Notes: This is my second to last chapter. Next chapter ends it all. Near the end here I put a little bit of Takari because I couldn't help it. I would change it, but then things would have turned awkward between Yamato and Hikari. I'm thinking about writing another story that takes place a little after this. Not exactly a sequel though. I don't know; the idea is just there in my head. It might not exactly happen. Okay, I don't own Digimon and... just read the story already.


~TAKERU~

I scowled. If they want to call me Takeru, I'll let them. Besides, they made it a point. I really wasn't TK anymore. They think that calling me TK would bring me to believe their lies? No, no more lies. This time, I don't hold back.

I stared at the progress. It was an hour past midnight, but I wasn't going to rest. Not until my Kingdom was finished. I made sure that the tower was up and running. I would have to check the two others to make sure they were working correctly.

"Angemon! Are the towers ready?" My voice was bold. Different from all those times I would quietly speak. It was demanding and it showed me that I had the strength to do whatever I wished.

My guardian angel nodded to me. "It's ready, Takeru."

The two of us checked the final tower. I smiled. "Okay, it's good."

I turned to the Kingdom and saw the digimon. They were happy in their new homes. I stared at the castle I had stayed in. I stepped into the main hall with a smile plastered on my face. Digimon were in here too. Something was still missing though.

I looked back outside and realized what. A guard wall! But no, that would give the Digidestined the chance to lay siege on my paradise. If a wall wasn't missing, what was?

"Is something the matter, Takeru?" I shook my head. "Then what can be wrong with the Protector of the Digital World?"

I shrugged. "I thought I would be happier knowing I saved the digimon. But, this doesn't feel right. I mean, normally, I save the digimon with my friends. I did this all by myself with the Digidestined as the opposition."

"They don't understand this, Takeru. They never will. They don't understand true pain and suffering. Both leaders are too stubborn and can never think as high as you. Mimi and Miyako have lived sheltered lives. Jou, what can he do but hold back true potential? Koushiro thinks he knows so much but there is a difference between knowing and applying. Iori may be mature for his age, but does his maturity match yours? Ken can't count to know pain and suffering because those feelings didn't come from within him; only from those Dark Spores. Your brother and best friend should have understood you right?" I nodded. "But they don't. Hikari is the Light, but she doesn't think the Darkness should be truly destroyed. Your brother hinders you and stops you from really fulfilling what you want. You know what you want, don't you, Takeru?"

I nodded. "To destroy the Darkness and let the Light take over. That way, no one has to ever suffer."

Angemon smiled down at me. "No one really understands that except us, huh, Takeru?"

I sighed. "I guess. Come on, there are still many things to do before tomorrow morning. We can't stop now!" The two of us checked the Kingdom. I made improvements on a few buildings and made sure that the guarding structures were ready for use.

It was almost dawn and I rubbed my eyes. I stretched towards the sky and walked back towards the castle. Angemon was still with our army. He wanted to be prepared for anything today.

I entered my room and tried to get whatever sleep I could. The dreams didn't really help. I actually tried not to dream but failed. I just floated in the Darkness. It had taken me in, but when had it become so bright?

I stared at a reflection of myself. Wow… I look so different. Is that really me? Short, teary-eyed. No… That couldn't be me. I looked closer. No, that wasn't me. He was too young. Or maybe, he was me in the past.

I backed away from him and stumbled into the open Light. I stared at the yellow that surrounded my body. I felt warm and safe. The small boy smiled at me. "You're back!"

I looked at him confused. "Back from where?"

He pointed behind me into the Darkness. "From that scary place that destroyed my friend." His voice was quiet. Barely a whisper, but I heard.

I knelt down. "Really? Maybe your friend will come back." I looked at the boy with a sense of pity. Why did he remind me of me? I didn't know what to do when he began to cry. "Hey! Don't cry. I'm sure you'll see your friend again."

"How do you know?" He wiped up his tears with his sleeve.

I didn't respond to that question. I didn't know. I had lost Angemon once, thinking I would never see my partner again. Then I lost him another time to one of my best friends. But if this kid was me, wouldn't it mean that he would see Angemon again? I looked back down at the boy and he stared up at me. "You will see your friend again. You can't give up hope. Angels need hope, you know?"

He shook his head. "My friend isn't an angel. And he gave up Hope. He's never coming back."

I was even more confused, but I had already begun to awaken from my short sleep. I got up and stared at the rising sun. I couldn't stop thinking about that kid. I stood up and walked to the bathroom.

I came out of the shower and quickly put on my black armor. I found my hat lying on the floor and picked it up. I walked over to a hook on the wall, but never put the hat back up. I placed it on my head absentmindedly and exited my room.

Patamon was sleeping and I gently picked him up. I walked over to the main hall of the castle. More digimon were here now. Azulongmon had said that the Digidestined would probably come straight here for a final battle. He didn't want any collateral.

Patamon gently stirred and flew up. "Is it morning, Takeru?"

I nodded. "I don't want you using too much energy too early. You'll digivolve later okay?"

Patamon smirked. "Come on, Takeru! I have a lot of power now. With your new Crest, we can't lose!"

I just remembered it and looked at the grey thing around my neck. "Right. But I don't want to take any chances."

"We're the strongest out of them, Takeru!" Patamon cried. "I'll take on the Digidestined and destroy them if I have to!"

I was stunned by his excitement. Did he really want to destroy them? I was hoping that I could talk to them. Maybe get them to join me. But Patamon…

I didn't have time to think about it any further. One of my guard bases was being attacked. I looked at my digivice to see which one was in trouble. One blinked red. I frowned and started north, but pretty soon, all eleven I had built started to blink. This couldn't be right.

I had designed each tower to be able to take down each digimon belonging to the Digidestined. Fighting with them gave me the knowledge of every digimon's weakness. If they went one-on-one against my tower, they would lose.

I heard the towers shatter and I immediately deployed my main army. My special force would have to stay with me. I looked at the map and maneuvered each group to its corresponding target.

Patamon and I entered the main part of the Kingdom. The three main guard towers were being taken down! Patamon flew towards the largest one in the center. "Boom Bubble!"

I followed behind him and stared at the group attacking my tower. "Stop it! You're destroying my Kingdom!"

DemiDevimon flew behind Hikari. Gatomon stepped forward to protect them both. "Sorry, Takeru, but it's for your own good."

The small bat flew forward. "Takeru! Come on! You're being tricked."

I stared at the small digimon. He had tricked me once into fighting with Tokomon. I still never forgave him for that. "Patamon, attack!"

"Boom Bubble!" The attack missed and I scowled. I looked back down at my digivice and noticed that all of my guard stations have been destroyed. The other two guard towers have also collapsed. My eyes grew wide when I knew that I had to get my special army here now.

"Patamon! Digivolve!"

My partner nodded his head. "Patamon digivolve to…"

"Angemon!"

I turned around to see the specially chosen digimon rush forward to help. It was an odd crew to use to protect the Digital World, but they were powerful. Angemon also convinced me that they really were good. It was a small crew made up of only LadyDevimon, Puppetmon, and Myotismon. Angemon was the leader of them and the others had no problem with that.

The rest of the Digidestined arrived at about the same time. Taichi stared at us. "Takeru! What are you doing? You hate those digimon!"

I glared at him. "They're going to help me protect the Digital World! I offered it to you all, but none of you took up the chance! I'm going to save it with this group instead!"

Angemon prepared to fight against them. "Attack!"

The Digidestined dodged the attacks and immediately had their partners digivolve. I stared at all of the Champions. DemiDevimon was still Rookie though. I decided to go after him myself.

I dashed forward and saw Hikari in my way. She was protecting the evil bat. She blocked all of my punches and Taichi got behind me to hold me back.

"Let me go! That bat is nothing but evil!"

Taichi did let me go, but he whirled me around and punched me. "Will you just listen to yourself? What do you know about evil, Takeru?"

I fell to the ground and picked myself up. I looked at Hikari whisper to DemiDevimon. The small Rookie shook his head. "But you have to!" Hikari cried out.

The Rookie looked down at me and began to digivolve. I shielded my eyes from the bright light and opened them again. Who I saw shocked me beyond belief. It was a digimon I hated with all my life. "Devimon!" I immediately turned to look for Angemon. "Angemon! Devimon!" My head instantly hurt.

"Takeru!" Yamato cried out as I fell onto the ground.

I clutched my head and pulled down my hat over my eyes. I didn't want to hear anything. The attacks were deafening and the explosions sent shockwaves through me. I heard myself whimper despite trying to stay strong.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw that little boy from my dreams crying. I stopped whimpering and punched whoever had touched me. Yamato fell backwards.

I picked myself up and stared at Angemon and Devimon. Devimon did nothing as Angemon tried again and again to attack him. I felt anger rise within me. Why could he never be destroyed? He always had to come back and bring those nightmares back.

Devimon saw me and tried to fly towards me. He still hated me for being the Digidestined that destroyed him. Angemon stopped him from getting to me.

I ran away and was stopped by Daisuke and Ken. Daisuke was too busy watching Palidramon stop Puppetmon from attacking Birdramon. I winced as the large bird digimon attacked my guard tower. Ken stared at me with what looked like pity in his eyes. "Takeru, we don't want to hurt you. Just listen for a moment."

I stopped and thought it over for a while. I decided to turn away from them and face my fear. I don't want to listen to what they have to say to me. I'd rather have myself destroyed by Devimon, knowing I tried to save the Digital World than to fall into their lies.

Devimon managed to stop Angemon's attacks. The digimon turned to me. He whispered, "Takeru. You're okay, aren't you?"

I glared at him with intense hate. I could feel my eyes burn with the emotion. I couldn't even see clearly, but I approached him with a murderous intent.

Devimon offered out his hand. "I thought you were going to keep Hope, Takeru. I told you to not be tricked. I meant that the people who attacked us weren't our friends. These people here fighting for your sake are."

I tried to figure out what he was trying to say, but Angemon had already caught up with Devimon. "Hand of Fate!"

The enemy digimon pulled me away as he dodged the attack. His action confused me because Angemon missing him would mean I would have gotten hit. I immediately backed out of the way to try and think. He just saved me. Why would the digimon I shared a mutual hate with save me?

I stared at the Digidestined and saw that they were holding back. Why? Why didn't things make sense to me anymore? How would Devimon know what Angemon's final words were unless he had sent me those thoughts?

Again, my head began to pound with a great intensity. I fell to my knees and clutched my hat. I stared at the thing that gave me a sort of sense of identity. I looked up slightly to see the Digidestined looking at me.

Taichi and Yamato had those eyes only an older brother can have when it came to those they cared about. Mimi was expecting me to do the right thing. Koushiro and Jou wanted me to be able to be as calm and collected as I was before. Sora stared at me like the mother figure I always took her to be. Hikari smiled her sad smile. The smile that she had given when she came back from the Dark Ocean. Daisuke had on his silly smirk that told me that we were rivals but great friends. Miyako looked like she was waiting for me before school started so she would have someone to talk to. A person that didn't judge until after she had totally explained to me her opinions. Iori looked up to me, trying to find the person he knew to defend what was right. Ken had eyes that reminded me that I was right about the Darkness and evil; it got people hurt if you went into it blindly. So what was I doing with it?

The noises came back and I saw Angemon crash down next to me. I jumped up and noticed that I was able to see clearly. My mind wasn't foggy and my headache had disappeared.

"Angemon, are you okay?"

Devimon laughed darkly. "So you managed to get the boy out of his illusion? Clever, Digidestined. Too bad he's going to be destroyed so soon!"

I gasped. "Illusion?" I backed away slowly. "I didn't know… I was trying to protect the Digital World!" I felt the familiar anger in me. It took over, but I could only glare. I mean, I wasn't dumb enough to fight against Devimon alone.

Devimon laughed again. Angemon could barely get up and I knew that it was my fault. I felt tears well up in my eyes. The other digimon tried to keep Puppetmon and Myotismon from getting me. LadyDevimon and Angewomon were having a very personal fight and no one was able to help since both digimon were destroying everything in their wake.

I clenched my teeth and wanted everything to disappear. All of my hate towards the Darkness had built up so much and I wanted to let it out. I continued to glare at the tormentor of my nightmares.

"Continue to hate me. It gets me stronger!" He laughed in a sick and demented way. "You're giving me the power to get to my Mega form!" I watched in dismay as he digivolved. I didn't things could get any worse than that devil, but I was wrong. I had forgotten about the one digimon that tormented me even more: Piedmon.

The clown towered over me and I felt small. His twisted smile grew even bigger when I began to get a dark feeling in my heart. The darkness took over and I had stood up to try to stand up against him. But after a few steps, my bravery faltered. I stared up in fear and another feeling. "Despair?"

Piedmon laughed. "Your Despair gives us Hope. You're just a weak little boy!"

I felt my world fall apart. So this was what it was like to be hopeless. I never noticed it before. I always tried to believe in the best, but here was the worst. I led myself into believing lies and now I was paying for it.

"TK! Don't listen to him!" Hikari's voice did nothing to help me though.

I turned to run away from the fight. I knew it wasn't the smartest choice, but if I could turn my back on all of this, I wouldn't have to be responsible, right? Not really good thinking, I know, but I can't face my friends. They're struggling for my sake and I didn't want to see them fail.

I fell through the large doors and collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. I got to my hands and knees and stared at the digimon that had been placed here for safety. I looked at them through my new eyes and realized that they weren't safe.

Many of them were weak and were huddled together warmth. They looked at me with fear. Fear of being yelled at again. Fear of being punished for not working. Fear of the bearer of Hope becoming Despair.

I looked down at the black armor I wore. My hat slipped off and I caught it before it reached the ground. Which apparel was I really? The goofy white fisherman hat or the black armor with Hope etched upside down in grey on the front?

"TK!" I turned around to see the digimon that could fly try to come towards me. The Control Spire behind them was collapsing. The small force of evil digimon knew that protecting it was pointless. They were starting to come after me.

I felt fear rise up in my throat as Myotismon laughed. "It's just us and you! The others won't make it back fast enough."

I put on a bold mask. "What are you going to do, huh? You can't destroy me without destroying Piedmon and the castle!" I know they still need me.

Puppetmon laughed. "Ready for round two, Takeru?"

My eyes grew wide when I knew he was going to start his demented game of war. I couldn't let the innocent digimon in there get hurt. I ran towards the small army and slid around them. Puppetmon took out his guns and laughed. "Finally! I get to have a real friend to play with!" He motioned the others to play along too.

I gulped and continued to run. Puppetmon fired his gun and I dove out of the way. I may be wearing armor, but I know Puppetmon's gun is really devastating. I felt the bullets whiz pass me and destroy a small hut that was built for the city.

I tripped and that gave LadyDevimon time to pick me up by the throat. "You still have that adorable innocent face! Maybe I should change that!"

Piedmon laughed delightfully. "Don't take out his eyes! I want him to be able to see his friends get tortured."

I suddenly didn't mind being blind if I was going to have to go through that. I struggled but it was no good. I grabbed the hand that was around my neck, but my hand brushed past a thin object. I pulled it off my neck to see what it was.

I stared at the grey crest. Taking it off made me feel better. I didn't have to die thinking I could protect everything. I stared at LadyDevimon and prepared for the worst.

Puppetmon was dancing behind her. "I can't wait for our games, Takeru! And this time! I'll be sure to keep another one of our friends nearby in case you try to escape again!"

LadyDevimon finally lifted up her other hand. "Vile—"

"Celestial Arrow!" I was immediately dropped and backed away from the evil digimon.

Myotismon frowned. "Again with you? This should take care you, Angewomon! Crimson—"

"Mega Claw!" WarGreymon quickly charged at the vampire and I was able to run towards my friends.

Hikari tossed me something and I quickly caught it, letting the grey tag drop. I stared at the familiar gold and yellow. I smiled and looked at the Patamon she was carrying.

"TK?" Patamon stared at me.

I took him and smiled. "It's me, buddy!"

He smiled and flew up to look at the fighting digimon. Mimi was in front of us and she turned back. "It's your turn, TK."

I nodded and placed the Crest of Hope where it belonged. "Let's go, Patamon!"

"Patamon digivolve to…"

Angemon! Angemon digivolve to…"

"MagnaAngemon! Holy Sword!"

I stared at the great angel and felt hope rise within me. It felt great to be filled with the familiar warmth. Nothing would ever take it back from me!

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon blasted the bewildered Puppetmon. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.

Daisuke smiled. "All right!" He and Ken went back to pick up their de-digivolved partners. "You were great, DemiVeemon!"

Ken smiled at Minomon. He turned to the others. "Come on! We can do this!"

Angewomon took down LadyDevimon with the help of Lillymon and Garudamon. Hikari, Mimi, and Sora cheered. "You were awesome, Salamon!"

"Tanemon, you did great!"

"You deserve a long rest, Yokomon!"

Myotismon took the combined powers of Digmon, MegaKabuterimon, Shurimon, and Zudomon. MegaKabuterimon landed next the three others and all of them reverted back into In-Training form.

"Great work, Motimon."

"When we get back home, I'll get us some prune juice. Does that sound nice, Upamon?"

"You were so awesome, Poromon! I'd like to see my sisters try to take you down!"

"Are you alright, Bukamon? I have some bandages if you need anything."

I looked at the three evil digimon and focused my energy on Piedmon. But still, something wasn't right. I was missing something. I know it's important, but what can it be?

"Do you really think I'll be defeated by two Megas and an Ultimate?"

MetalGarurumon charged at him. "Metal Wolf Claw!"

Yamato growled when the attack missed. "Taichi! Let's combine their power!" Taichi nodded and took out his digivice.

"Go ahead, WarGreymon!"

The two Megas united to form Omnimon and the rest of us cheered him on as he joined MagnaAngemon. Piedmon still didn't seem afraid. Or he didn't show it. He was more concerned about destroying the digimon that banished him through the Gate of Destiny.

"If I'm going down, I'll at least take you with me, MagnaAngemon!" He dodged a shot from Omnimon and charged at my digimon. "Trump Sword!"

I yelled out for my partner, but he was prepared. "Holy Sword!" He swung his Excalibur to parry all for swords. He thrust the blade towards the clown and managed to pierce his chest.

The evil digimon fell, but he still had strength left to fight. Omnimon took advantage of the delay and used it for a final attack. "Omni Blast!" The beam caused the clown to plummet near his allies. The Mega de-digivolved back into Koromon and Tsunomon.

"You did it, Koromon!" Taichi picked up his partner.

Yamato knelt down to Tsunomon. "Way to go."

Throughout the fight, I had slipped away from my friends and walked towards the castle with no idea why. I stared at the fallen four digimon near me. They weren't deleted and I had the feeling we still weren't done. I was forgetting something very important. MagnaAngemon sensed my absentmindedness and landed beside me. "Is something wrong, Takeru?"

I nodded. I walked forward towards the castle. I stopped when I felt the ground tremble beneath me. I fell backwards and saw the manor vanish. It was replaced by nothing and it reached out for me.

I turned and scrambled towards my friends, but they couldn't help. "TK!" Yamato was running to help me.

I turned around to see what was happening. It wasn't pretty. The darkness became something short of a swirling black hole. It didn't suck anything in, which was good. It was actually doing the complete opposite. It was trying to bring something out. I began to hyperventilate and cursing myself for thinking this thing was Azulongmon.

"Reverse Digivolution!" Claws came out of the hole and grabbed all of our digimon. They became eggs while MagnaAngemon was forced to return to his Patamon state.

I whipped around to yell at the rest of the Digidestined. "Guys! Run!"

Taichi didn't think so. "We're not leaving you behind!" He led the others to still come towards me even though they couldn't do a thing.

Apocalymon growled as he finally came out of the swirling vortex. "It's just you and me then, Takeru."

I stared at him. What did I know about Apocalymon besides the obvious? It was obvious he was evil. He hates Light. He enjoys inflicting pain. He wants things to be justified so that everyone can share his pain. What was I forgetting?

He just laughed at me. "Did you know that I can hear your thoughts clearly? You've forgotten about me, didn't you, Takeru?" His claws had let go of all of the digi-eggs. Patamon was struggling in his grasp, but it was no good.

"What do you want?" One of his free claws came up to touch my hat. I immediately flinched away.

"It's obvious though if you remember."

"Don't touch my brother!" Yamato tried punching the Mega despite him being no match.

Apocalymon lifted a tentacle and used it to hit him. "Yamato!" I tried to run towards him but was pulled back.

"I'm not done with you yet! Try to remember. What is it about me that automatically hates you more than Light?"

I stared at my fallen brother and he slowly got up. "Let him go!"

Daisuke and Ken tried to make an attempt to get past the claws that prevented them from coming any closer. Taichi was testing how far they could reach. The rest didn't do anything, but watch all of the digi-eggs.

I had no choice but to think. I saw Patamon out of the corner of my eye. He was still trying to break free. The claw tightened around his small body and it forced me to try harder. Then it hit me. "You're made of despair!"

I faced the large Mega. He smiled darkly. "Now you know what I want!"

It didn't make me feel any better. My friends would be safe, but it would have to be at the cost of my life. Koushiro watched and listened the whole time. He pieced together everything before me.

"TK! Don't do it!"

Yamato turned to the genius. "What do you mean? What does Apocalymon want?"

Koushiro shook his head. "TK is Hope. What do you think someone made from despair wants?"

Everyone realized my choices. I had to choose between killing myself and abandoning Hope. I know they won't let me sacrifice myself, but they can't afford to lose me again.

Apocalymon laughed. "It won't be that bad! A world without Hope is better than a world of nothing." I looked back at my friends and they tried to get to me.

"A world without Hope is nothing!" Sora yelled. "TK, come on! We'll find another way out of this."

Taichi agreed. "We'll fight back!" He picked up Agumon's egg and had that odd determined glint in his eyes. He'd still try even though they're in no position to fight.

"You can't do this, TK!" Jou clenched his fists and glared at the digimon behind me.

"You can't give up hope, TK!" Daisuke stumbled backwards and looked at me.

Ken fell back too. "It's not over!"

Iori had his arms crossed. "Killing yourself won't stop the Darkness, TK!"

"You can't give up now!" Miyako flared up.

I looked at Mimi, Koushiro, Yamato, and Hikari. They didn't look at me. I took a step forward towards them but Apocalymon still pulled me back. "What about you four?"

Mimi bit her lip. "I don't think we should give up, but if it's the only way…" She didn't have to continue for we all knew that.

Koushiro shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry we can't do anything else."

Hikari held back her tears. "I don't want you giving up your life for us, TK, but you have to. It's okay if you can't keep you promise you made Sora though." I bit the inside of my cheek. She still remembered that. I did too and it made me realize why I could never purposefully hurt her or anyone else.

I looked up at Yamato. "Matt? What do you think?"

He turned his head to look at me straight in the eye. "It's your decision, TK. I can't be there to decide for you anymore. I'll give you my opinion, but this is a choice that only you can make. I'll trust you in the end." His face held in a lot of pain and it forced me to turn away.

I wanted him to help me decide. I know he is trying to help, but I can't do this without knowing just what he wants. I'll always be his little brother. I'll always look up to him. I guess I'll have to thank him for this one day, if I make it out alive.

The others looked at the four of them. They looked away from me. Apocalymon edged closer to me. "I'll give you ten seconds to decide. Either you let me kill you or hand over that thing around your neck." He dropped Patamon and I caught him.

I looked down at my partner and he weakly frowned at me. "Either way, TK. You're going to die."

I knew that. Without Hope, I was nothing. Do I die with or without it though? I gripped the Crest and turned towards Apocalymon. I would try to fight. I might as well go out fighting. Patamon had the same thoughts too.

"There's no way I'm going to die hopeless!" I shouted as bravely as I could.

Yamato turned his head slightly to look away. He still watched though. I sensed his eyes intently on me.

Apocalymon sighed. "It would have been easier if you gave up that Crest, but if you want to die I'll gladly oblige."

Patamon flew up in front of me to protect me. "You'll have to get through me first! Boom Bubble!"

I tightened my grip around the Crest of Hope. "The two of us won't give up! Even if we die, I want my friends to carry on my Hope!" I quickly dodged a swirling claw. "I don't have to be the only with hope, but I won't give it up! This is a feeling that I can share with everyone!" The heat in my heart returned and it was stronger than before. I stared down and was blinded by gold light. I could barely see Patamon glowing along with it.

"Patamon warp digivolve to…"

"Seraphimon!"

"Go for it!" I yelled with all of my heart.

My friends behind me were trying to see what was happening. The light still surrounded us and I smiled. Seraphimon moved quickly to dodge the copied attacks of Apocalymon. "Hallowed Knuckle!" Lightning came crashing down and it caused an even greater flash.

Apocalymon roared. "I gave you a chance, Takeru! Touch of Evil!"

My eyes widened when I saw his claw reach for me. I couldn't see very well so I couldn't move. I shielded my eyes and waited for the attack to cut through me. "Hallowed Ascension!"

The claw fell and lay on the ground, dead. Apocalymon didn't stop though. He still had more claws to use.

The light faded away and I was able to see Seraphimon clearly. His tall form stood proudly and he was trying to get closer to Apocalymon. "Takeru! Don't give up yet!"

I smirked. "It never crossed my mind!" I chased after him to make sure he would be alright.

Taichi led the rest back into safety and shouted, "We'll make it through this! Just keep going, TK!"

I ducked under a tentacle and straightened myself. There were only a few more that moved and Seraphimon quickly took care of them. "Strike of the Seven Stars!"

Apocalymon's body remained and he laughed. The image of an explosion flashed in my head to remind me of his final move last time. "That's right, Takeru! You still remember that. I can detonate myself at any time! I have a chance of being reformatted, but what about you and your friends?"

I shouted back at him, knowing he didn't really have the energy to detonate himself. He's too weak to cast a large explosion, but he still had the power to instantly delete us. "You can't blow yourself up! Besides, if you do anything to my friends, I'll have Seraphimon protect them all!" There was no way I was going to survive this now.

Seraphimon prepared one final attack to take care of the deadly digimon. "Strike of the Seven Stars!" The seven orbs of energy flew at Apocalymon. "Takeru!" He yelled as his target began to move.

The pitiful digimon lunged towards me and grabbed me. I didn't flinch though. "Seraphimon! Take care of the others!"

Apocalymon wore that twisted, crooked smile again. "Darkness Zone!"

I could only laugh silently in my mind as I felt the energy of my Mega collide with his dark energy. I felt happy and sad at the same time. Something sort of clicked in my heart and mind.

I saw the little boy again. He had been crying. I frowned at him. He didn't have a need to cry anymore. Things were going to be okay.


~YAMATO~

I lifted up Gabumon's egg and sighed. I heard a loud explosion and leapt to my feet. "TK!"

Taichi looked at TK's direction worriedly. He stared at our group and sighed. "I guess I'll have to come with you. Who else?"

Hikari, Jou, and Koushiro volunteered and we went back to the wasteland. Things were even worse now. The dead trees seemed even more lifeless, if that was even possible. The only thing left of the dark castle was rubble. The only signs of life were the quiet whisperings of the surviving digimon that escaped. They whispered only about TK's heroic deed.

I saw Seraphimon weakly de-digivolve to Poyomon. He must have used a lot of power. I picked him up from the ground and he shifted his head towards a direction. I followed it and found TK's hat.

Taichi picked it up. He offered it to the baby, but Poyomon shook his head. He pointed out further and our small group solemnly moved on. Hikari found TK's Crest and Poyomon waited patiently for us.

"That should be it, shouldn't it?" I looked at the baby digimon expectantly. He shook his head. "What else is there?"

He pointed out in another direction and I saw a figure lying on the ground. Everything in my mind said that there was no way my baby brother could have survived that explosion. But then again, this was the Digital World, where anything was possible.

I ran towards TK's limp figure. "TK?"

Koushiro opened his laptop and Jou inspected my brother. "He's doing fine, but I don't think he's going to do well here. We need to get to a hospital immediately." The doctor's assistant checked for pulse and breathing.

Koushiro shook his head. "We can't bring him to the real world. He's been hit with holy energy and dark energy. Bringing him back home can lead to destroying his body and his spirit." He skimmed a file he found. "We have to get Gennai."

Hikari frowned. "But we don't know where he can be!"

Taichi heard footsteps. He looked up to see the middle-aged anomaly. "Gennai! What are you doing here now? We needed you!"

Gennai disregarded Taichi's comments. He looked at TK and frowned. "He did it by himself." He sighed. "But look where that has got him." He carefully lifted TK up. "Let's go to my home."

I don't know how, but we ended up teleporting to some house. The others had already gotten here. They were organizing the eggs and trying to keep them warm.

Sora hugged me when she saw me. "Are you okay, Yamato?"

I nodded. "This is Gennai's home?" I looked at the large living room.

"Yeah. We get to stay here for the weekend. We e-mailed everyone's parents and they said it was okay." She looked at me sheepishly. "You'll have to tell your parents about TK, though."

I winced. "Okay."

Gennai came out of the room we put TK in. He sighed. "Takeru is stuck in a coma. It'll take about two weeks for him to fully recover."

Jou was polishing his glasses. "A coma? He needs a doctor immediately!"

Miyako turned away from Hawkmon's egg. "We can't stay here for two weeks!"

Taichi clenched his fists. "And we can't leave him alone either!"

Gennai calmed all of us down. "Relax, all of you. Especially you two." He pointed at Hikari and me. "For the weekend, you all get to stay here. Once school starts, you can leave one person behind to watch him for a day. Just make sure you guys decide beforehand who is going to be staying." He went back in to check on TK.

All of us sat silently for an eternity. I finally spoke up. "Who wants to go first?"

Mimi looked at me like I was crazy. "Wouldn't you want to be first?" I shook my head. I couldn't see my brother like that.

Hikari shrank away from the others too. "I don't think I want to stay to watch either."

Daisuke frowned. "I'll go first."

"I'll be second," Iori said quietly.

Everyone else picked their number. It was Daisuke, Iori, Miyako, Ken, Mimi, Jou, Koushiro, Taichi, and Sora. Hikari and I were in argument on who was to be last.

"I can't see him when he's like that, Hikari! You don't know what it's like to know you couldn't protect someone who mattered a lot to you!" I tried not to shout, but the volume of my voice wasn't made for indoors.

Hikari glared at me. "But he's also my best friend! I'll let you go last if you give me a better explanation."

I scowled. "I don't want to tell you my reason." Her eyes penetrated me. The look she was giving me was a lot like the looks Taichi used to give me. I could only sigh and reply quietly, "He wouldn't have to end up like that if I just told him not to do it."

Hikari stopped glaring and she looked up at Taichi. My best friend was tearing up. "TK would have gone anyway, Hikari." He clenched his eyes. "What would have happened if you were in TK's spot, Hikari?"

I was breathing heavily and had to sit down. "Whatever. It doesn't matter if I go last anymore." That settled it. Hikari bit her lip and went into the guest room she had chosen.

I sat back on the couch and stared at the wall. Everyone else had gone to check on TK. Most of them noticed it was getting dark and went to their rooms. None of them bothered to tell me to get to bed. They knew better than to mess with me when I was distraught.

When the last person visiting left, I waited for a few seconds. I got off the couch and entered TK's room, closing the door behind me. He was sleeping peacefully on the fluffy bed. He was wearing his crooked smile and it made me grin.

I heard the door open and Hikari came in with Gennai. She saw me and smiled softly. I nodded and stared back at my brother.

Gennai chuckled softly. "He's lucky to have such good friends." He finished checking over TK and left the room.

Hikari stood next to me. "He's even luckier to have a brother like Yamato."

I smiled. "What was the real reason you wanted to be last?"

She stared at TK's relaxed face. "He's Hope. He always has to risk his life to protect Light. He even goes out of his way to do things for everyone else and ask for nothing in return."

I nodded because I understood TK's character. My small smirk grew into a smile. What I just found out will be very useful one day. It wasn't what she was saying though. It was what was hidden under her carefully thought out words. "He cares about all of us. Some more than the others." I spoke very lightly and wanted to see her reaction.

I saw a small blush creep up on her face. I knew it. I chuckled a little and Hikari hit me lightly. "Hey! The two of us are best friends."

My laughter was quiet because I didn't want to bother TK. My stomach was starting to hurt but I couldn't stop. "So you say now!" I began to cough and had to place a hand on the nightstand to keep me up. I finally stopped and breathed calmly. "Taichi was right. We consider you two to be both of our little siblings. To me, you're the little sister I never had. To Taichi, TK is his little brother." I looked sadly at TK. "I still remember a time where I thought Taichi would be better at protecting him."

Hikari reassured me with a smile. "You're a great brother, Yamato. TK looks up to you."

I nodded and looked at the clock on the nightstand. "We should get to bed. We can't have TK waking up and seeing the two of us exhausted and worried. He has a very guilty conscious."

She left the room and woke up her brother on the couch. "Taichi! I'm done."

Taichi looked up at the two of us. "What? Oh, right." Hikari went into her room and the brown-haired boy smirked at me. "Interesting, huh?"

I looked at him confused. "What?"

"They're not like us." He smirked. "TK is more open with what he thinks. Hikari is more rational than me. And one last thing, I wouldn't mind having TK as a younger brother."

The two of us began to get competitive over who was better as a big brother. It was friendly but also dumb. "I wouldn't mind having Kari as a little sister."

The two of us smiled at each other. We heard a door open and Sora came out. She rubbed her eyes. "Man, you guys are loud. You guys can settle that tomorrow. I'm trying to sleep."

I chuckled in embarrassment. "Sorry, Sora."

Taichi and I walked to our respective rooms. Taichi stuck out his tongue. "Video game competition tomorrow. You and me and whoever wants to get in our way!"

I nodded. "Right after we check on TK though."

The two of us chuckled and closed our doors. I sat back on the bed and took out a photo of me and TK when we were younger.

I placed it on the nightstand and got under the covers. "Yeah, TK. You grew up. You'll always be my brother. You're just not little anymore." I quickly fell asleep and thought nothing more of it.