A/N: This is a relatively short chapter, but I promise that it will be the last purely explanatory one. Then things can really get started.
Chapter Four: The Child Ephemeral
Koushiro had never really been a very patient person. Sure, he could wait for a new computer program to install, or for a video game to save, but those were special cases. Generally, he left patience to people like Sora or Iori.
So it was not exactly easy for him to sit and wait for his digiegg to hatch while all around him his friends were being reunited with their partners. It was especially difficult because he was still fearful that his theory on the limitations of the reconfiguration process would prove to be correct, that his digimon really wouldn't remember him. That hadn't been true in the case of the digimon that had hatched so far, but Koushiro knew enough about probability to be concerned.
"Tanemon!" he heard Mimi squeal in delight. "Oh, it's so good to see you again!" (1)
Eleven down, one to go, Koushiro thought. It wasn't fair: most of the digieggs had begun to open as soon as they'd joined Taichi and the others on this side of the wall.
Immediately after Taichi had disappeared back in the cave, Hikari had reached out to the Crest of Light, imitating her brother's actions, despite how painful it had looked. The rest of them had done the same, winding up here, in this field that looked like something out of the digital world that he remembered. How they had gotten here, Koushiro couldn't even speculate at: he had given up trying to understand things like this. All he knew was that whatever had happened had led them to their digimon, and he wasn't about to question miracles.
But there was something that he did wonder about.
Raising one hand and turning its palm toward his face, Koushiro examined the image that had been imprinted there. It was the Crest of Knowledge. The others had had their crests burned into their hands as well. But why? The process had hurt, but he had to trust that there was a purpose to it. In his experience, nothing happened in this world without a reason.
Suddenly, the egg he held in his arms began to shake, and Koushiro watched in awe as it split in two, revealing a familiar pink blob.
"Motimon!" he cried, and the little digimon blinked up at him in surprise. Koushiro could feel anxiety well up inside of him. "Do you…do you remember me?"
"What? Have you been staring at your computer screen too long again, Koushiro? Of course I remember you!" Motimon hopped onto Koushiro's shoulder, nuzzling at the boy's ear affectionately.
"Looks like you were wrong, Koushiro," Mimi said happily, hugging a squirming Tanemon to her chest.
He grinned. "This is one time I'm glad that I was."
"Was that the last one?" Taichi asked, glancing around.
"Looks like it," Yamato said, Tsunomon tucked beneath one arm.
"All right then." Taichi had a speculative expression on his face. Behind him, the sun was setting slowly, creating a shadow that stretched from the base of the mountain, reaching toward the group of humans and digimon. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry."
For the first time, Koushiro realized that he was actually quite famished. What with all the excitement, it seemed that his body was only now cluing in to the fact that he hadn't eaten anything all day. "Now that you mention it, Taichi, so am I."
"I'm starving!" Daisuke agreed, then flushed when his stomach gurgled sharply, as if to prove the point.
"Me too," said Chibimon, bouncing on the toes of Daisuke's shoes. "Let's eat!"
The other digimon voiced their agreement. "Come on, Jyou," Pukamon was saying. "I bet there'll be berries and things in that forest over there."
"Hurry up, Koushiro!" Motimon called, bouncing after Pukamon.
Same old digimon, Koushiro thought wryly, always thinking with their stomachs. Smiling, he rose to his feet and headed toward the forest, the other Chosen Children close behind him.
As night began to fall around them, twelve humans and twelve digimon gathered in a small clearing in the forest.
Ken sat between Takeru and Miyako, his digimon resting comfortably on his lap. After stuffing themselves on wild fruit, the Chosen Children, acting on one of Daisuke's better suggestions, had gathered sticks and dry logs. The would-be campfire sat in the center of their circle.
"Okay, Agumon," Taichi said. "Go for it!"
"Baby Flame!"
Ken watched as flames shot from the little dinosaur's mouth, neatly igniting their fire. After they had eaten, the digimon had evolved to their rookie forms, with the exception of Nyaromon, who had bypassed her child stage to become Tailmon.
Leaning back to rest on his hands, Ken looked around the circle, taking comfort in the sight of all his friends together and safe. The fact that he could call them friends was still amazing to him. He had only tentatively allowed himself to become close to these people, partly due to his guilt, and partly hesitant of getting too close to anyone in fear of losing them.
A tender expression came over his face when his eyes reached Daisuke, who had taken it upon himself to teach V-mon how to dance in the hopes of impressing Tailmon, even though Ken very much doubted his friend actually knew the steps to a tango. Laughing as the auburn-haired boy tripped over V-mon's tail, Ken wondered, not for the first time, what he would do without the boy in his life. Daisuke was the only one, aside from Wormmon, who had always been steadfast in his belief of Ken's goodness, his kindness, even when Ken himself had been in doubt. Sometimes, Ken found himself questioning if what he felt for the other boy wasn't something more than merely friendship.
"What are you thinking about, Ken-kun?" Miyako asked, interrupting his thoughts. She was watching him closely, a shrewd expression on her face. "It must be something good, judging by that smile you're wearing."
Ken momentarily panicked: Miyako had always been able to read him better than Ken would have liked. He forced a smooth smile to his lips. "Just what a pretty night it is, Miyako-chan," he said, rising to his feet.
"Where are you going, Ken-chan?" asked Wormmon, face scrunched up in apprehension. His digimon worried too much, not that Ken could really blame him. He didn't have the best track record when it came to keeping himself out of trouble.
Ken smiled gently at the little green digimon. "To get a drink at that stream over there. Would you like to come?" His partner nodded vigorously, and the two friends made their way over to a bubbling stream just outside their campsite.
Crouching down to cup some of the cool water in his hands, Ken almost fell in when he caught sight of two eyes watching him from the reeds across the stream. He stood up quickly, stepping in front of Wormmon.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The eyes blinked at him. "I hoped one of you would find me here," said a soft, high-pitched voice. "I cannot stray far from the stone, you see." As Ken's eyes adjusted to the darkness he was able to make out the features of a small child sitting cross-legged and alone.
"Hello," said Wormmon politely. "It's been a while since I've seen you."
The boy nodded at him in a distracted sort of way. "Would you mind collecting the others?" he asked Ken. "You must get started on your quest. Things are already deteriorating faster than I expected."
"Quest?" Ken asked. The boy only stared at him expectantly. Sighing, Ken left Wormmon to wait with the boy, while he went to gather their friends.
"Ken!" Daisuke waved to the dark-haired boy as he approached the group. "We were just about to send a search-party out after you."
"Sorry," Ken told him, "but I found someone who wants to talk to us."
"Who?" Takeru asked.
"Gennai."
Miyako frowned as she looked down upon the boy who was Gennai. He looked much weaker than he had when they'd seen him earlier in the day, and was leaning against a stone that was shaped too carefully to be any sort of natural construct. She had recognized it instantly for what it was, having searched out enough of them to know. It was a Destiny Stone.
After Ken had returned to the clearing with his unexpected news, they had quickly joined Wormmon at the stream. Gomamon had called on his fish friends to help them cross over to where Gennai sat with his legs crossed and his head drooping.
"Gennai," Taichi greeted him. "Did you think of another weight to put on our shoulders?"
"Taichi!" Sora admonished.
Gennai seemed unfazed. "If I had any other choice, I would not burden you with this," he said calmly. "But that fact remains that you are the best chance for this world, and for your own."
Taichi sighed in a weary way that was rare for him. "Sorry. It's been a long day."
"Gennai," Miyako asked, "what's wrong with you?"
"I used up most of my energy to appear in your world," he said. "And now I must use up the rest of it."
"What?" Hikari asked. "Why?"
"The Four must go back."
"The Four?" Koushiro murmured, before speaking up excitedly. "I recognize that! So you did send the message!"
"Message…" Gennai looked thoughtful. "Maybe. Probably. It was a long time ago. I do know that I sent you instructions."
"Instructions? Instructions for what?" asked Yamato.
"Instructions on how to find the Artifacts."
"Gennai," Daisuke pleaded. "Try to make a little sense, would you?"
"The Artifacts, the things the remaining crests were transformed into. I sent you the instructions on how to find them. I knew I would forget when I was reconfigured, so I wrote them down for you."
The teenagers looked at each other, confused.
"Has he lost it?" Miyako heard Piyomon whisper to Gabumon.
Koushiro snapped his fingers. "I get it!" He turned to Miyako. "Do you still have that paper?"
Miyako stared at him for a brief moment, before catching on. "Oh!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out the crinkled note she had written the riddle on. "Yes, here."
She passed it to him, allowing her hand to brush his a just a bit longer than was strictly necessary, and was satisfied when the older boy went slightly crimson. Hawkmon raised an eyebrow and shot her a questioning look, to which she shrugged innocently.
"Uh, thanks," Koushiro said, clearing his throat. "Is this what you mean?" He leaned down to show Gennai the paper.
"Yes! Yes, this is it exactly. Wonderful." He rose to his knees. "Would one of you kindly help me stand?"
Takeru stepped forward and helped Gennai to his feet. "Careful," the blonde said, slipping an arm around the boy's shoulders when his legs trembled and almost gave out.
"Thank you," Gennai said. "Now, if the Four could step forward…you need to go back now, you see," he continued when none of them moved, "to free the Guardians."
"But, Gennai," Mimi asked for them all, "who are the Four?"
"Those who have crests, of course. You did not think that you could hope to defeat the digimon who are keeping the Guardians imprisoned without them, did you?"
Miyako instinctively closed one hand around her Crest of Compassion. "I guess that means me," she said, stepping up to Gennai and Takeru, Hawkmon fluttering close behind her.
Daisuke, Ken, and Iori also stepped forward with their digimon, while the other Chosen Children looked on in silence.
"Very good," Gennai said. "Now everyone place a hand on my arm. Takeru, step away, please." They did as he said.
"Wait!" Taichi said. "They have to go alone? What about the rest of us?"
"You have your own calling to fulfill," Gennai told him. A soft look came into his eyes. "Goodbye, children," he said, despite the fact that he was outwardly the youngest one there. "And good luck."
Miyako felt a strange warmth blossom beneath her fingers, and looked down to see that Gennai's skin had gone radiant under her hand. Suddenly, she realized that what she felt was energy in its purest form, Gennai's energy. At the same time, she recognized what was happening: he was sacrificing himself to send them back, using his own data to form their passage.
"Gennai!" Mimi cried out tearfully as he began to fade. Hikari turned away, ducking her face into Takeru's shoulder.
Miyako found herself locking eyes with Koushiro, who had chosen to disregard the horrifying scene of Gennai's destruction and was looking straight at her.
"Be careful," he mouthed.
"You, too," she murmured, giving him what she hoped passed for a reassuring smile.
"Bye, you guys!" Daisuke called out, as they began to rise into the air. Gennai was nothing more than a shadow by this point, and though Miyako's hand was still stretched out before her, there was no longer anything solid beneath it.
She shivered. Whatever they were about to do, Gennai obviously thought it was important enough to die for, and that made her more than a little nervous. Beside her, Hawkmon leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You're not alone. I'm with you, Miyako."
And that made all the difference in the world.
(1) Okay, so Mimi's digimon would have hatched as her baby form of Yuramon, not the in-training form of Tanemon, but think of how many evolutions I would have had to write into this story if I had all the digimon hatch as babies: too many. This is for your sake as much as it is for mine, trust me.