DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.

Chapter Eighteen: Family

Monday 25th October - 4:24pm

Nonaka Residence

"I…I…" Rika stammered, trying to get her head around the new information. "You're…pregnant again?"

"What? No!" Rumiko exclaimed in surprise. "I'm not her mother…she's technically your half-sister."

"Half…"

"When you were four, your father went to England for his mother's funeral. You probably won't remember - you were too young," the woman started, blinking in surprise as her daughter shook her head and spoke up.

"I remember…I remember missing him…I remember counting the days until he came back."

"You cried so hard when he left, and when he came back you were…" Rumiko trailed off, a tear in her eye. "You were so happy…"

Rika clenched her fists and looked at the floor. I won't cry over him…won't let him get to me…he…is…nothing…

"What happened in England?" she asked through gritted teeth. "You obviously brought it up for a reason."

"I did some digging around and I found out that while he was in England he…" the blonde-haired woman gulped as a tear ran down her cheek, the betrayal still hurting despite all that had happened. "He had a drunken affair with a woman who lived not far from here and got her pregnant. He left the country before he found out about the baby and the woman couldn't get in touch to tell him about it."

"The woman he…got pregnant," Rika started hesitantly and looked up. "Was it Jane Robinson?"

"How did you…?"

"I…when I visited you and grandma the first time, I saw a girl with her. She had the same eyes as me…" she mumbled, trailing off as a horrible realization struck her. "Oh, gods…her mum…"

"I know," her mother sobbed and pulled her into a tight hug (more for the woman's benefit, Rika suspected, than for hers).

"What's going to happen to her?" the girl asked as soon as she had freed herself of the death-grip.

"I don't…I guess that's up to you," Rumiko sighed, elaborating when she noticed her daughter's confused look. "She doesn't have any living relatives or anybody who was named as guardian in her will. She's going to be sent to a foster family until the government can find her a permanent home."

"Okay, but how is this anything to do with me?"

"Your grandma and I have been talking, and we came up with a plan. I have some friends who have connections with the government. I've spoken to them and they said that if I wanted, they could make sure that we are allowed to adopt the girl," the woman replied, leaning down slightly and looking her daughter in the eye. "Rika…I will only go through with this if you want me to. I don't want to do anything if you're not okay with it."

Rika blinked and looked away, her mind a mess of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Needing a second opinion and some advice, she reached out telepathically to Renamon.

"Rika, this is not something I can help you with," came the gentle reply. "Only you can know what lies in your heart."

"What…what's her name?" the girl asked eventually, looking back to her mother.

"Samantha," she replied.

"I…I need to think about it," Rika mumbled and stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

Rika barely even noticed where she was walking, simply letting her feet carry her wherever they wanted. She wandered out of the back door in the kitchen and through the forest into Kirkfield Park. The girl was vaguely aware of Renamon following her, but paid the kitsune little notice. She strolled through the park for over half an hour before her feet carried her away, past Redcliff Mount School and down the road towards the Matsuki Family Bakery.

Matsuki Family Bakery - 5:02pm

"Rika, hey there!" a man's voice called, waking the girl from her reverie. "Everything okay?"

Rika blinked and looked up into the smiling face of Takehiro Matsuki. She shook off her surprise and spoke, the words barely even registering as they left her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Is Takato here? I need to talk to him about something."

"Sure, I'll go get him," the man replied and wandered off to find his son.

Where the hell did that come from? the girl wondered and shook her head in bewilderment. Come to think of it…I don't even remember walking here…

"Hey, Rika!" a familiar voice called and the redhead turned to see the grinning face of everybody's favourite Gogglehead.

"Hey, Goggles," she replied, glancing around quickly.

"So, my dad said you wanted to talk to me about something," the boy said cheerfully, frowning as his fellow Tamer shook her head and mouthed the words 'not here'. "Actually, do you mind if we head round to the park? I could use some fresh air."

"Yeah, sure."

Takato quickly shouted to his parents that he was going out, receiving strict orders from his mother to be back by six in reply. The two Tamers walked towards the park at a leisurely pace, neither of them saying a word throughout the journey. When they reached Gorilla Clearing they sat down on a log, breathing in the cool dusk air for a few minutes before breaking the silence.

"So…" Takato ventured with a concerned glance at the girl. "What's up?"

"Okay," Rika sighed and took a deep breath. "What I tell you doesn't go any further than us two - you can't even tell Guilmon."

"Heh, Terriermon would probably try to blackmail it out of him if he found out he knew something."

"Exactly. There's parts of this I can't tell you - parts that I can't really tell anyone about - so I might not make a lot of sense at times."

"No problem," the boy replied with a friendly smile. "Just talk about whatever you feel comfortable with."

Rika started talking, explaining a basic outline of the events of the past day. Takato listened attentively as the girl related the story of James Nonaka's affair and the horrible coincidence that led to her family's quite literal collision with that of Samantha and Jane Robinson. She finished the tale with the choice her mother had given her and waited patiently for her friend's reply.

"Whoa," he said eventually and shook his head. "So, you don't know whether to tell your mum yes or no?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I guess I just needed a second opinion on all this," the redhead shrugged in reply. "I mean, she's my sister. She's gotta be better off with me and my mum and grandma than with some strangers, right? I'm the only family she has left and I…I don't want her to feel as alone as I used to…"

Takato noticed the girl rubbing at her wrists absent-mindedly and immediately caught on to the unspoken implication. "Well, I'm not exactly an expert with the whole adoption thing," he said slowly with a small frown. "Did you think about maybe talking to Steph about this?"

"Steph? Why her?"

"You mean you don't know?" he asked with a surprised look on his face. "Steph's adopted."

"She is?"

"Yeah, I thought you knew."

"Huh…that explains a couple of weird things Cam said. I thought he was just going nuts at the time."

"Well, it's usually a pretty safe bet to make," the boy chuckled. "So, do you wanna talk to Steph? I can show you where she lives."

"Sure, I guess it couldn't hurt."

Twenty minutes later, the Tamers returned to the clearing with Steph in tow. Rika gave the blonde-haired girl a similar warning to the one she had given Takato before she began her story, telling her exactly what she had told the boy. As the redhead trailed off into silence, a thoughtful look passed across Steph's face.

"Hmmm…" she mumbled and scratched the back of her neck. "I don't really know what to tell you. I mean, sure, if it was me I guess I'd want to be with someone who was family…and at least your mum's way she'd definitely get a home…"

"You mean there's a chance she wouldn't?" Rika asked with a worried frown.

"Yeah I guess," the blonde-haired girl replied and shrugged. "People don't always want to adopt an older kid - they'd rather have a baby. She'd probably still get adopted and she'd be going to a good family, but it might take a little while."

The Tamer nodded and matched her friend's thoughtful look with one of her own. "I guess it'd be the best thing then…"

"Best for her, maybe - and it is a big 'maybe'. And Rika…look, I know this is gonna sound like some weirdo American psychiatrist, but…what do you feel?"

"I…I don't know…" the girl sighed and shook her head. "I mean, I want to help her, but…I'm so confused."

"I have an idea," Takato piped up, earning him a worried look from the two girls. "Have you seen that episode of 'Friends' where Joey does that thing where he gets asked a bunch of questions and has to answer them as quick as he can without thinking?"

"That has got to be the dumbest…" Rika started to say, then sighed and shook her head. "Oh, whatever. I guess it can't hurt to try."

"Okay, close your eyes and relax…" the boy ordered, thinking of a series of questions to ask as he did so. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue."

"What's your favourite song?"

"Daybreak's Bells."

As the rapid-fire interrogation continued, Steph felt an evil idea beginning to form in her mind. She spoke up after Takato had asked Rika her favourite Xbox game, barely able to suppress her laughter as she asked her question.

"Who's cuter - Ryo or Henry."

"Ry-" the redhead started to say then caught herself, glaring daggers at the blonde-haired girl. "You are so dead…"

"Keep going! What's your favourite band?" Takato barked, drawing her back into the right mindset. A couple of questions later, the boy finally asked the big question.

"Do you want your sister to live with you?"

"Yes!" Rika replied quickly, then opened her eyes as she realized what she had said. "Yes…"

"Only you can know what lies in your heart…" Renamon's voice chuckled lightly in her head. "…but sometimes it takes another to unlock the doors."

Nonaka Residence - 5:55pm

Rumiko practically leapt off of the leather sofa as she heard the back door open. She walked quickly to the kitchen, coming face-to-face with her daughter.

"Hey," the blonde-haired woman said softly with a small smile. "Look, I don't expect you to decide this immediately - take as long as y-"

"I've decided," Rika interrupted, looking into her mother's eyes with an unreadable gaze.

"You…have?" the woman said and blinked in surprise, waiting patiently for the girl's answer. Rika stood there for a moment before closing her eyes and mumbling one word.

"Yes."

An ecstatic smile spread across Rumiko's face as she pulled her daughter into a hug. "Rika…"

The girl squirmed in her grip, uncomfortable with the sudden physical contact. Eventually, the woman got the picture and released her with a slightly more moderated smile.

"I need to make a few phone calls and get everything sorted out," she said softly and turned to head back to the living room.

"Uh, mum?" Rika called, causing the woman to stop in her tracks. "When will I get to meet her?"

"If everything goes well, she should have moved in by the end of the week. I'll make sure you get the chance to see her at least once before then," Rumiko replied and looked thoughtful for a second. "Hmmm…actually, I'm feeling pretty hungry. Think I'll make dinner before I call the agency! Does sushi sound okay?"

Her daughter winced and turned even paler than usual before she replied. "Uh, mum…the last time you, erm…'cooked' was back in 2005 and I was sick for a week."

"Oh, right…" the woman mumbled and grinned sheepishly. "I'll go order a pizza…"

Rumiko had everything arranged by the end of the night. Rika would meet Samantha at her temporary home on Thursday afternoon and if all went well, the girl would be moving in with them by Sunday. For the first time in her life, the Tamer found herself grateful for the connections and privileges offered by her mother's career. Fortunately, the Digital World appeared to be respecting Rika's earlier wishes for a week of rest and relaxation, allowing her plenty of free time. The first Bio-emergence of the half-term holiday came on Wednesday, when the two Nonakas were busy visiting Seiko at the hospital. The emerging Digimon - a BlackGabumon with some serious anger-management issues - was dealt with quickly and efficiently by Cam and Gaomon, the fight ending several minutes before anyone else could appear on the scene.

As Thursday drew closer, Rika began to feel more and more nervous about her meeting with her sister. She ended up bringing Henry and Cam in on the secret on Wednesday afternoon when she realized that she had no idea how to handle young children. Since one of the boys had a sister the same age as Sam and the other had the same mental age, she thought they would be an excellent source of information. Cam actually showed a surprising level of restraint and sensitivity in respect to making jokes, as did Terriermon (after Cam 'borrowed' Henry's D-Arc and slashed a Rock Armour card). The blue-haired Tamer's advice helped to calm the girl's nerves considerably and when Thursday afternoon arrived, she entered her sister's temporary home with a surprising amount of confidence.

Thursday 28th October - 2:30pm

Kingdom Family Residence, Gomersal

The house where Samantha was staying was quite large. Judging by the exterior, Rika would have guessed that it had at least four or five bedrooms. The girl took a deep breath as her mother rang the doorbell and waited patiently for an answer. The answer came in the form of a tall, jolly-looking man of about fifty, with short grey hair and a warm smile.

"Hi there, you must be Rumiko and Rika Nonaka. I'm David Kingdom," he said in a friendly tone. "Please, come in. Sorry about the mess…"

Rika tuned the two adults out as they exchanged the usual pleasantries and took a quick look around the interior of the house. Despite the fact that the house was incredibly messy, it was obvious that the Kingdoms were quite well off. The girl glanced into each room as they walked past it, counting five children of a variety of races aged between four and ten scattered around the ground floor. The thunderous noise of stampeding feet reverberating through the ceiling told her that there were several more children upstairs.

"…have nine children currently staying with us, including Samantha," David said as the redhead tuned back in. The man led the pair into a kitchen that looked more like the aftermath of an artillery strike than a place to prepare food. "Can I offer you something to drink? Tea perhaps, or some orange juice?"

"Tea would be lovely, thank you. Two sugars please," Rumiko replied as her daughter mumbled a polite "No, thank you."

"You'll be able to go see her in a couple of minutes," the man said as he poured two cups tea. "My wife is just clearing the upstairs of the other children."

Right on cue, a trio of children stampeded down the stairs, charging past the open kitchen door and into the living room. David carefully carried the mugs of tea over to the table, setting one in front of Rumiko and taking a sip from the second one himself.

"Please don't be offended by this question, but I was wondering - will both of you be going to see Samantha or just Rika?"

"No offence taken," the blonde-haired woman smiled and took a sip of her own tea. "Rika wanted to go in alone, which is fine with me if it's fine with you."

"I don't see any problem with it," he smiled in return, glancing at the door as a short, grey-haired woman in her fifties entered the kitchen. "This is my wife, Beatrice. I assume this means that…?"

"Yes," Beatrice replied with a warm smile. "Samantha is waiting for you upstairs. I can take you up now, if you'd like."

"Please," Rika replied softly as she stood up and followed the woman out of the room. Beatrice led her up the stairs, taking a left and halting outside a featureless cream-painted door.

"Samantha?" the portly woman called and knocked on the door gently before opening it to reveal a pink-painted room with two beds - one single and one bunk. A pale-skinned girl with reddish-brown hair was sat on the single bed, drawing in pencil crayons on a sheet of white paper. Rika immediately recognized her as the girl from the hospital when she turned around, revealing a pair of sad, violet eyes and a face that bore a distinct resemblance to her late mother's. "Samantha, this is Rika. We talked about her earlier, remember?"

The little girl nodded and returned to her drawing. Beatrice gently pushed Rika into the room and closed the door behind her, leaving the sisters alone together. The redhead stood there for a moment, shifting her feet uncomfortably, before she took a few steps forward and sat down on the bed next to Samantha.

"Hi," the Tamer said eventually, her voice uncharacteristically nervous.

"Hi," her sister replied, not looking up from her picture.

"What are you drawing?" Rika asked, desperately searching for a topic to talk about.

Samantha handed her the picture without a word. It showed a large, green field filled with flowers, a small stick-figure stood at the centre of the field. The stick figure appeared to be a girl, but was so small it was difficult to tell. Rika peered closely, and could just make out that it had long, brown hair and a sad expression.

"That girl in the middle of the picture looks lonely. Who is she?" the redhead asked despite knowing the answer already.

"Me…" the younger girl replied, a heartbreakingly miserable expression plastered across her face.

The Tamer didn't know how to reply. Inwardly cursing her social awkwardness, the older girl hesitantly put her right hand on her sister's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Do you feel lonely?"

The girl nodded, barely acknowledging the physical contact. "Mrs Bea said that you were my sister, but we don't have the same mummy."

"I…yeah, that's right."

"Do we have the same daddy?"

Rika felt her insides churn at the innocent question. "Y-yes."

"Mrs Bea said that I might be going to live with you soon. Does that mean I'll be living with daddy?"

"No," the redhead replied, feeling both her anger and depression flaring at the same time. When she had them under control again, she continued. "Our dad…he left when I was five."

"Did he die too?"

I wish… "No, he just…he just ran away."

"Why did he do that?" Samantha asked in a horrified tone. "My mummy always said that family is the most important thing!"

"Tell that to James Nonaka…" Rika muttered bitterly and clenched her free hand into a fist.

"Are you angry?" the younger girl asked, looking sadly at her older sister as she nodded. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault," the Tamer sighed and glanced at the girl. "I just…I don't like talking about him. Can we talk about something else?"

"Okay, like what?"

"Ummm…how old are you?"

"Seven years old," the brunette said proudly, her depressed look almost lifting for a brief moment. "I'll be eight on the eighteenth of November."

Damn, there goes my next question… Rika thought bitterly as she quickly came up with a new one. "So, which school do you go to?"

"Tong First School. Mrs Bea says that I'll have to go to a new school 'cause my old one is too far away."

"I think she's right," the redhead replied thoughtfully. Tong was over five miles away from Rika's house, making it quite a long trip to and from school for the girl.

"I'm glad I don't have to go back there," Samantha said, her depressed look contrasting with her positive words.

"Why, don't you like it there?"

"No, I hate it!" she replied with a surprising amount of venom. "All the other kids are mean to me and call me names. They steal my stuff and hide it, then chase me around when I try to tell the teacher."

Rika flinched as she remembered her own, hauntingly similar experiences at her first school. "What do you do when they chase you?"

"I run away. Everyone's bigger than me and they push me around if I let them catch me."

The older girl bent down and looked her sister in the eye. "Samantha…when you go to your new school, I want you to tell me if anybody ever picks on you," she growled, feeling surprisingly protective of her younger sibling. "I'll go find them and make sure they never bully you again."

"Really?" the seven-year-old gasped, an overjoyed expression on her face. "Thank you!"

"Hey, what are older sisters for? We're family - we have to stick together." the Tamer chuckled. Note to self: thank Takato for the line…

The two sat in silence for a minute before Samantha spoke up. "Sam."

"Huh?"

"I don't like being called Samantha," the brunette explained. "I like Sam better."

"Then why does, um…'Mrs Bea' still call you Samantha?" Rika asked, a confused expression on her face.

"I never told her not to," Sam shrugged, looking thoughtful. "I don't like her enough to tell her."

"Okay…" the older girl said, trying to work out what her sister was saying. "So, only people you like get to call you Sam?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"Wow, um…thanks," the redhead said and blinked in surprise. "So, why don't you like Mrs Bea? Is she mean to you?"

"No, I just…don't like her. She smiles too much."

"Yeah, that can get a little annoying," the Tamer smirked and shook her head. "So, who else do you let call you Sam?"

"Just you and…mum…" the younger girl mumbled, trailing off as her depressed expression reappeared and her eyes filled with tears.

Rika didn't say a word, instead putting one arm around the quietly-crying girl's shoulders in a slightly awkward hug. Sam turned and leapt at her sister, wrapping her arms around the older girl's midsection and pulling her into a painfully-tight embrace. The redhead was stunned for a few seconds, not knowing how to react to the sudden development, before she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Sam's shoulders, returning the hug gently.

Rika's meeting with her sister had gone much better than she had dared hope. The pair had forged an unspoken bond and the older girl couldn't help but look forward to Sunday, when Sam would be moving in to the Nonaka residence. Meanwhile, there was a distinct lack of any real Digimon activity, giving almost all of the Tamers a much needed break. Rika, however, was kept even busier than usual, as her grandmother was discharged from hospital on Friday and the redhead spent the weekend helping her mother to look after the injured woman and prepare for Sam's arrival.

When Sunday finally came around, Rika took an odd pleasure in the stunned look on her sister's face as the younger girl caught sight of her new home. After a relatively brief tour of the house and its grounds, Sam was allowed to choose one of the three guest rooms to call her own. She chose the room closest to Rika's, directly across the hall, and was delighted to learn that she would be allowed to decorate it to her tastes at a later date. Rumiko, on the other hand, was delighted to discover that her adopted daughter had a tolerance for all things pink and girly that was much closer to 'normal' than that of her 'blood' daughter. Sam's tolerance only extended so far, however, and Rika had to throw her mother out of the younger girl's room when she dragged a life-size fluffy pink unicorn in through the door. Apparently, the woman had been keeping it in a box in the attic "just in case we needed it".

Eventually, Sam was allowed some time alone in her new room, and Rika took this opportunity to communicate telepathically with Renamon. The kitsune was surprised to learn that her Tamer did not want to reveal her existence to her younger sister, and was even more surprised when she heard the girl's reason.

"She's been through enough. If she finds out about the whole Digimon thing, she might get dragged into it. If that happens, she'll just get put in danger all the time and I don't want her to have to fight and put up with all the stuff we do."

"I understand and will respect your decision, though I do not agree with it. Keeping her ignorant of the Digimon threat will only endanger her more and there is still a good chance that she will get caught in the crossfire of an emergence anyway, much like Cam and Steph did. If she does not know what to expect, she will be in even greater danger and we will have to reveal my existence anyway when we arrive to save her."

"We'll deal with that if and when it happens. My mind is made up, Renamon."