Author's Note: After doing some thinking, I decided to include a bonus chapter to hopefully wrap up some loose ends in my story. I also want to give a big thank you to Music Chick for helping me out with a section of this story and also to DarkJanet as well for the kind reviews. Plus, there's going to be one or two more Matt and T.K. sibling stories that'll be coming up soon!

Drowned Out

Chapter 17 (Bonus Chapter)

Izzy sat at his desk, staring at his laptop screen.

He had been hoping that any moment now, Gennai would reply back to the email he sent, but it had been three days with no response.

Following the last battle with MaloMyotismon, Gennai had decided it was best for the Digital World to remain a secret except only to the Digidestined so he had the memories of the Digimon wiped away from their parents and everyone else to where they remember the attacks very vaguely and had them re-wiped again after Daemon's defeat. Their Digimon were then instructed by Gennai to stay hidden if they wanted to visit their humans in the Real World and told the Digidestined that they couldn't tell anyone outside of their group about the Digital World because it would mean disaster if the secret was exposed in any way since it could possibly undo the memory loss.

Masami and Yoshie were growing concerned for their adopted son, as he was becoming reclusive and was pretty much living in his room just as he was before, if not worse. They both decided that they needed to talk to Izzy about whatever was bothering him.

Yoshie knocked on the door and entered. "Izzy, is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine." answered the redhead teen, not turning around.

"Well, if everything is fine," she said, "why are you spending all your time on your computer?"

"I've just been anticipating an important e-mail, Mom," Izzy replied, spinning his chair to face his mother. "I haven't gotten an answer and I'm getting worried, that's all."

Yoshie frowned. "Are you sure that you don't want to speak to me or your father about this?"

The redhead genius was about to answer her but then he heard a ping from his laptop. Turning back to the screen, Izzy quickly checked his inbox and to his excitement, it was a reply sent by Gennai.

"What is it, Izzy?" Yoshie asked, startled by her son's sudden change in demeanor.

"The email finally came!" he replied ecstatically. "Now, I can uncover some answers!"

Meanwhile, Matt was having trouble trying to keep Punimon a secret from his mother. Following his hatching, Punimon had tried to follow Matt to school and had managed to sneak into his schoolbag but luckily, the blonde found him first. Nancy also came close to nearly discovering Punimon when she saw bubbles floating in the hallway but Matt was able to convince her that they came from a bubble bath he was getting ready.

To help his older brother out, T.K. brought Patamon in through the Digi-Port to babysit the little red Digimon while the two were away and to keep him out of trouble.

After arriving home from school, the two brothers were greeted by an eager Punimon and an exhausted Patamon.

"PUNI!" the little creature cried, hopping towards Matt, cooing happily.

Patamon could barely stay in the air and fell limp with T.K. catching the weary rookie.

"So…tired."

The Bearer of Hope gave a sympathetic smile. "I don't know how Elecmon does it alone with all those babies at the Primary Village."

Matt nodded in agreement as they put their school supplies aside and carried their Digimon into T.K.'s room where Patamon was already asleep when his human partner placed him on the bed.

Just then, T.K.'s D-Terminal started beeping and opening it up, he read the message.

"It's from Izzy!" the younger blonde said, "He says he has something urgent to tell us and for all of us to meet him at his apartment to go to the Digital World."

"But T.K., I c-can't leave!" Matt protested, pointing to his baby Digimon partner, who was now on the floor, rubbing up against the blonde teen's leg like a kitten. "Punimon won't let me!"

"Oh, I see."

"And I don't want to take him to the Digital World with us, neither," the older blonde added, "Punimon would be an even easier target than he was as Gabumon."

T.K. scratched his head as he started to think and then an idea struck him.

"I know! Try singing a lullaby!"

"A lullaby?"

"It's worth a shot, Bro," T.K. insisted, "Go on and try."

The older blonde sighed. "Fine."

Picking the tiny red Digimon up in his hands, Matt cleared his throat and began to sing.

The sweet, gentle melody filled the air and gradually, Punimon's eyelids grew heavy and the little creature soon fell fast asleep once the song came to a close.

Smiling, the Bearer of Friendship stroked one of Punimon's nubs affectionately before taking and placing him on the pillow of his brother's bed next to Patamon.

This is going to be a problem once Dad's home from the hospital. Matt thought to himself, Maybe once Punimon digivolves into Tsunomon, he'll see how important it is to stay hidden.

"Ready to go?" whispered T.K.

Matt nodded and the blonde brothers quietly slipped out of the room, leaving the two sleeping Digimon behind.

After everyone met up at Izzy's place to go to the Digital World, they were surprised to see that the Digi-Port dropped them off where the Digi-egg of Friendship was found, which allowed Raidramon to free Tai's Agumon from the Digimon Emperor. Huddled in a circle, the eleven Digidestined sat, eager to know what information that Izzy was able to uncover.

"So…" Yolei began, "what is that you wanted to tell us?"

"Well, it's about the e-mail that Gennai sent back to me." Izzy answered, "Regarding what happened when the Dark Area was sealed off."

"What did he tell you?" Sora asked.

"In the e-mail," the Bearer of Knowledge explained, "Gennai said he does recall hearing about a power source that had been lost to the Digital World. He also said that he and his clones came across…something, when trying to find a way to strengthen the digivices that were created for our original group."

Izzy then fell silent.

"Did Gennai mention anything else?" Tai questioned, growing impatient.

"I did try to ask him what it was that he found in another email but Gennai didn't say."

"But that didn't help at all!" whined Davis.

"Maybe, it's some kind of clue?" Mimi suggested.

Joe agreed. "Good point, Mimi, Gennai always gave clues for us to figure out rather than just telling us."

But while both groups struggled to decipher what their digital mentor told them, Matt had gotten up and left the circle. Kari noticed the older blonde leave and after a few minutes, followed after him.

She knew of what was to come as she kept her distance.

Like a moth to a flame, Matt continued walking towards where the armor egg was found and then stopped, looking up at the emblem that was carved into the rock and placed a bandaged hand on the stone wall.

Immediately, a blue light illuminated from underneath his palm and a sudden wave of energy overcame the blonde teen.

The stone carving of the Crest of Friendship also began to shine with the same aura and Kari was forced to shield her eyes as the light grew brighter.

The brightness grabbed the other Digidestined's attention but they too had to turn away from its intensity.

"What's happening?!" Mimi cried.

"I don't know!" Ken shouted, "It's too bright to see!"

Eventually, the light slowly dimmed and they soon heard footsteps approaching them, getting closer until after a few paces, they stopped.

"What do you want to know?" asked a mysterious voice that seemed to surround them.

Slowly, opening their eyes, the Digidestined turned to see Matt, his expression neutral but radiating a calm blue aura around him, while his blue eyes shone like two sapphires just like before along with his crest blazing through his shirt. Kari stood a few feet from him before rejoining and sitting next to her brother in the group's circle.

Izzy was a bit startled. "H-how did you know that we had questions?"

It was then that Izzy remembered seeing Matt's eyes flash briefly back at the school. The vessel must have sensed Izzy's desire to learn more about it and it was letting him know at the time.

Davis looked at his glowing predecessor curiously. "You're not…hurting Matt, are you?"

The glowing teen shook his head. "As I said before, he is fine."

Neither Davis nor Yolei were convinced.

"Then why did Matt pass out after the Dark Area was sealed?" the violet-haired girl demanded.

"My power puts a lot of strain on him," he explained to them, "This is just his body's way of coping with it."

"Are you some kind of Digi-God? Like that entity that possessed Kari?" asked Sora.

"No. That being you referred to is known as Homeostasis but it is not a god either."

T.K. spoke up, "Umm…Anubismon said that you were a vessel, but you seem to have a will of your own."

"That is partially true, I am a vessel for this body to house me in." answered Matt in the same mystic tone, "But that is not my name."

"Then…Who and what exactly are you?" Cody asked, growing anxious.

"My true name is Unity."

"Okay, Ma-er I mean, Unity," Izzy started, "Could you explain how you came to be?"

Unity smiled. "I can."

"Long ago in the Digital World, the Dark Masters defeated and imprisoned the Digital Sovereigns but before they were completely sealed off, they converted their remaining energy into a Digicore, which they called Unity, and I was hidden away to prevent the Dark Masters from using me for their conquest of the Digital World. However, as time went on, I developed a consciousness, and I was split into several pieces when my seal was broken. The pieces that have been salvaged were then converted into emblems, bestowed to eight humans in order to save the Digital World from destruction."

Izzy gasped, understanding what Unity meant. "The crests! That was what Gennai was referring to!"

"Hold on a second!" Tai interrupted, "If you really are the original source of our crests, why didn't you show up when my team first came to the Digital World?"

"Because, even though the eight crests were found, I was still incomplete to fully awaken." Unity explained.

"The Crest of Kindness!" Ken realized. "That's why you never manifested during the first journey."

Unity nodded. "Correct and when your group returned to give up your crests in order to free the Sovereigns, that hindered me greatly."

T.K. grew confused. "But, our Digimon regained the ability to digivolve to ultimate without the crests when Daemon first arrived, why didn't you awaken then?"

Unity looked away as if ashamed. "I was regaining my strength during that time, but if I came then, my power wouldn't have been enough to stop Daemon."

Joe hesitantly raised his hand. "Umm…I have a question too."

"Yes?"

"Why did you choose Matt over T.K. or Kari?" Joe asked, "I mean, the Crests of Hope and Light are extremely powerful."

"It's true that Hope and Light are strong," Unity responded, "but while Homeostasis needed Light to be heard, neither one possessed an ability that Friendship had."

"And that would be?" Yolei questioned.

"The ability to create and destroy bonds. You see, friendship can bring people together but at the same time can divide them. When the crests were created, the Crest of Friendship was the only fragment that my consciousness was able to thrive in, which was how Matt was chosen to be my host."

"Hang on!" Davis cried, "I have the Digi-egg of Friendship, so how come I'm not lit up like a Christmas tree just like Matt is right now?"

"You possess two crests," Unity told the spiky-haired boy, "the combination of both along with my power would be more than you can handle."

Davis opened his mouth to argue but Unity's intense gaze at the younger boy unnerved him greatly.

Izzy cleared his throat, "Well, uh…Unity, thank you for answering our questions."

"It is no trouble." Unity said kindly, "I provided what you needed, so I must go now."

"Wait a minute!" Cody called out as just as the azure glow began to wane, "Will we meet again?"

Unity regarded each of the Digidestined thoughtfully. "When Hope and Light fail and all seems lost, I will return. Until then, farewell."

With those words, the blue glow surrounding Matt faded as Unity once more became dormant within its host. Matt swayed a bit before falling backwards but T.K. caught him, breaking the fall.

While the other Digidestined huddled around the brothers, Kari looked on with an all-knowing expression in her eyes.

Unity, The Bearer of Light thought to herself, we will see him again, I'm sure of it.

-The End.