Author: Well, here's the final chapter. Enjoy!

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Osamu died in the hospital three hours later. He was brain dead when he arrived, but they had him on life support until his parents finally let him go. Ken was there, too, but I wasn't. I was in a daze. I had just found my Osamu, and now I had lost him. It felt like life had just barely begun, and yet it had to end.

I wandered around for several days, until I came upon a funeral home. Not just any funeral home, either. It was the one where Osamu's funeral was being held on that particular day. So, I went in.

I sat in the back so that nobody would see me. After all, I wasn't properly dressed for a funeral. I was just wearing some street clothes.

Clothes that Osamu had given me.

I quickly identified Ken and his parents. They were sitting in the front row. Ken's mom was crying quietly into a handkerchief. His dad was sitting there solemnly, trying not to shed tears. And Ken…he showed nothing. No sadness, no hate, nothing. He just sat there the whole time. He didn't even speak once.

I couldn't speak, either. How could I tell everyone that it had been my fault that Osamu had died? True, the truck driver would have run over Ken if I hadn't done something, but I wasn't thinking clearly enough to realize that at that time. All that was processing was that Osamu was dead, and I had killed him.

After everyone had left to travel to the graveyard, I walked up to the casket. I couldn't help but stare at Osamu. He was laying there as if he was sleeping. Man, even in death he still looked hot. I wanted to shake his shoulder, to tell him 'wake up! You're not dead!'

The whole scene reminded me of a time me and Anya were playing in a big box at the hardware store. Anya had laid down in the box and pretended to be dead. At first, she was frowning. Then, I said, "Anya! Dead people smile, remember?"

Then Anya had smiled, and started to giggle as well. Then Claire had come along, and Anya had scared the crap out of her by jumping out of the box and going, "Boo!"

But today, there wouldn't be any pranks. Osamu was dead, and he wasn't coming back. I felt the tears beginning to return. So, I made it brief. I gave Osamu one last kiss and said, "Sayonara, Osamu. Daisuki." (1)

Yet again my wanderings began. I strayed around Tamachi for a couple days before I finally came upon a familiar sight. I had arrived at the apartments where Ken lived. I didn't use the front door. I didn't want to. Instead, I sneaked in through the sliding glass door in Osamu's room.

The room had changed quite a bit. All of Osamu's things had been taken away. Well, except for his computer. And currently, Ken was using it. Ken looked up when he heard the sliding glass door open.

Ken seemed to be much older than he was before, even though only about a week had passed. He was now wearing what looked to be a school uniform of a white shirt and gray pants. His hair looked a little neater; it had obviously been combed. But the biggest change in Ken was his eyes. Once his eyes had held innocence and curiosity. Now they only had pain and sorrow.

I couldn't leave him like that. I'd seen kids commit suicide because things like this had happened to them. I had to do something. The only thing I could think of doing was taking him to the Digital world with me. So, that is exactly what I did.

When we first arrived in the Digital world, something just didn't seem quite right. I couldn't put my finger on it right then, though. So, I shook it off and decided to take Ken to the digimon village I had been at before he came. It was there that I saw something that nearly caused me to loose all faith in life itself.

The entire village had been destroyed.

It was then that I realized what had been wrong. The little digimon usually played in the area near the village. Today, it had been completely empty. Every digimon was gone.

I lost it. After everything that had happened, I just couldn't take it anymore. Losing my Osamu was such a hard blow, but losing the village, which I had come to love and adore, pushed me over the edge. I fell to my knees, clutching my head in my hands. I said, "I can't do this! I can't take it anymore!"

V-mon placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Ryo. Things will get better."

"I don't believe that," I said, "I can't! Things haven't gotten better for two f****** years! It's been nothing but a roller coaster of pain, sorrow, and death! And I can't stand it anymore!"

I collapsed, sobbing. For the third time in my life I was crying. I felt everything around me sort of fade away. It was as if it didn't exist. I would have gladly wallowed in my grief for the rest of my days. But, my three true friends wouldn't let me.

V-mon and Ken helped me sit up. Ken said, "Don't cry, Ryo. If you cry, it will make me cry, then V-mon and Wormmon will cry, too. Then who will save the world?"

That's right! I had to save the world. No matter what happened, I couldn't lose sight of that. I dried my tears and said, "You're right, Ken. We do have to save the world."

By now, nearly all my sorrow had left me. Now, I was filled with a rage. A rage directed at Milleniummon. This was all his fault, and he would pay for what he had done. I would make sure of that.

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For some time, Ken and I, along with our digimon, followed Milleniummon. That wasn't too hard; he left a trail of destruction in his wake. Just follow the destruction, and you would reach him. It was saddening to see all the things that Milleniummon had done, though.

Surprisingly, Gennai didn't come and tell me off for leaving the Digital World again. That was probably a good thing, though. I don't think I could have lasted through him chewing me out at that time. My sanity was wearing quite thin, mainly due to the stress. The same was true for Ken, as well. He never said anything, but I could see the fatigue in his eyes.

We traveled for many weeks in the desert. We didn't really have too much trouble, save the occasional attacks from Milleniummon's lackeys. Then, A sandstorm hit.

There wasn't any shelter nearby, so we had to ride it out in the open. Luckily, it was a light sandstorm, so we would live through it. We just braced ourselves and rode it out. Ken was kneeling on the ground, holding Wormmon close to him. V-mon and I were still standing up, but we were shielding our faces with our arms.

After the sandstorm had been going on for a while, I noticed something in the distance. It was a dark figure, and it was approaching us. I studied it closely, and I was eventually able to make out what it was. It was Milleniummon.

I pulled Ken up to his feet and said, "Ken, we have big problems!"

I then pointed out to where Milleniummon was. Ken squinted as he tried to see it, but he couldn't make out what it was. He said, "What is it, Ryo?"

I said, "It's Milleniummon!"

Wormmon and V-mon stepped in front of us defensively. Ken and I pulled out our digivices, but I knew it wouldn't be enough. After all, Wormmon and V-mon could only digivolve to the adult level, and Milleniummon was an ultimate. He was two whole levels above either of them.

But, we still tried. V-mon and Wormmon digivolved to XVmon and Stingmon, retrospectively. They both went out to attack, but Milleniummon knocked them away easily. They tried again, but there was no effect. They just weren't strong enough. Then, while our digimon were distracted, Milleniummon attacked Ken and I. I pushed Ken out of the way, But the attack got me a little bit, and I fell to my knees, injured. Ken called out, "Ryo!"

Milleniummon stopped in his tracks. The digimon took this opportunity to attack, but there was still no effect. Ken ran to me and said, "Ryo! Are you alright?"

I nodded, the flinched as I tried to move the side that had been hit. It was my left side; the same side that had been injured years ago. The wound had healed, but it had left a scar. Now I had another future scar crossing over it. The old scar had slated slightly upwards towards my head, and the new cut (which did turn out to be a scar later) slanted slightly downwards. So, I would eventually have a very narrow x on my left side.

I slowly stood up and looked towards the fighting digimon. XVmon and Stingmon were still attacking Milleniummon, though they weren't causing any damage. Milleniummon wasn't moving, though. It seemed almost like he was in shock.

This was it. We weren't strong enough. As soon as Milleniummon started attacking again, we were as good as dead. But, I never gave up hope. And neither did Ken. Ken called out to the digimon, "Keep it up! We believe in you!"

Then, a miracle happened. Ken's digivice, as well as mine, began to glow. Mine was glowing blue, and Ken's was glowing black. As soon as the glowing stopped, I saw that the digivices had changed in shape and color. They were a little bigger, and they had more buttons. Mine was white with some dark blue on the edge. Ken's was similar, only his had a gray and black motif. Ken stared at his new digivice as he said, "Is this…a miracle?"

I nodded and said, "Yup. I guess so."

Then, something even more amazing happened. XVmon and Stingmon both began to glow, and they merged into one digimon! They had joggressed! (2)

This new digimon was much bigger, and it looked like both XVmon and Stingmon. It said, "Milleniummon, you shall pay for everything you have done now!"

Ken and I could only offer words of encouragement as the new digimon fought against Milleniummon. It was strong, but Milleniummon was still a bit stronger. And he had started to fight again, too.

It was a long a brutal battle, but the new digimon emerged victorious. Milleniummon's data was beginning to delete as the new digimon de-evolved into V-mon and Wormmon. The two digimon jumped into our arms as they celebrated the victory. I felt a load be taken off my mind, too. The rage which had driven me before was now gone. I could actually feel truly happy again.

But, the celebration came a bit too soon. As a last ditch effort, Milleniummon threw some weird seeds at me. But Ken shoved me out of the way and took the hit for me. As soon as it had hit him, he fell to the ground, screaming in pain. I tried to help him, but I didn't know what to do.

Then, Gennai appeared.

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It was lucky that he came when he did. We were all hurt, and we probably would have died if we were left in the desert. Gennai took us all to a safe place, and he cared for us. He gave Ken some weird drink, and it seemed to ease his pain. Then Gennai took care of the digimon, then me. As he was bandaging me up, he said, "Ryo, you disobeyed the powers that be again."

"I know," I said with a sigh, "But I couldn't help it! Ken appeared, and I wanted to make sure he got home safely."

"Uh huh," Gennai said, "You wanted to make sure he made it home safely, so you brought him back here?"

"Not at first," I said, "First I stayed at his house overnight. Then….well, some pretty bad stuff happened, and I brought him back here so that he wouldn't be alone."

I had felt the burning in my throat when I had almost mentioned Osamu's death. It was still painful to think about. Gennai said, "Well, Ken is in a lot of trouble now. He is now doomed to a life of darkness and despair."

"What?!"

The was the only word I could say. I just stared at Gennai after that. Gennai continued, "The thing he was infected with was a dark seed. As it grows inside of him, it will warp his personality until he is cold, cruel, and evil. And since he is a chosen child-"

"Tag tamer."

"-this makes things even more dangerous. That darkness could easily spread to the Digital world. We must seal him in a crystal. That way, the seed cannot grow."

I shook my head. "That just can't be," I said, "There must be something we can do!"

Gennai shook his head. He finished bandaging me up, stood up, and handed me my shirt, which had been stitched up. He then walked to the door of the room. He stopped at the door and said, "Don't spend your time worrying about Ken. He is beyond hope. All you can do now is worry about what will happen to you."

Then he walked out of the room. V-mon said, "What now, Ryo?"

I didn't answer for a while. I couldn't. This was all too much. I had to absorb it before I could make a decision. I glanced over at Ken. He was fast asleep, Wormmon at his side. Wormmon looked very worried. V-mon said, "Ryo," one more time. I said, "I can't just leave him."

Then, I came up with a plan. A few diversions and one major escape later, We were all at Ken's house. I was carrying Ken on my back, and the two digimon were right beside me. Ken was still fast asleep. I set Ken down on his bed, and he moaned and opened his eyes a crack. He said, "R..Ryo?"

I nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Your home. You're safe now."

"…you sure?"

"Yeah. But Ken, you can't go back to the Digital world ever again, alright?"

"…Alright…"

That was the last time I ever spoke to Ken. He fell asleep after that. I turned to Wormmon and said, "It's up to you to take care of him. Make sure he's alright, ok?"

Wormmon nodded. He said, "Don't worry, Ryo. I will never leave Ken's side, even if he does become evil like Gennai said. Ken's my partner, and I love him."

Wormmon then jumped up on Ken's bed and laid down beside him. I smiled at the pair and held my digivice up to the computer. As the data stream took me back to the Digital world, I said, "Sayonara."

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Trouble was waiting for me in the Digital world. Namely like 20 travelers. They captured V-mon and I and took us to a giant chamber. In that chamber were four digimon. One looked like A giant 2 headed turtle with a tree on it's back, one looked like a giant bird, one looked like a giant dog digimon, and the last one looked like a furry dragon. The Dragon said, "Young tag tamer, I assume you know why you are here."

I nodded. The Dragon said, "I hope you realize that you are in a lot of trouble. You told your young Chosen child friend to disobey us, you disobeyed us, your lack of action killed hundreds of digimon, and you took a dangerous child, one that was supposed to be sealed away forever, and took him back to the Real world. What do you have to say in your defense?"

"I did what I did because I had to," I said, "I had to be strong for those who survived. If I hadn't done what I had done, then many more would have perished."

"And if you had followed our orders in the first place," the Dog said, "None of this would have happened."

I had no response to that. The Dragon sighed and said, "Alright then. We have no choice but to exile-"

"Exile," the Bird shouted, "This foolish human deserves more than exile! He deserves to be executed! He has crossed too many lines!"

"Now now," the Turtle said, "Don't be so rash. True, he did cause a lot of damage. But he also defeated Milleniummon. I think he deserves a little leeway."

"Preposterous," the Bird said, "If you give him leeway, you'll have to give all Tag tamers leeway! We must put our foots down now!"

I have to admit, I was scared then. So was V-mon. It's not everyday that the powers that be argue over weather you should be executed or not. The Dragon sighed and said, "Alright, let us take a vote. Should Akiyama Ryo be executed, or should he be forced into exile in the desert of Server?"

The vote was three to one in favor of exile. V-mon and I were shipped to the desert of Server. We were blindfolded first, so that we wouldn't know how to get out. Then, we were dropped off by a cave which is now our home.

It's not too bad here. There's an oasis nearby, so we have plenty of food and water. The cave is plenty of shelter. It's March now, so there aren't very many sandstorms. Given the circumstances, things are pretty good.

I am almost out of paper now, so I have to end this. I will be brief with my "morale." Trust in yourself and your friends, and things will turn out fine. Strange morale, given the story, isn't it? Well, if I hadn't believed in myself and my friends, I probably would have died. So, reader, be strong. Don't be depressed just because things are bad. They will get better. Oh, and try to piss off the powers that be. That might get you killed, like it almost did me.

Well, goodbye reader. I hope you have a long and prosperous life.

Sincerely,

Akiyama Ryo

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Eight months later…

Ichijouji Ken walked along the path in the field. To where it led, he didn't know. It didn't matter, either. As long as he got rid of more of those horrible control spires he created, it was all good. Ken figured that the next village might have one in it, so he was headed there. Wormmon, his only friend, rode on his shoulder. They had been traveling for many hours now, and it was mid-afternoon. Not that time mattered too much to Ken.

Up ahead in the road, a Gazimon carrying a bag was sitting on a rock. It looked like it had been running, and it was taking a rest. Ken walked up to it and said, "Excuse me, but do you know where the next village is?"

"About ten miles down the road," the Gazimon said. Then it studied Ken for a moment. It said, "Hey, you're a human, right?"

Ken nodded. The Gazimon reached into his bag and pulled out a very thick letter. It handed the letter to Ken as it said, "Here. That kid told me to give it to a human, so here ya go."

"Kid," Ken said as he examined the letter, "What kid?"

"Some kid in the desert," the Gazimon said as it shook it's head, "I feel sorry for the poor guy. As soon as he finished it, a giant digimon attacked both him and his partner digimon. I managed to get away, but the digimon was deleted and the kid…" the Gazimon shook his head again, "Man, I really feel sorry for him. Losing his partner digimon seemed to be the last straw for him. It drove him mad. He said something like, 'Not again, I can't lose my last friend!' Then he started screaming, then yelling things at the digimon that had attacked him. But, he was talking in some funny language. Then, both the attacking digimon and the kid disappeared."

The Gazimon shook his head once more, then went on his way. Ken, who was quite interested, opened the letter. Wormmon said, "What does it say, Ken?"

Ken read it aloud. He read, "Dear whoever finds this letter,

"Greetings! I bet you are surprised to get a mysterious letter from a mysterious person. Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Akiyama Ryo, and am lost. Not in a physical sense, mind you, but in a spiritual sense. I am lost in a way that cannot be recovered by maps or simple directions…."

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Author: Yay! Finished! So tell me what you think! ^^; Sorry it took so long. This turned out to be longer than I expected. Well, that's it for now!

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(1): "Sayonara, Osamu. Daisuki." That's Japanese for "Goodbye (for forever or a very long time), Osamu. I love you."

(2): That's DNA digivolved for you people who follow the dub.