"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when only one remembers to turn on the light."
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie

Recommended Music:
Scene 2: "Robin," Witch Hunter Robin

Black Wings
Chapter Eight: "Sing the Crescent Moon"

Osamu displayed his blood-covered hands to Qinglongmon, who remained silent for several seconds. Finally, the great blue dragon god asked, "And you didn't change at all?"

"No," he answered. "I didn't even feel anything other than the healing I was concentrating on. And I had been sure that I was going to cause a panic since I couldn't concentrate on stopping the change to begin with."

"You're right," Qinglongmon agreed. "This is serious. Have you discussed this with the Resistance Commander Tenshi?"

"Not yet," Osamu confessed. "I wanted to know if this was really a crisis or just a one-time fluke."

"I doubt it is just a 'fluke'," the god replied. "You may have to take his Spirits and have them choose someone else. It will undoubtedly be hard for them to do so, but I think it's for the best." But Osamu shook his head.

"I can't. They're so tightly bound together that I might kill either the Spirits or Kouji if I separated them. They agreed to bond with me that one time and that one time only because they knew Kouji was in danger. But they won't or won't be able to do it again."

"That's too great a risk to take."

"And I don't want to make any sacrifices when the need's not that great."

"Remember that you may need to make that sacrifice."

"I know. I haven't forgotten. But it remains as a last resort only. Right now there's still a chance that Kouichi is in there. I've spoken with one of his soldiers, one extremely loyal to him. We both agree that someone in his ranks is using him as a puppet."

"Are you sure you can trust this soldier?"

"Yes. As ironic as it sounds, I believe she is so devoted to him that she'd betray him to the Resistance if she thought it might help him."

"Is there more to their relationship than just commander and soldier?"

"I don't think so, at least not on his side," Osamu answered. "But at the same time, I'm very young. I wouldn't be able to recognize these kinds of details."

"It's not because you are young," Qinglongmon corrected. "It is because you did not see such details when you were alive."

Osamu lowered his head slightly at the reminder that he was dead. When he talked to Renamon or Kage, such things like that didn't matter. It was nice to occasionally forget.

"Is there something more?" Qinglongmon questioned.

"Yes," he replied. "I want… I want to be able to fight. Not to fight all of their battles, but to protect them as necessary. You know that one of the fighters in the Resistance became ill and I had to use my power to help save him. I want the freedom to help prevent that again."

"Very well," Qinglongmon answered. "But you will only fight if there is no way out. You are restricted to defense only."

"Thank you. That's only what I wanted anyway."

"Osamu, wait a few weeks or so before you do anything," Qinglongmon advised. "Keep an eye on everything and intervene only in the most desperate of situations." With that, he vanished.

"You don't have to remind me," he commented. "I will."

"Hey, Yuriko, we're going to the movies," called a girl. "Want to come?"

"Sorry," the addressed girl apologized. "I have to help Ryuichi with his homework. He's just not getting it."

"Third time this week," another girl noted. "Are you two secretly dating?"

"No!" Yuriko protested.

"Give her a break, Midori," the first girl warned.

"What, you want him too?" Midori questioned.

"Nope. He's not my type. I actually prefer Raibashi-sempai in the seventh grade class."

"I'm going now," Yuriko informed.

"Okay, see you later!"

Yuriko Fujihu walked off the elementary school campus and toward the wooded areas in back. An unassuming manhole protruded amongst the trees. Yuriko, looking carefully to be sure that no one was around, removed the lid and climbed in, replacing it after her.

"I swear, you're just asking for him to discover your identities," muttered an annoyed male voice below her. A young man with messed brown hair and bright blue eyes stood against the concrete walls. He was dressed in the uniform of the local high school, the gray blazer unbuttoned, his shirt halfway un-tucked, and his tie wrapped around his hand. "Ryuichi Sanada I'm not as worried about unless the Kaiser is a closet old anime fan, so Takuya should be okay." He then started ticking the other names off his fingers. "Yuki Nagami—snow. Shun Raibashi—thunder. Yuriko Fujihu—wind. It's just as bad as if the Kaiser borrowed my name."

"As if Masaki Nishigawa is any better," she replied. "You use that name all the time."

He shrugged. "It leaves me with a trail, a set identity. People are less suspicious that way." He motioned toward the tunnel. "Come on, Izumi. Let's get back."

"Yutaka's picking up Tomoki?" she checked.

"Yeah. Again, less suspicious if an older brother is picking up the younger. But I am worried that 'Ronin Nagami' will be discovered because of his brother's careless name."

"He should be okay. We've made it this long after all."

"If memory serves me correctly, Takuya and Junpei are picking up supplies?"

"Yes. Kage?"

"Yeah?"

"It's been more than a month now that we've been hiding in plain sight like this. It's the end of July and Kouichi hasn't done anything since that day. Does it mean his planning something big again?"

Tenshi's face darkened considerably. With a grim, solemn voice, he replied, "I wish I had an answer for you, Izumi. Right now, it's hard to tell. We're just going to have to trust Osamu's judgment and information. He's the only spy we have." She nodded. "Come on, let's go home."

Yamato yawned and stretched as he tried to concentrate on his homework. On one side of the table, Taichi was alternating between drinking soda and eating potato chips. On the other, Jun had turned her chair around to help quiz them. Before, that seat would have been occupied by Sora, who would have been writing down notes as the trio quizzed each other. But she was in Kyoto now, and Jun had agreed to take care of her friends. Things had steadily improved at home thanks to her, and e-mails and calls to and from Sora described their gradual adaptations.

"Come on," Jun urged. "History isn't that hard."

"I never pegged you for an expert in it," Taichi commented.

"I have Shuu to thank for that. Since we started dating, he's been telling me about the historical significance of just about everything in Japan, and luckily for you, it stayed with me."

"You're really serious about him," Yamato observed, taking a sip of his Coke and fighting off a yawn. That was the last time he bought caffeine-free cola for their study sessions.

"Well, it's not like we can be too serious right now. I mean, this is my last year of high school, so I've got college to think about and…"

"And is there any chance that you'll be going to the university in Kyoto?" Taichi asked with a sly and wicked grin.

"Shut up!" she declared, throwing snack food at him. "I swear, you get more of a kick out of this than Momoe!" The doorbell interrupted her further throttling of him, and Yamato rose to get it. Behind the door was—

"Takeru?"

Jun and Taichi turned at the mention of the younger brother. Despite how close the brothers had become after the Digital World, they were slowly becoming estranged after all of this new Kaiser business. Like Taichi and Hikari, their relationship was strained at best; at worst, it didn't exist at all. So when the young blonde boy appeared at the door, his posture completely relaxed and casual, it was a surprise. Yamato even blinked a couple of times as if to assure himself that this was no optical illusion.

"Hey, Yamato," the younger greeted. His voice sounded guarded, like he was trying to suppress his often overactive emotions. Yamato briefly wondered if he'd done something to anger Takeru, and even Taichi and Jun exchanged puzzled looks.

"Is there something wrong?" he checked, just in case anything was.

"No," Takeru answered calmly, handing his older brother an envelope. "Can't a Chosen Child give his big brother a gift to commemorate their first trip to the Digital World?"

"It's still only July," Taichi commented. "You have about a week."

"Hi, Taichi," Takeru greeted from the door. "I didn't realize anyone else was here. I just wanted to give Yamato his gift."

The elder of the Takaishi-Ishida brothers had by now opened the envelope and was currently staring at the airline ticket that had been inside. "France?"

"What?" Jun cried as she and Taichi leapt up and ran to their friend. Takeru looked very amused as they stared at the ticket in absolute shock.

"Damn, Yamato, you get all the luck," Taichi joked. "Though—no offense, of course—I'm glad it's you in Paris instead of me again. Your grandfather is crazy."

"Yeah, it was Grandpa Michel who came up with the idea to begin with," Takeru informed. "I just suggested the first couple of weeks in August. We'd be on break, and considering I have a feeling there's going to be a lower turn-out on the first…"

"Takeru, I don't know what to say?" Yamato confessed.

"What's there to say?" Jun asked. "Just get packed, get a passport together, and get on that plane!"

Takeru laughed. "Hi, Jun. Glad to see you're taking care of my big brother." He then turned his attention back to Yamato. "Please say you'll come. It'll mean a lot to Grandpa."

"Sure," Yamato answered, still somewhat in shock. "I just need some time to get ready."

"Okay," Takeru replied, smiling. "The plane leaves on the twenty-ninth, so I think we'll at least be there by the first of August. I have to go now, but hopefully I'll see you before the airport!" He then left while Yamato stood as stunned as ever. Taichi and Jun were still as excited as ever, though.

"I can't believe you're actually going to Paris!" Jun declared wistfully.

"Yeah, his grandfather on his mom's side lives there," Taichi explained.

"Actually, he lives in a small cottage outside the city," Yamato clarified. "That might have changed, but I'm not sure. I haven't seen him in years."

"All the more reason for you to go," Jun reasoned. "Where's a suitcase? I'm going to get you packed!"

"I've never seen you so anxious to get rid of Yamato," Taichi joked. "Could it be you've finally fallen for me?"

"Oh, yes," she teased back. "I want nothing more than to be alone with you so we can work on your studies."

"Aw, that hurt. You're not even trying to play along."

"If I did that, your ego would get a boost, and that's the last thing we need."

While his friends bantered back and forth, Yamato sank into his chair and stared at the ticket. He knew his father wouldn't object to his going, but he was still trying to figure everything out. Just a few months ago, his entire world fell apart. The group of friends he'd come to trust with his life had fallen apart over a trivial little thing. He had to act as the leader on a dangerous excursion into the unknown that nearly cost his best friend his life. Then his ex-girlfriend—a status he prayed would improve—moved to a distant city.

And now this had happened.

Could it be that my luck is finally changing for the better? he wondered.

A small crash sounded from his bedroom, followed by Jun's "Sorry!" and Taichi's "Oh, God!" Yamato woke from his daze and went to help clean up the mess. His luck had changed, all right, but not when he got the ticket. His luck had started changing the minute he realized what his Crest-trait meant. And while Friendship had its ups and downs—

"Ow, damn it, Jun, that was my foot!"

"Sorry!"

—there was really nothing better.

There was nothing the quartet could do to stop the rampaging Unimon. Plotmon had been thrown back into her partner's arms, and Tsukaimon was barely conscious. Psychemon and Piyomon were the only ones still on their feet.

"Retreat," Noriko ordered weakly. She was exhausted and on the verge of collapse. And as she and the others ran, the Unimon could see that. He unleashed a Holy Shot right at her, and just as she turned to look, her partner jumped in the way.

"Psychemon!" she cried.

Bright light engulfed the area, as though Psychemon had absorbed the attack. When it finally faded, a beautiful Gururumon stood in her place.

"Psychemon?" Noriko checked. The wolf nodded and lowered her head for Noriko to touch. The girl ran her hands over the soft, strong fur and smiled. Not long ago had she and the other Dark Seed children mustered up the courage they needed to go to the Digital World and let their partners evolve to their Child levels. Now Psychemon had managed the Adult level. Noriko had never been so proud.

But then she began coughing badly, keeling over in a fit. Gururumon warned the others, "She's sick again! Get her to safety! I'll take care of this."

"No," Noriko gasped out in protest, pushing back her friends' arms. "No, Gururumon…"

"I promise I'll be back," she replied. "I always will be." Finally, Noriko smiled and nodded.

The children and Child Digimon took refuge in the outskirts of the woods, setting down both Noriko and the injured Digimon. While Takashi Maehata cradled his Tsukaimon in his arms, Hiroshi Kamioka and Piyomon sat down, one to draw with the materials from his backpack and the other to eat. Keiko Hayashi came over to Noriko, holding Plotmon.

"She'll be all right," Keiko informed.

"I know," Noriko answered between coughs. "She promised."

"And as long as you believe in her, she'll continue to be all right," Keiko replied. "Now, we need to do something about your cough."

"It's nothing, really," Noriko informed. "It can't be much worse than a cold."

"But still, you came here while you were sick…"

"I'll be okay." She smiled to add emphasis to her words.

A drop of rain fell on Piyomon's head. He looked up in surprise as it began to drizzle. His partner swore softly and put his drawing back in his backpack.

"We'd better find some shelter," Takashi suggested.

"I think I saw a TV nearby," Hiroshi commented.

"We can't leave Psychemon behind!" Noriko protested.

"Who says you're leaving me behind?" Gururumon questioned, running up to them. "Get on, everybody. I can get you there faster."

"Good," Plotmon answered, "because this rain isn't helping your partner's cough." Noriko made an annoyed face in Keiko's direction. The other girl merely smiled and shrugged.

These routine battles in the Digital World had become just that—routine. Almost everyday, there was a new battle, and the Dark Seed children regularly split into groups of four or five to handle it. It wasn't bad enough that they suspected a new enemy, but it was often enough that they suspected the dormant evils in the Digital World had heard of the strife within the core Chosen Children and were taking advantage of it. And the new Chosen had to clean up the mess.

"Hey!" called a voice as they neared the TV. Gururumon stopped, and all the kids stared at the boy who had flagged them down. It was their friend, idol, and mentor, Ken.

"Ken?" Hiroshi questioned in disbelief. He'd been locked up for months in his room, researching God-knew-what in relation to the rift in the Chosen.

"What are you doing here?" Takashi asked.

"I noticed readings of a small disturbance here."

"Well, you're a bit late," Noriko informed, keeping her mouth covered. "Gururumon took care of it." She then fell into another coughing fit, making Keiko gently support her in an attempt to help. When the fit subsided, Noriko gave her a thankful look.

"I'm glad to see you've evolved," Ken congratulated, "but to tell you the truth, I wasn't coming to help. I figured you would have noticed it too, so I took the chance to find you guys. I have some questions to ask, if you don't mind."

"Like what?" Keiko asked.

"First, let's get out of this rain," Ken advised. "Then get some medicine, Noriko, and meet me at my apartment—it's Number 303."

The quartet nodded and followed his instructions to the letter. If there was one good thing that came out of being the Kaiser, it was that Ken had a knack for leadership. Whether on the battlefield or the soccer field, teammates followed his orders because they knew he was a competent leader. Even if he didn't lead them to victory, he was still one of the best they knew.

When the group finally gathered at the Ichijouji apartment, a plate of cookies and mugs of warm cocoa had been set out for them on the kitchen table. Ken's parents were still at work, leaving them free to talk about Chosen matters that might worry the adults. The Digimon joined Minomon on the floor—all save Tokomon, who rested in Takashi's arms because of injury—while the children sat down to the unexpected afternoon. But Ken seemed troubled, and his concentration started to waver between the meeting and the reasons behind it. Noriko watched him carefully as he stared long and hard into his mug before he took a sip at last.

"What is it you wanted to ask us?" she questioned.

The apartment suddenly became very quiet. Everyone turned to Ken as he distractedly twirled a stick of strawberry pocky between his fingers. Finally, he set it down and sighed.

"You do know about the new Kaiser incident, right?" He was met with soft answers in the affirmative. "Well, I've been doing some digging in my past and his. So far, I've found a few connections, but I need to know it from you. What drew you into the darkness to begin with? I know you had all given up on your dreams, but what else was there?"

There was general silence for several minutes. Ken considered withdrawing the question and returning to his solitary investigation when Noriko spoke up.

"I've always been sick," she informed, "and I've been in the hospital so many times. When I was younger, I had the fear of death taken away from me with all the times I'd been seriously ill. My immune system's still delicate, and I still can't keep up with the others sometimes, but I was worse back then. I'd started to think that it would be better to be dead and that it would be easier on everyone. I guess that was the start of it all."

"I was the school's benchwarmer when it came to sports," Takashi admitted. "I wasn't the fastest, the tallest, or the best at anything, so I was always the last to play. Other kids used to say I was bad luck or that I'd cost them the game. No matter how much I tried to improve, it didn't mean anything to them."

"I was and still am pretty shy in class," Hiroshi added. "It was hard for me to make friends, and even when I did, they said I needed to get serious and stop daydreaming. Finally, I just stopped caring—or at least pretended to. That's how I ended up on that truck: I was alone, depressed, and standing on a bridge when Archnemon found me."

Keiko looked like she was ready to cry. Sensing her partner's emotions, Nyaromon jumped up to her to offer comfort so she could finally speak. Part of Ken wanted to tell her that she didn't have to do this, but the other part knew she had to.

"My parents were bakers. They taught me how to bake bread and pastries. But then my father died, and my mother couldn't make enough money from the bakery to support us. She had to sell it. My dream was to be a baker, but more than that, I wanted to carry on my parents' business. When my father died, my dream died with him."

"It's not dead anymore," Noriko comforted. "You can still carry it on, just not in the same building. And it's not the place that made it worthwhile; it was the heart they put into it." Keiko gave a small smile and nodded.

Ken reclined back in his chair, absorbing the details. He had a few more people to ask, but so far, he'd gotten the same answers: death and isolation, the same as his own reasons for his descent into darkness. It was entirely possible that Kouichi Kimura in the other world had the same story.

But first, he had to figure out more about the boy, and more importantly, the Kaiser.

They walked along the sidewalk near his apartment building. She felt her way around with a white cane; he slightly limped like an old man.

"I'm sorry, Daisuke," she apologized, "but I can't go on like this anymore. You've changed too much. You don't seem to have any faith left in yourself of anyone else. I miss who you used to be." He nodded. "But I don't want this to affect our friendship. I still want to be your friend, and you mine."

"I understand."

"We don't have to tell anyone else if you don't want. They don't need to know; it's none of their business."

"I know."

"Well, goodbye then, Daisuke."

"Goodbye, Natsu."

They parted ways for the last time, and Daisuke went upstairs. He opened the door silently, betraying not even a shred of emotion. But Jun saw him and called out, "Back so soon? I just about beat Chibimon at this videogame."

"Hi, Daisuke!" the Digimon added, barely risking to take his eyes off the TV out of fear of losing the game.

"So, how'd things go with Natsu?" Mrs. Motomiya asked.

He entered the kitchen and started to make dinner. "She broke up with me."

"What?" Chibimon exclaimed, completely forsaking the game.

"Daisuke," his mother murmured, "that's terrible."

"My god, that's awful!" Jun declared.

"Not really," he replied as he added ingredients into a pot of water for soup. "Actually, I feel free."

And with that, he added a dash of pepper to his soup as his family stared at him in confusion.

Finally, I got rid of that damned Natsu! She was edging so close to Mary-Suedom it's not funny. And the chapter title is from the song "In the Land of Twilight, Under the Moon" from .hack/SIGN.

The Dark Seed children's Digimon were supposed to be alterations of those of some of the core Chosen (you'll notice it more with the Adult levels for Piyomon and Plotmon). The brief moment between Ken and Noriko where she noticed his distraction was taken from Serial Experiments Lain, right down to the playing with food (pocky for Ken, miso soup for Lain). And in case you're wondering about Yamato's seemingly dramatic transition from being depressed and moody to joking around with Taichi and Jun, remember that the rest of the story is about one month after Osamu's meeting with Qinglongmon following the events of the previous chapter. Jun and Taichi had plenty of time to get him out of his rut, and it's not like Sora would let her ex-boyfriend get all depressed like that without having to answer to her.

And just for reference, here are the pathetic names the Resistance have picked up:

Yuriko Fujihu: "hu" in Fujihu means "wind." "Fuji" is "wisteria." Yuriko comes from Yurika Doujima, a character in Witch Hunter Robin who shares the same dub actress as Izumi, Michelle Ruff.

Shun Raibashi: "rai" means thunder.

Yuki Nagami: a double pun here. "Yuki" means "snow," and the name Yuuki Nagami was the name originally given to Tomoki and circled around the 'net before the season premiered.

Ryuichi Sanada: from Ryo Sanada, Warrior of Wildfire in Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers. That's an old anime reference for you.

Ronin Nagami: same reference, only meant as a coincidence. It's not likely that Yutaka would have known that the dub title of Samurai Troopers was RoninWarriors.

Masaki Nishigawa: Kouji's alias in "With Broken Wings." I'd always intended for it to be Kage's pseudonym originally, with him giving it to Kouji as the only name he could think of under the circumstances of chapter four. I just never got around to it.

Chapter Nine: "Madeleines"

Once upon a time, we were all together. Now we have drifted so far apart. But somehow, we seem so much closer despite it all as the date on the calendar invokes the memory of times before. On the day of memories, we recall the same past despite our different futures.