A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Digimon Frontier: Return To The Digital World! At this point, I'm still working on other story chapters, but they're going very slowly so I'll try to update them as I get around to them! Granted, I'm kind of going slower about updating things these days given that I tend to not make myself focus on things as much nowadays but I'm getting better at it. Either way, I'll update where I can. For now, disclaimer time!

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own Digimon in any way, shape or form (be it the show, the games or any other form of Digimon media) and the credit for owning it belongs to those that do own Digimon (which last I checked was Toei Animation for the shows, and Bandai Namco for the games) so yeah.

That said, on with the chapter!

Chapter 2- Now with even more Girl Power! Spirits on the Wind and Water

(Recap of chapter 1, narrated by the narrator)

"Well, it's been a long time since we had one of these, but nothing lasts forever, not even peace. And unfortunately so, that means that Takuya, Zoe, Koji, Koichi and Tommy were all called into action. Oddly enough, JP was absent from the group who was brought back to the Digital World by the Celestial Digimon after the return of the remaining Deadly Digimon, who needless to say were quite peeved when they found out that Lucemon had been destroyed.

However, in addition to the original Wielders, four new wielders were sent to the Digital World as well: Takuya's little brother Shinya, Zoe's cousin Sorina, JP's younger sister Lumine, who also ended up with JP's D-Tector somehow, and a guy named Kusa, who as of yet has no noted connection to the original Wielders, though Zoe certainly seemed to take a near-instant liking to him.

In any case, for some reason, the groups were split up as their Trailmon brought them to the Digital World, with Koji, Koichi and Lumine being one group and Takuya, Zoe, Kusa, Tommy, Shinya and Sorina being another group. After a bit of exploring, Shinya and Koichi found their spirits, turning into Burrowmon (the purified Warrior of Earth) and Loweemon (the purified Warrior of Darkness) respectively. With both of them finding their spirits, that leaves eight more to find. Who will find their spirits next? And can the groups link up eventually? I sure hope so..." The narrator said as they finished the recap.

(Theme song plays)

(After the intro, at the Earth Terminal, with Takuya's group)

"Well, that's one Spirit down. I suppose now we just keep walking and hope we find the next Spirit sooner rather than later so we don't have to lean on Shinya to do ALL the battling. I can't imagine he'd be able to hold up very long on his own. No offense to you, by the way, little bro." Takuya said as he sat with Kusa, Zoe, Tommy, Sorina and Shinya to plan their next move after Shinya had gotten the purified Human Spirit of Earth and become the Legendary Warrior Burrowmon. Shinya just shrugged to Takuya's comments, before also speaking up with a smile on his face.

"Nah, no offense was taken Takuya. But you are right that I can't do it all alone, but I can damn sure do my best to keep us safe until more of us get our Spirits." Shinya said as Kusa and Zoe looked at each other before nodding as the former spoke up at that point, a wry smile on his face as he spoke, though whether it was because of what he had to say or because of the blonde sitting comfortably next to him as he spoke was unclear to the group.

"I'm sure we'll find the other Spirits eventually. But, as Zoe pointed out previously, we're not going to be getting very far without some form of map to help us find our way or at least some way to find the other Spirits. However, if I recall what Zoe and Takuya told me before correctly, our D-Tectors might have a function built-in that lets us track our Spirits when we get close enough to them. Unfortunately, I believe Zoe said the detection range was very limited.

As such, we'll probably have to be really close to our Spirits for that to be a viable option. Too bad we haven't encountered those two Digimon that Zoe said accompanied her group when they went to the Digital World the first time. From what I recall, they said one of them had a pretty comprehensive guidebook of the Digital World, so that could be quite helpful to us right now. But that's just my opinion." Kusa said off-handedly, stroking his chin in thought of a way to figure out a map or something similar after he'd finished speaking. Zoe nodded with a smile as she spoke up.

"Kusa is correct. However, with our luck, I'd bet Bokomon and Neemon will probably run into Koji's group before they find us. So I wouldn't count on that being a solution, though what Kusa said about our D-Tectors has merit as a last-ditch solution. Otherwise, I say we keep walking and hope for the best. Worst case, we can have Shinya protect us to the best of his ability for the time being. Otherwise, let's just do what we can." Zoe said as Sorina and Tommy nodded their agreement and the former spoke up.

"That's true. Granted, that still begs the question if we'll ever catch up to Koji's group or if our groups will remain separate for the duration of our time in the Digital World. Either way, I think we can handle ourselves well enough. If nothing else, maybe we can figure out how to use our D-Tectors to find the others since I'm sure they can detect other D-Tectors and not just Spirits. Or at least that'd be my guess anyways. But maybe I should defer that question to Tommy, Takuya and Zoe as the experts here. What do you three think?" Sorina said, making Takuya and Zoe exchange a skeptical look, but it was Tommy who ultimately spoke up to answer Sorina's question.

"If we're being honest, I think your idea has merit, Sorina. I vaguely recall Koji once using his D-Tector to track our D-Tectors when we were all separated during our struggles inside of the corrupted Beast Spirit of Steel, Sakkakumon. So I don't see why we can't do the same here. But it might take a lot of trial and error to get it right. If we can though, that could be a legitimate strategy for finding the rest of the group. But I think for now, our priority should be finding our way through this area and hopefully finding the next Spirit at some point. Otherwise, all we can do is just keep moving." Tommy said after a brief moment to ponder his words, making Zoe and Takuya look at him in surprise, before they, along with Shinya, gave him approving smiles at his words. After a bit, Zoe spoke up once more.

"That said, I wonder which element the next shrine will be for? Given that this last one was Earth, I wouldn't be surprised to see the next be either Thunder or Wind, but I suppose it could conceivably be any of the elements." Zoe said, stroking her cheeks thoughtfully as Kusa nodded, looking around until he blinked as he noticed a sign that he hadn't seen previously, making him speak up.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't that sign there new?" Kusa asked the others, pointing to the sign he'd seen and making both Takuya and Sorina turn to look where he'd pointed as Zoe smiled at Kusa for finding what could be a new sign, subconsciously leaning into him slightly as she sat with him, unnoticed by Kusa as Takuya spoke up at that point, eyes wide.

"No way! You're right, Kusa! According to this, if we keep going east from here, we'll eventually reach the Shrine of Wind. So by that logic..." Takuya said, trailing off as Zoe spoke up, her tone laced with considerable happiness as she spoke, Kusa smiling at her encouragingly as she spoke.

"By that logic, I could be the next one to get their spirit. If that's true, that'd be great considering I was literally the second to the last one to get their Spirit the first time, third to last if we count Koichi as being last to get his Spirit. So being one of the first to get it this time would be a rather nice turnaround. So let's keep going east then." Zoe said, smiling as she felt Kusa gently take her hand in his to give it an encouraging but light squeeze, making her look at him.

"I think that'd be rather interesting to see you get your Spirit earlier this time than you did last time, even if it means you're getting yours before I get mine, but I'm patient enough I can wait as long as needed." Kusa said encouragingly making Zoe look into Kusa's eyes gratefully as she spoke up.

"Kusa...thank you. You're so supportive. How have I not known someone like you before now?" Zoe asked in an almost wistful-sounding voice, making Kusa shrug.

"No clue to be honest. But maybe it happened this way for a reason. After all, I believe someone wise once said 'The best things come to those who wait' as well as 'Sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for.' Both very relatable and applicable quotes in my opinion." Kusa said sagely as Zoe nodded happily before turning away so Kusa wouldn't see the mix of pink and red dusting on her cheeks at Kusa's words. Unfortunately for Zoe, while Kusa didn't see it, both Takuya and Sorina DID see it and exchanged knowing smirks with one another, both already devising plans to try and hook Kusa and Zoe up with each other.

"So it sounds like we're agreed on heading further east to try and find Zoe's spirit for now?" Shinya spoke up, wanting to keep moving, and the group all nodded in agreement before moving on to the east, Zoe purposely lagging behind so she could subtly take Kusa's hand in her own as she walked with him, Kusa looking at her before shrugging and letting her hold his hand as they kept walking, deciding not to argue with Zoe if she was in a hand-holdy mood. After all, he was raised to not question what a lady does so Kusa was perfectly content to go with the flow. That aside, the group kept walking, hoping to find Zoe's Spirit...

(Meanwhile at the Shrine of Darkness, with Koji's group, neutral POV)

"Still can't believe you got your spirit first, Koichi. But it makes a certain sense, when you consider you technically came auto-equipped with your Human AND Beast Spirits so you didn't really get to 'get' your Spirit like the rest of us did. So I can see why you got your Spirit first this time. I suppose at this point, we should keep going and hope we either find a sign, stumble onto the next Shrine, or hopefully run into the others so we can compare notes. Either way, we're not going to get too too much farther on my own in my opinion. But what do you two think?" Koji said, looking at Koichi and Lumine, the latter of which smiled as she spoke up.

"I think you're right, Koji. But all we can do is do our best. So I suppose we should keep moving rather than just stand around hoping for the best." Lumine said, standing up and stretching. After that, she went to sit back down after stretching only to blink and frown as she felt something slam into her, looking down and glaring as she saw what looked to be a yellow rabbit smacked into her, his face literally planted into her lower stomach, making Lumine turn red in mixed mortification and embarrassment as she glared at the rabbit.

"Who or what are you, and why is your face right there?" Lumine asked the rabbit, trying to get her embarrassment under control. The rabbit looked up and blinked before speaking up in a fearful voice.

"O-Oh my, are you a human?! Sorry about that, wasn't watching where I was going." The rabbit said sheepishly, making Lumine's anger relax considerably as she smiled at the rabbit, gently patting it on the head.

"You still haven't answered my question, but I guess I can't be mad at you if that was an accident. Just don't do that again, little one." Lumine said as Koji walked over, having heard her yelling at the rabbit, only to blink as he recognized it, speaking up in surprise.

"Lumine, you okay? What's with the..." Koji said, traling off as he looked at the rabbit, his eyes going wide as he kept speaking.

"N-no way! Could it be? Is that you, Neemon? I didn't think we'd literally run into you here! Is Bokomon with you?" Koji asked the now-named Neemon who blinked but nodded.

"Yeah! We split up to check this area after we saw a DigiEgg fly off from here. I assume that was you?" Neemon asked Koji who laughed at Neemon.

"Nope, that was all Koichi I'm afraid." Koji said as Lumine looked over at Koji and smiled.

"Oh, hey there Koji. You know this rabbit?" Lumine asked Koji who nodded as he spoke up.

"Yes, I do. You remember what Koichi and I said about a certain pair of Digimon we hadn't found yet? Meet Neemon, one of those two Digimon." Koji said, making Lumine flush even more as she looked away from Neemon before shyly speaking up.

"Was Neemon the one you said was a bit slow at times, Koji? Also does he often run face-first into girls? Or was this a one-off fluke?" Lumine asked shyly, making Koji frown.

"He ran into you?" Koji asked Lumine who just nodded shyly as she looked at Koji while she answered his question..

"Mm-hmm. I don't think it was on purpose, but he walked into me. I felt his face literally planted into my skirt, which is quite lucky for me that I wear skirts or it might have been even more awkward." Lumine said shyly, trying to get her blush under control as Koji glared at Neemon, both confused at his sudden appearance and annoyed at his unintentional faceplant into her lap while he spoke up with a frown to answer Lumine's question.

"He IS slow on the uptake, yes, but I don't recall him normally doing that. I assume he had a reason for it though?" Koji said as he frowned at Neemon who nodded shyly.

"Sorry about that. I was distracted by that sign there and wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't mean to plant my face in your lap, honest!" Neemon said contritely as Lumine smiled, gently hugging Neemon.

"It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going either so that's also on me as well as on you. And my name is Lumine. Wait, did you just say that there's a sign here?" Lumine said blinking as she registered the second part of Neemon's explanation, making him nod and point to a sign behind Lumine which she and Koji read. The sign read as follows:

"You are currently in the Shrine of Darkness. From here:

North- Shrine of Water

South- Darkness Terminal

East- Toucanmon Surf Shack

West- Water Terminal

Hopefully these directions help. -Celestial Digimon" The sign read, making Koji and Lumine blink.

"The next shrine is the Shrine of Water?!" Koji said in mixed surprise and shock, as Lumine shyly smiled while nodding.

"Looks that way to me, Koji. For what it's worth, I was hoping your spirit would be next so I could see you Spirit Evolve, since I bet it'd have been a real sight to see." Lumine said shyly making Koji smile at Lumine as he spoke to her.

"Trust me, it would have been. But you can still see it, just not before you get your spirit. But that's fine. I'm sure your Spirit Evolution will be even more amazing than mine is. So don't feel bad that you're getting your Spirit before I am." Koji said happily to Lumine who smiled at Koji as the two walked over to Koichi with Neemon in tow.

"There you two are. Look who I found!" Koichi said to Koji and Lumine, the former of which blinked as he recognized the Digimon seated next to Koichi.

"Bokomon?! Is that you?" Koji asked the apparently-named Bokomon, who nodded happily as he walked over to Koji.

"Koji, so good to see you, dear boy! I was hoping there'd be more of you here, but beggars can't be choosers. I hear Koichi's already re-gained his Spirit. Well done you guys. So your group is just you, Koichi, and that young lady standing next to you?" Bokomon asked Koji, looking towards Lumine as he spoke. Koji nodded.

"Exactly. Believe it or not Bokomon, that young lady is JP's little sister, Lumine Shibayama. Lumine, meet Bokomon, the brains and second half of that Digimon pair Koichi and I told you about before." Koji said as he introduced Bokomon and Lumine to each other. Lumine smiled as she looked at Bokomon and spoke up.

"So, you're the Bokomon Koichi and Koji have told me so much about. It's an honor to meet you, good sir. As Koji said, my name is Lumine Shibayama. Unfortunately, JP, the overprotective oaf that he is, is my older brother." Lumine said making Koji frown at Lumine's referring to JP as 'overprotective'. Bokomon then walked over to Neemon, glared, and snapped the waistband back on Neemon's pants, making him yelp in pain.

"You nincompoop! Haven't I told you to watch where you're going?! What's this Koji tells me about your face ending up in that poor girl's lap? Did you at least apologize to her?" Bokomon scolded Neemon who sheepishly nodded. Lumine smiled before speaking up, looking at Bokomon as she spoke.

"I appreciate you standing up for me Bokomon, but Neemon did apologize, and I understand it was an accident so I'm not mad at him provided he doesn't do it again." Lumine said with a smile at Neemon who nodded his understanding. Koji huffed as he crossed his arms with a pout.

"Neemon's lucky you're so forgiving, Lumine. I was ready to punch him in the face when you told me what he did." Koji said in annoyance, making Lumine giggle and Koichi smirk at his brother's protective tendencies towards Lumine. Koichi then spoke up with a sly smirk.

"And you're totally not hot for Lumine here at all, Koji. Riiight. And I suppose next you'll say JP has a girlfriend. Like that would ever happen." Koichi said, as Lumine frowned before speaking up, slightly offended on JP's behalf at Koichi's assumption.

"Is that what you think, Koichi? If so, you'd be wrong. As surprising as it might be to you, my older brother does in fact have a girlfriend. How she can stand him baffles me, but she can for whatever reason. So I'll thank you not to make incorrect assumptions about my brother, Koichi." Lumine said huffily, giggling at the glare Koji shot Koichi.

"Must you make Lumine mad, Koichi? I get you and Takuya don't think much of JP, but at least be smart enough NOT to bash him around his little sister." Koji said huffily as Lumine smiled, patting Koji on the shoulder appreciatively before surprising him and herself by giving him a quick yet chaste peck on the cheek, making Koji's face go slightly red as he turned to face Lumine. Koichi laughed at the stunned and embarrassed expression on Koji's face.

"Look at how red Koji is right now. You're not helping your case of not having a crush on Lumine any when you do that, you know." Koichi said as Koji glared at his brother.

"You're not funny, you know. Just because she did that doesn't mean anything necessarily." Koji said making Lumine giggle at how embarrassed Koji was after what she'd done.

"Aww, is Koji blushing because of little old me?" Lumine asked teasingly, smiling at Koji as she looked at him. Koji smiled as he turned his attention to her.

"Pretty much. I mean, that kiss was kind of out of nowhere." Koji pointed out making Lumine smile as she nodded.

"That's fair. But to be fair, I felt thankful that you went to bat for me like that. Not to say that JP doesn't do that a lot, just he takes it a bit far at times. You though just do it only where you think it needed, and even then only when you have to. I like that about you." Lumine said happily as Koji nodded.

"I probably shouldn't be so protective of you when we don't know each other that well yet, but I dunno you just bring that out in me I guess. If you want me to stop, I will." Koji said to Lumine who shook her head as she looked at Koji before speaking up once more.

"You don't have to stop, Koji. I honestly find it quite sweet that you already are that taken with me that you'd stand up for me. So thank you for being a good friend, Koji." Lumine said as she smiled at Koji who smiled back before speaking up, much more confident at this point.

"You're welcome, Lumine. I'm more surprised that you don't seem to have that many friends, Lumine. Granted, with what you said about JP being overprotective, it makes more sense. Not sure why he's so overprotective of you considering he was kind of a goofball when he went through the Digital World with us before." Koji said as Lumine smiled.

"I have no idea why he's overprotective either, but I also figure he has his reasons. And he IS my brother, so I can't exactly stay mad at him." Lumine said simply as Koji nodded, looking into Lumine's eyes as he spoke up once more.

"That's true. But anyways, let's go find you your Spirit, yeah?" Koji said to Lumine who nodded her agreement as the group started walking northward in the direction of the Shrine of Water and the Water Spirit, hoping to find it for Lumine...

(Meanwhile, with Takuya's group, neutral POV)

"Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the Shrines of Earth and Wind are basically close to each other despite those elements being opposites of one another?" Sorina asked, figuring it was as good a way of making conversation. It worked, at least in so far as it got a chuckle out of both Shinya and Takuya who were walking with her. Kusa just shrugged as he spoke up at that point, Zoe still walking next to him, though thankfully not still holding his hand.

To be fair, it's not that Kusa minded it at all, but holding her hand could be just a tad bad for productivity if he had to do everything with only one free hand.

"That IS ironic, I suppose. But then again we ARE in the Digital World after all, so I figure irony just somewhat comes with the territory, so to speak. But personally, I wonder if we'll keep finding the Spirits this fast? Because I vaguely recall Zoe and Takuya mentioning before that their group had a bit of a gap between spirits after Takuya and Koji found their Spirits. Yet we're already about to find our second Spirit of this group, in I believe as many days. Rather interesting, that. I wonder if we'll have another Digimon blocking our path to the Spirit of Wind like we did with Shinya's Spirit of Earth?" Kusa said, making Zoe and Takuya exchange uncertain glances at Kusa's sound logic, while Tommy chuckled before looking at Kusa as he spoke up, Shinya giving an approving nod from next to Tommy at Kusa's reference to the Spirit that he'd recently gotten.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we did, although not ALL of our Spirits were obtained by fighting other Digimon. I recall that my Beast Spirit in particular was won by beating a high score in a video game at a fair. That, plus I believe JP's Beast Spirit was stuck underwater. Granted, we had to destroy Grumblemon while getting said Beast Spirit, but that was his fault for attempting to fight us without his Beast Spirit. Plus, he may or may not have been keeping ahold of Zoe's spirit, which he'd stolen from her prior to that fight.

I recall Zoe was quite grateful to JP for doing that, even though JP wasted no time squandering said gratitude by being his usual flirty self. But I guess he is a good guy despite that, though I can't imagine the years since our last trip have been all that good to JP." Tommy said, getting amused laughs from Takuya and Shinya, the latter of which nodded before he spoke up, ignoring the exasperated eye roll and huff Zoe gave Tommy at his mention of her being grateful to JP while Kusa frowned at Tommy mentioning JP.

"That's very true, Tommy. Though to be fair, is bringing JP's crush on Zoe up around Zoe and Kusa really a smart decision? I mean even I can tell there could be something substantial there between them even if neither of them wants to admit to it at this point. Besides, I think Zoe would rather focus on her imminent reunion with her Spirit. But that's just my opinion. Of course, being as you and I, and I guess possibly Koichi, are the only likely unattached guys in the group, I might be just a tad biased in saying that." Shinya said jokingly, as Zoe frowned at Shinya's dragging her and Kusa into his remarks, gritting her teeth slightly as she spoke up.

"You're so funny, Shinya. I can see how you're related to Takuya, considering he used to make insensitive comments like that a lot on our original journey through the Digital World too, though in fairness to Takuya, he's gotten quite a bit more mature nowadays. And I like that about him." Zoe said, smiling at Takuya as she finished speaking. Kusa nodded his agreement to Zoe's statement, glaring at Shinya as he spoke up.

"You're not funny, Shinya. And for the record, while I freely admit to finding Zoe interesting as a person, and don't mind spending time with her, she and I are still getting to know one another, meaning now is hardly the time for even joking about us even thinking about liking each other. Granted, yes, Zoe is cute, but again I'm not rushing into anything at this point. After all, I recall there being a saying that goes 'patience is a virtue', but then again maybe it's a learned virtue for you.

Regardless, I think if things are meant to happen for Zoe and I, they'll happen precisely when they're meant to happen, and no sooner or later. But we got off topic. I think we were speculating on what we could be expecting to run into at this coming shrine." Kusa said as Takuya nodded approvingly as he spoke up.

"Exactly, Kusa. Honestly, given it's the Shrine of Wind, I'd guess we'll probably be fighting winged Digimon if we fight anything. But that's just a guess on my part. Either way, I think Shinya was just being an instigator with his remarks before, and he knows full well by now that's not acceptable behavior for the most part, don't you Shinya?" Takuya said, playfully putting Shinya in a headlock to give him a noogie as he spoke for emphasis. Shinya huffed as he tried to get loose.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it Takuya. I was just being facetious is all. Sorry, Kusa and Zoe." Shinya said after getting free of the headlock with Tommy's help. Ahead of the group, Sorina's eyes widened slightly before she spoke up in a surprised tone, making everyone look at her as she spoke.

"Uh, if we're headed for the Shrine of Wind, why does that sign there say 'Welcome to the Wind Terminal'?" Sorina asked, making Zoe and Kusa walk up and look at the sign for themselves, the former speaking up in surprise as she had a thought occur to her.

"Probably because in most cases, the shrines of each element are usually preceded by their corresponding Terminals, with the notable exceptions of Fire and Light which didn't have shrines, or a terminal in Light's case, that I can recall. Though, I believe the other elements all have Shrines AND Terminals. Oh well, guess it is what it is. If we're at the Wind Terminal, odds are we're not that far from the Shrine of Wind. So we'll probably find my Spirit soon enough anyways." Zoe said with a smile, Kusa nodding his agreement from next to her. Kusa blinked as he looked up, frowning before he spoke up in surprise and confusion.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are four-legged birds a common thing in the Digital World?" Kusa asked, pointing to what appeared to be a four-legged bird flying towards the group, wearing a white helmet. Takuya and Tommy exchanged uncertain glances before the latter spoke up warily.

"I could be wrong, but that looks a lot like a Halsemon, which are four-legged birds, sort of. But I don't know why this one is trying to dive-bomb us. If I had to guess, maybe somehow it thinks we're its' enemies? Wouldn't be the first time a misunderstanding like that's happened, from what I recall of our original journey through the Digital World. I seem to recall a time that some Digimon mistook us for bad guys, all because they'd been getting picked on by Grumblemon and the other Fallen Warriors. So I could easily see that Halsemon attacking us over a misunderstood belief that we're the enemy." Tommy said, not seeing Shinya wince at the mention of the corrupt version of his Spirit. Takuya nodded his agreement as he spoke up once more at that point, smirking at the wince on Shinya's face.

"That's true, Tommy. But you also didn't take into account the fact that we've also had our share of crazy Digimon escapades as well, but I'll leave that statement at that out of not wanting Zoe to try and hit me for bringing up the specific 'escapades' that I was thinking of considering at least one of them were rather embarrassing for her, and to a lesser extent myself and JP as well. But the main takeaway here is that Halsemon thinking we're bad guys would be just par for the course at this point for Zoe, Tommy and I." Takuya said, making Shinya, Sorina and Kusa all blink in confusion at Takuya's vague statement, while Tommy blanched as he realized what Takuya was alluding/referring to. As for Zoe, she frowned at first before her eyes slowly widened as she figured out what Takuya was talking about at which point her eyes narrowed as she glared at Takuya, speaking up in a very irritated tone as her cheeks went slightly pink in embarrassment.

"Takuya! Please tell me you weren't thinking of the Toucanmon debacle we all went through after I got my Spirit the first time, were you?! Because you know damned good and well that escapade was VERY embarrassing for me! For one, those creeps tried to run off with a box of our clothes while we were changing, just because we were stupid enough to leave our D-Tectors in our pockets while we changed into our swimwear! And then, on top of that, you AND JP were pervy enough, accidentally or not, to walk in on me while I was changing, WITHOUT APOLOGIZING I MIGHT ADD, and then stopping in place like deer caught in headlights, just because you saw quite an eyeful of me. At least to your credit, you did apologize to me after the fact even if it took awhile for you to do so. I don't think JP ever did apologize for that that I can recall. Still, that's not a time I like thinking about." Zoe said huffily, not seeing Kusa doing a wonderful impression of a fish behind her at her mention of being caught changing, before he frowned at Takuya.

"Seriously? You and JP walked in on Zoe changing, Takuya? I don't care if it was an accident, who does that!? Weren't you told that a real man doesn't walk in on a lady when she's changing, unless she wants him to, and even then only if they're together and comfortable with it. That's just not something one does lightly. I'm honestly lowkey impressed that she didn't kick both your asses for that. If I was her, I'd have probably socked at least JP in the face, possibly both of you, just on principle. Granted, I'm sure whatever you saw was probably amazing, but that's very irrelevant and immaterial to my point.

Please at least tell me you outgrew that habit, Takuya. I'd hate to think you still do that, and especially would hate having to find out you're still doing that since I won't lie, I'd be very tempted to sock you in the face on general principle if you did that nowadays, because that's not at all okay to walk in on a lady when she's changing. That little huff aside, I hope you didn't scar Zoe too badly on that occasion since I can see how that would be traumatizing for her to have gone through. And for what it's worth, even though I wasn't there then, I'm sorry you had to go through that Zoe." Kusa said, as both Sorina and Zoe gave approving nods to Kusa's reaction as Tommy and Shinya both exchanged horrified looks at Kusa's angry outburst. Shinya eventually spoke up once more as he looked at Sorina, who was oblivious to Shinya looking at her.

"Be that as it may, I think we were talking about what we were going to do about that Halsemon trying to dive-bomb us. I, for one, think we should be ready to defend ourselves as best we can if necessary." Shinya said, reaching for his D-Tector in case he had to Spirit Evolve once again. However, both Sorina and Takuya gave subtle shakes of their heads to stop him from Spirit Evolving making Shinya frown as he spoke up once more.

"Why don't you want me to Spirit Evolve?" Shinya asked in surprise, making Sorina speak up at that point with a slight frown.

"Because, you fool, that might give it the mistaken impression we're trying to attack it. I feel like the smart move is instead trying to talk it down and help it see reason." Sorina said simply as Zoe and Kusa nodded their agreement as the former chose that point to speak up.

"That's a good point, Sorina. Still, will that work that easily?" Zoe asked uncertainly as Takuya spoke up.

"It's worth a try, at the very least. If it doesn't work, we can then let Shinya fend off Halsemon while the rest of us look for Zoe's Spirit." Takuya said as the group nodded, Halsemon eventually landing near the group, looking at them before warily speaking up.

"Humans...here? It's been so long since we saw a human in this world. State your business here." Halsemon said to the group who exchanged wary looks before Kusa eventually spoke up.

"We mean you no harm, Halsemon. We're here strictly to obtain the Spirit of Wind for my friend here. She was the original wielder of that Spirit the last time she was here, and she and her friends, with myself and a few others added in, were asked to return here to combat a new threat. So any knowledge you have on where to find the Wind Spirit would be greatly appreciated." Kusa said as Zoe smiled before speaking up at that point.

"Exactly. What Kusa said. We're just trying to gather all the Spirits so we can face this new threat, whatever it may be, and save the Digital World from it." Zoe said honestly as Halsemon slowly turned to look at Zoe before nodding as it spoke up, never taking its eyes off the group as it spoke.

"So you mean to say you're the Legendary Warriors, returned to save the Digital World? I guess Bokomon was right when he suggested you'd head this way." Halsemon said making Tommy and Takuya exchanged stunned glances before the former spoke up.

"Bokomon was here?! That's news to us." Tommy said in surprise as Halsemon nodded.

"Yep, him and Neemon both. Apparently, they were ordered by the Celestial Digimon to check that the Spirits were all secured still in their shrines for when the Legendary Warriors arrived to claim them once more. If, as you say, that's you, I can certainly guide you to the Wind Spirit. Stay close to me and don't get separated." Halsemon said as the group nodded appreciatively as they followed Halsemon, everyone except Kusa and Zoe staying next to Halsemon, while Kusa and Zoe lingered behind Halsemon while following the group so they could speak to each other alone...

(Back with Koji's group, neutral POV)

"So Bokomon, do you still have that book with you that details all the Spirits and has a map to the Shrines?" Koji asked Bokomon who nodded and held up the book in question as he replied to Koji's question.

"Indeed I do. And according to this book, once we reach the Water Shrine, the next closest Shrine to it will be the Thunder Shrine, but that's a bit of a walk from the Water Shrine, and after that, a bit more of a walk to reach the Light Shrine. So I'm sorry to say that you'll probably be one of the last, if not THE last, to get your Spirit, Koji. Come to think of it, didn't you say Lumine has two D-Tectors?" Bokomon said as Lumine smiled and held up the two D-Tectors.

"One of these is mine and the other was given to me by JP as a Christmas present a couple years ago. Why do you ask?" Lumine said to Bokomon who nodded and spoke up.

"Because, you hold the D-Tectors of Water and Thunder, according to the book, so assuming JP returns to claim the D-Tector of Thunder or sends someone to do so on his behalf, you are the chosen wielder of the Spirit of Water. Assuming Takuya's group is also elsewhere in the Digital World, the wielders of the Earth, Wood and Steel Spirits are probably with that group. So hopefully the groups link up at some point so we're all travelling together in one huge group instead of two split groups." Bokomon said as Koji and Koichi nodded their agreement. After a bit, the group arrived at a beach, making Koichi smile.

"Looks like we're close to the Water Terminal. And by extension, we're getting closer to finding the Spirit of Water." Koichi said, walking on ahead to try and look for anyone who can give them directions to the Water Shrine from their current location, Bokomon and Neemon following close behind. As for Koji and Lumine, they decided to hang back and look at the scenery. Koji smiled as he looked at the beach, enjoying the view of the sea.

"Ah, look at the view of the lovely sea. So clear, pristine and beautiful in the sunlight like this. Don't you agree, Lumine?" Koji said to Lumine who nodded, trying to keep a straight face externally, even though internally she was shaking a bit looking at the water, trying not to think about the last time she'd gone into the water, as it was a memory she'd rather not relive. Koji of course saw Lumine frowning slightly as she looked at the water, gently taking her hand in his own and giving it a comforting squeeze, getting a smile from Lumine as she spoke up after a moment.

"O-Oh, sorry about that Koji. I was just dealing with some unpleasant memories that came to me when I saw the water. Suffice it to say I haven't had the best experiences in the water in the past, but that's neither here nor there." Lumine said, her cheeks going slightly red in embarrassment as she mentioned her previous experiences with the water. Koji smiled as he looked into Lumine's eyes before speaking up quietly.

"Lumine, you can tell me to back off if you don't want to talk about it, but did you have a traumatic experience in the water before that you don't feel like thinking about? Because I get the sense you don't much like the water, which given that'll likely be where at least one of the Water Spirits is kept could be a pretty huge problem." Koji said as Lumine gave Koji a sad look before sighing and sadly nodding her head in affirmation of Koji's question.

"Honestly? Yeah, I had a pretty rough experience the last time I went swimming, but it's kind of a long story and I don't know how long Koichi and the others will be gone, since I'm not sure if I want everyone knowing about it since some parts are rather embarrassing for me to go into plus there's parts of it that confuse me to this day so if I'm going to speak of it, I'd rather it only be to you at first since I get the feeling you won't be too apt to mock or judge me once you hear about it." Lumine said shyly, her cheeks pinking as she started recalling the painful experience in question. Koji smiled at Lumine as he spoke up after he briefly hugged her.

"Lumine, if you only want to speak of this to me, we can go elsewhere while you tell me the story and afterwards, we can find the others. And no, I wouldn't dream of laughing at or judging you for whatever you have to say. I do want to be your friend, after all. And friends don't tease or judge friends at all. So don't feel like you have to be shy about trusting me with things." Koji said encouragingly, smiling at Lumine supportively as Lumine nodded eventually, shyly looking away as she felt her cheeks warm a bit in appreciation of Koji's kind words to her. After a bit, she eventually spoke up.

"Very well, let's walk over that way a ways and talk." Lumine said, pointing to a spot off to the side a ways, where a large shaded location could be seen. Koji nodded and the two went to the indicated area, looking around to be sure they were alone before Lumine took a bracing breath before turning to Koji shyly as she spoke up again.

"Okay, so as I said before, it's a bit of a long story, and parts of it are kind of embarrassing for me to speak of. So bear with me if it takes me a bit to get through this." Lumine said shyly, looking at Koji as she spoke. Koji nodded understandingly as he spoke up.

"Not to worry, I have nowhere else to be than here, Lumine. And I have all the time in the world to listen to what you have to say, within reason." Koji said supportively as Lumine nodded happily before sighing as she spoke up once more.

"Okay, very well then. So the story goes like this..." Lumine said as she launched into the story of her past experience with the water...

(Flashback start, neutral POV)

"Do I have to go swimming here, JP? There's so many people around here. What if one of them tries to prank me by messing with my bathing suit or something?" A fairly younger, probably around 11 to 12 at most, Lumine said to JP warily as they walked over to a nearby pool. JP just laughed as he spoke up to Lumine.

"Lumine, you know full well that this is the only swimming pool in the area, and you were the one practically begging me to take you for a swim for your 11th birthday, Lumine. So, I'm afraid you'll just have to suck it up on this one unless you'd rather not go swimming at all." JP said with a firm nod as he crossed his arms while rebuking Lumine who sighed and nodded before speaking up in a vaguely huffy-sounding tone.

"Yes, Big Brother, I get it. Just keep an eye on me to make sure nothing goes wrong while I swim, okay?" Lumine asked as JP rolled his eyes.

"If you say so, Lumine. I'll keep an eye on you while you swim, but don't be surprised if I end up going for a swim of my own as well while we're here. The pool does look rather inviting." JP said honestly as Lumine shrugged before speaking up.

"I don't mind as long as you stay close by." Lumine said happily. JP nodded.

"Very well. Now go get changed into your bathing suit, Lumine. Unless you plan to skinny dip or something?" JP said jokingly, making Lumine flush bright pink in embarrassment at her brother's joke. Lumine then spoke up shyly, clearly embarrassed at her brother's poor attempt at humor.

"JP! That wasn't funny! Also NO, I don't intend on skinny dipping. I'm only 11! I don't even have anything worth showing off like that yet!" Lumine said, flushing in embarrassment as she refuted JP's joking suggestion making JP laugh.

"I was only kidding Lumine. I wouldn't let you skinny dip anyways. Now go get changed." JP said as Lumine nodded, racing off to go get changed, leaving JP alone to freely admire all the bikini-clad girls for a short time. After a few minutes, Lumine shyly stepped out, wearing a modest, form-fitting turquoise two-piece bikini as she frowned at JP ogling all the bikini-clad girls. Lumine then spoke up after a moment.

"Must you always stare at all the girls like that, JP? I get you're a guy, so you probably find that interesting, but still, I'd prefer you not do that around me. At least you have the decency not to ogle me like that." Lumine said huffily as she walked towards the pool to take a swim. JP laughed as he spoke up.

"Of course I'm not going to ogle you, Lumine. You're my little sister. I'm not that crass. But yes, I do enjoy seeing pretty ladies in bikinis. But to be fair, what warm-blooded man doesn't to some extent?" JP said in his own defense as Lumine rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, JP. I'm going for a swim now. Make sure you don't go too far if you do wander. And I didn't need to know that about what you enjoy." Lumine said, before walking into the pool and beginning to take a swim around the pool, rolling her eyes. As she swam around, she noticed that there weren't that many others at the pool, though she did smile as she swam past a boy who looked to be around her age, noticing that he was sitting a bandanna down away from the water as he prepared to go for a swim of his own.

As Lumine kept swimming around, she started to relax, enjoying herself. Of course, because she got so relaxed, she closed her eyes as she swam around, which was a mistake. The reason for this being that as she closed her eyes, Lumine felt herself collide with something solid making her eyes shoot open as she looked over and saw that she'd swam right into the boy she'd seen before, making Lumine flush prettily in embarrassment as she looked at the boy.

"Oh, um sorry about that. Wasn't watching where I was going. Are you okay?" Lumine asked the boy who looked at her and nodded.

"I'm fine. Just a tad stunned if anything, so don't worry about it. No harm done." The boy said with a winsome smile as he swam away, not seeing Lumine smile softly as she watched the boy swim off. Lumine then went back to swimming around with her eyes closed, not seeing the mischievous duo swim up behind her as a result while she swam, nor did she feel them tugging lightly at her bikini top which came untied, unnoticed by her. Eventually, as she swam towards the deep end, Lumine felt something hit the water, making her eyes open once more, before going wide as she saw her bikini top floating on the water next to her.

This had the result of making Lumine flush bright red as she reached for it, only to take a bad step into the deep end, getting pulled underwater as she tried to grab her bikini top, making her flail her legs wildly about as she reached for her bikini top. She managed to grab it though she had to haphazardly swim her way to the shallow end so she could fix her top back into place. However, unbeknownst to her, the boy she'd been admiring previously saw her slip underwater and had swam towards her to save her, only to get quite the unintentional eyeful when he helped guide her to the shallow end so she could fix her top. The boy then shyly spoke up to get Lumine's attention, his face dusted pink in embarrassment as he spoke, trying not to look at Lumine as he spoke up.

"Um, are you okay? I saw you slip underwater and almost drown. You scared me. Also, you might want to fix your top so it doesn't come undone on you again." The boy said to Lumine, who turned to face the boy before blushing bright red as she looked away while fixing her top. Lumine then spoke up after she fixed her top.

"How long were you there for? Also, did you see how my top ended up undone? You weren't part of that, were you?" Lumine asked the boy warily. The boy shook his head.

"Nope, I would never dare do that to a lady. Though I DID see a pair of immature brats swimming away from the spot you'd been swimming at the moment your top came undone. Maybe they did that? Also, I'm glad you didn't drown. That would've been a tragic waste to see a cute girl like you drown." The boy said honestly to Lumine, seeing her face turn pink from his words as the boy's own face also pinked slightly. Lumine smiled as she looked at the boy gratefully.

"Thank you, so much. That means so much to me that you think I'm cute. What's your name?" Lumine asked the boy who smiled and spoke up.

"Right, sorry. I'm-" The boy said before JP's voice cut over whatever the boy was about to say.

"Lumine! Time to go home for your party! You can say goodbye to whatever friend you've made now." JP said making Lumine huff in annoyance at her brother's timing. The boy bowed politely to Lumine before speaking up once more.

"So your name is Lumine? Seems accurate, a pretty name for a pretty lady. Nice meeting you, Lumine." The boy said to Lumine before walking off without introducing himself. Lumine frowned and sighed in frustration as she went back over to JP.

"Thanks much for that oh so wonderful timing of yours, my dear brother. This cute boy I saw was about to tell me his name when you spoke up and ruined the moment." Lumine said huffily with a sigh as she went to get changed out of her bathing suit. After she walked off, JP walked up to the mischievous duo from before and frowned at them.

"I saw what you two did. I should really punch you both out for what you did, but I DID pay you to prank her. But next time, IF there's a next time, no wardrobe malfunctions. Now take this and get lost before I change my mind and beat you two up." JP said as he slipped the mischievous duo some money before walking off huffily, unaware of the boy who'd saved Lumine listening in on his exchange with the duo, an unamused glare on his face as he walked off, his mind still struggling to push the eyeful he'd gotten of Lumine out. After a bit, Lumine walked up, now back in her usual outfit. She smiled as she recognized the boy she'd been speaking to before.

"Oh, hello there again. You never did give me your name, you know. But either way, thank you. You know, for both saving me before and looking away while I fixed my top. I really appreciate what you did." Lumine said with a shy smile as she looked at the boy who returned the smile before speaking up.

"It was nothing. I just did what any decent person would've done in that situation. Though I will say this much, aren't brothers supposed to protect their siblings, not get them pranked?" The boy asked Lumine who frowned before speaking up after a moment, her eyes slightly wide.

"Wait, what!? JP had me pranked!? That jerk! Also, sorry for accusing you of being involved with pranking me before. You would never do that. I know that now. We should be friends, I think. Don't you agree?" Lumine said to the boy who smiled winsomely before nodding.

"Yes, I quite agree. Nice to meet you. I'm-" The boy said, but yet again, JP's voice cut off whatever the boy was about to say, making Lumine frown.

"Lumine! We're going! Come on!" JP said, making Lumine growl under her breath at how annoyingly consistent her brother's timing was, managing to not once but TWICE cut off the boy in front of her from giving her his name. Lumine sighed as she looked at the boy.

"Sorry, I gotta go. Maybe we'll meet again somewhere, yeah? Oh, and before I forget, my name is Lumine. Nice meeting you." Lumine said before shyly stepping forward to hug the boy, pulling away after a short time and running off to catch up to JP, not seeing the slight dusting of mixed pink and red on the boy's face from her hug, or her own pink face as she caught up to JP and the two left the pool...

(Flashback end, back with Lumine and Koji, neutral POV)

"...And that's the story. Needless to say, since that day, I've been rather reluctant to get back in the water. After all, if JP could have me pranked once before, what's to stop him from doing it again? Also, I almost drowned that day, all because some jerks thought it'd be funny to undo my top and cause it to fall free, leading me to have to almost drown getting my top back. I never did get that boy's name either. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen him since then. Although...I wonder. Have you ever been swimming, Koji?" Lumine asked Koji who blinked at the question but nodded.

"Yeah, but it's been a couple years since I last went to a public pool. The last time was when Koichi and I went to a pool shortly after our first journey through the Digital World, though I was rather reluctant to go as you can probably imagine. But by the end of it, I was actually quite enjoying myself. But we were talking about you, not me." Koji said as Lumine smiled, looking at Koji and speaking up with a mischievous smile on her face as she spoke.

"Oh? Was said enjoyment because you met someone at that pool?" Lumine asked Koji who shook his head.

"Nah, it was because I got to have a fun swim. Although, come to think of it, I do vaguely recall being almost ran into on that swim. But that's about all I can recall of my last time at a public pool." Koji said with a shy sort of smile on his face. His face then got serious as he kept speaking.

"But more to the point, I'm sorry you went through all that, Lumine. I don't blame you if you have a bit of a fear of the water after all that." Koji said as Lumine shyly nodded.

"I'm not afraid of water per se, but it has been difficult to go near it without having to fight off memories of what I just told you about. Granted, some of those memories were good, but for the most part it was pretty scary." Lumine said honestly, making Koji nod as he carefully put an arm around Lumine comfortingly, making her look at him in surprise but smile as she let herself lean into him. Koji smiled as he felt Lumine leaning into him.

"Lucky me. Honestly, I half-expected you to either flinch at or not be comfortable with what I did. But I don't mind that you seemed to welcome it." Koji said with a winsome smile, making Lumine look at him as she spoke up.

"Yes, well, you're one of the few I'd let do that. I might not look it, but I'm usually much more reluctant to connect to others. Yet, oddly enough, that isn't the case with you." Lumine said, frowning slightly as she pondered why she found it so easy to open up to Koji and talk to him. Koji smiled at Lumine's words, but before he could reply to them, he looked up and frowned as he saw a shadow behind him and Lumine, making him look around, only for his eyes to go wide as he dove-tackled Lumine to the ground, right as a torrent of water shot past where Lumine's head had previously been, making Lumine's eyes go wide as she saw the torrent of water shoot past her and Koji. Before she could question Koji, another voice could be heard taunting them, one that Koji recognized almost immediately.

"Well, darn. I missed. But I find it odd that there's not that many of you around. Aren't you usually with a bigger group?" Koji heard, turning around to frown at the speaker.

"Wait, what?! I thought we deleted you? So how are you here right now, Ranamon!?" Koji asked the now-identified Ranamon who chuckled.

"You'd think that, but my 'friends' and I were revived by the Celestial Digimon to act as safeguards for the purified Spirits of Water, Earth, Steel and Wood. So as you can probably guess, you'll have to get through me if you're looking for the Spirit of Water." Ranamon said with a smirk, making Lumine and Koji exchange wide-eyed looks.

"You're guarding the Spirit of Water!?" Lumine asked in shock as Koji nodded.

"I mean, it makes sense seeing as Ranamon here was the corrupted Human Spirit of Water that we had to defeat our first time through the Digital World." Koji explained to Lumine who nodded after a moment and spoke up, her words making Koji blink at her in surprise as she spoke.

"I see. You know, for a corrupted Human Spirit, Ranamon's honestly really cute. I guess if we have to get past her, then it is what it is." Lumine said after a pause, making Ranamon look at Lumine in surprise, her face pinking slightly as she spoke up.

"Y-You think I'm cute? That's the first I've heard that said about me, well maybe not in this form, but I'm pretty sure no one's said that about my other form before." Ranamon said in surprise. She then frowned as she shook her head as she kept speaking.

"Wait, I'm getting off-task. Have some of this! Drainin' Rain!" Ranamon said as she unleashed her main attack at Koji and Lumine, the former of which threw himself on the latter to shield her from the attack, not seeing how pink her face got at his actions. Ranamon frowned at the lack of results before smirking as she got an idea.

"Okay, that didn't work. Maybe this will...? Whipping Waves!" Ranamon said as she conjured two huge waves, which smashed into and sent Koji and Lumine flying off in different directions, the former flying towards an unsuspecting Koichi who was exploring the area with Bokomon and Neemon, and the latter being launched directly at the ocean. Ranamon smirked as she saw Lumine fly off into the ocean, turning her focus onto finishing off Koji for the time being.

Meanwhile, at that same time, Koichi, Bokomon and Neemon were looking around the area, trying to find directions to the Shrine of Water, when Bokomon and Neemon looked up, both of them going wide-eyed as the former gently poked Koichi who looked down.

"What is it?" Koichi asked Bokomon but Neemon spoke up and beat Bokomon to answering.

"LOOK OUT! UFO INCOMING!" Neemon said as Koichi frowned only to go wide-eyed and duck down, right as Koji flew past where his head had been and crashed into the nearby food stand, which fortunately was empty and out of food so him crashing into and unintentionally destroying it wasn't as big of a deal as it might otherwise have been. Koichi gasped as he raced over to Koji to help him up, wincing at how much Koji was groaning while he got to his feet.

"Koji! Are you okay?! What happened?" Koichi asked Koji who looked at Koichi and spoke up, his words making Koichi, Bokomon and Neemon exchange horrified looks.

"I don't know why, or how, but apparently somehow the Celestial Digimon revived the Fallen Warriors to act as safeguards for the Purified Spirits of Wood, Steel, Earth and Water. I say this because Lumine and I were ambushed by Ranamon who used an attack to separate us, though I didn't see where Lumine flew off to after the attack hit." Koji said as Bokomon and Neemon gasped at this while Koichi frowned.

"If she did that, where would Ranamon have gone after that?" Koichi asked right as the aforementioned Fallen Warrior of Water laughed at Koichi's question.

"Why don't you look behind you, sugar?" Ranamon said, making Koji and Koichi simultaneously turn around and blink at the sight of Ranamon standing there.

"RANAMON!" Koji and Koichi said in unison as Ranamon giggled before nodding her head.

"That's right. Now that I've dealt with Koji's little girlfriend, I can finish off the two of you, then I can go about seeking out that blonde-haired brat to get my revenge on her. Nothing personal, but prepare to lose! Drainin' Rain!" Ranamon said as she unleashed her signature attack on Koji and Koichi, the latter frowning as the attack shorted his D-Tector out and made him unable to Spirit Evolve temporarily. Ranamon then smirked as she spoke up while advancing on Koji and Koichi.

"And now for this! Acidic Vapor!" Ranamon said as she blasted acidic clouds at Koji and Koichi, both of which screamed as the attack hit them, eroding Koji's bandanna partially and slightly singing Koichi's arm. Bokomon and Neemon nodded and hid behind a nearby tree. Koji winced at Koichi.

"Koichi...all we can do for now is keep Ranamon busy as best we can until Lumine hopefully finds her Spirit. She might be our best if only chance of taking down Ranamon." Koji said quietly to Koichi who nodded as he spoke up.

"I agree. Especially since Ranamon's first attack fried my D-Tector and made it useless until it dries off." Koichi said with a grimace. He then blinked.

"Wait, where exactly DID Lumine end up landing?" Koichi asked as Ranamon chuckled before speaking up.

"Lumine? Oh you mean Koji's little girlfriend? I believe my attack launched her into the sea! So she's probably not very well off right now! As such I wouldn't rely on her much." Ranamon said as she chuckled maliciously as she saw Koji and Koichi's faces at her mention of Lumine's likely landing spot. Koji frowned at Ranamon.

"Lumine's not my girlfriend! She and I are just friends!" Koji protested huffily. Koichi chuckled.

"Yet, I'm sure you have a crush on her even if you won't admit to it." Koichi said with a smirk, making Koji roll his eyes.

"Oh, shut up. I think right now the most important thing is making sure Lumine is okay." Koji said as he started sprinting off towards the ocean to try and find Lumine...

(At that same time, with Lumine, neutral POV)

"Ugh, did someone get the number of that truck that smashed into me?" Lumine said, sitting up slowly, whipping her blonde hair around to get the water out of it before pulling it behind her into a loose ponytail that fell partway down her back. She then looked out at the water, blinking as she heard a low beeping, making her reach for her D-Tectors, only to blink as she realized the D-Tector of Water was beeping, signifying that the Spirit of Water was close, making Lumine shudder as she realized she was probably going to have to swim to get to it. Sighing, Lumine realized she didn't have much choice but to get in the water to get to her Spirit.

As such, Lumine steeled herself before slowly sliding off her shirt and skirt, carefully setting them on a conveniently placed table before grabbing her D-Tector of Water (which conveniently enough happened to be waterproof) and slowly wading into the water in just her underwear, eventually diving into the water after taking a breath to find her Spirit. Had she been looking behind her as she did all that, she'd have realized that Koji was catching up to her and managed to do so in time to see Lumine get down to her underwear as she waded into and dove under the water. Koji then decided to keep an eye on Lumine's stuff while she was underwater.

After she dove under the water, Lumine furiously swam as fast as she could manage to try and find her Spirit. After a bit, she came to an odd underwater monolith which made her blink as her D-Tector started beeping faster, making her swim towards it, frowning as she saw an odd marking on the monolith in the shape of a long-haired female. As Lumine lifted her D-Tector towards the monolith, the carving started to glow before crumbling away to reveal a glowing object behind it, which showed a green-haired female that was pulled towards Lumine's D-Tector, eventually sliding neatly into place with a 'click', causing an unfamiliar symbol to pop up on screen. Despite her anxiousness about being underwater, Lumine was able to hear a voice speak to her from her D-Tector.

"It is time." Lumine's D-Tector said as Lumine nodded, swimming furiously towards the shore to try and find the others. Back on shore, Koji was looking around for either Koichi, Ranamon or Lumine, only to blanch as Koichi flew towards him, crashing to the ground with a dull 'ow.' as he slumped over, struggling to get to his feet.

"I couldn't hold her off very long, Koji. I'm sorry." Koichi said before passing out to Koji's horror. Ranamon then chuckled.

"Well now, that wasn't too bad. And here I expected the Warrior of Darkness to put up more of a fight. Oh well, now to deal with you, sugar." Ranamon said, smiling at Koji who shuddered as he looked at Ranamon before speaking up.

"You're out of your mind if you think I'd even look at you, Ranamon!" Koji said defiantly making Ranamon giggle.

"I'm not worried about that. I know you only really have eyes for that blonde coward I launched into the sea. Too bad for her she's not that good with the water from what she said. Oh well, one less Warrior to worry about. Maybe two, once I get rid of you, and then three once I finish off your brother." Ranamon said with a sly smirk, making Koji frown at her. However, before he could so much as raise his voice to yell at Ranamon, a huge splash behind them drew both Koji and Ranamon's attention, the latter gasping and the former smiling as they saw a sopping-wet, but very much okay, Lumine getting out of the water. Lumine then saw Koji standing there and flushed in embarrassment as she recalled she was in just her underwear, but shook that off to glare at Ranamon.

"Thought you'd gotten rid of me, didn't you Ranamon? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but not only did you NOT get rid of me, you actually did me a favor. As it turns out you launched me pretty much to the spot I needed to be in order to find my Spirit. And as it so happens, I see a whiny little brat who would make a perfect target to give it a test run, so what say I give it a try and we settle this, lady to lady?!" Lumine said as she held up her D-Tector which now had the symbol of Water on it. The screen then cut to a shot of Lumine's right hand going up before a ring of data materialized around it as she held her D-Tector up in her left hand and swiped her right hand across it to scan the data ring.

"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Lumine said as she began her Spirit Evolution, Koji helpless to do anything but stare open-mouthed as he watched Lumine's Spirit Evolution. The Spirit split apart into bits which hovered over Lumine, eventually attaching themselves to different parts of her body, eventually making a flash of light as the transformation reached its' final stages, and when the light died down, in Lumine's place stood a green-haired female whose hair was pulled into a loose ponytail with a blue tie-off.

But Koji's eyes were drawn towards the female's outfit, which comprised of a sea-green one-piece bathing suit with aquamarine lining and turquoise scales on it that hugged her figure. On each of the female's arms were coral wristbands. In the female's hands were twin daggers, both sea-green with aquamarine-colored hilts with emeralds in the center of each hilt. To complete the ensemble, the female had sea-blue boots on her feet to match the same-colored fingerless gloves she now wore on each hand while holding the daggers. The female smirked as she finished her transformation, yelling out her new name for all to hear.

"HUH! HEH, HEH-HA-HEH! ZYRAMON!" The now-named Zyramon yelled out as she finished her Spirit Evolution, smirking as she stared down Ranamon. Bokomon then spoke up in irreverent awe as he saw the new Warrior stare down Ranamon.

"I don't believe it! It's Zyramon, the true Warrior of Water! This says here that any Digimon foolish enough to challenge Zyramon is usually given a swift and brutal demise. Her attacks are Seaside Slash, Undersea Uppercut and Torrential Tidal Surge." Bokomon as Zyramon looked over at Ranamon, brandishing her daggers challengingly.

"You were looking for a challenge, Ranamon!? Well look no further. Let's settle this, right here, right now!" Zyramon said as Ranamon giggled.

"Well, well. Looks like I get to see the purified Human Spirit of Water in action. Very well, let's do this. Drainin' Rain!" Ranamon said as she tried to attack Zyramon, only for Zyramon to nimbly sidestep the attack with a grace and poise that surprised Ranamon as she huffed at Ranamon before speaking up in an unimpressed tone.

"Nice try. My turn. Seaside Slash!" Zyramon said as she lunged forward to slash at Ranamon who winced as she was nicked by the daggers, making her stagger backward in shock before frowning at Zyramon, huffing as she spoke up.

"You made me bleed! Now have a taste of this! Acidic Vapor!" Ranamon said as Zyramon rolled her eyes before she tossed down her daggers which stuck fast in the sand next to her before cracking her knuckles as she glared at Ranamon.

"Is that really all you've got? Have a taste of my other attack! Torrential Tidal Surge!" Zyramon said as she focused herself before conjuring a small torrent of water in each hand, melding the two together into a bigger torrent, before hefting that in one hand and hurling it javelin-style at Ranamon who was too stunned to dodge and found herself pinned to the sand by the torrent of water, making Zyramon heft her daggers and holster them on the holsters attached to her hips through a turquoise belt. Zyramon then strode angrily over to Ranamon before glaring at her.

"Ranamon, you've terrorized us long enough! First you try to kill Koji and I, then you almost kill Koji and Koichi, and now you have the audacity to try and toy with me?! I don't think so! It's time to end this!" Zyramon said with a glare as she raised her fists which were covered in water as she glared at Ranamon and spoke up with a slight frown.

"Any last words before I put you out of your misery, Ranamon?!" Zyramon asked Ranamon who huffed and glared at Zyramon as she spoke up.

"Not words I would waste on a cowardly waif like you! Just finish it already!" Ranamon said huffily as Zyramon frowned and rolled her eyes at the feeble attempt at an insult from Ranamon as she spoke up in an unimpressed tone, her hands on her hips as she spoke.

"As you wish. Undersea Uppercut!" Zyramon said as she put her foot on the upper edge of the torrent, flipping Ranamon into the air after which she punched the airborne Ranamon with her watery fists, making Ranamon cry out as she hit the ground and take a knee in time for her silhouette to be visible as her Fractal Code was shown. Zyramon then pulled out her D-Tector and sighed as she looked at Ranamon.

"You know, I don't like that it had to come to this, Ranamon. I actually thought you were really nice and was willing to be friends with you, but it seems you didn't feel the same. Oh well, maybe you'll find the peace in purification that you weren't able to find before. Time to be purified!" Zyramon said sadly as she pulled out her D-Tector and slashed it at the visible Fractal Code.

"FRACTAL CODE! DIGITIZE!" Zyramon said as she slowly scanned Ranamon's Fractal Code, causing the Digi-Egg that appeared to fly off into the distance. After that, Koji and Koichi weakly looked up at Zyramon as she smiled at the two of them before reverting back to Lumine in a flash of data, causing Lumine to flush prettily as she recalled her current state of dress, trying not to look at Koji out of embarrassment. She then grabbed her discarded clothes and ran off to change, leaving a blinking Koji and Koichi behind.

After a bit, Lumine came back, having put her shirt and skirt back on, though minus her underwear, which was presently air-drying on an out of the way but nearby tree branch.

Lumine then shyly spoke up as she looked at Koji and Koichi, giggling at the former's bright red face and the latter's confused expression.

"Sorry for darting off with no explanation like that, but I wasn't exactly trying to change in front of you guys after all. That and I think poor Koji might end up permanently red if I had done that. Next time, I'm making it a point to wear a bathing suit under my clothes so I don't have to improvise like that. But on the positive, at least we found the next Spirit, right? So that's a good thing." Lumine said as Koji smiled before speaking up, ignoring Koichi chuckling as he spoke.

"Not only that Lumine, but you also were able to somewhat face your anxieties while getting your Spirit, so congrats on that." Koji said to Lumine, whose turn it was to go slightly pink in embarrassment from Koji's compliment before shyly smiling at him.

"When are you two going to quit dancing around it and just admit you like each other?" Koichi teased Koji and Lumine who both flushed before glaring as they spoke up.

"SHUT UP, KOICHI!" Koji and Lumine yelped in unison, before blinking at each other and flushing in embarrassment at their unintentional synchronicity, making Koichi double over laughing at the twin looks of embarrassment on Koji and Lumine's faces. After some time had passed (during which Lumine's underwear finished drying so she could discreetly tuck it safely away into her purse while she and Koji had a brief conversation), Bokomon cleared his throat as he spoke up.

"Yes, well, that said, now that we have the Spirit of Water in our possession, we should gather our things and start heading towards the Thunder Shrine and the next Spirit. It's a bit of a walk from here, but it's the closest shrine to here, so it is what it is." Bokomon said as Neemon nodded his agreement. Lumine nodded, grabbing her purse from where she'd set it down previously and tucking her D-Tector securely away in it as she turned to Koji and Koichi.

"Shall we go, boys?" Lumine said happily to Koji and Koichi, who nodded as they caught up to Bokomon and Neemon before starting the walk to the Thunder Shrine...

(Back over with Takuya's group, neutral POV)

"Wow, this is a pretty long walk, but we seem to be getting somewhat closer. So that's good, right?" Sorina said warily as the group followed Halsemon. Takuya and Shinya nodded in agreement to Sorina's question, the former speaking up.

"Yeah, in my experience, usually when we're getting closer to our goal, it's nearly always a good thing. So yeah I'd say us being closer to our target is good." Takuya said to Sorina who smiled at Takuya and nodded her approval of his answer. At that same time, Kusa was speaking to Zoe.

"So, we're getting closer to you getting back your Spirit. You excited for that, Zoe?" Kusa asked Zoe who nodded with a smile as she spoke up.

"Of course I am. But I'm also uneasy since I feel like it's not going to be as simple as just claiming the Spirit of Wind and going about our business. I feel like we might have a guardian of some sort to fight for the Spirit. Or something like that. Could be wrong though." Zoe said as Kusa smiled before chuckling as he spoke up.

"You're probably right, but at the same time, we can still be on guard just to be on the safe side. Either way, the sooner you can Spirit Evolve, the better since that's one more person who can Spirit Evolve, not to mention you're probably excited to get your spirit." Kusa said to Zoe who nodded happily as she and Kusa quietly walked with the others as they headed towards the Shrine of Wind. Ahead of them, Halsemon led the group towards the Wind Spirit, none of them aware of the danger lying in wait at the Shrine of Wind. After a bit more of a walk, Halsemon spoke up to get the group's attention.

"OK, whoever's meant to wield the Spirit of Wind get up here. We're about to reach the Shrine of Wind, where the Spirit of Wind should be kept. The rest of you will have to be ready to be on guard in case there's a guard here to stop the Spirit of Wind from being taken." Halsemon said as Kusa, Shinya and Takuya looked at each other and exchanged determined nods before Kusa looked at Zoe and spoke up with a smile on his face.

"Looks like this is it, Zoe. Time for you to get your Spirit back. You ready?" Kusa asked Zoe who shyly nodded before slowly walking towards the shrine, D-Tector in hand. As she kept walking, Takuya and Kusa both frowned as they heard a low growling sound, looking around for the source only to frown in unison as a dark-colored wisp of smoke came out of nowhere, colliding head-on with Halsemon, making Halsemon's eyes suddenly narrow as it got a feral look in its eyes, causing Kusa and Takuya to swear under their breath as Shinya wasted no time in pulling out his D-Tector.

"Looks like it's MY turn to go to battle. You two go have Zoe's back while she gets her Spirit and leave Halsemon to me!" Shinya said as Kusa and Takuya nodded, the former speaking up as the latter smiled at Shinya.

"Got it. You be careful. For now, you're the only one of us with a Spirit. Hopefully the rest of us will get our Spirits soon enough so we can help you fight, but until then, it's up to you. So good luck." Kusa said as Shinya nodded, the screen cutting to his left hand getting a ring of data around it which he swiped across his D-Tector.

"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Shinya said as his Spirit Evolution began. After the usual flashy show of transformations and aesthetic changes, he finished his transformation and emerged from the flash of data as...

"GWAAAA! HEH, HA, HA-HA, BURROWMON!" Burrowmon said as he finished his Spirit Evolution, staring down Halsemon.

"As for you, I'll take you on. I refuse to let you stop my friend from getting her Spirit. So prepare to fight!" Burrowmon said as he flexed and stared down Halsemon who growled and charged at Burrowmon, intent on destroying him quickly so it could stop Zoe from getting the Spirit of Wind.

Meanwhile, Zoe was walking towards the Spirit of Wind, Kusa and Takuya following close behind her. Zoe looked at the Spirit that was now visible to her, quickening her steps a fair bit as she pulled her D-Tector out, smiling as the spirit slid securely into her D-Tector, the symbol of Wind showing up on her D-Tector in pink, making Zoe smile as she heard the now-familiar voice call out from her D-Tector as she made her way back to the others, ready to help fight back against whatever guard might be present.

"It is time." Zoe heard from her D-Tector as she headed back to the others, making her nod happily as she caught up to the others.

Zoe gasped as she saw Burrowmon go flying into a pillar after being blasted backwards by Halsemon's Tempest Wing attack.

Burrowmon kept fighting, determined to hold off Halsemon who Zoe noticed had a glazed, even feral, look in its' eyes, making her frown as she lifted her D-Tector and the screen cut to a shot of her lifting her right hand which was covered in Fractal Code as she held her D-Tector in her right hand. She then slashed the Fractal Code through her D-Tector as her Spirit Evolution began, unaware of Kusa and Takuya watching on in awe from nearby as it happened.

"EXE! CUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Zoe said as her transformation began. Bit by bit, the pieces of the Spirit of Wind melded themselves to Zoe's body, gradually transforming her into the Warrior of Wind, her usual outfit replaced by purple elbow-length silky gloves, purple knee-high leggings, a cream-colored visor, and her usually blonde hair was replaced with shoulder-length purple hair, slightly darker than the shade of purple her gloves and leggings were.

For whatever reason, the transformation continued into the leggings having white boots appear over them while her shirt and skirt were replaced by a skin-tight silky looking light purple bikini with matching bottoms and for whatever reason a belt over her stomach of the same color. After the transformation finished, the Warrior of Wind used a hand to flip her purple hair behind her as she did a handstand, spun around and landed on her feet to shout her name for all to hear, again oblivious to the two onlookers unintentionally watching the entire transformation from nearby.

"HA! HEH, HA-HA, KAZEMON!" Kazemon called out as she finished her Spirit Evolution, before glaring at Halsemon and charging at it.

"Leave my friends alone, Halsemon! Have a taste of my Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon called out as she produced twin streams of wind from her hands which she used to whip Halsemon repeatedly, slamming it into the ground over and over, Burrowmon jumping in to add his own attack in.

"My turn! Burrow Bomber!" Burrowmon said as he burrowed upward to smash into Halsemon with a rising uppercut, knocking him sideways to the ground to which Kazemon smirked before dropping down and doing a handstand as she got ready to add her own attack to the mix.

"Good one, Burrowmon! Now let me finish this! Get back and tend to the others!" Kazemon said to Burrowmon who nodded and went to check on the others as Kazemon glared at Halsemon before speaking up once more.

"I know you were meant to guard my Spirit, but nowhere in that description were you supposed to turn feral and attack my friends out of nowhere! Hopefully purifying you can cleanse you of this feral taint you've managed to pick up somehow. Sorry, but it's over! Tempest Twist!" Kazemon said as she did a handstand to do a spinning kick into Halsemon, who grunted as it was kicked over and over before finally being launched into a nearby pillar with a loud 'SMACK!' where it slid down and groaned as it turned into a silhouette, its Fractal Code clearly visible as Kazemon lifted up her D-Tector and looked down at Halsemon with a sad smile.

"I deeply regret that things came to this, but as you are now, you're in no shape to perform your duties, and honestly now that I have the Spirit of Wind once more, your job is basically complete anyways, so at this point I can only reward your hard work by cleansing you of your corruption. So be purified! HA! FRACTAL CODE, DIGITIZE!" Kazemon said as she slashed her D-Tector at Halsemon's Fractal Code, gradually scanning the Fractal Code until only a DigiEgg remained which flew away, after which Kazemon smiled at the group, eventually reverting back into Zoe in a flash of data.

This happened in time for Kusa to walk forward and gently put an arm around Zoe as he helped her over to a nearby bench so she could sit down and catch her breath after the battle, smiling at her as he sat next to her and spoke up, hoping as he spoke that Zoe didn't see the dusting of pink on his face.

"Well, there we have it. You have your Spirit back, finally. But, and I mean no offense when I say this Zoe, but when were you going to warn Shinya, Sorina and I that your Spirit basically loses outer clothes for form-fitting underwear, leggings, gloves and boots? Make no mistake, I'm not saying this as an insult, but as a honest opinion. Your Spirit was very fetching, as I thought it would be. Granted, you kind of took my breath away with the ensemble a bit, but definitely in a good way. But that aside, how does it feel to have your Spirit back, Zoe?" Kusa said to Zoe who blinked at Kusa as he spoke, before eventually smiling happily at him as she spoke up.

"It feels incredible to have Kazemon back. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that. I honestly forgot that happened with Kazemon. Of course, I didn't recall JP, Koji, Takuya or Tommy ever commenting on Kazemon's wardrobe before either so I probably assumed it wasn't an issue. That being said, I'm glad you liked what you saw. I wasn't sure how you and the others might react to how scantily-clad Kazemon usually is." Zoe said sheepishly as she smiled at Kusa who spoke up.

"I wouldn't call Kazemon 'scantily-clad' per se, Zoe. Sure, she could stand to wear a bit more, but if I recall correctly, Takuya and JP saw you far more scantily-clad than Kazemon before, so by comparison Kazemon's rather decently dressed. Besides, at least it only lasts while you're in that form, after which you revert back to your normal outfit, so it's really not that big of a deal if you think about it like that. Either way, that's two Spirits now down, and presumably eight more to go. You need some time to rest a bit or are you good to get back to the others, Zoe?" Kusa asked as Zoe smiled at Kusa.

"We probably should get back to the others, but at the same time I wouldn't object to having more time to rest a bit if it means longer with you." Zoe said happily as Kusa nodded before speaking up once more.

"I don't mind that one bit, Zoe. Take it easy for a bit. I'm sure Burrowmon has the others under control for now." Kusa said, smiling as he leaned back on the bench so Zoe could lightly lean on him as she rested a bit to recover her energy from her transformation into Kazemon. After a few minutes, Zoe smiled at Kusa.

"Okay, I think I'm good to join the others now." Zoe said before smiling at Kusa as she leaned in to give him a quick hug, pulling away with a giggle as she saw the slight dusting of pink on Kusa's face as Kusa spoke up.

"Very well, let's get back to the others. And Zoe, that was rather nice. Maybe at some other point down the line we can revisit that a bit? Obviously not now since we're still basically getting to know each other for the most part, but probably a ways down the road." Kusa said as Zoe giggled at how nervously Kusa was speaking to her before smiling as she spoke up.

"Absolutely. And maybe when we revisit it, we might be more sure of where we stand with each other. For the record though, your face is always so cute when you flush like that though, Kusa." Zoe said teasingly as Kusa frowned while speaking up.

"Be that as it may, you're the pretty one of the two of us, and I think we can both agree on that." Kusa said as Zoe nodded, slyly sliding her hand into Kusa's as the two walked back over to the others, Takuya and Sorina helping support Shinya who had just reverted to normal from Burrowmon as he stopped to recover. Takuya then smiled as he walked over to Kusa and Zoe before speaking up with an amused smirk on his face.

"Way to go, Zoe. Shinya told me you got your Spirit and helped fight off Halsemon. And given he's with you, I think I know why Kusa seemingly disappeared during the battle." Takuya said, giving Kusa a knowing wink as he spoke. Kusa frowned at Takuya before speaking up in a huff.

"Oh shut it, Takuya! For your information, I had to duck behind a pillar real fast when Zoe started her Spirit Evolution so I wasn't out in the open watching it go down, out of respect for her privacy. That said, you have no room to be teasing me considering I'm willing to bet you won't be much better off when the time comes for Sorina to get her Spirit since I see you looking her over when you think no one's looking, so don't tease me Takuya." Kusa said as he crossed his arms huffily. Zoe giggled at Kusa's huff as she spoke up, a shy smile on her face as she spoke.

"Be nice to him, Kusa. He meant well. And I forgive you for basically watching me Spirit Evolve without meaning to. Honestly, I'm actually flattered you find me that irresistible that you couldn't take your eyes off me when I was transforming." Zoe said teasingly making Kusa go red at her teasing even as he nodded.

"Fair enough. Anyways, so that's now two Spirits down and presumably eight more to go, unless some of Koji's group got their Spirits too." Kusa said as Takuya nodded.

"Exactly. I suppose we should look for a sign of some sort to point us to the next Shrine." Takuya said. Sorina and Zoe both nodded as the former smiled before speaking up.

"I agree. Granted, we got kind of lucky with this Shrine, but who's to say we won't have a bit of a walk to get to the next one?" Sorina asked making Shinya and Kusa exchange contemplative glaces as the former spoke up with a soft smile.

"If it is a long walk? So be it. That gives us more time to get to know one another better, if nothing else. Worst case, it gives us plenty of opportunity to possible find the other group and link up with them." Shinya said as Zoe nodded before speaking up with a smile.

"That's true, Sorina. I notice though that you didn't mention the fact that you probably have some of us in particular that you have extra interest in compared to the rest of us." Zoe said teasingly, smirking at the subtle dusting of mixed red and pink on Sorina's face at her comment as Sorina huffed before speaking up.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Zoe. Besides, you have no room to tease me about that when we all saw you holding hands with Kusa most of the way through the Wind Shrine. So don't tease me unless you want to be teased right back." Sorina said with a pouting smirk as Zoe huffed, frowning at Sorina as she spoke up.

"No fair, don't throw that back at me like that! Besides, it was kind of a knee-jerk reaction! And Kusa knows it was done in a purely platonic way!" Zoe said in embarrassment as Kusa smirked as he chose that moment to add his two cents into the discussion.

"You know Sorina, I don't mind when Zoe gets all hand-holdy. If it makes her comfortable, I'm willing to do most anything for Zoe, within reason. After all, would a good friend do anything less?" Kusa said sagely as Sorina smirked while nodding as she spoke up.

"You say that Kusa, but I know for a fact I saw you blushing before when Zoe basically was leaning on you back there. Plus you seemed rather transfixed by her Spirit Evolution before. I'm pretty sure even Takuya was able to keep his eyes off of Zoe better than you were during that." Sorina said, sticking her tongue out childishly at Kusa who rolled his eyes before speaking up in an unamused voice, frowning at Sorina as he spoke.

"Very funny. To be fair, Takuya wasn't the one stuck hiding behind a pillar while Zoe was Spirit Evolving so that she could have some semblance of privacy for her transformation, even if I ended up seeing most all of it anyways without meaning to. Besides, unlike that oaf JP, I don't intend to persist in trying to make something happen with Zoe before she's comfortable with it, if she ever decides she's comfortable with it. She knows full well I won't push her into anything she's not ready for or uncomfortable with." Kusa said huffily as Zoe smiled as she nodded approvingly to Kusa's words.

"Exactly, which already makes you much better than JP. And honestly, maybe later on down the line after we've gotten to know each other a lot better, maybe I'll be ready to see where our comfort zones are but for now I'm quite content with being your friend and letting things build up at their own pace, albeit if that pace is a bit more slow-burn than anything else." Zoe said honestly as Kusa nodded his acceptance of her words. Tommy cleared his throat as he spoke up at that point.

"Anyways, let's keep moving! The rest of the Spirits aren't gonna find themselves!" Tommy said as the others nodded, before continuing to walk forward, heading towards the next Spirit, wherever it might be...

"Well, that was a thing that happened! But once all was said and done, both Zoe AND Lumine joined the ranks of those with Spirits! Granted, Lumine had a much rougher go of getting her spirit than Zoe did, but they both got their Spirits in the end. With only six Spirits left to get, who will gain their spirits next? And will the groups ever link up!? Heck if I know, but one thing I know for sure? To find out, keep watching Digimon! Digital Monsters!" The narrator said by way of an outro.

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And there, another chapter done and dusted! This took me a tad longer than I wanted it to, but I tend to be busy with other stuff too, like having to re-do my Persona 5 Royal file (and eventually my Persona 5 Strikers and Digimon World: Next Order fiiles plus my Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory file) since shortly before my birthday, the PS4 I had my finished Persona 5 Royal file (and other files) on finally broke down on me more or less.

Luckily my nephew happened to have a spare PS4 to spot me for my birthday so I was able (after moving the necessary users onto the new PS4 so I could re-download all the games I had files on) to start re-grinding out my files. On the upside, the fact I had to re-grind out said files is good since it gives me the opportunity to finally try my hand at a Persona story, something I've been intending to take a shot at writing since I first played through Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Royal, so that's a good thing I suppose.

That said, my other stories are going to be even more slow about being updated than they already are once I start working on both stories more, which is kind of a problem. However, I do intend to finish all of my currently active stories eventually so no need to fear any of them dying like a lot of my other stories did before I took my previous hiatus. So look forward to lots more updates from me!

And until next update, sithlorde1988 out!