Hi everyone, I decided to try rewriting this story. I plan on changing quite a few things as I felt most of the characterizations were a bit off and the dialogue comes across as a bit awkward as well as some plot points, I feel. I've been meaning to do this for years, but finally got the urge to do so recently, so let's see how much my writing has improved and hope you like it. If you would like to compare it to the one written back in 2001, just check the site for it. Oh yeah, I know that Tri is going on at the moment, but none of what's going on there will affect this story nor will there be changes that'll include the Tri canon, although I may use the high school information for Taichi, Sora, and Yamato, as I just had them attending Odaiba High School originally.
Hello, everyone. This is another story for you, a strange one. I had a dream (remind me not to listen to Digimon-based songs or to watch it before going to bed), and decided to write it all down to see what I could come up with.
Anyway, with the way this dream was, it's pretty much an alternate ending to Digimon Adventure 02. I dreamed this ending to 02 before it originally aired in Japan For the record, there are some differences between how the Adventure 02 series was and how this story is. For one thing, for this story's continuity (as in when 02 actually takes place), Yamato and Sora aren't a couple (no people, I do not hate Yamato x Sora; I like the pairing just fine). None of the kids are dating and Tailmon never got her Holy Ring back from Gennai. Thinking about it now, maybe I should change the story to "Digimon Adventure 04". lol
Just so you know, anything shown in italics indicates that it is a flashback (only for short sequences, anyway). Any dialogue using single quotation marks indicates that the character is thinking, unless used in a grammatically correct fashion. Anything with an asterisk by it means that there is a note about it at the end of the chapter.
Now, as always, I do not own any of the characters or places associated with the show, manga, game, etc. Bandai and Toei have that honor. Also, here are the ages of everyone for this fic...
Jou: 15/17 (Final year of junior high school/second year of high school)
Taichi/Sora/Yamato: 14/16 (Second year of junior high school/First year of high school)
Koushirou: 13/15 (First/Final year of junior high school)
Mimi: 13/15 (Year 8 of middle school/year 10 of high school)
Miyako: 12/14 (Final year of elementary/second year of junior high school)
Takeru/Hikari/Daisuke/Ken: 11/13 (Year 05 of elementary/First year of junior high school)
Iori: 9/11 (Year 03/05 of elementary)
Chapter 01: "さよならみんなさん…"
"Sayonara, minna-san…"
"Goodbye all…" Last Day in the Digital World…
It had been almost two years since the children had seen their Digimon partners last. After their final battle facing Oikawa and his master, and sending all the Digimon inhabiting the earth back to their home, all gates leading to and from the Digital World closed for good, just like it had before.
After that infamous battle, it seemed that only the Chosen Children had any recollection of all that had happened during it. Even the parents of the Chosen Children seemed to remember it this time. All footage of the Digimon invading earth seemed to mysteriously vanish, and any news story or report on the Digimon that had inhabited the earth, wasn't in the old records, making it seem as if it had never happened at all.
Sitting on her canopy bed, wearing a dark green skirt, white stockings, and a red sweater, was a 15-year-old tanned-haired Tachikawa Mimi. It was late in the afternoon, and she'd just returned home from school. She sat down on her bed and sighed heavily. She was indeed thinking of her plant-like Digimon, Palmon. She held her Digivice in her hand as her bright, brown eyes began to water slightly.
'Oh Palmon, how I miss you and the other Digimon so much. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that day…our last day in the Digital World…'
A handsome dark-haired man, wearing a long, white robe stood in front of the children before him, a dire look upon his smooth face. "I hate to have to tell you all this, but you'll have to say goodbye to your Digimon partners."
"Gennai," a big-haired boy by the name of Yagami Taichi cried, "you can't possibly mean that!"
Gennai looked over at the boy, and then at the others, who also were astounded to hear such a command. He looked away from them, and stared down at the ground. This was the only answer Taichi and the others needed.
"I don't want to say good bye again," the handsome, basketball player, Takeru, argued as he grasped his off-white fisherman's cap tightly in his hands.
"Why do we have to say good bye?" a girl with dirty-red hair asked gently, nearly crying. "Why can't we visit anymore?"
"Well, Sora, your purpose has been served, and both worlds are safe once again. The different gates that you all used to get to and from the Digital World will no longer be operable for you all to travel through. It'll be impossible for you to stay. The Digital World is also reformatting itself, like it did before after you older ones defeated Apocalymon. All of the other children of the world have said goodbye to their Digimon partners, it's now time for you guys to do the same."
"So that's why you wanted us to come back to the Digital World after everything was dealt with…to break this depressing news to us," Taichi muttered.
Gennai slowly nodded. "As before..."
"We know, we know."
With that, all of the children seemed to wander off to different areas of the terrain to say their goodbyes.
Taichi was sitting down on a tree stump, quite gloomy. Seated with her back to him, was Taichi's childhood friend, Takenouchi Sora, and their partners seated on the ground beside them.
"Don't worry, Taichi, I'm sure we'll see each other again," the orange fire reptile by the name of Agumon assured his big-haired partner.
"Yeah, we did before," the pink bird added.
Sora frowned, and lowered her head. "I'm not so sure this time, Piyomon."
The bird couldn't help but stare up at her partner in grave confusion. "Why?"
"I kind of feel the same way," Taichi chimed in as he stood. "Look how long it took us before we saw any of you after our first adventure together…three years and a few times before that. Does this mean that we'll have to wait about another three, or until something else threatens our world or yours before we can see you on a regular basis again?"
Sora stared up at Taichi, and couldn't hold back any longer. She jumped up and hugged the boy tightly, and sobbed, "I don't want to say goodbye again, Taichi! I-I just can't!" Taichi patted Sora awkwardly on the back, not knowing what to say. After a short moment, she let go and wiped some more of her tears away while apologizing, but Taichi brushed it off.
"Let's not think about that," Agumon suggested, hoping to ease the negative tension currently brewing in the air. "Try to remember all of the good times we've had together."
"You're right," Taichi nodded as he hugged the reptile. He shed tears, but tried his best not to break down. "I'm going to miss you, Agumon."
"I'm going to miss you too, Taichi," Agumon sniffled.
"Oh, Piyo!" Sora cried as she hugged the bird-like Digimon tightly, "I was hoping to never have to go through this again!"
"I'm going to miss you Sora, just never forget me..."
x x x x
In another part of the area, stood the hyper, Motomiya Daisuke, his back leaned up against a tree, while his blue Digimon partner, V-mon, stared up at him with sad eyes.
"Well, it was nice knowing you, V-mon." Even though he was trying to hide it, Daisuke's voice was a bit shaky, and his nose was starting to run.
"Same here, Daisuke," V-mon whimpered.
He ran his hand through his spiky, maroon hair and stared up at the sky. "Who would've thought that there was a whole world filled with you little guys, and that I would have my very own, who turned out to be the best friend I ever had."
The goggle-headed boy couldn't hold back any longer, and cried heavily as he gave his partner a gigantic hug. "I-I-I'm going to m-m-miss you, V-mon," he sobbed, "just promise me that you'll never ever forget me!"
"Just as long as you don't forget me," V-mon bawled as his dark, innocent eyes flooded with tears.
"Just to think, I never got the chance to teach you how to play soccer properly."
"I'll pretend that you did, and make up the rules as I go along. That way, I won't forget about you and your love for the game!"
Daisuke broke the hug and gave him a small smile. Only V-mon would say something so adorable. "I don't have anything, but I want you to have this."
The 11-year-old boy dug through his pocket, and pulled out a bracelet which looked to be made from a bunch of seashells. He tied it onto V-mon's right wrist. "What's this?"
"It's a friendship bracelet."
"A friendship bracelet?"
He nodded. "I-I was actually planning on giving this to Hikari-chan," he blushed slightly and scratched his nose before continuing, "but I'm giving this to you instead. You are my best friend, and I could always make another one to give to Hikari-chan." He wasn't sure if he could ever get the guts to do such a thing. He was hesitant on actually giving her the one he'd just given to V-mon. "I learned about them a while ago and thought it'd be an interesting present. You can just ignore the Hikari (ヒカリ) written on it. If I would've known that after all of this, that we wouldn't be able to hang together anymore, I would've made it for you and just put your name on it."
"Daisuke...I-I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything, pal. Just think of it as a memento of our friendship, and remember, we're invincible and will never lose to what we believe in, and we believe in our friendship!" the boy cheered as he shot his fist up into the air.
The small, blue Digimon smiled at his optimistic friend, one thing he admired about him, but felt a bit bad at the same time. "But Daisuke, I don't have anything to give you."
"You already have, V-mon," he assured him with a smile. "You gave me great memories of our adventures together, and I also have my D3 and D-Terminal. Those two things will always remind me of you, and how those helped you to evolve..."
x x x x
Sitting at the foot of a nearby lake, was a dark-blue-haired doctor-in-training, Kido Jou, along with a water-mammal Digimon with big paws. Jou sighed as he continued to skip the smooth pebbles that were at the lake's shore.
"It was nice seeing you again, Gomamon," Jou began, keeping his eyes fixated on the water, "even if it was for a short while."
"Yeah, it was. Hopefully, we'll get to see each other in the future."
"I hope so, and I'll try my best to visit more too instead of studying all the time. I'll visit every weekend or whenever we have a school holiday." The boy frowned as a realization swept into mind. "Oh wait, I can't. I still have to go to Juku (Cram School)." He gave off an exasperated sigh. "I just knew that we would always be able to come here. I didn't even think that all ways to the Digital World would end up closing like before since over the years, random gates have opened."
"Trying to become a doctor and studying hard at school takes a lot of work, Jou. It's not your fault that you couldn't come here as much since you had to study. You're in your last year of junior-high-school, and you did say something about studying for some kind of practice university entrance exam while also studying for your high-school entrance exam, whatever those are. Anyway, whenever there was trouble here, neither you nor I could really help out much since the new kids and their partners could handle things better.
"The time we spent in your world was fun, even if we were traveling around it, meeting other Chosen Children, and sending the Digimon who were invading your world, back here."
"Never a moment's rest," Jou chuckled lightly as he skipped another stone.
"Let's shake." Gomamon put out his paw. "Friends forever?"
Jou nodded. "You got it, buddy; friends forever."
"And if it turns out that I don't see you again, I wish you the best of luck on becoming a great doctor."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me. I promise to become the best doctor there is, just to make you proud!"
"You don't have to do that. You've already made me proud of you."
"Huh, what? How?"
"You've finally gained some self-confidence, and that's the best thing ever to me."
Jou smiled and hugged the water mammal...
x x x x
In another area, only closer to a temple...
"Just when I get used to coming to the Digital World, and everything is safe, and we can finally have some leisure time, I have to say good-bye!" wailed a skinny with long lavender hair. This girl with the large glasses was Inoue Miyako.
The small, brown-haired boy beside her nodded slowly. "Yes, this is quite upsetting."
A yellow Digimon resembling an armadillo with rough, tough skin looked up at the boy named Hida Iori. "It's hard to believe that I have to say goodbye to you, Iori, d'gya," Armadimon drawled. "We just met, practically."
"Now now," a wise, bird-Digimon started, "let's try not to cry. It was all part of the inevitable. We should have known that we would have to part ways at some point."
"B-b-but Hawkmon," Miyako blubbered. "why did it have to be so soon? I love you Hawkmon, and I hate to see the people I love, leave!"
Iori was quiet for a moment, as he understood exactly how Miyako felt. He loved Armadimon as well, and knew what it was like to lose someone that one loved; maybe it wasn't in the same sense as Miyako, but he could empathize with her. Miyako was upset because she was parting ways with a good friend, but there was always that possibility that she could maybe see him again. The person he lost, he couldn't see again no matter how much he wanted to. He lost his father years ago. He died in the line of duty, and was a highly respected police officer.
"Why don't we just remember the good times we've had together," Iori managed to say after being quiet for so long. It was told to him constantly by his mother and grandfather after his father was killed. "You know, all of the good memories."
"He's right," Hawkmon concurred. "Iori-kun is very wise."
"I'm going to really miss you, Armadimon. Because of you, I learned that people can change, and that everyone deserves a second chance. I also learned how important my friends are."
"You took the longest time to trust Ken after he was redeemed, even when he saved you," Armadimon pointed out, "but I'm glad that you realized that, and didn't continue to hold a grudge against him, d'gya."
"Hmm, because of you Hawkmon, I learned...well, nothing," Miyako said with a lopsided grin, "but I did learn not to act so recklessly and to not overdo things."
Hawkmon bowed like a "gentlemon". "Happy to be of service, Miyako-san."
"Iori, make me a promise."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I want you to try and become the best Kendo person ever, or whatever it's called, d'gya."
"That's a promise I can very well keep. I promise to continue with my Kendo training sessions with my grandfather, and do my very best."
"I also want you to promise me that you'll trust people more."
Iori nodded. "Most definitely, Armadimon."
"Miyako-san, promise me that you'll become that independent, highly-motivated woman of the 21st century. I'm quite sure that you will achieve it since you're a very hard worker, and who knows, maybe one day you'll go to America, and become their first woman President."
"Right, Hawkmon! I'll make sure to work even harder to obtain that goal!" Miyako told him. 'Even though I don't think I could become President of America. I'm not even a citizen.'
Iori looked back, staring at the ancient-looking buildings. "Isn't it strange how we ended up near a temple? It isn't the same one where we discovered you, but it does seem similar."
"That is quite ironic." Hawkmon nodded.
"I was quite surprised to find out that I had my own Digimon Partner who could armor evolve into something so grand, and regular evolve into something great. I shall miss you in all your forms."
"I'll miss Hawkmon in all of his forms too." She smiled at her partner. "Always remain cute and charming, Hawkmon."
Hawkmon felt his feathery face go red and nodded, as both hugged their Digimon...
x x x x
Not too far away from Daisuke...
"I don't want to leave you again!" cried Mimi. "Why couldn't those gates just stay open so that we can visit anytime that we like!?"
Crying just as much as her human partner was stood a forlorn Palmon. "I promise this time to give a proper goodbye, Mimi!"
"And try not to suffocate me this time, Koushirou-han," warned a ladybug like Digimon.
The redheaded computer whiz, Izumi Koushirou, laughed shortly, and went quiet. "It looks like this is goodbye again..."
"Koushirou-kun!" The boy jumped at Mimi's sudden outburst. "You're smart, couldn't you figure out a way for us to travel here with your computer?"
"I could try, but I don't think it would work. The Digital World is so strange."
"Yeah, it is," Mimi grumbled in slight agitation.
"Remember that program I used which allowed Tentomon to evolve to Kabuterimon the first time, and then when I tried it again on Patamon, it didn't work, and my entire laptop shut down?" She nodded. "Well, my assumption is that it'll end up being the same exact thing; work when it's actually supposed to." The redhead noticed the looks on Mimi and the Digimon's faces. He gave off a small, bashful laugh. "I'm sorry; I guess I didn't phrase that too well. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was more than likely destined for this world to be reformatted once again, and for the gates to close to prevent anyone or anything from getting in or out of it. Since there is no more danger, the gates are more than likely going to remain closed." He sighed. "Let's just face it, this is literally goodbye."
"But it may be for good this time! I don't think we'll see them again after this, either!"
"D-don't be silly, Mimi-han," Tentomon spoke up, "of course you'll see us again."
"Yeah, we're sure of it!"
Koushirou and Mimi stood there, their looks quite grim. Just as most of the other kids and as much as Koushirou and Mimi wanted to believe in Tentomon's words, they just couldn't.
Breaking the deafening silence, Tentomon spoke up. "I'm going to miss you, Koushirou-han. I'm glad that you've finally learned to open up and interact more with people. You've grown a lot since I last saw you."
"I guess I have been working on that, and will continue to just for you, as well as for myself, of course."
"Mimi-chan, I'm glad that you're braver than when you were younger."
Mimi nodded and wiped away a newly fallen tear. "I know, and I'm glad that I am too. I still try to look nice, but there are times where you have to fight and be brave, and not worry about your looks. There are things more important than that."
"That's my Mimi!"
"And I also learned that inner beauty is just as important as one's outer beauty."
Palmon blinked, her blank, deep red eyes fixated on Mimi. "I taught you that?"
"Yes, the first time you evolved to Lilymon taught me that."
"Oh Mimi!" Palmon cried as she wrapped her vines around Mimi, who hugged her back tightly. Koushirou followed suit and gave Tentomon a hug.
"You know, I promised myself that I wouldn't cry, but I just can't help it," the girl's voice quivered, as tears streamed down her now rosy cheeks, "you're the best friend I've ever had."
"It's okay to cry, Mimi-han, especially if you're being suffocated and want to be freed."
"Oh, sorry, Tentomon," Koushirou apologized as he let go. "I didn't mean to hug you so tightly."
"That's okay, Koushirou-han," Tentomon gave him a quick hug back, "I'm going to really miss you and that wit of yours..."
x x x x
A little ways from Jou and Gomamon, only a bit farther up shore from them...
"It looks like this is goodbye again," a Digimon in a striped pelt softly uttered.
"Yeah," the blonde musician beside him nodded.
"I'm going to miss you, Yamato."
"Yeah," he nodded once again.
"Yeah," Gabumon nodded back.
Both remained silent for a moment, listening to the sounds of Jou skipping stones.
"Gabumon, I want you to have something," Yamato said suddenly. He dug through his pocket, and pulled out a shiny, rectangular object and handed it to his friend.
"But this is your...your-"
"I know, but I want you to have it to remember me by and as a token of our everlasting friendship. I generally always keep it with me. Promise that you'll take good care of it. I've had it since I was kid. "
"But Yamato, this is your harmonica. Your name is even engraved on it."
"I know, but I still want you to have it. Who knows when we'll actually be able to see each other again."
Gabumon eyed the metallic object within his paws. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Yamato gave him a smile. "I wouldn't mind hearing you play something."
Gabumon couldn't help but laugh. "I'm supposed to tell you that."
"Well, let's just try a little role reversal. Let's hear you play."
"Okay, here I go." The Digimon blew into the harmonica, playing whatever seemed natural. Too bad it sounded pretty bad. Yamato laughed at Gabumon's attempt.
"You could use a couple of lessons." Yamato took the harmonica back. "I'll teach you a song before I go, or at least part of it. I've played this for years, and it was one of the first songs I learned when I first got this. It reminds me of all the good times my family and I used to have together before my parents split up. It's one you've always heard me play too, and it's called, Run With The Wind..."
x x x x
A good ways from Miyako and Iori, sat the once 11-year-old boy-genius, Ichijouji Ken. He was sitting on the ground, crying his eyes out. He didn't want to leave his worm-like Digimon behind. He still felt incredibly guilty for the things he'd done to him in the past.
"Ken-chan?"
"I-I-I don't want to leave you, Wormmon," Ken sobbed. "Look at all the terrible things I've done to you for the past couple of years, like my beating and abusing you! I finally come to my senses, and now I'm going to lose you again."
"But I forgave you, Ken-chan," the worm squeaked.
"That's beside the point!"
Wormmon looked up at him, his eyes a bit watery. "I knew you were kind all along, since you were like that when we first met. That's why you possessed the Crest of Kindness. When you became mean, it wasn't even entirely your fault."
"I-I know. I-I just wish that I would've realized it sooner, so that we could've been better friends. You helped me to see that what I was doing as the Digimon Kaiser was wrong. You stuck by me, even after the way I treated you, like a true friend. After I got rid of that Kaiser persona, you helped me to cope with the death of Osamu-niisan more than what I had in the past, which also made me closer to my parents."
"Ken-chan, you were being controlled. You couldn't help what you were doing to me. It was all a part of BelialVamdemon's plan."
Ken hugged Wormmon tightly, still crying. "Wormmon, I swear that I will never ever forget you! That's a promise I intend on keeping."
Wormmon was now crying too. He couldn't help it. Ken's kindness was just too overwhelming for the green, bug Digimon. "Ken-chan, I won't forget you either, and I'll never forget your kindness."
"Wormmon!" Ken screamed out, his heart aching, and his eyes stinging. 'Why do I keep losing people that I love? I'll never get to see Wormmon again, just like my brother...'
x x x x
A little ways from Koushirou and Mimi...
"Well, Hikari-chan, it looks like this is goodbye for our Digimon again," the blonde-haired boy by the name of Takaishi Takeru announced depressingly.
"I know; I'm going to miss them," Yagami Hikari plainly replied.
A cat-like Digimon with yellow, paw-like gloves looked up at the two. "Be brave, and don't cry now."
"Yeah, because if you start crying, then I'll start," Takeru's mammal Digimon partner added, his eyes already saturated with the salty liquid. "Hey, Takeru, remember that promise we made when we had to say goodbye before?"
"I sure do, and I'm sticking with it. Let's promise to see each other again."
Patamon flew into Takeru's arms, the boy hugging him tightly. "Exactly what I was thinking, Takeru. As long as we believe it, it'll happen."
"Tailmon, I have something for you." Hikari pulled out a small, round object. The cat-Digi stared in amazement at the shiny object. "I got this for you a while ago. I was planning on giving this to you for Christmas, but we had so much to do, I never got the chance to.
"I knew how upset you were about losing your Holy Ring, so I got you this one. It should be able to fit on your tail like the old one, but I got a chain to go along with it so that you can just wear it around your neck instead. I know it's not like your regular one, but I hope this one is okay for you."
Tailmon looked up at Hikari teary-eyed. She took the present, and studied it. The ring was gold, and even had her name written on it. She hugged the generous girl. "Oh thank you, Hikari. This is even better than my old ring!"
"You're welcome. I saved up for a good while to get that for you. You should have seen the man at the jewelry store. He gave me a questioning look when I asked him to engrave the name, 'テイルモン"' onto it. He asked me what a Tailmon was, and I just told him that he wouldn't understand."
Tailmon looked at the girl credulously. "You couldn't think of anything, could you?"
"Wow, you read me like a book!"
"Well," she looked down at the ground, "I guess this is goodbye again."
"Yep, until next time," she responded with a perky smile.
"Next time?" both Patamon and Takeru asked in unison.
Hikari nodded and continued to carry on in her perky, bubbly manner.
"Strange, you said that before, and we did end up seeing each other again."
"Hikari-chan, do you know something that we all don't?"
"Takeru-kun, are you sure that you possessed the 'Crest of Hope'? You aren't acting too hopeful right now," she teased.
"But what are you saying? Do you really know something?"
She shrugged nonchalantly in response. "We better get going. We don't have much time left." With that, Hikari skipped off merrily leaving Takeru, Patamon, and Tailmon behind.
"Tailmon, did she really say that before to you? That we would end up seeing you all again?"
"Yeah. She seemed a bit bothered our parting ways, but not as upset as the rest of you all were. I sometimes wonder if her having the Crest of Light once has anything to do with her always sensing things."
"Maybe she's psychic, Takeru."
"You both could be possibly right. Remember when we were kids, when going against the Dark Masters, how my brother left us, after fighting Taichi-san?" They nodded. "Well, remember how at that time she became possessed by something, and a light was surrounding her? She ended up explaining how we were all chosen and how you guys became our partners.
"Taichi-san also mentioned that Hikari-chan knew what a Koromon was when he was taken back to our world after his battle against Etemon. Hikari-chan, at that time, hadn't even met a Digimon directly yet, unless she, at the time, remembered the battle we all saw many years earlier, although, I kind of doubt it since we all forgot it."
"Do you really think she's psychic?" Patamon asked.
The three could only shrug at each other before rushing off to catch up with Hikari...
x x x x
Takeru and Hikari joined the others in the clearing they had left, all of which waiting around, quite apathetic on going back home.
"Everyone has finally returned," Gennai noted.
"I guess we're all ready to go," Daisuke mumbled while wiping his eyes.
"Ready or not, you all must go since the Digital World is reformatting itself as we speak."
"Gennai-san, where did all of these television sets come from?" Around them all, were television sets. There was exactly one per child.
"Well, Sora, that is your key to getting home. Each set should send you back to wherever you are supposed to be."
"So you mean I'll end up back in New York?"
Gennai nodded. 'I just hope I set the gates up correctly. I don't want them to end up someplace like Antarctica or Alaska.'
Koushirou inwardly groaned. 'I sense a backache coming on. Every time we end up coming back from the Digital World through one of these gates, I always end up on the bottom of the pile with everyone else crushing me.'
"I'm going to miss all of you. If we can't travel freely to the Digital World anymore, I won't be able to see you all as much, unless I fly in from New York. I know we can always e-mail each other, or talk on the phone, but it's not the same as actually talking and seeing you in person.
"I have no idea when I'll be able to visit again."
Mimi grew quite emotional and started to hug everyone as well as giving them their own personal goodbye. "Sora-san, I'm going to miss you a lot. You're one of my best friends!"
"I'm going to miss you too, Mimi-chan, but we could always visit you in America," Sora suggested, trying her best not to cry any more than what she had. "I could always ask my father into letting me. He travels a lot because of his studies to write his books. If he goes to America, maybe we all could join him."
"That would be so nice, especially since my parents aren't going to be visiting Japan as much anymore since it does get a bit expensive. They also told me that we wouldn't be able to as much since papa has his work."
After Sora, the girl turned to the younger, glasses-wearing girl. Mimi gave her a smile. "Miyako-chan, I'll never forget you either." She gave her a huge hug. "You remind me of myself, pretty much, with your pure heart, hopes, and dreams. Always remain pure in spirit."
"I'll do my best, Mimi-sama. I'm really going to miss you. You're like the older sister I never had. How about you take the place of my real sisters and send them back to New York?" Both Mimi and Miyako laughed. "I know you can't. Visit us soon, Mimi-oneesama."
"Hikari-chan, you've grown and matured so much, even though, when you think about it, you've always been mature for your age." She hugged the shorter, younger girl. "I'm going to miss you just as much as I will the others."
Since the girls were done, Mimi headed over to the guys, starting with Taichi.
"Taichi-san, you were a very good leader to us all," she cried while hugging him. "Sure you goofed up sometimes, but you made up for it with your strength and courage. I'm going to miss you." After they broke the hug, Mimi leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I hope to see you again soon."
Everyone looked at Mimi slightly surprised. They weren't expecting her to do something like that. Taichi's face grew slightly red and was a bit flabbergasted. "Uh...sure thing...Mimi..."
"Daisuke-kun, I know I don't know you too well since we've met only a few times, but you're a very nice kid and you helped us out a lot, along with XV-mon." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Goodbye."
Daisuke turned red as he nodded politely to her, speechless for once in his life.
"Takeru-kun, you've grown so much that it's almost hard to believe that you were once an eight year old that couldn't really take care of yourself." She kissed him on the cheek. After the kiss, she gave him a quick wink that only he could see and looked over towards Hikari. She then whispered, "Good luck with your personal matters; I know you'll get the nerve to do it someday."
Takeru seemed to be stuck in place. He had never received a kiss from a girl before, even though he was constantly pursued like his brother. Next, Mimi waltzed over to both Ken and Iori.
"I'm sorry; just like with Daisuke-kun, I didn't know you very well. I do know that both of you are okay in my book, especially you, Ichijouji-kun. You helped to save my Palmon, and all of the Yukimibotamon from Golemon."
Mimi gave Ken a quick kiss, like she had the other boys. This caused Ken to turn pink. "Th-thank you, Tachikawa-san," he managed to get out.
She knelt down and gave Iori hug. "Iori-kun, promise me that you'll always remain sweet and adorable."
Iori accepted the hug and the kiss, but didn't really react all that much; not in the fashion the other guys before him had anyway. It was almost as if he were enjoying the attention from Mimi, and looked to be smirking slightly, like he'd been in that type of situation before. "I promise, Mimi-san," he bowed.
"You're always so polite, and that's one thing about you I do hope never changes."
The girl stood, and brushed her skirt off. Next to Ken and Iori stood the "lone-wolf" of the group. "Yamato-san, I'm glad you're pursuing a career in music. You're a great musician as well as a talented one." After the hug and kiss, she smiled playfully at him. "Too bad I never got the chance to sing in your band."
Yamato, though he was trying not to, felt his cheeks going slightly red. This reaction was normal where pretty girls were concerned, though. He pretty much reacted in the same fashion years earlier when he and his fellow Chosens were hitch-hiking to Odaiba, and an older, very pretty, lady stopped and offered him a ride.
"Well, there's always a place for you if you ever want to try out," he managed to say as he regained his cool-guy composure. "You do have a very nice singing voice. Next time you do manage to visit, I'll let you sing in my band as a guest. I'm sure Akira, Yutaka, and Takashi wouldn't mind. You could even do a solo for whatever song you want to sing, or we can do a duet. I should start planning now."
"I'll definitely keep that in mind! I think I'll start planning too," she giggled as she made her way over towards Jou and Koushirou. Both looked incredibly anxious and extremely nervous. Mimi wasn't sure if she wanted to even give them a hug or not, but decided to continue on anyway.
"Jou-senpai, I'm glad that you're still trying to become a doctor, and dedicated as you are, I'm sure you'll do a great job since you're so responsible and reliable. We need doctors like you in the world!" She leaned up and gave him a kiss, and then hugged him tightly.
"Well, um...I...er...thanks for those words, Mimi-kun."
Mimi couldn't help but giggle at him. His reaction was just as she expected it to be. Mimi turned to face a slightly taller redhead, who was sweating profusely, obliviously pulling on the collar of his shirt. She cleared her throat and gave him a big smile. She was going to enjoy the reaction he would give. She had purposely left both Jou and Koushirou last for that very reason. "Koushirou-kun, I actually miss all of that computer talk of yours that I never really understood. It did annoy me sometimes since I didn't really get it, but that's what makes you, you. It also reminds me of all of the good times I had with Palmon when not worrying about evil Digimon."
She gave him a very big hug, and then a kiss on his cheek. "I'll most definitely miss you." She turned away from the boy quickly. "I'll miss you all, especially you cute Digimon."
All of the Digimon did a victory pose; meanwhile, Koushirou's face had gone so red from Mimi's kiss that one couldn't distinguish his face from his hair.
"Everyone, it is time," Gennai informed them. "The gates will be closing within the next two minutes, allowing the Digital World to reformat once again, although it'll be a while before getting to this sector. I'm really sorry that this had to be sprung on you, but the guardians made the decision quite hastily."
"Wait, what does that all reformatting stuff mean anyway?"
"Well, Daisuke, it means that this world is going to be restarting itself and is ridding itself of all the bad things within it."
"Eh?"
"Just think of it like an anti-virus program, Daisuke," Miyako explained. "Anti-virus programs delete and detect viruses and other threats that can harm your computer's hard-drive. I guess you could say the Digital World is doing the same thing."
Gennai nodded. "She is correct, for the most part. You guys could possibly die if you remain here since you're not typical Digital World data. It'll see you all as 'viruses' and you'll end up deleted. My data and the other Digimon here are all recognizable; unfortunately, you all are not."
"We got you, Gennai," Taichi cut across. He didn't want to hear this explanation again.
"You only have a minute now. The gates are open so that you can go through now."
After another quick goodbye and thanks, Mimi went through her gate. When the bright light died down, Mimi found herself back in her room. "I'm back...home...in America." She looked back at the screen and saw Palmon and the other Digimon waving to her. She couldn't help but cry...
The gates that Koushirou, Jou, Miyako, and Iori took caused them to end up back in Koushirou's room.
"Whoa, what a ride," exclaimed Miyako.
Iori seemed to be studying his surroundings. This wasn't where they had started. The room was quite neat and on the desk sat two computers; a desktop and a laptop. "We are in the room of Koushirou-san. It's strange how the separate gates we came through were through his laptop." He pointed to the older boy's Pineapple Laptop.
Koushirou sat down at his desk and looked at it. "He's right, we did end up coming back through here. That is unusual."
"Miyako-kun, Iori-kun…your clothes," the doctor-in-training pointed.
Both looked down and noticed what Jou had. The two still had on their Digital World clothing. Usually when going back and forth to the Digital World, Miyako, Iori, Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari's clothing would usually change. When exiting, they'd usually end up going back to their normal attire. How this happened, no one could answer, but it was something they all had gotten used to.
Koushirou placed a finger on his chin. "That is absolutely fascinating."
"Everyone, look at the screen," Iori inculcated. On the screen, all of the Digimon and Gennai were waving to them. Miyako started to blubber after seeing Hawkmon and started to go on about how much she loved him and how she would miss him.
x x x x
Ken ended up back in his dark, dreary room, incredibly depressed. He really felt as if he had just lost his best friend, or either another family member. He looked back at the screen as tears filled his violet eyes. "W-wormmon," his voice quivered, "you were my best friend..."
Takeru, Daisuke, and Yamato ended up back in Odaiba Elementary's computer lab.
Daisuke, after getting up off the cold floor, began to look around. "I wonder where Hikari-chan is."
"Sora, Taichi, and the others aren't here either," Yamato responded, as he too began to look around. "We all started at the campgrounds of Mikami Keikoku."
Takeru's attention was too focused on something else to worry about the others at the moment. He pointed to the hyper, goggle-headed boy. "Daisuke-kun, look!"
"Huh, what?"
"Your clothes."
"Hey, I'm still wearing my Digital World clothes. I could never wear them outside of the Digital World before. How come they didn't change when going through the gate like they usually do?"
"That's not possible, is it?" Yamato asked.
Unable to answer they all looked back at the computer screen. They saw all of their Digimon waving to them. Gabumon was even attempting to play Yamato's harmonica. He didn't get the chance to learn the song well, but he learned a few notes. He had promised Yamato, after teaching him, that he would learn it well, and practice, so that the next time he saw him, he'd be able to play for him flawlessly.
x x x x
Taichi, Hikari, and Sora, ended up back in the Yagami home, in Taichi and Hikari's father's study...
"Hey, this is pop's room," Taichi pointed out while getting up.
"How did we end up here, oniichan?"
"Your guess is as good as mine's."
"We older kids were at Mikami Keikoku when we were first taken to the Digital World," Sora said, quite bewildered, "why are we back here of all places?"
Obliviously, the three looked back at the computer's screen. Their Digimon looked rather depressed as they waved to their partners. Taichi and Sora's faces fell as they tried to hold back tears. Hikari, on the other hand, was smiling cheerfully as she waved back. "I just know we'll see them again. Maybe it'll be a long time from now, but I know we will, and I'm sure it'll be on good terms and not because of something trying to take over again."
The two older teens looked over at the younger girl curiously. Before either could question her, they heard Gennai speak up. "I'm glad that you all ended up back home okay. This was the best that I could do, so you all ended up in different places than you originally started from.
"It was very nice to see you all again, I just wish you all could have stayed longer, but I mustn't defy the Holy Beast Guardians. If the world is to be reformatted to rid itself of all the negative energy here and to keep anything else from getting in, then there's nothing I can do about it.
"Also, as for the items some of you all left behind, they will most definitely be erased after the reformation is complete since it won't be recognized."
V-mon, Gabumon, and Tailmon gasped and began to argue with the dark-haired being. "Don't worry, I can protect the objects and keep them from being deleted. Just hand over anything the kids left you. They did so, and within a blink of an eye, Gennai had formed some kind of blue sphere within his hand. He put the objects in it. "There, it should be fine now. I'll give these back to you after the reformation has been completed."
Their Digimon, once again, began to shout out things to the kids like, "We'll miss you", or, "Good luck", and other things of encouragement. After a moment, the screen faded, the gate permanently closed. That was the last that Mimi and the other kids saw their Digimon partners...
Not wanting to think anymore of such a depressing ordeal, Mimi decided to go back to reading her book for her English Literature class. It was an extremely boring subject to her, but it was better than sitting around moping about how much she was missing Palmon and the other Digimon. Before reading, she hooked her Digivice back onto the belt of her skirt. No matter what, she kept it with her wherever she went.
The girl went back to her literature book, trying her best to stifle back a yawn, when she heard a strange noise coming from her door. "Is someone there?" she asked cautiously.
"Wouldn't you like to know," the person responded in a heavy, raspy voice.
Mimi stood up, quite alert. "Who's there?!" the girl demanded. The person just laughed. "Papa, is-is that you?" No one answered. "This isn't funny! Who's there!" she cried.
"I know who you are."
Mimi went to her closet and pulled out a baseball bat. Surprisingly, the girl had once played on her school's girls' softball team her first year of high school. She wanted to try at least one sport and to tell Sora about it, but one season was more than enough for her.
"You better identify yourself this instant!" the girl ordered, her voice a bit shaky.
"Maybe I will...maybe I won't," the person chuckled, finding Mimi's current scared state amusing.
"P-please, tell me who you are!"
"Just answer me this one thing. Do you like..."
"Do I like what?"
"Scary movies?"
"What?!"
"Do you like scary movies," he repeated quite casually.
"That does it!" The teen had finally grown quite frustrated an annoyed of this charade. "I am not going to stand for this!"
Slowly, she went towards her door, her bat held firmly in her other hand. She opened the door fast, swinging the bat, but stopped midway, letting out a gasp surprised at the person she'd almost hit...