Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: This will probably be the last chapter with the parents until after Dai and his friends get back to the human world. Everything's coming together!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 71: Second Thoughts

Davis Motomiya

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

"Ken, I can't believe you didn't tell me all of this before!" Yolei shouted, collapsing against the back of the couch.

"I'm sorry, but I knew you would get really upset if I told you," Ken muttered.

Davis barely heard his best friend. He was too busy staring at Noriko. His wife's face was filled with shock, hurt, and anger, and she looked like she was going to start shouting at any moment.

"Dai lied to us," she whispered. "He skipped his soccer practice and lied to us about where he had been that day! I know I can sometimes be pretty hard on him, but deep down I've always known he's a good kid and a wonderful son. I know he sometimes gets into trouble at school, but usually it's because of some harmless prank he pulled, not because he actually did anything really terrible. I don't understand. Why did he lie to us? Sometimes he tries to get out of being grounded after he has done something wrong, but he has never actually outright lied to us before. How are we supposed to trust him again after this?"

Davis shook his head and gave her a sad smile. "I was asking myself the same question earlier."

"It's bad enough he lied about his soccer practice, but he also lied about getting hurt on the bleachers at the soccer field, and now I don't know what to think anymore!" Noriko cried. Her dark eyes filled with sudden tears, and she buried her face in her hands. "Davis, why didn't you tell me Dai got hurt a long time ago? I can't believe you lied to me and said he was sick!"

Davis shifted uncomfortably in his seat and stared silently at the floor. I've never felt so guilty in my life. I wanted to stop Noriko from worrying about Dai, but all I've done is make her worry even more!

"I'm sorry," he said finally. "I didn't want you to worry about him, and I guess I didn't want to accept the fact that there was a chance he wasn't being entirely honest with me. We still don't know for sure if he really lied about his injuries, but-"

"He did," Noriko whispered. "I don't know how I know for sure, but I do. I can feel it. Davis, if he didn't get those injuries from falling off the bleachers, then where did he get them from? Do you think someone might have hurt him on purpose? Oh, Davis, I'm so scared. If anything ever happens to him..."

"Dai isn't the only one who has been lying to his parents," Ken murmured. "Sam and Ryoko also lied about Dai's injuries. I'm sure of it. They were obviously covering for him, and we need to find out why."

Davis glanced anxiously at Matt and winced. The blond's face was very pale, and his eyes were as cold as ice. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, and he looked like he was going to snap at any moment.

I can't even imagine how Matt must be feeling right about now. He has always been so proud of Ryoko, and I know how much they love each other. His son's recent behaviour must be eating him up inside.

He had told Matt about the incident on the bleachers over the phone a while ago, and the blond had been a little reluctant to believe Ryoko would lie about Dai's injuries. Apparently Matt's opinion had changed a little since then, and now the blond had no choice but to believe.

"I know Sam's hiding something from me," Ken whispered. "He admitted it a few days ago when I talked to him about his odd behaviour. He has been so quiet lately, and earlier he asked me some really strange questions about whether or not he's a good person. What do you guys think is going on with him?"

"Who knows," Joe murmured.

T.K. frowned and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Mickey and Matty told me they have a secret, and I have a feeling it's the same secret Dai, Sam, Ryoko, and Kara have. They told me they couldn't tell me their secret, but they promised me they'd let me know what was going on as soon as they were able to. Sam said almost the exact same thing to you, Ken."

"You're right," Ken said softly.

"Rina knows what their secret is, and even she won't tell us," Kari sighed. "I know Mickey and Matty are hiding something from us, but that's the least of my concerns. T.K. told me the twins have been acting a little...strange towards each other, and I'm really worried about them. They usually get along really well, but yesterday they barely said two words to each other, and they kept avoiding each other's eyes."

Matt wrapped a comforting arm around Kari's shoulders and glanced anxiously at T.K. "Don't worry, Kari, we'll find out," the blond said quietly.

"I hope so," Kari whispered.

"Me, too," T.K. murmured.

"Cody, you said Kenzo mentioned Ema when he accidentally told you about how Dai might have skipped soccer practice. Do you know what Ema has to do with any of this? She has been acting a little odd lately," Jun said slowly.

Cody frowned and shook his head. "He just said Ema was obsessed with catching Dai skipping out on soccer practice."

"That reminds me. Ema mentioned something about Dai to me a while ago," Izzy suddenly spoke up.

Davis glanced at the computer expert and raised his eyebrows. "What did she say?"

"She came over to my house with Kenzo and Taysuke a few days ago, and they were having a pretty serious conversation with Taniko in the living room," Izzy explained. "I asked them why they were up so early that morning, and then I asked them if it was because of a special occasion or anything. Ema said she'd let me know after she finds out what Dai has been up to lately, and she said she had a feeling we'd all find out eventually."

"That's right. We asked Taniko about Ema's strange comments later that evening, but our daughter wouldn't tell us anything. She just said Ema was probably getting excited over nothing," Mina added.

"Taysuke has been acting just as strange as Kara," Sora murmured. "He seemed really worried about her when she didn't show up for his soccer game."

"Yeah, I have a strange feeling he might know something about where Takara was when she skipped his game. As we all know, Tay's game and Dai's practice took place on the same day. Kara and Ryoko probably wanted to watch a little bit of Dai's practice, but after that they were supposed to come straight to my house because we were all going to walk to Tay's game together. They never showed up at the house," Tai said quietly.

"Mickey and Matty wanted to watch all of Dai's practice, and they were supposed to come straight home afterwords, but I remember they were late," Kari murmured. "Dai's practice was supposed to end before Tay's game, but Mickey and Matty had already decided they weren't going to bother with the rest of Tay's game because they would have missed most of it by the time they got there. They told Tay they'd go to his next game, and he was fine with that."

"We know Mickey and Matty didn't stop by to watch the rest of Tay's game because you guys didn't see them there, did you," T.K. said, turning to look at Tai. It was not a question.

The former Digidestined leader frowned and shook his head. "No, they definitely weren't at Tay's game."

"Exactly, so where were they after they left Dai's practice which ended before Tay's game?" Kari said quietly. "Why were they late? They shouldn't have been if they had come straight home from Dai's practice. There's only one answer I can come up with. They were never at Dai's practice in the first place, and neither was Dai because, according to Noriko, he got home late as well."

Davis nodded in agreement. "He did come home a little bit later than usual."

"Kara and Ryoko said they got held up at Dai's practice, but that's impossible," T.K. said softly. "Like Kari said, Dai's practice ended before Tay's game, which means Kara and Ryoko should have arrived at the soccer field while Tay was still playing even if they had gotten held up at Dai's practice."

"They arrived on the soccer field just as Taysuke's game was ending," Tai said quietly. "I'm pretty sure that means they weren't at Dai's practice either. It's like you said, T.K., if they had been at Dai's practice, they would have arrived at Tay's game a lot sooner, even if they had been held up."

"Sam was late coming home, too," Yolei muttered. "I can't believe he lied to me about Dai's practice!"

"Are you saying Ryoko lied to us twice?" Mimi gasped, her cinnaman eyes growing wide with shock.

Tai gave Mimi a sympathetic smile and patted her knee. "I'm really sorry, Mimi," the former leader said softly. "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm pretty sure Kara and Ryoko lied to us about Dai's practice, and I'm sure Ryoko lied to Davis and Ken about Dai's injuries, as well."

"So did Sam," Ken whispered.

"I can't believe Kara would lie like that!" Sora said in disbelief. "She's usually the most level-headed out of all of them!"

"Miya, Ami, Noah, and Nao are the only ones who haven't been acting suspicious lately," Joe muttered. "Do you guys think Ema, Taniko, Kenzo, and Taysuke know what's going on with Dai and his friends? Obviously Rina does, but what about those four?"

"That's a good question," Rosa muttered.

Davis nodded in agreement and glanced uneasily at Matt. The blond no longer looked like a block of ice. His cheeks had turned bright red, and his sapphire eyes were sparkling with hurt and anger.

"I knew Ryoko had a lot on his mind, but I thought he would tell me what was wrong eventually," Matt said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't want to force him to talk about his problems because I could tell he wasn't ready to confide in me yet. He's a lot like me that way. He usually needs some time to sort out his emotions before he feels comfortable enough to talk to other people about his feelings. He usually tells me everything, and I always do my best to help him out when he needs me. I thought he trusted me, but maybe I was wrong..."

"Matt, are you okay?" Tai asked, looking extremely concerned.

Matt turned away from Tai and shook his head. "No, I'm not okay. My son lied to me," the blond said flatly. "That isn't something I can just ignore."

"Oh, Matt," Mimi whispered, leaning over and kissing the top of her husband's golden head.

"Um...guys? There's something else I forgot to mention," T.K. said slowly. "When I was talking to Mickey and Matty, I ...um...accidentally mentioned Angemon."

"You what?" Davis shouted.

T.K. blushed and lowered his eyes to the ground. "I didn't actually say his name," the younger blond muttered. "I accidentally mentioned something about my 'guardian angel', and my sons started acting really weird after I said that. You should have seen the looks they gave me. It was almost as if they had known what I was talking about even though I hadn't actually said Angemon's name. You don't think Dai and his friends know about the Digital World, do you?"

Davis glared at his friends and sent them all suspicious looks. "Did any of you accidentally let something slip about the Digital World?"

T.K. and the others exchanged worried glances and quickly shook their heads.

"Have any of you been careless about where you've been hiding your Digivices?" Davis demanded.

"No way," Rosa replied. "You know us better then that, Davis."

"I don't have a Digivice to be showing anyone," Jun said, rolling her eyes.

"No," Ken whispered, shaking his head.

Davis turned to look at his best friend and let out a gasp. Ken's face was pure white, and his dark violet eyes were glittering with fear and horror.

"We can't let them find out about the Digital World," the raven haired Digidestined choked out. "Sam's behaviour already reminds me a lot of how I acted after my brother's death, and I will die before I let my son turn into another Emperor!"

"Oh, Ken, you don't really think Sam's going to end up becoming like you used to be...do you?" Yolei gasped in shock.

Ken buried his face in his hands and shook his head. "I don't know," he whispered, his voice trembling with emotion. "Sam asked me if I thought he was a good person, and there's only one reason I can think of that explains why he would ask me something like that. Yolei, we can't let him find out about the...the Emperor."

"Why not?" Mina asked slowly.

"If Sam, Miya, and Nao find out about the Emperor, they'll hate me forever," Ken replied, his voice breaking. "They'll never be able to forgive me for what I did. I'll lose their love and their respect, and I know they'll never want to speak to me again. I can't lose my children. They're everything to me. Without them, I'm nothing."

Yolei threw her arms around Ken and hugged him tightly. "No, Ken. Our children could never hate you," she said tearfully. "They love you more than you'll ever know, and nothing is ever going to make them see you as anything other than the loving father you've always been. I'm not saying the news about you being the Emperor isn't going to upset them. I'm sure they'd feel very hurt and angry over the things you did, if they knew, but in the end, I know they'd be able to forgive you."

"Yolei's right," Davis said softly, his heart aching for his best friend. He had never seen Ken looking so upset and helpless before.

Ken was pretty emotional after he stopped being the Emperor, but even then he wasn't as bad as he is now. I can't imagine what he must be feeling inside right at this moment. I don't know what I would do if Ami and Dai ever ended up hating me...

Davis shuddered at the thought and quickly jumped to his feet. He sat down on the arm of the couch next to Ken and patted his best friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ken, we're not going to let Sam and the others find out about the Emperor, and if they do find out, well...we're just going to have to make sure they understand what really happened twenty-five years ago. I know Sam, Miya, and Nao will forgive you. They are your children, after all, and if we can forgive you, then there's no reason why they can't."

Ken slowly looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you," the former Emperor murmured. "You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better."

Dvais smiled and wrapped his arms around Ken in a warm hug. "What are best friends for?" he whispered.

"Maybe we should have told our kids about the Emperor and the Digital World," T.K. said softly.

"Why?" Matt said bitterly. "It's not like they've been entirely honest with us either! A few days ago Mickey and Matty were over at my house and they were acting really weird. So was Ryoko. That day I heard a strange voice coming from Ryoko's room, but when I asked him what was going on he said it was just Matty making fun of Mrs. Hanari. I bet that was just another lie to cover up the big secret he and his friends have been hiding from us!"

"Come on, Matt. You shouldn't be so hard on Ryoko," Tai said quietly.

"What are you talking about? Ryoko lied to us, Tai! That boy is grounded from now until he's eighteen!" Matt snapped.

"Matt, honey, you really need to learn not to get so worked up about things," Mimi sighed.

Davis frowned and made a face. I definitely wouldn't want to be in Ryoko's shoes right about now!

Unfortunately he knew exactly how Matt felt. Dai had lied to him, as well, and it was going to take some time for the pain in his heart to fade away and be replaced by a strong urge to forgive and forget.

I thought Dai's strange behaviour would fade away eventually, but it didn't, and now it looks like I'm going to have to find out why.

"I think I have to agree with T.K.," Sora said seriously, getting everyone's attention. "Can we really blame our children for lying and keeping secrets from us when we've been doing the same thing to them since they were born?"

Davis shifted uneasily and glanced at Ken. The former Emperor's violet eyes had filled with sudden guilt, and Yolei looked liked she had been slapped across the face. A spark of emotion flickered in Matt's sapphire eyes, and the blond hid his face against Mimi's knee.

"Thanks a lot, Sora. You really know how to make someone feel guilty," Tai muttered.

Sora's right. Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge...

"What are we going to do?" Noriko whispered.

Davis gave his wife a sympathetic smile and turned to look at the others. "When Dai and the others get here, we're going to ask them what's going on, and this time we're not going to take no for an answer. I know they deserve some privacy, but I have a feeling if we don't find out what's going on soon, someone's going to get hurt. I'm not going to let our children put themselves in danger no matter what..."