Day 1: You And Me

When Taichi opened the window was when it really began to sink it for me. That was it. Our adventure in the Digital World was over and we would have to return to Earth. But how was I supposed to do that knowing I was going to leave behind the one who had stood by my side relentlessly and even when I was rude to her?

We may have had a tough beginning, but what Piyomon taught me I'll carry with me through the rest of my life. She helped me realize my mother was always looking out for me, and that made our relationship get a lot better by when we had to go to Japan to look for Hikari.

When the bus started lifting up towards the portal located in the sun in the Digital World, I moved to sit on the bench. I could feel my eyes burning up with tears and the last thing I wanted was to make any of the others cry as well. Though I knew it would be impossible at some point. The truth is that I didn't want to say goodbye to her and it made my heart ache at the fact I probably wouldn't see her ever again. There were so many things I wanted to show her in Tokyo. I just wanted to be with her forever. I could hear her calling my name…
"Sora! Sora!" My mother gently shook me, but I still woke up all at once.
"Piyomon! Please don't leave me!" I yelled before realizing I was in my bedroom.
It was just another dream, I realized heartbroken. It had become a habit since I got back from the Digital World, almost two weeks ago. Everything was still so recent and intense and I wondered how I was supposed to move on from such an experience. I looked over to my mother as I held on tight into my sheet. It was very clear she was worried about me, but she just couldn't understand what I was feeling right now. Only seven more people could, and I didn't want to make their situation even worse. They were all having a hard time getting back to their old lives and dealing with being away from their partners.
"You were having another one of those dreams." My mother said softly as she sat on the edge of my bed and held my right hand within hers. "I know you went through a life-changing experience in the Digital World and you are still having a hard time adjusting to real life again, but… I'm worried about you."
I couldn't help but notice how warm my mother's hands were, which was something very unusual for her. I realized how much she was struggling with this too, seeing I missed Piyomon a lot.
"I got a little attached to her too." She admitted without looking at me and I stared at her with surprise. "We didn't get to spend as much time together as you two, but it was enough to see why you have such a strong bond with her, and vice-versa."
My eyes were burning up again - this time, for real - and I just collapsed in my mother's lap, soaking her white pants and dark red shirt with my tears. My mother stroked my hair softly.
"I know you want to be with her again more than anything, but give it some time. I have absolutely no doubt your bond with her will be able to overcome anything and soon you two will be reunited again."
"I wish I could be as positive as you are, but we don't know how to open the portal again or even if we will be called there again. I may never see her again and it hurts so much!"

.

There I was again, two years later. I was lying in the soft green grass in an open area in the Digital World, holding hands with Piyomon. Everything looked so different from what I used to know, yet it still seemed familiar to me. It was when I realized the Digital World was my second home. It was where I found the best friends ever and the most important one was lying right beside me.
"I'm so glad you're here, Sora!" Piyomon exclaimed happily as she looked at me.
"Me too." I looked back at her. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"To be honest, me too. But I'm glad I did, because I missed you so much!" She climbed on top of me and hugged me so tight I couldn't help but smile. These open displays of affection maybe have bothered me three years ago, but they surely hadn't anymore.
"I missed you too, Piyomon." I hugged her just as tight.
"I'm just so happy to see how much you changed since I last saw you two years ago. I never thought I'd see you wear a skirt back then."
I laughed warmly for a moment. "Yeah, I grew up I suppose. This is the school uniform though. Girls must wear it for school, but the style changes from school to school."
"Ohhh." She made a surprised face, but I knew she hadn't fully understood it. I couldn't blame though, she still had no idea how things worked on Earth.
"I know this is still confusing to you."
"I'm sorry. I try to understand, but your world is so strange." She looked down ashamed of herself.
"You don't have to apologize, Piyomon. You had very little contact with it. It's a lot to take in."
"Yeah. But I don't think you should stop wearing skirts. You look great in them."
I blushed a little thinking there was another reason why I started wearing them, but still couldn't bring myself to tell her. "I promise I won't stop wearing them."
I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was about to set. The time in the Digital World and the Earth was still the same since we defeated Apocalymon three years ago, which meant it was time to go home. Piyomon seemed to notice it too, because I could tell her expression had changed even if I wasn't looking at her.
"I have to go now. Koushiro and the others must be waiting for me."
"Already? It seems time went by so fast."
"I know what you mean. A lot of things happened today here and we didn't have much time to spend together."
"Do you promise me you will come back?"
"Of course!" I said quickly.
"When, when?" She jumped into my arms and I hugged her tight.
"I don't know, Piyomon. My digivice won't be able to open the portal anymore and I have some activities during the day, but I'll be here whenever I have the chance. I just wish we could do something to help the new generation."
"Me too." Piyomon started flying when I stood up. "These black towers keep on showing up no matter how much they destroy them. That's what's stopping us from evolving."
"Yeah, but hopefully it'll change soon." I grabbed my digivice and noticed the three blinking red points were together. "Seems like everyone's already together. We should really go now before they forget I'm here and leave without me." I started walking towards the where the group was with Piyomon still in my arms.
"If they do that I'll beak them to death."
I couldn't help but smile. It was so not like Piyomon to say such thing. "Where did you learn that?"

.

The sun was shining bright that day, but for me it was completely the opposite. Everything seemed dark and cloudy. Seeing Piyomon lose her memories and get rebooted was something that I would never, never have expected to happen. Yet here I was. I felt completely hopeless and powerless and also angry because there was nothing I could do to stop her from getting infected. And now I chances were she wouldn't ever remember me if I were to find her at some point in the future. How was I supposed to live with that? The mere fact felt like someone stabbed a knife into my heart and twisted it around to cause me more pain.

I brought my knees close to my chest and embraced them, resting my head over them. I kept on looking through the window again towards the sun. I could almost see how happy she would be with this weather. We would be going out to get some ice cream or just walking around the city. And suddenly I had to deal with having to start over with her.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice someone had walked in until a pair of arms gently grabbed mine and forced me to stand up, pulling me into a tight hug. I didn't even need to look up to see who it was. My intuition, his perfume and the sleeves of his shirt that were rolled all the way up to his elbows gave it away.
"I wonder where she is now." The words escaped my lips before I could even think of holding them in. I turned my head to my left and let the right side of my face rest against his chest and the soft fabric of his white shirt as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Wherever she is, I'm sure she's not alone, no matter what stage she's at."
"I hope so."
For a moment we didn't say anything to each other, but we didn't have to. Yamato knew my moments of silence were worth more than any words I could ever speak at that moment. He was hurting too, and yet he pushed his own pain aside for me. But I knew better, I knew he was also finding comfort in my arms.
"I don't think I can handle her not knowing who I am when I find her again. If I find her again." I felt tears forming in my eyes and my vision started to get blurry.
"It's going to be difficult and you may think this will be too much for you, but you're strong. You can do this. I'll always be here to support you and comfort you when you think you can't handle it."
"Sometimes I think you just can't be real." I pulled away from his chest and stared at his deep blue eyes. "You're pushing your own pain away to be here with me."
"You need me. And making your pain easier is also making mine easier. And I can guarantee I'm as real as I can be." He added with a smile.
"Do you think we will meet again one day?"
"I'm absolutely sure. Your connection with her is too strong to end like this. Besides, I think anything is possible if you believe. Having to start over like this can be terrible, but it can also mean a second chance to create different memories."
"I suppose so. But it's still frightening."
"Of course it is." He rubbed my back gently. "But always remember you can do this. Also, I think we can find a way to revert this."
"She would love to go outside and eat ice-cream, you know?" I turned around to look outside. "She loved summer."
"I'm sure you two will get to do it again soon." He rested his chin on my left shoulder and I placed my hands over his around my belly.

.

If someone said the same thing can happen twice, I'd say it's impossible. But the truth is, it is possible. There I was again, five years later after Piyomon was rebooted. I thought it was awful and painful that time, but this is much worse.
My stony digivice lied right next to me and I looked at it sadly. Everything happened so fast I barely had time to process it. Next thing I knew, I was knelt down in a corner of my bedroom crying like a baby. I was holding Piyomon in my arms and she simply vanished. There was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. She was gone forever.
There was a soft knock on the door from my bedroom. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Mimi's head popping in. Hikari came in right after her and both girls walked towards me.
"We wanted to check on you. How are you?"
"Honestly, I'm still having a hard time to believe."
"Yeah." Mimi said in a low tone and sat down beside me.
"We will are going to find a way." Hikari said and Mimi turned her head towards her, while I still kept looking down. "I'm sure Koushiro will try his very best to revert this situation."
"I wish there was something I could do to make your pain easier."
Suddenly Mimi threw her arms around me and hugged me as tight as she could. I could feel my shirt get wet and my vision getting blurry. Within minutes, tears were falling from my eyes. Hikari knelt down beside my bed and joined the hug.
"Me too." Her soft voice echoed around and I couldn't help but smile. "I can't even imagine how hurt you must be."
"Just the fact that you two are here is already enough for me." I said in a crying tone, but I was really thankful for having them in my life.
"I'm so sorry for what happened." Mimi whispered over my shoulder before pulling away and holding my left hand, looking right into my swollen eyes. "But as Hikari said, Koushiro will try his very best to revert this situation."
"I know." I said lowly and broke eye contact with her. "But there's a chance he doesn't succeed."
"Do you even know Koushiro at all? He can be extremely dedicated when he really wants to."
I couldn't help but smile. Mimi was absolutely right.
"But that's not the reason why we're here." Hikari gently grabbed my other hand and I looked at her. "We are aware that you're still grieving over Piyomon's loss, but we hate seeing you sad. You're always cheering us up and now it's our turn to do that to you."
"Yes!" Mimi excitedly clapped her hands together. "We stopped in a bakery on our way here and bought a lot of candies to eat while we watch movies! And I don't accept no for an answer."
"Okay." I smiled and wiped the tears away from my eyes. "I can never thank you two for doing this for me. You're truly the best friends I could ever ask for."
"We love you, Sora. You can count on us for everything you need, I hope you know that."
"I do. Thanks, Hikari." I hugged her with one arm and brought her closer to me.
"A quick group hug, because I'm dying to eat a donut." Mimi threw her arms around both of us and we all laughed.

.

I closed the photo album on my lap and gently rubbed my belly. I was four months pregnant with my first child with Yamato, but we still couldn't know whether it was a girl or a boy. Having a child was something we had been discussing for a while and the plan originally was for it to happen after we got married. Even though we've been dating for almost twenty years, we both agreed to hold the wedding as much as we could in hopes Piyomon and Gabumon would come back to us. It would feel strange to tie the knots without them, though we both knew we wouldn't be able to wait any longer. It would have to happen without them. A sharp pain went through my body as I thought Piyomon wouldn't get to see me walking down the aisle and giving birth to my baby. Those were her biggest dreams since I told her Yamato and I were a couple.

The following events happened altogether and I barely had time to process. First, I saw a light illuminating the living room and thought Yamato had arrived. He had received an emergency text message from Koushiro and went to his house a couple of hours ago. But when I walked into the room, I found a digitama right next to the table at the center of the place. It was the same one that originates Piyomon, and knew I was expecting a girl.

When Yamato opened the front door, I was holding the digitama and looked at him in shock, which got thousand times bigger as I looked at the figures of Piyomon and Gabumon right beside him. I was happy the couch was behind me because I could easily have fallen to the floor after passing out.
"Sora! Are you okay?" Piyomon rushed towards me and jumped on the couch, checking on me.
I couldn't help but smile. She hasn't changed at all. "I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting to see you right now."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Yamato said apologetically and rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought I could surprise you."
"You certainly did."
I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things and looked from Piyomon to Yamato and back to her. "What happened? How did… Is that why Koushiro said there was an emergency?"
"That's right." He replied with a smile. "He actually told me to tell you, but as I said, I wanted to surprise you."
"You…" I grabbed the cushion closest to me and playfully threw it at him, but he dodged my attack. "I'm pregnant, you should have prepared me for this."
"I'm sorry, baby." He grabbed the cushion beside him and couldn't stop grinning as he came closer to us. "But hey, now we're back at being four. Or five." He placed his hand over my belly. "We can get married."
"Actually, we're six now." I motioned to the digitama still in my hands. "Looks like our child is already a Chosen Child."
"Sora, Sora, what does it mean you're pregnant? Is it something you eat?"
"No, silly." I laughed and then grabbed one of her wings, placing it over my stomach and Yamato's hand. "It means I'm becoming a mother in about five months."
"What?!" She looked at me confused and then to my belly. Her eyes went wide after she realized what it meant. "You're having a baby?"
"I am." I nodded affirmatively at her and spread my arms wide for her, already anticipating what she was going to do.
"Oh my God, I'm so happy for you!" She jumped on me and I hugged her tight. "You are going to be the most amazing mother ever!"