"Taichi! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes and saw Agumon staring down at him. He pushed himself up and sat on the edge of his futon. "All right, all right! I'm awake."

"Your phone keeps going off." Agumon handed him the device. "It's Hikari."

Five voice mails and fifty text messages. The earliest was from ten last night. He dialed her number. "Hikari! What's going on? Are you okay?"

Her voice was level but he could hear it quaver. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Mom and Dad?" Their parents were in Hawaii or the Bahamas or some island somewhere.

"I haven't heard from them, so I guess they're okay." She breathed in. "You'd, um, you need to come over here."

"Why?"

"Last night we, um, ran into this little girl, well, not that little, but not a teenager either. I'd say she's probably ten years old, at least, but-"

Taichi felt his heart start to race. Hikari never rambled. "Sis?"

"Right, sorry." She took another breath, "This kid, well, she says she's your daughter."

Child of Courage

Chapter II

Hikari placed her phone on the counter and turned to face the others. "He's coming over."

Takeru nodded and drank from his coffee. "Okay, good."

Silence filled the air; neither the two humans nor their digimon partners wanted to ask the obvious question. Finally, Takeru filled his lungs. "So what now?"

Hikari looked past them to the closed door to her bedroom. "I, um, guess we'd better check on her."

Takeru nodded slightly while Patamon had a blank expression. Tailmon's eyes were narrowed but she nodded as well. The cat digimon was the most suspicious of their unplanned house guest, even suggesting they put her in a hotel until they could sort it out. Hikari couldn't do that, especially after the young girl collapsed into her arms. "We should probably get her a change of clothes or something. Could you do that?"

Takeru blinked and then his cheeks darkened. "Um, maybe I'll call Mimi or Sora."

Hikari smiled. "Yeah, okay. I'm sure Sora would love showing off her designs."

"Or Mimi having an excuse to go shopping," he added.

Their shared laughter slowly died. Hikari wanted to add something but stopped herself. She was stalling. She took a breath and walked to her room.

She opened the door as softly as she could and poked her head inside. The young girl, Kimiko, was still asleep; buried under the sheets. Her Koromon was next to her and reminded Hikari of the cat she had as a child. Kimiko's jeans and t-shirt lay in a pile near the door.

Hikari slid closer, trying not to creak the floor, and studied her again. The way her bangs fell over her forehead, the way her nose moved when she breathed, the way her tongue hung out of her open mouth, the way she snored, it was all Taichi. "Hey," she whispered, "Time to get up." Even the way Kimiko woke up; opening her eyes in a half-zombified state, reminded Hikari of her brother.

The girl blinked a few times and her eyes went wide. The butterflies in Hikari's stomach started fluttering again. The girl's eyes...they were Taichi's eyes.

Hikari breathed in. "You remember where you are, right?"

Kimiko blinked again and then nodded. "Yeah. Morning Aunt Hikari."

Those same butterflies started swarming when the girl asked what was for breakfast, in the same manner Taichi would.

"Um, why don't you take a bath first? You can borrow some of my soap and stuff and I'll have something made for you when you get out. You can borrow my robe too." She paused. "I, um, called…" She almost said your father but it caught in her throat. "...Taichi. He'll be here soon."

Kimiko's face lit up even more. She nodded quickly. "Okay, sure."

Tailmon was waiting at the table. "Takeru and Patamon had to go to work."

Hikari nodded; Takeru was supporting himself as a freelance reporter. "Um, any word from Taichi?"

"Not yet."

Hikari nodded quickly and then pulled a frying pan out of the pantry.

Kimiko exited the bathroom with her Koromon bouncing after her. Her hair was a wild mess, so much so that Hikari saw her brother as a child. The pink and purple bathrobe brought her back to reality. Kimiko's mouth dropped open and started watering at the breakfast on the table. "Um, help yourself," Hikari said.

The girl and her digimon apparently had no trouble accepting the offer. Hikari smiled slightly. "So, you, um, haven't eaten in a while?"

They stopped and regarded each other. The Koromon shrugged and Kimiko swallowed the food in her mouth. "Yeah, I guess so." They started to eat slower.

"What do you mean?"

Kimiko shrugged. "Just...you know…"

No, Hikari didn't. "Um, where are you from?"

"Here."

"In the city?"

She hesitated. "Y-yeah."

She didn't seem so sure. "Okay. How old are you?"

"Twelve."

Hikari nodded to herself. Okay, more certain of that one. She opened her mouth but then closed it again. She tapped her finger on the table. She'd seen enough sci-fi shows and movies to know the next logical question to ask, but, despite the two of them being bonded to creatures from a digital world, it still felt embarrassing for Hikari to ask Kimiko if she was from the future.

She didn't even get the chance because Taichi and Agumon came running in through the front door. "Hikari? Where's…"

His voice slowed to a stop when he focused on Kimiko. He opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say was lost when the young girl charged from the table and hugged him. "Daddy!"

Taichi pushed Kimiko away from him and stared at her, studying her. There was something in her eyes, something only slightly familiar, but that was it. "Who are you?"

The girl's face fell. "I-I'm Kimiko. I'm your daughter."

Taichi felt hot and cold shoot up his spine. "I'm not falling for it. Who are you?"

Kimiko's lip trembled and her eyes started to shimmer. Taichi felt his stomach start to drop but he ignored it. He wasn't falling for it. He squeezed her shoulders. "I'm serious! Answer me!"

Kimiko cried and tried to wiggle away from him. He gasped and let her go. She ran back to the table and fell into Hikari's arms. "Taichi!" his sister snapped.

He stared at his hands. He was easily twice her size. "I-I'm sorry about that." He swallowed, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I really didn't."

Kimiko stopped crying into Hikari's chest and looked at him over her shoulder. "Okay," she smiled, "I forgive you, daddy."

That chill crept back up his spine. Her smile was sort of familiar too. He shook that thought from his mind. "You can't be my daughter. It's impossible."

"But I am!"

He crossed his arms. "All right, fine. I'll play your little game right now. Who's your mother?"

Kimiko opened her mouth but then closed it.

"Well?" Taichi shouted, "Who gave birth to you? Was it Meiko? Huh? No answer?!"

Hikari narrowed her eyes but he ignored her. "Whoever put you up to this or made you or whatever obviously didn't think it all the way through. How old are you?"

She didn't answer but Hikari did. "She said she's twelve."

Taichi snorted. "Oh, even older than I thought. So you screwed up your little con, big time! You're way too old to be my kid!"

Kimiko started bawling into Hikari's chest again. His sister glared at him. "Taichi! Maybe she's from the future or something."

He blinked; he hadn't thought of that. "But-"

"Weirder things have happened to you guys, right?" Tailmon said.

Taichi then heard Agumon's voice, "She does kind of look like you."

He looked to his feet and then noticed his partner at the table, helping himself to eggs and natto. "Seriously?"

Hikari patted Kimiko on the back. "She also devoured two bowls of rice and pickled vegetables. She's got your appetite at this age."

Agumon gestured to the Koromon munching away at his side. "Plus look at her partner."

"That doesn't mean anything! There's a lot of digimon that-"

The Koromon gasped and started glowing. "Koromon evolve to Yuki Agumon!" The newly-evolved white dinosaur leaped from the chair. "Wow! That feels a lot better!" Yuki Agumon spoke in a voice a little higher pitched than Agumon's, but still similar.

"Oh, you're a girl," Agumon said.

Yuki Agumon nodded. "Yup and proud of it!" She turned to Taichi, "But you're not being very nice! Kimiko's been looking for you for-ah! Kimiko!"

The tween girl was sliding out of Hikari's arms. "She's fainted!"

Taichi looked up from the seat in the waiting room to see Jyou standing over him, dressed in green hospital scrubs. "So. This is a new one, huh?"

Taichi just grunted. Agumon sat beside him, in his familiar hat and trench coat. "How is she?" the digimon asked.

Jyou sat next to them. "Doing okay. I think her partner took too much energy from her when she evolved. They both looked like they were pretty exhausted."

Taichi nodded. They'd brought Kimiko and her Yuki Agumon to this hospital because Jyou was on call. "So what is she?"

Jyou blinked. "She's a human girl, Taichi, what else would she be?"

He stared back. "How about some kind of digital being sent here to trick us?"

The older man gave a slight smile. "Nope, she's definitely human. She said she was twelve? Yeah, that's probably right."

Taichi was silent and nodded.

Jyou raised an eyebrow. "You're going to come up and see her?"

Agumon looked on expectantly but Taichi didn't move. "She can't be my kid," he said, "She's way too old. I certainly would have remembered…" And bragged, "About scoring when I was thirteen!"

Jyou gave a slight shrug. "You could have been old enough to father a child. Who's her mother?"

"Never said."

"Ah, I see."

"You can test her, right? I mean, do some kind of test to find out who she really is?"

Jyou was silent for a moment. "Well, if you're asking me to do some kind of reverse fingerprint search, then no, I can't do that, but I've got some friends at the local DNA lab. I can probably get them to rush a paternity test."

Taichi nodded. "Fine, let's do it. How long?"

Jyou grinned. "One's already on the way." He stood up. "In the meantime, are you going to come up and see her?"

Taichi shook his head. "I can't."

Jyou came to Taichi a few minutes later and brought him into an empty hospital room. A young woman was waiting with a cotton swab. She used it to scrape the side of Taichi's mouth and then dropped it into a plastic container.

"How long will this take?" Taichi asked.

"I'll rush it through, but it can still take some time." She shrugged, "Maybe tomorrow night."

"Great, thanks, Megumi," Jyou said.

Taichi was going to thank her too but then she reached for another swab that was sealed in a paper wrapper. "Now, I just need a sample from the child."

Taichi winced and headed for the door. "Call me when the results come in. It should prove that little brat's a liar." He slammed the door on the way out.

Hikari jumped to her feet when she heard the door open but the expectant look on her face fell when she saw Jyou enter. He chuckled. "I know I'm not much to look at but…"

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just thought…" She trailed off and turned to Kimiko, who was lying in the hospital bed. Yuki Agumon was in the chair at her side.

The girl frowned. "Daddy's not coming, is he?"

"He's pretty busy," Hikari said quickly.

Kimiko snorted slightly. "He doesn't have a job, does he? What else can he be doing?"

She had Taichi's snarkiness too. "He's just…" Hikari tried to defend her brother but found that she couldn't. Taichi should be here!

Jyou pressed his stethoscope against Kimiko's chest. "Everything sounds okay in there." He told her to follow his finger as he made wide circles with his arm. "What's your address?"

Kimiko hesitated. "Okay. What about your mother? I'm sure she's worried."

Again, no answer. "All right. You have to be staying with someone. We'd better call them."

Kimiko turned to Hikari with a worried expression. "Oh, you can stay with me as long as you need to," she blurted.

Kimiko relaxed and smiled. "Not so fast," Jyou grinned, "I think you'd better stay here for the night. I want to keep you under observation, just in case you pass out again."

Yuki Agumon slouched. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's not your fault," Jyou interrupted, "It's just the weird bond we have with our partners. You'll be safe staying here. It's sort of an open secret that we look after Chosen here." He shrugged slightly. "It's how I got a job. I'll come to check on you in a little while."

Hikari closed the door after him. "Well," she said, "I guess that means you can eat. Did you want to order dinner?"

Kimiko nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Hikari noted the defeated look in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry that...that Taichi's not here-"

"I'm sorry," Kimiko blurted.

"For what?"

"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything." She filled her lungs, "I don't remember. I don't remember who my mom is or where I live or anything like that. I remember my dad's face somehow, but that's it." She hissed and met Hikari's eyes. "And you too, Aunt Hikari."

Those butterflies were back. She could remember the Yagami side of her family, but not her mother's. Was that just a coincidence? "Um, let's see what's on the menu."

Taichi spent most of the evening and the next day in a fog. He tried as hard as he could not to think about Kimiko, but that resulted in forcing himself to be in a near-mindless state. He sat on the couch in his apartment and stared at whatever show was on the t.v. He'd lost count and interest.

"Um, can I ask you a question?"

Taichi managed to turn to where Agumon sat next to him. "What?"

"How are you supposed to act around children? I mean, your children?"

"Are you asking me how you're supposed to feel around that kid's partner or something? Agumon, she's not my-"

"Hikari seems sure."

"Hikari doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Okay, fine, but digimon don't have kids the way humans do. Sometimes data from two digimon merges but even then, we just consider that another digimon, nothing more than that. Otherwise, data just, kind of, forms into a digi-egg."

Taichi's phone rang. It was from Megumi, the lab technician. "Mr. Yagami, the results of the paternity test are in. You are the father of the child in question. You may come down to see the results in person if you-"

Her voice faded into a muffled noise. Taichi ignored Agumon's questions and wandered out the door.

"Here you are."

Taichi managed to turn away from his beer to watch as Koshiro sat on the barstool next to him. "They sent you after me? What, was Yamato or Sora too busy?"

Koshiro didn't answer. He waved down the bartender and ordered a beer. "Jyou called me over to the hospital. She looks a lot like you, you know."

Taichi grumbled. "So they keep telling me."

"Anyway, I scanned her digivice."

Taichi squeezed the beer mug. "What for?"

"Hikari's theory."

"What theory?"

"She didn't tell you? That Kimiko's from the future."

Taichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. And?"

"Her digivice registers an activation date of a year ago. Most Chosen get their partners between ten and twelve, so that makes sense."

"No, it doesn't!" Taichi said, "None of this makes sense! She can't be my daughter! Can you, like scan her for data or something?"

"She's not a digimon, Taichi. If she had DNA to test in a paternity test, then she's human."

"Human enough," he muttered.

"Look, if you want to know more about her, then you're going to have to talk to her. She won't talk to me or Jyou, she barely talks to Hikari." He hesitated, "Is this about what happened between you and Meiko?"

Taichi glared and Koshiro held up his hands. "I swear I didn't tell anyone! I can't image what you two went through, or what you're going through now, but…" He trailed off and then said, "I love my parents and wouldn't trade them for anything, but, there are times I wonder about my birth parents, and what it would have been like to know them. Taichi, there's someone in the hospital right now that you have the chance to know."

Taichi finished his beer and dropped a stack of yen onto the bar. "Yeah, well, thanks for the advice. I'll sleep on it."

He left the bar and turned left to head for his apartment. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. He could just make out the hospital in the distance. He ignored the swirling feelings in his stomach and continued down the sidewalk. He had only taken a few steps before he turned and headed in the hospital's direction.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the lights of Tokyo came to life. Despite this, the night was still a sea of darkness that flowed into every unlit section of the city, such as an unused car garage, scheduled for demolition. That is, until a light flashed from within. Just as bright as a lightning bolt and just as fleeting. Within seconds, it was gone and the garage returned to the darkness.

A teenage boy walked out the main entrance and over the caution tape and barriers. He wore a pair of brown shorts and a blue t-shirt. His hair was a brown mane but, surprisingly, he wore blue goggles on his head.

He scanned the short alley leading to the main road and when he didn't find any onlookers, he smirked. "Come on out."

A red dragon-like creature walked from the entrance and stood at his side. "All right Shoutmon, let's get to work."

To be continued…