So close to the end. And yet I have at least one important event to cover. Some people guessed things a long time ago (I was a little obvious with the hints at that point), but hopefully people have begun to forget such things or missed them in the first place. If I can surprise at least one person at this point with something in this chapter, I'll be content.

Quick note, I finally broke down and got a Deviant Art account to post pictures connected to my stories (and a few other author's work that I like). Go ahead and check them out. The link is on my profile page. I hope to have more at some point.

This chapter will have sections mentioned in previous chapters. I also went back and watch the important episodes to get a feel for the sequence of events again and to get the timing right. I hope you enjoy it.

She felt mildly better now that she'd exploded at the two boys. She would have verbally attacked Takato sooner, but the firm pressure of Renamon's paw on her shoulder and the silent request to stay calm kept her desire to throttle the insane Goggle-head in check. She tried to remind herself that it wasn't really his fault and that he didn't mean to scare everyone with that near-death experience. It wasn't like he purposely tried to disappear from their lives (like how her father left, a dark whisper in the back of her mind reminded the girl) and he did survive the event (unlike Ryo…). She didn't like the idea of losing someone, regardless of whether it was through death or simply because of abandonment, but she kept repeating to herself that it wasn't really Takato's fault and everything worked out. Her self-control of her murderous intentions remained strong until she was faced with the formerly-deceased Ryo. That was just too much. All of her shock, fear, sorrow, and sense of loss and near-loss focused into absolute fury that she turned first on the Digimon King and then Takato. It was short, but very satisfying. And, if Rika had to guess from the expressions on their and everyone else's faces, they would never put her through that kind of pain again. She couldn't stand the idea of losing her friends and would do anything to prevent it, even scaring them with a furious rant.

Calmer now, she turned her attention back to the present situation and away from the stressful events and unwelcome thoughts that the last few hours had presented. The rather large group of humans and digimon were still standing in the middle of the fairly destroyed clearing. And, as interesting as it was to witness the end of the battle against Apocalymon, Rika wanted to move on. She either wanted to go on to whatever was the newest challenge there might be or go home. Hanging out in an empty field did not suit the proactive girl.

"What now?" she asked.

"I leave," commented Destiny's voice, but it did not come from the prophetess wearing a t-shirt.

Out of the tree line stepped a very familiar cloaked figure. She stepped over to the dark-haired girl and nodded. The more casually-dressed version of the two nodded in response.

"Is it just me or do you see double?" asked Kazu quietly.

"You will take them from here?" remarked the cloaked prophetess, apparently unfazed by the fact she was speaking to herself.

The t-shirt wearing Destiny answered, "Yes, I will be handling everything from this point. Your task is complete." She paused for a moment before adding, "Though, you did drag out your conversation with Yamaki a little. The situation was serious and you spoke in more riddles than necessary."

"He is an adult. They tend to have a harder time accepting important concepts and mindsets than the younger generations," defended the hooded figure. It was rather odd to consider the fact that Destiny was complaining about her own past self's behavior. Especially considering that she still used quite a few riddles when speaking with them. Time travel just made everything strange. "Perhaps I could have been more concise, but I wanted to be certain he considered my words carefully. And you know that long, perplexing statements can often force the mind to truly ponder the meaning."

"Yes, cryptic riddles and dark cloaks tend to get people's attention," she acknowledged.

The cloaked Destiny gestured at her other self, "Though you seemed to have relaxed your standards. Jeans and t-shirts are not the standard outfit of prophetess."

"Sometimes you need to fit in and blend rather than command attention. And I have no further need of my cloak," the t-shirt-wearing girl replied.

The cloaked prophetess remained silent for a moment, staring from within her shadowy hood at the other Destiny. Finally, she turned and began to walk away.

"This prophecy and my task are complete, so I have no further need to be here," stated the enshrouded figure before disappearing from view.

"Okay," muttered Terriermon. "Now we're back to only one of them. Can we go home now?"

"Just a moment more, please," answered the remaining Destiny. "I will not take up much more of your time. I must merely wait for a final guest and then I have something to show you."

"What awe you going to show us?" asked Suzie curiously.

The dark-haired girl quietly stated, "An answer. And a memory."

"Great. More cryptic stuff," grumbled Kazu. "Can't you ever be clear? And weren't you just complaining about that to the other you?"

His complaint was met with high-pitched giggles. Even without looking, Rika recognized the sound of a Digi-Gnome. Yamaki, however, had no actual experience with the glowing entities. At most, he might have heard them reference the beings. The man jerked in surprise and shifted his stance to something oddly protective of the exhausted, unconscious Calumon in his arms. The giggling digital being gave the adult tamer and partner a quick examination, possibly intrigued by Yamaki's reaction, before floating over towards the prophetess.

Abruptly, Takato smacked his forehead, "Oh man, we left that one Digi-Gnome back in the Digidestined's universe."

"It is all right," assured Destiny. "They can take care of themselves. Besides, that particular Digi-Gnome is meant to remain. Just as this one is meant to help. That is why it came here now."

"Or we're just lucky it showed up," Terriermon remarked. "How do you keep all of this stuff and timing straight?"

The prophetess turned her gaze on the white and green rabbit and stated, "Momentai."

"Don't use my word against me," he responded.

The Digi-Gnome giggled gleefully, circling around the dark-haired girl like a miniature and adorable tornado. It plucked at her hair and sleeves curiously. Maybe it had met Destiny before and never saw her without her cloak. Rika didn't know for certain. Finally, the luminescent being took hold of the girl's blank crest, blinked its beady eyes at the card-like object, and released a particular happy-sounding laugh.

Satisfied by the examination, the Digi-Gnome released the crest and began to weave through the crowd. It whirled around Ryo and Takato, glided by Rika, paused briefly in front of Jeri, and looped around Guilmon twice. The giggling creature swooped over Henry, his sister, and their partners, it spun around Leomon, and it flew past Kenta and Bukamon. Then, it stopped above Impmon and began to poke his head.

"Will you cut that out?" snapped the viral rookie after about the fourth poke, waving his hands above him in an effort to get rid of his annoyance.

Unsurprisingly, the Digi-Gnome's response was to giggle. The glowing, digital being glided back towards Destiny before hovering near her shoulders.

"Digi-Gnomes make Calumon look calm," remarked Kenta, shaking his head at the odd antics and his partner nodded in agreement.

"Great, you have your 'guest' now. Can we get the show on the road now, Dee?" requested Impmon, folding his arms.

She nodded, "Yes."

And then, everything vanished.

Once more, they were in a weird, empty blackness. They had appeared in the realm when they traveled to the Digidestined reality and on the way back. It was different than her portals. Perhaps it was simply the only way to reach another reality. Or, if Takato considered her statement about a "memory," another time.

That moment in that utter blackness was over quickly and the world reappeared around them again. But it wasn't the digital world, which wasn't highly surprising to the boy. He did recognize the location fairly quickly. Judging by the horrified gasps and frightened whispers, everyone understood the gravity of the situation.

The large group of twelve humans, ten digimon, and a Digi-Gnome were standing together inside a giant, translucent, bubble-like shape that was quite likely the work of Destiny. Said bubble was not on the ground, but sitting high above it instead. The ground itself was not visible, however, because they were surrounded by the pink, amorphous blob of the D-reaper. The city was once more consumed with the spreading deadly stuff.

"Don't be alarmed," assured the prophetess, unconcerned by the fact the forcefield was resting in the dangerous substance like a toy boat in a bathtub. "As long as we do not leave this shield, we're perfectly safe."

"But why are we here?" asked Jeri uneasily, staring at the nightmarish goop.

Destiny replied simply, "To observe. To answer a question or two."

"Which questions?" Ryo asked.

"How?" she answered. "And why?" She gestured towards their surroundings beyond the immediately obvious. "They cannot see or hear us. But we can view them. Even those who should be concealed from our eyes."

Before Takato could ask for clarification, he spotted something unusual. A short distance away, buried even deeper in the destructive blob than them, was another bubble. It was smaller than theirs and held only two occupants. The tamer could sense that the two individuals would be invisible normally and that they were ignorant of the large group just a short distance away. And he also felt confident that he knew the identity of the two figures, both of which were wearing cloaks. Especially since the shorter one had the hood down currently.

"Destiny and Fate," he muttered to himself.

"That's us," commented Guilmon suddenly, catching the boy's attention.

"Huh?" Takato began, turning towards his partner for clarification of the odd statement. Seeing the red reptile staring skywards, he followed the rookie's gaze up and felt an even stronger sense of déjà vu than before. "Whoa…"

How the tamer had missed the events high overhead, he didn't know. Perhaps the presence of the D-reaper close to them, and the knowledge of how easy the substances could engulf the humans (what the final fate would be for someone not made of data he had never personally seen, but Takato's vast imagination promised it wouldn't be pleasant) and delete the low-level digimon, managed to distract them away from the fact that several familiar megas were fighting above them. Including, as Guilmon pointed out, Gallantmon.

It was mildly difficult at this angle and at this distance below them, but the tamer could almost guess when this was supposed to be. Specifically, he could make out himself dodging those flying rectangles of doom while a dark figure, Beelzemon, kept relentless going after a single goal: an orb with a weird eyeball thing in front that he was currently firing at. He knew that not only was Jeri, Past Jeri, inside the thing, but that this rescue attempt was doomed to failure. It had already occurred, so it had to happen. It was a little unnerving to watch the events unfold again, to watch the coming physical and emotional blow as the rescue comes so close to working only to be snatched away at the last second. A quick look at Impmon demonstrated that he was also uncomfortable about watching his past self about to fail. Ai took her partner's hand, followed quickly by her brother, as they stared upwards in mild confusion of the whole thing. Takato took a step slightly closer to Jeri, whose own hand was inside Leomon's larger one. The goggle-wearing tamer didn't know what made him stand closer to the girl, but she smiled at him slightly in thanks.

"You were there," remarked Henry, his gaze shifting between the events overhead, the orb holding Destiny and Fate, and their t-shirt-wearing version of the prophetess. "When we were facing the D-reaper. You were there. You are there. You showed up here twice and we never knew."

"But the first time you had your partner still," added Renamon softly.

The dark-haired girl, her eyes locked on her past, nodded, "Yes. We were here. He… wasn't happy with this prophecy from the beginning. We've done things we dislike or thought was wrong before, even if we couldn't remember the details most of the time. This time, he felt particularly strong about it and, honestly, I think he'd reached his limit on such injustice against those who deserve better."

"What do you…?" began Kazu, but Destiny interrupted.

"Listen."

As everyone fell silent and he tuned out some of the sounds from above, Takato could make out the conversation from the other bubble. Following the t-shirt-wearing prophetess' instructions, he listened carefully.

"'Two individuals, one inside and one outside. One, who carries the weight of the deaths of innocents from his actions, will try to rescue the one who deserved life far more than he. But the Chaos brings about the greatest pain and punishment to those who seek to do what is right. And another digimon partner shall be lost,'" recited Fate, his gaze turned towards the events above them. His voice was similar to Impmon's, but not quite. It wasn't higher or lower pitched or anything easy to explain like that; it just seemed to be missing something or to have something that Ai and Mako's partner's voice didn't have. Maybe it was just the almost solemn and serious nature he was currently displaying. "I know we've seen plenty of unfair events in the past, Dee, but still… he doesn't deserve that. He's trying to turn his life around, he just reunited with those little kids, and his reward for doing the right thing is to die?"

Takato spared a quick glance up to see how things were progressing. Judging by his memory of that day, Yamaki would have just found a way to contact him. Abruptly, Gallantmon flew towards the impenetrable prison and Grani fired. The attack broke the protection around the whitish orb, allowing Beelzemon to swoop in and begin punching. The boy, nodding himself in remembrance of that event, looked back towards the cloaked Destiny.

"It has to happen," she reminded her partner. "Someone with a history of causing innocent deaths will die trying to save someone else. We don't have to like it."

"No," whispered Jeri, her free hand grabbing Takato's arm abruptly and squeezing tightly as they listened to the pair's exchange. "'One inside and one outside'? I was inside. He was outside, trying to save me. They meant us."

The sea green-eyed rookie tugged his hood up, hiding his face from view, commenting sharply, "I don't. Maybe it's because he so similar to me, but it feels wrong. We've allowed so many good beings to die because of prophecies. We're nothing but tools of murder and destruction. We might be balancing things, making the universes the way they should be, but honestly… that doesn't mean it's always right. Someone trying so hard to do the right thing, trying to redeem himself for past crimes, deserve better."

"He deserves a second chance, but life is rarely fair," the cloaked Destiny remarked in a softer tone, turning her own gaze up towards the still stubborn attempts by the worn-out Beelzemon. "There is no other way. No one else fits the prophecy."

Then, almost inaudibly, Fate replied, "Maybe…"

A frustrated, exhausted, and determined shout drew Takato's gaze back skywards. The dark shape of the viral mega, still refusing to give up on saving the trapped girl, was channeling all his power into making one final attempt. The boy knew exactly what was happening and knew that it wouldn't end well.

"Fist…of…the Beast King!" he announced, speaking each word with as much strength as he could manage as he sent the lion-shaped ball of flame straight at the invincible orb.

Miraculously, the sphere cracked and a small hole was left behind. The mega, barely remaining in the air and breathing heavily, reached inside imploringly. Beelzemon was asking the trapped girl to take his hand. An offer she was destined to refuse.

"I'm sorry, Impmon," whispered Jeri. "I should have listened and just took your hand."

The rookie answered in an equally soft voice, "You had no reason to give me a chance, Jeri. You had every right to be suspicious of me and I don't blame you for anything."

Takato could make his own past self's voice shouting at her while he flitted across the sky with the deadly rectangles following. But the most painfully-emotional voice was Beelzemon's begging for the girl he'd hurt so much to let him save her. Even as the small hole completely close, he kept insist that she take his hand.

Gallantmon, landing beside the dark mega to help, unfortunately led the sharp rectangles straight towards him. Even knowing it was coming this time, somehow Takato, and several others, couldn't help gasping in shock and horror as they hit. Impmon flinched sharply as he watched himself get sliced and broken by the D-reaper's defense, his partners' tightening their grip on him as if to reassure themselves that their friend was still there.

The megas from the past, seeing this horror for the first time, were obviously in shock as Beelzemon began to fall. Streaming data behind him, far too much data it seemed to the boy even now, he still called out to the girl he tried to save and desperately wanting one last chance. Interestingly, it looked like he would be falling fairly close to the two invisible bubbles.

Just as Takato remembered, his Biomerged form dove after the plummeting figure. He was the closest and it didn't seem to matter at the time that he didn't have the ability to fly on his own. He just remembered that he reacted on instinct, intent on saving a friend somehow. But, just as Fatemon was prevented from saving him and Guilmon from Ragnamon, the D-reaper prevented Gallantmon from reaching the dissolving Beelzemon. Even knowing that it all worked out, the tamer wished that he could have still helped him.

Everyone from the past was shouting at the falling mega, begging not to give up and to trying to reach him before he hit the D-reaper. Everything they knew about the pink blob meant that it would be fatal. Especially for a digimon already in such bad shape and already looked like they were on the brink of death. They knew that, even if the damage and severe loss of data was survivable for the viral mega, plunging into the hostile environment that waited below would finish him off.

"Still don't know how I lived through that," remarked Impmon quietly as he watched the traumatic scene of his past unfold.

"Because you shouldn't have," whispered their casually-dressed prophetess. A quick glance showed that there were tears in her eyes. "Watch."

Just as Takato had estimated, Beelzemon would hit fairly close to them. He could see the digimon very clearly now, far more clearly than his past counterpart did at this point in the descent. It was even more shocking that he survived now that he could see how far the dissolving had come. There was nothing recognizable of the mega left. He was little more than a rather small cloud of data with barely any mass. And there was no sign that it would stabilize at all. If he didn't know that Impmon would survive, if hadn't seen the evidence with his own eyes, the tamer would have automatically assumed…

"No!" shouted Fate from his own protective bubble, yanking the boy's attention back to them. "He's suffered enough. No more."

The cloud of data splashed into the D-reaper, right next to the small force field orb. Even at a short distance away, Takato could see the rookie plunge his own arms through the shield into the deadly substance, screaming in pain, and pulled the remainder of the collection of data inside. The cloaked Destiny provided her own scream in horror at her partner's actions. The boy, and apparently the other tamers and digimon, were too shocked to make a sound themselves.

The small cloaked figure, his hood having slid back down at some point was visibly grimacing in pain and Takato spotted data starting to float out of his sleeves. But, the data being lost by Fate was being pulled towards what used to be Beelzemon. Even dying and little more than a slightly congealed cloud, he seemed to be instinctively trying to absorb data, to somehow gain the strength to survive. Destiny wrapped her shaking arms around her partner in a hug, her face still hidden by the hood, as Fate slowly lost cohesion while the other digimon stabilized into a more recognizable and complete form.

Takato almost didn't spot Grani as it flew by the bubble, the digital creation moving as if searching for something. The cloaked girl, spotting the vehicle, waited until Grani neared before taking the still-hurt, but clearly alive Impmon and shifting him out of her protective orb and onto the red steed. Fate, however, didn't look like he would survive much longer from his risky rescue.

Shoving the hood down, she was clearly crying as she asked, "Why, you stupid dork? You've seen prophecies lead to death before. Why swoop in and save the day now?"

The dissolving rookie gave her a slight grin, though his expression was fairly serious, "Come on, you saw them. They are so happy together. And they barely have had any time together. It's not right to separate them yet. The prophecy is fulfilled, whether it's that Impmon or me."

"Forget the stinking prophecy," she screamed in frustration. Takato could feel his own eyes welling up with tears. Just the thought of it hard to bear. "All this prophecy nonsense has gotten us is isolation, messed-up memories, and headaches to deal with. Why can't we just live our own lives and let them handle things themselves. I should just quit all this. What's the point?"

"You don't mean that," he whispered, nearly gone. "You care what happens and you always have to make a difference. I'm the one who would have quit, just to be my annoying self. You always felt the responsibility and duty. It was only a matter of time before I did too." He gave a grin, "Look like I saved the day. Guess that's how all those losers we boss around feel. You're my best friend, Destiny."

"You too, Impmon," she whispered back, tears rolling down her face as the last pieces of data floated away. She stared at the now vacated spot. "Please come back," she begged softly, her voice painfully choked up and barely audible to the boy, "Don't leave me alone."

The weeping figure just sat there for several moments silently, holding tightly to the empty cloak of her lost partner. No one was speaking or even moving in the larger bubble either. What do you say in a situation like this? The goggle-wearing boy didn't know.

Shortly, the heart-broken prophetess carefully stated, "What once was lost can yet be found. Nothing is ever gone forever. Destiny and Fate: intertwined and connected. When the task is done and duty fulfilled, and everything is balanced, a reward shall be given. Friends reunite and pain shall be eased. And allies shall be free." The cloak-wearing Destiny seemed to consider the words for a moment before bowing her head and remarking, "Very well. I will complete my task. I am ready for the next one."

Without another word, the enshrouded girl and the bubble she was inside disappeared. Several seconds of silence passed before a very-confused Kazu broke the tension.

"What in the world was that? What just happened?"

Okay, probably not the greatest twist in the world, but I came up with this several, several years ago. Back when I first watched the third season of digimon, I was openly shocked at Leomon's death. Back then (when I was young), I thought I had it all figured out based on the previous digimon series. The partner digimon will not die or they will return almost immediately (Patamon from 01 and Wormmon from 02). When Jeri's partner was lost permanently, it threw all my assumptions out the window. Thus, when Beelzemon got whacked with the rectangles of doom, was hemorrhaging data like crazy, and was literally nothing more than a vague cloud of data right before he splashed into the D-reaper (go watch the beginning the episode "D-reaper's Feast." There was even an actual "splash" of pink goo as what was left of him impacted), I thought there was a real possibility that he was toast. Everything basically pointed to the fact that nobody (not even our awesome Beelzemon) could survive that. Then… Grani appears with a battered, but intact Impmon! I was very happy, but still wondering how he managed to pull off that miracle. So, I took that little question and eventually developed an answer. Hope the time travel wasn't too confusing.

Still have a little more for this story left, but it is mostly taking care of a few details and tying up some lose ends. I think that I can finish this in one more chapter (or I could be wrong). Either way, we're close to the end. So, thanks for supporting me and reading my story. Hope you like the rest of it.