grab the glimmer of hope inside of them. "You were both here together, with each other, worrying about your children and supporting each other."

"It just wouldn't work out!" Nancy cried out in an anguished voice. I could see by the look on her face that she, too, could remember the times when we were a true family -- together. The memories of our family before the divorce taunted all of us. It was something that we all had felt and that we all yearned to experience again; however, it was also something unattainable. It was an impossible dream stuck in the land of fantasy. "Come on, TK. It's getting late. We have to go."

"But, momma," complained TK, "I don't want to leave Matt."

"And I don't want to leave TK," I stated.

"TK, Matt... I know how you feel. I understand what you want, but it's impossible," Nancy replied. "Your father and I already made our decisions and we aren't turning back." With that final remark, Nancy, turned and left, taking TK with her. I could see TK's spirit was crushed.

I thought about her words. "I understand what you want." She didn't understand. My parents didn't understand anything about me, about friendship, about family... about anything. And, how could they? How could they know about my experiences in the Digital World? How close I'd grown to TK? How could they ever understand the deep bond between Gabumon and me? They never did and they never would. The only one who ever understood me was Gabumon, and he was long gone. I was alone again.

"Well, Matt, I guess we'd better be going too," my dad said, as we watched Nancy and TK leave. Then we turned in the opposite direction and made our way back home. No, this wasn't home. The Digital World was my real home. A home is a place where you're with friends and family. Here I have no friends and a family that's been cleaved in half.

I wanted to cry. I remembered what I had said to Gabumon in the dark cave. "I promised myself that I'd never let anyone else see me cry. But, all I really wanted to do was cry." Gabumon responded simply, by offering his shoulder to cry on and his body and soul for support. With the words, "Then cry, Matt," he was able to comfort me.

Now, there was no Gabumon to turn to. I couldn't cry. I couldn't turn to anyone for support. So, I had to seal up my tears, as I had always done before. I locked them up inside of me, with no escape, as I had always done before I had met Gabumon.

I had been separated from more than friends and family when I left the Digital World; I had severed my own connection with myself.