Authors Note: I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. With Christmas and work, I was just too busy to do much of anything. I hope this chapter is worth the wait. ;) Enjoy and as always please review. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Digimon in whole or in part. Anything else is mine and should be respected as such.

Chapter 11: Getting back to normal

The Digidestined didn't know how long they slept and didn't really care. When they woke up, they realized they weren't alone. The street, they were on, was still deserted, but some guy was showing an interest in their digimon.

"It's good to see you are well rested. I'm Anthony," The guy said. He had brown hair and brown eyes and was dressed in regular street clothes. "Gennai sent me to congratulate you for defeating Devorimon and his stupid underling. You did a great job of figuring out how to deal with your new found abilities as well as helping a new friend fit back into society again."

"No offense, but that doesn't sound like Gennai," Taylor stated. "He doesn't usually congratulate us. He usually tells us what we still have to do."

"Yeah, that's why he sent me. This isn't really his kind of thing, but he figured you needed some encouragement," Anthony explained. "I can't stay. The Digital World is calling. Gennai also wanted you to know that you should enjoy this break while you can. There are still a lot of Devorimon's minions that need to be taken care of. They are hiding now, but just be alert."

"Now that sounds like Gennai," Mark stated as Anthony disappeared.

"I think he's a Digidestined from America. I'm almost positive I saw him in school," Kelly informed.

"Yeah, he's the new exchange student that just arrived. I think he's a grade or two above us," Kevin agreed.

"I suppose it's possible that there are other Digidestined groups around Japan other than us," Jake mused.

The Digidestined sent their digimon back to the Digital World before heading back to their homes. They left the deserted street and soon found a street with some people on it.

"Mark!"

"Sakura!"

"Kevin!"

The Digidestined turned to see their parents coming towards them. Worry and concern were written on their parents faces. Each parent took their children aside and congratulated them on a job well done. It made the Digidestined feel good to hear this from their parents, the original Digidestined.

"Katie!"

K.T. looked around for the source of the voice. She was a bit surprised. She hadn't been called by her real name since she was five years old. A petite, brunette woman stepped out of the crowd of adults. K.T. recognized her as the woman she'd always seen with an auburn haired man. The woman's ruby red eyes sparkled and she smiled warmly as she reached the blonde girl. K.T. knew this woman was familiar to her somehow, but she just couldn't place it. The woman stepped in front of K.T.

"I don't expect you to recognize me, Katie. I've changed a lot since the last time I saw you and you've changed a lot too. My hair is longer than it was when you last saw me and I probably look a bit shorter because you've grown taller so, your perspective is different. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I didn't abandon you, I was tricked into leaving you and your brother. I love you and if you let me, I'd like to make up for the time we've lost," The woman told K.T.

K.T. just stared at the woman. Her words sunk in and K.T. struggled to process all of it. What did she mean? What was she trying to tell her? K.T.'s eyebrows knit together in contemplation. The woman's words continued to circle around in the blonde's head. K.T. took a deep breath, to try and focus her thoughts, when a certain smell caught her attention. Cherry blossoms with a hint of lavender. It was always the first think K.T. smelled when she woke up in the morning. That special scent that could only be associated with one person. K.T's eyes grew wide.

"Mom?" K.T. questioned, almost fearful of the answer she'd receive.

The woman smiled at K.T. "I knew you couldn't completely forget about me." She pulled K.T. into a warm embrace as the blonde let tears of joy flow from her eyes.

The older Digidestined watched the scene. A mixture of shock and disbelief could be seen on all of their faces.

"Kari? Is that you?" Tai asked, after a few minutes.

The brunette broke her embrace with K.T. and turned to look at Tai. "In the flesh. Miss me?" Kari stated, half joking. She saw the look on her brothers face. "It's a long story. We should probably go someplace other than the street."

Everyone agreed and decided to gather at the Ichijouji's house because it was closer. Once there, refreshments were passed around before Kari told them her story.

"A little over five years ago, I ran into an old friend. He turned out to be Davis. He can probably explain what happened better than I can. Basically he was convinced that if he did what an evil digimon told him, he could have everything he thought he deserved. I'm not sure why he fell into this kind of trap, but it's not our place to judge him for it. Many people can be blinded by what they want to the point that they'll do anything to get it."

"Even kill a good friend." Everyone turned to see Davis standing in the doorway. "I know what you are thinking. The truth is, I was tricked into listening to the digimon responsible for all that's happened recently. To be honest, after High School I started to feel a little left out. It seemed like everyone had a plan for what they would do next, except me. I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do and I was supposed to start college soon. It didn't help that I still had a huge crush on this one girl I knew I would never have. I got an email from someone who needed my help. I jumped at the chance to be useful again and not feel like I was just in the way. I ended up being tricked by an evil digimon. He convinced me that if I did one simple task for him, he would give me the life I thought I wanted. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I did it anyway. I had convinced myself that it was the only thing that mattered anymore. It wasn't until a ten year old girl had the guts to shove the truth in my face, that I realized how much I lost compared to the little I had gained. I don't care if you guys forgive me, I just had to tell you the truth."

"Let me get this straight. You killed my brother, brainwashed Kari so she'd be yours', and let two children live on the street?" Matt asked.

"Yes," Davis replied.

"How could you live with yourself?" Yolie inquired.

"I'd convinced myself that what happened was in the past and I couldn't change it. I also convinced myself that this was what I had always wanted. I had no idea that I caused two children to live on the street. To be honest, I didn't even realize that they were T.K. and Kari's children, even though T.K. had introduced them to me as such. That's how messed up I was," Davis explained.

The room was quite while everyone let Davis' words sink in. Sora excused herself, to go check on A.J. Once in the room, where he was napping, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed an all to familiar phone number.

"Hello, Scalett speaking."

"Scalett, it's Sora. It's time. Can I arrange a meeting with you?" Sora asked the young Asian woman.

"Absolutely. To be honest, I was hoping you'd call soon. Cabin fever is a nasty thing and I'm running out of excuses. To make matters worse, no one understands how nit picky I am. By the way, you owe me a new TV. I had to 'get rid' of mine for obvious reasons. Let's just say it ended up in the garbage mans truck," Scalett stated.

"All right. Either Tai or myself will be up shortly," Sora told her.

"It would be better if I met you at the base of the mountain. There's a nice village there and it would save you the trouble of driving up the mountain ranges near Mt. Fuji," Scalett instructed.

"Sounds good. We'll have a cell phone on us if you need to call. If we leave now, one of us should be there in one and a half to two hours," Sora said.

"I'll be waiting," Scalett responded before hanging up.

Sora ended the call and returned to the living room. She walked over to Tai and sat next to him on the couch. By now, conversation had picked up and it seemed like a few of them were going at once.

"Tai, my cousin Scalett needs one of us to meet her at the base of the mountains where she lives. Do you want to meet her or should I?" Sora asked her husband.

Tai looked at his wife and knew exactly what she was talking about. Many years ago they had planed this scenario down to the coded sentences they would use. Tai glanced around the room to see if anyone was watching them. He couldn't really tell so, he decided to play it safe.

"She's your cousin so, I think you should go meet her," Tai responded. This was his way of saying that no one would be suspicious at this plan of action.

Sora nodded in agreement before walking over to Yolie. "I hate to leave like this, but my cousin called and she needs me to meet her. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, but she seemed really upset. If you guys are still here, when I'm done, I'll be back."

"Not a problem. Take your time Sora," Yolie replied.

Sora grabbed her keys and purse, then drove off. The conversations, in the living room, continued for a while longer. As the day progressed, it was decided that everyone should stay for dinner. A few of the girls helped Yolie in the kitchen while some of the others entertained themselves with different games. In all aspects, the gathering was a family reunion of sorts. K.T. and A.J. spent time catching up with their mom on the things they had missed while Davis was re-introduced to the group again. Serious discussions soon gave way to childish fun and it seemed like old times again for the Digidestined.

Sora still hadn't returned by the time the dishes had been cleared from the table. Tai wasn't worried, yet. He knew it would take a few hours to complete the task. The subject of the Digital world came up, after they'd retreated to the living room again, and many stories were told about the adventures they had. It was starting to get dark, when Sora returned. Yolie spotted her as Sora entered the house.

"How is your cousin? Is everything O.K.?" Yolie asked Sora.

Sora put her things aside and looked at the group assembled in the living room. Her eyes locked with Tai's, briefly, before she answered Yolie's question. "She's fine. Had a little panic attack about something stupid. I managed to get her calmed down so, everything's fine again." It wasn't a complete lie, still Sora hated lying to Yolie. Sora re-joined the group and realized she had their undivided attention. Moreover, they had just heard her conversation with Yolie.

Sora sat down next to Tai. He took her hand and squeezed it, telling her it was time. Sora glanced around the room. She was encouraged to see that Kari and her children were getting used to being a family again. Sora took a deep breath before addressing the group.

"I actually had something else to take care of," Sora began. She had everyone's attention. "It did involve my cousin, just in a different way. For the past five years, Tai and I have been keeping a secret from you guys. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was necessary. You see, a little over five years ago, a dear friend of ours asked us for help. He was dealing with a wife who wasn't there for him or his kids anymore and he wanted some answers. He believed we were the best ones to help him and I'm glad he asked us.

"He was a very intelligent person and knew what would come next when he discovered what his wife was really doing. We helped him come up with a plan to ensure his children's well being should the unthinkable happen to him. Emergency procedures and such were put into place that should have prevented his children from being alone. Due to circumstances beyond our control, this didn't happen. The end result was two kids living on the street. You all know what happened to them.

"This brave man wanted nothing more than his children's safety. We knew to what lengths he would go to ensure they were safe. We made sure there was a back door to his plan. Sadly his worst nightmare, or should I say his wife's nightmare, came true. T.K. Takashi was shot by a good friend in a fit of jealous rage, and left for dead. We had planned to bring our children over, as we had done every day that week, to play. Due to traffic, we were running late. When we got there, we found something we were not expecting. After dropping the kids off at their cousin's house, we drove to a hospital two cities away. We didn't want to take any chances on a repeat performance so, I called up my cousin and asked for a huge favor. She agreed to take him to her house, in the mountains near Mt. Fuji, and nurse him back to health. He recovered nicely and has been living there ever since. We needed to wait until the time was right. With everything that has happened recently, as well as the renewing of old friendships, Tai and I thought this was the right time to reveal our big secret." Sora tried very hard to contain her urge to smile as she saw the wide variety of looks on everyone's faces. She looked towards the doorway and nodded her head.

An audible gasp rose from the room as T.K. walked into view. He smiled his trademark smile as the group and gave them time to process all of it. K.T. was the first to react as she leapt to her feet and ran to her dad, throwing her arms around him in a big hug. T.K. hugged his daughter back as Kari and A.J. followed, joining K.T. in her hug. Soon everyone was on their feet expressing their shock and joy at seeing T.K. again. After awhile, things died down and T.K. found himself face to face with Davis.

"Don't hold it against him dad," K.T. said. "Sometimes people who don't know what real love or happiness is, will do anything to get it. He needs our understanding and our help more than anything, right now."

T.K. looked at his daughter, amazed by her wisdom. "You're right Katie. Davis really wasn't himself that day. I know because I saw it in his eyes. That's why I can't really blame him for what happened." T.K. extended his hand to Davis. "Why don't we start over."

Davis smiled as he shook T.K.'s hand. "It's a deal."

As everyone began to leave the Ichijouji's, Kari pulled T.K. aside. "I just want you to know that I never stopped loving you and I never will." She leaned in and the two shared a passionate kiss. Nothing that happened before mattered. They were getting a second chance at life and vowed to enjoy every minute of it.

The End

Authors Note: I hope you guys liked it. I just want to say a special thanks to Anthony1 and angewomanandme, who had cameos in this fic as Anthony and Scalett. There's one more chapter, the Epilogue, and I'm done with this story.