Chapter 2

Author's Note: Flashbacks/dreams

Past:

Serena and Takuya just look around for the next while until a, what they had learned was called a Trailmon, pulled into the station. Three kids got off, a blonde girl wearing a lavender skirt and vest with a blue and white horizontally striped shirt, lavender shoes and a lavender beanie. An older boy wearing a blue and yellow outfit, and a kid Shinya's age wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, with suspenders hanging from them, green shoes, and an orange hat. " How long have you been here? " the girl asks.

Takuya sighs when Serena reverts to her shy mode, too many people and she shut down. She had no problem with his soccer team, then again his teammates knew better than to pick on her as well, " Not that long, I'm Kanbara Takuya and this is my little sister Serena. "

" Oh, where are my manners, I'm Orimoto Zoey, the guy in blue is Shibayama Junpei, and the little guy is Himi Tomoki. "

" Call me JP. " Junpei says.

" Please, call me Tommy. "

Serena looks them over warily and decides they were tolerable for the moment. Zoey looks at the brown haired girl and Takuya follows her gaze, " Let her come to you, Zoey. "

Serena wanders off and starts talking with the digimon that were hanging around, " What gives? " Zoey asks.

" Serena's been burned way too many times by people, she has a grand total of one friend. Everyone else just got close and then turned on her. "

Zoey winces, " In other words she keeps her distance. "

" Yeah, for now she'll just stick close to me. Can't blame her either, we don't exactly get to see each other all too often. "

" Oh, why? " JP asks.

" She's my half-sister, my parents were legally separated when I was really young and my dad ended up hooking up with her mom. Then he and mom reconciled, but he found out about Serena's upcoming existence and demanded shared custody. " Takuya answers.

" Oh, but she has her mom, right? "

" Then why is it every time she's upset she comes to me, she hunts dad down when she needs permission slips signed? " Takuya asks, watching the ten year old play with the Poyomon.

He had suspected for quite some time that Serena's life with her mom wasn't good but she never said anything. Tommy wanders over to join her and plays with the Poyomon as well. Takuya smiles, " Smart kid, he's using what he's learned and just sitting near her while playing with the Poyomon. "

Takuya knew the kid wouldn't hurt his sister, he seemed just as lonely as she did. His empath of a sister would sense that now that he was away from the others. The younger kids continue to play until Serena sees green colored fire. The ten year old quickly urges the Poyomon to hide, " Taku-nii, get ready to party, we got not so friendly company incoming. "

Takuya has his D-Tector gripped tightly in his right hand as he follows his sister's gaze, by talking to a passing through Agumon, they had learned about the Legendary Warriors and the spirits. Agumon had helped Takuya learn how to use his new found abilities. " Where is the Spirit? "

Takuya smirks as the two rookies, Bokomon and Neemon race over and Bokomon explains who Cerberumon happened to be, " Hey, dog breath, the spirit of Flame is mine. Execute…Spirit Evolution! Agunimon! "

Bokomon blinks, " A human has claimed the Spirit of Flame. "

" Don't draw this out, Taku-nii! "

Agunimon smiles grimly and goes right for the three headed dog like digimon. Serena smiles as she watches her big brother, she had watched him during training as well. She lets the others comments slide right over her and once he's won she was the first one to reach him when his evolution ended. Takuya grins and picks her up, " Not bad for my first real battle, huh? Now, I should probably see about rendering the fractal codes that I'm sure Cerberumon stole. I'm just grateful to that Agumon whom trained me on what to do. " He returns the fractal code to where it belonged and the two rookies thank him.

Present:

Takuya, chuckles at seeing all the stunned expressions around him, mindful of his concussed little sister on his back, " Yeah, back in our day we did the fighting ourselves, acting as Shamans, I guess you could say, allowing the spirits of the Legendary Warriors use our bodies. They're stronger with us and they all decided to come with us. Wood, Earth, and Metal are hoping to find their partners at some point in our world. "

" I'm telling ya, Taku-nii, Shinya is Wood, you just don't wanna believe it. " Serena retorts.

" First we need to find some food, dear imooto. "

" There should be a Meat Apple tree around here somewhere. " Serena mutters.

" I think there is one, but I'm not sure where. "

" No problem, Patamon, we'll find it. " Takuya says.

" How did you…"

" My main boss is Lady Ophanimon but I also work for lord Seraphimon, whose rookie form is Patamon, and Lord Cherubimon, whose rookie for is Lopmon. Lord Seraphimon had his fractal code harvested by the corrupted Legendary Warriors but Wind managed to get his egg and we got out of there. " Takuya answers.

Candlemon and Palmon look at each other, " We'll go find them, you guys set up camp somewhere. "

" Right, let's get going. Hey, what happened to Serena anyhow? " Tai asks.

" Got my bell rung by a Snimon, temporarily concussed. Someone get some sticks for a fire and some sticks to cook the apples on, as Meat Apples do need to be cooked after all. " Serena answers, " Candlemon is my partner and yet I'm the Water Warrior. "

Just then they hear some phones ringing and the Kanbara siblings blink, following the others as they take off to find several phone booths, " Taku-nii, does this scream trap to you as well? " Serena asks as Candlemon and Palmon return with the apples while Gabumon and Biyomon return with all the sticks they needed. Takuya sets his sister down and starts to get the fire set up.

" Hey, Agumon, how about a little help here. " Takuya calls out.

Agumon starts the fire and Takuya sets the apples to cooking. He knew he and the others had always needed a lot of food after a fight and was impressed with the haul Palmon and Candlemon had brought back. Tai was the first to give up on the phones and soon has discovered the joys of Meat Apples. Serena downs six herself and Takuya downs ten, he had Spirit Evolved twice after all. Serena looks at her brother and he takes an apple to Joe after the rest of the kids have given up.

" Joe, ya gotta take it easy, I'm the eldest one here, and I say you get your ass over to that fire and eat. Serena would do this herself but she still can't stand up. " Takuya says to his junior.

Joe jumps at this and scrambles over to join the others, " Look, this is not our world, the dangers here are very real, as we are actually here in person, but we've become data ourselves. " Takuya says, " However, I'm merely going to advise you all and if things get too dicey imooto and I will step up to the plate, but only after you guys give it your all. "

" Oh, goggle head is always the leader though someone level headed and assertive needs to be able to keep the goggle head and the lone wolf in check. " Serena states.

Sora groans, " Great, that's me then. "

" Yeah, in our group I was the one whom kept Taku-nii in check while Wind dealt with Light. " She practically spat Light out as well. Takuya sighs at this, she had never forgiven Koji for his careless comments on the Island of Toys. Then again he had never sincerely apologized to her either. Water's alliance was supposed to be to Light but Water could not get along with Light, at all. Even now his little sister just barely tolerated his best friend.

" Is it safe to ask what her deal with Light is? " Matt asks.

" Before she got her spirits, and the human one was corrupted Light called her a liability and then a crybaby when he saw she was about to run off crying. I had grabbed her wrist to stop her and then she went off on him. " Takuya shudders, remembering that all too well.

Flashback:

" You need to stop treating them like little kids. Tommy at least can actually defend himself, but your sister, she's dead weight. A liability to us because we have to continually protect her. "

Serena's brown eyes flash with hurt as his words remind her of her step-father and how many times he'd called her worthless, useless, a waste of space. She turns to run off only Takuya stops her. " See, she can't even handle the truth. She's just a cry baby. " Koji says.

Something snapped in the ten year old at that, " SHUT UP! Who the hell do you think you are to judge me! I like the fact that I can act my age around Taku-nii. I get that I'm worthless, I hear it fucking often enough from my step-father, his hell spawn of a son, and my own mother has told me she should have just aborted me! "

The ten year old darts forward and kicks him hard in the shins, sending the older boy to his knees, " At least Taku-nii doesn't speak so callously and thinks about how his words could affect someone! Most big brother's would shunt their younger siblings aside but Taku-nii doesn't. Sure, he and Shinya fight, but he never pushes him aside in favor of hanging out with his friends. Out of all my family Taku-nii is the only one I can truly count on! "

Koji stares at her, tears were streaming down her face, but she was glaring defiantly at him until Takuya comes up behind her and turns her to face him. One compassion filled look from her brother was enough to burst the dam and she starts sobbing in the safety of his arms. The Light Warrior was horrified by what his thoughtless words had wrought.

End Flashback:

After they've finished eating Serena grins and stands back up, cheering internally at her healing factor. Takuya, Serena, and Biyomon all frown as they look at one spot. " What's wrong? " Sora asks.

" Trouble. " all three answer her.

" Oh, great, Shellmon, they get mad for no real reason, well, at least that makes sense to anyone else. " Tentomon says.

Joe runs over to the cliff and Shellmon sends a pressurized blast of water at him, Serena frowns and makes it stop, " Joe, get the hell out of the way now, I can't hold the blast for long. If I spirit evolved it would be different. " Serena calls out as the Digimon go on the attack. Joe sprints out of the way and Serena lets the attack impact in the cliff wall.

The other digimon except for Agumon, Betamon, and Candlemon were too tired and hungry still, " Lava Loogie! "

" Spit Fire! "

" Electric Shock! " Betamon calls out, adding his attack to that of Candlemon and Agumon's.

All three human partners nod at each other and head in, " Hey, seaweed for brains, over here. " Tai calls out.

Serena rolls her eyes, but she grins, " Mollusk Mouth, come and get me! "

Serena instantly leaps onto the water attack and starts to ride it, " Hell yeah, this is fun. " By riding the attack she redirects it to Shellmon and Betamon hits it with another Electric Shock just as she jumps off and right before it impacts. Shellmon roars in anger at this and goes to grab Tai. Takuya tackles him out of the way, or tries to, both goggle heads get grabbed. Serena curses and turns to help her brother when he grabs her too.

Shellmon now has all three rookies beaten into the ground and their human partners scream in agonizing pain. " Agumon digivolve to…Greymon! "

" Betamon digivolve to…Seadramon. "

" Candlemon digivolve to…Wizardmon. "

" Nova Blast! "

" Ice Blast! "

" Thunder Ball! "

All three attacks combine and Shellmon's fractal code shows. Serena was the first to her feet and her voice takes on a southern drawl, " Shellmon, sug'ah, it's time f'ah ya tah be purified by tha rushin' wat'ahs, Fractal Code…Digitize! "

The other children watch in awe as the code is scanned and then Shellmon's digi egg flies off. Serena winces, " Taku-nii, let's not do that again. Palmon, can you take Mimi, Sora, and Biyomon to get more apples, we need more food, immediately. "

" Sure, let's go. " Palmon says and the only other girls head out.

Takuya groans, " Dammit, I haven't been hit that hard since Duskmon. "

Serena winces, " Any of the rest of you digimon know the herbs to make the bruise cream and pain reliever? "

" Yes, I do. " Gabumon says.

" Good, go take your partner and get a lot. Also, Ishida, try and find something we can boil the herbs in as the pain reliever needs to be drunk as a tea. " Serena says.

Matt nods at this, seeing the sense in gathering those herbs, all three of those whose partners had digivolved had been grabbed by Shellmon and had to be in a lot of pain. Takuya sighs, " Koj will never let me hear the end of this. "

" Don't tell him, simple as that. " Serena calls out as she checks on her partner.

" You know Koji just finds this stuff out. " Takuya points out.

" Well, maybe if you wouldn't be so damn easy to read Taku-nii he wouldn't. " Serena retorts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Digimon.