Okay, I kind of impressed myself because I didn't need to do as many edits to this as I have to other chapters. Ken and Yolei were surprisingly easy to write as was Davis. So, it came to me pretty naturally. I hope this chapter is an enjoyable – please read and leave me some feedback. I'm always open and willing for improvement.

4. Bitter Realities

Yolei had woken up early that morning to find a voice message from both Cody and Ken. Her eyes widened as she saw that and the text message that Izzy had sent yesterday. Had she been living in a closet? Although that is pretty accurate as to what I'm doing right now. When was the last time she had even spoken to Cody? Or to her best friend Kari for that matter? She wracked her brain, trying to think. Geez, I'm getting as bad as Joe.

Not that she meant to but I.T. programming was a tough course, especially because she wanted to gain as many skills so she could find jobs anywhere, including Japan where her friends were. Still, now was no time to worry about that – her friends needed her and more importantly, Hawkmon needed her to pull her pants up. She grabbed her phone and called Ken, knowing that he probably wasn't asleep yet being one to sleep later than the others and given the news they had gotten, it was probably worse.

Then again, I can't blame him. I'd be the same if I had lost Hawkmon once before. A brief flash entered her mind when Hawkmon had been poisoned by Dokugumon and an involuntary shudder running through her. Luckily, she didn't get a long time to dwell on it because then, Ken answered his phone.

"Hey Yolei," Ken said quietly. "We were trying to reach you."

Ken's voice was quiet, even downtrodden, something that made her heart clench because he had been doing so well.

"I'm sorry, Ken, I was a little bit busy," Yolei said softly. "But I shouldn't have been. I didn't realise things were so dire. Are you going to head back to Japan?"

"No, it's okay," Ken said softly. "I mean, we're all in different countries, so it makes it difficult with the time zones and everything. But…yeah, I'm taking leave from University. I…" He went quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I have to."

"I'm going to do the same," Yolei agreed immediately. "Ken, what happened in the meeting? Is Izzy planning to open a portal to the digital world?"

"Yeah, he's going to try," Ken admitted. "But it's better there's more of us there because I've been helping Izzy analyse things and Yolei? The portals to the digital world were forcibly sealed by someone on the inside."

Yolei's blood went cold. She studied I.T. and being rather into things most kids her age found boring; she knew what that meant. "Ken, are you saying someone from the digital world wanted to make sure we couldn't get back in?" But who would do that? Daemon? Did he even have that kind of power? Even if he did, they had sealed him in the Dark Ocean, so that wasn't possible. If Dragomon had been unable to go to the human world from the Dark Ocean, then it was most likely that Daemon would not be able to escape the place so easily, then whom?

"I don't understand something though," Ken's voice sounded a little puzzled and this made Yolei focus on her phone conversation with her friend. "Even if somebody tried to lock us out, wouldn't Gennai and his counterparts try to contact Izzy to find an alternate route to get us to the digital world?"

Yolei frowned, thinking about this. Gennai and his counterparts had always come to their aid when they had needed it before – however, just because they wanted to, didn't mean they necessarily could do that. Maybe this enemy had made sure they couldn't. She grimaced, thinking about things logically could lead to some painful conclusions so she didn't allow herself to dwell any further, cause that would not help anyone!

"Let's not think about that now," Yolei said firmly. "We have to get back to Japan as soon as we can because the digital world needs us. I'm going to apply for special circumstances too because there's no other choice right now. Hawkmon and our partners come first." She had not felt this surge of immense energy that once again made her clench a fist, feeling like she could achieve anything. "And Ken? Wormmon's strong, okay? Our partners may be in a hard situation now, but they're going to be fine because we're going to help them. So don't worry, ok?" Even though Ken hadn't said anything, she had not heard his voice sound so quiet and hesitant in a long time. "We're going to kick their butts like we always do."

There was a pause on the other end of the line before a weak chuckle was heard.

"Yeah," Ken finally said. "I'm not running away. Not this time."

Yolei smiled. "That's the spirit, Ken. We can do this together. Take care, ok?"

"I will," Ken replied. "You too."

Yolei hung up, mind buzzing from everything they had just talked about. Given everything had been so peaceful for the last seven years, it was sometimes easy to forget the adventures they all shared when they were kids. Suddenly, seven years didn't seem so long anymore.

Ken knew a lot could change in seven years but no matter how deeply he prodded his brain, he could not picture his partner losing his kindness no matter what could have happened in the digital world. He hadn't lost it even when he was the threat to the world and Wormmon's own life so what had changed? Was he still alive? His heart ached at the image of Wormmon fading away into the darkness and he had to squash down the nausea that came with it, causing him to almost choke on air. No, no, Wormmon was fine. Okay, maybe not fine but he was alive. He jumped a little at the phone ringing again but relaxed as he saw it was just Davis. Good, his best friend didn't think as logically as he and Yolei did, which could send his mind to some rather disturbing places. He answered the phone.

"Hey Davis, you're up early," Ken said simply. It wasn't a secret that Davis usually liked to stay up late and sleep in the next morning.

"I didn't sleep all that great," Davis admitted. "It doesn't feel right sleeping while the Digimon are…you know."

"Yeah," Ken agreed. "I know what you mean, but Davis, we need our leader to be well-rested and alert. And to not give up."

"I'm not giving up," Davis said firmly. "I'll never give up on any of us or any of the digimon. I've just been thinking that's all on why we can't get back in but I'm sure Izzy will find us a way back."

Not if we're being locked out on purpose. I'm not sure even Izzy can beat that. He didn't say these thoughts out loud, not wanting to dampen Davis's mood.

"Yeah, hopefully," Ken said instead and there was a pause on the other line causing him to frown. Davis never paused or hesitated about anything.

"Ken, what's wrong?" Davis asked.

"What do you mean?" Ken replied, unsure of how to answer.

"You don't sound so sure that Izzy will," Davis pointed out. "You're worried, why? I might not get all the smart stuff like you and Yolei but I'm your best friend so maybe I can help somehow."

Ken blinked. He should have known he couldn't hide anything from his best friend even if this time it was because he didn't want to dampen his hope but clearly, Davis saw through it. Why did I expect anything different though? He can always tell what I'm feeling.

"I think," Ken admitted softly. "That Izzy may struggle to open a digital gate because from what I looked into, someone locked us out on purpose." He tried to simplify as much as possible and not include any technical terms.

"Oh," Davis said. "That's okay then. Whoever did, we'll find a way around it. No one is going to keep us from our partners, ok? We're going to get to Veemon and Wormmon and save the digital world." His voice was full of passion and Ken felt as if they were 11 again and listening to Davis made him feel like they truly could get through this. It was like the battle with Armageddamon – where he hadn't been sure even then, but Davis's words had reminded him that as long as they stayed together, they could win. Even if it took longer. Even if it wasn't as easy, they couldn't back down – they wouldn't back down.

"Yeah," Ken said, his voice becoming a little bit stronger. "We definitely will." Only this time, he actually believed it.