"So, we can't come?"

"Sorry Jeri. But the fact of the matter is, you'd just be putting your lives in danger if you did. As strong as Leomon is, especially with you there to support him, he simply isn't powerful enough to matter in a fight with Zhuqiaomon. He, and you, for that matter, would just be targets."

"Oh..." Jeri slumped.

I patted her on the shoulder.

"Cheer up, Jeri. Since the others are going, you and Leomon need to look out for things that come by on this end. Calumon especially."

I turned to Leomon, holding my hand out.

One of the Senbon in my collection appeared, charged with a tiny amount of My Darkness.

"Should something come by that you can't handle, break this." I handed it to him. "I'll know, and will be back as soon as I can." Leomon stared at the needle for a few moments, before nodding.

I paused for a moment, before summoning another one and handing it to Jeri.

"Same applies. I would very much like that this not be necessary, but..." I shook my head. "Just in case."

They nodded.

"Have fun you two. We'll be back shortly."

I... couldn't say that I didn't expect this.

Takato sat in a chair, his hands in his lap, looking down at his feet. Guilmon was on the ground next to him, his head rested on his arms, and his eyes closed.

On the other side of him were his parents. Both were sitting quietly, but his mother had a severe, yet resigned expression, while his father's was proud, and worried.

Across from them was Rika, who had her arms crossed over her chest, a mildly bored expression on her face. Renamon was behind her, hovering over her like the silent guardian that she was. Next to her was her grandmother, who was calmly sipping her tea. Next to her was Rika's mother, currently chatting with Daisy- and shooting none-too-subtle looks at Rika every now and then.

Henry was still in the same seat he had been in before, as was Janyu, though the latter was currently enjoying a cold sweat, courtesy of the icy stare of his wife.

It was Guilmon who noticed me first.

His tail came up, and batted his partner's arm, causing him to look at him.

Guilmon pointed at me, and Takato looked.

The sheer relief in his eyes as he spotted me was more than a little amusing.

"You're back." He stated.

Which, in turn, caught the attention of everybody else in the room.

"Indeed." I walked forwards, stopping next to the Gorou's image.

"I take it that, since you're all here, you've had the situation at least partially explained to you?" I asked, addressing the new additions of the room.

Tentatively, they nodded.

"That's good." I nodded. "Takato, Rika, Henry. Are you all ready?"

They nodded.

"Mom doesn't like it." Takato glanced at his mother.

"Of course not. She's your mother. She has every right to be concerned about what you're doing, and, frankly speaking, I'm surprised that she's even allowing this at all."

A slight creaking sound caught my attention, and I looked over to the woman in question.

Her hand was clenched, the plastic of her chair bending slightly under her grip.

Takehiro put his hand on her shoulder, and she released a sigh.

"I... do not like this." She looked up. "But... Just... just take care of him, all right? Take care of all of them."

"I will." I stated. "Rest assured, Miss Matsuki, you will be seeing your son again." I looked around, staring at Rika's mother and grandmother, and then at Janyu and Henry's mother. "Same with the rest of you. They will be coming back just as whole as they were going in."

Takato stood, and Guilmon came up with him. The latter briefly pressed his head against his partner's side, and Takato hugged him closer.

Rika straightened up, her arms dropping to the side. Renamon came slightly closer, but otherwise didn't do anything.

Henry smiled as Terriermon jumped on his head, and then stood up.

"If that's- no, wait." I reached into my pocket, pulling out the DigiGnome.

It chirped at me as I pulled it out.

"You're not coming with us this time." I said to it. "There's going to be a battle, and I don't want to have to worry about you as well as them."

It trilled, smiling. "Okay!"

It floated upwards for a moment, before heading over to the desk.

"That's... pretty much everything then." I said.

"Just about, anyway." Gorou stated. "There is the minor thing where you have to actually to take them to the Digital World. It's a bit harder to go from here to there than it is to go from there to here." He sat up, his eyes a little bit wider than usual. "So how do you intend to do that, anyway?"

"Simple." I motioned for the children and their partner's to come a bit close, waiting a moment for them to do so. "You see, I'm going to-"

"You're going to do something that you'll explain as magic, and then leave it at that." Rika interrupted. "Aren't you?"

I slumped.

She smirked.

"Oh sure, kill all my fun why don't you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I wrong?"

"Nope." I straightened up.

I held my hands up in front of me, a tiny distortion appearing between my palms. "You were absolutely correct."

My form shuddered slightly as I twisted space around the seven of us- which was a fair bit harder to do than simply taking myself across dimensions.

For my corrupted dimension, it wasn't a real problem, considering that it bordered on this one, but the Digital World was a little bit further away.

But, further away or not, it wasn't impossible. And that was the important thing.

"We'll be back in a couple of hours." I told everybody else.

I wrenched-

And we vanished.