Chapter 1: Shadows
Hikari woke up one more time that night. She had lost account of how many times she had woken and stared at the white ceiling above her. It had been one day since she had been taken to the dark ocean and was brought back by Tailmon and Takeru, but the nightmares didn't seem to stop and she had a feeling they wouldn't stop anytime soon.

Curled up next to her belly, Tailmon slept peacefully. Hikari couldn't help but smile and very softly began to stroke her fur. The Digimon stirred but didn't wake up. She felt slightly jealous of her partner being a heavy sleeper. Hikari was glad Tailmon was properly sleeping for the first night since the dark ocean. In the other ones, she stayed up all night taking care of her in case she'd wake up after another nightmare, which happened pretty much all night long.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Taichi's voice echoed in her room and Hikari looked down. He was sleeping on a slim mattress on the floor.
"You didn't need to sleep here." She said as she rested her chin on the wood protection on the edge of her bed.
"I know, but I'm worried about you."
"I'm alright, Taichi."
"I'm sure you are, but these nightmares aren't."
"They will go away soon." She rolled over on her bed and went back to staring at the ceiling.
"Mom is also worried about you."
"I can tell." She sighed. "Like I said, they will go away soon."
"But you don't know that, do you?"
"No, but I can hope."
"Hikari, you were transported to another world we don't know about. You got lucky Tailmon found you and told Takeru. Are you aware you got lucky?"
"Yes, Taichi, I'm aware of that." Hikari said a little annoyed. "I didn't want things to be this way, but for some reason darkness chooses me. Maybe because I'm the bearer of the Crest of Light and they always go together."
"Your Crest has nothing to do with it." Taichi said firmly. "It was the thing that possessed you three years ago and now you get taken away to a different place without wanting to. I don't know why these things happen to you, but I swear I won't let them happen again."
"What are you going to do about it? You can't keep an eye on me 24/7 all the time and I don't want it."
"I don't know, but I'll figure something out." He looked at her. "We need to wake up early in the morning to go to school. Do you think you can sleep until then?"
"I will try."
"Are you sure you are ready to go back to school?"
"Yes. I'm alright."
"I still think you shouldn't go tomorrow. Daisuke or Takeru can bring you the subjects later, so you can catch up."
"I don't want to miss school because mom will check on me all day and not do anything else. I don't want her to worry about me. She already has too much to take care of."
"Hikari." Tailmon said in a low tone as she looked at her partner. At some point she had woken up without Hikari having realized it.
"Well, you know mom. You can't really blame her, can you?"
"No." Hikari said eventually and rolled over to look at the white wall. "Good night, brother."
"Good night, Hikari."

Hikari woke up the next day feeling like she had been run over by a truck or something. She didn't expect it to be any different though, she kept dreaming nightmares about that monster, Digimon or whatever it was that she came across with in the dark ocean even after she talked to Taichi. She looked down from her bed and noticed he was already up. Hikari sat down, getting ready to get out of her bed, when she noticed Tailmon still curled up on it, but next to her legs this time. Her partner was staring at her with her intense blue eyes and the girl immediately knew Tailmon had been watching her for a while.
"You're finally awake."
"How long have you been watching me?"
"Ever since Taichi woke up, a couple of hours ago."
"A couple of hours?" Hikari asked confused. "What time is it?"
"I think it's 8:30. Last time I check it was 8 and it hasn't been that long."
"Oh God, I'm late for school already!" She jumped out of her bed and quickly began to change into her regular clothes. "Why didn't you wake me?"
"Taichi said I wasn't supposed to. He checked on you and you were sleeping so peacefully after having such a bad night he didn't want to wake you up."
"I said I wanted to go to school. You should have woken me."
"I'm sorry, Hikari. But I think you should stay home today too."
"I'm fine, Tailmon. I can go to school." Hikari involuntarily yawned and covered her mouth with her hand.
"You should be lying down and getting some rest."
"I can't. I can't give my mother something else to worry about."
"Hikari."
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine." She smiled to her partner. "Can you help me clean this up, please?"

Hikari eventually gave in and skipped school that day. She took a nap a couple of hours later and felt much better then. Surprisingly, she didn't have any nightmares at that time and she was beyond grateful for that.
"Tailmon, what do you want to eat?"
"Are you going to cook?"
"I am. My mom isn't here and we need to eat."
"Chicken and rice are good to me. But whatever you cook for you is good to me."
"Okay."
"You seem better now."
"I am." She smiled when Tailmon jumped on the sink and sat down. "I didn't have any nightmares this time, so it's a good thing."
"This is great, Hikari. Hopefully it stays that way."
"I hope so. Thanks for taking care of me."
"I'll always take care of you. I love you."
"I love you too."

At about four in the afternoon, the doorbell in the Yagami residence rang. Both Hikari and Yuuko were in the living room watching some TV and the girl went to answer to the door.
"Takeru?" She asked surprised.
"Hi!" Takeru replied smiling.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you. You didn't go to school today and I was worried about you."
"Everything's fine." Hikari gave him a warm smile.
"Are you feeling better?"
"I am. I was supposed to go to school today, but Taichi, my mother and Tailmon thought it was best if I stayed here to recover."
"I see."
"How impolite of me." She stepped away from the door. "Please, come in."
"Thank you." Takeru looked over his shoulder. "I'm glad you are doing better now. The dark ocean wasn't a very nice place to stay in."
"It really isn't." Hikari glanced at her mother for a moment and then back to Takeru. "But I'm here now."
"Yeah. Anyway, I brought you the school subject we had today." He placed his bag over the arm of the chair and took out his notepad. "Lucky for you, there isn't much."
"Thank you." She grabbed his notepad from his hands and held it close to her chest. "I really wish I hadn't missed it."
"The important thing was for you to get better first. You shouldn't push yourself to do it if you're not ready or to prove something to other people."
"I know. Thanks."
"Well, you can give me my notepad tomorrow."
"Alright. I appreciate you bringing this to me."
"Anytime. I'm glad you're okay." Takeru sighed. "Well, I should go now."
"I'll walk you to the door."

.

Hikari slowly opened her eyes and squinted them because of the brightness of the room. Once she was adjusted to the white walls and the sunlight in the room, she found Tailmon curled up on her legs and her big blue eyes staring right back at her. She let out a soft smile and began to stroke her partner's white fur gently when Taichi walked inside holding a glass of coffee.
"Oh you're finally awake."
"Where am I? What's going on?"
"You don't remember what happened?"
"No." She said simply, but deep down she knew exactly what had taken place. She still wanted to hear from him, though. "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter." Taichi said simply and sat down on a chair next to her. "What matter is that you're okay now."
"It happened again, didn't it?"
The words came out of her mouth before she was even able to hold them. Not that she wanted to, she was desperate to confirm what her heart already knew.
"Hikari."
"It's pointless to lie to me about it, Taichi. You know I already know it did. I just needed to be sure."
"It did." He said eventually, after taking a deep breath. "I don't know exactly when it happened, but it managed to take you to where all of our partners were and…"
"Our partners?" Hikari asked surprised. "Weren't they supposed to say on the force field Koushiro had built to stop them from getting infected?"
"They were, but they sneaked out while Koushiro was frantically searching for something to stop the infection."
"How dangerous."
"I know." Taichi nodded and laced his fingers together as he bent forward in his chair.
"And then what?"
"Nothing. Mrs. Himekawa found you when you were almost passing out after regaining your senses and took you here. I rushed over as soon as I heard what happened."
"Oh God, I hope I didn't say anything to make them feel bad about the situation." Hikari bit her lower lip and looked through the window.
"Hey." Taichi grabbed her hand and she looked at him. "I'm sure you didn't say anything bad. And even if you did, we all know that wasn't you. No one holds anything against you, I hope you know that."
"I do." She smiled weakly yet warmly. "Thank you."
"By the way, there's someone outside waiting to see you."
"Who?"
"Hold on, I'll be right back."
Taichi returned about a minute later with the rest of the Chosen Children. Hikari could barely hold her smile seeing her six friends spread around the bedroom.
"We were worried about you." Sora said softly and placed a food basket on the edge of the bed. "We thought we could bring you some food."
"That's right." Mimi pressed her palms together. "Each one of us made a different kind of food."
"But don't worry, we made sure Mimi wouldn't make any of her crazy combinations." Taichi teased and everyone in the bedroom laughed.
"Hey, don't make fun of my unique taste in food."
"It certainly is unique."
"Shut up." Mimi shot him a death glare. "Anyway, I'm glad you seem fine."
"Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me." Hikari looked at Takeru and immediately knew his serious expression was because he wasn't there for her that time. Another smile appeared on her lips and she subtly shook her head. "It's alright, you know? Nothing happened."
All eyes fell on Takeru, but he didn't seem to mind at all. "I know, but still…"
"Hey, you can't keep an eye on people all the time and it's fine." Yamato assured him. "She got the help she needed and that's what matters."
"That's right." Taichi agreed and turned to his sister again. "The doctor said you'll get to go home in a couple of hours. They kept you in observation but you responded really well, so they are discharging you sooner."
"That's great news!" Sora celebrated. "In the meantime, you should eat a little. I know the hospital provides amazing food, but we all think ours is just as good."
Hikari bent over to pick the basket and Sora helped her with it. "You shouldn't have gone through all this trouble just for me."
"We wanted to. That's what friends do."
"Well, in that case, I'll take it." She looked through the basket and then up again. "But I want to share it with you all."
"What? But this is all for you."
"I know, and I appreciate it. But it's too much food for me and I would feel really bad if I eat it alone. You can't really ignore a wish from someone who's sitting on a hospital bed."
"You have a point." Taichi was the first one to grab a sushi from the basket and the others soon followed him suit.

.

Hikari was leaning against the balcony staring at the horizon. The sun was shining bright and the sky was fully light blue, with no clouds. A typical summer day, opposed to how it was the day before, with black sky and heavy grey clouds. It made her shiver even after hours later and she hated that feeling. She was also feeling a mix of relief and grief. She was relieved Tailmon was rescued and her memories were restored, but she was grieving for Meicoomon's death. She knew for a fact Digimon that died on Earth never got the chance to be reborn in the Digital World and felt bad because Meiko would never get to see and have her partner again.
"I'm glad everything is over." Tailmon said from her seat next to the girl.
"Me too." Hikari swallowed hard. "I'm glad too, but…"
"What?"
"I was really confident we would be able to save Meicoomon." She confessed. "I feel guilty knowing we took Meiko's chance of being with her forever away."
"I understand you, but we didn't have any other option. That was the only way to stop the infection."
"I know. It was the only way to get you back too."
Hikari leaned over the balcony and saw Taichi talking to Koushiro in the sidewalk. The mere idea of not having her brother anymore made her flinch. She hoped with everything she had she would never go through that again. Taichi was everything to her. His supposed death really sent her to a dark place and she had no strength to do anything, simply reacting automatically to everything that happened until he revealed himself again safe and sound.
"That must have been so traumatic for you." Tailmon spoke again after following her suit.
"For a moment I really thought he was gone for good. It got me so lost I had no idea what I was doing anymore." Hikari let out a small smile. "But that's Taichi. He doesn't give up easily."
"It wouldn't be him if he did."
"That's true." She returned to her previous position. "I don't ever want to have to experience my life without him again."
"You won't have to, I promise." The Digimon said after a moment of silence.
"I don't want to go through not having you in my life forever too. The simple idea is already too painful."
"That won't happen. I don't give up easily as well."
"I know." The smile was back on Hikari's lips. "I wouldn't let you do that either."
"Do you think it's over?"
"What is?"
"Do you think it will come to you again?"
"Oh." Hikari was taken by surprise, but she knew exactly what Tailmon was referring to. "I don't think so. It got what it wanted, so… I truly think it's over."
"Good, because I don't like seeing it taking over you and wouldn't like to witness another time."
"You won't have to." Hikari looked up at the blue sky above.
"Hikari?"
"Yes?"
"Can we get some ice-cream?"
"Ice-cream?"
"Can't we?"
"Of course we can." She said lightly and then held her partner in her arms before grabbing her purse and going downstairs.