Disclaimer: I don't own the awesomeness that is Digimon.

A/N: I love this chapter. I hope you all do too!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 229: Past Meets Present

Makiya 'Mickey' Takaishi

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Mickey let out a soft cry of sympathy at the unexpected collision that his partner and the other Halomon had just endured, and rushing over to the two fallen rookies with Celestimon held securely in his arms, he knelt and held out a hand to steady the one that was still sprawled on top of the pile. "Oh! Are you okay?"

The Halomon he had reached out to slowly looked up at him, and upon discovering who the voice that had spoken to him belonged to, he let out a gasp of shock and tumbled backwards onto the ground. Due to his sudden movement, he ended up rolling several feet away before coming to a stop on his back in the grass. This left the Halomon on the bottom free to maneuver himself into a sitting position, and rubbing the back of his head he let out a soft groan, which earned him a sympathetic look from Celestimon.

"Halomon?" Mickey asked the one still rubbing his head, studying the little rookie closely. He set Celestimon on the ground next to him, and reaching out he gently stroked the fallen rookie's fluffy ears.

In response, the Halomon he was speaking to looked up at him before quickly turning to look at the other Halomon. It was then that the little rookie apparently came to the realization that the digimon who had run into him was the same type as he was because he let out a squeak of surprise and proceeded to hide behind Celestimon with obvious shyness and a slight hint of embarrassment.

"Are you my Halomon?" Mickey asked the rookie hiding behind Celestimon.

The Halomon he was speaking to shyly nodded before hiding his face between Celestimon's shoulder blades, and gazing at the newcomer, Celestimon said happily, "Oh! A new friend!"

Friend...

Mickey smiled at the thought, and having figured out which of the two digimon was actually his partner, he turned to give his full attention to the mysterious little rookie who had inadvertently flown right into their path. "Hello there, Halomon!"

The newcomer slowly sat up again, and scratching one of his fluffy ears he glanced at Celestimon and his shy counterpart with obvious curiosity before once again turning his attention to the owner of the voice who had spoken to him. "You...You're a human."

The words were spoken softly, and there was a hint of recognition and a sense of hope in his tone. Mickey immediately recognized the significance of what that meant, but instead of commenting on it right away he chose to ignore it for the moment and instead proceeded to concentrate on the conversation at hand. "Yes, I am. My name is Makiya Takaishi, but you can call me Mickey. That's what most people call me. I have to say, this is the first time I've ever come across another Halomon before in the Digital World. Other than my own partner here, of course."

"We're not as common as say Vilemon or Floramon," the little rookie replied, studying him closely. "Celestial digimon are one of the more rare types here in the Digital World."

"You don't say...I find that surprising since I seem to keep running into plenty myself."

The strange Halomon chose not to respond. Instead, he merely shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare with obvious interest, his big blue eyes sparkling with intense emotion.

By this time Mickey was sure he knew exactly who this Halomon was, and feeling his heart start to race, he pulled out his D-Coder and held it out to the little rookie so he could see it clearly. "You've seen humans before, haven't you."

The newcomer slowly came towards him, and reaching out to touch the Digivice, he said quietly, "It looks different from the ones I'm used to."

"Your partner. His name is Kenji Iwamoto, isn't it?"

The little rookie gasped in surprise, and jerking his hand back, he stammered, "How did you know?"

"Gennai."

Kenji's Halomon smiled at this, and immediately his shoulders relaxed and his ears began to sway happily in the slight breeze. "Of course. Gennai would know."

"So I'm right then?"

"Yes," Halomon replied, smiling at him. "I'm Kenji's digimon partner. It's been a long time since I've seen him though..."

"I'm guessing you probably haven't seen him since all of the Digidestined joined together to defeat MaloMyotismon about twenty-five years ago."

"That's right," Halomon agreed, his ears drooping slightly. "I really miss him."

Mickey smiled in sympathy, and reaching out he gently stroked the little rookie's fluffy ears. "I bet you do."

"Do you know Kenji?" Halomon asked eagerly, accepting the gesture of affection with obvious familiarity.

"I've never met him personally, but I've heard a lot about him."

"Oh."

Kenji's partner looked a little disappointed, and wanting to reassure him, Mickey said, "I would very much like to meet him someday, though, and if all goes well maybe I'll have that chance in the near future."

"What do you mean?"

Mickey hesitated before saying, "Where I go to school, your friend Seta Sugiyama is my principal. We're planning on meeting with him when we get back to the human world, so if we see him...maybe..."

"Oh! If you see him will you take me with you?" Halomon cried, leaping into his lap and tugging anxiously on his shirt.

Mickey hugged the little rookie to calm him down a bit, and smiling, he said, "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do. I'll have to talk with my friends about it and see what the leader of my team thinks."

"Okay! Is your leader like Tal?" Halomon asked curiously.

Mickey thought about that for a moment before giving his answer. "The two aren't really a lot alike, at least that's how it seems to me from what I know of Tal, but their hearts are definitely in the same place."

Halomon seemed to understand exactly what he meant because the little rookie gave him a knowing look before saying, "I see."

"Can I ask you something, Halomon?"

"Of course!"

"Are you here all by yourself?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Not at all. Kibomon and the others are here with me. They're over in the flower field. I was just coming to tell Jijimon that we were planning on heading out tonight."

"Oh, you're leaving?"

"Well, we only arrived here the night before from the north," Halomon explained, gesturing adamantly with his hands. "My friends and I were having fun exploring some ruins up there when we came across a group of Gizamon who told us about this purple light in the woods near Modem. We were curious so we came here to talk to Babamon and Jijimon about it. A lot of the digimon here are afraid to get too close to it, so we offered to go check it out for them. We were planning to leave tonight to go take a look at it."

"I see...but if Jijimon and Babamon knew that there were digimon with human partners here in town, why didn't they tell us?"

"Knowing Jijimon, it probably slipped his mind," Halomon snorted, smiling fondly in remembrance of the old mega. "And Babamon...Well, knowing her she didn't tell you on purpose."

"Huh? Why?"

Halomon paused before saying, "Knowing now who you are and taking in the fact that you're all Digidestined, I have a feeling she was hoping you would meet us for yourselves."

Mickey thought about that a bit before he found himself nodding in agreement. "You're probably right."

"Is that why you're here, too? To investigate the purple light?" Halomon asked eagerly.

"As a matter of fact that is exactly the reason why we're here. Not only are we looking for it, but we're also planning to take it with us."

Halomon jumped at this, and gazing at him with wide eyes, the little rookie said, "You mean you know what it is?"

"Actually, we do know what it is, but before I go into detail about it, if you don't mind I'd like to take you to meet my friends. That way we can all go visit Kibomon and the others together."

"Are we going to share stories?" Halomon asked in excitement.

"That's right. I think...we might be able to help each other out."

"I'd like that!" Halomon said happily before leaping out of his arms and hopping back onto the ground again.

"I thought I felt something when I first came here, but it was faint so I figured it was probably just some celestial digimon who was passing by or was somewhere out there further away for us," Celestimon suddenly spoke up, a hint of excitement in his tone. "That happens every once in a while, so I didn't think anything of it, but it was you this whole time."

"Yes, I thought I felt something as well, but I too didn't think much of it," Kenji's Halomon agreed, his deep blue eyes coming to rest on Celestimon. "We have only just come across each other, so it's understandable that we do not yet feel the presence of one another on a more intimate level."

"True," Celestimon agreed, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"But...what is this other presence I also feel?" Kenji's Halomon said slowly, his eyes turning to gaze at the forest to the north of Modem. "I don't think it's someone I know, and yet it is quite strong..."

Huh?

Mickey frowned at this, and turning to Kenji's partner, he said, "You feel something?"

"Not DarkAngelicmon," Celestimon interrupted, his expression becoming suddenly guarded. "You don't have to worry, Mickey."

"Dark...Angelicmon?" Kenji's Halomon asked slowly. "Who's that?"

Mickey let out a sigh before saying, "We'll tell you all about him later, but for now this presence you feel..."

"It doesn't feel dark at all," Kenji's Halomon reassured him.

"But then what are you feeling?"

The little rookie was about to answer when Celestimon gave him a sharp look that caught his attention. Something meaningful seemed to pass between the two digimon as they stared at one another, and breaking eye contact, Kenji's Halomon said quickly, "It's nothing. I could just be imagining things."

Or there's something you and the other celestial rookies know that you're not telling me.

Mickey was sure now that they were being followed by another celestial digimon, but who it might be he had no idea.

Will they ever tell me or do they even know themselves who it is?

Mickey was sure they had their reasons for keeping silent, and though he respected their privacy it still concerned him. His only hope was that Halomon would eventually tell him when the little rookie was ready to. Until then, he knew interrogating them wouldn't get him any further ahead, thus he set the matter aside for the moment and decided to concentrate on the situation at hand instead. "Shall we get going to see the others then?"

Kenji's Halomon ignored him, and turning to look at his counterpart, who was still cowering behind Celestimon, he said curiously, "Why are you hiding?"

Halomon slowly peeked out from around Celestimon's shoulder, and blushing he quickly ducked his head without answering before dropping out of sight again.

"Don't mind him, he's just shy," Celestimon said cheerfully, beaming at Kenji's Halomon.

"Really?"

This seemed to amuse the newcomer, and sidestepping around Celestimon, he leaned in close and said, "I'm sorry for flying into you. I really should be more careful. Just don't tell Kibomon that, okay?"

Halomon let out a squeak in response, and leaping away from his counterpart, he grabbed onto Celestimon and hid his face against the other rookie's chest.

Kenji's Halomon tilted his head to the side at this odd behaviour, and sliding up close again, he said playfully, "Aren't you at least going to say hello?"

Halomon finally lifted his head, and gazing shyly at his counterpart, he said softly, "Hello."

"That's better," Kenji's Halomon replied, nodding in satisfaction. "I'm not that scary, am I?"

"Of course not!" Celestimon snorted, a giggle escaping his mouth. "You're our new friend. It's nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you guys, too!" Kenji's Halomon said with a smile, his expression lighting up at being called a new friend.

Celestimon and the newcomer happily fluttered around each other in the air as they proceeded to get to know each other better, while Halomon continued to gaze shyly at them from the ground. Smiling fondly at the three digimon, Mickey said, "Come on, guys, let's go see Dai and the others. We'll bring them back with us to the flower field to meet Kibomon and the rest of the old team."

"Come on!" Kenji's Halomon called out, grabbing onto his counterpart's hand and pulling the little rookie into the air with himself and Celestimon.

Together the four of them made their way back to the centre square, and keeping Kenji's partner hidden behind him, Mickey called out to his leader, "Dai! Dai, we need to talk!"

Dai looked up in the middle of his story, and seeing the look on his face, the goggle-headed leader quickly stood up and motioned for the rest of the rookies gathered around him to do the same. "That's it for today, guys. I'll have to tell you the rest of the story tomorrow, okay?"

Several groans followed his statement, and holding up a clawed hand to stall them, Embermon said, "Look on the bright side. We should have plenty to add to the story after tomorrow's events."

Many of the rookies perked up at this, and chattering happily to one another they proceeded to go their separate ways.

Once the rookies had cleared out, Mickey raced up to Dai and came to a stop with Kenji's partner still hidden behind his legs. "Get the others. We need to talk."

Dai didn't even question him. Instead, the leader of the Digidestined shouted out so the whole square could hear, "Matty, Ishida! Get Kara and come over here! Mickey wants to talk! Sam, you too. Izzy, all of you guys get your butts over here now!"

Mickey blushed as everyone, even Sam and Glowmon, obeyed Dai's orders without question or hesitation, and soon Mickey found himself gazing at an audience of humans and digimon gathered in front of him. All of them, except for Sam, were gazing expectantly at him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Babamon rise from her chair. There was no doubt the old digimon was watching them intently, and it was then that Mickey knew Kenji's partner had been right about her.

It didn't look as if she intended to join the conversation, but Mickey could tell she was watching events unfold with obvious amusement.

"Is something the matter, Mickey?" Leomon asked with obvious concern.

The lion digimon was glancing between him and the two celestial rookies hovering in the air on either side of him, and smiling, he said, "Not exactly."

"Then...what's up?" Matty asked curiously, frowning in confusion.

Mickey motioned for Kenji's partner to step out from behind him, and gesturing at the small rookie, he said, "This is Halomon. Kenji Iwamoto's digimon partner."