AUTHOR'S NOTES:

It's time for another update!

As always, thank you so, so much for all the love on the last chapter. Sometimes I have these little wobbles that I'm pretty sure every author has (the wobble of "oh god why am I writing this who would want to read this this is the worst"… y'know, that wobble), so every little notification I get on this story means the absolute world to me.

Thank you for bearing with the inconsistent update schedule, thank you for the love, and I hope you enjoy today's chapter.

THE OTHER SIDE

Bubbles.

Rainbows trapped in tiny spheres that danced on the late summer breeze, swaying this way and that before disappearing from sight.

Beautiful bubbles.

"Now, Sam, your turn!"

A laugh.

"No, Kenny-boy, I can't do them as well as you can. I blow too hard and mine pop straight away. Yours always come out perfect." Somewhere a child gasped in awe.

"But I thought there wasn't anything you couldn't do!"

She was standing in a small bedroom, looking out at the modest balcony where two silhouettes were huddled around a plastic cup. They were passing a straw back and forth; the end had been cut and the ends of the straw spread out like a star, and she watched the youngest boy dip it in to the cup before blowing again. More bubbles.

Both boys were young – the eldest no older than nine, and the younger maybe five or six. Both had dark hair, though where the elder boy's was spiked and rough the younger's was smooth and sleek.

"C'mon, Osamu! Please!" And there was something in the younger boy's voice that made Osamu smile and take the cup and the straw.

"All right," he said with a weary sigh and a badly-hidden smile, "but don't say I didn't warn you." He lifted the straw to his lips, puffed out his cheeks, and blew so hard down the straw that spatters of soap water sprinkled the balcony wall. Ken giggled and grasped for the straw again.

"You have to be gentle! Like this!" And when he was sure Osamu was watching, he released a perfect flurry of delicate bubbles. Osamu smiled and ruffled his hair.

"If anyone knows anything about being gentle, it's you, Kenny-boy," he said fondly. Ken hauled himself up on to a small stepping stool, reaching out for the bubbles as they disappeared towards the sunset.

"I wish we could stay here and blow bubbles all the time," Ken sighed. Sam placed a careful hand on his shoulder and pulled him away from the edge.

"We can't, but we could do it again tomorrow. How about tomorrow when I get back from soccer practice?" Ken smiled eagerly, bouncing up and down on his toes. Osamu checked his watch. "I have to get inside now, Kenny-boy. Do you want to come and study with me?" Ken nodded eagerly and Osamu took the cup and straw back. "Well why don't I take care of this while you go get your school books?" Ken hauled open the balcony door, his cheeked puffing with effort, and after Osamu had helped him pull it all the way back Ken raced through the bedroom. Hikari followed him in to the lounge.

Two women were sitting at the kitchen table, and their conversation halted as Ken entered the room. He paused, suddenly nervous, eyeing first the brown-haired woman who looked to be his mother and then her curly-haired friend.

"Well aren't you just adorable!" the friend gushed. "Who is this? A friend of Osamu's?" Ken's mother shook our head.

"This is our youngest, Ken," she offered with a proud smile. Ken ducked his head and offered a small bow before hurrying towards the door where he pulled his small school bag from an alcove with his name above it and his shoes below.

"Right! So sorry, I always forget you have the two of them." Ken paused, and the pens rattled in his fist before he took a deep breath and put the bag away again. Tucking the books against his chest he scurried back to his room, and the door clicked closed behind him. Hikari chewed her lip, eyeing the two women as they fell back in to inaudible conversation and wishing she could say something, but she didn't need to be Koushiro to understand that this wasn't real.

Instead she followed Ken silently back in to his room. When she opened the door, she found that both boys were older now. Ken was wearing a bright button badge on his shirt with the number seven in bright green, and he was chewing at the end of a crayon whilst frowning at the colourful drawings spread in front of him. Across the room, Osamu was tapping away at his computer, his lips pursed and his brow furrowed as he worked.

The door had only just swung closed behind Hikari when it opened again and their mother rushed in, passing straight through Hikari. Ken looked up eagerly as she entered.

"Mama!" he exclaimed, throwing the crayons aside and picking up the brightest picture in his small hands and showing it to her. She waved a gentle hand towards him before coming to a stop next to his brother.

"Oh, Osamu!" she gushed, clutching her hands over heart. "All the neighbours came up to me again and told me what a wonderful little boy you are! Mizuki-san from upstairs told me about how you helped her with her groceries last week, and Takemura-san from downstairs said he'd never seen a finer young man. Can you believe it?" She stopped suddenly and glanced back over her shoulder. "Oh, sorry Ken, did you say something?" Ken looked at the picture in his hands before slumping back against the bottom bunk.

"Never mind, mama." Hikari couldn't stop herself from reaching towards him, but her fingers passed straight through his. As his mother continued to gush over Osamu, Ken began neatly stacking his drawings and organising his crayons, setting them neatly back in to their organiser in a perfect rainbow. Hikari felt her heart ache, hoping that perhaps the memories were distorted – exaggerated and warped by time – and yet there was something in the clarity with which Ken remembered the sound of his front door closing that made Hikari's stomach twist. Their mother clapped her hands together.

"Come on, your father's home. Let's go tell him too!" And she dragged Osamu away from his computer and back through to the lounge. The door didn't quite close behind them, and after staring at it for a minute Ken slowly rose to his feet and peered through the crack. Sam was sitting quietly between his parents, and as his mother retold her encounters with their neighbours their father beamed and nodded with pride. Ken turned away, small hands clenched in to trembling fists at his side. He stormed forwards, kicking his drawing and sending the crayons scattering across the floor.

"They always pay more attention to Sam," he huffed, sniffling in to his sleeves. He curled up against the bottom bunk, burying his face in his knees. "He's smarter and better and older and they love him the most because he was here first. I'll never get them to notice me as long as Sam's around. If he wasn't here then I-" He stopped abruptly, his tear-stained face lifting with a look of horror and then determination. "That's it! The only way mama and papa will love me is if Osamu goes away!" He clenched his fists and scrunched up his eyes and buried his chin in his chest. "I wish Osamu would just disappear!"

The computer screen flared to life with a series of loud whirs and beeps, and the screen's glow slowly folded in on itself until it became something solid that burst from the screen and his Ken's knees. It bounced to the floor with a quiet clatter and Ken peered down at it. The digivice was unmistakable, though it wasn't the one Ken carried now as the Kaiser. This was the same one that her brother and the other older Chosen carried; the same one she'd had when she first went to the Digital World.

"Ken! What happened?" Ken jumped as Osamu snatched the digivice from the floor.

"I didn't touch anything, I promise!" Ken cried. "I was just sitting here – and then the computer – and the lights – and then-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Osamu soothed. He reached for Ken's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, but his eyes were focused on the digivice. He squinted at the screen, poking at the buttons and turning it over in his hand, but the digivice remained dormant.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure, Kenny-boy. Maybe the computer blew a fuse or something." Osamu lifted it to his ear and shook it several times, and Ken's eyes lit up with wonder.

"Is there something inside?" Osamu shook his head and studied it again, running his fingers over the casing and the strange symbols of the Digital World. Finally he closed his fingers firmly around it.

"I don't know what this is, but I'm going to find out," he said, pushing himself off the bed. "Now listen carefully, Ken. Until we know what this is, you're not allowed to touch it, okay? This isn't a toy." Ken's shoulders drooped but he nodded.

"Okay," he mumbled, dark eyes following the device until it was safely tucked away in the top draw of Osamu's desk.

"I'll have to figure this out tomorrow," Sam muttered as he gathered his notebooks and pens. He threw them in to his backpack and swung it on to his shoulder. "I gotta go out for a bit, Kenny-boy, but study group should only last an hour or two. I'll be back soon – and don't touch!"

Hikari was aware that Osamu had left with his parents, and she watched Ken as he tidied up his scattered drawings and reorganised his crayons. Every now and then he would pause, his eyes flicking to the drawer, but then he would shake his head and return to the task at hand. Each time he stopped and looked, it seemed to take more effort to turn away, as though the digivice was calling to him. Finally, after Ken had put away his drawings and his crayons, he crept towards the desk, his fingers curling and uncurling as he rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels.

"I just want a look," he mumbled at last, and after nodding to himself he pulled the draw open. He stared at it for several long seconds, and when looking wasn't enough he reached his small hand inside.

His fingers brushed the surface and the room filled with light. Ken stared at it in awe until the light became blinding, and he his behind his arm and flung the digivice away from his face, pointing it directly at the computer screen. It lit up again, scrolling with endless code, and Hikari heard a whoosh as it sucked them in to a blinding portal of light.

Slowly the world came back in to focus, and Hikari found herself standing in a field that seemed to stretch for miles. The tall yellow-green grass brushed at her knees. Ken was lying nearby, having crushed several tall strands of grass on his arrival. The stalks by his head were shivering, and something scuttled through the undergrowth, circling him several times before emerging near his head.

It couldn't have been more than a baby, Hikari thought. Two black beady eyes peered out from its small head, an its small vice-like mouth was pink and pursed as it cautiously crawled closer. Long ears twitched, and a single twig-like antenna swayed to and fro as its little arms dragged its pincone-like body through the grass.

Ken groaned and grimaced before slowly peeling his eyes open, raising his hand to his head as he slowly sat up. The digimon and scurried away, peering at Ken through the tall grass. Ken sat up a little taller.

"Wait! Please don't go! I'm not going to hurt you!" The digimon hesitated, uncertain, before venturing a little further from its hiding place. Ken crawled back a ways and knelt with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Ken." The digimon smiled and lifted itself up until it was perched on its pine one tail.

"My name is Minomon!" he chirped. Ken blinked in surprise.

"You can talk!" Minimon nodded and looked as though he might have said something else, but there came a quiet rumbling of an empty stomach and he ducked his head, long ears quivering as a flush flooded his cheeks. Ken plunged a hand in to the pocket of his shorts and withdrew a candy bar which he held out towards Minomon. The digimon eyed it warily, glancing between the candy and Ken several times.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's chocolate," Ken answered with a smile. "I was going to share it with my brother, but you're hungry so you should have it." Minomon allowed Ken to carefully peel back the wrapper and he cautiously nibbled at a corner. His face lit him and he hummed in delight, and within seconds he had finished the whole bar. He licked the chocolate from the inside of the wrapper, and when he was certain there was nothing left. Minomon threw the wrapper aside and leapt in to Ken's arms with a gleeful giggle.

"Nobody's ever shared food with me before," Minomon said brightly. "You're the best, Ken!"

Hikari saw flashes of adventure – weeks of travelling together in the Digital World, exploring new terrains, sharing new meals – and it felt like an age had passed before they spilled back on to the navy carpet in the bedroom. Ken lay still for a moment before he lifted himself up on to his elbows, aged eyes watering at he stared at the screen.

"Wormmon…" His voice trembled, and as he lifted the digivice back towards the screen the bedroom door flung open.

"Ken!" Osamu's voice was cold and sharp. The evening sunlight reflected off the sunglasses in his hair, and with his jumper draped over his shoulders the light from the hallway made his silhouette look almost like the Kaiser. "What do you think you're doing?" Ken knelt up tall, blinking his tears away as he looked up at his brother.

"I didn't break it!" he exclaimed, holding the digivice out for Osamu to see. That only made him angrier.

"I said don't touch it!" Osamu yellowed, and with a heavy hand he smacked the digivice to the floor. Ken gasped and cradled his stinging hand to his chest with a whimper.

"I'm sorry."

"You gotta have respect for other people's stuff, Ken," Osamu admonished sharply. Ken nodded with a sniffle.

"I will. I'm sorry, onii-san-"

"It's too late," Sam snapped. He snatched the digivice from the floor and put it back in to the drawer again. "I already told you not to touch my stuff, and you broke my trust. Now I'll never be able to trust you again." He slammed the drawer shut and Ken winced.

"I said I was sorry-"

"Just get out," Osamu snapped. He threw himself into his computer chair and tipped his books out on to his desk. "I have to study. I'll talk to you again when I've calmed down." Ken sniffed several times before wiping his tears on his sleeves and stumbling in to the lounge. He stood infront of the sleeping television, scrubbing angrily at his cheeks and when his tears turned to shivering rage he span back towards the door, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Sometimes I wish you would just disappear!"

Tyres screeched. Hikari was outside in the sunshine. She turned wildly, watching as people stopped and stared in horror, pointing and muttering to something in the middle of the road. Little Ken stood beside her, frozen at her side. A bloodied shoe landed at their feet, snapping Ken from his daze.

"Sam!" Hikari reached for his shoulder but he passed straight through her fingers as he ran to his brother's side. More people were gathering, crowding around the car that had veered off into a nearby lamppost. Hikari passed through them all to find Ken kneeling by his too-still brother, clutching a pair of broken glasses and staring down at Osamu's face with silent horror. A hand reached for Ken's shoulders, pulling him back.

"That's my brother!" he wailed, struggling against the woman's tight grip. "That's my brother! Let me go! Onii-san! Onii-san!" The woman ushered him to the side of the road and wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth as he wept in to her blouse, clutching the glasses tightly in his bloodied fingers.

The oncoming sires faded and the road melted away, replaced by a large room drowning in silence. A crowd of mourners had gathered in black kimonos and suits, and Hikari's throat burned as she found the black casket lying at the head of the room, surrounded by flowers. Osamu's portrait had been draped in silver and black ribbons tied in immaculate bows and nestled in a plume of white lilies. Beside the casket, a priest handed incense to Ken's father who tearfully offered it to the casket. Behind them, Ken clutched tightly at his mother's hand.

"Mama-"

"Hush, Ken," she whispered sharply, and Ken didn't speak again until after the priest had finished his final sutra and their parents had led the guests through to an adjoining room.

Ken remained by himself, standing by the casket and staring up at his brother's picture. After several long minutes he took a tentative step closer, and then another, shuffling forwards until he could press his hands against the lacquered wood.

"Sam, I didn't mean it," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I was just angry when I said it. I didn't really want you to go." He sniffed and ducked his head, his shoulders shaking with every hiccup. "I've made mama and papa so sad; they loved you more than anything in the whole wide world. I just wanted them to see me…" His fingers curled, nails scraping across the casket. "Please come back, Sam. Please. Please come back so I can tell you I'm sorry. You can go home and I'll st-stay here instead, and mama and papa will be happy again. P-please, onii-san."

Ken's pleading voice faded to an echo, and when Hikari turned she was back in the boys' bedroom. There was only one bed now – a tall high-sleeper with a large chest of drawers beneath it, its surface covered with thick schoolbooks. Ken was standing in the middle of the room, staring across at his brother's computer. He was older now – nine, or perhaps ten – and he sucked in a sharp breath before reaching forwards to turn it on.

"I'm sorry, Sam," he whispered, "but mama said I have to use this computer if I want a computer at all." He settled carefully in to Osamu's chair, his spine rigid, and as the computer finished booting up a message flashed on the screen.

NEW MESSAGE.

Ken hesitated, his hand hovering over the mouse. After a great debate with himself he finally clicked open, and as he skimmed the first few lines his eyes grew wide. Hikari leant over his shoulder to peer at the screen.

The message was addressed to Ken.

I'm sorry for the loss of your brother, it read. It must have been hard to take, but don't worry; your brother is in a better place, finally at rest. But when his soul became free, yours became trapped. You bear the burden of both his destiny and your own…

Hikari paled as it continued, much as Ken did. The message spoke of his parents, and how in losing their eldest son they had lost their hope for a child prodigy. It warned of the pressures they would put on Ken, and of how the world would become an unbearable place if he allowed himself to live only in his brother's shadow. Then it talked of a new world, a world where he could be free, with gifts of knowledge and power and the freedom to answer to nobody but himself.

Open the drawer.

With a trembling hand, Ken reached for the drawer and slid it open. The digivice was exactly where Osamu had left it, and when Ken's fingers curled around it the bedroom disappeared behind a curtain of light.

The stench of the rotting ocean left Hikari's stomach turn. The Dark Ocean spread out before them in an endless grey abyss and Ken drank it in, staring with fear and wonder at his surroundings. The waves were whispering to him.

Closer… come closer…

Ken slowly made his way closer to the shore. The water splashed against his socks and soaked the hem of his trousers, and he shivered.

You got my message…

This voice was unmissable; the words rang in Hikari's ears. Ken jumped, clutching his digivice to his chest and looking around wildly.

"Who's there?" The voice chuckled; its laughter familiar. It sent a shiver of fear racing down Hikari's spine.

I am here to help you…

"Did you send the email?"

Yes… You need me, Ichijouji Ken, and I need you…

"You… you do?" The voice didn't answer and Ken shivered again. "What do you need me for?"

We will make each other stronger… I will give you knowledge and power, and you will help me return home…

Ken looked uncertain. He was still glancing around, not quite sure where to look as he spoke.

"And that's all you want?" he asked. "To go home?"

Yes…

"And in return-"

I will make you stronger. Better. Far better than your brother could have ever been…

Ken paused. Hikari could see the war raging behind his eyes. It took him a long while to decide, but at long last he stood tall, set his jaw, and stared out over the horizon.

"Tell me what I have to do."

The device in your hand… put it under the water…

Ken stared down at the digivice, staring at it for several long minutes before slowly crouching down. He gently lowered his hand beneath the surface, and the foam wrapped around his wrist. The digivice shimmered and shifted, becoming wrapped in tendrils of darkness that pulled it in to its new shape – a black D-3. Droplets of water rose around him, hovering in the air, each becoming bigger and darker until they were solid spheres, their surface covered in hundreds of black barbs. As Ken stared in to the water, transfixed by the transformation beneath the waves, one of the spheres darted towards him. It pressed itself in to his neck and he screamed, falling to his knees as his back arched in pain. The laughter came again then, and Hikari felt her heart stop.

A little pain… for a great reward…

It felt like an age before Ken finally stopped screaming. His shoulders slumped forwards, his head resting heavily against his chest, and the ocean stilled around him, leaving Hikari with nothing but the sound of his ragged breathing. Slowly he lifted his head, his eyes cold and sharp as they stared over the water. He lifted his hand, bringing the D-3 out of the water, and a smile tuggeda t his lips.

"This is mine," he whispered. His fingers tightened around the D-3 until his knuckles were white, and the smile became almost manic. He began to laugh – a giggle became a chuckle, and soon shifted in to the deep, mocking laughter Hikari had heard so often.

The Kaiser was the Dark Ocean's doing. Or something within the Ocean… Dagomon, perhaps, though the familiar voice wasn't his. And Dagomon's servants had seemed set against the Kaiser, not for him. As the grey sands began to fade from view, Hikari lost herself in thought. If not Dagomon, then who?

Your enemy is not only the Kaiser, but a much greater darkness that cannot be defeated by strength alone.

Wizardmon's words echoed through her mind. Was this his doing, she wondered? Or maybe… she glanced down to her hands, feeling the memory of her light mixing with the data of Angewomon's arrow. Maybe it was something she had done. Her light had pierced the Kaiser's heart, and maybe that had been enough to create this strange world of memories.

"What are you doing here?"

The Kaiser's voice was cold but it lacked its usual cruelty. Hikari turned, finding him standing behind her, although it wasn't the Kaiser she saw. Instead she saw Ken – his hair sleek and smooth, and his clothes replaced by a simple grey suit. He was watching her, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

"I'm not sure," she answered. "I'm don't even know where we are." Ken turned away, staring in to the endless void of white that surrounded them.

"These are my memories, although how the game got hold of them, I don't know. Maybe this is how it built my world." Hikari frowned, watching him carefully.

"Game?" she asked. "What do you mean, 'game'?"

"I should have known you wouldn't understand. You all seemed to take everything so personally," he added with a scowl. "None of this is real. That device you have, it allows you to enter the game. This should have been a private server – he told me it would all be mine-"

"Who told you?" Ken stopped suddenly, his sharp eyes glaring at her.

"It's not your concern," he spat. There was a tremor in his voice – a hint of panic.

"Was he the same one who called you to the ocean?" His eyes narrowed. His fingers curled in to fists. Hikari couldn't help but feel that she was right. "What else did he tell you?"

"What does it matter?" he hissed. "The game is over. You won. Or maybe you didn't seeing as you're right here with me." He turned away, glancing around as his hands trembled by his sides. Then, so quiet Hikari almost missed it: "He never told me what would happen if I lost."

"Who is he?" she asked before she could stop herself. He stormed towards her, his eyes blazing fury as he drew himself up tall to glare down at her.

"Why do you care?!" he roared. "Why can't you just leave me alone?! You're always just there! Always in my way! I take your partner and still you play! And now you've ruined it – you've ruined everything!" His face was inches from hers now, close enough for her to see the burning fury in his eyes, and to sense the roiling darkness pouring off him in waves. She swallowed bile and pulled her shoulders back, lifting her chin.

"This isn't just some game," she said, forcing herself to remain calm. He turned away with a snort. "It's real, all of it. The digimon, the world, Wormmon… It's all real." At the sound of his partner's name, Ken's shoulders tensed. He stopped pacing – stopped breathing. The silence seemed to stretch for an age before Ken spoke again, his voice quiet. Almost hesitant.

"You're wrong."

There was something in his voice. Doubt, maybe, or perhaps fear. Hikari took a tentative step towards him.

"Ken-"

"It can't be real," he hissed. "It can't."

"Why not?"

"Because if this is real then I – agh!" He threw his head back with a cry, hand flying to his neck as he stumbled away from her. His head fell forwards, and his hand fell away as his shoulders slumped. When he looked at her again, his fiery rage had been tempered in to calm anger. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his lips curled in to a cruel smirk.

"You are such a bad loser." He still looked like Ken, but his voice was the Kaiser's – low and dangerous. He chuckled and drew himself up tall. "Your plan to end my game ended yours too, and now you're stuck in here with me. You don't know what's going to happen to us any more than I do. If you think you can guilt me in to going easy on you when the board resets, then you're mistaken."

Whatever had taken over him – whoever was pulling his strings – really had convinced him that this was all just a game. It was no wonder he'd been able to be so cruel. Nothing was real to him, not even to his partner. But why? Whoever was behind the Kaiser and his reign, what could they possibly stand to gain by creating a tyrant?

And how was she ever going to convince him that he was wrong?

She closed her eyes with a frustrated sigh. He was right about one thing, at least; she knew no more about their strange limbo than he did, and she knew even less about how they might get out. The light must have brought them here, she decided, and she reached out to it for a sign – a hint – anything that might help her understand what she was supposed to do.

She felt a warm breeze on her cheek. There was the sound of crayons scratching across paper. She opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat as she found herself in her childhood bedroom. The bookshelf was split in half, with a clear divide between Taichi's soccer gear and Hikari's books and toys. Sitting at a small table in the corner of the room, Hikari found herself. She must have been eight, she knew, because she was wearing the delicate pink neckerchief she'd gotten for her eighth birthday. She was hunched over a colouring book, lips pressed in to a thin line as she desperately tried to keep her pink crayon from straying outside the lines.

"Where are we?" Ken asked. He was staring at her younger self, his eyes dark and unreadable. His face was pale, and beads of sweat had begun to appear across his brow.

"This is my memory," she said. She might have said something else, but the door creaked open and Meeko suddenly darted in to the room. Her tail was swishing from side to side as she ducked around the younger Hikari and slipped out on to the balcony.

"Meeko, come back here!" Young Hikari scrambled to her feet, sending her crayons scattering, managing to catch Meeko as she tried to leap onto the balcony. The cat gave a disgruntled yowl as Hikari turned her around and set her down by the door. "Where do you think you're going? It too late to be going out. Back inside, please." Meeko gave a pitiful meow, but when Hikari didn't back down she slipped back through the balcony doors and curled up on Hikari's bed.

Hikari turned away then, staring up at the dark sky. She remembered this night; it was one she would never forget. She felt Ken tense beside her, and she heard her younger self gasp as Wizarmon appeared on the balcony.

"Who are you?" Wizarmon swept his had from his head and bowed, still hovering several feet off the floor.

"I am Wizarmon." The voice made Hikari's heart soar. Young Hikari stepped forwards, staring at every detail of Wizarmon before asking:

"How are you flying like that?"

Wizarmon didn't respond. Instead he turned his head and nodded. A white blur descended from the balcony above as Tailmon joined them, landing in a half crouch. Her shoulders were tense, her tail twitching anxiously behind her while her claws kneaded the concrete underfoot. Young Hikari's face lit up with a smile.

"It's you! It's nice to see you again!" Tailmon didn't respond. Wizarmon placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulled her to her feet. He reached beneath his cloak, pulling something out and pressing it in to Tailmon's paw. Hikari's digivice. Tailmon didn't speak as Wizarmon turned her around and gently pushed her forwards, her palm still outstretched.

"What is that?" young Hikari asked, glancing down at the digivice. Tailmon didn't respond. "Can I see it?" Another moment of silence, and when Tailmon didn't pull the digivice away young Hikari reached towards it.

Before her fingers had brushed its surface, the digivice exploded with light. Soon the balcony was lost, and when the light faded they were standing in the seating area above the soccer field. Hikari remembered this too; Daisuke's football game. A taxi was pulling up at the side of the road on the other side of the field, and she watched as Ken emerged, a haughty smile on his face as he gripped his soccer bag and made his way down the stairs towards the pitch.

"I thought they were toys."

Hikari turned to Ken. He was staring at the others, his eyes fixed on the digimon in their laps. "I thought you'd made them… I didn't realise-" Miyako stood up with a squeal, shouting and pointing. On the opposite side of the pitch, the memory of Ken had been swarmed by fangirls, but that didn't stop him meeting Miyako's eye. He politely made his way through the crowd and spoke to his team before finding his place on the pitch. Hikari watched herself stand and call to Daisuke, though her eyes were fixed on Ken.

"You recognised me," Ken whispered.

"I thought I did, but I wasn't sure." It wasn't a total lie. Gut instinct had driven her to her feet, but when Ken's eyes had met hers she had known, even if she'd been too afraid to tell the others.

The world shifted again, and this time they found themselves standing in Jou's camp. Hikari and Tailmon were following Jou around with tea and dry biscuits as he checked in on his patients. On the other side of the campfire, Takeru and Patamon were boiling a pot of rags. The digimon around them were exhausted – battered, bruised and broken – and Hikari heard Ken whimper.

"I destroyed this place." There was a look of horror on his face. Tears were racing down his cheeks as he watched a lame Gostumon hobble past, hissing with every step. "Over and over and over again… I hurt all these digimon…" She stepped closer to him again, reaching towards him.

"Ken-"

"Make it stop." He smacked her hand away and then turned with a groan, clutching at his hair and squeezing his eyes shut. He hissed in pain, falling to his knees. "It hurts… Make it stop…" Hikari moved to kneel beside him but his arm lashed out, pushing her off balance and sending her sprawling. "Don't touch me!" He buried his head in his knees, rocking back and forth as he tugged at his hair, his whole body shivering. Hikari's stomach was churning – her heart pounding painfully in her chest.

Ken screamed.

His hands flew to his neck, fingers clawing at his hairline as he threw his head back. His face was deathly pale, contorted in agony as the tears continued to stream down his cheeks. Hikari scrambled towards him, calling his name.

"Leave me alone!" he screamed, voice shredded with pain and fear. "Get out of my head!" Hikari reached for him, determined not to let him push her away again. Her fingers snared his wrist and the world exploded with pain and light that blinded her senses and left her screaming into the darkness.

"You should get some rest."

Sora's voice was quiet and motherly as she place a gentle hand on Tailmon's shoulder. Tailmon resisted the urge to sidestep out of her reach.

"I'm fine." The words sounded slurred, but Sora did not press her again. The hand fell away, fingers trailing through Tailmon's fur before disappeared. Tailmon stood, if only to hide the shiver that ran down her spine, and moved to join Taichi in his silent vigil.

Hikari lay peacefully on the ground. Sleeping, Tailmon reminded herself as she watched her partner's shallow but steady breathing. Just sleeping.

It felt like hours since Angewomon had fought LadyDevimon for control. Since she had given Hikari the arrow. Since she had watched her partner crumple to the ground and felt the spiral crumble around her arm. Perhaps it had been. Perhaps it had only been seconds.

In the indeterminable interim the children had carried Hikari into the shade of the trees and laid her gently in the grass. Palmon had coaxed flowers and tufts of soft grass from the ground for a pillow. The Kaiser was out cold too and Yamato, not willing to give him the chance to run if he woke, had carried the boy over his shoulder and lowered him down beside Hikari, and Palmon had bound him against the dirt with thick, knotted vines.

Then they had waited.

Shortly after the fighting had ended they had been joined by Wormmon. Tailmon had spied him hovering in a patch of tall grass, watching the children nervously, and Tailmon had ignored their protests when she had called him over, and ignored their surprise when she told them that Wormmon was the Kaiser's partner.

"We can't trust him," Yamato had said, his voice sharp and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "We should separate them before the Kaiser wakes up."

"Sometimes we don't get to choose our master or our orders," Tailmon had answered curtly, fixing him with a pointed glare. Yamato had softened a little at that, though he kept his distance when Wormmon quickly scurried to sit at Tailmon's side to watch over his partner. Piyomon and Palmon both turned their backs to him, nudging their partners away to join the others who had fallen back a little to give Hikari and Ken some space. The only other digimon who remained nearby was Koromon, who was snoring loudly in Taichi's lap. Taichi didn't object when Wormmon approached. He was so focused on Hikari that Tailmon wondered if he'd even noticed.

"Will they wake up?" Wormmon asked quietly. Tailmon placed a gentle paw on his back, the words catching in her throat.

"I-"

She stopped as Ken's body began to shimmer. Wait, not his body, Tailmon realised; his clothes. After a moment the cape which had been bundled around his arms beneath Palmon's vines began to ripple and warp before silently exploding in to data that drifted away on the gentle breeze. His goggles came next, and the golden data glinted in the sun as it floated away. Piece by piece, the Kaiser disappeared until the boy lying before them was left in nothing more than a simple grey suit. His hair changed too – shifting from wild spikes to sleek, short locks that fell away from his face. Wormmon shuffled forwards, placing his front pincers on Ken's shoulder.

"This is the Ken I remember," he said, pausing as he drew level with Ken's face. "He's crying."

"So is Hikari," Taichi murmured, his eyes never leaving his sister's face. "What's happening?"

A dark chuckle filled the air. Tailmon's data froze and she snapped her head up, wide eyes searching. The laughter was painfully familiar; so painful that she found herself reaching for Hikari's limp hand and clutching to it tightly.

"How pathetic…"

She froze, unable to breathe. From the battle-torn ground a dark shadow began to rise, billowing higher and higher until it became a swirling vortex of darkness.

"What is that?" Miyako asked, pointing a trembling finger at the shadow. Tailmon knew the answer, but it was impossible to force his name past the knot in her throat. The shadow kept rising until at last it billowed out like a cloak in the wind. A tall collar unfurled around the shadow's head, and gangly limbs began to form as the air was filled with the chittering of bats. Tailmon turned to Taichi, unable to speak, and after a moment she saw her own horror reflected on his face.

"No!" he roared, springing to his feet. "We destroyed you!" Two glowing purple eyes grinned at them from the darkness.

"And yet here I am before you again," Vamdemon's voice sneered. "I commend you, Chosen Children. It took me longer than expected to regain the strength to take form once more. Luckily, I had a little help."

"The Kaiser," Takeru growled. Vamdemon laughed.

"An obvious choice, I suppose, but wrong nonetheless. It is the Eighth Child who has been feeding my powers. As her strength grows, so does mine. It will only be a matter of time before I am able to fully reformat my data." He gestured with his shadowy arm and the Kaiser began to scream, his fingers splayed and his body straining against Palmon's vines. Hikari began to scream then too, and the sound pierced through Tailmon's fear.

"Stop it!" she roared, leaping across them both and flexing her claws. "Leave them alone!"

"I'm not doing anything," Vamdemon answered. "If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that she's just dying to help my pathetic little Kaiser."

"Please!" Wormmon warbled. His eyes were wide and watery, tears racing down his cheeks as Ken began to buck and writhe. "Please let him go!" Vamdemon's gaze turned to Wormmon then.

"Have him. He is of no use to me any longer. Take what's left of him." He laughed again and Wormmon shrank back,. Tailmon growled, her tail twitching anxiously, wishing Hikari awake for the chance to destroy Vamdemon all over again.

"Why won't you leave us alone?!" she spat. Purple eyes fell upon her again and she forced herself to remain tall as they narrowed dangerously.

"But my little pet," he cooed, "I want nothing more to be left alone. Perhaps it is time for us to go our separate ways."

A cold breeze nipped at Tailmon's heels, sucking the air from her lungs, and suddenly she was tumbling backwards. Her paws swung blindly, reaching for Hikari or Taichi or Patamon or anyone, but she was alone, falling in to darkness and surrounded by screams.

She awoke on soft carpet, vaguely away aware of shouting. Digimon and partners alike had landed in a tangled pile of limbs, with Tailmon buried somewhere near the bottom. She lifted her head, finding Hikari on her feet, pleading with the Kaiser. No, not the Kaiser. Ken. The boy looked so different now, his usual arrogance replaced by horror and grief as he tried to pull himself free of Hikari's grip.

"Take care of Wormmon," he ordered. He wrenched his arm free and fled from the room.

"Ken!" Hikari cried, staring after him, but somewhere a heavy door slammed. Tailmon wriggled free, drawing herself to her feet. The room was starting to spin, and she fought the urge to de-volve.

"Hikari."

Hikari turned, her red-rimmed eyes shining. Tailmon bounded forwards, defying the heaviness in her limbs, and launched herself in to Hikari's chest as Hikari fell to her knees. She held Tailmon tight, placing a heavy kiss on her forehead, and soon someone else had joined them. Agumon. Hikari laughed tearfully, wrapping her arm around him, and then Tailmon felt Taichi wrap his arms around all of them. Mimi joined them with a squeal, bringing Palmon and Piyomon and Sora along with her, and then it became impossible to tell who had joined the hug and who hadn't. The only thing Tailmon knew with any certainty was that she and Hikari were being crushed in the middle of it and she wouldn't have traded it for the world

"Um, guys?" Koushiro's voice was muffled, but Tailmon didn't miss the note of worry. The pressure eased, the hug ended, and Tailmon found Koushiro frantically tapping at his laptop with Miyako and Tentomon peering over her shoulder. At Koushiro's nod Miyako held her D-3 out towards the screen, which gave a flash and a loud buzzing noise. Koushiro leant forwards, fingers flying over the keyboard, and then he nodded again. Another loud buzz. Again and again they tried until Koushiro slammed his hands against the computer.

"Koushiro?" Sora asked gently. He took a moment, taking a deep breath before turning to them, his expression grim.

"Vamdemon's closed the gates," he sad quietly. "We're locked out."