Took longer than I would've liked, but what can you do? Slow parts are just slow. At least I got it out in time before the first movie comes out, so that's something.

Well, enjoy.

Chapter Five: Concerns

Popping her knuckles, Gatomon stepped over the groaning, motionless bodies of the Numemon. "Thanks for that," she vitriolically purred. "I needed to release some steam."

Today hadn't been a good day for her—then again, she never had a good day, some were just less tolerable than others. It started with training some uncooperative new recruits who all injured themselves badly enough to be sent to the infirmary, which meant she would get marks on her record for it. To pour more salt in the wounds, Myotismon had informed her (in his own way) he wasn't pleased with her results with it, and from her last reconnaissance mission. And that was all from that morning as things only went further downhill for her, and her mood soured.

The lunch break was cue for her to find a secluded place to patch herself up, maybe sleep a few winks and, more importantly, calm down. As it didn't take long for most of the castle to know of her day's plight, it was proving to be more difficult to move about without someone tailing her or making snide comments on the side in passing. The typical henchman wasn't the brightest nor the cruelest, yet in her state of mind, it was easy to get under her skin and push her to the edge. Beatings wouldn't have gotten her thrown in the dungeon, but she was infamous for having a short fuse, and being set off could cause enough damage that would certainly end up with her imprisoned.

As long as she remained outside, though, the feline was a little safer from such prying eyes and ears. She was on her way out when the Numemon had circled her to push some buttons; slime-for-brains all thought it would be wise to chew her out for her "training from Hell" and demand she toned it down. Served them right.

As barren as the castle grounds were, Gatomon knew the dead trees were hollow enough to slip in, and most of the Digimon avoided them anyway because of their brittle appearances. Upon approaching one, the Champion was about to climb into the hole in the trunk when she spotted Wizardmon scrubbing at the one wall, hovering for a higher reach. The sight reminded her one of the floors had been assigned cleaning duty that week. Pointless as it was, Myotismon did like the castle looking clean, it was just the Bakemon usually in charge of it weren't adequate.

What caught her attention wasn't that it was him, but what he was doing if her ears weren't deceiving her. It was a peculiar behavior, one she didn't know he was capable of.

"...he's singing?"

While singing was never prohibited (far as she knew), it was uncommon, and it mostly garnered weird looks. Which, as she thought back to it, had to be because no one in the castle had the talent for it. Not that it stopped anyone, but it had been a leading cause for many-a Digimon to get a punch in the mouth. She never got the appeal of bursting into song, nor was she ever in the mood to try.

Listening to Wizardmon, the small Champion found he was rather pleasant, if quiet. The only thing that confused her was her inability to tell what he was singing. From the distance, her hearing picked up the fluctuations of each syllable of what clearly was another language. Brows furrowing, she walked out toward him, intentionally slow so as to give him time to finish (she didn't want to interrupt), and to hide her wound.

He trailed off when he spotted her, and he tried to cover it up with a smile. "Ah, Gatomon! Are you on your break?"

"What were you singing about?" she straight-up asked him.

The Wizard Digimon's grin became sheepish as he returned to his work. "Eh... nothing special. Have to preoccupy myself somehow."

Gatomon knew he was hiding something. "Tell me, Wizardmon," she urged. "I wouldn't be asking if I could make out what you were singing."

He readjusted his hat to conceal his eyes from her sight. "It's just an old folk song. It's practically famous where I'm from."

She tilted her head to look under the rim. "So it reminds you of home?"

Wizardmon glanced over with a quiet grunt, dropping his load in defeat as he drifted to the ground. "You know how songs are. They get stuck in your head."

She fought off a sudden shudder. "Says you," she growled. "Everyone here sucks at it."

He snickered under his breath, albeit dryly. "Sorry you have to put up with that."

"I'm used to it," she scoffed, waving a paw. "I don't sing anyway, so I don't care."

"A bit of a shame I'll never get to experience that pleasantry."

She dismissed him with a sniff. "So what were you singing about, anyway?"

"It's actually famous around here, as well," he immediately said, which wasn't the answer she was looking for. "You might know of it."

"I wouldn't know unless you tell me how it goes."

He clicked his tongue. "Oh, alright. If you insist."

Whether it was the time restraint or it was from being put on the spot, Wizardmon didn't sound like he was singing, not when compared to earlier. However, the raw deliverance and faster pace still had a sense of rhythm to it, allowing Gatomon to latch on to. Despite what he said, she didn't recognize it, yet she felt the words sounded familiar.

"And should the world fade before our time,

Promise we'll smile at the end.

With a raise of the glass and a 'Here's to us!'

I hope to see you on the other side."

It wore off as quick as it came, and she raised a brow. "That didn't really rhyme..."

He laughed. "It's more poetic in the original language. I'm sure it sounds better with musical accompaniment."

She couldn't imagine it without thinking of the other henchmen singing along. Well, that song's ruined, she sighed to herself before frowning up at him. "Why would anyone sing about that sort of thing?" she inquired matter-of-factly. "What's the point of it?"

Wizardmon's countenance brightened when he glanced up at the sky. "It's about living up to your purpose, and controlling your own destiny."

Gatomon followed his gaze, not expecting to see anything, let alone gain from it. "But why sing about that?"

He smiled. "That's just how they wanted to express themselves. It comes from the heart."

She thought it was a naïve answer, but chose to humor him. "Sounds like wishful thinking," she sighed. "I guess in that regard, I understand where they're coming from."

"If you want, I can teach it to you."

She shot him a suspicious look. "You just want to hear me sing."

It was hard to tell if he meant to throw his hands up, or was sarcastic. "You got me!"

She could hear some (obnoxious) Digimon pouring out onto the grounds, indicating the end of lunch. With her guard back up, Gatomon wrinkled her nose and shrugged, lazily waving a paw around. "Maybe when I feel a little better." Unintentionally, she turned around to leave.

He dropped everything to reach out for her. "Oh, Gatomo—!"

Her tail smacked him away. "Don't bother, you need to get back to work. I'll stop by your room later." A crooked smile spread on her lips and her stance relaxed to get him to be at ease. "I'll listen to more of your old folk songs, then."

Although he was clearly worried about her welfare, her statement brought Wizardmon to nod in understanding before she hurried off.

Gatomon ended up snorting herself awake, rubbing her nose in irritation as a familiar smell made itself known to her. "Harumph"ing, she sat up and stretched, peering over at the mage who was hunched over the fire, his back to her.

"You sure are noisy in the mornings," he joked, smiling over his shoulder.

"Shaddup," she muttered, scratching at her ear. "I norm'ly don't wake up with senses 'saulted."

"Funny, that's how you normally were woken up."

She muttered incomprehensible retorts as she got to her feet. "Takin' a piss," was what she ended on, and shuffled off for the trees.

"Could've gone all day without hearing that," he called out after her, though she ignored him.

For the few minutes she was alone, Gatomon forcibly shook off her drowsiness, wondering why she was suddenly so tired when her schedule wasn't that out of whack. So she had slept in most of last week because of her illness, but that couldn't have been the cause. She even doubted it was because this was the first time in years she was with Wizardmon, although judging from how well he took it, she must've unintentionally slipped back into an old habit. That made her scoff and waive it off as a coincidence, believing that would've been terrible if she did.

Returning to the campsite, she turned her attention to what was their breakfast. "Oh, Wizardmon, you shouldn't have," she said, her speech normal.

"It'd be unwise to travel on an empty stomach," he explained, a twinkle in his eye. "I hope you didn't do that for all these years."

Gatomon stuck out her tongue. "Don't be a worry-wart, I never starved myself."

He resumed flipping what she recognized to be hotcakes, with sausages sizzling on another pan. "Did you sleep well?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Were your dreams pleasant?"

"I suppose." She glanced away to scratch the bridge of her nose. "There was nothing bad."

"Anything in particular that stick out? Memories, perhaps?"

Sneering, the feline placed her paws on her hips. "Does it matter? Maybe it was a stupid memory."

"So you don't want to talk about it."

Feeling a prickle on the back of her neck when he glanced up, Gatomon averted her gaze. "N... No... I just don't think it's necessary." Her tail swaying sharply gave away her lie, though judging by Wizardmon's knowing expression, he was teasing the entire time. "If you're going to be nosy, how about you tell me how your dreams went?"

A brow quirked. "A bit of an unfair trade since you've skirted around my questions."

She was about to make a retort when a loud, gravely voice rattled from the direction of the forest. "I thought I smelled something!"

Gatomon blinked and turned to address the newcomer. "Ah, Ogremon!"

Bone club rested on a shoulder, the Evil Digimon stepped into the clearing, a hint of a smile on his perpetually-smug face. "Oh, Gatomon and friend! Gwehehe, long time!"

She had nearly forgotten the pair had a run-in with him years ago. Coupled with the shock that he even remembered, Gatomon tried to push it from mind to stick with the present. "What're you doing here?"

"Wandering," he responded immediately, "but then I smelled something cooking and realized how hungry I was."

The feline had a suspicion he was planning on stealing the food for himself if it had been anyone else but them.

Much to her disbelief, Wizardmon offered, "Would you like some?"

Ogremon's eyes lightened up as he just about dropped his club. "Would I ever!"

"Hey, you can't just come uninvited," she snapped after a double-take.

The sorcerer nonchalantly waved a hand. "We have enough to spare. Don't mind her, she's cranky I woke her up."

Ogremon gave a hearty chortle as he sat cross-legged across from them. "Little Miss Sunshine, she is not!"

Gatomon pouted, shooting Wizardmon a leer he purposefully overlooked. He served their surprise guest first before putting together her share, and unlike the Evil Digimon, she managed a "Thanks for the food," half out of habit, and half to remind him of his manners. (He didn't catch on.)

It was a bit jarring to see Ogremon close his mouth as he chewed, even more-so when his face loosened up. "Oh! This is great stuff! Not like Leomon's killer cooking, but great nonetheless!"

Wizardmon welcomed the compliment, but couldn't help noting, "I thought you hated Leomon."

"I do, but I never turn down a meal!"

While still not happy about the intrusion, Gatomon went ahead to make smalltalk. "Has Leomon come back?" she inquired, then popped a whole sausage in her mouth.

Ogremon ceased his nearly non-existent manners to talk with his mouth full, which he kept stuffing. "Naw, still haven't found him. He's strong, but six years is a little too soon. But I'm in no rush!"

Despite not being surprised, she lowered her eyes. "I see," was her mumble.

Looking intrigued, the Virus type pointed between her and Wizardmon (who had of yet to serve himself up), "So what happened to you two? Got separated and finally found each other?"

Glancing at each other, the mage hesitantly shrugged. "It's a long story," he said.

The oaf let out a loud, exasperated sigh. "Tell me about it. So much shit has gone down especially after the Dark Masters took over. Things hadn't gotten much better afterwards, but as the DigiWorld hasn't collapsed or blown up on itself yet, the DigiDestined sure are doing a decent job."

"You're too kind," Gatomon said, flatly.

"Are you still going around 'finding' treasure?" There was a sly jab in Wizardmon's voice that, once she caught on to what he meant, nearly got her to choke on her food and laughter.

Although slightly taken aback by the remark, Ogremon grew proud. "You remember that? You're a nosy bastard, aren't you?" He gruffly laughed. "I'll have you know, I've been clean for two years!"

The feline couldn't make head nor tails of what he meant. "Congratulations?"

There was a mischievous gleam in his scarred eye. "I'm just doing this all to mess with Leomon as soon as he gets back," he explained in a rough whisper, like he expected to be listened in on. "He's not going to believe the rumors, but he wouldn't help himself checking them out. The moment we meet each other and he confronts me on it, I won't deny a single thing, and it'll continue like that for as long as I can keep up the façade without going insane. But as soon as I gain his trust, BLAM!" He swung his club and slammed the ground, which jolted them. "He won't know what hit him!"

As the ogre cackled, Gatomon and Wizardmon shot incredulous looks. "Why would you do that?" he asked, dusting himself off.

"Because I'm evil, of course!"

The tiny Champion was getting a headache, but she shrugged it off. "You were a good ally, but you were never on our side, after all," was her sigh.

"Damn right! Anyhoo, I should get back to what I was doing." Using his club for ballast, their guest got to his feet with a grunt. "You two take care. The next time we meet, I may or may not take a swing at you."

"Thanks for the heads up," Wizardmon said, tipping his hat.

"The easier to knock it clean off! Gehehehe!" Ogremon howled from his joke as he lumbered off, shouldering his weapon.

Even after he vanished from sight, they waited until they couldn't hear his voice before relaxing. Slightly slumping, the elven Digimon raised a brow at his companion. "He's certainly charming."

Her stare hardened. "That better be sarcasm."

He clicked his tongue, and finally piled on his plate. "Well, that was a terrible evil plan, if you ask me. And by 'terrible', I do mean 'terrible'."

"Unless you explain it to him, he's going to think it's brilliant," Gatomon snorted, politely declining when he offered her seconds.

He sat back and rubbed at his neck, rolling his shoulders. "Must be a common trait with Virus Digimon."

She warily eyed his posture. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Hmm?"

Pointing at her own neck, she asked in concern, "Are your muscles sore or something? You've been doing that for a while now."

Quickly dropping his hand, the Champion looked away. "Ah... it's just an old complaint. Since it's on the mind now, might as well tend to it. Excuse me." Setting everything down, Wizardmon stood and disappeared into the forest. And suddenly, Gatomon grew guilty for bringing it up and lost her appetite.

He was gone for a half-hour before they packed (much to her chagrin) and went on their way, although she chose to not ask him about it.

For most of the day, the pair trekked through the forest with the goal of Gennai's house still in mind. The morning all but forgotten, their moods steadily grew laid-back, which made it easier to get side-tracked (at least Wizardmon was) over anything that happened to catch their attention, although another chance encounter had yet to happen. As much as it brought things to a halt, Gatomon wasn't bothered by it like she normally would have, since she found some amusement in her friend going off a ways to study something or admire the scenery.

Then at some point (when she thought they got separated, but it was because she somehow didn't see he had scaled a tree to collect some of its fruit) she started leaving him behind, and she steadily became grumpy. Not even a filling lunch helped improve her mood, it only got her to care less.

It was late-afternoon when they came upon a clearing with a glassy lake in the middle. After taking a look around, even briefly running up a hill to view the forest behind it, Gatomon breathed out a sigh. "This is it."

Wizardmon scanned the lakeside, a brow raised. "I'm not doubting you, Gatomon, but how do we get to his place?"

"We just announce ourselves, and Gennai will do something to open up a stairway." It was all she could do to keep from rolling her eyes. "It's weird, you'd think he'd install security cameras, or sensors something."

They stood there to silently overlook the lake, though the feline kept shifting her weight as the seconds ticked by. It felt like her insides were falling into a pit as a thought pricked at the back of her mind. Knowing it wasn't going to leave her alone at this point, she went ahead to make a suggestion.

"Hey, since we're out this far... want to check it out?" She was vague, but as Wizardmon knew the area, she figured he'd know what she meant. Even if he didn't, she was hesitant about going through with it.

It seemed he had the same idea. "I didn't want to bring it up in the off-chance you weren't interested." Her stomach flipped when he smiled down at her. "That sure takes a load off my chest."

Her mood began to sour. "Har har. If you're going to be a smart-ass, I'm sorry I even asked."

He shook his head. "No, I apologize, Gatomon."

The cat waved him off, a fang poking out. "Don't even bother with that. This isn't easy for the both of us." She felt her fur bristle as a brief chill slid down her spine. "Just because he's gone doesn't mean his presence hasn't."

Wizardmon solemnly nodded. "All part of being the Undead, I suppose. With nothing living to balance it out or negate it, it's as if they never left."

"Guess that makes sense."

He furrowed his brows in thought as he rubbed his chin. "Since you mentioned that now, that explained your behavior a couple of days ago."

She scoffed, more out of agreement than berate.

After a silent moment passed, Wizardmon stretched his arms over his head. "So, are you still interested in checking it out?"

Cocking a brow when she eyed him, Gatomon loosely crossed her arms with a shrug. "Just to see if we can salvage anything."

He nodded. "Fair enough."

Scanning the landscape, she let out a sigh through her nose. "If you want," she quietly started, biting back her second thoughts, "you can fly us over. It'd be quicker."

She flinched when he immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, smiling down at her. "My thoughts exactly."

"Hey, I didn't say right now," she sneered, but he had launched before she finished her sentence.

It should have been a short travel, if her memory served correctly. They would have hit a desolate, gray wood, and a freezing fog that stretched for kilometers would have nearly obscured their vision. They would have scaled some mountaintops in order to enter castle grounds where Bakemon guards took their posts too seriously, and would have been held up until they came to a temporary agreement of who would escort them to the doors. And upon arrival, an irritated Phantomon—

"Okay, either my eyes are deceiving me, or it's way too sunny here," Gatomon finally blurted out when nothing of the sort happened.

Wizardmon came to a stop. "More like there used to be a mountain here."

She blinked down in realization, sweeping her eyes across the land. He was right. "When did that happen?"

"Good question. Perhaps it was destroyed when the DigiDestined came along."

The small feline didn't put it past them to have caused some damage fighting for their lives. Unintentionally, she came up with a silly, but not improbable thought that got her to smirk. "Maybe Nanimon burned it down, the crazy drunk."

He just gave a shrug, reaching up to pull at his hat. "Not that it matters," he sighed. "There'd be nothing left even if there's rubble in that forest."

Although it had been a waste of time, Gatomon was apathetic. "I sure as hell didn't lose anything of value. Did you?"

His brows furrowed for a brief moment. "Hm... maybe some rare herbs and a small collection of books."

She dryly gasped, paws at her face. "Oh no. Not the big-ass book about the proper ways to grow big-ass flowers in boots during a full moon."

Wizardmon snorted. "That's not what it was about, and you know it."

It was hard to tell if he caught the joke. "Well, you sure as hell would've liked the book on sarcasm."

"That's gone to ashes like the rest. What a shame."

Rolling her eyes, she half-muttered, half-snipped, "No, I think what's more of a shame is that anything Myotismon had is gone, too."

The memory of the library suddenly dawned on him as he slapped his forehead (almost conking them both with his staff). "Ohhhhh, gods no, all of those books!"

Gatomon groaned into a glove.

Although the Vaccine Digimon wasn't a fan of the cold stone steps, she refused to let Wizardmon fly themselves down, thus she had to bite the bullet. It had been a long time since she had last visited Gennai's place, with it being the first without the DigiDestined. And since it was just the two of them, the feline was tempted to complain about its steep drop, but didn't know if voices carried.

Waiting at the bottom of the steps was Gennai, looking pleased to see them as he raised a hand. "Welcome! Did you find the place okay?"

Gatomon chose to shrug it off once she noticed his smile. Somehow, the man had a way of making her feel a little guilty for thinking negatively toward him. "Eh, sort of..."

He turned to Wizardmon with intrigue. "You must be that elusive Wizardmon." He chuckled, crossing his arms. "You look like a 'Mon who would find their way around the firewall."

"I was unaware there was such a thing." The feline immediately glanced away, pretending something caught her eye.

Suddenly, Gennai leaned in, his voice lowering to a suspicious, albeit concerned tone. "So were you the same one who crossed worlds undetected?"

Wizardmon didn't like being put on the spot, but replied, "Well, uh... technically speaking."

Raising a hand to his chin, the man straightened back up, and slowly nodded. "Interesting."

Possibly to stay on the same page, the mage also bobbed his head. "Quite."

"Please, not this," Gatomon mumbled into her gloves.

As if on cue, Gennai let out a laugh, his blue eyes crinkling. "Well, since you're here in person, I might as well get the proper information into the database." He strolled off for his house.

Both Digimon blinked as they followed. "'Database'?" Wizardmon echoed.

"You don't want to get rejected by the firewall now, do you? But also, I'm missing information."

"So is that what Izzy meant?" Gatomon questioned, raising a brow.

Gennai nodded from side-to-side. "Perhaps, depending on what you were talking about. I had seen earlier I had visitors, and while I knew the one was Gatomon, I couldn't figure out who was the second. By the time I realized who it was, you two had already left."

She looked at Wizardmon for a moment. "What're you going to do?"

"I'm just going to hook him up to the processor." He held the door open for them. "Shouldn't take more than a few minutes, depends on your gigabyte size."

Her face faulted as she sighed. "That's not why we came here, though..."

Her companion smiled down at her. "It's fine, Gatomon. I don't mind."

They were led into a room she never knew existed, with a large computer taking up an entire wall and cables strewn about the floor. One was hooked up to a type of scanner across the way, which Gennai started to adjust for Wizardmon. He eyed it curiously before handing her his staff and stepping into the middle when gestured to it. A brace was then clamped onto his arm, and Gennai screwed in a connector.

"This is basically nothing more than data transfusion. You might feel a little electric shock, tingle, or even a poke. Seems to vary from Digimon to Digimon." After flipping a couple of switches on the motherboard, he smiled over at them. "Alright, all set? Starting up."

Gatomon bristled when the mage jolted for a second, and leered at the machine as green and yellow lights blinked. "You're not going to hook me up next, are you?"

The man smiled over at her. "You're in the database."

Her ears lowered as she hugged the staff close. "Why do I not like the sound of that?" she mumbled.

Suddenly, an error message popped up on the screen, lights flashing to a stagnant red. Tapping a few keys, Gennai's mouth curled to the side. "That's odd. Gotta restart it... Hold tight for just a bit longer, Wizardmon."

He appeared like he was miffed with few locks of hair sticking up, but he just waved a hand. "I'm not the least bit shocked this happened."

It took two more tries and a reboot from a crash before the frustrated man snagged at his hair and slumped at the computer. "Impossible! I updated the software!"

Wizardmon, who was losing all feeling in his arm, questioned in a concerned tone, "Have you run out of memory?"

"Of course not! You shouldn't have that much, either!" Then Gennai had an idea, and quickly sat up. "Wait a minute..." He spun around and shook his finger at the Champion. "Did anything traumatic happen to you? Is there a reason you suddenly showed up in the Digital World before you crossed into the real world?"

The Digimon looked at each other before the sorcerer nodded. "Six years ago, I died at the hands of Myotismon in Odaiba. My data lingered, unable to move on or find its way back into the digital stream. I've tried multiple times, but I was constantly rejected."

"You're corrupted."

Gatomon slumped forward and Wizardmon looked like he had been slapped in the face. "Eh?"

"It's either that, or you're missing some important data, but even the system would've been able to read you properly. That's why it's bugging out on me. Sorry, old girl." Gennai patted and hugged the computer like a child.

The cat stared and picked her jaw back off the floor. "So, wait... what exactly do you mean he's 'corrupted'? He looks fine to me."

As he was shutting down the program, the man asked, "How much damage did you take, Wizardmon?"

"Enough times that I am surprised I lasted as long as I did. But I fought through to the end, like I had wanted." He said the last part smiling over at Gatomon, who just glanced away with a frown.

"You must have had enough damaged data that when the final blow did you in, it caused corruption." Once the system cooled down, Gennai moved to unhook Wizardmon. "You see, a normal Digimon would've allowed themselves to be deleted without a problem. While Digimon can be killed in the real world, because their data can still linger, they have the ability to find a way into a system, and travel that way. It's possible to still go through into the Digital World to be reconfigured, but it's a longer process. If Wizardmon had trouble going through, it meant the system couldn't read him, and thus prevented access."

Gatomon gave a single nod. "How'd he get through, then?"

"Do explain, Wizardmon."

Rubbing his arm when the brace was removed, he responded, "I used Gatomon to carry me through. I didn't think it would work, but I must've been camouflaged enough into her data and inside the D-3 that I wasn't detected."

Gennai blinked in surprise. "You didn't go through the Primary Village?"

"I did not. I skipped through my In-Training and Rookie stages."

The man rubbed his chin. "Corrupted, yet you still managed to get through. How fascinating."

Gatomon's ear twitched at the word, but ignored it when she handed her companion his staff. "Can Wizardmon be fixed?"

He scratched at his head. "It was such a long time ago, there's a chance we can't restore the data."

"How is he still functioning, then?"

"Good question, Gatomon. Just because he's corrupted doesn't mean everything's corrupted. Corruption doesn't automatically mean it's gone or just unusable. Sometimes, the code was modified to be unreadable or was overwritten with something else." He crossed his arms in thought. "If there's a way to get the regular data without the system crashing on me, I'll see what I can do."

Wizardmon had a moment of remembrance. "Start with the information Izzy got from me, and go from there."

Gennai grinned down at the Digimon. "Of course, why didn't I think of that? I'll shoot him a message so he can send it over." He hurried over to a smaller monitor.

Unintentionally, Gatomon let out a sigh through her nose, her ears dropping. The elven mage turned to her in worry. "What's wrong, Gatomon?"

She didn't want to complain in earshot of Gennai, but it didn't stop her from muttering, "You just came back, and already there's problems."

He flipped over the staff in his hand and shrugged. "It couldn't be helped, but at least we have an answer now."

Eying his movement, the feline brought herself to meet his gaze. "I hope it's treatable."

He gave an assuring smile. "It's not like I'm ill, Gatomon. I'd have to be quarantined in the Digital World if that was ever the case."

Rubbing his hands together, Gennai gestured for the exit. "Alright, while I wait for a reply, how about you two make yourselves comfortable? Stay for the night, I insist."

Wizardmon bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for the offer. I personally will be happy to, but if Gatomon doesn't want to stay, I'll go with her."

Since Gennai was being generous, Gatomon knew she was going to feel some guilt if she turned him down. "...I suppose."

The man's face lit up. "Excellent. Hope you two are in the mood for traditional cuisine!"

With a clap of the hands, Izzy said, "Thanks for the food," then got up to wash off his plate.

His parents smiled up at him, their dishes still half-full. "Busy again, son?" his father noted, a chuckle on the tip of his tongue.

"Yeah, might have to pull another all-nighter."

Although she had no intention of disagreeing, his mother briefly shook her head in amusement. "Try not to push yourself too hard," she warmly told him. "I don't want to see you sleeping in front of the screen for once."

Once he was finished, he gathered some food for later, bade them good night, and entered his bedroom, running his fingers through his hair. It was routine by this point, but he could never shake off remorse for being unable to spend as much time with his family like before. Mentally going through his schedule wasn't pulling up any free spots for even an hour, bringing out a deep, exhausted sigh.

"Alright, need to sort through the mail—again."

Waking up his computers, Izzy sat down and stretched above his head and flexed his fingers. Despite having just finished his dinner, he felt that itch to open up some pumpkin seeds that were lying in reach. He was hovering above them when his eyes lit up at Gennai's name.

"Oh, wonder what he wants." He knew he shouldn't, but he had a bad habit of dropping everything if there was a chance to contact the man. The message was pulled up and scanned over in a heartbeat.

I was told you have data on Wizardmon. I'd like to have it sent over to be put into the database as soon as possible.

So he had to have visited lately. "Must have had trouble." With his laptop booted up, he opened the e-mail and brought up another window to search through the data of Digimon he had gathered. Clicking on the one for Wizardmon, he let it load while he returned to his main computer to sort though spreadsheets.

He did a double-take to find an error message. Reading it over, he groaned and converted it to a .ZIP file to try again. Not even a minute later, he checked back, and read the error message over again.

"You've got to be kidding," the boy muttered, clicking out to open it up. "It looks fine," he huffed as he scrolled through. "Why's it not going through—huh?"

Pausing for a quick read, his brows furrowed. "Prodigious..."

Gatomon had remained quiet most of dinner, sometimes listening to Gennai and Wizardmon's conversations, and other times paying more attention to the fish outside and watching as more nocturnal animals came out. Her ears would perk up if she thought there was an interesting topic, but after indicating it was going to go someplace she wouldn't follow, she let her mind wander. At the back of it all, however, her true intentions of why she had visited continually made itself known in little ways: as words that were otherwise-nonchalant, her train of thought going off the rails, and Wizardmon himself for steadily breaking free of his shell.

Her mood had already sobered by the time they were cleaning up. With the mage gone off to wash the dishes (Gennai had to be talked into it), she grew impatient of waiting for the right time to take the man aside for a talk. Dropping everything, she sauntered up to him before he could leave the room.

"Gennai, if it's no problem, can I talk to you?" she queried, though she unintentionally was somewhat demanding.

If he took notice of her tone, he didn't show it as he nodded. "You can."

"Alone?"

Although he was taken aback, he ushered her into the nearest room. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Yeah, you could say that..." She flexed her claws, and willed herself to maintain eye-contact as much as she was tempted not to. "I've never known of it happening, but is it possible for Digimon to get sick?"

Gennai raised a brow. "As in catching a virus, or a bug?"

"Not in the computer sense. I meant fevers, getting dizzy all the time, night sweats... stuff like that."

He began scanning his cabinets. "Did you catch a sickness from the human world?"

Gatomon shook her head in uncertainty. "I don't know, though... I just suddenly had it for most of last week. During that time, I felt like I was getting worse, and it was awful. Then I..." She briefly paused, resuming once he looked back. "I entered into the World of Dreams, and when Wizardmon reconfigured, it all went away."

"Is that how he came back?"

He may have been curious, but she interpreted as him preparing to get on her case about it. "I didn't want him back, though. I just thought the World of Dreams would help..."

Gennai leaned forward. "How did you get in there? I could've sworn it was closed."

Her eyes wandered in discomfort. "There's a hole I jumped in."

"There's a gaping hole in the dimensions?"

"I don't know!" Gatomon quickly exclaimed, not wanting to get into that discussion. "I just... I just found myself there. I swear, Gennai, I didn't believe the e-mails Wizardmon sent me either, but—"

"E-mails?"

Feeling her emotions beginning to boil, the shaking feline made that step to open herself up. "Gennai, please tell me why my wish didn't work! Is it because he's corrupted?"

His complexion became calm. "What was your wish?"

"I just wanted the two of us to move on..." She didn't like repeating herself, and didn't want to go into more detail about her reasoning behind it. "But if he couldn't get here on his own to reconfigure, how was it I was able to bring him here?! Why was I the conduit?!"

Finger to chin, Gennai took a few moments before giving his thoughts. "I suppose... it must have backfired if Wizardmon had a wish of his own that contradicted yours."

"He told me he agreed with me. Even he's shocked he's back to life."

His lips pursed for a second. "Maybe there's regrets from either him, you, or both."

Gatomon didn't agree. "Regrets about what, exactly? Why would I want him to move on if I had regrets?"

The man warily folded his arms. "So what does this have to do with your sickness getting better?"

"That's why I came to you, Gennai! You should know these things, right?!"

His stare became apologetic. "I've never monitored your life," he bluntly said. "I know as much about you as Kari—actually, less than what Kari knows. I don't know of the choices you made, and I don't know of your friendship with Wizardmon outside of what I know now."

It was then Gatomon realized that him asking questions as much as she wasn't him poking holes, it was proof he was just as lost. While Gennai had a reputation of being vague with his teachings, he knew how to point them in the right direction for them to problem solve on their own. Trying to argue with him was like pushing against a solid wall and expecting it to cave in.

"...I'm sorry, Gennai," she muttered, her stance loosening. "I'm just so confused..."

He squatted to her level, a sympathetic smile on his face. "Just take it one step at a time. His corruption's a plausible reason for why your wish wasn't granted, but... you know, just wishing for it isn't enough. You'll have to earn it." Her ear flicked at the emphasis. "The World of Dreams can't just give out wishes without something in return."

Head tilting, she asked, "Like what?"

Gennai just gave a shrug. "I can't help you there. That's all on you."

The conversation was done. Gatomon didn't feel any regret for having the talk, but she didn't feel any better. Emotionally drained, she just wanted nothing more than to sleep it off and push it from her subconscious.

Taking notice of her crestfallen expression, Gennai became concerned. "Gatomon?"

Slowly shaking her head, the petite Champion refused to look at him. "I just want to lie down... Sorry for bothering you." Eyes on the floor before her, she left and turned down the hallway.

"Are you alright, Gatomon?"

With a clenched heart, she glanced over at Wizardmon standing in the kitchen entranceway as he set down the cloth he had in hand. "It's nothing," she murmured, taking in a breath. She didn't want to talk to him, but couldn't bring herself to shake him off. "I'm just tired."

It was obvious from his stern frown he was studying her, trying to get to the root of the problem. "Where is the guest bedroom?" he asked Gennai when he exited the room.

"You take a left at the end of that hallway, and it's the first door on the right. The futons are in the closet."

"Thank you. Come on, Gatomon." Wizardmon moved to help, but she pushed his hand away.

"I know where it is," she sniffed, trudging off.

He followed out of concern, but kept his distance. Even after entering, she walked all the way to the window like she was pulled towards it, while he searched through the closet. She didn't look like she had the energy to lift her head to properly watch the fish. He wasn't sure whether to show pity or disregard, knowing she was going to come around in the morning.

"This is the smallest I can find."

She glowered over at him when he held it out. "It's clearly human-sized. These things are too toasty, I hate sleeping in them."

Tongue in cheek, he half-shrugged. "I was originally going to suggest we share one and save space, but we'll scratch that idea."

"No, no, scratching's a brilliant idea." She flashed her claws at her sides.

"I was only joking, Gatomon!"

An amused Gennai strolled in. "You two sure get along. Don't like the futon, Gatomon? Is it too big?"

"No, it's fine," she lied through her teeth. She signaled with her eyes, and Wizardmon laid it out.

Raising a brow, he nodded over where she stood. "I suggest sleeping near the window where it's cooler. Just don't tap the glass, the nocturnal fish hate that. How about you, Wizardmon?"

"I was going to ask if it's no trouble visiting your library?"

His quick response brought a hearty laugh from the man. "Hey, of course not! Feel free!"

Gatomon shot a warning glance his way. "Wizardmon, time yourself."

He smiled down at her. "Yes, Gatomon."

Gennai took notice of her leer and wryly smirked. "Habit of reading yourself to sleep, eh?"

"It's a pet peeve of hers."

"Ouch, you got a sharp wit."

The feline let out a huff, whiskers and fur prickling. "Whatever, sleep on them for all I care. Whatever takes your mind off that book of boot flowers or whatever." She dropped herself on the futon, facing the window.

Wizardmon just shrugged and walked off, leaving Gennai befuddled like he had wandered in on the aftermath of a fight. "Guess this is normal," he muttered to himself, scratching his head. "Well, sleep tight," he told her before exiting and noticing his guest had already disappeared. Deciding it was no big deal, he took his time to make his way to the library.

"She'll calm down in a bit," Wizardmon said the moment he entered. Gennai found it amusing he was already thumbing through a book. "Today didn't go her way, apparently, and I'm willing to bet she's not fond of sleeping alone in an underwater house on top of that."

The man laughed, deciding to keep the meeting to himself. "Well, I can't blame her."

"I think she's also not happy with the results."

Somehow, he wasn't surprised he noticed. "She worries about you, huh?"

"Seems so. I suppose this is who she truly is. She's a different Digimon than when she was working under Myotismon."

Gennai had a brief recollection of his realization he slipped up in his escape many years ago, only to feel calm in putting his faith in destiny. "Fate had plans for her," he said, voice lowered.

Wizardmon slyly smirked as he pulled out another book. "She has nothing against Fate, but she likes being in control."

"Quite the opposite of the DigiDestined of Light. It's like Kari was made for Gatomon, and not the other way around."

The Champion chuckled. "I can believe it."

Hands behind his back, Gennai stepped up in alignment with him. "I don't mean to pry, but for how long have you known her?"

Wizardmon stole a glimpse as he was grabbing another volume. "And this is not counting the six years I've been dead, yes?"

"No offense, Wizardmon, but I think I'm understanding why she's snippy with you."

"Nonsense, we get along just fine."

The man shook his head as he sighed. "You're the oddest pair I've had the pleasure of meeting. And I've seen odd—I'm one half of an odd pair myself."

The blithe smile crinkled Wizardmon's eyes. "We didn't start out that way. She may have saved my life, but I don't think she had wanted anything to do with me at first. Still, I felt inclined to repay her back, so I voluntarily joined Myotismon's army to be by her side. Of course, Fate had plans."

Gennai nodded slowly.

"Gatomon and I are alike, but we are also different. I suppose that's why she felt pity that day when she was raised otherwise."

Glancing over, he was unable to look past the shadows that had fallen across the Digimon's face. "Do you have regrets?"

Wizardmon closed the book, glancing up with a hard look in his eyes. "No. Regretting anything in my life would mean being ungrateful to have met Gatomon." Tucking the items under his arm, he turned and headed back down for the guest room.

There was no movement from where Gatomon lay facing the window, her gloves laying just in reach. Careful not to be in direct light, he stepped up to her to look her over. The refracted moonlight gave her a gentle glow even with the shadows from passing fish, a sight so peaceful and mesmerizing he wondered if she fell asleep unintentionally.

He smiled as he sat cross-legged where he didn't cast a shadow over her. She stretched out her arms as she slightly curved, looking as if she was reaching for something, only to relax with a slow exhale. Her face was undisturbed, suggesting she may have fallen into deep sleep, something he thought she'd never grow accustomed to.

It was tempting to reach out and just touch her cheek, or to perhaps stimulate her dreams, but Wizardmon kept to himself. He knew better. Soaking in the peaceful setting, he went back to reading, occasionally glancing over whenever there was movement.

Deciding to give them privacy, Gennai slipped away for the computer room. A new message awaited him, but he found it odd there was no attachment until he dove into it.

I'm afraid I'll have to come bring it to you in person. I got to look at it more trying to figure out why it wouldn't send, and I've come across something. It looks like the work of a software bug, but because I can't decipher the code at all, not even Tentomon, I didn't dare try to refactor it. I'm hoping you might be able to read it, but if you can't figure this out, we'll have to keep Wizardmon under tight surveillance. There's a chance he may not even be Wizardmon.

The agent's narrowed eyes hovered on the last sentence. "He's something, alright. Just what are you?"