Born Anew

3 years ago, Shinjuku

Pain. At that moment in time, it was her strongest emotion.

Among the streets of Shinjuku walked a 12 year old girl. She was dressed in a gothic Lolita style, with her hair tied into two pigtails held by black ribbons, and had a forlorn look as she strode on aimlessly. Though they had only been together for a few months, Alice McCoy had grown closer to Dobermon then she could have ever anticipated. And in a few short moments he was gone.

She knows that how she feels right now is selfish. The Tamers needed the ability to Biomerge in order to defeat the D-Reaper. Through Dobermon's sacrifice, they were given hope in believing that they can stop this monster once and for all. Bringing down the D-Reaper would mean peace for both the Digital and Human Worlds.

And yet she felt heartbroken. Though they didn't have a Digivice like the other Tamers Dobermon was still her partner, and she cared for him just as much as the Tamers did about their partners. After learning that your closest friend must be sacrificed in order to save the world, how could you not have a moment where you wished you could just run away together? Maybe they could have escaped to some other place in the Human World, and hope the Tamers can defeat the D-Reaper some other way.

But Alice and Dobermon knew that their peace would not have lasted, and the D-Reaper would have consumed both worlds if it were not for their intervention. As she walked on she could feel a pain in her chest, a hole in her heart where Dobermon used to be…

"Alice…"

As she turned round Alice saw the last of his data, floating around as red and blue specks in a circle, before the last parts of Dobermon faded away. Letting out a tired sigh, Alice began walking again, not caring about the destination. She could already feel the pull as she took one step at a time, her body slowly fading away.

I cannot stay here, She thought, with each stride making her more transparent. Not yet…

In her final moments in this world Alice took in her surroundings, remembering that all this was for the greater good. And with that in mind she crossed over, back to the Digital World and back to her dreamless sleep…

Awaken

She could hear the command. A strong but not forceful tone, reaching for her, calling her back into the realm of the living. There was a small smile, as Alice floated back to her consciousness. She knew, after so long, that she was approaching the time. Soon she would finally be able to return home. After what felt like an eternity in blissful slumber, Alice felt herself being pulled towards an awe-inspiring light, shining so brightly that Alice had to close her eyes before she was blinded…

Present day, Digital World

"Oh, I hope she's okay…I wonder what she'll think of me. Maybe I should adjust my buckle, o-or maybe do something with my hair? Maybe I should try a different dress? What am I saying, I'm not wearing a dress! Oh dear…"

In spite of all her experiences with the phenomena that is the Digital World, Alice was not expecting to wake up to this mumbling. Slowly but surely, Alice began to open her eyes. After the initial bright spots from adjusting to the room's light, Alice found herself looking at the top of an ornate four poster bed. Looking to her side she noticed the white drapes that would usually cover the sides of the bed, but in this case was pulled aside to show off the rest of her surroundings. On the other side of the room was a window, giving view to the grasslands outside with the spring sunlight shining in to greet her. Next to the window was a floor length mirror, though from her current angle she couldn't see herself lying on the bed.

"G-good evening! I mean morning. Well technically it's nearly midday, so I guess good midday? Oh no I'm babbling again, um… h-hi…"

Alice turned to the other side of her bed. Standing there, fidgeting nervously was a very peculiar digimon. She appeared to be based off a bunny, but with an extra set of ears. Her entire body was pink, with the tips of her ears and the end of her hair, of which there was only one, highlighted in violet. Her forehead, arms and body were covered with yellow crescent moons, and a moon buckle sat on top of her chest, clasping a ribbon together. In this moment she was fiddling with the buckle, trying to straighten it into a more presentable appearance, yet she only succeeded in moving it a couple of millimetres to the right and back again.

"Hi there," Alice said kindly, slowly pushing herself up into a seated position on the bed. So my voice hasn't changed too much, she noted, as she tried to put the nervous digimon at ease. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Lunamon, it's very nice to meet you!" she managed to say, before throwing herself headfirst into a low bow. Alice smiled to herself as she shook her head.

"There's no need for any of that, I'm nothing special," Alice said as she reached down and raised Lunamon's hand, causing the digimon to look up. She gave Lunamon a warm smile, and with those simple actions Alice could tell that the pink bunny was finally starting to relax a bit. "Call me Alice."

"Okay…Alice…" Lunamon began, slowly becoming more confident in herself, "I hope you had a good rest. The DigiGnomes and I have been working really hard to make this transition as smooth as possible for you, so if there's anything that you need don't hesitate to ask."

"Working? How long have you been taking care of me?" Alice enquired.

"The Digimon Sovereigns returned your physical form a couple of weeks ago, and we've been taking care of you while your consciousness made its way back here."

"I've already been here for two weeks?" Alice was surprised, but as she thought about it she didn't really have a clue what to expect for re-emerging in the Digital World.

"Yup! Um…" Lunamon was suddenly back to her nervous self again, "Do you want to see what you look like now? I'm told it might not be what you are used to…"

"Er, okay." Alice agreed after a moment, wondering about the meaning behind Lunamon's words. Sure she felt something about her was different, but she figured it was just getting used to a physical form again. Lunamon perked up quickly, and soon helped Alice out of bed and over to the floor length mirror. When Alice reached it and looked at her reflection her eyes widened, and felt her legs give way as her knees buckled.

"Careful there!" Lunamon was quick to catch Alice before she hurt herself, "I understand this might be a shock, especially after being away for so long."

"But…is that really me?" Alice asked Lunamon but saw her reflection's lips ask the same question. After the pink digimon gave a nod she regained her composure, and once again Alice stepped in front of the mirror to look at herself properly. No longer was she the young, 12 year old gothic Lolita who helped the Tamers. There standing in front of her was a girl who was well into the stages of womanhood, wearing a simple but elegant white gown. As Alice turned one way, then another, she noted every feature, right down to her blond hair, which now reached the small of her back. In some respects, she actually reminded herself of…

"My mother…" Alice said out loud, looking at herself one more time before turning to Lunamon, "How did the Digimon Sovereigns give me this body? How long has it been since the D-Reaper attack?"

The pink bunny scratched her head in thought, "I'm not quite sure of the specifics," Lunamon began, "but I think the Sovereigns created your new form by collecting data about your family and how they grew up. Oh, and the D-Reaper attack was about 3 years ago."

"3 years?" Alice thought about it, before glancing at herself in the mirror from a side view. I guess it makes sense then, she reasoned with herself, after all, in the Human World I would be 15 by now.

They made their way back to the bed and Alice sat down, trying to take in all that's happened today.

"If you would like you can have a moment to yourself, maybe this was more than what you expected," Lunamon offered.

"Yeah, no kidding," Alice lightly joked. Lunamon nodded and as she walked towards the door something else came to Alice's mind. "Hey Lunamon?" The pink digimon spun around at the door, looking inquisitively at Alice, "Did the Sovereigns say how long it'll be before I return to the Human World?"

Lunamon looked apologetic at this question, "I'm sorry, the Sovereigns wanted you to experience your new body first, plus the DigiGnomes still need to help you before you can go back. Though they say it shouldn't be more than a few weeks, and in a few days you will be allowed out of this place! With supervision of course."

Alice sighed as she thought how long a few weeks might be, but gave Lunamon a gentle smile, "Thanks for telling me Lunamon, and for all the hospitality you and the DigiGnomes have given me while I was here."

Lunamon blushed slightly, but was clearly happy that Alice was okay, "No problem! If you need anything just come through the door and call out for me, and I'll be right over to help you. I'll see you later!" As the door closed Alice could hear the digimon talking to herself, "She was so kind and pleasant, I don't know what I was worried about really…"

Alice had a small chuckle at the pink bunny's parting words. She definitely is a character, Alice thought as she lay on her back, stretching out one of her arms and looking at the back of her hand. So I've been away this time for 3 years. I wonder how things have changed in the other World… As Alice pondered how different the Human World could be compared to when she last visited, a warm feeling rose up inside of her, and with it came a smile. For so long she had been away, just floating in a dreamless slumber. And now, after so many years, she can finally return, back to where her family is and back to her home. At long last, Alice McCoy was back in the Worlds.

Author's Notes: Initially I started to explore more of the relationship between Dobermon and Alice, but after a few paragraphs I decided to save it for another chapter so that I can go into more detail.

I can only imagine what it might be like for a girl to wake up in a body 3 years after starting to grow into a woman. For guys we simply get taller and our voices get deeper, but for girls there are a lot more physical changes to the body, which I will not go into great detail about :P Also something that I've realised while writing this story is that I'm really bad at describing things. Sometimes I wish they created a sequel to the Tamer series or that I could draw well so that I could show you what I'm imagining in my head. While I may not be able to give you a visual of the characters or places, I can help with the Digimon, since I'll be using their creations. So if the description of a digimon doesn't seem clear just look it up on the Digimon Wiki to get a better idea.

That's all for now, hope to see you next time, where we'll be back in the Human World!