Author's note: Thank you, everyone who read this fic. I hope you liked it. If you didn't, I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. The chapter titles come from "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by Po Chu-i.

Epilogue: The Ever True

The digidestined made it to the part of the Underworld ruled by Balaammon safely. Phytomon and Xylomon reunited joyfully with Cryomon and Pyromon. The sisters knew they would no longer be safe in the Underworld—not only had the violated the wishes of some powerful Underworld overlords, but Daemon's followers might try to stop them if they guessed their plans. Opalmon made arrangements with some of her contacts in the digiworld for the four sisters to go into hiding until Daemon was found.

The digidestined decided to check on their digimon before returning to Earth. They didn't get to see much of them these days, since the digimon were busy searching for Daemon.

"Hawkmon!" Yolei shouted happily when she found her digimon.

"Yolei! It's so good to see you," Hawkmon said as he threw his wings around his human partner. "Is it just me, or is your smile somehow brighter than usual?"

Her smile grew even brighter. "Oh, Hawkmon, you'll never guess what happened!"

"Then why don't you save me the trouble and just tell me?"

"You won't believe who has a crush on me."

"Ken?"

She frowned. "How did you know?"

"Well...uh..." He rubbed the back of his head with his wing. "Gatomon told me that Ken told her he has feelings for you."

"Why didn't you tell me!"

"Ken made Gatomon promise not to tell anyone, so Gatomon only told me on condition that I promise not to tell you."

"That's so unfair! You're my digimon; you should have told me."

"I'm sorry, Yolei, but at least you know now, right?"

"I guess so. I just wish I knew sooner." She smiled again. "I can't believe he likes me. Ken Ichijouji has a crush on me. Can you believe it?"

"Yes, indeed I can." Yolei looked at him curiously, so he added, "You're outgoing, you're assertive, you're confident, and you have many other fine qualities he lacks and admires. If I do say so myself, I think he has good taste."

Ken had a harder time finding his digimon. He heard Wormmon was somewhere near Mount Zmeya, in a swampy region of the digital world. As Ken looked at the dark forest, he recalled that this was where Talya and Hebimon were rumored to be hiding. The search for Talya had come to an abrupt halt when they learned of Daemon's return. The human thief who claimed to want nothing but to live quietly in the digiworld was low-priority now that Daemon was a threat again, but perhaps it was a mistake to stop looking for her. Ken didn't think she was really evil, but if he was wrong—if Talya decided to use her power to take over the digital world—she could prove to be a dangerous enemy.

Wormmon emerged from the shadows of the swamp. "Ken, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

Wormmon looked at Ken, who looked more distant than usual. He was concerned. "What?"

A smile appeared on Ken's face. "She kissed me."

"Yolei kissed you? Really?"

"Yes. And we have a date on Friday."

"Ken, that's wonderful!" There was a time when Wormmon would have been jealous, but recently that had changed. "I'm proud of you," he said sincerely.

Weeks passed with no sign of Daemon. Izzy was frustrated that he couldn't locate the evil digimon with his computer, but he had other things to worry about.

He'd invited Tsukiyo to dinner at his parents' house. Tentomon had left the digiworld for the occasion.

"This soup is delicious, Mrs. Izumi," Tsukiyo complimented.

"Thank you." She smiled brightly. "I hope you eat at our home more often."

Izzy smiled uncomfortably. That was his mother's less-than-subtle encouragement. Both of his parents knew his plan. He'd discussed it with them. They both loved Tsukiyo, especially the effect she had on their son. They didn't mind that she was older than him, or that she was a burakumin.

Reimeimon, lapping at her soup too eagerly, spilled some on the tablecloth.

"I'm so sorry," Tsukiyo said. She used her napkin to sop up some of the mess.

"Don't worry about it," Izzy told her as he stood to grab some paper towels from the kitchen.

Tentomon followed him. "So," he whispered, "when are you going to ask her?"

"After dinner," Izzy replied.

"I thought you said you would ask her before dinner."

"I did, but..." He sighed. "It's not that easy."

"What's not easy about it? Just ask her."

Izzy returned to the dining room and cleaned up the spill.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Izumi brought in dessert: banana cream pie, a dish which Tsukiyo had once mentioned she was fond of.

"Izzy," Mr. Izumi said politely, "didn't you have something you wanted to ask Tsukiyo?"

Izzy stuffed a large spoonful of pie into his mouth. "Hm?"

Tsukiyo looked at him. He chewed for several seconds after the bite was gone. As he reached for another, Tsukiyo asked, "What did you want to ask me?" Her tone seemed to suggest that she expected an academic question, but with her it was hard to tell, since she incorporated science into every aspect of her daily life.

Izzy glanced at his palm, where he had a short list of prompts written in now-blurry letters. "I never did tell you what the gift Laetusmon gave me was, did I?"

"No. And I've asked four times so far."

Izzy nervously slipped off his chair to one knee. He took out the box Laetusmon had given him and opened it, revealing a platinum ring set with a blue-sheen moonstone circled with alternating moissanite and black opal accents. "I hope it's your hand," he said shakily. He'd come up with that line before, but now it sounded overdramatic. He wished he could think of something better. But thinking was frustratingly difficult at the moment.

Tsukiyo stared at the ring for a moment. "You're asking to marry me?" she finally realized.

"Yes."

She slipped her finger into the ring. It fit perfectly. "Yes," she said quietly. She tore her eyes from the ring to look at Izzy. The look on her face wasn't one of excitement. In fact, there wasn't much in her expression that could be called happiness. There was something unexpected in her face, something like gratitude or relief, something that told of this woman's long years of loneliness that were now at an end. "Yes, Izzy, I very much want to marry you."

Izzy smiled—nearly laughed with delight—and took Tsukiyo's hands in his. She smiled back.

Reimeimon poked Tentomon. "What they say?"

"Izzy just proposed marriage," Tentomon explained.

"What thing 'marraige'?"

He pondered how to explain it. "It means that, out of everyone in the world, Izzy chooses Tsukiyo."

"For why?"

"Izzy and Tsukiyo want to be together forever," he said.

"Ever thing mean all the time?"

"Um, not really all the time. They just love each other, and want everyone to know that they love each other so much that they want to live together for the rest of their lives."

Reimeimon looked profoundly confused, but she decided it must be a good thing, and smiled excitedly.

Will the digidestined and their allies be able to defeat Daemon? Will Izzy and Tsukiyo go through with the wedding? Find out on the next episode of Frost Deejn's Digimon fanfiction!