A/N: This is the epilogue for the first part of this series. I'm not sure when I will start working on the next part but when I do it will be based on the V-Tamer manga.
For as long as Yamato could remember, he could always see the colored strings. The very first string that he remembered seeing was the one that connected his father and mother. The string between them had been a vibrant and bright blue mixed with a pulsating red. Yamato had thought the string was stunning. When he told his mother how beautiful the string between her and his father was, her reaction had confused Yamato. His mother had tried to persuade him that the strings he saw were just his imagination and did not want him to hear any more about the matter. He was saddened that his mother did not believe him and did not tell her anymore about the strings as she wanted.
However, he received a much different reaction when he told his father. His father took him to the side in private and explained that seeing the strings was a special gift he had. His father had been very supportive of his gift and said that he could always talk to him about the strings whenever he wanted. His father made it clear that it should stay between them and that it was best not to tell his mother anymore about them. When Yamato had agreed only to share the strings he saw with his father, ironically, the second string he saw appear was the one between the two of them. Yamato immediately told his father about the new reddish sky-blue string that connected them, bringing a warm smile to his father's face.
The third string Yamato saw was the one that formed between him and his new baby brother Takeru. Their string was pale blue with gold mixed in. But what had caught Yamato's attention was that the same gold color in their string also surrounded Takeru. When he had shared the discovery with his father, he seemed shocked before a look of resolve came on his face. His father then explained that the gold color meant that his brother would have a special gift like him and that they would need to keep an eye on Takeru to see what kind of gift he would get. Yamato nodded in understanding and had promised his father that he would watch over Takeru.
When his brother turned three, Yamato soon discovered Takeru's gift. His brother could make people's deepest wishes come true. His brother was like a genie, and it was cool having a brother with that kind of gift. Yamato had been excited to share the news with his father once he found this out. However, when his father learned about Takeru's gift, he became concerned. He told Yamato that the kind of gift Takeru had could be dangerous and that it was best for Takeru not to use it as much as possible. Yamato did not understand why Takeru's gift could be dangerous, but he trusted his father.
It did not take long for his father to explain to Takeru about his gift and to keep it a secret from their mother. Yamato could tell Takeru was confused by the secrecy but accepted it as something between the men in their family.
Yamato soon realized what his father meant when he said Takeru's gift could be dangerous. One day his brother said he had granted a wish of somebody nearby who was sad. When Yamato asked who the person was, Takeru said that they felt like them and that the person really wanted to be reunited with their best friend again. Yamato had been intrigued by this since it meant that another person with a gift lived close by. He wondered what that person's gift was and if they would meet that person one day.
Unfortunately, the consequences of Takeru granting that wish were a huge giant green parrot and an orange dinosaur appearing briefly in the city before suddenly disappearing away. The monsters did not cause too much damage before they left, but plenty of people had seen them before they went away. When Takeru realized that his wish granting had led to the two monsters showing up, he felt guilty. He had promised their father not to grant wishes unless he knew who that person was and if their wish would not cause harm to someone. Yet Takeru had not done that when he had granted the last wish. He just knew that the person was not happy and in a lot of pain, so Takeru had wanted to make that person feel better. But then that parrot and dinosaur had showed up, and even though no one had gotten hurt, they could have.
Yamato had tried his best to relieve his brother of his guilt and told him to be more careful next time. When this did not work, Yamato told his father, and their father also tried to tell Takeru that it was simply a mistake that he needed to learn from. Their father then revealed to them that he had a gift too and how he had made similar mistakes with his gift. This finally made Takeru feel better, and Yamato was happy to see the new gold, red, and blue colored string formed between their father and Takeru.
From then on, their father helped them understand their gifts better and how to properly use them. Yamato's eyes would light up with happiness whenever he noticed that the strings between his father, brother, and himself would glow brighter and stronger as time went on. They, too, would smile whenever Yamato shared when this happened. Yamato enjoyed this special bond between the three of them and wanted it to stay this way.
However, what Yamato had failed to realize was that the other two did not share the same feelings as he did about it. Yamato soon realized that his father felt guilty for keeping these secrets from their mother and that Takeru wanted their mother to be a part of the secret. Yet, for Yamato, he did not have a problem keeping such things from his mother.
Perhaps it was because of his mother's reaction to him when he first told her about seeing the strings that discouraged the thought of including her. Yamato could clearly remember the brief look of fear on her face when he had mentioned seeing the strings before quickly telling him that what he was seeing was not real. Even though Yamato had been very young then, he understood that his mother did not want to believe that he was different from other kids his age. So, he had accepted a long time ago that she would not be as supportive of his gift as his father was.
Yamato was sure his father knew this, too, so their father would never risk telling their mother what was going on between the three of them despite feeling guilty. However, Takeru had never experienced their mother's rejection of his gift, so Takeru continued to be confused about why they could not share it with their mother. Both Yamato and their father did their best to explain to Takeru why telling their mother would be a bad idea, but it was clear that Takeru still did not fully understand. Perhaps if Yamato had realized just how much Takeru disliked keeping things from their mother, Yamato would have probably shared with Takeru what happened when he first told their mother about his gift instead of keeping it to himself. Then maybe he could have prevented what happened next.
New Friends
Yamato tried not to show how eager he was to meet his dad's friends. However, Takeru had no problem showing how excited he was about this meeting. Takeru could barely keep still and constantly asked their dad questions about the people they would be seeing. Not that Yamato could blame Takeru for his excitement. Yamato was interested in learning more about their dad's friends who used to be Chosen Children, just like his dad. His dad rarely talked about his adventures in the Digital World and the other Chosen Children, so this was the perfect opportunity to get as much out of him as possible.
The only reason his dad had even confessed about being a Chosen Child in the first place was that he had been desperate to try and keep their family together. But the confession had only made his mother more adamant about leaving and taking him and Takeru away from their dad. And that was when Yamato first saw a string break. The string that connected his parents snaped, and Yamato felt like something in him had broken along with the string. Yamato could remember screaming in anguish the moment it had happened and how everyone had been stunned by his sudden outburst. His parents stopped arguing and asked him what was wrong, and at the time, all he could manage to get out was that the string broke. His father had instantly known what he had meant and reluctantly explained it to his mother. For the first time, it looked like his mother was starting to believe everything that his father had told her. Yamato just wished that the cost of his mother finally acknowledging that his gift was real had not been so high.
Still, it had taken the numerous Digimon attacks happening and how his father's evident knowledge about each one that attacked to get his mother to believe everything his father told her entirely. But it had not made things better between his parents. His mother could not handle that he and Takeru were destined to be children meant to fight Digimon one day. She refused to accept such a dangerous fate for him and Takeru, no matter how much his father tried to explain that there was nothing they could do to stop them from being Chosen Children. Eventually, this led to the divorce.
Yamato had chosen to stay with his father and let Takeru go with their mother. Though a deep part of Yamato wanted Takeru to stay with him and their dad. But Yamato knew it was selfish to do that and leave their mother all alone. So, he shoved that selfish part of him down and did the right thing. Yet, that part of him would still rear its ugly head from time to time, telling him that his mother deserved to be by herself since the divorce was her fault in the first place. Luckily, Yamato was good at ignoring his inner turmoil and would shove that part right back down.
Since the divorce, his dad had done his best to prepare him for his fate as a Chosen Child. This had led to Yamato taking Jiu-Jitsu classes and his dad taking him camping when possible so that he could teach him how to survive in the wilderness. They also discovered that he had a knack for cooking and music, which his dad had no problem encouraging. Yamato had understood how cooking would be essential but not the music part. But his dad had briefly explained how some Digimon had a connection with music and that his talent with music may come in handy one day.
Yamato and his father discovered he could do other things with his power. He could see the strings that formed and broke between people, but he could also strengthen or weaken the strings. Another neat trick Yamato discovered was that he could use the strings to find and communicate with those connected to them no matter how far away they were from him. He used this ability to frequently communicate with Takeru, who lived in Setagaya with their mother. It especially came in handy when Yamato wanted to share with Takeru what he had learned from his father regarding Digimon and the Digital World without their mother knowing.
Yamato knew that their mother was trying to shield Takeru from anything to deal with Digimon, hoping that somehow that would protect Takeru from his fate. But Yamato was sure if there were a way to avoid being a Chosen Child, his dad would have already told them. He trusted that his dad knew what he was talking about since he was a Chosen Child. So, Yamato never felt guilty about sharing any information he could with Takeru behind their mother's back. And he certainly did not feel guilty about teaching his brother some Jiu-Jitsu moves whenever he visited Takeru without their mother being aware of it. After all, Yamato was doing what was best for Takeru. He was the big brother, and since their mother would not prepare Takeru for what was to come and would not allow their father to come within proximity of Takeru, Yamato took it upon himself to be the one to do it.
When his dad got the call from one of his friends and agreed to bring him and Takeru to meet the past Chosen Children, Yamato was curious about why he and Takeru were going. His dad then explained that there would be children his and Takeru's age that were future Chosen Children that would be there and that it would be a good idea to meet them. Yamato found himself eager to meet other kids that had gifts like him and Takeru. He immediately told the news to Takeru through their connection, and his brother's reaction was ecstatic.
When their mother heard about the meeting, she did not want Takeru involved. Their father tried to persuade their mother, but she had not budged. When their dad was about to give up on convincing their mother, Yamato did something risky. He asked his brother if he could grant his wish for him to be able to go to the meeting, and Takeru was all too eager to do it. Their mother soon found herself assigned to a story with an impending deadline that would require her to work away from home that day. And since Takeru's powers were thorough, no babysitter was available to watch over Takeru that day. This left their mother no choice but to send Takeru to spend the day with him and his father.
When his dad had gotten the call from their mother about deciding to let Takeru stay over that day, he gave Yamato a suspicious look. Yamato was not the least bit sorry about what he and Takeru did, and his father was quick to realize this. Yamato was sure the only reason why his father did not address the matter this time was that the meeting would be an important one for them both to attend.
So now, the three of them were heading to the park for the meeting. As they got closer to the park, Yamato saw two strings suddenly appear from his father and leading in the direction they were heading. Yamato mentioned the two strings to his dad, causing a fond smile to form on his dad's face.
"Good, that means I'm not the last one to arrive at a meeting for once," he joked.
Yamato cracked a smile at seeing how happy his dad was. He was just as enthusiastic about meeting his friends as they were. When they arrived at the meeting place, Yamato saw a man and a woman already there. Yamato noticed the purple, grey, and blue string that connected the man and woman. The woman was the first to see them and greet them.
"Well, this is quite a surprise. You're actually on time for once, Hiroaki," she teased his father with a grin.
"Hey, you know my job is to blame for that, not me," he replied, to which the woman shook her head in amusement.
"It's good to see you, Hiroaki," the man said with a smile.
"Same," his dad stated with a grin.
"So, are you going to introduce us?" asked the woman as she looked at him and Takeru with a friendly smile.
"Right, Maki, Daigo, these are my sons Ishida Yamato and Takaishi Takeru. Boys, these are two of my good friends, Himekawa Maki and Nishijima Daigo," his dad told them.
"Nice to meet you," Yamato said respectfully.
"Hi!" greeted Takeru showing more enthusiasm in his greeting.
The two adults smiled at them and returned the greeting.
"It's nice to meet you boys too. We've heard many good things about you from Hiroaki," declared Daigo in a warm tone.
"What kind of things?" Yamato could not help but ask with a curious look, wondering what his dad had told his friends about him and his brother.
His question made the two adults chuckle.
"Mostly things dealing with you two being the next Chosen Children and what your powers are," answered Maki.
"That, and your awesome harmonica playing skills Yamato. You'll have to play for us sometime," added Daigo.
"Okay," murmured Yamato as a slight blush came to his face.
They were then interrupted by a woman and a girl his age that joined them. Yamato immediately saw the three strings that connected the woman to his dad, Maki, and Daigo. Yet to Yamato's surprise, the girl's eyes instantly shifted to the strings attached to the woman and followed its path to where the strings end. She had a curious expression on her face as she seemed to be studying the strings before she suddenly looked away from them as though she was catching herself doing something that she was not supposed to. Did this mean that she had similar powers to him? He desperately wanted to go over to her and ask, but that would probably be rude if he did that right now. Yamato would wait for a better time to ask her.
"Hello everyone, hope we're not late. My last class ran a little later than usual," the woman explained before noticing his dad.
"Hiroaki, you're actually on time for once, or are we that late?" she asked teasingly.
"For your information Toshiko, I can be to a meeting on time," his dad replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Yes, just not very often," she retorted with a grin.
"And you people are supposed to be my friends," said his dad in a fake offended tone.
Toshiko decided to ignore his dad's comment and introduce herself and the girl with her.
"Well, for those that don't know, I'm Takenouchi Toshiko, and this is my daughter Sora," she stated in a pleasant voice as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"Hello," greeted Sora with a smile and a small wave of her hand.
Daigo and Maki introduced themselves to Sora, while his dad introduced himself, him, and Takeru. After the second round of introductions was done, a slight frown came to Toshiko's lips.
"I'm surprised Satoshi isn't here yet. It's not like him to be late," she said concernedly.
The statement brought concerned looks to all the adults' faces.
"That's true, especially since he was the one that set up this meeting," remarked his dad.
"Maybe we should call him?" Daigo suggested.
Before anyone could say anything else, an older adult, a boy his age, and a girl Takeru's age appeared out of nowhere, giving everybody a good fright. But when the adults saw the older man among the group, they all calmed down. Once again, Yamato saw strings appear. A black violet blue string connected the older man and the boy, and a white violet blue one joined the older man and the girl.
Yet when Yamato saw the string between the boy and girl, it was different from any other string he had ever seen before. Their string looked much thicker than others, and the color of the string was a perfect mix of black and white. The way the two colors were entangled reminded Yamato of a yin and yang symbol. Yamato glanced at Sora and saw that her eyes were wide as her eyes landed on the same place the string between the boy and girl was. It further confirmed to Yamato that Sora could see the strings too.
"What the hell, Satoshi?!" his dad said in annoyance to the old man.
A sheepish expression came on the elder's face in response.
"Sorry about dropping in like that, but we've been trying to shake off my grandson's parole offices for the past half hour."
"I think we finally lost them, Jii-chan," the boy announced in an exhausted but relieved tone.
"We did. They are not close by," added the girl with a satisfied look.
The older adult seemed reassured to hear this.
"Good, that means Lucemon's distraction is working. Let's hope it keeps those three distracted long enough,"
Yamato did not understand anything that the three new people were talking about. Thankfully, he was not the only one confused about what they were saying.
"Okay, Satoshi, you have some explaining to do," replied Maki with her arms crossed seriously.
"I know, and I will but not here. Let's get to the real meeting place first," Satoshi said, confusing everyone.
"I'm sorry, did you just say real meeting place?" asked Toshiko in a baffled tone.
Yamato saw the grins on the older man, boy, and girl's faces. The three then linked their hands before the boy spoke next.
"Everybody, please hold hands," he instructed as he and the girl stretched their other hand out for someone to take.
Yamato was skeptical about the hand-holding thing since he was unsure what would happen if they did. However, Takeru did not seem to share the same feeling as his brother did not hesitate to go over and grab the girl's hand. Sora followed his brother's example and went over to take the boy's hand in hers. Yamato sighed before going over to Takeru and taking his brother's hand. Soon his father took his hand, Sora's mother took hers, Maki took Toshiko, and Daigo closed the circle holding Maki and his dad's hands.
"Everybody ready?" asked Satoshi with an amused grin.
"Like we have a choice," his dad remarked with an annoyed huff.
Satoshi then turned to the boy beside him.
"Let's go, Taichi."
"Right, Jii-chan," he enthusiastically replied before a focused expression came on his face.
Yamato gasped as the park's scenery disappeared and was replaced by a dark gray beach. Yamato looked around in wonder at the new place they were now in.
"What in the world?" he heard Daigo mutter as his eyes roamed every inch of the place.
"Where the hell are we, Satoshi?" asked his dad, obviously losing patience.
"We're in Onii-chan's world," the girl answered with a warm smile.
Everyone was even more confused by the girl's statement. Satoshi seeing this, decided to speak.
"I'll explain everything, but first introductions are in order. I'm Yagami Satoshi, and these two are my grandchildren, Taichi and Hikari," he said with a smile.
Taichi and Hikari gave a quick greeting in response, and everyone introduced themselves once more. Once the introductions were done, Satoshi turned to Taichi.
"Taichi, why don't you show your future teammates around for a bit," Satoshi told him.
Yamato did not like that idea, knowing it was the grownup's way of getting rid of them so they could have their adult conversations in private. Judging by the look on Taichi's face, he realized this too and was not happy about it like him.
"Jii-chan, that's not…" began Taichi, but Satoshi interrupted the boy with a pleading look.
"Taichi, there are some things that I want to only discuss with my friends. I'm sure you can understand that, right?"
Yamato thought that excuse was flimsy at best, but apparently, it worked on Taichi as a look of understanding instantly came on his face.
"Okay, Jii-chan," replied Taichi before facing him, Takeru, and Sora with a friendly smile.
"Let's go. I can show you guys a lot of cool things here!" he said cheerfully while taking his sister's hand and gesturing for them to follow him.
Knowing that they did not have much of a choice, they soon followed Taichi leaving the adults behind on the beach. It was quiet as Taichi was leading them to wherever he was taking him. But then his brother, who Yamato realized had been awfully quiet, spoke.
"You're the one whose wish I granted made Parrotmon and Greymon appear," his brother proclaimed as he looked right at Taichi.
The revelation stunned everyone and made them stop in their tracks. Yamato could not help but stare at Taichi, who seemed just as surprised by the news. But then Taichi looked at his brother with an intense stare, and before Yamato could tell the boy to stop, Taichi's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh, I see. Because you're hope, you had sensed my deepest wish and granted it," announced Taichi before a smile came on his lips.
"Even though the situation wasn't the best, I still had gotten the chance to see my partner again, which was worth it, so thanks for granting my wish Takeru."
"So granting your wish was a good thing after all?" asked Takeru in surprise.
Taichi's smile grew just a little bit more at that.
"Yeah, things would have probably been worse if you didn't," he answered honestly.
Takeru's face brightened when he heard this.
"Then, you're welcome, Taichi!" said Takeru happily.
Knowing that Takeru had still felt guilty about granting that wish, Yamato was glad that Takeru was finally relieved of his guilt. Glancing at Taichi, he sent a grateful look in the other boy's way, and Taichi smiled at him in response.
"Hey Taichi," said Sora causing Taichi to switch his gaze from him to Sora.
"Yeah?" he asked, giving Sora his full attention.
"How did you know Takeru's trait is hope? Kaa-san said we probably wouldn't know what we represent until we went to the Digital World," she asked with a curious expression in her voice.
Now that Sora had brought the subject up, he realized that Taichi had somehow known Takeru's trait. Their dad had told him the same thing as Sora's mom: it would be hard to figure out their trait until they started their adventure. So how did Taichi figure it out?
Taichi's eyes widened in realization before giving them a sheepish look.
"Oh, right, well, normally Digimon can tell what a Chosen Child represents pretty easily, and since I kind of have lots of Digimon inside me, I could tell too," he answered.
"Did you just say you have lots of Digimon inside you?" asked Sora in a baffled manner.
"Yeah, it's kind of a long story."
"Then give us the short version," suggested Yamato with his arms crossed, wanting immediate answers.
Taichi seemed to mull over his suggestion for a bit before he came to a decision. Taking a deep sigh, Taichi relented.
"I'm the Chosen Child of Darkness, and when the angel Digimon found out about me, they completely lost their shit."
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this first part of the series! Thanks to all those who reviewed, followed, and favored this story! See you guys in the next installment: Child of Darkness: Victory Tamer