Shinsuke can still feel it sometimes. The darkness, creeping over his skin. When he's awake, as he tries and fails to sleep. The only comfort he finds sometimes is in Sami's nonstop chatter, the man not understanding why his associate is now pale and distant, thinking perhaps it has to do with stress over his title reign. But no, that's as far from the truth as could be possible. Shinsuke closes his eyes and tries to focus, tries to find the rhythm in his breathing that would normally calm him in the past, but it avoids him.

He digs his fingers in the sand and struggles against these feelings, these horrors. "Onegai," he whispers to himself, shaking his head desperately. "Stop..."

He's still lost, drowning in memories of being helpless and weak in the Darkness Ocean, when he hears someone join him. Soft breaths, calm touches, soothing whispers, and when he looks up into Carmella's worried, fixed gaze, he shudders and groans, part of him falling loose when she wraps her arms around him and hugs him. "You're ok, it's ok. We're here. We'll keep you safe," she keeps mumbling, stroking her fingers through his hair.

The others are there too, Miz and Dolph, Aiden and Chad, but none of them are judgmental, they all just sit quietly by him and murmur amongst themselves until he calms down, gingerly pulls away from Carmella. "I am... sorry," he says, his English still feeling inadequate, especially now. "I'm not all... here, yet."

"It's ok," she tells him, gripping his hands and squeezing them gently. "No one would be after what you've been through. But when you're ready, we do need to go to the Digital World. If only to check in. It's been... it's been awhile."

He nods, trying to find his strength, trying to get back on his feet. She helps him and he bows his head gratefully to her once he's standing somewhat steadily once more. They all surround him, comforting and warm in their presence, and he takes it all in for long, tense moments, before raising his digivice, the others following suit. "Digiport open!"

It's so strange that such a beautiful place could leave him so anxious and muddled. The digital world is gorgeous, there's no denying. The sun is warm against his skin, the areas around Luke's cave is quiet, calm. Luke himself is slow, not even bothering to talk to Shinsuke about missions like he normally would, just resting a hand on his shoulder and staring out into the distance with him. "If this is too much," he begins, and Shinsuke sharply shakes his head, noticing Luke's lips twitching up gently. "I've known you longer than most. No matter what, you are always dependable and steadfast. You have always made me proud, Shinsuke."

He's not sure what to say, or how to feel about this comment, so he keeps quiet, waits for Luke to find something else to say.

"There are missions," Luke says. "The Raw team has handled some of them. But I am choosing to do something slightly different for now. Just to get you reaccustomed to your surroundings." Shinsuke starts to look annoyed but before he can say something, Luke rests a hand on his arm. "I know you're going to say it's foolish, that you're fine, but allow me this one thing, please. One lowkey mission, where you won't have to fight, where you can find your ease in this world once more. Alright?"

Shinsuke sighs. Gives in with a faint grumble, and Luke pats his shoulder a few more times before stepping away to handle whatever it is he does before sending them off somewhere. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, hating his weakness. How everyone seems to feel they need to take care of him, when that's always been his role as a digidestined.

He casts another quick glance around before turning to join his friends to see what odd idea Luke has building now.

"This is amazing," Carmella whispers awhile later, and despite his misgivings, Shinsuke feels like he has to agree. They're up to their waist in water, surrounded by the ocean, baby digimon playing and splashing around them. They had been sent to a small inlet not far from Luke's cave to clean some seaweed that had been clogging the area out after a storm caused by some rowdy Seadramon. Now with most of it cleared up, numerous young Digimon had come out of various places and resumed their play, unbothered by the humans scattered around them.

Shinsuke leans back in the water and tilts his head up to feel the sun on his skin, the tang of salt in the air. Yes, he had almost lost himself in more ways than one in an ocean the opposite of this one, but he was still here, he was still breathing, life was still carrying on as normal as it could. Perhaps, he allows himself to think, Luke had a point with making us do all of this first.

He smiles.