A Touch of Miracles

by Little White Comet

Adventure AU! What if Daisuke had been adopted by the Yagamis when he was four years old? What if he was with Taichi on that fateful day at Summer Camp? How different would the adventure have been with a bit of Miracles added to the mix? UPDATE - Episode 4 is UP!

5. S1 - Episode 3

Universe: Digimon Adventure AU

Genre: Friendship & Adventure

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Warnings: Violence, blood, OOC, fighting and Mild Swearing.

Summary: Adventure AU! What if Daisuke had been adopted by the Yagami family when he was four years old? What if he was with Taichi on that fateful day at Summer Camp? How different would the adventure have been with a bit of Miracles added to the mix?

Author Notes:

Right this will be final update until I complete finish writing out this first arc. But you guys have been waiting two years for me to update this so I thought why not make this one the last post before I go off on the writing marathon?

A couple of things need to be said before you get to this chapter though.

I will not be calling Daisuke by any other name other than Daisuke and sometimes Dai. Davis is not his nickname, that's the name he was given in the English version of Digimon. Please don't ask me to change my story because you prefer the English version, thank you.

Another reason I have taken so long with this is that this chapter was a really hard one to put together with how it explores how the group works.

I had to work out how to write the team's dynamics, how they would clash, how they would mix and how they would share their problems in a way that it was different in the show.

How Taichi and Koushirou responded to each other, how Sora and Taichi get on, how Yamato and Taichi clashed, how Sora and Mimi clashed, how the group responds to Joe not being that great of a Senpai at the moment and most importantly how Takeru and Yamato work together.

I had to keep reminding myself that, at the moment, the relationship between Yamato and everyone else isn't that great. In fact, no one is really that close to anyone except for obviously Sora, Taichi and Daisuke.

Plus certain plot points had to be changed due to the simple fact I let Taichi find Daisuke's backpack last chapter. As stated before that backpack contains stuff for both Taichi and Daisuke, including Taichi's medication.

It was going to stay with Daisuke and when he found Taichi's medication he would rush to get to him, so he can have his medicine. But of course, Shellmon ended up throwing Daisuke and V-mon into the sea, completely destroying the idea of the backpack because everything would have been destroyed by the water.

All in all, it's been difficult but I hope you guys enjoy this and I'll be seeing you when I've finished the first arc.

Enjoy!

---

A Touch of Miracles: Season 1

Episode 3: The Blue Wolf! Garurumon Makes a Stand!

---

Carefully, with their re-energized Digimon surrounding them, the group of seven kids made their way through the thick forest and wild bushes. Koushirou was leading the group to where he had seen a light appear in the sky that had been similar to Agumon's Digivolution but it had been a mix of blue and gold instead of orange.

"It's getting dark. I think we're going to have to stop soon." Sora pointed out as she realised both Koushirou and Taichi were totally absorbed into getting to their next destination. Taichi paused as he looked up to the sky he could just see through the tree tops and took in the slight orange tint it had taken on.

"Where are we going to settle down though? It's not a good idea to sleep out here when we could just be attacked again." Koushirou said as Tentomon buzzed around his head.

"I'm tired," Mimi whined as she rubbed her eyes with her fists but the dirt on the ground stopped her from sitting down like Palmon had happily done.

"Takeru can't keep going like this either. He needs sleep." Yamato stated in annoyance as said eight-year-old followed Mimi's example and yawned as he held Patamon in his arms. Gabumon stayed silent beside Yamato as his eyes flickered around the trees.

"I need to find Daisuke," Taichi said clearly and Yamato groaned as he ran a hand down his face in frustration.

"It's going to be dark in about an hour! You won't be able to see anything, so how do you expect to find your little brother?" The blonde demanded, causing Taichi to glare at with furious brown eyes as he clenched his fists at his side.

"Hey don't start you two! We're all tired and stressed but we can't take it out on each other!" Sora said sternly as Agumon and Gabumon both took hold of their partner's hands in worry.

"Taichi please don't fight!" Agumon pleaded and Gabumon nodded in agreement as he tightened his grip on Yamato when the boy tried to shake him off. "Now is not the time to be baiting your friends." Gabumon lectured wisely and Yamato huffed a bit as he looked away into the trees.

A loud roar suddenly echoed around the forest causing the group to flinch. Mimi cried out in fear as froze in place.

"What was that?" She whimpered and beside her Joe swallowed hard. "It sounds like another Digimon."

Sure enough with another loud roar, a huge grey coloured dinosaur broke through the trees in front of them. The Digimon all jumped in front of the children but they didn't attack.

"It's alright, it's just a Monochromon." Palmon reassured her partner as the dinosaur took a mouthful of leaves from a tree and provided to eat them with a happy grumble.

"Monochromon?" Koushirou questioned as everyone slowly started to relax. "Monochromon is an Adult Ankylosaur Digimon. They're harmless despite their appearance but they are a bit territorial." Tentomon explained and Taichi tensed once more.

"Territorial? You mean like Shellmon? Or Kuwagamon?" Taichi demanded and the remaining kids tensed once more at the reminder what territorial usual meant for them.

"Oh no! You misunderstand me Yagami-han! Monochromon only gets territorial when another Monochromon enter their territory." Tentomon was quick to reassure as he continued to hover above their heads.

In front of them, Monochromon was reaching forward to pull down another when suddenly it froze and started sniffing the air. Suddenly it let out a furious growl and its eyes turned to slits.

"Uh oh." Patamon squeaks as he allows himself to land on Gabumon's head and Gabumon narrows his eyes as he steps in front of Yamato and Takeru.

With a loud roar another Monochromon charges out of the trees and charges with its head down, the first Monochromon was ready for him though and the clashed horns with a loud bang.

"We need to get out of here! Those two could end up hitting us by accident!" Koushirou pointed out logically and even though Taichi didn't want to leave the one lead he had on Daisuke, he wasn't willing to risk his friend's lives for it.

"Let's go!" He shouted before he turned and ran right back in the direction they had just came from with their Digimon following close behind. Suddenly Takeru tripped over a small rock and fell to the ground with a small cry. Yamato was quick to run to his side and his hands hovered over the boy's shoulders with clear hesitation.

"Are you alright, Takeru?" Yamato demanded but just as Takeru was about to answer Taichi once again appeared in front of them with irritation clear in his eyes.

"Come on you two, you're falling behind." Taichi pointed out as he held out his hand to Takeru and helped the boy to his feet. "You've got to keep up Takeru."

Yamato blinked in shock; he couldn't believe that Taichi had said something so harsh to his Otōto. Yamato didn't get a chance to announce his anger though as Taichi once again took off. This time though Takeru was quick to follow with a small smile leaving Yamato alone on the ground.

---

A few minutes the group were forced to stop as Mimi rested her head against a tree with a huge sigh. Scattered around in the trees and bushes were road signs all posted at odd angles.

"I'm tired and my feet are starting to hurt." Mimi whimpered as she tried to muster up the energy to rub them. Living the life she had Mimi never really had to do anything too strenuous, there was always someone waiting to do it for her.

"Come on don't complain, Mimi. We're only going on a bit further." Taichi urged as he walked past without a hint of tiredness in his appearance or stride. Mimi pouted at him with furious caramel eyes as she allowed her hat to flutter down and rest on her back.

"No! My calves will get fat!" She whined and Taichi couldn't help but roll his eyes. Being as athletic as he was Taichi was never someone who could understand that other people needed to take breaks, especially if they weren't used to too much activity.

"Fatter legs are better Mimi! You can walk further with them and also kick things a lot harder!" Agumon pointed and Sora couldn't help herself from rolling her eyes. Agumon really was the best partner for Taichi if kicking was the reason to have strong legs.

"I'm not like you!" Mimi objected as Palmon was quick to run to her side with a happy smile.

"Why don't you take your shoes off Mimi? There's nothing better than letting my vines dig in the dirt." Palmon happily said and Mimi flinched before shaking her head widely.

"I'm not like you either! I'm not going to let dirt get in between my toes!"

"It's even darker now." Sora pointed out needless as the trees glowed around them like neon lights, she knew without them they would have been running around blind by now. Taichi bit his lip before he looked over at Koushirou who was looking at the sky.

"Can you get us back to where we were? Where you saw the light?" The brunette asked hopefully but Koushirou shook his head with a sigh of frustration.

"No, I'm sorry Taichi-san. I lost it when we were running from that Monochromon. Unless it shows up again I'm not going to be able to tell what direction it's in." Koushirou summarised and Taichi groaned as he scratched the back of his neck in frustration.

"That means we're going to stop now right?" Yamato questioned needlessly from where he stood beside Mimi and Joe. Taichi clenched his fists once more but quickly calmed down as Agumon placed his claw on his hand.

"Yamato…" Gabumon murmured simply from beside Takeru who leaning against him slightly in exhaustion; the run in with Monochromon had given him enough energy to get away but now the eight-year-old was ready to go to bed.

"Hey! I smell water!" Gomamon suddenly cried out as he sniffed the air, a grin easily breaking out across his face.

"Water? I don't think we should go near water right now, I mean what if Shellmon comes back?" Joe pointed out in worry but Gomamon shook his head with a smirk as he patted his partner's leg with his flipper.

"Don't worry Joe! This smells more like a lake or a pond and Shellmon attacked us from the sea, remember?" The seal Digimon pointed out. Koushirou blinked before placing his hand on chin and looked down to the ground.

"So it's another body of water? This Digital World makes no sense when it comes to nature." The red head muttered to himself in frustration before Tentomon suddenly took off from the ground and hovered a few feet above the group.

"I'll go take a look Koushirou-han. If Gomamon is able to smell it then it shouldn't be that far away, I should be able to see from the trees." With that, the beetle Digimon took off into the leaves of the closest tree until he got a clear view of everything in front of them.

Sure enough not far from where the group had stopped was a beautiful lake that shimmered in the dimming light. Tentomon blinked as he watched the water for a couple of seconds before buzzing in excitement as he caught sight of a faint ripple in the water.

"Tentomon? How is it?" Koushirou called up to where Tentomon was hovering with his hands cupping his mouth. It was silent for a couple of seconds before Tentomon burst through the leaves so suddenly it made Joe fall backwards to the floor with a shocked cry.

"It's the perfect spot to settle down for the night Koushriou-han. There's fish swimming in the water so that means it's clean and it's partly hidden in the trees to protect us all from danger." Tentomon summarised and Sora grinned as she patted the Digimon's metal head with a careful hand.

"Well done Tentomon." She praised causing Gomamon to huff as he looked away with an angry pout all though his eyes continued to shine impishly.

"Hey what about me? I was the one who smelt the water!" The seal protested causing Sora to laugh as she crouched down and patted him on the head as well.

"Thank you Gomamon for finding the water. I don't know what we could have done without you." She teased lightly before standing to herself and allowing Biyomon to lean against her side.

"I guess that means we're going to the lake right?" Yamato confirmed as he crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes coldly. Taichi shot him a glare before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to relax.

"At least that means we won't have to eat another load of junk food for supper. I was getting sick of potato chips anyway." The boy joked as he rubbed the back of his neck and Koushirou smiled as he adjusted his backpack slightly on his shoulders.

"Plus if there's fish here that means there must be other sources of food as well." Koushirou pointed out and despite it being a dark thought it did take a bit of pressure off their shoulders. No one wanted to be the one to kill something for food but they wouldn't last long on soda and chips and they all knew it.

Fish wouldn't last long after being killed but if the Digimon managed to survive in this world, then there must be something they were all eating to keep them going.

"Back into the water, I go!" Gomamon laughed as he prepared to flop through the trees and straight into the water. He grunted in shock though as something grabbed his tail sending him face first into the ground.

"You don't even know if it's safe yet! Be more cautious!" Joe lectured sternly as he pulled the seal Digimon back to him who whined the whole way.

"If we're going to set up camp we should probably get some sticks to make a campfire." Yamato pointed out as he pulled Takeru up on his feet once more.

"We should probably get extra so that we can actually catch the fish and cook them as well," Koushirou suggested causing Yamato smiled slightly at the genius red head before nodding his head in silent agreement.

"Okay! Let's go check it out. If it's safe then we'll camp there tonight." Joe said and the remaining all shouted their agreement.

---

The forest was silent as V-Mon walked through the trees with Daisuke seated happily on his back. The two had been walking for a while now but they hadn't needed to talk, just being in each other's company was enough.

A loud grumbling noise suddenly echoed around them though causing V-Mon to freeze. Daisuke blinked in confusion before tapping his partner's chest lightly with his fingers.

"V-Mon? You okay?" The young boy questioned and the blue dragon released a sigh as he adjusted his hold on Daisuke's legs slightly just before his stomach rumbled once more.

"I'm hungry." V-Mon finally admitted before crouching down slightly so that Daisuke could easily place his feet on the ground and stand on his own. The six-year-old blinked at the Digimon before placing his hands on his own stomach as it gave a small rumble of its own.

"Me too. We left the food though in my bag back at the beach." Daisuke pointed out needlessly as he fiddled with his fingers nervously. He could see the sun going down through the tree tops and as someone who never was a fan of the dark Daisuke didn't want to know what this place would be like after sundown.

V-Mon crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to think up a plan. They needed food and shelter but as far as he was aware there wasn't anything like that in the area. Master Elecmon had also made it perfectly clear to V-Mon to not get too hungry or there would be a chance he could De-Digivolve back down to Chibimon, making it impossible for him to protect his small partner.

"De-Digivolve? But that's not possible! When a Digimon Digivolves it means they've reached the right age in both experience and power to reach the next level of their lives. Every Digimon knows this." V-Mon pointed out to the Village Elder who sighed and shook his head.

"Yet you were able to Digivolve into V-Dramon but then De-Digivolve back into V-Mon when you ran out of energy." Master Elecmon retorted and V-Mon fell silent as he realised he was right. With V-Mon now silent Master Elecmon continued on with his theory.

"I don't know much about this but because it's Daisuke's power that's making you Digivolve that means its only temporary. Although it seems like that the level you are at now is now your base level when Digivolving to your Adult Level. But please remember that there is a very high possibility that if you get too weak as V-Mon you will De-Digivolve back to your Baby stage."

A sudden touch at his side brought V-Mon out of his worried thoughts. Shaking his head to clear it V-Mon looked to the side to see Daisuke leaning against him while rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"Daisuke, are you tired?" V-Mon asked just as Daisuke yawned. The boy shook his head though when he finished whipping his eyes and looked at his Digimon with determined, but slightly red, mocha coloured eyes.

"No! I can keep going!" He insisted in the way only a child could despite the fact he yawned once more at the end of his determined words. V-Mon giggled before his stomach once again rumbled reminding him of his problems.

"Get on my back Daisuke," V-Mon said as he crouched down. "We're going to go find some food and somewhere safe to settle down." V-Mon continued as the boy wrapped his arms around the Digimon's neck and pulled himself up just as V-Mon slipped his arms underneath the boy's knees.

"Okay but you won't push yourself, will you V-Mon? I don't want you to be too tired because of me." Daisuke admitted but he then giggled when V-Mon jostled him slightly as he straightened up.

"Quit worrying! Carrying you is no sweat to me!" V-Mon boasted with a cheeky grin causing Daisuke to giggle once more. After making sure Daisuke was secured safely on his back V-Mon started walking once more, unaware of the sinister yellow eyes watching the two from the trees.

---

The group followed Tentomon through the trees and it wasn't long until the lake came into view. To them, it looked perfectly normal except for the electric poles scattered in the water.

"Wow! It's huge!" Takeru gasped in awe as he stood on tiptoes trying to see to the other side but it was impossible. Surrounded the lake was a huge collection of mountains and the way they formed the group assumed they went surrounded the lake in a circle.

"A lake this is big is perfect for us to camp out next to," Sora said as she rested her hands on hips and Biyomon nodded in agreement with a happy smile. Mimi though was less thrilled with this revelation.

"Wait! Does this mean we have to sleep outside?" She whimpered pitifully while giving Taichi a pleading look as if to make him come to a different conclusion.

"Looks like it," Taichi said with a shrug not all affected by her puppy dog eyes. After getting into trouble because of Hikari and Daisuke giving him one of those looks he had long since learned to ignore them.

"If I won't sit on this floor what makes you think I'm going to sleep on it?" Mimi demanded and Taichi wasted no time in throwing her a dry look as the rest of the group started settling down.

"Well I don't see a hotel around here, do you, Mimi?" Taichi countered causing Mimi to cross her arms with a loud huff. Her lips pursed in a pout of frustration.

Before they could carry on arguing though the sound of static sounded catching the group's attention. Both Taichi and Mimi looked over and watched in shock as power slowly returned to the train like vehicle sitting near the age of the water.

"The power came on!" Joe pointed out causing Koushirou to scratch at his red hair with confusion clear on his face.

"How? It's not connected to the power lines." He pointed out and just as he said the vehicle was attached to the power lines that were set up in the lake.

"What is it Onii-chan?" Takeru questioned as he tugged on Yamato's shirt to get his attention. Yamato bit his lip to stop him answering the boy in a cruel way, after all, trams weren't very common where he lived.

"It's a tram Takeru. They're like trains except they run on power lines through the cities." Yamato explained simply and Takeru released a sound of interest.

"Maybe be someone is there," Sora suggested with a hopeful smile.

"Then let's check it out," Taichi suggested as he and Agumon took off running towards the new looking tram. The group weren't far behind him and by the time they had caught up Taichi had already walked through the door nearest the front which had automatically opened.

"It's empty." Taichi sighed in a disappointment as Sora and Koushirou entered through the middle door. Koushirou went down to his knees and slowly moved his gloved hands across the floor.

"It looks brand new! There aren't any scuff marks on the floor at all meaning we might be the first ones to come in here." Koushirou analysed as Mimi shoved passed Taichi and took a seat on one of the chairs.

"The cushions are so comfy! This is much better than sleeping on the dirty ground." Mimi sighed in bliss as she bounced slightly before leaning back against the rest behind her.

"But what is going on here? First, it was the telephones that seemed to dial us to anywhere but where we wanted, and now this tram that seems to be running on nothing." Taichi sighed as he fiddled with the strap of his goggles.

"This thing isn't going to move on its own is it?" Joe questioned from where he sat in the driver's seat fiddling with the controls. He couldn't help but smile though when Biyomon pressed her face right up against the glass.

"I don't think so. This thing needs tracks to run right?" Taichi asked Koushirou who by now had stood up beside the goggle-wearing boy.

"That's right. The tracks are different to ones that a train uses though. Tram tracks are made smaller so that they can be installed onto the streets." Koushirou explained as Sora fell backwards onto another seat with a sigh of relief.

"That means it's safe to use right? This place is perfect for us to rest for the night." Sora pointed out while resting her arms on the back of her seat.

Tentomon buzzed over their heads before he settled down beside her. "Do you think we can eat something now Koushirou-han? I'm very hungry." Tentomon admitted causing Taichi to snap his fingers in realisation.

"That's right. I forgot about that."

---

The group had decided to split up and collect as many different items that were safe for them to eat and maybe store for in their bags for a few days.

Koushirou was given the task of catching some fish for them to cook that night and Takeru tagged along despite being so tired. He had never been camping before so learning to fish from someone as smart as Koushirou seemed like a requirement to the eight-year-old.

"Gomamon! Please stop swimming in the lake; you're scaring away all the fish!" Koushirou complained as Gomamon once again swam right by where Koushirou's makeshift fishing line was resting in the water.

"Why would that scare them away?" Takeru questioned as he watched Gomamon laugh loudly before diving under the water.

"It's the same reason why we can't move or make too much noise. The fish can sense vibrations in the water and they move away from them." Koushirou explained as he reeled in his line slightly before recasting it with a grunt.

Just in the first brush of trees behind the pair were Patamon, Agumon, Gabumon and Biyomon. The four were standing underneath a tree that had bananas growing healthy on them. Standing on Agumon's head Patamon took a deep breath.

"AIR SHOT!"

With Patamon's powerful attack quite a few bunches of bananas fell to the ground with small thumps. One though, struck Gabumon hard on the head causing him to cry out.

"Wow! That breath of yours is lethal, Patamon!" Biyomon laughed as she flew up into the tree to get some of the less ripe bunches as Sora had instructed.

"But you don't need to use your powers just go get some fruit. Save your strength." Gabumon lectured reasonably and Patamon nodded in understanding.

A few feet away from them was Palmon and Mimi, together the two of them were looking at a bunch of brown coloured mushroom that was growing out of the ground.

"These ones are safe to eat. They should last a little while too as long as we keep them covered." Palmon explained before she spotted Mimi reaching out for a different bunch of mushrooms, these ones were the same colour but they had bright red spots covering the top of them.

"Don't pick those ones, Mimi. Those ones are poisonous; they can make you very sick just by touching them." Palmon warned as the young girl snatched her hands back with a small gasp. She grinned though as she looked at her partner.

"That flower on your head isn't just for show then, huh? I'd be completely lost without your help Palmon." Mimi gushed with a giggle causing Palmon to look to the side bashfully while rubbing the back of her head.

While the others were gathering as much food supplies as possible Sora, Yamato and Taichi were building a fire pit. Taichi stood back to his feet while patting his hands clear of dirt as Yamato carefully filled the small ditch Taichi had just dug with twigs and branches.

"Cooking fuel is good and all but we haven't got anything to light it." Taichi pointed out as he slipped his gloves back on his hands. Sora carefully walked over to them with an armful of small pebbles that she was quick to drop to the floor with a small huff.

"Well, we'll have to do it the old fashion way then." She retorted kindly as she surrounded the small ditch with the pebbles to avoid the fire from spitting at them.

"I'll light it for you!" Agumon suddenly shouted before shooting a small baby flame at the collection of twigs causing the three to jump back slightly in shock.

"Hey, thanks, Agumon!" Taichi laughed in gratitude as he reached over and rubbed Agumon's head roughly.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Look how many fish we managed to catch!" Takeru shouted as he Koushirou carefully carried a giant leaf between. Sitting in the centre of the leaf, which was acting like a small hammock, was a medium size pile of multicoloured fish.

"That's great! Well done you two." Taichi praised as he walked over and carefully took the part Takeru was holding his hand. With his free hand, he scrubbed the small boy's head causing him to giggle happily.

"That will be more than enough for all us tonight," Sora said as the leaf was carefully set down to avoid the fish from spilling to the ground.

Yamato grabbed two branches of the ground and with an easy hand, he slipped the branches into two fishes he picked from the pile. Checking they were firmly stuck he walked over to the fire where Taichi was looking at his own fish with a lost expression.

"Eggs are as far as my cooking skills go," Taichi admitted as he waved the fish over the fire while holding onto the tail fins. Yamato shook his head before kicking a stick over to the brunet.

"You'll hurt yourself doing it that way. Use a stick, like this." Yamato ordered as he held out his own pair of fish on sticks over the fire. Biting his lip Taichi carefully copying Yamato's own movement and soon enough he was holding his own lunch over the fire.

It took a little while before everyone was finally settled down around the fire and enjoy their collection of fish and fruit.

"This is delicious Koushirou-han," Tentamon admitted happily as he happily reached for a couple more bananas. Beside him, Koushirou gave his own hum of agreement as he nibbles on his well-cooked fish.

"Onii-chan it's rude to eat with your hands. Kaa-chan told me I should only eat with my chopsticks." Takeru murmured as he fiddled with the stick while nibbling on his lip in worry.

"We haven't got any though Takeru, so you'll have to make do." Yamato pointed out as he took a bite of his own fish trying to encourage the younger boy. Takeru though continued to look worried.

"Onii-chan…"

"Takeru it's fine! Now eat your fish!" Yamato ordered sternly but as soon as he saw Takeru flinch away from him slightly he looked away with a sigh.

"Hey, Takeru it's alright. I'm sure your Okaa-san would rather you eat something instead of starving, right?" Taichi asked lightly and Takeru looked at him in thought.

"I guess so," Takeru answered back reluctantly but when Taichi smiled at him calmly the boy fully relaxed and dug into his fish with relish.

It was like a kick in the teeth for Yamato. Takeru argued with him but when Taichi said it was alright then he'd eat without objection?

"Just because you've lost your little brother don't try and steal mine," Yamato muttered to himself as he went to take another bite of his fish. He didn't have a chance though as the next thing he knew he was lying on his back with a slight metallic taste in his mouth.

"Tai! Taichi stop!" Sora shouted as she quickly hauled the furious brunet away from the wounded blonde as he went to punch him again. With an experienced hand, she forcibly turned him around and gave him a small push towards the forest.

"Go calm down." She ordered making sure to keep her voice calm and reassuring. Taichi turned to look at her furiously as his hands clenched repeatedly at his side.

"You're taking his side?! Didn't you hear what he said?!" Taichi demanded snarl as Sora placed a hand on his chest to stop him charging for Yamato once more. Years of being the voice of reason every time Taichi lost his temper though gave Sora a much-needed advantage in this situation.

"Yes I did hear it and it was completely out of line. But starting a fight is not the answer!" Sora retorted as she slowly herded Taichi further away from the group. Agumon suddenly appeared beside Taichi and took his hand into his own.

"Come on Taichi. Let's go somewhere else for a bit. When you're calmer we'll come back okay?" Agumon suggested with a gentle smile. Taichi grit his teeth before his shoulders slumped down as he sighed.

"Okay."

"Don't go too far," Sora warned as she watched the two walk off even as Taichi waved a hand at her in acknowledgement. Watching them go Sora took a deep breath before looking at Yamato sternly with her hands on her hips.

Yamato ran a hand across his lips to whip off the last bit of blood from where he had bitten his lip. He knew he was going to get a bruise coming up soon as Taichi had put a lot of strength behind that punch.

"I know alright. That was stupid of me." Yamato admitted with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"That was very stupid of you. You know how Tai is when it comes to his siblings, why did you think it was a good idea to attack him there?" Sora demanded but Yamato simply shrugged shamefully.

Despite being in a different class Taichi's temper was something that was well known around the school. Normally the soccer player was an easy going person, always welcoming everyone with a smile and a joke. But when his siblings became involved Taichi become so over protective that if you even snickered at one of them you would end with a black eye.

"Yamato-kun!"

"I don't know okay?! Just leave me alone!" Yamato growled as he threw his stick into the fire and proceeded to stomp away from the group.

"Onii-chan!" Takeru cried out in shock as he dropped his unfinished fish to the ground and quickly took off after his retreating brother, with Gabumon and Patamon following behind.

The remaining children and Digimon stared blankly in the direction they went before Sora suddenly huffed and threw herself to the ground.

"Boys! Why do they have to make things so difficult?!" She exclaimed before taking a vicious bite out of her piece of fish, which Biyomon had given to her.

---

It was almost pitch black now and V-mon could tell by the slight additional weight on his back that Daisuke had finally lost his fight with sleep. The boy didn't snore but every time he breathed out his nose would make a strange squeaking noise, it adorable and if he wasn't so tense V-mon would appreciate it more.

Unfortunately, with the exhaustion and hungry raging against his body V-mon was feeling not only incredibly tense but paranoid too. To him, every step felt like it gained the attention of a thousand territorial Digimon despite how quietly he walked.

"Ah!" V-Mon suddenly cried out as his foot caught a loose root and almost sent him tumbling to the ground. Lucky enough he managed to regain his balance but when Daisuke stirred on his back he knew it was time to stop.

Scanning the area with weary red eyes V-Mon released a relieved sigh when saw the area was clear. With careful movements, he slowly lowered Daisuke to the ground and resting him against a thick tree trunk. Daisuke grumbled slightly in his throat before he curled up tightly in a ball still deeply asleep.

"Now some food," V-Mon whispered to himself as he once again scanned the area and the trees. Lucky enough he found a tree holding a couple of bunches of bananas, and with a quick V-Headbutt V-Mon had gathered up a small pile enough to keep them both going until tomorrow.

"Daisuke. Come and get something to eat and then you can get some sleep." V-Mon called out as he quickly separated what they could eat tonight. When no answer came he sighed before jumping to his feet.

"Daisuke." He called out again as he turned to look where his partner had fallen asleep only to freeze as his eyes locked onto tear filled mocha ones.

Daisuke screamed from behind the green vine that had wrapped around his body and gagged him but V-mon couldn't react fast enough before something smashed into him sending him flying to the floor with a loud crash.

"To think I would come upon such an amazing find in the weak part of this Forrest. You two will make a delicious meal for me." The Digimon purred sadistically as it slivered out of the shadows and into the sun light.

It looked like a miscoloured sunflower with a sharp fanged smile, its body was made up of bright green fines that were completely covered in thorns. On its back, it had a collection of big purple leaves and finally on four of the front vines sat four mini heads that looked exactly like the main one but without eyes.

"Let go of my partner!" V-Mon grunted as he painfully pushed himself to his feet, his red eyes narrowed in a furious glare. The Digimon simply laughed as he held the six-year-old out of V-Mon's reach not all fazed by how much the boy wiggled to get free.

"Such an adorable Child Digimon. You really think you stand a chance against me? My name is Blossomon and I'm a Perfect Level Digimon. Do you really think you can even touch me with your power?" The newly identified Blossomon laughed mockingly.

V-Mon clenched his fists tightly as he once again locked eyes with Daisuke. Tears were trailing down the six-year-old's cheeks as he fought to get free even though the thorns pricked at his skin with every movement.

"HYPER PUNCH!" V-Mon shouted as he swung his arms at such speed that they looked like blue and white disks. Using his arms like shields V-Mon charged forward deflecting each vine Blossomon threw at him.

Panting the blue Digimon skidded backwards as his arms hung limply beside him. He knew he wouldn't be able to use that attack for quite some time. His arms ached all the way from his shoulders down to his fingers and until he got used to it that attack will have to be used with care.

"Well, you are full of surprises," Blossomon admitted bringing V-Mon out of his thoughts and to his dismay the Digimon wasn't even a little bit breathless. He hadn't even loosened his grip on Daisuke if anything it had become just a bit tighter as Daisuke wasn't even able to wiggle now.

"Unfortunately for you, so am I. SPIRAL FLOWER!" Blossomon shouted as he flicked his four front vines sharply. V-Mon's eyes widened as he quickly ducked to avoid being sliced by one of the mini heads that had suddenly become a very sharp weapon. Quickly dodging the other three vines V-Mon barely managed to jump back as a sharply spiked vine smashed into the ground where he was just standing.

"You are fast, I praise you for that. But I'm getting hungry and this youngling is bursting with so much power I could probably Digivolve after feeding." Blossomon rambled needlessly as he continued flinging his vines towards V-Mon. They never hit him but they were very quickly tiring him out.

Suddenly V-Mon stumbled and Blossomon smirked as he swung his vine sharply and struck the blue lizard Digimon in the stomach sending him flying backwards. Daisuke screamed from behind his gag as V-mon landed on the hard ground with a sickening crash.

"Young Digimon are so amusing. Especially those with a lot of power. They think they can take on the world, it's so much fun crushing them into the dirt." Blossomon mused as the dust slowly settled revealing V-Mon painfully pushing himself to his feet.

"Heh," Blossomon smirked before he suddenly moved two vines in front of him and pushed the ends together. A glow of green surrounded the ends before Blossomon separated them to show that he now held a strangely shaped parcel in his hands made of pink flower petals.

"POLLINO-"

"BEAST-KING FIST!" A loud and furious voice roared out from the trees. Blossomon only had time to look at him in shock before a lion's face made of bright energy smashed into him and sent him flying into a tree with a loud smash.

Daisuke gasped as he was released but before he even had a chance to realise he was falling he found himself caught by a pair of very big paws.

"Leomon…you…" Blossomon grunted furiously as he tried to recover from the sneak attack that had completely taken his breath away. Leomon looked at him with stern eyes that made the Plant Digimon freeze in place.

"I believe I told you not to wander around these parts Blossomon. There are no Digimon with enough power to satisfy your hunger. Digimon in these parts are, at most, Child Level. When they become Adult Level they move on, that is how things are done around here." Leomon lectured with a soft growl. Despite the fact he was very obviously furious he didn't raise his voice once.

"Che." Blossomon scoffed before retreating into the trees. He managed to throw Leomon one more glare before he was swallowed by the darkness of the forest.

The area around them fell silent as Leomon crouched down and carefully placed Daisuke back down on his feet. The six-year-old shifted with a wince as the small cuts covering stung and it took a lot of effort for him not to start crying.

"It's not safe to wander around this forest at night. Despite my repeated warnings powerful Digimon still comes here looking for a chance to get stronger. With your power, you two need to be careful." Leomon explained as V-Mon stumbled over to him and pulled Daisuke into a relieved hug.

"Why? Why did he want to eat us? Digimon don't do that!" V-Mon insisted fiercely causing Leomon to sigh sadly.

"Such innocence, it is both a happy and sad things during these times. Things are not how they use to be, young one. Times are tough, food is scarce and now Digimon have resorted to consuming other Digimon's data just to stay strong. It is dark times that we are going through." Leomon bemoaned as V-Mon swallowed hard.

"That's…that's horrible." The young Digimon whispered quietly and Leomon nodded in full agreement.

"But it is how it is. You two are strong and you both need time to recover. So I will stay with you until you are safely out of this forest." Leomon stated before holding his paw up as V-Mon went to object.

"You have no strength left, young one. Soon enough you will De-Digivolve and your partner will quickly become a meal to other strong Digimon in the area." Leomon pointed out and to that V-mon couldn't object to.

---

It hadn't taken long for Taichi to calm down enough to return to the group. He was planning on apologising to Yamato but when he saw that the two blonde brothers were missing, he decided it was best to leave it for now.

After finishing their fish Sora dragged Taichi off with her to gather some water in the small pile of soda cans the group had collected. Silently to two washed out the sticky leftovers from the cans before starting to fill them up properly, while they won't be able to travel with them for long they would do for a little while.

"You know he didn't mean to make you angry right?" Sora drawled with a heavy sigh as she finally got sick of the strained silence between them. Taichi grit his teeth and clenched his fist around the can he held before he released his own heavy sigh.

"I know but he still had no right to say those things about Daisuke. Especially since he can't even talk to his own little brother without frightening him." Taichi muttered as he quickly put the can on the ground to avoid crushing it by accident.

"Tai…" Sora warned softly and Taichi looked away from her with a quiet scoff.

"Tai, Yamato-kun hasn't been a big brother for as long as you have, meeting up at camp was the first time he and Takeru-kun have seen each other in a very long time. He's still learning. So seeing you deal with Takeru-kun so easily was, I guess, a bit irritating for him. He got jealous." Sora explained as he carefully filled up the last can with water. Silence fell between the two before Taichi released an irritated groan.

"Fine. Fine I'll give him a bit of slack." Taichi conceded reluctantly as he carefully picked up four of the filled up cans while Sora picked up the remaining three.

"But if he insults my ability to take care of Daisuke again then I'm going to punch him. I'm not joking Sora." Taichi warned and Sora could only sigh. She knew that was the best she was going to get from Taichi on the matter.

"Fine but I'm pretty sure he's learned not to do that now," Sora reassured before a sigh was heard from behind them. The two looked up just in time to see Joe joining them at the river bank looking up at the night sky.

"What's the matter, Joe-Senpai?" Sora questioned as she carefully stood to her feet making sure not to drop any of the cans. Joe sighed again before he finally looked at them with a sad smile.

"I was trying to estimate where we are exactly but I can't find the North Star." He admitted causing both Taichi and Sora to look up at the stars above them. The entire night sky was filled with stars of all different sizes but none of them looked familiar to the pair.

"You're right. I don't see any familiar constellations." Sora admitted in worry and Taichi hummed in agreement as he slowly turned in a circle while keeping his eyes on the stars.

"That's odd. You only see the North Star from the Northern Hemisphere right?" Taichi suddenly pointed out and Sora was quick to catch his train of thought.

"Then maybe we're in the Southern Hemisphere." She suggested but Joe shook his head as he placed his hands on his hips and turned to face his underclassmen.

"That can't be right, I don't see the Southern Cross." Joe pointed out before he shrugged in slight embarrassment

"To be honest I'm starting to agree with Koushirou and his theory that we might not be on earth anymore."

The sound of footsteps suddenly appeared and the trio looked over just in time to see Yamato return to camp with a sleeping Takreu on his back. Walking beside him faithfully was Gabumon with Patamon happy sleeping in his arms.

"Oh Yamato, you're back." Taichi pointed out and the blonde simply nodded with a grunt as he carefully lowered Takreu to the ground beside the fire. The younger blonde barely stirred at the change, only smacking his lips together before curling up on his side.

Taichi watched this silently before he allowed himself to look around at the rest of the group. Palmon and Tentomon were already asleep using each other as supports; Gomamon wasn't far off as the seal Digimon struggled to keep his eyes open.

Mimi seemed to be sleeping with her eyes open as she sat by the fire with her legs pulled to her chest and beside her Koushirou had taken to pacing to try and fight off the exhaustion. Watching them reminded Taichi of his own creeping tiredness and he couldn't stop himself from yawning.

"We should probably get to sleep, who knows what kind of things come out at night around here." Taichi pointed out as he placed his filled cans carefully on the ground near where the group had set up camp. Sora made a noise of agreement as she followed his example to get rid of her own load of cans.

"We probably should have someone stand guard then. As you said we don't know what things are nocturnal around here." Koushirou pointed out logically and despite it being the most unappealing idea there was no way to argue against it.

"That's a good idea. We should probably make an order then on who watches when. Also who exactly are going to be the ones on watch?" Joe asked and Sora smiled with a shrug.

"Isn't it obvious? We older kids should be the ones on watch. It isn't fair to make someone Takeru-kun's age to watch out for danger and Mimi-chan would just complain the whole time." Sora suggested.

"I would like to be included in the group to keep watch, Sora-san. If that's alright with you?" Koushirou requested before he covered a yawn behind his hand.

"Okay about this, Koushirou-kun. You need to sleep, you can barely stand up and there's no point in denying that. So you can go on one of the later watches, how about that?" Sora asked and Koushirou was more than happy to agree with that arrangement.

"I'll take the first watch then." Taichi volunteered and both Joe and Sora nodded in agreement. Yamato though couldn't see why and couldn't help himself as he joined the small group.

"Why? Why can't someone else get first watch? I'd be happy to do it." Yamato asked and was rewarded with Taichi glaring at him with angry brown eyes. Seeing where this was heading Sora was quick to step in.

"At the moment Agumon is the only one who can Digivolve. Meaning that if we are attacked then both he and Tai need to be at top strength. By taking the first watch they get more of a chance to rest when the rest of us are on watch." Sora explained and Joe smiled as he placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"It's not an insult, Yamato. It's just the most logical choice we've got at the moment." Joe reassured. Yamato couldn't help but scoff slightly before he turned back to where Takeru was sleeping soundly.

"I'll take the watch after Taichi then. Try not to get us killed till then, okay?" He taunted with a smirk as he carefully picked up Takeru and started making his way over to the tram.

Taichi grit his teeth as he clenched his hands at his side and tried to control his anger. "That guy..."

"He doesn't mean anything by it, Tai. Just let it go." Sora chided and waited for him to take a couple of deep breaths before sighing herself.

"We better get on the tram anyway and get some sleep ourselves. Be carefully Tai, don't do anything reckless." Sora warned as she waved Biyomon over to her which the pink bird Digimon happily did.

"Ha! Me? Being reckless? What are you blabbering about Sora? I'm the most careful guy in the world." Taichi boasted causing Sora to roll her eyes as she walked away, not at all bothering to reply or object to his statement.

Following Yamato Sora, Joe, Koushirou and Mimi made their way to the waiting tram with dragging steps.

"Taichi?" Agumon questioned from where he sat in front of the fire allowing the flames to warm his feet. Taichi made a humming sound as he plopped down beside his Digimon with a huff.

"What exactly does 'keeping watch' mean exactly?" Agumon asked causing Taichi to blink before he chuckled.

"It means exactly that Agumon. It's our job to watch out for any danger that may be out tonight. We've got to keep the group that's sleeping safe." Taichi explained as he picked up a stick beside him and carefully poked at the fire.

"So we've just got to sit here all night? That doesn't sound very fun at all." Agumon grumbled and Taichi grinned as he pulled his legs to his chest and allowed his arms to cross over them.

"Not everything can be fun Agumon. Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices to protect the people you care about. Like your friends or family."

"Then I'm going to keep watch so I protect you Taichi! You're my partner after all." Agumon grinned happily at the brunet with his eyes closed. Taichi blinked owlishly in shock before he reached over to rub Agumon's head with a soft smile.

"Thanks, pal."

---

Inside the tram the kids each picked out a seat for the night as the Digimon rested on a pile of leaves in the middle on the floor.

"I'm used to sleeping in a bed…" Mimi whined quietly as she placed her hat beside her on the bench before fiddling with her gloves. Sora smiled softly as she took off her own hat and placed it beside her.

"We should consider ourselves lucky we even have a place to sleep tonight. If we haven't found this place we would be sleeping outside." She pointed out softly causing Mimi to look down without any more objections.

"Good night," Koushirou called out as he pulled his legs onto his seat. His well wishes were echoed by both and Joe and Takeru as the group slowly settled down to sleep.

'I hope that no monsters attack us tonight.' Sora thought to herself as she allowed her dark red eyes to shut even as she stayed upright in her seat.

'I really wanted a bath.' Mimi thought to herself wistfully as she found it a lot easier than she expects to start dozing off. Having slept in a big room on her own her whole life she would never have thought the sounds of her fellow campers breathing was enough to soothe her frazzled nerves.

'It'll be a long day tomorrow, what with spending it with everyone here.' Koushirou thought to himself as he thought back to how on edge everyone has been since they awoke in this place. Hopefully, a good night sleep would be enough to calm them all down.

'I hope that when I wake up, I'll be in my bed again.' Joe thought to himself wistfully as he took off his glasses and slipped them into his pocket. He knew it was very unlikely that this was all a dream but he could still hope.

Near the end of the tram, and away from the others, Yamato sat with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Sitting faithfully by his side was Gabumon who was close to nodding off when Yamato suddenly nudged him.

"What? What is it Yamato?" Gabumon asked tiredly as he looked up at his partner with sleepy eyes. Yamato stayed silently for a couple of seconds before finally looking at his Digimon with cold blue eyes.

"Go sit with Takeru."

"Why?" Gabumon questioned even as he started pushing himself forward to jump down from the seat. It was obvious he was going to follow throw with the order, he just wanted an explanation.

"You're making me sweat sleeping next to me," Yamato grumbled causing Gabumon to snicker as he jumped down to the floor.

"You just want me to keep Takeru warm." He teased cheekily. Yamato looked away with a scoff before standing to his feet with a huff.

"I never said that."

"That's because you're too shy."

"Look who's talking!"

It was obvious that Gabumon had gotten past Yamato's barriers easily enough. Watching the Digimon pulled himself close to Takeru Yamato wondered why he wasn't bothered by that.

Takeru stirred and opened his eyes slightly just in time to see Gabumon thrown his arm over both him and Patamon. Immediately the warmth from his fur warmed both of them up nicely and Patamon even let out a small purr.

"Thank you Onii-chan." Takeru whispered as he allowed himself to be pulled back to his dreams. Yamato kept his back to the group as his cheeks flushed a faint pink.

'Is this…what it means to take care of someone?' Yamato thought to himself before he allowed his eyes to drift outside.

The fog was lifting now allowing him to clearly see the light from the campfire. As the power to the tram shut off Yamato narrowed his eyes.

---

The fire cracked quietly as it slowly burned up the small pile of branches that Leomon had managed to gather together.

Beside him V-mon grumbled in his sleep as he tightened his hold on his sleeping partner, Daisuke merely sniffed slightly before once again burying his face into V-Mon's chest.

Leomon wondered how it came to this. He never had any intentions of making his presence known to these two, he had planned to protect them safely from the shadows.

Instead, he had revealed himself and saved the exhausted V-mon before promising to accompany the two until they joined back up with their team.

"Is this what he meant?" Leomon whispered to himself before he sighed and looked up towards the night sky.

"Leomon?" A small voice suddenly called out and Leomon looked down to see Daisuke awake and looking at him. Leomon was slightly impressed he hadn't even heard the small human move let alone detect the change in his breathing.

"What is it? You should be sleeping. Who knows how far the rest of your group has gotten now." Leomon warned in an aloof manner but Daisuke didn't seem fazed by it. He simply shrugged as he spared V-mon a look.

"How do you know there are others? I'm not even sure if Aniki is here." Daisuke admitted reluctantly. As much as he like spending time with V-mon and slowly meeting other Digimon the thought of being here all alone was very frightening for him. Especially when a part of him just wanted to curl up in fear and hide somewhere.

"Just like V-mon knew he was to be your partner, the entire Digital World knew the ones who are meant to save it would soon arrive here. Not many knew that you would be human, some Digimon don't even know what a human is, but we knew that someone was coming to save us from these dark times." Leomon explained before he smiled down at the boy with soft blue eyes.

"You are not alone here, young one. Not only is V-mon here for you but there are more humans out there with their own partners just waiting for you to join up with them." Leomon reassured as he looked back up to night sky. Daisuke smiled as he quickly rubbed his wrist across his eyes to stop the stinging of tears.

Silence fell across the small camp before Leomon once again jolted in place. Looking down in shock he was greeted with the sight of Daisuke leaning up against his side and snuggling close.

Blinking owlishly Leomon slowly allowed himself to relax at the intrusion of his personal space. Daisuke was small warm weight against his side and the lion Digimon found himself relaxing to it.

Returning his attention to the forest surrounding them Leomon careful adjusted himself so his arm was covering the small six years old. The satisfied sigh caused Leomon to nod to himself in satisfaction.

"I guess this isn't so bad." He grunted himself quietly before returning his vigil of the forest. No Digimon were going to attack these two tonight, Leomon would make sure of it.

---

The fog has long since cleared as Taichi mindlessly poked at the fire in front of him. Watching the sparks dance in the air he couldn't stop himself from yawning widely, only just managing to cover his mouth with his hand.

"If you fall asleep then you won't be keeping watch anymore Taichi." Agumon teased as Taichi rubbed his eye lightly.

"The hour is almost up anyway. I'll just wash my face with some water." The boy decided as he pushed himself to his feet and walked over the water's edge.

Mindlessly Taichi slipped off his gloves leaving just his black brace resting firmly against his left arm, the result of getting too cocky during soccer practice last summer.

Cupping his hands into the water the boy was quick to splash it onto his face before he shivered slightly from the chill off it. Taking a deep breath Taichi shook the last of his sleepiness off before pushing himself to his feet.

Footsteps suddenly sounded behind him but when Taichi turned to look all he saw was Yamato slowly walked over to him with a steady pace.

"Oh, Yamato. It's not time to switch yet." Taichi pointed out as he whipped his damp hands down his shirt to try and dry them. Yamato had stopped near the edge of the water and was looking out at it with a frown.

"I couldn't sleep." He finally admitted after a couple of minutes of silence. Taichi quietly stood next to him but kept his attention on his hands as he slipped his gloves back on.

"I'm…I'm sorry for earlier." Yamato finally choked out with his hands clenched hard by his side. Taichi swallowed before shaking his head.

"It's alright. I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"I'm always like this you know? Pushing my problems on other peoples or picking on other people's problems just so I can ignore my own. Maybe that's why Takeru is so attached to you." Yamato decided with a lifeless shrug. Taichi fell silent as he tried to think how he should respond to that.

Situations like this had never been a strong point for him, it always made him feel uncomfortable when his friend's tried to tell him personal stuff but he wouldn't turn them away just because of that.

"Sora said that this is the first time you've seen Takeru in a long time." Taichi finally hinted causing Yamato to sigh before he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. My parents divorced when we were really young and the two of us ended up getting separated. My hahaoya and Takeru moved to Setagaya, while myself and oyaji moved to Odaiba, it was pure luck we did meet up." Yamato explained before he suddenly turned and started walking back up the pathway towards the tram.

"I'll keep watch over here. You just keep watch of the forest." Yamato ordered as he waved his hand over his shoulder. Taichi watched him go before he sighed and made his way back to where Agumon was waiting.

"He's not such a bad guy huh?" Agumon pointed out as he wiggled his feet allowing the fire to warm them up nicely. Taichi didn't get a chance to answer though as a lovely sounding tune started playing from near the tram.

Taichi looked over and just near the edge of the water he could faintly make out Yamato sitting with his hands near his mouth.

"Sounds like a harmonica." He mused to himself having heard Hikari play one for a little while when she was three. It had sounded awful but it was better than the continuous one note her whistle could produce.

Yamato continued to play mindlessly as he allowed his eyes to close. He jumped slightly when he felt something warm rest against him but a quick look told him it was only Gabumon, likely awoken from the sound.

The sound was soothing enough that it sent Taichi into a slight doze for a couple of minutes. His brown eyes opened drowsily though when a strange popping sound reached his ears.

"What's that?" The boy asked as he pulled himself to his feet and looked over the water edge, near where Yamato was sitting with Gabumon. Taichi narrowed his eyes before blinking in shock as a flurry of bubbles appeared on the water edge when Yamato hit a high note.

"Something must be swimming in the water." Agumon pointed out as the bubbles stopped allowing the water to once again settle. Taichi hummed slightly in acknowledgement but didn't take his eyes off the water. Instead, he listened to the music Yamato was creating and waited for him to hit another high note.

His eyes never left the water as the high notes reached his ears; instead, they narrowed as they once again spotted a flurry of bubbles rising to the surface more viciously than before.

"Whatever's under there doesn't seem to like Yamato's harmonica. I better go tell him to stop it; we don't want to start something." Taichi said as he jumped to his feet and started jogging down the small bridge to where the group was resting.

The bubbles came up to the surface at a furious pace at every step Taichi took but his attention was completely locked on reaching Yamato.

"Yamato! Cut that out, will you? You're going to wake the Digimon!" Taichi called out as he waved his hand in the air. Completely lost in his thoughts Yamato continued to play causing Taichi to release a huff of frustration.

The ground began to rumble and shake as Taichi slowly made his way over to the blonde. Calling out Yamato's name once more Taichi made it halfway across the bridge just before Yamato hit one more hit note on his harmonica.

The reaction was instantaneous. With a loud roar, the small island shook violently sending Yamato and Gabumon to the floor from the force. The water bubbled furiously as the kids in the tram started screaming in fear.

Taichi was thrown violently to the ground with a grunt, his knees badly scraped and his wrist throbbed slightly from taking his weight. The small bridge continued to shake and rumble as the boy pushed himself to his feet and ran to the island.

His feet landed the much firmer surface just as the bridge crumbled and was swallowed by the river. Taichi took a couple of deep breaths before looking to where Agumon was waiting on the other side.

"Taichi! You okay?" Agumon shouted worriedly. Instead of answering Taichi simply held out his hand with a clear thumbs up sign.

"Taichi!" Yamato shouted as he quickly jogged to where the other boy was with Gabumon following quickly behind. The shaking came to an abrupt stop leaving everything in silence. It wasn't a good silence, it was like being in the eye of a storm and it made Taichi nervous.

"Tai!"

"Onii-chan!"

Taichi and Yamato both looked up as Sora and Takeru ran over to them with panic clear on their faces. Joe, Mimi and Koushirou also made their way out of the tram but they stayed near Joe when he insisted on it.

"Are you two alright? Taichi, you're bleeding!" Sora pointed out as she noticed the newly acquired scraps on Taichi's knees. Behind them, Yamato huffed as Takeru threw himself into his chest and then proceeded to hug him tightly.

"We haven't got time for that now Sora," Taichi said sternly as he stopped the girl from examining his new injuries. Sora though was having none of that and was quick to shake off his hands before she crossed her own over her chest.

"Don't give me that Tai! You know very well with your medication you need to bandage up your wounds as soon as possible."

"Onii-chan what was that? Why did everything shake?" Takeru asked stopping what had been a long term argument between the two friends. Yamato shook his head as he continued to scan the small island they were on.

"I don't know. We'll have to get Gomamon to help us back across though, the bridge was destroyed by it." Yamato pointed out as he noticed Agumon standing on the edge of the forest watching the group with worried eyes.

"Sora!" Biyomon suddenly chirped as she narrowed her eyes towards the water. A quick looked revealed both Gabumon and Patamon were doing the same.

"We've got trouble." Patamon squeaked just in time for the water to explode outwards with a furious roar. The children screamed as a shape formed from the water screaming up to the heavens above.

"A Digimon!" Sora cried out as the force of the roar made the island once again shake violently. The children were thrown to the ground as the Digimon shook itself free of the water.

The Digimon looked like a giant turquoise coloured snake with red stripes going down its body. It had what looked like a yellow coloured helmet covering its head and a pair of ice cold blue eyes.

"It's a Seadramon!" Tentamon suddenly called out from where he was hovering beside Koushirou. He had to raise his voice though to be heard over Joe's panic screamed as he clung to the tram.

"Seadramon is an Aquatic Adult Digimon with a long, serpentine body, which it uses to wreathe itself around enemies and constrict them until the enemy suffocates!"

"Oh, that's a lovely image!" Joe whimpered before yelping as the island suddenly gave a large lurch that sent them all to the floor again.

"Oh, you shouldn't worry! Seadramon are considered stupid Digimon, very rarely do they attack out of the water." Tentamon reassured as he hovered over Koushirou's head.

"Then what do you call what it's doing now?!" Sora screamed as she grabbed hold of Taichi's arm to stop herself from going back down to the floor. Taichi looked up at Digimon just in time to see it extract its red leaf like tail from the rocks near where Yamato had been sitting.

"Oh! I understand now! It's Onii-chan's harmonica!" Takeru suddenly shouted as he remembered what he had learned while he was fishing with Koushirou. Yamato blinked in shock before he realised his little brother was right.

"The vibrations must have woken it up." He murmured as he slipped his hand into his pocket and gripped the instrument tightly. It was the one way for him to calm down when his emotions became too overwhelming but it had now put his little brother in danger? Yamato didn't know how to deal with this.

Seadramon growled as he gave its tail a shake before looking down at the group with furious eyes. It growled lowly before it reared its head back.

"Get back!" Taichi called urgently just as the Seadramon flung its head forward and fired a small wave of water that smashed into the ground in front of them with a small bang.

"Are all Digimon bad tempered beside you lot?!" Yamato shouted in frustration as he kept a tight grip on Takeru to avoid him falling into the water.

"Taichi!" Agumon suddenly called out as he pointed his claw to where Taichi had strapped his Digivice. Taichi quickly understands, stood and took the device in his hands and pointing it towards Agumon.

Time seemed to stand still as Taichi was surrounded by an orange aura that quickly started feeding into the device.

"Agumon! Digivolve!"

(Activate OST Digimon Adventure – Brave Heart)

With courage clear in his eyes Taichi grabbed his Digivice from his belt before he swiped it in the air in front of him. Then Taichi thrust the device into the air as it started to hum.

"Lock on!" Taichi called out and his Digivice suddenly flashed to a bright orange for a couple of seconds before it shot out a bright orange beam straight at Agumon.

"Digivolution activate!" Taichi shouted and Agumon roared as he jumped into the air straight into the air while glowing bright orange.

Slowly Agumon felt himself stretching and growing, his skin became a dark orange with blue marks and his arms became shorter. A brown skull with a horn appeared on the top of his head as he grew till he was 9ft in height.

"Agumon... Digivolve too...GREYMON!" With that one loud roar, the dinosaur shattered the bubble like glass before landing on the sound with a loud bang.

(End OST Digimon Adventure – Brave Heart)

"MEGA FLAME!" Greymon roared as he fired a white coloured ball of fire straight into Seadramon's chest sending it crashing back into the lake. The sea serpent didn't stay down for long though and came back up with a furious roar.

"We need to get away from the edge," Sora said as she urged both Yamato and Takeru to move further back. Taichi also took a few steps but was more focused on his partner.

"ICE BLAST!" Seadramon suddenly screamed as it shot a beam of light towards the dinosaur. Greymon though simply jumped back and allowed the beam to crash to the floor, where it proceeded to freeze the ground completely.

"Watch it Greymon!" Taichi called out as Greymon stumbled slightly from his jump. In his Adult form Greymon was more for power than speed so dodging fast attacks were hard for him.

Seadramon and Greymon called out their attacks once more but this time they collided with each other with a small boom.

"I won't let you harm Taichi," Greymon growled firmly as he adjusted his stance ever so slightly. The island had floated close enough now that he could jump over to where the children were but with Seadramon there he was more than likely to be blasted out of the air.

Seadramon rumbled quietly as its eyes watched Greymon before flickering over to the group. It scanned them quickly before suddenly narrowing.

"MEGA FLAME!" Greymon roared as he fired off another one of his attacks but Seadramon quickly sunk under the water to avoid it.

"W-what?" Greymon rumbled in confusion as he realised Seadramon wasn't coming back up. He couldn't have driven him off that easily. His eyes suddenly snapped towards the island though as a horrible feeling shot through him.

"Taichi get back!" Greymon roared just before Seadramon's tail shot out of the water and wrapped around the google head's leg tightly. Taichi barely had a chance to shout before he was dragged under the water.

"Taichi!"

Taichi kept his hands clasped desperately over his mouth as Seadramon kept its tail tightly wrapped around his leg. Taichi tried kicking out but the effort of holding his breath was taking all his energy making his normally powerful hits simple taps.

'What is this? Why did it go after me?! Do I smell good to them or something?!' The boy thought to himself hysterically. Suddenly though he heard a strange breathy chuckle through the water around him.

'Was…was that Seadramon?'

"Foolish land Digimon…assuming we don't understand…Seadramon understands enough!" Seadramon growled as he glared at Taichi with furious blue eyes. Seadramon's voice sounded both breathy and harsh, Taichi couldn't stop himself from gasping in shock as the Digimon's voice seemed to pierce his ears.

'No!' Taichi thought as water started filling in his lungs.

"Taichi!" Sora screamed as she tried desperately to dive in after him but Biyomon was keeping a very tight on her.

"No Sora! You'll only put yourself in danger!" Biyomon protested as she kept her wings wrapped tightly around Sora's waist. Greymon was scanning the water desperately before he suddenly groaned.

"Greymon?" Gabumon wondered worriedly as he spotted the dinosaur Digimon suddenly stumbling back from the water.

"I don't…" Greymon muttered before he suddenly glowed bright orange and started to shrink down. It only took a matter of seconds before the orange light cleared and Agumon was lying down on his front.

"Agumon!" Both Gabumon and Patamon shouted as they helplessly watch the now Child Digimon shake with pure exhaustion.

"T-Taichi…" Agumon muttered before unwillingly giving into his exhaustion and falling completely to the ground.

"A-Agumon just de-Digivolved…" Joe stuttered with a hard swallow as he quickly took in the state of the poor Digimon. Coming from a family of Doctors Joe easily recognized exhaustion when he saw it.

"But if Digivolving is connected to our power doesn't that mean…" Koushirou feebly pointing out what none of the children wanted to accept.

For Yamato though it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Sora! Hold on to Takeru and don't let him go no matter what!" Yamato ordered as he shoved the small boy into Sora's arms. The girl gasped in shock from the sudden weight but quickly stepped back when she saw how close to the edge she was.

"What? But Yamato-kun-!"

"I'm putting my trust in you with him, Sora," Yamato stated strongly causing the girl to fall silent. She stared into Yamato's eyes before her own narrowed in determination.

"Then I'm doing the same with you." Sora shot back as she wrapped her arms more securely around Takeru, who was beginning to struggle.

"Onii-chan…"

"Gabumon, keep them safe," Yamato ordered as he pulled out his harmonica from his pocket. Gabumon stayed silent before running up to the older blonde's side.

"You're my partner, Yamato. I'm not leaving your side." The lizard Digimon swore as he placed one of his hands on Yamato's leg. Blinking in shock Yamato stared at him for a couple of seconds before he scoffed and brought his harmonica to his lips.

"Then you distract Seadramon while I grab Taichi." Yamato conceded before taking a deep breath. He didn't need to play properly this time; he just needed to play a high enough note to affect the sea Digimon.

'One…two…three!' Yamato counted down in his head before giving his instrument a good hard blow.

"PHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Seadramon chuckled as the strange Digimon went limp on his grip. If his theory was right that should also take care of the Greymon on the shore, seeing as the Agumon had only Digivolved with the help of the humanoid Digimon.

Now, what to d-

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"This…This noise again! This horrible screeching noise!" Seadramon roared as he thrashed in the water trying to get away from the piercing noise blasting through its head.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"Make it stop!" Seadramon screeched furiously as he completely forgot about his captive and allowed his tail to release its grip.

EEEEETTTTT!

'Hikari?' Taichi thought to himself dazedly as the sounded pitted out from around him. His brown eyes opened slightly but he didn't have any strength to make his body move towards the surface.

'That noise just now…wasn't that…Hikari's whistle…?'

Seadramon roared furiously as he swam upwards before breaking through the surface. He didn't have a chance to charge his attack though as he struck by a spray of blue coloured fire.

"MAGICAL FIRE!" Biyomon screamed as she flapped her wings and formed the green twister of flames in front of her. Seadramon roared as he was once again struck but it left little damage.

With Seadramon distracted Yamato took the chance and dived down into the water. The lake was deeper than he thought but at the same not too difficult to manoeuvre down through.

'There!' He thought to himself triumphantly as he spotted Taichi floating not far from the surface. Quickly Yamato grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him up enough to get a good grip on his waist before he began to swim back up.

"WATER BREATH!" Seadramon screeched as he fired his attack at the child Digimon gathered but they easily jumped back just enough to avoid being hit.

"PETIT FLAME!" Gabumon roared as he fired his blue fire from the back of his throat. Seadramon screeched as he was struck once more before shaking its out head viscously.

Yamato gasped for air as he broke through the surface and beside him Taichi immediately began coughing up the water he managed to swallow.

"Yamato…? What?" Taichi whispered as Yamato moved his arm so it was resting just under Taichi's chin, forcing the brunet to tilt his head back against his shoulder.

"Save it for later." Yamato cut in before the boy could get another word in and began swimming to the island, where he could see Sora and Takeru waiting for him.

"ICE BLAST!" Seadramon screeched as he blasted a pure white beam at the attacking Digimon. Gabumon managed to avoid it but Biyomon was struck and sent crashing to the ground at Sora's feet.

"Biyomon!" Sora cried out as she gathered the bird Digimon in her arms and watched in horror as Biyomon's right wing was quickly turned to ice.

Seadramon growled before focusing his attention over to where Yamato had managed to reach the island and was now helping Taichi to dry land.

"ICE BLAST!" Seadramon shouted with triumph as he quickly charged and fired another white beam.

"Taichi!" "Onii-chan!" Both Sora and Takeru screamed as they realised the target of the beam was the two helpless near the edge. Yamato's eyes widened in shock and before he realised it he was covering Taichi with his own body.

'Why…am I going so far for you?' Yamato faintly thought to himself before clenching his eyes shut tightly.

"PETIT FLAME!"

A loud boom echoed around the lake as dust brushed over Yamato's form. He waited for a couple of seconds before opening his eyes only for them to widen in shock.

"G-Gabumon!" The blonde shouted as he saw the blue pelted lizard standing on guard in front of him, ice quickly spreading over his body.

"I told you…Yamato. You're my partner…so I'm not leaving your side…" Gabumon grinned even as his legs became completely frozen.

Yamato knew he was gasping for breath as tried to work out what was going on. Everything was happening so fast, too many emotions were rushing through him all at once.

Why did he want to save Taichi?

Why did he trust Sora with Takeru?

Why did Gabumon still continue to go to such lengths even after knowing who he was?!

He was Yamato Ishida! He only spares enough feelings for Takeru and even then it's very little. No one wants to know him, not even his own mother!

So why…why does this Digimon go such lengths…

"…to protect me…" Yamato whispered faintly as he pushed himself to his feet. He took a stumbling step forward before collapsing to his knees just in just to catch the almost frozen Digimon.

"Why? I don't understand!" Yamato growled to himself as he felt himself shake just from holding Gabumon's freezing form. Gabumon looked at him before smiling his normal toothy grin.

"Because…Yamato is my very best friend." Gabumon stated simply before the ice completely froze him over. Yamato's eyes widened in horror as silence settled over the lake.

"Yamato-kun..." Sora whispered mournfully with tears in her eyes. Takeru had started sobbing while holding Patamon tightly in her arms.

"This can't be happening…" Mimi whispered to herself as she hugged Palmon close to her chest, Joe doing a similar to Gomamon behind her as he stared over at Yamato in shock.

"Friend?" Yamato suddenly whispered quietly before he bowed his head and clenched his eyes shut tightly. His form shook violently as strangled noise broke free from his grinding teeth.

"Ga….GABUMON!" Yamato suddenly screamed out in anguish as he buried his face into the Digimon's frozen chest.

A beat of silence. Then…

"Do you finally understand the meaning of Friendship, my child?" A soft but noble voice suddenly whispered in Yamato's ear causing his eyes to shoot open in shock.

His Digivice gave off a loud screech before both he and Gabumon were surrounded by a blinding light.

"Onii-chan!" Takeru cried out in panic but Sora was quick to stop him from running forward.

---

Yamato allowed his eyes to flutter open before he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was no longer at the lake or at least the lake from before. He was now standing on a completely frozen lake with snow covered trees surrounding him.

"Where am I?" He questioned as he realises despite it being a frozen location he didn't at all feel cold, in fact, this place felt warm like he was finally home.

"This is your soul, my child. Here is where your strongest Virtue resides." The same soft but noble sounding voice echoed around him. It was much closer now and Yamato could easily tell identify it as female, properly someone who comes from higher class.

"Virtue? What do you mean? And what about Gabumon? He was with me but now he's not, where is he?!" Yamato rappelled questioned before forcing himself to take a deep breath.

"Sadness, grief, betrayal, abandonment and anger are all emotions you need to go through to properly understand your Virtue. But at the time, dive too deep into these emotions and your greatest Virtue could very easily become your greatest Sin." The voice explained softly and Yamato bit his lip as he tried to process this information.

"What is my Virtue?" Yamato finally questioned and was rewarded with a soft laugh. It was a nice laugh; it reminded Yamato of his mother before everything changed.

"It should be obvious. It's something you've only just started to experience, something that's causing you to do things that you wouldn't normally do, trust people you normally wouldn't and feel things you normally ignore." The voice

"Because…Yamato is my very best friend." Gabumon's voice suddenly whispered in his ear and Yamato's eyes blinked in shock.

"Friendship? My strongest Virtue is Friendship?" Yamato whispered in disbelief and was rewarded with another laugh.

"Yes. After all the loneliest souls smile the brightest." The voice whispered just before Yamato's chest started to feel warm. He looked down to see a dark blue glow coming from his heart.

"This is…"

"…Your Virtue responding to your need. You wished to save your friends, you wished to save your brother and you wished to save Gabumon. That is more than enough proof you walk the path of Virtue and not Sin." The voice explained as Yamato placed a hand over his heart.

"Never forget though, my child. It's just as easy to fall down to that path if you allow it to happen. Envy comes just as easily and Friendship after all." She warned her voice suddenly sounding as sharp as knives. Yamato allowed the words to sink in before taking a deep breath.

"What now?"

"Why are you asking me? You already know what to do." The voice chided but Yamato felt a small cross his lips.

Because she was right.

(Activate OST Digimon Adventure – Brave Heart)

Yamato stood with his eyes closed, his face expressionless. Suddenly his right hand shot up revealing his Digivice held between his two main fingers. Eyes the colour of ice snapped opened as the blonde tossed the device lightly in the air and then caught with his palm, making sure to keep it in the same position as before.

"Lock on!" He almost growled to himself as the Digivice flashed blue just for a couple of seconds before a beam the same colour shot out and struck Gabumon in the chest.

"Digivolution activate!" Yamato ordered and Gabumon released a loud roar as his form was surrounded by the blue glow.

Quickly Gabumon felt his body begin to change drastically, it stretched and pulled until he was forced to stand on four legs. His pelt seemed to grow before it covered him completely and fused with his body. Bright red claws burst out from his paws and crunched into the icy ground.

"Gabumon…Digivolve too…GARURUMON!" The icy mist seemed to float around the white and blue wolf before he released a loud roar that made the earth shake.

(End OST Digimon Adventure – Brave Heart)

"He Digivolved!" Patamon squeaked happily before the light even had a chance to clear away. Sure enough, Yamato stood with his Digivice gripped in his hand with Garurumon standing proudly in front of him.

"That's Garurumon, an Adult Beast Digimon! It possesses a furious combat instinct honed in freezing lands, as well as carnivore-like agility and the accuracy to reliably bring down its targets!" Tentamon happily supplied information to the group as Koushirou, Mimi and Joe joined Sora and Takeru closer to the fight.

"Are you alright Biyomon?" Palmon asked as the bird Digimon pushed herself to feet. Biyomon smiled before holding out her right wing showing it was already defrosting.

"I'm a fire bird so ice can't keep me down for long!" Biyomon reassured them as Joe walked over to Taichi and helped him to his feet.

"You with us Taichi?" Joe asked as he looked at the boy's pale and soaked form. His eyes were barely open and were a dull brown from exhaustion.

"Joe-san…" Taichi mumbled as he was carefully lowered back down to the ground to where Sora was kneeling with Biyomon.

"Seadramon…you hurt my clutch siblings, my friends, and then you tried to hurt Yamato. I can no longer forgive you for this." Garurumon growled as he crouched down slightly to get a good jump in. Seadramon rumbled back mockingly before it began to charge up an attack.

"WATER BREATH!" Seadramon screeched as it fired off its bullet like water attack but Garurumon simply jumped to the side. He did it again when another attack was fired and then jumped back to avoid a blast of ice.

"He's so fast!" Koushirou whispered in shock as Garurumon seemed to be a white blur every time he dodged an attack. Seadramon was getting more and more frustrated as Garurumon continued to taunt him silently.

"ICE BLAST!" Seadramon growled as he suddenly changed attacks. Garurumon jumped over the first blast before narrowing his eyes and diving into the water.

"Garurumon!" Yamato called out as his partner floated in the water his eyes still taunting the sea dragon Digimon. Seadramon hissed before firing another ice blast at the wolf.

"Dodge it Garurumon!" Yamato shouted desperately but the wolf ignored him allowing the ice to strike him. Inside of encasing them the beam simply covered his fur in ice and also froze the water in front of him. Garurumon chuckled before jumping onto the newly formed ice platform and shaking off the ice.

"What? Why didn't he become frozen?" Yamato demanded as he watched his partner stand firm against the sea dragon Digimon.

"That's because Garurumon's fur is rumoured to be as strong as steel! Something like Seadramon's ice blast stands no chance against it, Ishida-han!" Tentamon explained while waving his hands in front of him in excitement.

"You will pay for what you've done!" Garurumon growled before he started the familiar motion of allowing gas to gather at the back of his throat.

"FOX FIRE!" Garurumon roared before firing a huge wave of bright blue flames that smashed into Seadramon's helmet sending the Digimon flying backwards into the lake. It was quiet as Seadramon lifted himself up with a shake.

Garurumon growled as she stared straight into Seadramon's eyes, his warning being clearly stated without words. Seadramon curled his lip before releasing a furious screech of frustration and diving back under the lake, swimming away to recover his pride.

"He did it! Onii-chan!" Takeru happily shouted as the rest of the kids and Digimon cheered happily for Garurumon's success. Yamato looked at his little before smiling ever slightly and nodding in agreement.

Garurumon jumped back onto the small island before glowing dark blue and shrinking back down. When the light cleared away Gabumon was revealed looking tired but accomplished.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Yamato." Gabumon apologised as he walked a few steps to stand in front of the taller blonde. Yamato was silent for a couple of seconds before falling to his knees and pulling Gabumon into a tight hug.

"Just don't do it again." He ordered gruffly but Gabumon simply smiled and happily returned the hug. Joe sighed as he helped Taichi onto his feet and walked over to the hugging pair.

"How are we going to get back across now? The bridge is completely destroyed." Joe lamented but Gomamon cut off his moping with a cheery laugh.

"I can help with that! I'll just make a new bridge to get us across, seeing as I'm pretty sure none of you wants to be on this island anymore."

"Got that right," Taichi muttered and Mimi nodded viciously in full agreement.

"I'll take the hard ground if it means we won't be attacked again." The girl admitted shakily causing Gomamon to laugh once again.

---

Using his aqua net attack Gomamon was able to form a stable bridge for the children and Digimon to cross over. The fire Taichi and Agumon had been using was relight at the children gathered around it to spend the night.

"It seems like we've found a weakness to this Digivolution," Koushirou spoke up as Tentamon snuggled close to his side sound asleep. Beside him, Sora nodded in agreement while petting Biyomon's head.

"If we get hurt while our Digimon are Digivolved they'll lose their power." Sora murmured causing Joe to sigh as he looked over to where Taichi and Agumon were sleeping.

"It also seems to leave said Digimon completely exhausted, putting both them and us in danger." Joe pointed out. Sora sighed before gasping Mimi suddenly fell against her with a sigh.

"I'm going to sleep here," Mimi mumbled even as Sora carefully lowered her to the ground, where the girl quickly curled up beside Palmon and went out cold.

"To fall asleep out here even though she complained so much about it, she must have gotten stronger during our day here." Sora laughed softly before she covered her yawn with her hand.

"Maybe she'll grow wings like me soon," Biyomon suggested and Sora chuckled as she lay down beside the bird Digimon.

"I'm pretty sure that's impossible for us…" She whispered before finally falling asleep, with Biyomon following her soon after.

Not long after Joe and Koushirou dozed off Taichi's eyes fluttered open as Yamato's harmonica sounded around their makeshift campsite. Pushing his still recovering body up Taichi walked closer towards the sound to where Yamato was sitting with Takeru and Gabumon leaning on either side of him slowly dozing off. Takeru was also holding Patamon tightly in his arms as he smiled in his sleep.

"I love you Onii-chan…" Takeru suddenly whispered and Taichi watched as Yamato paused slightly before continuing to play. Suddenly Yamato looked up catching sight of Taichi watching them beside the tree.

Their eyes locked before Taichi smirked and silently nodded his gratitude. Yamato simply closed his eyes once more but it was more than enough.

Still feeling tired Taichi returned back to the campsite to get some more rest, trusting Yamato to watch over them for the remainder of the night.

---

Translations:

-Otōto (弟, Little Brother) – The term used for little or younger brother.

-Aniki (お兄さん, Big Brother) - The term used for someone's Big Brother. Can also be used by someone who has no relation to the other and is used to show how close they are.

-Okaa/Kaa (母, {Respected} Mother) - The term used for one's mother. The descriptive noun is haha(oya).

-Otou/Tou (父, {Respected} Father) – The term used for one's father. The descriptive noun is chichi(oya).

-Oyaji (親父, Old Guy) – A disrespectful way to call one's father.

-Onee/Nee (姉, {Respected} Elder Sister) – Term used for a respected older sister. The descriptive noun is ane.

-Onii/Nii (兄弟, {Respected} Elder Brother) – Term used for a respected older brother. The descriptive noun is ani.

-Senpai (先輩, Upperclassman) – Used for one's senior (colleague, fellow student) or more generally somebody in the same social class but superior to you (ex, 'Kunou-senpai')

Ages

- Daisuke Yagami – Age 6/Grade 1 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Hikari Yagami – Age 8/Grade 3 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Takeru Takaishi – Age 8/Grade 3 (Kawada Elementary School)

- Mimi Tachikawa – Age 10/Grade 5 (Kagurazaka Girls' Academy)

- Koushirou Izumi – Age 10/Grade 6 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Taichi Yagami – Age 11/Grade 6 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Yamato Ishida – Age 11/Grade 6 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Sora Takenouchi - Age 11/Grade 6 (Odaiba Elementary School)

- Joe Kido – Age 12/Grade 1 (Odaiba Junior High School)