Digimon Frontier: The Return

Chapter Two: Family Matters

Zoe sighed and absently toyed with a strand of her golden blond hair, while she listened to the boys argue about some sport or the other. This tended to be a regular occurrence when they all got together; the boys would start talking about something and in the end she would have to play peacemaker because a fight would usually follow.

Boys, she thought fondly with a mental shake of her head. No matter how many years passed, they never truly grew up.

Zoe sipped quietly at her jasmine tea, sea-green eyes now focused on the steamy liquid and a soft smile forming on her lips. No matter how childish she thought they acted at times, there was no way she would ever want them to change. They were her best friends, and she knew she could count on them when she was struggling...If only the same could be said for other people as well.

Her smile faded and replaced by a slight frown. Why did her thoughts have to stray in that direction? Why now, when she was supposed to be having a good time with her friends?

Zoe sighed, hands tightening around her cup and thoughts turning towards her family.

After returning from the Digital world, her mom had finally met a man that made her happy. Zoe felt her mom deserved this ray of sunshine that life had offered, since it had been quite a few years since her previous husband had died.

Takao Orimoto, Zoe's father, had died when she was five years old, from a rare heart disease. Zoe did not remember much about him, except that he had loved her mother and would have wanted her to move on. Therefore, when Zoe was first been introduced to Ken Aisako, she had been thrilled.

Ken owned the local flower shop, and that was where the two adults had first met. Zoe liked him instantly. He was a kind, generous and a strong individual with a nice sense of humour, a deep fascination with plants (a passion her own mother shared) and when they finally decided to get married last year, she had been delighted.

The wedding had been simple, yet beautiful and Zoe's friends had all attended (they were practically part of the family). Zoe was happy for her mom, she really was. Ken was a nice person, he had a stable job and the best part was that he truly loved her mother...There was however, one hitch to their getting married. Zoe also gained a brother.

When her mom had first told her about Ken, she had also explained that Ken had lost his spouse under terrible circumstances. However, unlike Maya Orimoto's husband and his fatal disease, Ken's wife had died in a car accident while four months pregnant with Ken and his son home at the time.

The sad fact was, the drunken driver who hit her, got away with a simple fine.

Then Zoe had met Tyler. He was a year older than she was and went to a school just twenty minutes from hers. It had been four weeks after their parents had started dating, and they had decided that the families should finally meet, since they were both serious about the relationship.

Zoe had tried her best, goodness knows she had, but the boy was as cold as ice. He wasn't mean or rude (Zoe would actually have preferred that), he just did not seem to care…about anything. Nothing fazed him and he never smiled. Ken had apologised afterwards, explaining that Tyler really was a good kid, but had never fully recovered from the loss of his mother.

Zoe glanced at her friends. They were now talking about some new game that had just been released, and how it was hard to complete. She sighed, taking another sip of her tea, figuring that they would be busy for another good ten minutes.

She wanted to get along with Tyler, she really did, but he made things so difficult. No matter how nice she was, or how hard she tried to get to know him, he would always find a way to brush her off. It seemed like he wanted her to hate him, and Zoe could not figure out why. These days, she tried less and less and spent most of her time ignoring him, because if she did not ignore him, she would end up fighting with him and that made her mom and Ken sad. They already had a tough time dealing with Tyler and his lack of emotions, and she did not want to add to their problems.

Zoe smiled while watching Takuya ruffle Tommy's hair, making the smaller boy pout and hastily try to fix it. He was regretting, not wearing his hat today.

"You know he doesn't like that." She said sternly.

"Oh, but he's so cute when he gets angry." Takuya cooed.

"Tch. Almost as cute as when he kicked your ass in that one-on-one soccer game, last Thursday." Koji drawled amusingly.

The table (minus Takuya) erupted in laughter and Takuya huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled. "It was only 2-1."

"Which is still one more than you got." Tommy said with a large grin, eager to make the most of this, after Takuya messed his hair.

"Awww...Is ickle Taki upset." J.P mocked, in the same baby voice Takuya had used on Tommy.

"Stop calling me that!" The brunet fumed.

Zoe giggled. She really did not know what she would do without her friends.

"I don't know why you bother Takuya." Koichi said with a sigh. "You know he wont ever stop."

"Well then, maybe I should just think up a really stupid nickname for him." Takuya replied shortly.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Koji smirked. "There isn't much you can do with J.P."

"Pity for you." J.P grinned, poking the brunet's ribs."...Taki."

Bokomon and Neemon hid amongst the ruins, of a recently demolished house, their hearts beating wildly. It had all happened so fast. One moment they had been planning on how to summon the children, and the next thing they knew, the castle had been under attack. In a matter of minutes, the dark soldiers that had been terrorizing their world for months had overrun the building. They were not true digimon, but rather data transformed to form a type of evil being that resembled humanoid armour, and now somehow, they had found a way past the castle's defences.

Unable to fight off the giant mass of strange yet powerful beings, the three Celestial digimon had given Bokomon the means, with which he could contact the humans. Bokomon could hear their parting words now, when they made the decision to sacrifice themselves.

'The children are our only hope. You must tell them of our dire situation.' Seraphimon had said. 'We have underestimated this new foe greatly.'

'Though the spirits of the Legendary Warriors have passed on, there is still a way to connect with their essence.' Ophanimon had stated. 'We have given you all you need, in order to help the young ones on the difficult journey that lies ahead.'

'Guide the children. Help them find their way.'Cherubimon whispered. 'And maybe, our world will have a chance to be saved.'

"Even though the future seems lost, there is still hope for us Neemon." Bokomon mumbled softly, holding a small box close to his chest.

"Do you really think we can reach them?" Neemon questioned. "Do ya Bokomon?"

"I'm not sure." The small, white digimon admitted quietly. "Nevertheless, we have to try. Our world depends on it."

A/N: Please review.

***I do know that Zoe and JP are only children in canon. Zoe's stepbrother and stepdad are Oc's that I created.