It was nearing dusk when the group settled down to rest at the playground. The sky was bursting with a rainbow of colors that bathed them in a soft, orange light. Everyone was sitting scattered around, enjoying the peace. Shizuka absent-mindedly strummed her guitar while seated on the bench, humming a soft tune. Her brother sat nearby with his legs crossed, cheek resting in his palm while he watched her, a small smile on his face as he hummed alongside her. Yoko and Judai had fallen asleep next to each other, backs leaning against the trunk of a tree; his head was on her shoulder while her head was nestled on top of his. Mikami was underneath the jungle gym, lying on her back with her arms behind her head. Daiki was nearby, one knee drawn up to his chest for him to rest his arm on as he watched the others.

He's always doing that, she thought. No matter how many times he says they annoy him, he looks out for them.

"Hey," Mikami called, her voice soft, "Daiki?"

Reluctantly tearing his gaze from the others, he glanced down at her. "Hmm?"

"Pretty sunset, isn't it?" she murmured, closing her eyes. "Reminds me of when we were kids."

He blushed and coughed into his fist to try to hide his embarrassment. She giggled, opening her eyes again and sitting up. She then shifted to sit with her legs out and her hands gripping her feet.

"Remember when we first met here at the park?" she asked while smiling. "I skinned my knee after falling out the swing. You came running over yelling and dragging your mom with you."

Face red and burning with embarrassment, Daiki turned away. "Yeah, well, you were bleeding…"

"It was small scratch," she replied. "You were so worried…"

He rubbed the back of his neck, leaning to the side to look at her. "Okay, so I thought you were cute and needed help. Happy?"

Mikami grinned victoriously, rocking back and forth as she looked forward. Tadashi was nodding off as Shizuka began to sing softly, playing a much gentler tune. "So I was right. When you ran off earlier, I kinda figured that's what it was about."

Now his ears were tinged a deep pink as he gaped. He stammered. "W-what?"

"You like me," she announced in a singsong voice, looking pleased with herself. "Can't believe it took me this long to figure it out, but I know now."

"You make it sound like it's an accomplishment," Daiki grumbled. Flinging himself backwards, he slammed into the ground with barely a blink. "I'm kinda glad you figured it out, though."

She scooted closer to sit beside him and leaned over him. "If you wanted me to know, why didn't you let Yoko tell me? Or tell me yourself? I wouldn't have cared."

"Kinda nervous," he said, folding his arms over his chest. "You've never been the…nice type towards confessors of love."

Confessors of love? Really? She reached out a hand to slap his forehead. "You're ridiculous. I don't have many friends, Daiki, but you're one of them. That means taking care of each other and having no secrets. That also means not making fun of each other over something like that."

"Why's that?" he asked, pushing her hand off his head to grab it.

"Easy. Have you ever seen what happens to a friend who admits he loves one of his friends? Doesn't turn out pretty. Sulking and all that."

He nodded distractedly, staring upwards. Mulling over something, he slowly sat up, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You know…we should camp out tonight."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow at the statement. He was probably uncomfortable with the earlier conversation. Nodding, she stood. "We should. I'll go tell the others and call everyone's parents."

"Nah, I'll call," he replied, jumping to his feet. "Go wake up everyone."

Smiling, she ducked down and walked out from under the jungle gym, heading towards where Shizuka sat. The purple-haired teen was still playing her guitar, her brother sleeping against her side. She looked up when Mikami approached, sparing an exasperated glance at her brother. Smiling, Mikami gently shook Tadashi awake. When he sleepily blinked his eyes open, she looked at the guitarist.

"We're gonna camp out tonight," she explained. "Everyone is pretty tired anyways."

"Sounds good," Shizuka replied with a nod.

Tadashi stretched, yawning. "May I get back to sleep?"

"Not sitting up," Shizuka said, pointing down at the grass. "If you're gonna sleep, sleep down there."

Tadashi grumbled under his breath as he slid off the bench. Once on the ground, he laid down on his side and was immediately asleep. The girls let out a soft laugh before Mikami looked over to the two youngest members of their group. Nodding to Shizuka, she made her away over to the resting teenagers and crouched. Tapping Yoko on the head caused the girl to open one eye and look at the brunette with a questioning gaze. Judai stirred, mumbling incoherently.

"Hey, we're camping out. Okay?"

"Camping out sounds fun," Yoko whispered.

"Sleep," Judai groaned, waving away Mikami.

She smirked, standing up and walking over to Daiki. He was whispering into his phone, rolling his eyes when an agitated voice replied back. Slowing down once in range of him, she strained her ears to hear what was going on. The voice belonged to Yoko's father, who was complaining with rather colorful language that he didn't want Daiki near his daughter. Mikami sighed and snatched the phone from Daiki's hand.

"Mr. Damoto," she greeted. She had to force a happy tone into her voice as she spoke. "Everyone is here, I promise you. We've simply decided to camp out for the night because everyone is tired. Okay, yeah. Thank you. I'll keep an eye on them for you, I promise. Bye."

She hit the button to end the call with an irritated look on her face. "Honestly, that man. I could skin him."

"I finished talking to all the other parents already," Daiki said as she tossed him the phone. He caught it. "As soon as I said we were camping out here, they just agreed as long as I kept an eye out."

"Yoko's father is the only one who doesn't trust you," Mikami said as she kicked a rock. "It's ridiculous."

"Trust me, I know how you…"

He trailed off, staring upwards. Realizing that something caught his attention, she looked up. Above them, ribbons of green and blue light danced around, illuminating everything around them. The added light caused the others to reawaken, mouths agape as they stared at the sky. Daiki took a few steps forward, squinting.

"Is that…an aurora?"

"Incredible," Tadashi muttered, sitting up. "This should be scientifically impossible!"

"Huh?" Mikami grunted.

Yoko stood, dragging a still half-asleep Judai with her to stand near the twins. Daiki made his way over, followed by Mikami. Shizuka, rubbing her chin, look like she was contemplating the phenomenon.

"He's right," she said. "There shouldn't be an aurora directly over us."

"So we're witnessing the improbable," Daiki stated with a heavy frown. "Err, does anyone else see that hole in the center of the aurora?"

Peering closely, Mikami realized that there was something that almost looked like a hole at the center. The color was being sucked upwards through it, swirling around the sides on in the inside of it. In fact, it reminded her of a black hole almost. However, it definitely wasn't, considering the vibrant colors in it. Tadashi's jaw practically hit in the ground as he stood, eyeing it with curiosity and fear.

"That…is unbelievable. How can this be occurring?"

As she thought about a response to the question, she felt a feeling of weightlessness sweep over her. Looking down, she found herself floating off the ground. Frantic, she turned to Daiki, only to see him flailing as he was picked up. The others followed suit, letting out cries as they were pulled upwards. Daiki reached over, grabbing her by the arm. The only thing she could think was that they were in serious trouble.

"Keep hold of each other," Daiki commanded.

The twins nodded, grabbing hands and then reaching out to hold onto Yoko and Judai. As Mikami reached to take Yoko's hand, she felt her and Daiki being swept upwards over the others. Shizuka shouted in agitation while Yoko cried out in surprise. Realizing that they had been separated from their friends, Daiki held tightly onto her.

The world disappeared in a swirling mass of colors. The last thing she saw was Yoko trying to reach for her.

~0~

Digital World – Divermon's Lake

Impmon paced back and forth at the edge of the lake, glancing up once in a while to see if his companion was done. Of course, Renamon was still trying to get the mud and dirt out of her fur. Sighing, he turned around and stomped. After their narrow escape, they had rested awhile before coming to the lake. She had insisted on cleaning herself, and while he couldn't blame her, he was still restless. They needed to get a move on soon, or else that blockhead Greymon would find them again.

And next time I fight that guy, I'm gonna Bada Boom him back to where he came from!

He stepped down, glowering, when he heard a head-splitting scream. Tensing, he looked up at the same time as Renamon. A massive hole had appeared in the sky, spitting out two shapes and then winking out of existence within seconds. One was flailing their arms while the other held on protectively. Renamon seemed to register that they were heading straight towards the water and swam to the edge of the lake to give them room to land.

While the Digimon were staring on, Daiki had gripped Mikami closer to him, trying to stop her from flailing. It was even worse for her considering her fear of falling. She was screaming, eyeing the lake below with the thought that she was going to drown because she was a terrible swimmer. In only a few moments, they were in the water, causing a wave as they slammed into the lake. Mikami's mouth opened instantly, flooding her lungs. Daiki swam down as fast as he could, grabbed her by the arms, and began his swim up. As soon as his head broke water, he dragged Mikami up, trying to keep her head out of the water.

"What're you waiting for, Fox Face? Go help!" Impmon snapped.

Renamon nodded, swimming over to Daiki. He didn't even blink when the bipedal fox said something to him and positioned herself on Mikami's other side. Compared to being sucked into a massive hole in the side, a talking humanoid animal wasn't that weird.

The duo dragged the unconscious girl onto dry land. As soon as he slammed a hand against her back, her eyes snapped open and she began to cough up the water she had inhaled. Daiki let himself fall over, groaning. Mikami, holding herself up weakly, looked at him with gratitude.

"Never again," he shouted at the sky. "I never want to fall through a hole in the sky ever again!"

"This has been an eventful day," Renamon commented.

Impmon huffed at his friend. "Renamon, shut up, please."

"Thanks for the help, Renamon," Daiki said, sitting up. "I'm Daiki. This is Mikami."

"You're welcome," she replied. "My companion's name is Impmon."

Mikami looked up, eyeing the two. Soon she found herself staring at Impmon, a questioning look on her face. He folded his arms, annoyed.

"What?" he snapped. "Ya gonna stare at me all day?"

"Why not?" she asked in a teasing voice. His grumpy expression made her smile. "Thanks for saving me, Renamon."

Renamon nodded, shaking her limbs to dry herself off. "My pleasure." Pausing, she noted they fact they look rather relaxed despite their situation. "You two don't seem to be surprised by our ability to talk."

Mikami shrugged. "We were sucked up into a hole in the sky and spit back out. Talking animals is the least of my worries today."

"Hey, we're not talking animals," Impmon objected. "We're Digimon."

For a moment, the two humans stared, and then exchanged looks. They were contemplating the situation, trying to decide whether or not they believed the strange creatures. After a moment, Mikami looked back at the waiting duo and nodded. Daiki leaned back while she flipped around to sit and folded her legs, staring at the lake.

"If you say so," she said. "Anyways, do you know why we're here?"

Impmon shrugged. "Heck if I know, Toots."

Mikami let out a heavy sigh, pouting. "Great. This is just great. Our camp out is ruined. Heck, it's almost night time here too."

"Mikami, you may want to look at this…"

Looking over, the girl could see Daiki holding something in his hand. She scooted closer and peered at what he was examining. It almost looked like a phone, but it was a bit smaller and much thinner. A screen took up most of it, while a single button was positioned on the bottom. It was a light, dusty gold color. Blinking, she dug into her vest pocket. Feeling something metallic, she pulled it out. It looked similar to the one Daiki was holding, but was purple instead.

Impmon and Renamon were staring at them when the girl glanced at them. Looking at the odd device, she frowned.

"A Digivice," Impmon muttered. "Woah. Haven't heard of one of those being around in a long time."

"Indeed," Renamon said. "They must be the humans that were chosen."

"Come again?" Daiki frowned. "Chosen?"

"To save the Digital World," she stated in a monotone voice.

"Great, I have to be the partner with one of 'em?" Impmon hissed. "Nice."

"Care to elaborate?" Mikami asked. "Because I am confused."

~0~

Yoko screamed.

She wasn't the only one. Tadashi was screeching like a banshee, flinging his free arm around. Judai wasn't faring much better, barely holding onto Yoko's hand. Shizuka was rather calm, holding tightly onto her brother and Yoko while trying to draw them closer. They were heading straight down towards a clearing in the massive forest below, which she knew would hurt when they landed—if it didn't kill them. How the female twin could be so calm while they were plummeting to their doom was mind boggling, but at that moment, she didn't care. They were going to be squished.

Then, suddenly, an orange blur charged at them from the corner of her eye.

An arm wrapped around her leg and a hand gripped her ankle. She looked up, surprised to see a tall, orange furred humanoid holding onto her friends. One arm was wrapped around Shizuka, who had a death grip on Yoko. Judai had been carelessly flung onto the humanoid's shoulder, wide eyed, while Tadashi was tucked under the other arm. She nearly had a heart attack when they slammed against land. Shizuka lost her grip, causing the young girl to land harshly on her rear end. The others were deposited near her, rubbing various body parts.

Mikami and Daiki were nowhere in sight.

Looking up their rescuer, she found herself face to face with a bipedal lion. He stared down at them with a relieved look, one hand on the hilt on his sword. He looked heroic, she realized, his mane fluttering in the breeze, the last fading light making it easy to see his well-toned muscles—

She mentally smacked herself. Idolizing a bipedal lion who she didn't know was not the best idea.

"I am glad I came in time to help you," he said. "I am Leomon."

"U-uh, um." Unable to think, Yoko stuttered. "T-thank you."

"A real life Digimon." Shizuka stood, briefly looking herself over. "I've only ever heard of Digimon from the show and the card game. Who would've thought they were real?"

"Highly improbable, but a specimen is standing before us," Tadashi said, acting as if he hadn't been screaming like a little girl a few minutes ago. "Interesting. It seems we have discovered the Digital World."

"Eh, boring," Judai mumbled, yawning as he reclined back. "I'm gonna go to sleep."

Yoko blinked, standing and dusting herself off. Leomon did his best to ignore the statements by the twins and examined all of them critically.

"None of you are injured?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Nope," Shizuka answered.

He nodded when a voice shouted, "Hey!" Turning their attention towards where the cliff sloped downwards, they could see four small shapes heading for them. One was flying, reaching them before the others. It was a pink bird that landed beside Leomon, looking up at him.

"Leomon! There you are! We could've used your help earlier," she grumbled.

"Biyomon," Leomon said in greeting. "I apologize. I was busy battling."

"Oh."

Three others soon joined them. Biyomon was quick to introduce them: The small dog-like Digimon was Salamon, who was currently leading them; the reptile was Gabumon, who was their look-out; and last was a purple Digimon named Dorumon. The little purple Digimon blushed when Yoko commented on him being cute, kicking at the dirt. Leomon seemed to notice something was off as he scanned them over. Frowning, he folded his arms.

"Where are Impmon and Renamon?"

The four exchanged glances before Salamon looked down. "They were protecting us from a Greymon. We had to run; Dorumon and Biyomon were hurt. So, we got separated…"

"I am sure they are fine," Leomon said, despite the look of worry on his face.

"Who are Impmon and Renamon?" Yoko asked.

"Our friends," Gabumon answered. "Impmon is our actual leader."

"Ah, pardon me, children, but you have not introduced yourselves," Leomon said, trying to change the subject.

Blinking, Yoko blushed. "I'm Yoko. The twins are Tadashi and Shizuka. The one that's asleep is Judai."

"It's our pleasure to meet you," Salamon said, bowing her head. "You must be our partners."

"Partners? Just like the show," Shizuka noted with mild interest. "Cool."

"Contain your excitement," Tadashi said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "We must have Digivices, correct?"

Leomon nodded, somewhat surprised that the boy was aware of the fact. Yoko slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out a silver device that looked similar to a phone. The others did as well, Shizuka waking Judai for him to find his. Tadashi's was an ocean blue. Shizuka, being the opposite, had fiery red. Judai's was colored smoky grey.

"You, my friends, have been chosen to save the Digital World," Leomon stated as they gaped. "And these four are your partner Digimon."

~0~

"Okay, let me straighten this out," Mikami said. "We're destined to save the Digital World. You're our partners, and your friends are our friends' partners."

"Exactly," Impmon replied, irritated. "What's so hard to believe about it?"

"Just…Yoko doesn't seem like the kind to be chosen as a hero," she said.

"True," Daiki agreed. "She's timid around strangers, easily frightened, and too happy-go-lucky. Judai really isn't either, now that I think about it. He's too lazy to be a hero."

"I am sure there is a special quality that makes them qualified to be heroes," Renamon stated. "It is getting dark. We should make camp."

Mikami looked at Daiki with a small smile. "We get to camp out like we wanted, at least."

"Without the others," he grumbled, sighing. "I hope they're alright."

"Shizuka's with them," Mikami replied, leaning against him. "They'll be fine."