Lilithmon sneered in disgust as a group of Vilemon flew by. The dark shadow creatures had been feeding on Hikari's powers to drag Dark Digimon here from the Digital World in the first few hours after she came. They had only just stopped a short while ago to let Hikari rest and regain her strength. The dark creatures were telling Hikari that they were only bringing her people home, but Lilithmon knew better. Soon, they would start again, bringing even stronger Dark Digimon into their leagues. She was torn between trying to stop them and letting it happen. Even if she started destroying them, there was no way for her to get Hikari home, not that she was sure she could convince Hikari to go with her. She knew that it required the combined powers of Hikari and Takeru to open the portal home (pending unusual circumstances, like the time she first became Silphymon with Aquilamon). So, unless something extraordinary wound up happening, without Takeru she and Hikari were stuck.

She had gone to Hikari soon after they finished with her and pleaded her to bring Takeru here, but Hikari seemed reluctant, saying she could not bring him here when she could not send him back. Lilithmon told her Takeru had a way to get home, but she was unsure if she convinced Hikari.

Two Devidramon walked by and Lilithmon had to clench her fist to stop herself from destroying them with just the touch of her Nazar Nail. She had to stick to her plan of convincing Hikari to bring Takeru here. There was, after all, no guarantee that she wouldn't run out of energy before she ruined them all. It was the biggest disadvantage of being helped along the Digivolution route by a Digidestined rather than gaining the forms over time and gathering the necessary data alone. She was managing to stay in this Mega form for now, but there was no real way of telling how long it would last if she started decimating the place, especially since, Mega or not, her attacks were bound to be less effective than when she had been Angewomon or Ophanimon.

She entered the throne room, her final destination, where just inside the door were the two DarkTyrannomon, the last of the Digimon the dark creatures pulled here before letting Hikari rest, stood guard and grunted slightly before letting her pass. All these Dark Digimon around her were bringing memories back of days she really thought were better off staying forgotten. She gritted her teeth as she stormed pass them to the throne. Plan or not, if she got one hint of a Myotismon or even a DemiDevimon (the annoying little prat), she would obliterate them before they could so much as blink.

Hikari was resting on the throne, her face deceptively serene as she watched Lilithmon approach. Lilithmon still had not gotten the full story of why Hikari's memories were gone or why she called herself Hana, but something terrible must have happened in the short time the darkness had obscured her own memories of her partner. She could truly feel the darkness in Hikari and in herself now. The same darkness that had caused herself to Dark Digivolve into this form. But Lilithmon thought there was still reason to hope. Despite the darkness in them, Lilithmon did not feel any evil or violent tendencies (apart from the quick desires to blast any Dark Digimon she passed, but she rather didn't think that counted; indeed, she was counting that as a good thing) nor did Hikari seem to be evil at all. Other than the darkness the permeated her, Hikari did not seem to have changed much at all. This gave Lilithmon hope that, even after everything, they were still mostly themselves.

Hikari offered up a small smile as Lillithmon walked up to her. "I did as you suggested," Hikari said. "I reached out to him. It was difficult to get the connection, but the portal was opened, I'm sure of it."

Lilithmon brightened considerably. If this was true, her plan would come about so much sooner than she expected, before more powerful Dark Digimon arrived and gained the chance to stop them. "Takeru's here?" she asked a little breathless with excitement and the anticipation of soon being able to leave this place.

Hikari gave a small noncommittal shrug, but there was a small light in her eyes, just the faintest spark of hope. "The portal opened. It would have been his choice to come through." She frowned. "But the connection was poor. I'm not sure where he would have ended up. I'd like you to go look for him."

Lilithmon hesitated for half a second. She didn't like the idea of leaving Hikari here without her protection, but on the other hand, she would like a moment to talk to Takeru alone to tell him of her plan. She knew that the dark creatures revered their new queen and would not necessarily let any harm come to her. Deciding in the necessity of the plan, the ultimate goal of getting Hikari away from this place, she said, "Of course. I will bring him here at once."

"He might not have come," Hikari said softly and uncertainly.

Lilithmon placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder. "Trust me. He came," she said with absolute conviction. Lilithmon knew that Takeru could be as reckless as anyone when it came to Hikari being in danger. There was not a single possibility that he would leave her here in the Dark World when he had the chance to rescue her.

"I would like to see him again," Hikari said even more quietly. "Even if it is one last time." She paused. "You're sure he can get home?"

"Yes," Lilithmon said. "He's done it before, I assure you." Hikari looked a little more reassured as Lilithmon went back out to find their friend. Lilithmon was overjoyed with the prospect that they would not be in this world much longer. Takeru, with Hikari's help, would open the portal to take them all home.

The first thing that could be heard after the portal winked out was Patamon bursting into tears. The second was Taichi yelling, "I can't believe he did that! After I told him not to do anything reckless!"

"He's gone!" Patamon wailed. "I'm not there to protect him!"

Yamato, on the other hand, just stared at the place where Takeru had been. If he admitted it to himself, it wasn't like he hadn't been expecting it from the moment their memories returned. It was really his own fault that he let Takeru leave his sight in the first place. He should have known…he should have remembered the lengths to which Takeru would go to protect those he cared about.

"What going on, Yamato? Where has Takeru gone?" Gabumon asked, breaking Yamato out of his musings. Agumon was asking much the same questions to Taichi, but Taichi was still too busy pacing and muttering to himself under his breath to answer. Patamon had landed on the ground, but he was still sniffing loudly as his wings hung dejected around him.

"He's gone to the Dark World to rescue Hikari," Yamato said looking down at his partner.

"Rescue who?" Gabumon asked.

And Yamato realized their other problem with Takeru leaving them. Without his shield and ability to push away the darkness covering their memories, they had no way to convince any of the other Digidestined and their Digimon that Hikari was who they said she was. He looked up at Taichi and found his friend had stopped pacing and was looking at him as well. Yamato could tell he had come to the same conclusion.

"What are we going to do?" Taichi asked, his voice edged in slight panic. "Even if we try to tell them about her, the darkness won't let them remember."

"Then we don't tell them," Yamato said just as the thought occurred to him. It was really the option that Yamato could see. If the darkness wouldn't let their friends remember Hikari than there was no point in trying to tell them about her.

"What?" Taichi exclaimed.

"Tell us what, Taichi?" Agumon asked, tugging slightly on Taichi's scarf.

Taichi glanced down at his partner, and Yamato could see the battle the raged across his features. His head hung in defeat as he said softly, without much force, "We have to tell them."

Yamato hated seeing that look on his best friend's face. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think there's anything we can really do," Yamato said deeply chagrined. Sometimes he really wished his brother wasn't so self-sacrificing all the time. He really admired that quality of Takeru, the one that made him put others before him, but sometimes it caused so many problems. "We've just lost our ticket to the Dark World," he added, throwing his thumb out to where Takeru had disappeared.

"But—what about Hikari? What about Takeru? Aren't you worried about him? He doesn't even have Patamon with him," Taichi threw at him, pointing to where Patamon was still lying dejected on the cliff edge.

Yamato, affronted that Taichi would even suggest that he wasn't worried about his brother, opened his mouth to reply, but Gabumon beat him to it. "Don't say that, Taichi. Of course he's worried about him."

Yamato placed an affectionate hand on his Digimon's head. "Thanks, Gabumon," he said, giving his partner a small smile before he looked back at Taichi with grave seriousness on his features. "He's right. I am worried, and I know you're worried about her, but I don't think we can't help them," Yamato said.

"I can't do nothing. Not again." Taichi's eyes blazed with determination, finally moving past his panic. And Yamato understood. Taichi was not one to sit still when he felt that there was something he could do to ensure the safety of his family and friends. He was much more likely to run straight into battle, screw the odds, because they were the Digidestined and they always won when they were together. But that in itself was the problem, because without Takeru and Hikari, they weren't complete. Gabumon and Agumon glanced warily between them, as if wondering if they were about to start brawling any second.

"We'll bring the Digimon here just in case," Yamato said, feeling that it wouldn't really make much of difference either way if they stayed in the Digital World or came, but knowing it would at least give Taichi something to do. He continued, "Wizardmon's still collecting them. If it comes to it, at least we'll be ready to help if they need us."

Taichi did not look extremely pleased by this suggestion, but he relented as he said, "Fine, but how are we going to get them here? Unless the gate stayed open, we can't go back and get them."

"We'll have to tell one of the kids."

"Which one though?"

Yamato quickly ran through the very short list. Obviously, the ideal choices would have been either Takeru or Hikari, but as neither one was available, he had to consider the other options. He immediately dismissed both Daisuke and Miyako, as both would probably ask too many questions and would be unlikely to keep this whole matter to themselves. Ken was a possibility, until you took into account that he was dating Miyako, who would most likely wheedle the whole thing out of him. Which left them only one other option left, the Digidestined whom was actually rather perfect for what they needed.

"Iori," both Yamato and Taichi said at the same time. They shared identical grins as their eyes meet. Yamato knew that, just like him, Taichi was probably feeling better about having some kind of a plan and actually doing something.

Yamato scooped up Patamon, who just sniffled in his arms as they ran back to their apartment. Taichi checked the gate and found it closed, so he picked up the phone and called Iori, who was at their apartment less than half an hour later. Taichi and Yamato left Gabumon and Agumon with Patamon in the living room, figuring that they couldn't get into that much trouble if they were only going to be in the Digital World for about five minutes and led Iori to the computer. He didn't ask too many questions, but just quietly opened the gate to the Digital World and together the three landed in the Digital World, where they were immediately set upon by eager Digimon.

"Howdy, Iori. How've ya been?" Yamato heard Armadillomon say to Iori as he broke off from the crowd around them to approach his partner. The rest of the Digimon voiced the questions of where their partners were (well, Veemon just jumped up and down excitedly chanting Daisuke name, but it amounted to the same thing).

Taichi and Yamato told them they would explain and Iori took the first batch back with him. Taichi left with another few, as Yamato turned to Wizardmon and said, "Thanks for all this. We really appreciate it."

"You're quite welcome," Wizardmon said. "But I am going with you."

Yamato studied him for a second, before nodding and saying, "Yeah." He figured that Wizardmon's friend was in trouble as well, and he wasn't about stand between something like that. He held up his Digivice to take the rest of them back to the real world through the portal.

They had just gotten through when someone suddenly began banging resoundingly on the door of the apartment. An enraged voice called through the door, "YAMATO! Answer this door! I know you're in there and if you've overslept or have some other lame excuse for not meeting me for breakfast, I am going to beat you over the head with the closest thing I can get my hands on!"

Yamato swallowed deeply and exchanged looks of dread with Taichi as Biyomon called out, "Hey, that sounds like Sora!" Yamato shushed her quickly, thinking quickly. He had completely forgotten that he agreed to meet her that morning in all the things that had happened. He thought it was understandable, but without explaining the whole situation, he knew that Sora was unlikely to see it that way.

"What do we do?" Yamato asked in a hushed whisper to Taichi. Iori looked questioningly between them, but didn't offer any comment.

"You've got to answer the door," Taichi said as he started to usher the Digimon into the bedrooms, causing much too loud protesting from them. "It'll only be worse if you don't."

"Who else is in there?" Sora's voice roared through the door. "Yamato, open this door!"

With the Digimon and Iori safely hidden away behind the bedroom doors, Taichi nodded to Yamato, who approached the door and opened it, immediately saying, "I'm sorry, Sora, I totally forgot. I promise it won't ever happen again."

Sora glared at him and Yamato was sure that she was weighing the sincerity of his apology. Suddenly, her face softened as she said, "I guess this business with Takeru has got you a little off. I suppose I can forgive you."

Yamato's jaw dropped in shock. He was wondering how she found out about what had happened, so all he stammered out was, "Uh…thanks."

Her glare turned glowering one more time before she entered the apartment and bent down to take off her shoes, so she missed the glances that Taichi and Yamato shot at each other over her head. Yamato let out a soft breath of relief as she continued, "I know it's got to be weird to have Takeru show up with a strange girl." She straightened and Yamato followed her further into the apartment. As they walked past the bedroom doors, Yamato could only hope that Iori would keep the Digimon quiet. He was sort of starting to regret his idea of bringing them here. He was insane to think that they could keep this from the others. "So, who was talking earlier? I heard a bunch of voices." Sora looked at him smiling.

"The…uh…TV was on," Taichi said brokenly. Yamato almost winced at the now suspicious glare that Sora was training on both him and Taichi in turn.

"All right," she said. "Out with it. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing," Yamato and Taichi said at the same time in an identical innocently casual tone.

"Really?" Sora asked and Yamato could tell that not a single part of her believed them. It didn't help that he wanted to tell her the truth, but knew it wouldn't even matter if he did. The darkness wouldn't let her remember Hikari. Her face fell slowly from anger to worry as she said, "Then why do you two have the same look in your eyes that you had just a few days ago when Takeru was in the hospital? You're both worried out of your minds, but trying not to show it. Tell me! I can help. I want to help."

"Sora, we…" Taichi trailed off and Yamato bit his lip. Her eyes were earnest and understanding as she stared at him. The two best friends looked at each other again.

Before either of them could say any more, the door to one of the bedrooms burst open and Biyomon marched out and said, "I agree with Sora. We want to help." The rest of the Digimon came out of the room, shortly followed by the second bedroom door opening and the rest of the Digimon. Iori followed more slowly, Patamon drooping in his arms.

"Biyomon? What are you doing here?" Sora asked complete shock in her voice. She looked around and asked, "What are all of you doing here? And is that…Wizardmon?" She finally caught sight of Iori and Patamon. "Iori? Is that-?" She cut off and whipped around, grabbing Yamato's shirt in her hands. "It's Takeru, isn't it? Something's happened. What aren't you telling me?"

Yamato was saved from answering by the phone ringing.

If there was ever a place he didn't ever want to see again, Takeru would pick this one. He had no idea where he was supposed to find Hikari; both of the times he had been here before, she had either been with him or he had appeared close to her. But there was nothing in sight now other than the ocean, the beach, and the forest of trees. And he didn't even have Patamon with him, his small Digimon not having made it through the portal after him before it closed. It had been a terrible connection; he imagined that if he hadn't jumped when he did he wouldn't have made it through either. He was a little worried of what exactly he could do without his partner, but that didn't stop his resolve of trying to save Hikari anyway.

A figure approached through the ocean mist. Takeru contemplated hiding for half a second, but then realized it really wouldn't do him any good. Whoever was there was walking right towards him; they would have seen him. He just had to hope they would take him to Hikari.

The figure came into better view and at first Takeru thought it was a tall woman dressed in black and purple, but upon closer inspection, the details gave her away as a Digimon rather than a human. She was grinning as she approached, but Takeru had seen enough evil Digimon and their grins not to take that as a great sign. She stopped a few feet from him and purred, "Hello, Takeru." Suddenly her eyes cast about in alarm. She raced forward and grasped his arm in her hand. "Where is Patamon?" she asked, almost in a panic.

Thoroughly confused as to why this Digimon knew him on sight since he had never seen her before, he ripped from her grasp and backed away. "Who are you?" he asked, partly wary, but also partly curious.

She shook her head. "No, no, this isn't right," she muttered, but she didn't seem to be speaking to him at all. "This changes things." She suddenly turned to him and pleaded, "Takeru, you've got to leave. There's too many of them now for us to do anything without Patamon. Your powers are purely defensive, and with Hikari thinking she's Queen of the Dark World now—"

"What?" Takeru exclaimed interrupting both because he was surprised and because he had no idea what this Digimon was going on about. Then, quickly suddenly, it clicked. She knew who he was. She knew who Hikari was. She knew who Patamon was. "Gatomon?" he asked amazed and somewhat horrified at the same time.

She nodded in confirmation. "They brought me here and gave me back my memories of Hikari," she said. "I wasn't being very cooperate when they pulled me here and they thought that giving them back would make me more so, which, in a way, they were right. They filled me with darkness and caused me to Dark Digivolve. I'm Lilithmon now instead of Ophanimon."

"My shield finally helped me regain my memories," Takeru said, nodding in understanding. "You seem to be all right. Why haven't you gotten Hikari out of here?"

"I can't," Lilithmon said giving him a pained look. "Unless some miracle happens, only you and Hikari together can open a portal back to our world. It's one thing to pull someone here, it's quite another to get out. The dark creatures have been pulling a bunch of Dark Digimon from the Digital World here. I thought that if you came and brought Patamon, we could destroy enough of them to get Hikari out, because they are definitely going to fight for her. But without Patamon or Hikari's memories, I'm not sure we could win. I may be a Mega, but there are so many of the dark creatures. They gave me the darkness to reach this level; they might be able to take it away, I don't really know. With Hikari full of darkness, even if I returned to Gatomon, I wouldn't be able to become Angewomon or Ophanimon." She gave a cry of frustration. "There are just too many unknowns. I won't risk Hikari."

Takeru saw her point; he was not going to risk Hikari for anything, but neither did he want to leave her here. "She's really full of darkness? And she thinks she's Queen?"

Lilithmon nodded sadly. "I don't know what happened; I don't have the full story. And to be honest, right now, I don't really care to hear it. We have more important things to worry about. We have to get you back. And you'll probably need to bring everyone else with you. The dark creatures are planning on bringing even more Dark Digimon, more powerful than the ones they have now. They may even be drawing them right now." She looked behind her, almost as if she was expecting one to be there. She beckoned Takeru and began to walk. He followed, his mind swirling with all the new information he had just received.

"I can't leave her here," Takeru said after a few minutes, not able to keep the words in any longer. "You can't ask that of me."

Lilithmon didn't stop walking as she answered, "I'll protect her, Takeru. She'll be safe with me. You can't do anything. Your powers are defensive, not offensive like Hikari's. If she had her memories back and would be willing to fight with us, I might be tempted to try it, but I just don't think that's possible."

An idea struck him so thoroughly that it was a wonder to him that he didn't think of it earlier. "I can use my shield to help her," he said. "I was able to extend it to Patamon, Taichi, and Yamato to get them to remember her. If I could reach her, maybe my shield can push the darkness from her."

Lilithmon was silent for a few seconds. "That could work," she said, but her voice didn't sound as excited and hopeful as he had been. "But I don't think the dark creatures will let you get close to her for you to make it happen. They are well aware of your powers. I don't think they've bothered to erase your memories again because they only wanted you not to remember her long enough for them to turn Hikari to them. I don't know what they will do to you if you try. If you got hurt, that would devastate her." A smile flitted on her lips. "You know, I think Hikari's falling in love with you all over again. She really wants to see you. I believe that was the only reason I convinced her to reach out to you to open the portal again."

Takeru was suddenly silently thrilled and overjoyed at the thought that Hikari still loved him even though she didn't truly remember him. His mind cast back to the words she had absently written on the paper. Some part of her remembered them; he really believed that to be true.

They reached a giant stone castle, for lack of a better word. Lilithmon looked at him in a slight panic. "Remember," she whispered quietly and hastily. "Don't try to get close to her, just concentrate on getting back to the others. You've got to bring them; it's the only way. And trust me, I'll protect her."

Takeru didn't have a chance to answer her, as her gaze turned back to the door and froze over with coldness as they opened. She led him through the doors and Takeru could feel the coldness and the darkness that lay over the very halls of the place. They passed a few Vilemon who flew overhead, but they did nothing to stop or delay them. Takeru clenched his fist. He hated all this darkness that he really couldn't do anything about.

Lilithmon lead him straight to a giant room, where two DarkTyrannomon growled softly from just inside the door, but let them pass. The shadow creatures filled the rest of the hall but for the throne at the end. He paused for a moment; it was the first time he had seen her since regaining his memories. He suddenly recalled the promise ring he had bought her; it had rolled under the dresser during one of his dizzy spells. He told her that he would be with her forever, and he intended to keep his word. He almost threw out Lilithmon's plan right there, and just barely suppressed the urge to run up, grab Hikari, and use all his power to create a portal from this place. The shadow creatures pressed in closer to them, almost as if they heard his thoughts. Lilithmon was right; they would fight him.

Lilithmon went to stand just beside Hikari, shooting Takeru a warning look as she turned around. Hikari smiled brightly at him and he couldn't help but return it. "I'm glad you came, Takeru," she said. "I wanted to explain to you better…why I need to stay here."

"You don't belong here," he said before he could stop himself.

Her face fell. "But I do," she said softly. "You don't know me…not really. We've only known each other a few days. I'm darkness, Takeru. Can't you feel it?"

And it devastated him to admit it, but he could. The same feeling that came from the shadow creatures was now all around her and Lilithmon. All he could wonder was how he could have let this happen to her. He couldn't feel the light in her anymore. But he thought there was still reason to hope. Gatomon still seemed to be herself, despite her Dark Digivolution, and Hikari hadn't change, even when he knew her as Hana. She had written the names of the Crests; Hikari had to be in there somewhere.

Her smile was sad. "I know you do," she said. "I can see it in your face. Why can't you see I belong here…with my people?"

Takeru took a step forward and almost instantly the shadow creatures moved in between him and Hikari forming a dark wall, while the DarkTyrannomon growled threateningly behind him. They did not touch him, but they got really close. Instinctively, his shield came up, but he noticed it didn't throw them back as much as it had in the summer. He suddenly realized that his shield wasn't as strong and knew that it was because Hikari was steeped in darkness. He should have realized that if her light was weakened than his own would be weakened as well; their powers were tied to each other after all. He looked over them to the throne where Hikari was staring at the dark creatures in confusion. Her eyes lifted to his.

"They aren't you're people," Takeru said as he wanted to get through to her. She thought that she belonged around these shadow creatures and Dark Digimon, which was so far from the truth. "You belong in the real world with us."

Her head shook sadly. "I didn't want it to be like this," she said. "I don't want to argue with you, Takeru. I just wanted to tell you good-bye properly. I wanted you to see that I was happy here. That you don't have to worry about me."

Takeru almost sent out a mirthless laugh. That she could actually believe she could be happy here, away from her friends and family, he knew that the dark creatures must have taken advantage of loss of memories. And he knew that he could not rescue her. Not now. Their hold was too strong for him to break alone with his powers weakened both by this world and with the loss of Hikari's Light. His heart nearly tore in two with the realization that he had come all this way just to figure out he could do nothing. He turned his grieved gaze to Lilithmon, who nodded slowly once and placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder, reminding him that she would protect her. He returned the nod and looked back at Hikari. "I'm going to come back for you, Hikari," he said, forgetting briefly that the name meant nothing to her now.

"Please don't," she pleaded desperation and sadness in her voice. "I'm afraid if you do, we will not be on the same side. Please just tell me good-bye, go, and don't look back."

"I won't do that," Takeru said, hoping that he might get through to her. "I love you," he added simply, smiling brightly at her, joy filling him at being able to say it to her again. Her sharp gasp echoed across the hall and her eyes widened with shock. Lilithmon tightened her grip on Hikari and threw Takeru a slightly panicked look.

The dark creatures were pressing closer, but his shield kept them at bay. He reached into himself, trying to find the connection to Hikari that would allow the opening of the portal back to the Digital World. He reached out and something unexpected reached back: a small light, hiding in the darkness. He could feel the portal begin to open, but he locked eyes one more time with Hikari, realizing what it meant. She was there; her light was very deep, but it was still there. There was still hope.

Takeru let the portal take him away, telling himself that he would return as soon as he could.

All of them stared at the ringing phone, which had just cut across the tension in the room, surprising them with its normalcy. They all glanced at each other before Taichi walked over and checked the ID, finding that it was Koushiro. Suddenly feeling that this certainly couldn't be a coincidence, he picked up the phone and said, a little anxiously, "Hello?"

"Good morning, Taichi," Koushiro replied a little too happily for Taichi's taste. "Have you seen Takeru?"

Taichi gripped the handle a little tighter. He looked around and saw that the other three Digidestined and the Digimon had gathered closer around, though remaining silent. "No. Why?"

"I've been talking to Gennai about Hana, and we've got a theory," Koushiro said. "You've met Hana, right?"

"Yes," Taichi said, thoughts of his sister now crossing his mind.

"I told Takeru I would call him, but he's not answering," Koushiro explained. "So I was—Prodigious!" he said suddenly, cutting off his own sentence and Taichi almost jumped in shock. "Sorry to bother you. I've found him."

Taichi's hold on the phone grew even tighter. "Where is he, Koushiro?" he practically yelled into the phone, his panic and excitement overcoming him in the moment. He locked eyes with Yamato, whose gaze told him he guessed where the phone conversation had just led.

Koushiro next words sounded a little softer, probably in shock that Taichi was yelling at him. "His signal just popped up the Digital World."