Author's notes: Hopefully I can get this chapter up to a decent length... Sorry about the wait, vacation and other fics are to blame... Yes, I do use too many ellipses, why do you ask? ...
Devimon was far from beaten... The war would resume soon enough, such an evil could not be stopped... And it was only a matter of time before Factorial Fortress became his target... In the midst of it all, Takeru and Sora's love bloomed, but it had not yet been tested, and the growing darkness in this world could prove to be it's greatest threat...
A scouting mission... It was only natural to send the one with a Garudamon out to see what the world above was occurring... And Takeru didn't have much of anything else to do, so... No, it wasn't a secret romantic liaison or anything like that, just the necessity that came with both being chosen, or at least it seemed that way...
But things just happened as if to create such a thing... Sure, flying in a thunderstorm might not have been smart, but who knew how strong File Island lightning was? A flash of light, a scream, and suddenly Garudamon was plummeting to the ground, carrying Takeru and Sora with her...
Everything was going by so quickly... The sky and the trees, swarms of blue and green, with Garudamon's reddish flame mixed in and the green getting ever closer... More out of instinct then anything, Takeru quickly grabbed Sora and chanted some words of magic, and instantly they reached the forest floor, as far away, a phoenix plummeted to the earth, while the rain fell ever-harder...
In time, they both awoke, soaked in a forest with no means of transport out or any sort of map... In other words, just as they had during their first digital world journey, they would be wondering File Island aimlessly, but this time Piyomon and Patamon weren't with them either...
"We're alone, in the middle of a forest with no one around..." Sora thought, blushing... "No, don't think like that, this is far too serious a situation, even if what she was thinking of would make it more enjoyable... Besides, things hadn't gone that far yet... Trying to get herself onto a different train of thought, she began thinking of the whole "Stranded away from civilization" thing, so her face became both blushing and fearful at once.
"The rain's strong... We'll have to stay here for the night." Takeru said, looking up at the stormclouds and the watery sky. "I hope Garudamon can find us soon..."
"Right." Sora responded, looking up wistfully... "He's so focused right now, I'm not even sure if he realizes that we'll probably be stuck sharing sleeping quarters... Or perhaps he doesn't care..." She thought, as she tried to scout out a place to stay...
In time, they managed to find something... It wasn't much, just a small hut made out of sticks and wet grass, but at least it kept the rain out, and it was raining HARD. Of course, it did have it's flaws, it was too small for two people to even fit in comfortably, but... It wasn't like there was another way...
So there they were, with no one around for some distance, sharing cramped sleeping quarters, and a hard storm outside for good measure... It seemed to them like the gods themselves were setting them up for something, but none of them really wanted what that just yet.
"Sora-chan..." Takeru said, looking out at the ferocious thunderstorm. "To be honest, I'm a bit scared right now."
"So am I." Sora added, putting a comforting hand on Takeru... "But I think" She began, but then shook her head, "No, I know we'll get through this." She added, a bit more confidently. "But still, what to do until the storm passes, it won't end quickly..."
Takeru shook his head, having no more idea then the bearer of love, rubbing up awkwardly against Sora's chest. "Sorry." Takeru added, blushing as he quickly moved his arm away."It's no big deal..." Sora responded, gently caressing Takeru's blonde hair... "I don't like it either, but this stuff happens when it's pouring this hard...' She added half-heartedly, not sure if she really meant the first part of what she had said.
"Ne, Sora-chan, are you sure you don't want me to touch?" Takeru-chan asked impishly, and Sora promptly blushed, not even feeling the urge to send Takeru skyward with a trans-dimensional mallet of any sort.
"Takeru!" She responded, feigning annoyance, but soon she was distracted, looking into Takeru's shining azure eyes. "No, I shouldn't be so distracted by that, even if he is rather attractive." She mumbled, her face turning a bright crimson. Desperate to change the subject to something less related to that kind of thing, she managed to desperately eke out the phrase "Do you miss it?" and then noticing the confusion on Takeru's soft face, clarified "Our old world, I mean."
"Yes, yes I do." Takeru responded, a slight bit of longing in his voice. "But this world is where almost everything worthwhile in my life has happened, so I don't really mind." He added, smiling. "Still, I do miss so many who have died here... Taichi, Daisuke-kun, Leomon, Piccolomon, not to mention Onii-san's betrayal..." He added, his voice somber with grief...
"I know..." Sora said, trying to speak reassuringly but with far too much sadness in her voice... "I miss them so much!" She added, and began to cry onto Takeru's shoulder, as the bishounen began softly stroking her hair.
"The storm's clearing up now..." Takeru began, staring out at the calmer forest... "But what was that? It was almost as if the gods were crying, the rain was coming down so hard..."
"And the lightning was so strong... This place doesn't get rain like this often, from what I've heard." Sora added, looking upwards... She wasn't sure if that was it, but she could make out the faintest outline of a dragon in the sky as she looked towards the air for a clue of what brought such a storm...
"Well, it's over now, we should be going." Takeru said, as a recently healed Garudamon desceneded.
"Right." Sora replied, still looking lovingly at the bearer of hope, as she thought back on the day's earlier events with the storm over Native Forest, and hoping Seiryu's tears had brought them closer together...