First Night

"Ken."

The youngest Ichijouji's eyes fluttered open at the voice. At first, he had mistaken it for his own thoughts, being that it sounded just like his own voice. Which confused him to why he had even woken up.

"What were you thinking, just prancing into my world?" The words came sharp and arrogant. Ken was wide awake now. These weren't thoughts, and yet that was his voice alright. Ken sat up in bed, looking over his darkened room, searching for the speaker. He appeared alone, save for Wormmon sleeping beside him. He looked at the digimon curiously, realizing that the little creature probably couldn't hear the voice. Was this really all in his head?

And then it came again. "Someone's going to get hurt soon, and I'll be there, watching, with you tucked away comfortably behind me."

What was that supposed to mean? He understood the statement well enough to realize that he and his friends were still being targeted by the darkness, but what did that last part mean? Ken waited for the voice to speak again, but five minutes passed in silence. He ventured to speak.

"Who's there?"

His own voice came out shakier than he wanted, and inadvertently awoke Wormmon.

"Ken? Who're you talking to?"

The boy thought about how to answer that. Who could have that voice belonged to? It wasn't much longer before he figured it out. "It was the Digimon Emperor."

Wormmon sat in shocked silence, and Ken surprised himself with the realization. The Emperor was trying to come back. He was going to be used again to harm the other Digidestined. Ken lowered his head, and then bit his lip in anger. No. It wouldn't happen again. He couldn't let it happen again. This time he was willing to fight. He just wondered how.

He lay back down after a glance at the clock. 2:35 AM. It had been a long night, and it made him wonder how the others were faring after their encounter. As for him, the dark pictures of that world kept passing before him. Yolei and Shurimon falling into that trap in the crater. The black cloud trying to hide TK and Pegasusmon. Seeing Yolei and Hawkmon surrounded, only moments away from capture. The strange morphing of the shady beings. A gargantuan Snimon readying to spear TK. Patamon falling. TK falling. The appearance of all those creatures out of dark woods and black shades. TK disappearing into their midst. Ken shuddered at the images and the remnants of voices that accompanied them. He heard Yolei's scream for help as she was cornered. He heard TK yell as he was snatched away. Ken remembered himself crying out at them and their digimon, nearly helpless.

He sighed when he thought about any damage they might have done to those in the Dark World. Other than a few of the flying shadows Aquilamon had driven off, they hadn't done much more than flee. The darkness wasn't going to get weaker on its own, but what were they supposed to do? Thoughts like these troubled his mind until morning.

Yolei picked up her head slowly, and then turned her pillow over for the umpteenth time. She lay still, trying to calm herself by staring at the minutes ticking by on the clock. 1:43 AM...1:44 AM. It wasn't working very well, and she grumbled. It was harder to sleep than what she had first thought, and Yolei tried position after position to get comfortable until Poromon let out a little whine.

"Yolei, why can't you sleep?" Apparently the little digimon didn't even have a chance to doze off either, but that was only because of Yolei's constant movement. "You're starting to hog all the covers!"

"Sorry, Poromon," Yolei said sincerely. "I just can't help but think about everything that happened today. Last time I found myself stuck in the Dark World, Ken, Kari and I were just lost and wandering. The grey colours were creepy and all, but at least we weren't being chased or attacked. Still...today...well, you were there. I thought we could possibly just break our way out by somehow making a hole between dimensions. Like what happened when we fought Blossomon with Kari. Well that turned out to be a good idea, huh? Attracting every one of those creeps in the area. I'm sorry I had to put you through all that, Poromon."

"It's okay, Yolei. I'm just glad we all made it home safe."

"Yeah," she replied, her voice fading suddenly.

"Is there anything else?" Poromon asked.

Yolei spoke after a moment, "I was just thinking. Do you think Kari…" She stopped to give the idea another thought, and then continued. "…do you think she had to deal with those creatures when she went alone?"

Poromon hummed, musing over it himself. "Maybe. But even if she didn't, TK was there for her."

"What?" Yolei realized she must have missed something. "He's been there too?"

"Don't you remember? That day when Gatomon and I DNA digivolved? When we got out after defeating Blossomon, TK mentioned the world of darkness. I always wondered about that."

"You're right Poromon. I remember him saying that now…" Yolei paused. This talking was good for her to relax. That and the massage Poromon was now giving her, jumping up and down her back. She felt ready to take another shot at sleeping, but then a new thought began nagging at her mind. "Do you think that could be a reason they went for him after he helped rescue me?"

"Maybe. He probably was the one who rescued Kari too. Now he just rescued you, so it would make sense that he could be next."

Yolei felt a tug of urgency in her mind at the digimon's words. She would have to tell TK as soon as she saw him. Give him a heads up or warning at least. But for now, as Poromon settled back into the covers, she lay her head down and closed her eyes in her last attempt to sleep.

In the same building, though much earlier, TK had found himself incredibly drowsy as he got into his pyjamas. He wasted no time in getting to bed and taking what rest he could before the events of the day truly started plaguing his mind beyond hope of sleeping.

"Good-night, Patamon. You were great today," he said to his partner.

The little rookie promptly replied as he dug his way under the covers. "You were pretty brave too, TK. Sweet dreams."

The digimon's words proved to be in vain. By the next day, TK found himself wishing he had never fallen asleep in the first place.