Author's Note: Here it is, the final chapter! I am so proud to finally complete this story! I would love to thank all who had reviewed my story! Also, I send my thanks to ThatLazyGirl for favoriting! Be on the lookout for more stories from me!

Circuits

Bond

Just as Izzy had promised, the Digidestined did their part helping Tai and Kari through their sorrow and gradually, the wounds of their loss began to heal.

Years passed and as the Digidestined grew into adults, the Kamiya siblings were now moving forward for themselves and their children. Kari became a kindergarten teacher while her older brother became the coach of the Odaiba Elementary School soccer team.

With the holidays right around the corner, Tai's wife had to fly out for a business conference, but promised to be home the week before Christmas. Tai sat in the living room, reading the newspaper while his two young sons drew and colored on scattered pieces of paper when they heard a knock on the door.

His firstborn's head shot up. "Mom's back?"

"I don't think so," Tai said, "she's got one more day over at the conference and she'll be on the next flight home tomorrow."

There was another knock on the door.

"Is it Santa, Daddy?" his youngest son asked.

The man smiled and shook his head. "It's not Santa, Son."

"But you said he'll be coming!" whined the auburn-haired boy.

"Santa will come," Tai reassured, "he'll come down the chimney on Christmas Eve to leave you presents."

The older of the two brothers scratched his head.

"Uh…but how does Santa get into the apartment? It doesn't have a chimney."

Tai opened his mouth to respond but couldn't come up with an answer to give. Then, the knocking came again.

"I'm coming!" he called.

Setting the newspaper aside as he got up from the couch, Tai walked over to the entrance hall and opened the door where he was greeted by two familiar faces.

"Merry Christmas, Tai!" said a long-haired woman.

Tai's face lit up. "Kari!"

"Merry Christmas, Uncle!" her son said.

His children immediately perked up.

"Aunt Kari!"

The two boys dropped their crayons and ran up to give her a big hug then did the same to their older cousin.

"So," Tai said as his sister and nephew removed their coats, "how's your team doing?"

"Davis is going to be the special guest for an upcoming episode on Mimi's cooking show." Kari explained, "Ken and Cody are enjoying their jobs and Yolei says she plans to go back to work once she's found a good babysitter for her kids."

"What about T.K.?"

"Oh, T.K.'s doing great!" Kari exclaimed, "His children's book series are a big hit! The kids in my class always pick them for Storytime."

Tai smiled.

"How are things going with you and Sora, Tai?"

"Well, you know how Sora is when it comes to her passions," he said, "the time when one of the kids used her designer notebook as a coloring book, I hadn't seen her that mad since the hairpin incident!"

Kari chuckled, "I bet."

"Luckily, she cooled down when seeing the colored-in sketches gave her an idea for her next fashion show. And I can't wait until next spring to coach soccer again!"

"Well, you won't need to wait long, Tai because spring will come before you know it!"

"So, uh, what brings you here, Sis?"

The long-haired brunette looked surprised. "Tai, did you forget that today was our shopping day?"

Tai smacked his forehead, "Ugh! I did! Normally, it's you and Sora who do the gift buying."

"But Sora's not here," his sister reminded, "we'll leave once you get ready."

After a few minutes of hastily scribbling down the list of presents and whom they were for, Tai put on his coat and shoes to join his sister for their mall trip.

"Your uncle and I are going out for a little bit of Christmas shopping." Kari told her son, "We'll be back shortly and make sure that your little cousins stay out of trouble."

"I will, Mom!"

As the older boy watched his mother and uncle leave, he then turned his attention to his cousins.

"Come see what we've drawn!" the bushy-haired little boy said eagerly. "Look!"

His little brother nodded with his auburn hair shaking wildly.

Kneeling down to see what they were drawing; one in particular caught his eye. Picking up the piece of paper and looking it over, he immediately recognized the sketched subject.

"Hey, isn't that…?"

…

Tai and his sister continued their way to the mall, their conversation shifted to how different things would have been had their Digimon been allowed to live among their human partners in the Real World.

"You know, if the Digital World wasn't kept a secret from everyone except us, I would have become a diplomat."

Kari was surprised.

"You as a diplomat?"

The older man scowled. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. I know that you have great leadership skills, Tai, but you never seemed interested in politics when we were growing up."

Tai scoffed. "Well, I thought you were going to be a photographer. Remember all those photos you used to take with your camera?"

"That was more of a pastime for me," Kari responded, "kind of like Davis and T.K.'s former passions for sports."

"Fair enough."

The two siblings were silent for the rest of their walk. Despite the holiday festivities that they shared with their children, they were still reminded of how they celebrated it when their mother was alive and how their children would now grow up never knowing their grandmother. Their thoughts then shifted to how Christmas became the final time they spent with their robot servant, Matt and the Kamiya siblings would often think back to how Matt had given them strength to live on, forging their path towards their futures.

Kari stopped walking.

"Tai?"

"Hm, what is it, Kari?"

"Do you remember what Matt said, before he shut down?" she asked.

"He said, 'Thank you.'" Tai answered, "But I still don't understand what he meant by that, even after all these years."

"But there was something different about him that night," the brunette woman said.

"What do you mean?"

"As Matt was trying to comfort us," she explained, "I noticed that his expression had changed. There was something about his eyes and for that brief moment, he looked…alive…"

"Alive…" Then Tai's eyes suddenly widened. "Kari, there's something I saw that night too!"

"What?"

"This is going to sound crazy," he started, "but as the workers were leaving with Matt, I saw a tear, a real tear running down his face as he was being hauled away. I thought it was my imagination at first and then I assumed it was probably one of your tears but I realized that couldn't be… Matt was…crying…"

"I don't understand," Tai added, scratching his head, "how could Matt cry if he no longer worked?"

He waited for his younger sister to answer back but her face showed no reaction to what he just told her.

"Because he was being taken away from us."

Tai was taken aback by his sister's words. "Of course, he was taken away from us, but that still doesn't explain it…"

"Matt had formed a very strong bond with us." Kari answered, "Not just being programmed to obey our every command. He helped us and we, in turn helped him, Tai."

"Now you've really lost me, Sis," Tai said, growing more baffled, "how did we help Matt? Are you referring to when we cleared Matt's name and then searched everywhere for him until he was safe at home?"

"Sort of," she replied, "although the time he spent with us was short, we gave him something that he couldn't have on his own."

"What's that, Kari?" the brunette man asked, curiously.

"Love."

Tai stood silent, amazed at his younger sister's wisdom that was shining in her eyes.

Suddenly, Kari turned around, looking behind her.

"What's wrong, Kari?" her older brother asked, growing concerned.

"Did you feel that?" she asked in a faint whisper.

He was about to reply when he too, turned around, facing the same direction as his sister but there was no one behind them. Only tranquil snowflakes falling and dotting the ground in patches of white.

Though startled at first, they soon felt a gentle warmth swell in their hearts.

Kari gave a sad yet kind smile. "You're welcome, Matt."

"Yeah," Tai agreed, smiling as well, "I think we finally know what you meant now."

They stood there for a few minutes, watching the snow fall until the sounds of people bustling by with their bought goods filled the air.

"Well, we better get going," the older man said, "let's hurry and buy our gifts before we have to wait until next Christmas."

Kari nodded and the two resumed their journey to purchase holiday presents for their loved ones.

Watching his former owners walk away, Matt smiled his thanks in return as tears ran down his cheeks. He had briefly returned to look at the two children who had given him the gift of love.

A light soon washed over Matt. Spreading his wings, he ascended into the snowing sky in a pillar of light, returning to a world, a home, grander, and more beautiful than anyone could ever imagine.

- The End.