Days had passed and the Ichijouji household remained the same, even if thw the prodigal son has returned. Sighing to herself, the matriarch of the house closed the door after checking on the boy sleeping on the room at the end of the hallway.

Her husband observed her with worry. "Nothing?" She just shook her head. Their boy didn't seem to improve on his condition.

She sat down and tried to keep a strong exterior after days of crying herself to sleep. Their son was back, and now they'll have to be patient. "I'm sure... He'll wake up at some point..." She said, trying to convice herself.

Her husband gave her a sympathetic look and placed a hand on her's. They both pulled through something worse, and they know they'll do it again.

Meanwhile, in the room at the bottom of the hallway, a boy struggled to find himself.

I'm still sleeping. I know I am. But why? If I know that I'm sleeping, then why can't I wake up?

... What am I missing? What did I lost? And where can I find it?

All around me, the world seemed to become multicolor. A beautiful spectrum of various colors, wobbling on a reflective surface. I looked up to see bubbles flying up to the sky. Big, beautiful bubbles made by someone.

I looked to my side to find two boys I immediately recognized. One was myself, a younger me, with a gentle look that focused on making bubbles with a cut-up straw and a cardboard cup full of water mixed with soap. The other boy looked like me, but older, with messy hair and glasses. It was my brother. We were both in the balcony of our old house.

That's right... This was before I was called a genius. I was normal, I was happy. The genius was my brother... Osamu.

I was so proud of having him as my brother. He triumphed on everything he did. He was someone I could only look up to. Someone I could only respect... Someone I could only envy.

I remember taking walks in the park with my mother. A time for the two of us to spend time, and for me to have fun. But then, we would cross a person that would talk about Sam, about Osamu.

"Oh, Miss Ichijouji, I heard Osamu created a computer from scrap!"

"If only my son had a tenth of Osamu's capacity."

"Sam's so good at sports, he is the captain of all his teams!"

"You must be so proud of having him as a son, right?"

When she heard those compliments, I know my mother's chest was filled with pride. Pride towards my brother. Who deserved each word... But that also caused her to focus too much on him.

"Osamu, you won't believe this," She would say to him. "I found someone on the park talking wonders about you. I'm so proud."

I would tug at her skirt to call her attention, looking at her with expectant eyes. Wanting her to say the same things to me. But all that I received was a...

"Oh, and you're a good boy too, Ken!"

She sounded surprised when she looked at me. Like she forgot I existed for a moment. And then she only patronized me to protect my feelings.

I was a leftover... An afterthought.

Sometimes I wanted to hate Osamu. I wanted to dump everything on him, wishing that if he was out of the picture then mom and dad would focus on me. Even if what I did wasn't important, at the least I would receive their praise because I would be their only child. I really wanted to hate Osamu.

... But I couldn't.

Because after receiving all of those praises from our parents, he would turn to me with a smile. "Hey, Ken! Wanna play some videogames later? I'll let you be player one if you want."

I couldn't hate him because he would always be the one to give me the attention I wanted. He would play with me, read with me, help me with my homework, watch cartoons with me. He would be my hero.

It was a vicious cycle. Someone would praise Sam, mom and dad then would praise Sam and I would get jealous, that jealousy would make me wish that Sam went away, and then Sam would become my best friend and make all of those wishes go away.

There was no possible way out. That was what my life was marked to be. I would have to accept the fact that I would be forever stuck on Osamu's shadow. Incapable of even hating him.

... Then... What changed? How did the cycle broke?

... How did I broke it?

I feel a wave of nausea for a moment — Can I have nausea in my subconscious? — And the scenery before me changed.

I wasn't in my old house or near Tamachi anymore. I was walking down the street, tear marks on my face and my tiny hands grasping a piece of paper.

I remember, that was an exam I had on that day. I studied so hard... And all I got was a B. The words of the teacher resonated in my mind.

"I expected more, considering who your brother is."

Again, I was stuck on Osamu's shadow. Not even with my best effort I couldn't surpass him. I was a shadow trapped in the darkness... Darkness...

Why was I suddenly stepping on sand?

I was surrounded by a large beach, and an ocean in front of me. But instead of clear, crystalline water, it was black... Almost like mud.

"Hmm? What a surprise..." A voice said, causing me to turn around. "What is a young man, like yourself, doing here?" I can't make out who it is. It's a man, that much is certain, but his figure was... Foggy and blurry.

I'm trembling with fear, I take a step back away from the stranger. But he raises a hand. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." He walks to me and crouches to my eye-level. "What is your name?"

I fidgeted with my feets, not looking at his eyes. "Mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers..."

The man chuckles. "Smart woman. Well then, I'm #$@# $#@(@," My ears buzz as he says his name. "There, now we're not strangers."

"... M'name is Ken," I answers, looking at his feet.

"Nice to meet you..." The man trails off as a beeping sound comes from his pockets. He digs his hand into the pocket and takes out a strange, round gizmo, the source of the beeping. "Hmm, it never did something like this before." He narrowed his eyes at the device before pocketing it back. He turns to me. "Anyways, Ken. I'm sure you don't want to be here. So let me help you get out, I know my way around here. What do you say?" He asked, extending his hand to me.

I doubt for a moment before grabbing it, having no other choice. The man smiles, sending shivers down my spine, and the two of us walk to the ruined town behind us.

A mist covered everything. Preventing me from seeing what was happening. By the time it cleared, I was on the same road before I was spirited away to that ocean. And there was no sign of the man.

I walked back home. As if nothing ever happened...

On the next day, while I was on Sam's room to spend sometime with him, his computer started glowing and two things came out of it. The first one was a gizmo like the one that man possessed in his pocket, and the other was a pink square, with the size of a marble, and a symbol in it.

I looked at then curiously and went out to reach them, but... "Ken, stop!" Osamu said, grabbing my wrist. "We don't know where this things came from, and they were glowing a moment ago, they could be hot!" He said, letting go of my wrist.

He grabbed a mantle and walked to the objects. He grabbed them with care, using the mantle to cover his hands, but he blinked when he realized something. "They're not hot..." He mumbled, but shrugged it off and walked to his desk. He opened a drawer and deposit the objects there. "Mom and Dad left to see my grandparents... And I have to go to a study session..." He muttered before looking back at me.

He walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Ken, I have to get out for my study sessions. Do not touch those things. They could be radioactive or something, okay?"

I slowly nodded my head as a yes. Though my eyes kept darting to the drawer where he put those objects.

He smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "Okay then, squirt," He said walking away and grabbing his backpack. "Gotta go, there's food on the fridge, see you later, okay?"

Again, I nodded and waved before leaving. However, not ten minutes passed before I completely disobeyed his instructions and walked to his drawer. I opened and eyed the device, before grabbing it. The moment it made contact with my hand, its screen started glowing and the computer booted on on its own. I gasped and covered my eyes as the glow of the screen became too much and engulfed me.

And then...

... What happened then? Why can't I remember? T-there has to be something I'm missing. I know something important happened after that, but what?

I lifted something... I... I met someone... I... I

I made a friend.

Yes... I made a friend. The best friend I could ask for. We spend the whole day together before the sun started to set and I had to go back before Sam or my parents came back.

There was then another flash of light and I was back in Sam's room, with something else that wasn't with me when I went to the other side. A terminal. A big smile on my face as I remembered the fun day I had with my friend.

A friend that I can't seem to remember...

But... My happiness was interrupted when the door opened. My spine turned cold as I turned, Osamu was standing there, his eyes wide as he caught me with the device on my hands.

"O-Osamu," I turned around and showed the device to him. "Look this thing does-"

I was interrupt when Osamu slapped my hand and forced me to drop the Digivice. I nursed my hand and looked up to see my brother giving me a heated glare, his teeth bared and his fist clenched. "What was the only thing I told you to not do!?" He snapped.

I flinched back and scrambled away. He continued to rant angrily. "This thing could be dangerous! And yet you went and touched it! What were you thinking?!" He asked, not really expecting a response.

I just looked down. A variety of feelings mixing together. Sadness, fear, and even anger and resentment. I thought I didn't do anything wrong, after all that device guided me to my friend.

"Better get rid of this thing," He muttered glaring at the gizmo. "We don't know what it is, and I rather not figure out now."

When I heard those words I stiffened. Get rid off? That would mean not seeing that friend again. The first friend he knew that didn't hovered around his brother, and just hung out with me to get close to him.

It wasn't fair. That's what crossed my mind in the moment. The device was mine, it was the key to my friend. Osamu couldn't take it away from me.

"No!" I yelled and tackled my brother with all my eight year old might. He stumbled and tripped with his chair, causing him to drop the device, which I picked up quickly. "This is mine!" I yelled and took off running.

"Ken, wait!" He called after me.

Luckily for me, Sam didn't locked the doof of our apartment, allowing me to exit our house and take off running. I could hear him running after me, calling me out in worry. "Ken wait up!"

I entered the elevator and the doors closed before Sam could enter. I heard a bang on the door before going down, probably him unloading part of his anger on the door.

I clutched the device close to my chest, in a protective way. It was mine, I thought, it belonged to me. For once something was mine without Sam having it first, for once I had someone who looked at me first and didn't know a thing about him. And my brother wanted to take it from me. I couldn't let that happen. I wasn't going to let it happen.

The elevator dinged, signalling my arrival to the lower plant. As I stepped out, Sam emerged from the stairs. Panting as he did. "K-Ken... Wait!" He said.

I didn't listened, I bolted to the door that lead us outside of our building. I ignored everything around me, even though I could still hear Sam calling my name. "Ken, get back here!" He called.

I ran away, ignoring his cries and demands for me to go back. I wanted to go back to that other place, where my friend was. I wanted to be in a place where Sam didn't defined my life. I wanted him to get away.

"Ken!"

I wanted him to...

"Ken! Don't!"

I wanted Sam... I wanted Osamu to disappear.

"KEN, LOOK OUT!"

I felt my small body being pushed away. I bounced on the hard concrete and I heard the screeching of wheels coming to a halt forcefully and then something crashing and hitting the floor.

Something clattered against the floor. I sat up to look at the scene in front of me... My mind froze, but at the same time it burned that image in my mind forever.

Osamu's body laid motionless in the floor, blood flowing through his head. His glasses were cracked and abandoned on the floor.

"Osamu...?" I call out for him. But he didn't responded.

People gathered in the scene, but I ignored them. My eyes focused on my unresponsive brother.

"Osamu...?"

...

The funeral was a week later.

I stared at the picture of my brother. A picture put on a ceremonial frame with a black ribbon over the casket containing his body. His face in the picture, though smiling, felt like he was glaring me. Blaming me for what happened... And he wouldn't be far off.

It was my fault. I didn't wanted this to happen. I didn't wanted Osamu to die. But I did wanted him to go away...

I didn't know what to do. As I watched my parents grieve over their firstborn, I could only feel the guilt eating me away.

Now, I wish I could disappear.

One day, while I was working on Osamu's old computer, I received an email.

My eyes could not believe. It was a message for me, it was a message strictly for me. Addressing me. I took a bit of solace in that fact. While I don't remember who sent it. I do remember what it said.

You must know that you're brother's death was the result of an unfortunate accident. However, what happened, shouldn't shook you to the bottom of you're heart. You don't have to worry, death liberated you're brother from his pain, you shouldn't burden yourself with it.

I didn't understood what it meant. But I blindly decided to believe on what the message said... It was easier for me that way. To be relieved of the pain his death caused me, of the guil that crushed me on the inside.

While your brother died physically, his spirit has reached the light of the truth, now his spirit is free. Sadly, I can't say the same for you, who will continue to live a meaningless life, trapped in mediocrity. You could say, that this life means the death of your spirti. Poor mortal... I can only feel sorry for you.

In summation: You live in a world not made for you. Allow me to tell you, that you've been given a key to another world. A world you truly deserve.

"A world I truly deserve?" I mumbled. my eyes continuing to scan the message.

Use the gift that was given to you and open a gate to a world where your spirit will be free. Use the gift that came from the computer.

"C-computer?" I mumbled, remembering the thing that came out of the computer. I reached for the drawer where that device is, grimacing as the remainder came.

Take the Digivice and use it.

I opened the drawer and observed the gizmo. "Osamu..." I muttered. I took out the Digivice and pointed at the computer. The words on the message resonating within me. Offering what I craved for the most...

An escape from this world.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the world where I met my friend. But rather in that ocean.

"You came..." The voice of a man said. "I suppose it was only natural. So many negative emotions must've drawn you here."

I looked at the man, it was the same man I met... His face still foggy...

I didn't responded. My eyes are drawn to the ocean... It was calling me.

I walked to the edge of the water and soaked the gizmo... The Digivice in it. Its shape changing.

"Hmmm intriguing..." The man said, walking behind me. "This is some interesting gift. How about I give you a new one?"

I felt a sharp pain on the back of my neck, before ideas started to flow in my mind. My eyes settled on the Digivice on my hand.

"That's right... this is mine," I said, cradling the Digivice. "The Digivice and anything related to it, belongs to me!" I declared... And my aura started to flow off me.

And the man just disappeared. Not leaving a trail behind, or some way for me of knowing who he was or where did he go...

Ken grimaced and trembled on his bed. His face twisting with different emotions as he slept. Below the bunk-bead, his parents observed him with their usual worry. "He seems to be having a nightmare..." His father mumbled.

His wife wriggled her hands together before looking at him. "Honey, I've been thinking about something..." She said, gaining her husband's attention. "When Ken reached the same age Osamu had when he died, he started to become a more intelligent student. Just... Out of nowhere."

"Now that you mention it..." He mumbled, looking at his sleeping son, a frown on his face at the implications.

"It felt... It was like Osamu had been given back to us," She said, looking down. "It felt wonderful, but... Maybe— No... We should have thought on how Ken was feeling."

"You're right," He said, with a mirthless laugh. "Ken might... He might have turned out like that because he felt the need to fill the void Sam left... Instead of just trying to be himself," He felt like a fool, having not noticed before.

"Not only Ken," The wife said, causing him to perk up. "Maybe with Sam too. After he showed so much talent in his studies, we encourage him to continue on that direction I think... We never gave him a chance to so something he enjoyed," She said, looking around the room. Noticing for the first time that it was filled only with objects for studies and nothing more.

"I never really saw Sam playing with other kids. Only form groups so he could continue studying... Ah, what've we been doing?" He asked, running a hand through his head.

"We have not been good parents... To either of them," The woman says sadly, staring at the sleeping form of the her son.

"I guess not..." The man sighed, turning around to stare at the sleeping boy.

"Ken... Wake up soon," His mother begged.

"So we can have the chance to apologize and do things properly," His father said, holding his wife close.

Where is it? Where that that I've lost? Why can't I seem to find it? Whatever that is?

It's not on those memories where I made bubbles in the balcony. Big, beautiful bubbles. Bubbles that I used to make using a straw with its end cut, and a cup full of water mixed with soap...

But who prepared them? Who prepared the soap and cut the straw? My mom? ... No, it wasn't her.

It was Osamu.

He would hand me the cup after mixing the water and the soap. "Here, try it, Ken," He would say with a smile.

I would grab the instruments and start making those big, beautiful bubbles and the two of us would watch them fly over the balconies of our home. "Here, now it's your turn, Sam!" I said, handing him the cup.

"Okay, but... Don't expect me to do something as big as you. I'm a bit clumsy," He explained to me.

That caught me by surprise. "But you can do everything good."

He smiled and chuckled. "Most things, but you are the master at making bubbles. You have a soft and kind technique that I can't replicate. Look." He started blowing through the straw and a bubble started to form.

But before it could fly away with mine, it popped. I flinched and closed my eyes, and when I opened them... Osamu was gone. "Sam? Osamu! Osamu, come back!"

But he wasn't coming back.

He was dead.

My actions killed him.

My selfish actions killed him.

Just like... They killed...

His eyes fluttered open for the first time in a long time. He didn't knew where he was, he felt comfortable. His body wrapped in a warm mantle and laying on a soft bed. He sat up, his head feeling light.

"Ken!" Two people called out and he looked down to see two adults staring at them with relief. "You're awake!" The woman said.

"Thank goodness!" The man exclaimed.

"Who... Are you?" He asked, causing the two people to flinch back. "Who are you?" He repeated.

"He doesn't remember us..." The woman said, her voice trembling.

"He's got amnesia..." The man muttered, his eyes wide and sweating profusely.

'That's not it...' He thought, starring at the two adults. 'What I meant to say is who are you to me... What do you mean to me, and what do I mean to you?' He wondered.

"He doesn't know who we are anymore," The woman whispered, leaning on her husband to avoid collapsing.

He just stared at them. His expression blank and completely lost. 'And you don't know who I am... Who are you... Who am I?' He looked down at his hands. 'Please... Someone tell me.'

"It's okay, Ken. You're home, you're safe," The woman reassured.

The man stepped forward. "Ken listen... I know we put you under Osamu's shadow for a long time. We are truly sorry for that," He said. "You are not Osamu. You are your own person. Please forgive us, we were completely blinded."

"Please, please forgive us," The woman begged.

'What are these people talking about? I don't get it,' He couldn't understand why their words were so filled with regret and shame.

"Osamu is dead, we know that. We should have accept that," The man said, barely holding back his tears.

'Osamu... Yeah. He is dead. I killed him. He died because of my decisions,' He remembered that name, and who that boy meant for him. But that didn't help him know who he was.

"That's right, he's gone. Osamu is gone. But you are still here. So be yourself Ken, please, be yourself!" The woman weeped.

'This woman is crying... Why?'

He didn't understand. Why would they cry for him? When he doesn't know what he means to them. Something wet ran down his cheeks. 'Tears? Why am I shedding tears? Do I... Do I want to share the pain of Osamu's death with them...' He wondered. Was that his connection with them? Do they share the same suffering for his actions? Shouldn't they hate him instead? 'I know I should but right now I feel... Empty... I'm missing... My heart.'

He stared at the window on his room. The day shining brightly, but his mind clouded with confusion. A fog that hid away his identity, his true self. He was empty... Oblivious of where to find his heart.

"Ken, dinner's ready," A woman's voice call behind him. He doesn't respond, his mind far away, reaching for something that isn't there. "Ken?" A hand clamps on his shoulder and he jumps. Turning around he faces the woman that lives with him. She gaves him a reassuring, but forced smile. "It's okay, you can do it later if you want."

He nods numbly and notices a picture near the window frame. He picks it up and his eyes start to tear up. It was Osamu, his brother, his victim. His hands tremble and he sets the picture down.

"We were all devastated by the accident..." The woman said, drying her tears. "But you the most."

Of course he was. He caused it. It was his fault. He killed Osamu.

The woman leaves the room. Leaving him alone in a room so unfamiliar for him that it scared him. He felt like bolting out, this atmosphere felt like it was crushing him.

He sat down on the computer to try and catch his breath... Only for something to caught his eyes. A strange gizmo and a rectangular object with a symbol.

A Digivice... And a Crest.

Flashes pass through his mind. A green bug, with big kind eyes. Always latching at him, growing up and becoming a giant warrior that defends him. But always by his side, always defending him.

"Wormmon..." The word escaped his lips before he can register them.

His hand clamps around the Digivice and its screen start glowing.

"Ken," The woman opened the door, with a tray on her arms. "Would you at least like some... Tea..." The tray fell from her hands and clattered on the ground as she stared the empty room.

When the shock passed, she wailed in grief.

When he opened his eyes, he was on a desert, a wasteland, with a tv behind him. He barely recognized this place, he knew in the back of his mind that this was another world. A world he used to escape his problems.

'My heart...'

He walked numbly, his feet guiding him without a goal. He passed through deserts, valleys, green landscapes and hills. His feet hurting from all the walking, but he didn't cared. Even if he felt like he walked for hours, he didn't care. He had an objective in mind.

'I want to find my heart... To see my heart...'

At some point during his walk, he felt like he passed through something. Something warm washed over him, like passing through a cascade. He closed his eyes for a moment as the sensation bathed him, and when he opened them he saw something straight out of a dream.

It was a colorful town, full of buildings made of plush and with eggs of all kinds of colors scattered around the soft grass.

"W-what is this place?" He mumbled, marveled at the sight in front of him.

"Primary Village," A tiny voice said at his side. He turned to see a small creature with a gelatinous form looking at him. "This is the place where Digimon are born, and those who die are reborn here."

"Reborn..." He repeated, his eyes gained a hopeful glow. "Then that means, Wormmon too?"

"Every Digimon!" The small creature repeated, then he frowned for a month. "Wormmon...?"

However, the creature couldn't continue, he took off to look for Wormmon. He ran across the field, a smile on his face as he could finally find the lead to his heart. To the piece of him that was missing.

But... As he observed the eggs all around him, he couldn't identify which belonged to the worm. "W-where's Wormmon?" He walked around, his face starting to be one of distress. "They all look the same, I don't know which one is him."

"Hey!" A high pitched voice said. "I recognize you! You're the Digimon Emperor!" He looked down to see a purple creature with white hair all around its small body.

"T-The Digimon Emperor?" The name sounds horrid on his mouth, and yet so familiar. He looked at his hands and noticed for the first time, on the center of them, some strange markings, triangles, on his palms. "I... I am the Digimon Emperor... Now I remember... All those things I did, all the deaths... It was my fault that he died! How can I see him to the face now? W-what will I do when I see him!?" He asked in despair, falling to his knees.

"If you find the Digi-egg, Wormmon will come back to life and your sins will be forgiven. Is that what you think it'll happen?!" A red creature with three horns on its forehead spat. "You are a disgrace!"

"You are a monster!" A black creature said. "You tortured and manipulate hundreds and thousands of Digimon and you expect Wormmon to come back to you?!"

"H-he won't... Just like Osamu, he won't come back..." His body collapsed as the realization hit him. 'That's the reality I don't want to accept. Osamu is dead, Wormmon is dead... I killed them both. I thought I hated Osamu, and I thought Wormmon was worthless...' His frame started to shake as the guilt started to wreck his insides. "I'm the worthless one..."

He looked at his shaking hands, feeling nothing but disgust as what he was seeing. 'I have no value. If I die, no one would miss me. I will forever carry the pain and guilt of causing Wormmon's death... I will forever carry the guilt of killing a part of myself, my heart. The only one who would have missed me is him, and with all of that I still lost him.' He put his hands on his face, his teeth gritting together. "I lost him because of my selfish and destructive actions! Why didn't I listened to him!?"

The image was burned in his head, along with Osamu's body sprawled on the street, the image of Wormmon vanishing in his arms after receiving a blast from something he created.

"What you did it's completely unforgivable!" The red creature said. "All of your actions will never be undone! Including the damage you caused to Wormmon!"

"They'll chase you forever. And it's what you deserve, Digimon Emperor!" The black creature remarked. "Don't you dare try to deny it."

'I won't...' He thought, as he placed his hands on the floor, and tears fell from his eyes. 'I can't deny those facts anymore. I was the Digimon Emperor, I killed Osamu and Wormmon.' He clenched his fists as he accepted his grimm reality. "I will do it... For Wormmon... For the memory that he was always by my side... I will be strong..." He gasped. "That's right! Wormmon... You were the one who taught me to be strong... The first time we met, in that single, wonderful day when met..." He straightened himself grasping his head. "I buried that memory deep within me. But why? Why would I want to erase it?!"

I was scared. Completely terrified when the Digivice dragged me to the Digital World. The only thing that moved me forward, was the device itself, beeping and showing some sort of signal.

It took me to a cave, with a pink object on the top of a pedestal. When I took it, someone appeared from a flash of light...

Wormmon. He appeared from the pedestal under that pink object, the object itself suddenly changing into a small computer.

The initial shock wore off, when he presented himself and promised to help me find a way home.

We travelled along the forest, talking. I told him about my family, and he just told me about the world around us.

And then...

"Rah!" A wild Digimon attacked us, it was a territorial Gazimon.

I froze, unable to do anything... But Wormmon didn't. He headbutted the creature, but was slashed by the Gazimon's claws.

"Wormmon!" I screamed, cradling him in my arms. The Digimon snarled, but scattered away after the attack. "Why did you do that? Wormmon please, hang on!" I said, shaking him frantically.

"I-It's nothing, Ken," He reassured. 'I-... I had to protect you, you're my friend."

I sniffled and looked down at him. "W-we are?" I asked.

"We are," He reassured. "You've been so kind to me, anyone would like to be friends with a boy like you." He gave me a broad smile. "I'm glad you're the one to wake me up!" He said, remembering how our meeting went.

"Kind?" I repeated, Sam's words resonating.

"You are the master at making bubbles. You have a soft and kind technique."

I stared at Wormmon. Kind? Was I truly like that?

"But that might not be enough," He said to me. "You can also be strong or else... People could take advantage of that kindness."

"They would do that?" I asked innocently, unaware of the dangers of the world.

"Yes... You can think of your heart as your Digivice," He said, gesturing to the device in my hand. "It's yours and only yours. You can choose how to use that kindness. Never forget that." He said smiling.

I smiled at him and hold him close. He truly appreciate me for who I was, for the first time someone did that. I was so happy.

"I did have something..." He mumbled. "I had my kindness... My heart. I lied to myself thinking that I had nothing. It was easier to hate and envy Osamu..." He clutched his chest and lowered his head, solemnly. "Osamu... Please forgive me... Wormmon, please forgive me. From now on... I'll live to atone for all the terrible things I've done."

At that moment, something started shining from the pocket on his shirt. He dug out the only item he head in it — His Crest. It was shinning with a pink radiance that covered the entire village.

"This is... My Crest..." He muttered, while all the Digimon formerly accusing him where watching in astonishment.

"Ken... Please search for me. Search for me."

At the edges of the village, a Digi-egg started glowing brightly, with the same tone as the emblem.

The Crest on his hand started focusing its light on the egg. He got up and walked towards the round object. His heart was racing, daring to fill itself with hope.

"I'm right here."

He stood over the egg, his hands trembling. "This Digi-egg," He crouches down to look at it better. "Why is it shining so much..." He tries to touch it, but recoils due to the heat.

But the moment he made contact, the born popped open. The shell becoming a cradle where a green creature with a long tail that ended on a leaf was sleeping, its long tail covering his face. Slowly, it removed its tail revealing its face — Two black eyes and a mouth with something similar to a pink pacifier in it.

"W-Wormmon?" He dared to ask.

The creature looked at him. "Ken..."

Tears gathered on his eyes as he finally found him. His missing piece, his heart, his partner.

"You searched my Digi-egg?" The small baby form of Wormmon said. He... Ken, slowly gathered him in his arms.

"Yes... I looked for you everywhere around here," He admitted, looking at him with a gentle look.

"I knew you would," The small creature said, smiling at him.

"Wormmon?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," He let the tears fall from his eyes as he smiled at him. "From being alive again."

His partner allowed himself to shed tears as well. And the two shared a hug as they finally were reunited, truly reunited, after such a long time.

'Wormmon's life means a lot to me. My life means a lot to Wormmon. Is he the only one that cares for me? ... No... I have two more people.'

With her face buried on her hands, Mrs Ichijouji continued to sob after her son vanished, once again, no matter how much her husband tried to console her. "N-now he'll never come back."

Her husband tried to console her as best as he could, but his front was wavering. "Don't say that, I'm sure he will."

At that moment, the door behind them opened and their son stepped out of the room. They shot up from the couch immediately to fuss over him. "Ken!"

"Where did you go?"

"We thought you won't come back," The mother sobbed, trying to dry out her tears.

Ken stared at her with wide eyes. 'She's crying. This woman... My mother is crying because she was afraid of losing me.' His face softened and he let out a single word. "Mom..."

That gave his parents a pause. "W-what did you say, Ken?" His father asked.

"M-mom..." The woman repeated in disbelief, her sobs stopping as she stared at her son's face. "You called me mom again."

Ken's eyes started to get wet again and they shook with emotion. "Mom... Thank you for giving me life..." His tears rolled down.

Not wanting to waste another second, the woman wrapped her arms around her son. Ken immediately reciprocated and wrapped his's around his mother's frame. He looked up to the man standing behind them. "Dad, I'm sorry I worried you..."

The man smiled and wrapped his larger arms around his family to join in the hug.

As he was bathed by his parents love, Ken looked at the picture by the window frame. 'Osamu... Now I can truly say it... Thank you for everything.'

From the door frame leading to his partner's room, Leafmon observed the scene with a smile of pure happiness. Knowing that finally, after many years, his partner, Ken Ichijouji was back in his home.

Fucking onion ninjas... *Sniff*

I just came by to fix some spelling. leave a Review.