A Re-Introduction or Two

To say Henry was tired was an understatement. Between his school work and his time in the Digital Protection Society he was surprised two weeks had already gone by. As the Tamer walked through his front door his mom called from the kitchen.

"Hi Henry, how was your day?"

"Exhausting."

"Did you have a lot of work with Yamaki again?"

"Yup."

"Do you want to have dinner?"

"Probably not."

"I'm not going to get much out of you tonight, am I?" His mother turned to him and looked at him in mock-anger.

Henry smiled weakly, "Sorry, today we were fighting quite a few Digimon. Took half an hour just to contain them all between me and Rika."

Mayumi laughed at her son's weary look, "Okay, I'll let you get some rest. I'll talk to your father to see if we can convince that Yamaki to let you off a few days to recuperate. I'll leave some food in the fridge so if you feel peckish at night you can warm something up."

"Thanks Mom," Henry said gratefully, before turning to his Partner on his back. "What about you, are you gonna join them for dinner?"

"What a silly question," Terriermon puffed out his chest, "Never have I missed out on the great Mayumi Wong's cooking, and don't you forget that!"

"Charmer," Henry said while his mother chuckled and blushed slightly, "Well I'll just wash up then head to bed."

As Henry changed into his pyjamas and began his night time routine Terriermon couldn't help but rib into the blue-haired Tamer a little bit.

"Honestly I don't see what the problem is," The green-tipped bunny poked at Henry as he was brushing his teeth. "After all it was Renamon and I who did all the fighting. All you and Rika did was swipe cards through your Digivice."

"Maybe that workout with her really did do the trick," Henry replied, watching a shiver run down his Partner's spine. Henry smirked before heading back to his room, "I think a couple of days off might do me some good; I felt a bit sluggish today when we were fighting, so resting might help get my system back on track." Henry let out a big yawn before turning to Terriermon. "Don't stuff yourself too much, alright?"

"I'll be eating on your behalf!" The bunny Digimon called to Henry, who let out a small chortle before entering his room and collapsing on his bed, where he fell asleep in a matter of moments.

This definitely feels familiar. Henry mused to himself as he floated through his subconscious. It is a very surreal feeling when someone realises they are in a dream, and when that occurs they are usually given full control over what they experience. Though Henry realised he was dreaming the blue-haired Tamer found out very quickly that he did not have much control over the direction he was floating in. All around him was a vivid blend of colours; as he seemed to accelerate towards a direction the colours traced backwards, creating streamlines on an infinite campus.

I hope the landing isn't painful, Henry wished for himself as he rapidly approached a blinding light, causing him to close his eyes as he was engulfed by the entrance. Surprisingly he landed with a soft thud, and when he opened them he was not expecting to see himself in a green countryside.

"Well, could have ended up in a worse location," Henry said to himself, standing up and brushing off stray strands of grass. Everything about this place reminded him of a very similar dream he had 3 weeks ago, and at that time he was sure he made a significant discovery…

Suddenly a twig snapped, and the blue-haired Tamer whirled round. There standing before him was a pink bunny with four ears. It was wearing what appeared to be a pink gown, with a pink ribbon clasped by a moon-inscribed locket; right now the creature looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see it.

Yup, that's definitely a Digimon, Henry took a moment before putting on his friendliest smile.

"Hey there, would you mind telling me-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The Digimon cried out before running up a hillside. Henry stood for a few moments to let what happened sink in. Maybe I need to work on that friendly smile, the Tamer thought to himself before running after the Digimon.

For such a small creature it was surprisingly nimble, and by the time Henry ran up to her she was already poised in front of someone else, as if she was protecting them from him.

"…attack with who-knows-what power!"

Attack?, Henry thought to himself. Maybe I should clear things up a bit. As he approached he tried to look as non-threatening as possible, so as not to provoke the pink Digimon.

"Hey could you wait up? Would you just give me a minute, I was only asking you where I am!"

As he got closer to the Digimon Henry saw who she was 'protecting', and immediately stopped in his tracks. He was going to do more coaxing towards the Digimon but the person standing behind her was even more unbelievable, leaving his mouth hanging open as if in a stupor. She was wearing a simple white summer dress with a black lace jacket, and had the palest of blue eyes; her most notable feature though was her long blonde hair, something which triggered lost memories in Henry's mind, about a room which contained a girl sleeping soundly and a DigiGnome floating through a door.

As they stood there staring at each other, Henry could see that she was also connecting the dots in her head as well. Would she still remember me?, the blue-haired Tamer thought to himself, and hoping to break the awkward silence between them he decided to make the first move.

"Are you Al-"

"Tear Shot!" the pink Digimon cried out, and all too late Henry realised that someone was still standing between them. From the Digimon's hair grew a large ball of water, which fired straight at Henry.

"Aw crap-" Henry got a direct hit, and the sheer force of the attack knocked him back down the hill, dripping and rolling his way to the bottom.

Alice finally snapped out of her own daze as she saw Henry tumble down the hillside. "Lunamon, wait!" she called out to the pink bunny, who looked as if she was already preparing another Tear Shot. "I know him, he's not a Digimon."

"Wha-, really?" Lunamon turned to look at Alice in shock. Alice gave a swift nod, and soon Lunamon started turning back into her old, nervous self. "Oh dear, what have I done? Hope he's okay, oh dear…"

Alice gave the timid bunny a comforting pat on the back. "Don't worry about it," she reassured the Digimon, "He looked like he just fell down the hill. Why don't you go and pack up the picnic; I'll go and get him and we'll bring him back home."

Lunamon nodded and immediately started to gather things up, while Alice made her way down towards the blue-haired Tamer. She didn't expect her first experience with another human to happen like this, and was slightly amused to see Henry looking rather dazed and more than a little bit wet.

Reaching him she stretched out her hand for assistance. "Sorry about that, Lunamon gets scared easily. My name's Alice, and I have a feeling we've met before."

A crackling fire was in place as Henry dried and warmed up next to it in a bathrobe provided by Lunamon. The room he was in was rather simple but odd in its design. The entire exterior of the house resembled a log cabin, but the inside could have matched any modern day penthouse suite, complete with technology that seemed to be thrown together, from a flat screen TV to a grand piano which happened to be in one corner.

A door opened and Alice came through holding two cups of hot chocolate, handing one to Henry.

"Thanks," Henry said gratefully, letting the heat warm his hands. "It's a really nice place you've got here."

"To be honest the fireplace only came in when we did," Alice took a sip before seeing the confused expression on Henry's face, letting out a small chuckle. "I don't know what it is about this place, but if we have a need for something the house would usually provide it sooner or later. This used to be a blank wall until we took you here to warm up."

"And the TV and piano?"

"Just some things Lunamon thought I would enjoy doing to pass the time, though I haven't touched the piano in a while." Alice winced suddenly and grabbed her stomach, which looked as if it was going through digital static. Henry came closer with a look of concern on his face, but Alice just waved it off. "Don't worry about it," she said, as a DigiGnome came floating through the door and began shining a beam of light on the affected area, "It happens from time to time, but nothing to fret over."

Henry sat back down but didn't feel all that reassured. In an effort to distract himself from staring at the DigiGnome's work he decided to get to know his host a bit better.

"If you don't mind me asking," Henry began, "What exactly happened after you gave us the power to Biomerge? We came looking for you but couldn't find you anywhere, like you had just vanished."

Alice stared into the fireplace, appreciative that she had something to keep her occupied while she gathered her thoughts. "I guess you could say it was because technically I didn't belong there, at least not yet. The body I was given was only until we found you guys. After Dobermon di-" she caught herself, trying to find the right words before continuing, "After he gave up his data my body started to fade, since I was linked with him. Eventually I just faded from the Human World, before waking up here a few weeks ago. And a bit older," she added, looking at her body as the DigiGnome finished solving the disturbance. With everything feeling solid and real again she thanked the DigiGnome before turning to Henry. "As you can see, it's been a while since we last met, apparently three years? What's happened since I left?"

So Henry started to explain everything that happened since Alice disappeared. From the end of the D-Reaper to the Locomon Incident and working with Yamaki, he sat and talked to the blonde girl while she listened intently. He also told her about the other Tamers she didn't get to meet, as well as how the Human World changed over the last three years, answering any questions that Alice brought up every now and again. It was strange how easily they talked; though Henry wasn't a complete social outcast he always had a polite manner when talking to strangers. But with Alice they were speaking as if they were old friends, just catching up after a long time apart.

"…so that's basically it, at least off the top of my head," Henry concluded. "Maybe next time I should bring a newspaper or something to keep you up with current affairs."

Alice chuckled lightly at the sentiment. Though there wasn't anything in the room that could give them a perspective of time it felt as if they were talking for hours. "I appreciate the thought," Alice thanked the blue-haired Tamer, "Though I do wonder, how did you come over to the Digital World? I can't imagine you would have chosen to come in your pyjamas if it was through a portal like last time."

"Dunno," Henry said, scratching his head in contemplation, "The last thing I did was fall asleep, then the next thing I knew I ended up in that countryside."

"Hmmm," Alice spent a few moments before presenting her theory, "maybe your dreams are linked with the Digital World? You might be able to control things here because your mind is somehow connected to this World, like when you and Takato managed to swim without needing to hold your breath."

"That's definitely a possibility," Henry reasoned, "Do you reckon the other Tamers appear here as well?"

Alice gave a small shrug, "They might, but the Digital World is definitely a big enough place that I might not have heard them appearing here. They might have passed it off as dream after they woke up."

"True. I even forgot that I came here from another dream until I saw you on that hill. Of course you were sleeping at the time."

"You've been here before?"

"Er…" Henry immediately regretted telling her that last part. Wow, way to make yourself look like a stalker, Henry scolded himself, but before he dug a deeper hole of awkwardness Lunamon mercifully came in carrying his pyjamas, freshly ironed and pressed. She still looked rather guilty about the incident, and must have spent a long time on the clothes to make them look so perfect.

"Again, so sorry about earlier, Henry," the pink Digimon apologised, "I didn't mean to attack. It's just that with Alice recovering I felt she needed someone to protect her, and growing up in the Digital World where everything's 'Only the strong survive' really gives someone an attack-first-talk-later sort of outlook. A-and I never met someone like you before, so my immediate instinct was 'Oh there's a threat!' and then I hit you with my Tear Shot and then Alice explained everything and then I got really embarrassed and now I'm rambling so I'm going to shut up now!...Please forgive me."

"It's not a problem, and thanks for the clothes," Henry reassured her, "I'm grateful that someone is looking after her while she gets better." Alice didn't know what it was, but suddenly a wave of emotion came over her, and she looked at the Tamer in a slightly different light as he took the clothes from Lunamon.

The pink bunny looked happier that Henry didn't feel ill towards her, and her expression switched in an instant.

"That's great!" Lunamon replied in a much lighter tone, "I didn't even know there was such diversity in humans. We Digimon technically don't have a gender, so I just thought that all humans had a bigger che-mphf!"

Alice covered Lunamon's mouth before she finished her sentence, but couldn't stop herself from blushing heavily. Praying Henry didn't catch that last part, the blonde girl drastically changed where the conversation was going.

"Er, Lunamon," she asked the pink bunny, still with her mouth covered, "Isn't it about time we start dinner?"

Nodding enthusiastically the pink bunny led the two teenagers into the dining room, where the table was laden with recipes from all over the Human World, from the normal Japanese dishes Henry was used to to the western food he only ever saw on TV.

"Looks like we have a bigger table," Alice noted as they took their seats.

"I didn't know what to make for our guest so I just kept going until I ended up with what you see before you." Lunamon looked both embarrassed and proud at her efforts.

"Thanks for the food," Henry said before tucking in to the first dish within reach. Now that he was more awake Henry realised that he was starving having gone to sleep without eating anything.

"This is really good, Lunamon," the Tamer said, after trying out several dishes, "Where on earth did you learn to cook like this?"

"From the internet. If the recipe is online in some form I can usually get the ingredients with help from the DigiGnomes, though I'm not sure it will taste as good compared to using real-life ingredients…"

"Don't sell yourself short," Alice encouraged the pink Digimon, whose eyes lit up at the compliment. "I've been eating your cooking since I've woken up, and it's been some of the best things I've ever tasted."

"Definitely," Henry agreed, "Maybe I can convince my mom to try out some of these western dishes. Or I could try them out myself; pasta doesn't look too h-"

"Henry! What's happening to you?!"

The blue-haired Tamer looked at what Lunamon and Alice were staring at; as he sat there his arm was slowly disappearing, though it didn't hurt him in the slightest.

Lunamon was panicking more than ever, "Is this an allergy?! I-I read about them on the sites, but I was just swept up in cooking, I-I completely forgot to ask you! Hold on, let me see if I know something on how to treat it."

"Actually Lunamon I think I'm just waking up," Lunamon stopped her flustered mumblings and looked at Henry in confusion. The boy turned to Alice, who looked relieved but also disappointed. "I guess this means my time's up for now."

"So soon?" Alice asked, but she already knew the answer. "Well, at least we got to talk for a while." Even though she was sad to see Henry leave the girl still gave Henry a grateful smile. "I'm glad we got to properly meet."

"Yeah, last time was a bit hectic," Henry joked. He could see that more of him was fading away but he wasn't sure how much time he had left. "When will you be able to leave the Digital World?"

"A bit touch and go really," Alice replied, "Sometimes it's sooner than they expect, sometimes it's later. Apparently they've never tried this before, so I'm kind of new territory for them." As Henry continued to fade away Alice suddenly had a brief moment of panic, reaching out for where his arm should be but could only feel the air. "Please Henry, don't forget about me."

Henry was surprised at the reaction, and put out a ghostly hand of comfort. "How could I ever forget you? You were the one who saved us all those years ago and now I found you again! I just hope I know how to come back." Henry tried to help her even as his vision started to fade.

As his sight declined to a blur of colours he felt his mind being pulled back into his body in the Human World. But before he left he heard Alice's voice one last time, "That may be true, but to you this is still just a dream, and in time dreams fade."

The constant ring of his alarm told him it was time to start his morning routine, though the recipient didn't need a wakeup call that morning. Henry felt wide awake, his heart racing and his hand outstretched. He was surprised himself that he woke up in such a state, and took a few breaths to slow his heart down. Sitting up he saw Terriermon sleeping soundly at the end of the bed, every now and again mumbling about another mouthful. Being careful not to disturb him Henry carefully got out of bed and went to the bathroom to begin his morning wash up. After splashing his face a couple of times he paused; looking into the mirror he tried to remember what he was dreaming about. But no matter what he did there were only a few scarce images, and even those were quickly fading as the seconds ticked by.

"Whatever it was must have been intense," Henry surmised to himself. Though he could not remember what he saw in his dream, the emotions it conjured up were powerful enough that he could still feel them. He felt surprised and happy, but also a smaller yet all the more present feeling, something he couldn't quite put into words. The blue-haired Tamer felt his whole body warm up whenever he felt that emotion, and it took the boy a few minutes to work it out. There was something, or someone, which Henry felt a deep affection for in his dream; and though he continued his day as if nothing happened, in Henry's subconscious he made a promise to himself that somehow he will return to that dream. Somehow he will find that person he truly cared for.

A/N: So we finally have Alice's and Henry's first proper meeting! All in all, could have been a lot worse than wet clothes :P

Hopefully I can get the next chapter up soon, though I'm still trying to work out the pacing of the story and how I want it to play out. So until next time, see you soon!