Digimon: After the Adventures End
Chapter 2: The Light

"Hello? Anybody there? Culu?"

A small, white Digimon with enormous green eyes was floating in character limbo. "There have to be other people around. Otherwise, why would this place be here? Cululu?"

He saw a bright spot far in the distance. "Aha!" he said. Extending his ears, he swam toward it.

It turned out to be a woman in a pink shirt and pale yellow pants, and a Digimon. "Hi!" he said. "I'm Culumon. Who are you?"

"Yagami Hikari," said the woman.

"And I'm Tailmon," said the Digimon.

"Is Tailmon your partner?" Culumon asked.

"Since I was eight years old," said Hikari.

"Tell me about how you met. Please, culu?"

"Okay, I'll tell you. It was summer, and I was eight years old. Taichi-niisan went to summer camp without me, because I was sick. He came back home one day with his own partner Digimon, Koromon. Then his friend Koushirou sent him a message from the Digital World. He said not to go back there, but a portal opened and Taichi and Koromon had to go back. Later, an evil Digimon, Vamdemon, came to the real world to look for the eighth Chosen Child."

"What's a Chosen Child?"

"You don't know about us?"

"No. I know some people who have partner Digimon, and they're called Tamers."

"Hmmm . . . Well, Culumon, a Chosen Child is someone who is summoned to the Digital World to help defend it from evil. Do Tamers do that?"

"Yeah. So, what happened next?"

"Taichi, Koushirou, and some of their other friends followed Vamdemon and his army to the real world in order to find the eighth child first. It was then that they realized that four years earlier, they had all seen a battle between two Digimon, and that was how they had become Chosen Children, so the Eighth Child must have seen it too."

"I was in the real world then," said Tailmon, "because I was following Vamdemon as one of his servants. He had taken me in when I was a lost, lonely Child and turned me into a vicious monster. Fortunately, one of the other servants, Wizarmon, was actually a good Digimon who found Hikari's Digivice and used it to help me remember that before Vamdemon found me, I had been waiting to meet my partner, and that partner was Hikari. So Wizarmon and I went and told Hikari that I was her partner, and then we tried to steal Hikari's Tag and Crest from Vamdemon, but he threw Wizarmon into the bay with the crest and captured me."

"You remind me of Lopmon," said Culumon. "I know a little girl named Shaochung who was taken to the Digital World one day and met a Perfect-level Digimon called Anteiramon, who was part of a group of twelve Digimon called the Devas, who were working against the Tamers. When the other Tamers found them, they tried to warn Shaochung away from the Deva, but they had already bonded. Shaochung got her Digivice, and Anteiramon reverted to his Child form of Lopmon. So, like Tailmon, Lopmon was evil until he found his partner."

"How interesting," said Tailmon. "I never expected that to happen again."

"So," said Culumon, "what happened after you were captured?"

"After . . . I don't think I can stand to say it . . ."

("Holy Light")

"I'll tell him, then," said Hikari. "Vamdemon had captured several hundred children and forced Tailmon to look for the eighth child among them, but that child wasn't there - it was me. I came forward to stop Vamdemon's attack on the city. He was about to kill me when Taichi and the others arrived with Wizarmon, who gave me my Tag and Crest and . . ."

"You can say it," said Tailmon.

". . . jumped in front of the attack Vamdemon had intended to kill me with, giving his own life for mine." She and Tailmon were now both crying.

"Kind of like that one time," said Culumon, "when all of the Tamers were fighting with Beelzebumon. A girl named Juri had just met her partner, Leomon, and Beelzemon killed him. It took a long time for her to get over that."

"That's awful," said Tailmon. "He never came back?"

"No, because, Beelzebumon took his data to increase his own power."

"How do you do that?"

"Beats me, culu. I've never done it. Is that the end of the story?"

"No," said Hikari. "Tailmon evolved into Angewomon, and she and Angemon followed the prophecy our friend Gennai had found and shot Taichi-niichan and Ishida Yamato-san with their arrows, allowing their partner Digimon to evolve to their Ultimate forms and defeat Vamdemon, who had evolved to his own final form of VenomVamdemon. Then we all went back to the Digital World to save it from the Dark Masters. When I got there, I started hearing a mysterious voice, and when Yamato and Taichi-niichan were fighting each other, I found its source. I don't really remember what happened next, but Taichi told me that the voice possessed me, broke up the fight, and told everyone all about how we became Chosen Children. A while later, Takeru and Sora and I found a number of Numemon enslaved by WaruMonzaemon. I suddenly began to glow, and the light energized all our Digimon and allowed them to evolve and defeat him."

"That's what I did," said Culumon. "Before I came here, I used to help the Tamer's Digimon evolve. Whenever one of them reached a new level for the first time, this symbol would glow read. Later, I found out that I was the bearer of the Shining Evolution, and when I released it, Digimon all over the Digital World evolved to their Ultimate forms to join in the fight against a scary blob thing called the D-Reaper."

"I thought I was the only one," said Hikari. "You're very interesting, Culumon."

"Thank you, culu."

"Hey, what's that?" said Tailmon.

She was referring to a figure she saw moving in the distance. Culumon knew who it was. "It's Juri! Come on!"

He swam toward Juri, calling, "Juri! It's me, Culumon!" Hikari and Tailmon followed. When they met, Juri cried out "Culumon!" and hugged him.

"It's been so long, Juri," said Culumon. "Have you seen Shaochung around?"

"No, but I saw her brother. Terriermon says hi. Why do you ask?"

"This is Yagami Hikari, and Tailmon is her partner. We were just talking about things we've seen and done, and she has things in common with you, me, and Shaochung."

"You're . . . like me?" Juri asked Hikari.

"Yes," said Hikari. "I've seen friends die right in front of me, too."

"While in battle with Digimon?"

"Yes. I was just a newcomer then, but I had known about Digimon for years."

"Really? How?"

Hikari told her all about the incident at Hikarigaoka. Juri's response was, "I wish the Digital World had selected my group that way."

"Didn't it?" said Hikari. "What happened?"

"Well, most of us just met our own partners and then got our D-Arks." Juri showed hers to Hikari. "The slot is there so we can use cards to boost our Digimon's power."

"Sugoi! There were times when I wished I could take part in battle like that. I think you've been part of something wonderful."

"I know."

"Hey," said Culumon, "why don't we all stick together? We wouldn't be lonely then."

"Good idea," said Juri.

"Yes, it is," said Hikari.

The three new friends continued to float and talk to each other about their adventures.

Disclaimer: All Digimon characters belong to Hongo Akiyoshi, Toei Animation, Bandai, and Sensation Animation. No money is being made off this; I write because it's fun. :-)