Chapter 12: Windows

Matt looked over his shoulder for what was at least the fourth time since their group had gotten onto the subway, checking the other occupants like he would if he were actually searching for something. To be fair, he would have been the first to point out his own paranoia, especially given they were currently seeking out danger rather than trying to avoid it. Still, given the warning from Kari's group, it was a little difficult to not be on edge.

For better or worse, though, Matt had to admit that the recent revelation helped the the different pieces of Lirurun's case click into the place. In next to all the experiences he and his friends had with them, Bakemon were dimwitted goons. Given the task of tracking down the Digidestined of Light in a world where she might not even exist, the logic dictated that they would start grabbing kids at random, or at least seemingly so. If Matt had to guess, based what he had been told and shown of this reality, he was willing to bet the Bakemon had seen these kids interacting with the local digimon, and had drawn their own conclusions. Of course, these implications seemed to be the least worrying, if Izzy's current silence was any indicator.

"So these Bakemon are from your time?" Kiyo asked, not for the first time, though the hurry they had left Ruli's house in meant they hadn't had time to go over a lot of specific information.

"Yes," Izzy answered, though his gaze fixed on the nearest window. "Well, no. Yes and no."

"They're from the past," Matt tried to summarize.

"Our past," Izzy corrected, finally facing the rest of the group. "Seven years back to be precise."

"You people make everything so confusing!" Jellymon yelled, irritably floating around their group.

"Whatever you do, don't ask about that whole debacle with Ordinemon," Tentomon commented.

"How is that possible?" Kiyo asked, seeming like he was he was ignoring the digimon for the moment.

"I can only speculate." Izzy paused, then turned to Salamon. "You called Myotismon's castle a junction point, correct?"

"Yepper," Salamon piped up, currently riding atop Gabumon's head, specifically propping themself up against his horn.

"And based on Abbadomon's comments, walls between worlds are a bit thinner there?"

"I suppose," Salamon confirmed again. They had been noncommittal with answers previous, though Matt could tell the Rookie's responses were still low-energy compared to their demeanor before escaping the Dark Ocean.

Izzy paused, then nodded. "Seems as though Dragomon grabbing us the way he did caused some kind of interdimensional ripple effect."

Kiyo crossed his arms and tilted his head. "All the way back then, though?"

"Multiversal stability seems to be sensitive to abrupt stimuli," Izzy explained, low voice making it seem like he was talking to himself at first. "We've made friends from a reality parallel to ours, and our travels to and from that reality opened tears to a different reality, one neither of our groups had ever visited."

"Why did the Bakemon get here so far ahead of us?" Gabumon asked.

"That actually tracks with Mari and Rei arriving separate from Akira," Matt pointed out, though couldn't have explained more than that if his life depended on it.

Tentomon raised a claw. "Not to be a negative nancy, but shouldn't we be concerned about who these Bakemon are working for?"

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "You mean Myotismon?"

"We are a bit stronger than we were seven years ago," Gabumon offered optimistically.

"Myotismon all turn to dust just the same," Jellymon added with a confident nod.

"We'll keep our guard up," Matt said, trying to match their mood. He didn't like rushing in, but given current circumstances, there wasn't much else they could do that didn't involve making those captured children spend more time in the Bakemons' clutches.

"Agreed," Izzy said, though his gaze returned to the window. "Honestly, though, I'm more concerned about any further tears opening up while we're here."

Matt didn't disagree, though past experiences with Myotismon and his thugs meant he had to focus on them for the time being. Granted, they still had no idea if Myotismon had arrived with these Bakemon, but he remained a wild card until they got confirmation one way or another.

Everyone else seemed to be in agreement, though Kiyo's attention seemed to have wandered. Hand on his chin and staring at the subway car's floor, he clearly had something on his mind.

"Something wrong, Kiyo?" Matt asked calmly.

The boy looked up and shook his head. "I just think we should catch up to the others as soon as possible."

Again, Matt didn't disagree, but looked over his shoulder one more time. He told himself he was just used to having these discussions with Tai and Sora, and had never adjusted to not having them to cover his blindspots. With that thought, he also had to tell himself that they hadn't missed anything, because those kids couldn't wait on them any longer.

Tai liked to think that he had gotten better at waiting over the years, though he would still openly admit that patience wasn't his strong suit. They more or less had a goal, to find a way to regroup with the others, but it wasn't one they could act on just yet. That left Tai with nothing to do but wander the campsite and wait for his friends to complete their respective parts of their current plan.

More than once, reflex brought Tai over to one of the open windows of Marcus' hut to check on Rei. Not that there was much development on that front, outside of Marcus occasionally telling Rei to watch her footwork as she continued to throw her fists at the improvised punching bag. While progress was slow, Tai manage to notice a couple of patterns show up.

For one, not all of Rei's punches seemed to carry the same amount of force as the others. Every now and then, a strike would seem to have noticeably less steam behind it. Tai guessed at a fifty-fifty split between the cause being actual fatigue or Rei questioning the exercise entirely. Not that Tai could blame her if the latter was the case, as he wasn't sure what was being gained here.

Still, after each of these lulls in her energy, Rei would strike again with renewed strength. The source of it was hard to guess, partly because Tai's angle on her made it difficult to see her eyes, but something about it stuck with him. Tai knew Sora's determination when he saw it, but while it wasn't so different from that, he knew that wasn't entirely what he was looking at. Rei's determination seemed familiar, but also not so instantly recognizable to him. Not that Tai expected an explanation, even or maybe especially if he asked her about it.

Shaking his head and stepping away from the window, Tai rejoined the others at the hut's fenced-in area. There, with both his friends and the younger digimon watching from the perimeter, Patamon strained himself and hummed as he stared off into the distance. He was still trying to get a handle on his Celestial energy, which finding the others essentially hinged on at this point.

"How about we take a break, Patamon?" T.K. suggested after a few more seconds of this.

"I'm close," Patamon replied eagerly. "I can feel a tingling in my toes."

"That or they're just going numb."

"Maybe…" Patamon relaxed, before flying over and landing on the fence post T.K. was standing next to. "Gatomon seemed like she figured it out."

"Just wondering," Mimi spoke up suddenly, not looking at any of them in particular. "If it weren't a matter of life and death, what reality would you guys visit?"

"That depends…" Agumon said without a pause, naturally the only one of them not caught off guard by the question. "Which one do you think has the best snacks?"

Tai sighed. "Glad you always consider the big picture, pal."

"It's kinda hard to say given how few we've been to," T.K. put forward.

"Fair enough." Mimi nodded before redirecting her attention. "How about you, Ken?"

"I wouldn't," Ken said quickly and succinctly, now looking down at the ground in front of him.

"Why not?"

"A few reasons," Ken answered, tilting his gaze upwards towards the sky. "My idea of a good time isn't revisiting all the mistakes I've made."

"You've made some good decisions too," Wormmon was quick to point out.

Ken gave his partner a weak smile. "Is it bad that that almost makes things worse? Chances are about even of me being shown how I could have done things better, or how much worse I'm capable of being."

"No," Tai replied when no one else did. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

Tai had stopped holding Ken's time as the Digimon Emperor against him a long time ago, though memories of the brief window he had kept Agumon as a slave still lingered. At those moments, it felt like them staying friends was easier if they pretended the whole thing never happened. In Ken's defense, Tai knew he still held onto his guilt of that period of time, and he himself knew more than his share about mistakes he wished he could take back.

"Besides," Ken continued as he pulled out his D3 and focused on it. "I've got my own leftover messes to worry about."

Mimi's shoulders sank. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this anymore."

"Do you even have your own answer?" Tai asked, not eager to continue this discussion himself.

"Not really…" Mimi answered under her breath.

"Then why did you bring it up in the first place?"

Mimi paused, taking a deep breath before laser-focusing in his direction. "I'm gonna let your attitude slide, because I know your daughter has you really stressed out."

Tai hesitated for only half a second. "She's not my daughter."

"Keep telling yourself that, Taichi." Mimi averted her and slowly walked to the opposite side of the fencing, Palmon not more than a step behind.

"Oof, she's mad," T.K. commented once she seemed out of earshot.

Tai crossed his arms. "She'll get over it."

"I don't know…" T.K. gave a casual shrug. "The last time she called me by my formal name, I spent a whole week apologizing."

Tai felt his eye twitch. "Alright, you've made your point, Takeru."

"I gotta be honest, Tai. You're nowhere near as scary as an angry Mimi."

"Don't you have to figure out how to get us home?"

"Yeah, but we're kinda stumped," Patamon answered, deflating a little bit.

"Gatomon didn't have any clues?" Agumon asked.

"She thought it might be either resolve or having a clear mind." Patamon paused to stroke his chin. "Or maybe even both. If she did crack it, it might not have been until she had to send us here."

"Too bad resolve and clear minds aren't in surplus right now." Tai turned around and leaned back against the fence.

"Yeah, but I've had worse days," T.K. offered optimistically.

"Yeah…" Tai raised an eyebrow. "You haven't really been thrown off by having Akira around, huh?"

"Less than you have, at least," Patamon added with a giggle.

"Don't push his luck." Tai pointed a finger in the Rookie's direction.

"Akira's a good kid," T.K. said, more genuine honesty in his voice. "Plus, thinking about it, I like the idea of getting to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. I guess knowing there's at least one future worth fighting for makes me want to fight for all of them."

Tai didn't say anything in response, instead looking forward again. As much as his instincts were to give T.K. a hard time sometimes, it was hard to keep up when he said stuff like that. Even narrowing his focus to whatever T.K.'s relationship with Kari might end up being, a more rational part of his brain told him to let it go. After all, Tai had asked T.K. to look after a sick Kari one time seven years ago, and he hadn't stopped protecting her since, so that earned him a small amount of credit.

"Oh!" Patamon broke their silence. "I think we're on the right track!"

Turning on the spot, Tai found the white and wavy energy they were becoming more familiar with radiating off of Patamon. The Celestial looked himself over, flexing his wings as the energy reacted to his movements.

"Can you use it?" Ken asked as he took a step closer.

"Maybe. I-" Patamon cut himself off and looked outward. "I feel something. Some out of place rippley effect, coming this way."

"We know what that means," Tai said, not needing more incentive than that to get back to work.

Not knowing all that much about Shinjuku, Mari stuck to the middle of the group as they moved from Henry's apartment to the park. Of course, the walk was long enough that she questioned why she was even tagging along. She was the weak link in this chain, and thinking about it, the only reason they probably hadn't left her behind was so she didn't mess something up while they weren't watching her. Little did they know that she would find a way to make things worse for them by being here.

Mari wouldn't get a chance to warn them before they reached the end of their path. There, scattered around the steps leading to a utility shed, the rest of their group stood waiting for them. Sora, of course having picked a spot at the top of the stairs so she could watch over everyone, saw them coming. She didn't say anything, but Mari felt her eyes on her, even when she herself looked away.

"We learn anything new?" Terriermon called from his partner's shoulder as he waved up at them.

The red dinosaur digimon sniffed the air. "The Argomon don't smell like they've gotten any closer or farther."

"We're also not sure if it's just them we're contending with," added the bipedal fox digimon.

"Do we have any kind of plan yet?" asked red-haired girl with a ponytail. This had to be Rika, if Mari had been forced to make a guess.

"It's stupid!" Yolei snapped as swung a frustrated kick at the nearest tree. "We still don't know that much about them."

"Just that they're fast and coordinated," Joe added, though much calmer.

"Are they psychic or something?" asked the boy with yellow goggles. Based on descriptions so far, this was Takato.

"N-Not really," Mari found herself saying without thinking, thoughts not even complete yet. "They just… don't think that much."

Her voice had been low, but everyone had heard. Mari picked at her fingernails and questioned why she bothered to open her mouth as all eyes slowly gravitated towards her.

"How's that?" Joe was the one to ask.

"There's only the one Argomon." Mari paused, taking an extra second to realize that everyone was expecting a better answer. "The rest aren't even really alive. Just controlled by him."

"Does that meant the big guy's here?" Davis asked eagerly.

"Not n-necessarily," Mari said quickly, trying her best to keep up with everyone. "He can give them commands, kinda like they're robots or something like that."

"How does he manage that?" Henry questioned.

"Dragomon…" Mari's eyes were alternating between the ground and the people around her by this point. "His minions form contracts with him, giving them special powers or just making them stronger if that's what they want."

"So, what?" Terriermon tilted his head. "They sell their souls to get ahead?"

"That actually all adds up though," Yolei said enthusiastically as she moved back to the group's center.

"Yeah, but what do we do with that info?" Rika put forward.

"Well, it's a start," Sora said as walked down to the foot of the stairs. "Good job, Mari."

"I…" Mari couldn't bring herself to look back up at her. "I didn't do anything. I'm just repeating what Salamon told us."

"Still, it's information we needed," Sora replied, in the same warm and supportive tone that Mari always heard whenever she made a mistake, the one she had never deserved in the first place.

"It's not like it helped any time we've had to fight them." Mari wrapped her arms around herself, to keep them from shaking.

"You can't sell yourself short like that."

"I'm not. I just…" Mari had to pause to swallow the lump in her throat. "I know I'm not gonna be any good to you guys here. You don't have to pretend otherwise."

"Mari-"

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Mari finally looked back up, finding disappointment on Sora's face that was more in line with what she deserved.

Mari sat herself on the bottom step, the only reaction to her movement she noticed being Gabumon following her. The information wouldn't help, if anything her forgetting to share earlier had cost the group time they could have had to make use of it. Now everyone else would scramble, and because of Mari, their fates would end up the same as their future selves.

While the warehouse in front of them was notably less intimidating than Myotismon's castle, Gatomon wasn't about to take it any more lightly. If anything, how inconspicuous it was set off a whole new set of red flags. No signs of Bakemon or any other digimon just meant there was no way of assessing the danger inside from their current position.

"What should we do?" Armadillomon asked. They hadn't been sitting in this dark corner for long, though there was a clear eagerness to strike from some of them.

"Waiting for the others would make this easier," Angoramon suggested.

"Except those kids need us now," Ruli countered. She took a single step away from the group with her eyes on the building, likely trying to decide on the best entrance.

"I vote that we wait," Cody said diplomatically. "We don't know enemy numbers or how well defended the inside is."

Ruli turned back around, not looking discouraged. "We don't know if we can wait that long."

"What do you think, Mommy?" Akira asked, so far the calmest of them all.

Gatomon turned to her partner, who hadn't said much since they had gotten here. Kari looked to the boy, expression muted aside from her eyes, which were wide with concern. Looking back to the warehouse, she was clearly conflicted, though that didn't mean the choice she would ultimately make wasn't obvious.

"I've been in these kids' position," Kari said without taking her eyes off the building. "Their safety should be our priority."

"If it helps, I can go in first," Gatomon offered, sharing her partner's vote. "If these Bakemon really were pulled directly from Myotismon's castle, then I might be able to get them to let their guard down."

"Meanwhile, we'll get into position," Ruli added, eyes now on the warehouse's roof.

Leaving them to do just that, Gatomon began skirting along the outside of the building, watching for the most subtle entrance possible. She had already spent a significant amount of the journey to this building trying to guess at all the different combinations of enemies that might be waiting for them, including having to face a past version of herself. Once her line of thought switched from how she would talk down a version of her who hadn't met Kari yet to how she could probably handily overpower said variant, however, Gatomon had let herself stop trying to predict what was waiting for them. Besides, she was about to get that answer.

Stopping at a window on the ground floor, Gatomon jumped onto the still to peer inside, finding only empty office space. After checking the window and confirming it was locked, she picked a spot on the glass and dug a single one of her claws into it, tracing a circle. Once done, she poked out the circle so that she could reach inside and undo the lock.

Upon stepping inside, she kept all her senses wide open. The initial area was quiet and still, though once beyond that, it wasn't long until she started hearing voices.

"When do you think he'll be back?"

"Meh, wasn't my turn to watch him."

Peaking out from the crate she had ducked behind, Gatomon found a pair of Bakemon lounging in a dark corner. She made it a point exercise restraint, not wanting fall back on the raw instinct she had felt with the first Bakemon. These two could still be useful.

Gatomon cleared her throat. "What are you brainless morons up to?"

"Gatomon?" The first Bakemon turned immediately, genuine shock on his face. "Where have you been?"

"Looking for you lot," Gatomon answered venomously and assertively as she marched forward. The demeanor she often maintained in her former life didn't come back as naturally as she thought it would, which she didn't know how to feel about. Either way, these two were hopefully too dense to notice.

"I didn't think that she cared," the second Bakemon commented under his breath, though the first didn't react.

"Things got a little weird when we followed Lord Myotismon through the portal," he explained. "When we made it to the other side, there was no sign of Phantomon or any of the others."

"But you continued your mission?" Gatomon questioned, so far most of her assumptions had been proven true.

"We figured we might as well," the second picked up. "We still had one of those tag things for detecting the Digidestined brat we're looking for, plus once Lord Myotismon found us-"

"Myotismon is here?" Gatomon asked loudly and suddenly, though more to just get their attention. After all, she had known this was a possibility.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Take me to him." Gatomon took the last steps forward and jabbed the Bakemon with her claw. "Now."

The pair exchanged a shrug before motioning for her to follow. Gatomon did so, diligently but not over-eagerly. Again, all her senses were on alert, looking for any advantage she could glean. Regardless of whether or not her charade worked, she was about to be surrounded by enemies and would need to be able to react quickly.

The area the Bakemon led her to was larger and slightly more open, with a notable lack of artificial light, likely to keep from drawing attention to the building. The skylights let in a decent amount of natural light, though, allowing Gatomon to count at least another dozen Bakemon. One seemed to be giving orders to a few others, waving around a claw with the previously mentioned copy of the Crest of Light tied around it.

"Look who we found, Master," one of the Bakemon declared.

Her guides stopped in place, making a show of presenting her to their master. Or at least was what they thought.

Gatomon hesitated, and not for the reason she had assumed she would. At first glance, it was plain that she was looking at Myotismon, currently sat upon an improvised throne. He didn't react much to her presence, and neither did the two digimon on either side of him that she didn't recognize. The first, a wolf digimon with bat wings draped over his shoulders and eyes and metallic blades for claws, sat obediently at the foot of Myotismon's throne. The second, a humanoid digimon with red pants and blades of his own in the place of a face and appendages, casually sat on top of a crate behind the other two.

Not that any of these oddities were necessary to tell Gatomon what she was looking at. Again, digimon recognized each other on a different level. She glanced at the surrounding Bakemon briefly, to reconfirm they were who they said they were. Having been settling into her new Celestial abilities little by little, she noted how out of place they looked and felt as they moved about the place, clearly not belonging in this reality. This Myotismon and his two lackeys, on the other hand, seemed almost mundane by comparison. Even without that aid, Gatomon questioned how the Bakemon hadn't picked up on how they were answering to a fraud.

The answer came in the form of a brief haze filling her head, which Gatomon quickly shook off. Looking up and finding this Myotismon's eyes glowing a faint red, he was clearly attempting to make use of some hypnotic powers. Gatomon credited her immunity to her former slaver, though was unsure if that was specifically due to having loaded his core data or the gag reflex that anything that reminded her of him caused.

With all this and the failed hypnosis out in the open, Gatomon saw not point in keeping up her performance. She stood on her hind legs and crossed her front paws, glaring upwards to make her point.

"Well, you're no fun at all," "Myotismon" said apathetically. He lifted a hand and snapped his fingers, causing all the surrounding Bakemon to fall asleep.

"Who are you?" Gatomon asked, though only interested in the question as a means to buy her friends a couple more seconds to get ready.

"I feel I should be asking you that." Myotismon leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his clasped fists.

"I'm here for the children."

"Oh, them?"

With barely a gesture from Myotismon, the humanoid digimon unlatched the crate he was sitting on. The door swung open, with just enough light to reveal seven children, none of them any older than nine. They seemed thin and pale, with puncture marks on each of their necks with traces of dried blood around the wounds.

Gatomon felt her hair stand on end and claws become tense. These children were alive, but somehow that didn't feel like a consolation. In a way, this was just bad as what she had expected to find, potentially even worse.

"I'm afraid I still have use for them," Myotismon stated.

"Keeping them alive is becoming a bit of a pain, though," the humanoid digimon added, mild annoyance in his voice.

"The unfortunate price of power, Matadormon."

It was their callousness that set Gatomon off, regardless of any similarities or differences to the Myotismon she had known. Not willing to let their disregard for the childrens' lives stand, she pounced without waiting to think about the consequences.

"What a bother…" Myotismon said with a sigh. "Sangloupmon?"

With the wolf diving to intercept her, Gatomon didn't want to take the chance that his claws weren't chrome digizoid. She pivoted in midair, swinging her tail around as Sangloupmon moved to slash at her. Her tail ring lit up, her attacker being parried as a result. Using what momentum she had left, Gatomon diverted, landing on her feet.

A crash resonated overhead, all eyes looking up at the now shattered skylight. Angoramon came crashing downward, with Ruli attached to his back.

"Ms. Tsukiyono…" Myotismon said as he sat up straighter.

"You?" Ruli shot back as she dismounted her partner.

"You know him?" Gatomon asked, though kept an eye on Sangloupmon as he started to slowly circle her.

"We thought he was dead," Ruli clarified, an assumption and sentiment that Gatomon couldn't help but find mildly amusing.

"As if that pitiful lizard could stop me." Myotismon raised his voice slightly, a minor crack in his calm and collected persona.

"What are you even up to?" Ruli's eyes bounced between the vampire digimon and the children he had on display.

"Your and your friends' actions have made it difficult to rebuild what I lost." Myotismon stood, gesturing to warehouse around him. "Try as we might to recruit, most digimon in this city refuse to act against you. At least, that was until my new charges appeared."

"The Bakemon were looking for a kid, so we decided to help them," Matadormon clarified, though he stayed on his perch.

"As you're aware, children with connections to digimon hold untapped power," Myotismon explained as though he knew anything about what he was speaking of. "Their blood will give us that power."

"You're disgusting!" Ruli shouted back.

"You ignorant fool," Gatomon hissed. "You'll never have the power of that bond."

"We'll see." Myotismon snapped his fingers again, reawakening the Bakemon. "My minions, eliminate these intruders."

Gatomon was already in motion before the order was given, ready to respond to any and all the Bakemon if need be. She saw Ruli in the corner of her eye, the girl's hand hovering over her V-Bracelet in a brief moment of indecision. Ruli looked towards the kids, then moved her hand away from her digivice.

"Angoramon, the kids!" she ordered.

"As soon as I'm able," Angoramon replied after punching away a Bakemon. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait much longer for his moment.

The nearest roll-up door was suddenly smashed inward, the culprit charging inside and scattering the Bakemon.

"Comin' through!" Ankylomon called out, stopping in the middle of the fray.

Gatomon dodged another of Sangloupmon's strikes, this time countering by driving one of her paw into the side of his head. She then turned back to the entrance, just in time to see Kari and Cody sprint inside.

"Kari, we need to-!"

Gatomon's suggestion never reached her partner. In the fraction of a second she had let her guard down, Myotismon was on top of her. The height difference between them meant that his kick easily connected with her head, sending her flying backwards at a pillar, which she hit with the back of her head.

Even with the back-to-back blows to her head, Gatomon never completely lost consciousness, though everything did become a bit fuzzier for a few moments. The next thing that she was able to actually register was Kari picking her up and carrying her out of the middle of the fight.

Trying to focus her vision, Gatomon caught Ankylomon deflecting one of Matadormon's strikes with his shell, and following up by slamming his tail into evil digimon and sending him flying.

The next thing she knew, the seven children were gathered up and being transported out via Ankylomon and Angoramon. With that relief, Gatomon was almost willing to let herself fall unconscious as things resolved themselves.

"Akira!" Kari called out, breaking this delusion.

Gatomon's eyes were wide open again, first noticing one of the seven children had gotten separated from the group, either having fallen off of Ankylomon or had tried to walk on their own despite their weakened condition. Of course, Kari's attention was on Akira, who had sprinted back to save this child. He propped this child up, then gave him a shove when the few Bakemon that still had their wits about them started swarming.

Most unfortunate of all, though, was that one of these Bakemon was the one clutching the fake Crest of Light. Once hovering over Akira, the tag began to glow, and the Bakemon's eyes went wide.

"Master, it's him!"

Gatomon felt no resistance from Kari as she pushed out of her arms and ran back into the fight, and she was sure her partner was running right behind despite her headache still dulling her senses. Neither would end up being fast enough.

The Bakemon backed off as a swarm of bats engulfed Akira. The swarm then flew upward, disappearing through the broken skylight and into the night.

The rest of the minions scattered in different directions, though everyone seemed to range from too stunned to too distracted to do anything about it. Within seconds, the warehouse was silent, and Gatomon's headache seemed to fade as the gravity of what had just happened settled on her.