As she waited patiently at the abandoned village, Purimon found herself wondering what had led to her being sent there. BanchoLeomon had told her that Daiki said they had run into trouble, but what kind of trouble? Was it something that she needed to be worried about? She stopped in the doorway of the empty building and took in a breath to clear her thoughts. Speculating would be of no help; she needed to be focused for when the DigiDestined arrived. Whatever trouble they had encountered had surely been dealt with, even if they had suffered some injuries. There was no reason for her to be concerned.

When they did arrive, though, she was at a loss of words.

The dome they were gathered in dissolved the moment it touched down. Taomon, who had been the one maintaining it, glowed as she shifted back to her Rookie form. It was who was with them, though, that left her speechless. Lying on the ground behind the DigiDestined was none other than Beelzemon. Having taken notice of her reaction, Renamon and Mikami stepped forward and blocked him from her sight.

"Why did you bring him here?"

"Well…" Mikami sighed. "It's a long story. We need you to heal everyone."

"Even…him?"

Renamon nodded. "Yes, even him, though you don't need to heal him completely. Just enough to be sure that he doesn't die."

"If you are certain. Bring everyone inside."

The fox turned and motioned for her friends to go inside the building. As they shuffled past her, she caught Daiki staring at her with narrowed eyes. Purimon watched Renamon join her partner in pulling Beelzemon's limp body off the ground. With him draped between them, they dragged him inside. Daiki muttered something as he passed that made Mikami shake her head in response. Feeling sympathetic towards her, Purimon reached out to pat Mikami's leg before heading inside with the human following behind her. The other DigiDestined were already bickering, but they quieted when they saw the disapproving look on Mikami's face.

"There is a room with a set of beds in it," Purimon said, pointing to her left. "Please take Beelzemon into the room on the right."

Daiki and Renamon did so as Purimon followed the others. She looked back long enough to see Mikami head after Daiki.

Purimon immediately began healing the three unconscious Digimon, but she couldn't stop herself from listening as the humans began to whisper amongst themselves.

"What are Renamon and Mikami even thinking?" Tadashi wondered.

Shizuka snorted. "They're both going nuts."

Yoko sounded defeated when she said, "Don't say that."

"It's true. Why else would they want to help him?"

"The way he and Mikami were talking…" Tadashi paused. "How do they know each other?"

"You don't think she—"

"Stop it," Judai said, interrupting Shizuka. "This is Mikami we're talking about. She'd jump into a bottomless pit for us. There's no way she would…"

Purimon began to understand why Mikami seemed so apprehensive.

~0~

Daiki and Renamon placed Beelzemon on the bed, though the lanky Digimon's legs dangled off the edge. Mikami, though hesitant, approached the bed and leaned against the headboard. With narrowed eyes Daiki glanced at her, and she gripped the wood while returning his gaze. If the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists was anything to go by, he was about to lose his temper. The last thing she wanted was to deal with him yelling, but at that point she knew it was going to happen. At least with Renamon there she would have some help in calming him down once he did.

"You're both nuts," he finally said, waving his hand towards Beelzemon. "We shouldn't be helping this…this piece of shit!"

"Daiki—"

"No. No! This isn't right and you know it! Think about what's he done. How many Digimon did he hurt? How many did he kill?" Seething, Daiki began to walk the length of the room while stomping. "Why do you think we should be helping him? He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't even deserve a quick death for what he's done."

Though she wanted to argue with him, she knew he had a point. Beelzemon had done terrible things. But there was a reason she wanted a chance to talk to him: he had recognized that his actions were horrible. The problem was that if she tried to explain to Daiki why she seemed to know the gunman so well, he would lose his mind and see it as another reason to kill Beelzemon.

"You'd be even angrier if I told you," Mikami stated, turning her gaze away.

"Oh, like not telling me is going to help how pissed off I am right now?"

In a sour tone, she muttered, "This is why I haven't talked to you much lately."

She instantly regretted it when he stopped to turn to her with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. It was the truth. His temper had gotten worse since she had come back. As much as she cared about him, she hadn't been able to convince herself to deal with him. The effort to fix things after the sudden attack on the Resistance HQ had given her a good excuse to slip away to have time to collect her thoughts, but she realized that she needed to deal with it while they had the chance. She just wasn't sure that she could bring herself to actually talk to him about it.

"What?"

She couldn't. "…Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"What are you talking about?"

Irritation had crept into his voice. Mikami was gripping the headboard tightly enough that it hurt, but it was the only way she was going to keep from lashing out at him.

"Honestly, Daiki, you are being ridiculous," Renamon said, cuffing him upside the head. She ignored his whining. "Perhaps if you stop and think for a moment about why she said that, you would understand."

He let out a heavy breath. From the corner of her eye, Mikami could see Daiki fiddling with his hair.

"How can I not be angry? We've fought against them for so long and now we're saving one of them. One who happens to one of the worst ones."

"I understand how you feel, Daiki. I was uncertain at first, too," Renamon said, placing her paw against his back. "All of us have been hard pressed as of late. We feel the same weight on our shoulders as you do. None of us wanted to be in the position that we are in now, but that is the hand that fate has dealt us. Whether or not this will be beneficial will be proven in the near future. I am certain of that."

"I just…don't understand why."

Seeing how his shoulders slumped when he said that, Mikami spoke up. "Daiki, there's a good reason for this, I promise. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think there was a chance to convince him to help us."

"And if you can't?" He asked, the animosity he felt clear in his tone. "If he just decides to go running back to Laylamon to help her again?"

"Then we'll deal with him," she whispered, lowering her head.

"How? I don't even want you to be here with him, let alone talking to him. Don't you realize how easily he could hurt you?"

"I know. Which is why I was going to ask if Yoko and Salamon can stay."

"What are they gonna be able to do?"

"Holy attacks are quite painful to Virus Digimon. So long as Purimon does as we asked of her, Angewomon will be able to handle Beelzemon in his weakened state," Renamon explained. "Since she will be fully recovered, it should be easy for her."

"What you…asked of her?" Daiki muttered in confusion. "What did you ask Purimon?"

"We told her not to heal him completely."

He was silent for a moment before saying, "Oh."

Purimon entered the room at that moment and regarded each of them before approaching Renamon. She pointed to the floor for Renamon to sit. "Are you done arguing now?"

"Yeah," Daiki said with a nod, only to stop and look at her. "Wait, how much did you hear?"

"Enough."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"Yes. Rather hard not to with how loudly you talk."

"I was not—!"

Renamon quietly chuckled as she folded her legs underneath her. "She is right. I wouldn't be surprised if our friends heard you in the other room."

"You were pretty loud," Mikami said.

Sputtering, he turned his back to them and folded his arms. "So I raised my voice a little bit, but I wasn't that loud."

Purimon focused on Renamon, her hands hovering over the fox's injured side. "Seems you fared better than your friends."

"How are they?"

"They are well. No doubt they will wake up soon, though they will need a bit of rest."

"We can't afford to wait long," Daiki stated, still facing the door. "We still have a mission to do."

"I am well aware. Running into a battle when your partners lack the energy to fight is a terrible idea that will result in you failing. Even an hour will be long enough."

He replied with nothing but a grunt. Despite rolling her eyes, Mikami smiled at the fact that he was in a bit of a better mood. Once Purimon was finished, Renamon twisted around and stretched to make sure there were no other areas that needed healing. She gave Purimon a grateful nod as she stood up.

"You should get some rest while you can."

"Of course."

She patted Daiki on the shoulder and then left the room. Purimon shifted and walked up to the bed to focus on healing Beelzemon's wounds.

Rubbing his eyes, Daiki sat down and pressed his back against the wall. Mikami slid down to sit beside him, leaning against his shoulder. He raised his arm to place it around her shoulders, forcing her to shift to get comfortable.

"I'm sorry," he said. When Mikami looked up at him, he coughed. "For yelling at you. Honestly, I'm still a bit mad. But I know you, and I trust you. If you think there's a chance that Beelzemon can be convinced to help us, then I'll believe you. Just promise me you'll try to stay safe when we leave."

"Well, trouble has a habit of finding me," she joked, only for him to become peeved at her poor attempt at humor. "Hey, it's the truth. I promise I'll do my best to be safe." After a brief pause, she whispered, "You worry too much, dunderhead."

He let out a snort to keep himself from laughing. "I'll give you that one."

They sat there for so long that Daiki dozed off, resting his head on hers. She had no complaints besides the smug look Purimon gave her as the Digimon was leaving the room. Eventually she fell asleep too, but was startled awake when Daiki moved. It reminded her of times before this mess; before they had to face all these hardships, battles, and losses. The first time they went home they still had the threat of Laylamon looming over their heads. Just how different would things be once they were done with the war? Once they returned home for good?

The truth was that they weren't the same people they had been before they became the DigiDestined.

She closed her eyes and let out a quiet breath. Instead of dwelling on it, she started focusing on Daiki's soft breaths.

It was quite a while before Purimon poked her head into the room.

"Your friends are awake," she said, smiling at Mikami.

"Thanks."

Shifting, she slid out from underneath Daiki and watched as he began to tilt to the side. He snapped awake with a start, eyes widening. Once he realized she was at fault, he frowned at her.

"What was that for?"

"Time for you to get going."

He rubbed his neck and pushed himself to his feet. Yawning, he reached above his head. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"Guess you needed some rest too, huh, Mr. Leader?"

Fixing a halfhearted glare on her, he huffed. "As if." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Alright, maybe I was a tad grouchy, but that doesn't mean I needed to take a nap."

"Okay, tough guy," she said with a laugh, pushing him towards the door. "Stop puffing out your chest."

He placed a hand on the wall, stopping her from pushing him any further. "Wait. I know this isn't the best time to ask, but…after we stop Laylamon and go home, do you think we could…you know?"

"I'll think about it."

"That's the best answer I'm gonna get right now, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"Better than nothing, I guess."

A sly smile spread across her face. "And to think you had trouble even admitting how you felt the night we came here."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two headed to the main room. Everyone else had gathered there already and were looking at Daiki expectantly.

"We're gonna need to be on the lookout. It's hard telling where the group we're after is now. Yoko, Salamon, you'll be staying here."

Yoko and Salamon asked, "Why?" at the same time.

"I'm not going to leave Mikami here alone without anyone to protect her," Daiki said, tilting his head towards the brunette. "Renamon and I need to be go since there might be Mega Digimon. Beelzemon won't be at full health, which means Angewomon should be able handle him if he tries anything." He walked up to Yoko to put his hands on her shoulders. "Which means you and Salamon are gonna have to do your best to protect her, okay? I'm counting on you."

"Of course," Salamon said.

"You know we will!"

Grinning, Daiki ruffled Yoko's hair, causing her to try to slap his hand away. He moved it before she could. "You stay safe too. We'll be back as soon as possible."

He turned and headed outside without another word, prompting the others to follow after him. After all of them had left, Yoko turned to look at Mikami and walked up to her. The devious expression on the girl's face made Mikami nervous.

"What were you and Daiki doing?"

"Oh, just talking."

"Really?" Yoko asked, leaning forward. "Talking about what?"

"Nothing important."

"It sure took you guys awhile to come out of that room."

"Goodness, Yoko, your mind has been poisoned!" Mikami declared in a melodramatic tone, placing her hand against her chest. "How could you ever imply something so devious?"

"Come on, it's you and Daiki. There was something going on between you two. Fess up!"

"Yoko, please don't pester Mikami like this," Salamon said.

The pup's voice was drowned out by Yoko. From the corner of the room Purimon gave her understanding look, having listened to Mikami, Daiki, and Renamon arguing. Mikami, amused by the younger girl, laughed. If there was one thing she was glad never changed, it was Yoko's cheerfulness—even if she was overdoing it a bit. She waved off the barrage of repeated questions and walked over to the room Beelzemon was in.

When she opened the door, a pair of red eyes were staring at them intently.

Yoko let out a loud 'eep' at the sight as she stepped backwards, nearly tripping over her partner. Fur standing on end, Salamon slipped out of the way of Yoko and locked her eyes on Beelzemon while growling.

"This is a surprise. I assumed he would be unconscious for a few more hours, if not longer," Purimon said.

Mikami took a step into the room. Scrambling to her feet, Yoko made to follow, only for Mikami to hold up her hand.

"I'm going to talk to him," she said, "alone."

"But—"

"He won't do anything."

"How can you be sure of that?" Salamon asked.

Shrugging her shoulders, Mikami answered, "I can't. I just have a feeling it'll be okay."

With that, she shut the door. Beelzemon had propped himself up on his elbow by that point, and let out a pained grunt as he finally sat up. When he looked at his legs he frowned and slid as far back as he could to get his legs up onto the bed. He took notice of the inquisitive look on Mikami's face and huffed.

"My legs were starting to hurt."

She let out a laugh and then covered her mouth when his expression turned to displeasure.

"Sorry. I should've known that was gonna happen considering how tall you are."

"The bed is too small," he grumbled.

"Better than sleeping in a chair, isn't it?" The unamused look she got in response made her laugh again. "Hey, you're the one who decided to sleep in the chair, not me."

The following silence made her wonder if she had said the wrong thing until she noticed that he seemed to be thinking.

She was about to ask what was wrong when he mumbled, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why was I spared?" He asked, looking up at her. "Your friend had her chance. Why didn't she take it?"

"I asked her not to."

"What reason would you have to save me?"

If there was one thing she could recognize, it was self-loathing. Between the low, harsh tone of his voice and the guilty expression on his face, it was clear as day.

"I'd like to think there's a bit of hope for you," she admitted. "That maybe you'll see things the way I do."

Falling silent, he shifted his gaze away from her.

"You easily could've killed them, but you didn't. Maybe you realized it wouldn't do any good." She paused, placing her hands on her hips. "But I have a feeling that you were bluffing the entire time. Which means you wanted one of them to Digivolve and kill you."

She debated for a moment if she wanted to ask what was really on her mind. It might drive him to stop talking to her, but she needed to know.

"Did you really want to die?"

As if ashamed by the fact, he lowered his head. "Was it so easy to tell?"

"Believe it or not, Beelzemon, I know what it's like to feel like you're in a corner."

That made him look her in the eyes. If he could see she was able to gather the courage and strength to move forward, then maybe he could too.

"It's not the only way, you know. You can still change."

"I don't deserve your kindness."

"That's probably true," she said. "But I'm still giving it to you."

"You shouldn't."

"I think people need a chance to change."

"What makes you think I will?"

"Just a feeling. The same feeling that made me ask Sakuyamon to let you live." She sat down on the edge of the bed, making Beelzemon slide his legs over to give her more room. "Remember when you said you felt like you knew me? I started to get that feeling, too. I'm not sure why, or how, but that's the way I feel. Guess that makes me weird too, huh?"

Despite himself, Beelzemon felt a smile tug at his mouth, though he frowned when Mikami appeared to be pleased by the reaction.

"You enjoy making me feel uncomfortable far too much."

"That's because you make it so easy."

He set his mouth in a thin line and glared at her.

"Look, I won't force you into making a choice. It's up to you to decide what you want to do." She reached over to bump his shoulder with her fist. "Just so you know, if you do decide to side with us, I'll be there to speak up for you."

She got to her feet and approached the door, only to stop with her hand gripping the door handle. "I'm not forgiving you for the things you've done. No matter what, I'm going to hold you accountable for that. Sooner or later you'll have to face the consequences, whatever they are. But you can at least start to turn your life around. So when you're ready to make your decision, I'm willing to listen."

Looking over her shoulder, she watched him nod in understanding. Satisfied, she left the room, closing the door behind her. Yoko scooped Salamon up into her arms as she dashed over to Mikami from the other side of the room.

"So…how did it go?"

"It went better than I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"He listened to what I had to say. That's all," Mikami said, putting her hands on her hips. "What did you expect?"

"Well…I mean…"

Salamon quietly coughed to interrupt her partner. "What choice do you think he's going to make?"

"It's hard to say for certain. He's not exactly to the easiest person to read. I can't say for certain what he's thinking. I have a feeling he'll make the right choice, though."

For a moment Yoko was going to argue, but accepted Mikami's answer and headed to the other room. Mikami felt someone's gaze on her and turned to see Purimon staring at her. The encouraging look on the Digimon's face made Mikami relax somewhat.

He would do the right thing. She knew he would.