Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: The title of this chapter actually goes along with what happens at the end of the chapter. You'll know what I mean after you finish reading it. You'll be surprised at who finally gives the parents away. Or maybe not...

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

"Darkness will prevail! Your light shall be extinguished!" -Duskmon (Season Four, Episode 30: Oh Brother, Who Art Thou?)

Chapter 49: A Blessing and a Curse

Makiya 'Mickey' Takaishi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Mickey crossed his arms and gave Matty a stern look. He was standing in the bathroom next to his younger twin and his sister, and the three of them were taking turns spitting into the sink.

"You're dripping toothpaste all over the floor," Matty informed him, without looking up from the counter.

Mickey glanced at the green toothbrush he held in his right hand and sighed. It no longer had any toothpaste on it.

"You better clean that up before Mom sees it!" Rina giggled, pointing at the floor. She was standing on a small stool next to Matty, and she gave him an innocent smile. The extra height allowed her to reach the sink with ease and prevented her from making a huge mess on the floor.

Mickey smiled slightly and shook his head. It looks like I'm the one who's doing an excellent job of making a mess, not Rina!

He ignored the glob of pale blue toothpaste lying next to his foot and shook his toothbrush in Matty's face for emphasis. "Quit trying to change the subject! We have to tell Dai and the others about Rina!"

Matty made a face at himself in the mirror and sighed. "They're going to freak out. You know that, don't you?"

"Matty, they're all going to find out eventually, whether we tell them or not, and if they find out that we have been keeping it a secret from them, then they're really going to be mad, more so then if we had just told them in the first place!"

"Tell Dai I promise not to tell anyone about the digimon," Rina said solemnly. "I'm good at keeping secrets. Dai and the others won't be mad if you mention that to them. Besides, it was an accident. I wasn't actually suppose to find out."

She gave them both a disapproving look and hit Matty over the head with her pink toothbrush.

"Hey! What was that for?" Matty shouted, giving her a dirty look.

Rina stuck her nose in the air and banged her toothbrush on the edge of the sink. "That was for trying to keep Goldmon and Palelymon a secret from me!"

"You're crazy, you know that?" Matty muttered. He ran a hand through his silky, blond hair and groaned. "Now look what you've done! There's toothpaste in my hair!"

Mickey smiled and gently wrapped his arms around his twin's shoulders. "Matty, you know I'm right," he said softly.

Matty stared at the blue toothbrush in his left hand and sighed. "I think Kara already suspects something. I saw the way she was looking at us in the computer room, before and after we went to the Digital World, and I know you did, too. I bet she'll find out before we have a chance to say something."

Mickey frowned and stared thoughtfully at himself in the mirror. He had spent the last several minutes trying to convince Matty that they needed to tell the others about Rina, but so far he was having no success.

"Kara's really smart," Rina said softly. She tugged on the end of her pink nightgown and smiled at them. Her toothbrush had fallen into the sink, but she did not seem to notice. "You know what? I want to be just like her when I grow up."

"Hey! I thought you wanted to be like me!" Matty said, pretending to look hurt.

Rina giggled and hugged him tightly around the neck. "I already am like you!"

"Don't let Mom and Dad hear you say that!" Matty joked.

"Matty!" Mickey poked his brother in the ribs and frowned. How am I going to get him to change his mind? He won't even stay on the subject long enough for me to convince him that telling the others is the right thing to do!

Matty turned towards him, and he found himself gazing into his twin's amber eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and Matty finally let out a loud sigh.

"Alright," his younger twin said reluctantly. "We'll tell Dai and the others tomorrow."

I knew he'd come around eventually!

Mickey gave his brother a warm hug and beamed at the younger twin. "Good. I'm glad you've finally come to your senses!"

"How do you always manage to trick me into agreeing with you?" Matty asked, sounding suspicious.

"Why do you always let me?"

"Cause I can't help it!" Matty complained.

Mickey glanced at his brother's reflection in the mirror and smiled. Matty stood between himself and Rina at the sink, and Mickey could tell that his twin was not happy about having to tell Dai and the others about Rina. There was a scowl on Matty's face, and he looked like he wanted to throw his toothbrush across the room.

I hope he doesn't. I'm the right-handed twin, and if Matty decides to take his anger out on his toothbrush, it'll most likely end up hitting me in the face!

Mickey stepped back and gave his younger twin's toothbrush a wary look. The two of them were facing each other, and Mickey knew there was a good chance Matty's toothbrush would connect with his nose instead of flying over his shoulder. Matty was left-handed, and that sometimes created a little bit of chaos, especially when they sat next to each other at the dinner table.

He took a step closer to Matty and gently placed a hand on his younger twin's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Matty, but we really don't have a choice," he said softly, giving his twin a sympathetic smile.

Matty smiled back at him and nodded. "I know."

"Mickey's always right," Rina piped up. She shook her toothbrush at Matty and gave him a knowing look. "You should listen to him more often."

Matty made a face at her and did not reply. It looked like he was lost in his own thoughts, and he appeared to be completely unaware of what was going on around him.

Mickey chose that opportunity to study his twin and frowned. Matty was dressed in grey sleep pants and a white t-shirt. His feet were bare, and his hair was still a bit damp from his shower. He looked like he wanted to change his mind about revealing their secret to Dai, and that was definitely not a good thing.

"Matty, are you okay?" he asked.

Matty pulled him into a hug and smiled at him. "I'm fine," his younger twin said softly.

He raised his eyebrows and rested his cheek against Matty's shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Matty started to laugh, and Mickey stared at his brother in confusion. "What?"

"Good-for-nothing brother," Matty murmured, his amber eyes sparkling with affection. "You're always trying to take advantage of me! One day I'll get you back for this!"

Mickey laughed and wrapped his arms around his twin's waist. "I know exactly how you feel! Everytime you trick me into doing something, I always end up regreting it. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to stop me from agreeing anyway!"

"And what exactly is that suppose to mean?" Matty asked, giving him a look.

"You're going to get me into a lot of trouble one day, but I still love you anyway," he said softly.

"The three of you have been in here for twenty minutes! Aren't you done yet?"

Mickey jumped at the sound of his father's voice and clutched Matty's arm in fear. Oh no! What if he heard us talking about Palelymon and Goldmon?

"Dad!" Rina squealed. She turned around to gape at him and nearly fell off her stool. Somehow she managed to grab onto the sink, but unfortunately she lost her grip on her toothbrush, and it hit Matty right in the face.

"Yuck!" Matty shouted, making a face. He used a towel to wipe a smudge of toothpaste off his cheek and glared at her. "You're dangerous with that thing, you know that?"

"Sorry," Rina giggled.

Their father leaned against the wall and smiled at them. "Come on, you three, it's time to get to bed."

Mickey spit the last of his toothpaste into the sink and glanced anxiously towards the door. He had stashed Goldmon and Palelymon under Matty's bed before joining his siblings in the bathroom, but that did not stop him from feeling uneasy.

What if Mom decides to check under the beds to see if Matty and I did a decent job of cleaning our room earlier? Well, at least Dad doesn't seem to suspect anything.

Their mother suddenly stuck her head in the door and frowned. "Why is there toothpaste all over the floor?"

Mickey tugged nervously on his blue t-shirt and bit his lip. It was almost as if his thoughts had conjured her up out of thin air.

"Sorry," Matty said, giving their mother a weak smile. "We'll wipe it up."

They quickly cleaned up the toothpaste and crowded into the hallway. Mickey was the last one to leave the bathroom, and he gave his sister a big hug. "Good night, Rina."

"Say good night to Goldmon and Palelymon for me," she whispered softly in his ear.

"I will," he whispered back.

Rina gave Matty a quick hug and smiled up at their parents.

"Sweet dreams," their father said, kissing her cheek.

Rina beamed at him and gave their mother a hug. "Good night, Mommy. Good night, Daddy."

"Good night, my little angel," their mother replied.

Rina scampered off down the hallway towards her bedroom, and Mickey smiled nervously at his parents.

"Um...good night," Matty mumbled, his face turning red with shame.

"See you in the morning," Mickey said. He felt his own face heat up and quickly looked at the floor.

Their father pulled them both into a hug and smiled at them. "Have fun at Ryoko's house tomorrow."

Mickey rested his cheek against Matty's forehead and bit his lip. "Yeah right," he whispered. "We'll be lucky if Dai doesn't kill us both!"

Matty gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze, and he managed a faint smile. Luckily neither one of their parents noticed the exchange.

Their father kissed them both on the tops of their heads and handed them over to their mother.

"I love you both," she whispered, hugging them tightly and kissing their cheeks. "Sleep well."

"We will," Mickey said softly.

He quickly pulled Matty into their room and let out a sigh of relief. "One of these days we're going to get caught. Either Mom and Dad are going to catch sight of our digimon, or they're going to overhear us talking about the Digital World. One or the other is bound to happen, and then Dai's really going to freak out!"

Matty pulled Palelymon and Goldmon out from under the bed and stared at them in disbelief. Both digimon were fast asleep. "You know what, Mickey? You're probably right about that. Let's hope this whole thing doesn't end in disaster when our parents finally figure out what's going on. Is it just me or are our digimon completely insane?"

Mickey laughed and gently swooped Palelymon out of his brother's outstretched hands. "Yeah, they're definitely insane, and so are we. There's no way we're going to be able to fool our parents for much longer."

"I know," Matty grumbled.

Mickey quickly climbed into his bed and snuggled under the blankets with Palelymon. "Good night, Matty," he said softly.

Matty slowly came towards him and leaned over the bed to give him a hug. "Good night, Mickey," his twin whispered into his shoulder. "I love you, too, and I'm not going to let Jestermon or anyone else hurt you ever again."

Mickey smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Matty's neck. They held each other close for a moment, and Mickey let his eyes fall shut. He could feel Matty's heart beating against his chest, and the warmth of his younger twin's skin made his fears slowly melt away. Both of them were okay, and that was all that mattered.

Matty finally climbed into his own bed, and after several moments, Mickey heard his twin's breathing pattern fall into a steady rhythm. The sound floated towards his side of the room, and he hugged Palelymon tightly to his chest.

I'll do the same for you, Matty. I promise.

Kari Takaishi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Kari slowly climbed into the large bed she shared with T.K. and frowned. "T.K., do you get the feeling that Mickey and Matty are hiding something from us? They've been acting a little...odd lately."

T.K. climbed in beside her and let out sigh. "I was talking to Davis earlier today, and he said the same thing about Dai, Sam, and Ryoko. Sora mentioned something about Takara acting strange, as well. What do you think is going on?"

Kari snuggled against T.K.'s chest and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure. Both of our sons have been really quiet lately, and that worries me."

"Mickey's always quiet," T.K. replied, looking amused.

"Yes, but Matty isn't," she murmured. "If anything happens to them..."

T.K. smiled at her and gently stroked her dark hair. "I know how you feel, Kari, but there's nothing we can do unless they tell us what's going on."

"We can't let anything happen to our boys," she whispered.

T.K. hugged her tightly, and she buried her face against his chest.

"Did you see the way Mickey and Matty were looking at us earlier?" he said quietly.

She nodded and slid her arm around his waist. "I've never seen them look so guilty before."

"Their expressions reminded me of the way Cody used to look when he was afraid that his mother and grandfather would find out about the Digital World!" T.K. laughed.

Kari sat up and pulled open the bottom drawer of the nightstand that stood on her side of the bed. She pulled out her pink D-3 Digivice and held it tightly in her hand. "Hey, T.K.? Do you think we'll ever go back to the Digital World? We haven't been there since Miya and Noah were babies."

T.K. glanced at her D-3 and shrugged. "I don't know," he said softly. "I hope so. I'm sure Patamon and the others miss us just as much as we miss them."

She let out a sigh and gently placed her D-3 back in the drawer beside T.K.'s green Digivice. They usually kept them hidden under a lot of junk to stop Rina and the twins from accidentally stumbling upon them.

She turned to gaze into her husband's sparkling, blue eyes and hugged herself. "T.K.?" she whispered. "Promise me you won't let anything happen to our sons."

T.K. sat up and kissed her softly on the lips. "I promise," he whispered.

She snuggled beneath the covers again and rested her head against his shoulder. She could feel his heart beating against her hand, and she smiled up at him. "Thank you," she murmured.

"I love our boys, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt them," he said quietly.

She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. She knew T.K. would do his best to keep his promise, but unfortunately she had a feeling that it was going to take a lot more than a promise to keep Mickey, Matty, and the rest of their friends safe from danger. The darkness was spreading. She did not know if it had anything to do with the Digital World, but it was getting stronger everyday, and she had a feeling that if she did not do something about it soon, it would end up consuming them all...