Hi readers! I guess I didn't finish it over the weekend...

Well...since I have nothing more to say...oh! Right! I don't own Digimon.

Now read.

Final Night

After only about five minutes of flying, the sky warped from white to black. It took time for them to adjust, but the children immediately recognized the difference between this and the dirty-feeling Dark World. This was clean and light. Once their eyes grew used to the dark, they saw small specks of light overhead.

Stars.

Matt had never realized how much he missed the stars. Everything in the Dark World had been uncomfortably close and imposing, but the blackness of midnight in the Digital World was calming, with the sky far overhead and not threatening to stifle those who walked under it. The Digidestined stood there for a moment, relishing the feeling of freedom. It was good to know they were safe, and the fear of hidden evils no longer lurked in the back of their consciousness.

A question from Yolei brought everyone's minds back down to earth. "What part of the DigiWorld do you think we are?"

Matt looked around, observing the landscape as best he could in the dim light. The shapes of bulky objects were scattered all about. They looked like boulders and bricks, tossed carelessly about the area. It wasn't unlike the Mayan ruins that he and Ken had visited during the trip to Mexico. It looked like a huge black castle had once been built in the spot they were now standing. Matt thought back. Had they ever seen a castle like this during their first great adventure? Memory served him well, and he glanced over at Sora as he remembered.

"Looks familiar to me."

"Same here," Sora followed up, meeting his gaze. Matt nodded.

"Myotismon's castle."

"That's right!" Tsunomon gasped. The poor digimon had exerted himself farther than he ever had before, being in mega form for what seemed like over a day. "I remember that battle near the door that led to the Real World. That was back when I still had to revert all the way to in-training after digivolving to WereGarurumon."

Speaking of dedigivolving, GranKuwagamon shrank back down to Minomon, being that his job was finally done. All the other Chosen digimon were in their in-training forms as well. Just another sign that they had gained victory over the Dark World and Daemon. It was still so hard to believe.

"How does it feel, Teek?" Matt murmured to his little brother.

TK only hummed a reply. "Mmm..."

The younger boy's head nodded forward suddenly, and what little effort he was giving to hold himself up dissolved. Matt found Ken and himself the only thing between TK's face and the hard ground.

"He's fading," Ken commented concernedly.

"Gently now." Matt said as he and the raven-haired boy lowered TK to the ground and examined him. The older blond caught his breath when he realized what he had assumed was dried blood was actually wet and bleeding freely. The wound had been reopened.

"He needs some medical attention right now," said Ken.

"I know that," Matt replied. "But how do we go about it? I march into my mom's house holding my little brother and he looks like he got mauled by a bear. And how are we going to explain Sora's leg?"

"Don't worry too much about it, son." The old voice was familiar and always welcomed.

"Gennai!" The children exclaimed in unison. The digital man smiled.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am you all made it back. But you can talk to me about it later, when I'm helping you with your wounds. No need to worry about your parents or calling an ambulance. Let's hurry."

Matt looked down and TK, and saw that he was either too tired to open his eyes, or plain unconscious. He assumed the latter, and slid his arms under TK's body and lifted him up in a cradling position. It was rather an uneasy task. The younger boy had certainly filled out prior to the whole conflict, and felt heavy in Matt's arms. The weight strained against his injured shoulder, but Matt forced himself to concentrate on TK. The younger brother needed the attention more than he did. Once TK was situated, they set off for Gennai's house.

"How did you know we were here?" Yolei asked the digital man.

"I'm almost always monitoring the structure of the Digital World. If there's a rift, I notice it. You children created such a rift when you crossed dimensions to get here. That and GranKuwagamon is visible from almost a mile away."

Gennai's home wasn't far. Matt remembered how close the lake was to Myotismon's castle, and it was in the same place they left it. Rather unusual, considering how sporadic the DigiWorld's physics could be. Matt half-expected Gennai's house to be on top of Infinity Mountain or someplace like that. The lake opened up to welcome them, startling Ken and Yolei in the process. They all followed Gennai under without hesitation, however.

The digital man addressed them as they gathered in his parlour. "You all can wait in here while I see to taking care of your injuries. TK is unarguably top priority, and it looks like Sora should be seen to after him. There's some bandaging there on the table that you can use to help slow the bleeding, Sora."

The auburn-haired girl was already sitting on the cushioned floor with the other three, so Ken stood to get the medical supplies. Matt watched for a moment before Gennai tapped his uninjured shoulder.

"This way, son."

Matt followed the digital man down the hallway and into a clean, spare room. The air was fresh, due to the window being open. Gennai walked over to shut it, gesturing to the bed on the way there.

"Set him down there."

The blond did so, gently laying TK's limp body on the bed and grimacing as he saw the white sheets instantly dirtied as the younger boy's bloodied arms dragged along the fabric. Matt carefully situated the pillow under TK's head and tried to make his brother as comfortable as possible. Gennai came up beside him.

"Help me take his shirt off."

Matt complied, holding his brother upright while Gennai peeled the crimson-stained, sticky shirt off of TK. A lump formed in his throat when he saw the jagged gashes running down his brother's chest. They were deeper than he first thought. Matt swallowed hard, causing the pit to fall to his stomach where it churned. TK was still so young, and he was already scarred for life, in more ways than one.

The shirt was off and Matt lowered TK once again to the soft bed. As Gennai looked the younger boy over, he addressed Matt.

"Looks like your shoulder is bleeding. You should get something on there to stop the flow. It'll be a little while before I can treat you. TK should come out all right. At first glance, it doesn't seem like there are any infections, which is rather surprising to me."

Following Gennai's suggestion, the blond left TK in the hands of the digital guardian, and returned to the room where the others were. They looked up at him expectantly.

"He'll be alright."

The room sighed with relief.

Matt walked over to where the roll of bandages was stowed and cut himself a portion. Slipping his hand under his shirt, he packed the cloth against the wound on his shoulder, grimacing at the pressure. He looked over the others. Ken was doing his best to clean Sora's wound, while the other two girls sat on either side of her for support. The auburn-haired one sat very still, her face pale and mouth pursed tight. Matt had to admire the way she dealt with pain. She never denied that she was injured, but she would always toughen up until help came. It was unfortunate that she had to wait so long this time around.

Yolei was looking concernedly at Ken, and Matt could tell she would go to patch up the cuts on his face as soon as Sora was off his hands. The raven-haired boy's face was marred by several black bruises that complemented the little gashes. Matt still couldn't help the small twinge of pride that came with the knowledge that TK had been able to fend for himself, fighting the Digimon Emperor while injured.

Kari, meanwhile, was leaning heavily on Sora, her head on the older girl's shoulder. Her eyes were open, but tired and unfocused. Undoubtedly she was on the verge of nodding off, but it was apparent she wouldn't let herself sleep until the others were all taken care of. Through the tiredness in her gaze, Matt could somehow detect the haunt in her eyes. It was possible she was still troubled over the thought of Dragomon, and would be for a while.

Matt himself refused to sit down until he heard back from Gennai. There would be no rest for him until he saw TK again, and reassured that his brother would come out okay. The sight of the clawmarks played in front of Matt, reminding him just how close TK had come to death. And then the encounter with Puppetmon came back to him. How long ago had that happened? It was beginning to blur for Matt, but he shrugged it off as fatigue. There would be no forgetting this encounter. He had his own brush with death, and was saved only by the simple shove of a rookie. Matt looked over at the pile of Chosen digimon, mostly asleep except for Tokomon. Even though lying flat on his stomach, his little black eyes were halfway open, and he was determined to stay awake until he could check on his partner.

The time came, and Gennai walked into the room. The Digidestined, save Sora, shot to their feet. Gennai's expression was relaxed. "He's all patched up. It's your turn Sora."

"Can we see him?"

Gennai looked at Matt slowly. "You go, Matt, but I don't think everyone should be in there."

"What?"

The digital man laid his hand on Matt's shoulder as he walked over to help Sora up. "He needs you when he wakes up. Be there."

The blond didn't hesitate any longer and strode to the room TK was in. Gennai's voice was sad, somehow. It gave Matt an unwelcome, ominous feeling. Was something else wrong? Matt cracked TK's door open, slowly, in fear that the hinges would creak. Yet Gennai, being the old man he was, did a lot of cleaning around the house during his spare time, so the door swung silently. Matt approached TK hesitantly, eyeing the white patch wrapped around his chest. The blood was already marring the sanitary fabric, seeping slowly from the wound.

TK's body suddenly flinched, causing Matt to freeze. His eyes were slow in adjusting to the dark, but soon he could make out his brother's expression in the starlight through the window. TK's face was distorted, and Matt stepped closer for a better angle. His brother still looked like he was in pain, or discomfort in the least. The younger boy's fists were clenching, and his face wincing every few seconds.

"TK?" The younger blond didn't acknowledge him. Matt strode the last few paces and sat on the bed next to his brother. He was asleep. Matt frowned in dismay. Hadn't they defeated the darkness? So why was he still having nightmares? "TK?"

Still no response, until the younger boy twitched again and a groan escaped his throat. Matt grasped his hand, not failing to notice the white bandage wrapped around his arm. It was a wound he hadn't noticed before, but Matt would worry about that later. TK's discomfort had multiplied. It grew too much for the protective brother to watch. Matt had to end the nightmare.

"TK, wake up."

The younger boy's body began twisting, as if he were trying to pull himself free from something. The pit returned to Matt's throat. He shook TK by the shoulder, but that only seemed to worsen the problem.

"Come on, it's just a dream. Wake up," Matt pleaded. Another mumble burst from the boy, followed by his limbs jerking straight and going stiff. TK's eyes shot open.

The older brother gazed at him for a moment, watching the younger study the ceiling. When TK's stare didn't waver, Matt ventured, "Hey."

He watched the boy's eyes turn to look at him, and almost immediately they brimmed over, glistening in the starlight. When TK spoke, his voice was hoarse. "You're okay."

Matt tried to smile reassuringly as he leaned over TK, "Course I am."

TK sighed shakily, and then threw his arms around his brother. Matt was caught off guard, and barely managed to hold himself up with one arm so that he wouldn't collapse on his wounded sibling. With the other he held TK close, doing what he could to comfort the younger. The sobbing body of his brother reminded him of the days before the whole discovery of the Digital World, when TK was barely any more than a toddler. Life was still rough in a way, but much simpler. A small graze on the knees, and his little brother would come crying to him for comfort like he was now. He had been able to stop the flow of tears in moments back then. Now, as TK held onto him for dear life, Matt felt like this would be a long night. No less than five minutes passed before TK finally brought himself to speak.

"The nightmares...they're still here."

Matt's heart fell with the knowledge. He knew TK's dream was troubled, but hearing the sadness in TK's tone made it all the more real. He sat up, trying to get himself and his brother into a more comfortable position.

"If defeating Daemon didn't stop them, what will?" TK continued in a small voice. Matt looked up from his brother and saw Gennai standing in the doorway, with Tokomon at his feet.

"They've got to end sometime soon," the older brother said. Gennai nodded in confirmation as the in-training digimon trotted over and jumped on the bed to join the brothers.

The digital man explained. "It's the trauma from the whole experience. Being the carrier of Hope, TK has an extra level of sensitivity to darkness, as does Kari. There is no avoiding the nightmares from tonight and possibly tomorrow night, but it should end there for good."

"Let's hope so," TK put in as Tokomon snuggled into his lap. He looked up at Gennai's silhouette. "So Kari will have similar dreams too?"

The man nodded. "Inevitably."

The younger of the blonds lowered his head once more. "I doubt she'll sleep at all in that case."

"In any case," Gennai said. "I didn't come in here to eavesdrop. Sora's good to go. Ken did most of my work for me, so it's time to look at that shoulder of yours, Matt."

After a moment's hesitation, Matt left his younger brother in the room. Tokomon was there for him, at the least. TK took as deep a breath as he could to relax himself. He slowly lowered himself back into a lying position. His partner pulled a light layer of sheets over him, and then curled up right next to him. "What happened in the dream, TK? Was it like the others?"

TK hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Matt, but with his digimon, the words flowed freely. "It was a lot like the others. But...they do end up getting Matt. I mean...they're...coming for me first, but then he shows up... When this all began, in the first nightmares, I was calling to him for help. I wanted him to come...when they captured you. I wanted his help...but this time he actually came and...they..." TK swallowed, his tongue grating against his dry mouth. "I think it's because of how Daemon went after Matt. It was terrifying."

"So was seeing you being manhandled by Daemon, and not being able to do anything about it."

TK frowned and shivered at the memory. "That too."

"Still, it's all over, and no nightmare's going to change that. Try and sleep TK. I know it's hard, but you haven't had a full night's rest in almost a week."

"It's Friday?"

"Not quite. Late Thursday."

The blond shut his eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep in the Dark World since he arrived Tuesday afternoon, and before that he only averaged a couple hours a night since last Friday. Tokomon was right, but TK was already afraid of sleep. Watching Matt get tortured to death while he himself was chained up to darkness was traumatizing enough for one night. He didn't want any more of it. Still, the need for rest, along with the feeling of safety that came with Gennai's house, overpowered his fear of his dreams, and TK slipped into a deep sleep.

Not even the scream that resonated through the house in the first hours of the morning woke him up.

Now that chapter was longer than I thought it would be. I had to split it.