The new DigiDestined were gathered together for fast food takeout while their Digimon were all playing a short distance away in the park, still basking in their recent hard-fought victory in saving both the real world and the Digital World. TK, however, had something on his mind. "Hey, Davis... can I ask you something personal?"

Davis, having just bitten into a burger, stared at the bucket-hat blonde in confusion. "Mmph?"

"Back when we were all fighting MaloMyotismon," TK began, "I thought it was really cool how you just shrugged off his illusion spell through sheer bullheadedness... but lately, I've been remembering how you always used to take stuff really personally and had some serious self-esteem problems..."

Davis paused and chewed on what he'd bitten off, mindful that the rest of the group were now sitting up and paying a bit closer attention.

"...and it's made me wonder," TK admitted, "were you really able to just ignore that monster's illusion spell altogether? Or did you get caught in a dream like the rest of us, and it's just that you were the first one to break out of it?"

Kari, Cody, Yolei, and Ken all stopped and silently shared a look, idly glancing between TK and Davis.

"You don't have to share if you really don't want to," TK said with raised hands, "but if it helps... I dreamed my parents were back together, and we and Matt were all able to have dinner together as a family again."

A round of sympathetic winces and nods went through the group, before Kari coughed and spoke up next. "...my dream was that the real world and Digital World were at peace, and a bunch of children were happily playing at the park with their new Digimon Partners."

Everyone else nodded along, having pretty much expected like that.

"...I dreamed my father was still alive," Code admitted with a frown, drawing up his knees and hugging himself. "And that I was able to show him some of the amazing places we'd been to in the Digital World."

Yolei, for her part, groaned into her palm. "Wow, you guys are all making me look like a selfish jerk as usual... all I dreamed was that I was an only child and didn't have to share delicious dessert with three other people - only for it to start going sour when I realized I still missed them..."

Davis looked away, hiding the look on his face while others shared a light chuckle. "...yeah, it's true. I had a dream."

"I... I don't think I should talk about my dream," Ken mused with a frown, only to jump when Yolei gave him a hearty pat on the back.

"Oh come on, you're a totally changed man from who you used to be; how bad could it have been?"

"...I dreamed I was watching the crucified Digimon Emperor get tortured to death by Digimon in revenge for his sins against them," he admitted. "And then after they dispersed, my brother Sam came back to tell me he'd take care of me and my problems would be over."

The kids all went dead silent at the admission, Yolei in particular needing a moment to process that she'd surpassed Davis for the team's biggest foot-in-mouth moment. "...oh. Ken, I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's alright, Yolei. None of you could have known."

"No, we couldn't have," TK agreed. "But you're still a precious friend to all of us, and I wouldn't have brought the subject up in front of everyone like this if I'd had any idea it could bring back such painful memories for you."

Kari nodded, giving Ken a shoulder squeeze from his other side. "TK's right. Everyone here knows that the Digimon Emperor is gone forever."

"You've paid for your mistakes and then some!" Cody insisted.

"And anyone - human or Digimon - who tries to come after you for what the Emperor did," Davis added, "is gonna have to go through every one of us first."

Yolei brandished a piece of cake on a fork like a sword, holding it in the air as if it would lend more weight to the moment. "And you know it's a big deal when Davis agrees with me and TK on something without any kind of argument first!"

Ken laughed in spite of himself, the tension bleeding out of his body. "Yeah, I guess it is...!"

For a few minutes, everyone grows quiet and goes back to their lunch together in the lightened atmosphere of friendship.

...for a few minutes, until Davis laid back and rolled, turning away from everyone else. "...I dreamed I was getting married."

Kari cringed, TK winced, and Cody let out a soft oof while Yolei groaned into her palms. "Hoo boy, here we go..."

Only Ken held back such a reaction, just quietly giving Davis a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"The whole thing was so... bizarre," the goggle-head admitted. "I was so happy that without really even thinking about it, I asked the girl if it was a dream... and she admitted it wasn't real."

"Davis..."

"She admitted that it was all just some evil messed up trick MaloMyotismon was playing on me," he continued, "that I had to wake up and kick his stupid letter-opener face down his throat so he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else..."

The hitch in his voice and the shake in his back made it obvious enough that he'd turned away to keep from showing that he was crying.

"Sh-she said she loved me too much to lie to me..."

After a moment's thought, Kari moved over from where she'd been sitting between TK and Ken, plopped down next to Davis, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug from behind. "Even if it was a dream, Davis... that part was real."

Yolei stood up at that moment, arms thrown wide. "Okay everyone, I am officially calling for a mass cuddle pile! All in favor, get him! All opposed... no you're not, quit acting cool and just do it already!"

Davis let out a yelp of surprise when the rest of the DigiDestined... no, when his best friends all collectively tackled him to the soft grass-covered ground, laughing and cheering as they buried him and Kari at the bottom of a giant six-person hug.

"Hey, Yolei?" Cody asked.

"Yeah Cody?"

"I don't think you should be down on yourself about that dream MaloMyotismon fed you."

"I mean... it's really nice of you to say that," the girl in glasses mused, "but no matter how you look at it, it's still really petty compared to everyone else's-"

Ken cut Yolei off with a smile that made her heart melt, race, and even do backflips. "Don't think of it as some kind of competition. If anything, I think it's kind of beautiful that your dream wasn't anything more dramatic than that."

"...really?"

TK nodded, arms crossed in thought. "Yeah, it means you haven't gone through anywhere near as much grief or pain in your personal life that the rest of us have."

"And it's a relief to know there's at least one friend in our lives that isn't forced to carry around some kind of heavy emotional weight all the time," Kari agreed.

If Yolei's face hadn't already lit up with an incandescent blush, it certainly was now. "Aw, you guys..."

"...hey. One last thing, Davis?" Kari asked.

"Yeah?"

The child of Light beamed at him with a smile that could outshine the sun, and gave the goggle-head a kiss on the top of his head. "Thank you for being subtle enough to not be explicit that I was the girl under the veil."

Davis would've turned away or otherwise tried to conceal his embarrassment at being seen right through, even if it was a foregone conclusion... but trapped as he was in his friends' love, there was nothing else to do but take it. "Heh... no problem..."