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Author Note:Beginning of fourth arc.
This chapter was much easier to edit than the last one—I guess my writing style for the story is finally becoming closer to what it is now. Now only two chapters remain for me to edit. I hope you enjoy.

Love Knows No Bounds
Bind 15: Return

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"Yamato, slow down! You're running too fast!" Jyou yelled, huffing from behind. He pushed himself to continue. "You're going to hurt yourself if you don't slow down! Yamato!" The dark haired man tried his best to keep his glasses on as he ran after his friend. Jyou prayed that Yamato would not trip over one of the monstrous tree roots; it would be disastrous of he did with the speed he was running at.

"Yamato, wait! Wait for us!" Mimi yelled after Jyou, trying her best to keep up with the others in her shoes. She groaned while forcing herself to keep pace; her feet were beginning to ache from running in knee-high boots.

"Yamato! WAIT!"

Ishida Yamato ignored his friends' cries and pleas as he ran as fast as he could towards Primary Village. Before anything, he had to find Takeru. Takeru—his little brother was in Primary Village—the Village—'Takeru has to be there, at the Village.'

He did not know why he was running towards Primary Village; he did not have the faintest clue as to why he picked that place from all the others. But something inside of him told him it was the right place to run to. A voice inside him told him that the Village was where he would find the answer to the uneasy feelings inside him.

"Yamato!"

He once more ignored the voice that called after him. His friends' voices began to fade as Yamato left them behind. They were no longer important to him; nothing was important anymore; Takeru was his only priority now—

BAM!

Yamato flew to the side, his back hitting harshly against a tree. The Ishida fell to the ground, kissing the bitter-sweet digital grass. "Yamato! Would you PLEASE listen to me NOW?!" Taichi angrily yelled with his fists clenched at his side.

Yamato lied on the ground, stunned. He had been so busy in his own thoughts that he had not noticed how Taichi had easily caught up with him. Further more, the Leader of the Children had punched the Child of Friendship with full force. The blonde youth gently put his hand on the tender mark on his face, the young man fazed. Checking his mouth for bleeding and massaging the oncoming bruise, Yamato sat up against the tree.

"I'm listening now, Taichi," he growled, looking away from the Child of Courage. Taichi was slowing him down, preventing him from reaching Takeru. Could he not see that he's in the way? 'I need to get to Takeru right now!' he screamed in his mind.

Taichi sighed tiredly; finally he was getting SOMEWHERE with his friend. "I know, Yamato, I know how mad and desperate you are to find Takeru—I understand your sorrow—I know how you feel. You hurt inside," Yagami softly reasoned. However, his eyes grew dark and he clenched his fists at his side. "But that DOES NOT mean YOU can go off by YOURSELF and drag the OTHERS with you! You're hurting the team, Yamato, if you do things on your own; you're hurting yourself! Next time, before you go on a wild, mad dash, think about everyone else first!" He scowled at his friend.

'If you don't, you'll make history repeat itself!'

A tear rolled down Yamato's burning right cheek. 'Typical,' he angrily spat in his thoughts. Taichi did not understand one bit; like always, his friend had never understood his feelings at all. "But I am thinking of everyone else, Taichi. I'm thinking about Takeru."

"No, Yamato," Taichi replied calmly, shaking his head sadly. His steam gone, he could now only regard his friend with sympathy. "You aren't. You're only thinking of yourself, of your hurt. If you were thinking of everyone, you would have realized when you started thinking of yourself instead of the others." He offered his hand to Yamato, trying to help lift the teen up.

"Now, get up. We can't do a mad dash, but we sure as hell can run fast; but this time, it's all of us, not just one," Taichi said gently. The blond man stared up at Taichi and took his hand. Yamato nodded in agreement.

-

Wind whistled across the trees, giving the forest clearing a ghastly atmosphere. BlackTailmon huddled beside Hikari, icy shivers running down her small limbs and spine. The Chosen Child just sat there, staring at the spot where Takeru had once laid in her arms. "Takeru," she whispered listlessly, "he was here—he was here just two minutes ago."

Desolate tears began to pour down Hikari's cheeks, leaving clean, wet trails across her dusty face. "Takeru—Takeru—my Takeru…" She whispered his name while the crystal-clear tears fell down her cheek. "Why did it have to be you? Why did you have to leave? Why was it you?"

Right then the other Children appeared at the edge of the battle-stricken clearing. Death and carnage were in the air, and the silence that blew through the clearing was bone-chilling. Taichi ran to his little sister, whom was kneeling on the ground in the center of the macabre sight. "Are you okay?" he earnestly demanded, embracing the brunette girl.

Hikari broke down into tears, her already-weak body able to take no more. She wrapped her arms around her brother's neck, trying to find comfort in his body warmth. 'I can't believe he's gone,' she cried in her mind.

Taichi looked sadly at Hikari, seeing Takeru's tag and crest in one of her hands and his digivice in the other. He understood now what had happened. He now understood what had happened to the Child of Hope during his and Hikari's battle against the evil who had returned. "Hikari," Taichi quietly whispered, holding his younger sister even closer to him. He began to pet her gently.

She cried into his shoulder, her heart reaching its limit. She felt so empty inside so it seemed fit to cry and empty herself of all the tears she would ever shed. "He's gone, Taichi!" She sobbed between breaths, "Takeru sacrificed himself to save me from Vamdemon! He wanted to save me."

Hikari buried her face deeper into Taichi's jacket, completely soaking it with her bitter tears. Her older brother, while gently cooing and patting her, felt his heart swell with hate for the disgusting monster that had dared to harm his baby sister. If there was anything Yagami Taichi wanted to do, he wanted to completely annihilate the sickening scum that had dared to even think of harming a hair on his baby sister.

"Don't worry, Hikari. Everything—everything will get better. As time passes, everything will get better, Hikari, so don't worry. Everything will get better eventually, you'll see," Taichi gently whispered, his voice shaking; he was trying to hold his tears back as well, but to no avail. He sighed in hopelessness, knowing nothing would ever be the same again.

Yamato, who stood still right in the middle of the clearing, was utterly dumbfounded. His icy cerulean eyes reflected hot, unshed tears, and his facial expression was one of complete fury. He did not know who had done this horrendous act, but they would pay. Because of them, Takeru was gone. Because of them, his brother, his little brother, Takeru, was gone.

He was gone.

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Two Months Later

With extremely heavy hearts, the Yagami's, Ishida's, Takenuchi's, and Mrs. Takaishi entered solemnly the Takaishi apartment. They all had just returned from Takeru's funeral, which everyone who had known Takaishi Takeru had attended. Sadly since there was no body, Takeru's family had decided that they would hold the funeral when Takeru's friends were able to stomach the shock. Many people grieved that the boy had suddenly died with so much of his future ahead of him.

"He was a good boy," everyone said.

"He made others happy, and everyone liked him. He had so many friends."

"His family is really nice—such a caring older brother."

"And his mother and father—they really loved their baby."

"He really liked Hikari."

"He loved her."

Mr. Ishida led Mrs. Takaishi into her home with a firm arm around her shoulders; Sora tried her best to lift Yamato's desolate mood; Mr. Yagami, Mrs. Yagami, and Mrs. Takenuchi very quietly discussed what should be done; Taichi, with a dark face, quietly and respectfully followed his parents into the home; Hikari said not a word as she entered the home behind all the others.

It had become apparent that Hikari's pain would be the most uneasily appeased.

Mrs. Yagami began quietly, "Mrs. Takaishi, if there is anything that you need—"

"You can just ask us," Mrs. Takenuchi finished gently. The two mothers put comforting arms around Mrs. Takaishi, giving her arms gentle squeezes of reassurance. Although they could not fathom her present pain, they could imagine as mothers and thus greatly sympathized for her.

Mrs. Takaishi tear-stained face looked up to the others. "Thank you. Thank you for all your help."

"I'll go and make some tea," Mrs. Takenuchi whispered, heading to the small kitchen. Mrs. Yagami stayed with Mrs. Takaishi, the two trying their best to brighten the air around them.

"I remember Takeru would always be such a gentleman when he was at our house," Mrs. Yagami sighed sadly. "I remember he would always bring smiles wherever he went. Takeru always brought a smile to Hikari's face. She would smile all day when she heard that he was coming over. He was such a happy boy."

"How are you holding?" Mr. Yagami quietly asked Mr. Ishida. With a worried glance, Mr. Yagami placed a firm hand onto Mr. Ishida's shoulder. The middle-aged man looked gravely at Mr. Yagami.

"I feel like the worst father in the world right now. I wish that I had spent a lot more time with Takeru." The man sighed tiredly while running a hand through his hair. "I wish now that I could have been a better father to him."

Taichi, who sat alone on the couch, listened to the fathers' conversation from afar. He furrowed his brows at what he heard. 'Why is everyone being so depressed? Doesn't anyone understand that if they don't snap out of this depression right now, they'll never escape it?' Rising from his seat, the young man murmured, "Don't say that."

Mr. Yagami and Mr. Ishida turned and saw Taichi, who had just walked up behind them while glaring at Takeru's father. The young man continued, "Don't you dare say that, Mr. Ishida. Don't say that you've been a bad father."

"But I have been a bad father." He put his face in his hand and tried to control the waver in his voice. "I leave Yamato alone constantly, and I barely talked to Takeru—"

Taichi quickly cut Mr. Ishida off before he could continue. "No, you're wrong! You were not a bad father to Takeru, and you are not a bad father to Yamato! Living on regrets and lies will do you no good," he coldly barked. Everyone in the room turned and stared, Hikari being the exception. She quietly stole away into Takeru's room, silently closing the door behind her.

"Taichi." Sora whispered softly.

"Doesn't anyone see that we're hurting ourselves by putting ourselves down? We're dying on our own because we're staying in this depression! All of us have to snap out of this quick or else we'll make ourselves sick. And I'm pretty sure that Takeru wouldn't be too proud of that," the young man yelled. "Does his memory mean so little to us?" The living room grew silent, and everyone looked shamefully to the ground.

"Taichi's right."

All looked up to see Yamato speaking. The Ishida had a new light within his blue eyes. "Taichi's right," he repeated, "We can't stay in this dark mood and brood about what we didn't do or could have done. We need to keep on moving forward. Takeru would be ashamed of us if we didn't move on."

Everyone looked to each other and found a mutual agreement within each other's eyes. "Yes, Taichi is right," Mrs. Takaishi muttered with a small smile. "We all have to pull ourselves out of our sadness and mourn for Takeru with easy hearts that are ready to move on. He would have wanted all of us contently continuing our lives."

Sora looked around the small living room, her heart feeling a little disturbed. Something was misplaced, like a single piece missing from a hundred-fifty jigsaw puzzle. "Um, does anyone know where Hikari went?" she asked curiously. The Child of Love had noticed that Hikari had not said anything about the matter and had not been in sight for the past five minutes.

"Yeah, she went to Takeru's room after she came in," Yamato replied, now trying to wipe a way his tears for his brother.

Taichi frowned, again remembering who needed the most solace. "I guess Hikari has taken this harder than everyone else has," he sighed, staring at Takeru's bedroom door. With a deep breath he began to walk towards to the door to retrieve his little sister, but Sora stopped him. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"No, let me do it, Taichi." He simply nodded in consent and silently watched as she walked into Takeru's room and slowly closed the door behind her.

Sora sighed in relief, glad that no one had objected to her request. She had wanted to go and help Hikari, of course, but—she had also wanted to escape everyone else. She could not stand seeing Yamato's sadness. It was heart wrenching to see him to continually shed tears for his departed brother and grieve that he was unable to help Takeru.

She closed her ginger eyes, leaned against the door, and took a deep breath. 'But why does my heart feel heavier than it should?' A vision of Taichi's stern, saddened brown eyes flashed through her mind. At that image, she gasped and placed a hand over her mouth in surprise. 'Why do I—why do I keep thinking of Taichi? I mean, he is my friend, but—why is it that I keep on seeing Taichi's sad eyes?'

Hoping to distract herself from that question, Sora looked around Takeru's room, only to discover that she was completely alone. There was no sign of Hikari at all. "TAICHI!"

Sora ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Unfortunately for the Child of Love, if she had stayed in the room for a little bit longer, she would have noticed Takeru's old computer on; the monitor was glaring a bright blue light into the dark room.

-

"Hikari, where are we going?" Tailmon asked as she loyally walked by her partner's side. Tailmon's striped tail twitched uneasily, her golden tail-ring catching the setting sunlight. The white cat continually looked around making sure no danger was near.

Hikari shrugged with no emotion. "I don't know, Tailmon… I just want to be alone right now…" The white Digimon stared at her partner nervously, and BlackTailmon watched the human girl with unease as well. The two cat-like Digimon sensed a negative atmosphere surrounding the Child of Light, and neither liked the feeling of it.

Unknown to them, a Dark fog began to surround the Digimon and Hikari. The Chosen Child took no notice of it as she walked without purpose. Her mind was only filled with a past of regret and sadness; her heart felt as if it existed no more. "I always let everyone down… I'm always weak… I'm not like my brother," she murmured hopelessly, "I'll never be like my older brother, Taichi. He has always been and will always be the strong one."

"Hikari…" The fog began to swallow the Child of Light slowly, the evil being coaxing the girl gently within its vile self. She did not fight as she sunk into its murky depths.

"Everyone has always been stronger than me… And now, because of my weakness, I killed one of my friends." The Darkness had now completely pulled Hikari within its icy depths. She drowned herself with the Darkness, her own will-power diminished. The Child of Light was drunk dangerously with sorrow and unhappiness.

"HIKARI!" Tailmon and BlackTailmon quickly followed the Chosen Child towards the miasma, unsure of what this black void was. Both Digimon refused to lose their Human friend, having already lost one of them.

"Hikari, please! Hikari, you HAVE to snap out of it!" Tailmon begged while trying to reach her. Tears poured from her icy blue eyes as she swiped at the Dark fog. The Digimon was being torn apart by this awful sight. She could not stand her partner so hurt!

"Please, Miss Hikari! Please don't give in! You have to fight it! You have to fight the Darkness!" BlackTailmon pleaded, crying and fighting alongside Tailmon. 'Miss Hikari CAN'T fall into Darkness,' she thought desperately. 'Lord Takeru would never forgive me if she did. I must save her—I have to save her!'

"I can't fight," she said while shaking her head. "I'm not strong enough to fight them—I never was. I can't fight the Darkness anymore, I just can't. Without Hope, there is nothing left to fight for. Without hope, there is nothing left to live for," she whispered weakly. There was no spirit left in her voice at all; her body rested limply, no energy within her limbs; her eyes were dull and dead.

Hikari stared at her hands bitterly. Through her eyes, she only saw her pale, ghastly hands covered in blood. Drenched in Takeru's blood, her hands screamed out her guilt and sin. "I'm sorry, Takeru, for letting you down. I'm sorry for letting you die, and I'm sorry for doing nothing to help you." She began to sob into her hands, her body shaking uncontrollably; her mind was completely falling apart.

The Darkness simply relished how easily she surrendered and continued to consume her whole.

Far out into the distance above Hikari, a small point of light broke into the endless black. An angelic voice could be heard from the far distance. "Hikari! Please, come back with me… Hikari, I'm right here…"

Tailmon and BlackTailmon looked around, wondering who the source of the voice was. They could feel life, strength, and joy coming from the sweet, beautiful voice: everything that Hikari needed at that moment. "Who can that be?"

"Hikari!" the voice called out again, "Please, come back with me! Come back to me! Come back!" A gentle breeze of warm air blew against Hikari, reviving a spark of life within the hopeless girl.

"T-Takeru?" she stammered as she raised her face from her hands. Her ruby eyes had regained something of her past self. "Takeru, is that you?"

"Hikari…"

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