Digimon 1. Chapter 1: Before the Dawn

**The idea of this story is for a classic style of Digimon, so basically Digidestined travel to the Digital World and try to save it and so on – it's slightly more complex than that, but that's the general concept. To be clear on the background of this fic, this includes only the original eight Digidestined from Digimon Adventure; the Adventure 02 characters (with the obvious exceptions of T.K. and Kari) are not included in any way and nothing after the final episode of the original series occurred. Beyond this I'll provide no other story details, so you'll just need to read on and bear with me. This is intended to be the longest story I have written yet, so this could well go on for a long time. If you're willing to stick with me for however long this takes, then I hope I can give you something you'll enjoy reading.**

Summers can be long times in our lives, but they also often go quicker than we would like. Some use it to rest. Others find time to catch up on what the other seasons have taken away from them. But all, in one way or another, for the longest or shortest of times, find just a little bit of adventure in the summer months. One person's adventure may be grand in their undertaking, epic in scope, while others may go unnoticed by all but the traveller, whose journeys may only take place within their own imagination. But there were never more than a select few, a mere handful that could say they had ventured beyond this world, much less having become heroes to beings most of humanity would never meet. That summer four years ago, for them more than anyone else, had truly been a time of adventure. It was recollections of this time, among many other cares and worries, which kept Tai Kamiya awake one warm July morning.

The sixteen year old sighed as he rolled to his side, his brown eyes itching with tiredness, and glanced at his digital alarm clock that shone a burning red through the darkness of his room. 3 A.M. Groaning, he rolled onto his back once again, running both hands through his thick and impossibly large head of chocolate brown hair. He had resisted droves of nagging from his mother to cut it back over the past couple of years, but even through his obstinance he could he could feel himself growing less and less fond of his hairstyle, which was described by many, quite literally, as more like a bush than a hairdo.

What the hell is going on, he asked himself, moving his hands down to mercifully rub his tired eyes while releasing an aching yawn that exemplified his fatigue. Sleep was not normally something he had any trouble achieving. Of all the people he knew, few were known to be able to drop off into a state of rough and dishevelled unconsciousness quite as fast and irretrievably as he could. Indeed, the family cat, Miko, had once caused an electronic birthday card to fall open right beside Tai's head, bleating out its high pitched well wishes at a level so shrill it instilled in the feline an enduring and rather comic loathing, resulting in it hissing menacingly at every card that subsequently entered the Kamiya household. Tai remembered that his parents had been woken up by it from the other side of the apartment and had come in to find him still sound asleep, none the wiser to what had happened.

This night, however, was the first since that summer four years before where he could not bring himself to fall asleep. Unlike all those years ago, however, he was not in another world entirely, fighting monsters with his now closest friends. There were eight of them, named by prophecy as the Digidestined, who travelled for the most part inadvertently to another dimension they came to know as the Digital World, composed of and inhabited by beings constructed by data, which as best they could tell was a shadow version of their own world. Seven of them had been sucked into that realm from the summer camp they had attended together and each had met one of the creatures from this unfamiliar world, called digital monsters or digimon for short, who had become their partners in the battles and quests they were to undertake. Their eighth member had been Tai's own little sister, Kari, who had joined them later when they had returned to Earth to thwart an invasion by one of their most deadly adversaries, the vampiric digimon, Myotismon.

Tai frowned as he recalled these times, which had returned to him with a unique and haunting sharpness despite his weary state. His own partner, a small orange dinosaur named Agumon, reminiscent of a miniature Tyrannosaurus, had become perhaps his best friend in the months they had spent together, never really spending any time apart. Tai's own courage and life force had been used to allow the small digimon to evolve temporarily, in a process called digivolution, to higher levels of great and destructive power in order to defeat the enemies that threatened them as well as the safety of both the Digital World and their own dimension, which they referred to variably as the Real World or simply as Earth. Tai had not seen Agumon since that summer. After they had defeated their ultimate adversary, the deranged and relentless engine of destruction called Apocalymon, the gateway between both worlds was sealed, the digimon and humans returning permanently to their respective homes for good. The brown haired teenager had once said that the day must eventually come when the Digidestined and their friends and partners would be reunited; four years later he doubted those words.

These memories of adventures past were not all that kept him from finally entering a world of dreams, however; the life of a teenager was not quite so simple. Indeed, his home of Odaiba, Japan, had entered a new summer season, with school having only the week before released its students, mercifully, from the drudgery of study for what was hoped to be a holiday which would not end before they had had their fill of fun and rest. Traditionally, Tai had no trouble filling his time during the long summer breaks. Being the athletic type, with a lean muscled frame to match, he had always devoted his greatest attention to sports, which he played non-stop whether competitive or casual. His great love, soccer, was the pursuit which consumed the vast majority of his free time. A rising star to be sure, his tanned skin, lightening agility and deadly accurate kick were all testaments to the countless hours he spent outside on the pitch. The mere thought of the weeks of freedom before him sent a buzz through his body and an explosion of nerves in his brain, heralding the mass enjoyment he saw on the horizon. Sadly, these waking dreams of leisure only brought forward matching feelings of gloom as he lay there staring pensively into the darkness surrounding him.

The life he led after returning from his digital adventure was such that it was difficult to imagine the world as being any different to what he knew best. Change had not been a kind influence, as it was now encroaching on that with which he defined himself. The proficiency of youth, one was quick to discover, can prove illusory and exaggerated in the segregation of the talented from each other. The best in little league would often encounter struggles as they moved up, facing competition unknown to them in their sealed off worlds of childish ignorance.

In recent months, Tai had experienced just this. As he had moved up in leagues, he found those against which he had to play, and even certain teammates, outclassed the kids he used to run circles around and had given him a rude awakening from his unenlightened hubris. For years he had seen an uncontested professional career ahead of him in the sport, but now the more he played and the more rivals he discovered, the less he allowed himself to believe in those dreams. Like a parasite the doubt had gnawed away inside him for weeks and months, sapping the shining optimism he held at his core. It was infuriating to acknowledge limits you could not see before, something that still flushed his mind with frustration at the mere thought of it, that moment being no exception.

Unconsciously, the teen threw his right arm out to his bedside table, groping around over the scratched wooden surface and over the alarm clock in search of something. Finally finding the cool square of metal he was after, he grabbed a hold and retracted the arm, bringing the object above him and before his upturned eyes. The picture frame was old but, unlike most of Tai's property, was well cared for with barely a blemish along its steel coloured edges and without a single smudge on its glass face.

Staring back at him in the darkness he found a younger version of himself, thirteen or fourteen perhaps, but it was not the wild haired, grass stained, red faced boy in his soccer jersey that drew his attention. Instead it was the similarly dressed, but perhaps even more dishevelled girl that stood beside his younger self that held his gaze. With crimson eyes, orange-red hair and a smile of pure and unmitigated glee, Sora Takenouchi stood before the camera, arm in arm with her best friend of the time following one of the many memorable victories the pair had experienced on the field; if Tai remembered correctly, they had won the game that preceded the picture nine-nil.

His best friend then, and he hoped still, had been the one person Tai had ever felt comfortable accepting as an athletic rival, which she had even once, after some sweet talking, managed to get him to admit. Far more than an athlete, however, she was a fellow Digidestined who he had known since preschool. While initially not on the best terms, which may have had something to do with an incident involving a severe bout of nausea and her hat, by the time they entered the Digital World they were fast friends who had bonded over their mutual love of soccer. If only that common ground still existed between them, he mused sombrely as he continued to stare at the years old image of her. They were still good friends, but life had a way of getting between them.

It had all, in fact, started with the Digital World. Sora's originally rocky relationship with her mother had started on the road to recovery during that very summer. If not for the trials they had gone through, fighting and evolving as they went, such improvement might not have been possible. While Tai was happy for her, the unfortunate catch was a shift in the girl's lifestyle, away from her passions of old. Where once she had played soccer with him in the junior mixed leagues, backing each other up in a coordinated striker partnership, Sora had since found another pursuit with her mother's growing presence in her life. It turned out that both of Sora's parents had been keen tennis players in their youth, and apparently it was on the court that the two first met. At first it had been a bonding exercise for the girl and her parents, but she had quickly taken to the game, leaving soccer permanently for it now just over a year ago. Tai had needed to switch to an all male league for his hoped for career anyway, but the lack of the familiar blur of orange as she darted around the field with him was a loss he still harboured painfully in his heart.

It was not only a shift in sport that weighed on their relationship. School was demanding more and more of their time as they advanced in years and, like the road they walked had confronted them with a fork, they had chosen vastly different subjects which left them with no shared classes. Her interest in the humanities was far removed from his preference for, although far from love of, the sciences. As a sardonic sidenote, he thought that if only they had nothing to do with mathematics he might actually like the subjects, and achieve admirable marks for that matter. Regardless, the vicissitudes of life had drawn the two apart somewhat. Where once they had spent time with each other every day, it was now more like every other day.

In truth this divergence had been happening slowly for years, ever since they returned from the Digital World four years before. It was only now, however, that it was obvious. Finally replacing the photo frame on his bedside table, Tai wondered bitterly whether or not things could have been different. Would this growing gap between them be so great if he had been smart enough to see all of this coming, he pondered as he rhythmically clenched and relaxed his right fist, the crack of knuckles and the friction of his skin against itself the only sounds to break the silence of his dark abode. Like every time he started down this path of hypotheticals, however, the only conclusions he reached were indictments of his own thoughtlessness. Now that the rift had widened he drew nothing but blanks on how to fix it. He only hoped that she felt the same squeezing of her heart, the same tension in her gut that he felt during the gradually lengthening periods in which they did not see each other. Though, given the cheer and light-heartedness she was prone to exuding, he very much doubted that.

As these thoughts of sullenness and self-deprecation compiled, Tai's breathing deepened. Soon the faint sounds of his hand clenching were drowned out by the aggressive drawing and expelling of air through his nose as the blood rushed to his head in a fleeting flush of anger and resentment. Spontaneously he brought his hands quickly to his head and ruffled his hair violently, as if trying to shake his skull clean of the plague on his psyche, only coming to a stop when his arms began to tire. Panting, Tai sat up in bed. His eyes still itched as they had before, but no longer did he feel weary. Standing up, he mentally declared that he was thirsty, quashing the train of thought that had progressively tortured him all morning.

His mind reassigned its concentrations to ensuring he made as little noise as possible as he tiptoed carefully out of his room to the kitchen, just down the hall. His reward for such caution was a full glass of chilled water which slicked and cooled his throat, cleansing his mind momentarily as it focused on the quenching of his thirst. It was only as the cold water settled in his stomach and radiated its iciness throughout his body that it occurred to him how warm the inside of the apartment was. Wiping the back of his wrist across his forehead, Tai found he had broken a sweat without realising it in the modest heat of a mid-summer morning.

Placing his emptied glass gingerly in the sink, making only the smallest of noises, he leaned heavily upon the kitchen counter, looking through the adjoined living area and out the glass door that led to the balcony. The stars outside flickered like distant lanterns in a cloudless black sky with the moon nowhere to be seen, no doubt shining on the other side of the building at that hour. Tai's eyes had been adjusted to the darkness for hours, yet the grey and shadow that coloured the apartment interior was no less inviting. Reluctantly, and with a sigh, he shuffled into the living area and seated himself lankly on the soft, but aged couch. There was little chance he would be falling asleep in his own bed that night.

As he sat in silence, Tai would periodically rap himself gently on the skull with his middle three knuckles, trying to drive away a resurgence of his prior obsessions. After the passing of a quarter of an hour, he laid his head back over the top of the couch, his neck arching to curve around its apex. Would nothing grant him the mercy of sleep that morning, he softly asked of no one in particular with his deep yet still boyish voice. He was to answer his own question with what he next caught sight of.

From his inverted viewpoint he could see, out from under the door to the spare room, a faint flicker of bluish white light which advanced and retreated in an erratic stutter. Swivelling so that he was right side up and kneeling on the couch, Tai peered with a now overriding curiosity at the sputtering luminosity, unsure at first of what to make of it. His mind, however, soon settled on the conclusion that the family computer must have been on. With a groan he laid his head down against the thin, coarse fabric of the back of the couch. Kari must still have been up.

"Damn it sis, not again." he groaned lowly, his voice barely rising above a whisper.

He slid backwards from his crouching position onto his feet and, careful to avoid making noise, he slinked over towards the door to the spare room. Tai's sister, Kari, three years his junior, was known to his and her friends, though thankfully not their parents, for staying up at all hours on the computer whenever she had nothing on the following day. Since she had been granted her own room a little under a year ago her habits had largely ceased to rise to his attention. Said room had once been intended to house guests, but as no one who actually needed their own room had stayed at the Kamiya's in years it was decided that Kari might as well have it. Still, Tai could remember the long nights when they had still shared what was now solely his bedroom, where he would quietly nag her to get off the internet and go to sleep on the bottom of their old bunk bed, as he refused to leave the young girl awake without his supervision. Tai had since moved from the top to the bottom, but he would sometimes return to his old mattress if for no other reason than to see if it still felt the same.

Kari had since been granted greater freedom by their parents and, somewhat begrudgingly, by Tai himself, a freedom she was keen to argue for whenever she felt her older brother was being too pushy. Having separate bedrooms had proven an excellent way of keeping him out of her business, and Tai had a sneaking suspicion that was what their parents intended when they made that decision. Nevertheless, while he accepted her desire for more leeway, this early in the morning was pushing it.

He came to a stop just outside the door. If he had to guess, Tai would have said, with great confidence, that Kari would have been using the computer to chat online with her best friend, T.K. The blond kid was also a Digidestined and had been the only other person his sister's age on their adventure. Needless to say, they became fast friends and had remained in constant contact ever since, even before the boy had moved to Odaiba from across the bay. The dedication of the two was impressive, Tai mused; most others would not have had the drive to stay so close. As a bitter afterthought, he could not help but think of his own track record of keeping up with friends, an unpleasant comparison to make for sure.

Knowing that the door creaked, Tai slowly but surely pushed the door open, his hand so steady on the doorknob it was like he thought the smallest twitch might cause a crash and wake the entire apartment complex. After a few painful seconds, with the gap wide enough, Tai poked his head through the doorway and into the room, his disapproving big brother voice at the ready.

"Kari, c'mon it's after three-" he began to say but stopped short when he caught sight of who it really was in the spare room.

It was indeed the computer that had been shining the flickering light under the door, and its brightness illuminated the walls of the otherwise pitch black room. It created an eerie, light grey resonance upon the room, revealing everything but the colour of the objects inside. There was an overt insipidness to everything but the figure that stood facing his no doubt stunned face.

"Hello Tai," the person said, "it's been quite some time since I last saw you."

If the teenager could have seen himself, he would have seen his eyes bulge and his mouth hang open. Out of shock, he retracted his head a few inches, only to bang his chin against the door with a dull thud. Biting his tongue, he resisted the urge to swear as the momentary throbs of pain were felt along his lower jaw. This trauma was quickly forgotten, however, as Tai's attention returned swiftly to the uninvited, though not unwelcome, house guest.

"Gennai!?" Tai whispered loudly, entering the spare room fully while switching on the light and closing the door behind him, "What… I don't… How did… What!?"

The little old man merely smiled back at him as he spluttered out what words he could manage, or at least he thought it was a smile as the man's long, bushy white moustache mostly covered his lips.

Gennai was an old friend of the Digidestined's from their days in the Digital World, and had been a guide and advisor of sorts. He was human in appearance, but he was a denizen of the other world. Whether or not he was a digimon or something else entirely was a matter of which they had never really been sure of. His appearance was that of a short, elderly man; shorter than Tai was even at age twelve. He wore a coat of sorts, coloured midnight blue with a soft red outline and covers on his shoulders. Holding the coat closed was a thick brown belt, along with straps of the same colour which connected to the red pads that covered his shoulders. The only hair on his head was a blank, aged white, the same as his moustache, and was tied in a ponytail that emanated from the crown of his skull. Tai had never thought he would see those features again, especially since the closing of the gate between the two worlds four years ago which had cut Gennai of from them, but there he was standing in front of him. What did that say about the connection between Earth and the Digital World, he wondered.

"Gennai, it's great to see you after all these years and everything, but…" Tai exasperatedly tried to articulate himself, trying not to be rude, but Gennai had long guessed what he would say.

"But, what am I doing inside your home at three-thirty in the morning, and how did I get here?" the old man finished Tai's sentence for him. The teenager simply nodded, holding his mouth firmly shut, not wanting to miss what he was about to be told.

The warm smile that Gennai had worn only moments before was now gone, and it was only now that Tai noticed some of the differences from the digital being of old. Gennai was a visibly wrinkled person, as Tai had remembered him, but even with that in mind the digital man looked like he had aged even further since they had last seen each other. Gennai had always had a slightly hunched posture, but now the curvature of his upper back and neck looked more like the result of weariness. His fair skin had lost some of what little colour it had had to begin with. His arms hung limply by his sides and his knees were noticeably bent, putting him into a sort of half crouching position, as though he was having trouble supporting himself while standing. This was a changed being from the Gennai that he had known.

"I won't try to dress this up nicely for you, Tai." he said to the young Digidestined, his voice now much heavier than when he had greeted the teenager, "The Digital World requires your aid once again. As to the how, your computer here was my portal."

They were needed. Tai had not anticipated that, but as he thought about it he wondered what else he had really expected to hear. Breaking through that first threshold of thought, he felt a flood of feelings, but also questions, rush within his mind. His first flash was of Agumon and of the years he had waited for the opportunity to see him again, but this was quickly overtaken with an underlying foreboding by the unknown content of Gennai's proposed mission. The old man had not even said what it was that necessitated the Digidestined's assistance. If it were anything like their original trials, danger would be a key ingredient.

Tai's mind could not dwell on these fears, however, as they were quickly displaced, as they themselves had overtaken other concerns, by thoughts of his fellow chosen children; chosen teenagers by this stage, for the sake of accuracy. The Kamiya boy could only half remember the last time all eight of them were together, some two or three months ago. Forgetting momentarily the perils they would be sure to face, the thought of them working together again as a team, as they had in the old days, was an idea that lifted his spirits in the deadened glow of the room. There was one other intruding thought that forced its way into his purview of recognition, however.

"Wait, so you can come to our world through computers? Why haven't you been able to do it before?" he questioned, his voice a little higher than he had intended. Tai did not want to think it of his old acquaintance, but that first contact between the worlds in four years should coincide with a moment of need for one of the other seemed a little convenient. For his part, Gennai maintained his expression, not faltering in the slightest. Taking a deep breath, he started what Tai hoped was an explanation.

"It's something I've been working on for some time. It's difficult to explain." he uttered evenly, without any sign of either guilt or offence, "Put simply, our world is comprised of data, and it seemed to me as though Earth's computers, being able store and transfer data, could be the key to allowing passage between here and the Digital World."

Tai just stood there, his head heavy with what he had been told. He understood little of how everything fit together, though the basic concept was simple enough. That did not answer his question entirely, though, but Gennai seemed to be aware of that as he opened his mouth to continue.

"If I'm perfectly honest with you, I had not devoted my strongest efforts to developing the gateway. But, with my world as it is now, as you say here on Earth, desperation breeds innovation."

Desperation? Just how bad had the Digital World become in their absence? Tai was satisfied, at least for the time being, by what Gennai had told him. Now the elephant in the room had regained his attention.

"The details are perhaps better shared with all of your comrades together, but suffice it to say that the Digital World is experiencing a war of sorts." Gennai revealed dimly, causing Tai's ears to prick up.

"A war? Like the time we fought against Myotismon or the Dark Masters?" the Digidestined enquired, unsure of what to make of it all.

"Not exactly." was Gennai's simple reply.

A raised eyebrow was all that Tai could manage, but the old man had seen his expression and seemed to be unwilling to speak more on the matter. Details would apparently have to wait until the entire team was back together. That presented its own problems, however. As if anticipating the issue, Gennai offered a query.

"Will there be any problems assembling everyone?"

For the most part they were fine, Tai thought, but the absence of just one from the country was enough to inspire frustration. One of the eight, Mimi Tachikawa, was the daughter of a rather eccentric couple, to say the least, which was attended by the fact that her father's job had turned the family into globetrotters of sorts. They had spent much of the past four years overseas including three different US states, Singapore and, currently, Berlin in Germany. The only times they ever saw Mimi anymore were during her brief, often week long visits back to Odaiba every year or so. How exactly this was going to work was more than Tai wanted to deal with at that hour, though.

"Mostly it should be OK, but Mimi's not even in Japan at the moment. She's on the other side of the world right now." Tai informed Gennai, his head starting to fill with a familiar stress.

"Can you contact her?" the digital man asked flatly, obviously not perturbed by such information.

"Well, sure…" Tai replied blankly.

"Then it all should be fine." Gennai said somewhat brightly, "But that is something that is best left for morning, I'm sure."

Tai made to argue but a feeling of heaviness was slowly creeping over him and he found himself agreeing with the suggestion to leave things be until a more natural light illuminated the apartment. But before he allowed himself to be taken away by this feeling there was one final remaining question.

"Er, Gennai, what are you going to do in the meantime?" he asked, holding a yawn at bay at the base of his throat.

"Do you have a spare bed by any chance? It would be best for me to remain in your world until you Digidestined are able to follow me back." the old man stated simply.

Tai let out a small grunt and he turned slowly to face the door out into the main apartment. Providing accommodation had not been something he had had in mind.

"Follow me. You can have the bottom bunk of my bed." he offered, but not without some annoyance, "Just turn off the computer first."

The last thing he needed was for his parents to walk in and find some stranger in their son's room. The fact that they had never personally met Gennai was not lost on the Kamiya boy. Still, there was a higher duty enlivened now, so there was little choice in the matter.

As the flickering light of the computer died, Tai led Gennai back to his room and, his tiredness now suddenly growing at a faster rate, directed him to the bottom bunk where he had been trying to sleep not long before. He could hardly expect the old man to climb the ladder on the bunk bed, digital being or not, and maybe a change in mattress would be a good thing.

With his now surprisingly quiet guest below him, Tai lay his head back against the cool pillow, staring up at the ceiling, now a little under a metre from his face. Although he knew so little, the enormity of what now faced him stretched out in his mind. His head was heavy with the memories of old, both the dangers and the triumphs, as well as the virtual unknowns of the future. For some reason, however, sleep was to be the victor this time in his mental struggle. After restless hours his eyes finally closed in a merciful embrace of unconsciousness. His parting thought with the waking world for that night was a simple pair of questions. How much had changed and what, if anything, had stayed the same?


	2. Chapter 2: Assembly

**Hello all, here is the second chapter. It's been a while, but I have been flat out for the past month with very little time available for writing. With any luck I'll be able to find a consistent weekly slot during which to write, but I have to caveat that by saying 'no promises'. Thank you to FeistyWolf, WhiteDeath239, Supercooldude64, musiclover981, Trilby1992 and DinoGuy2000 for favouriting/following.**

**To the reviewers:**

**FeistyWolf: Thank you kindly. I'm consciously giving thought to description in this story as oftentimes it lapses as I go on. Hopefully I can manage to stay consistent for the sake of this story because I've actually been sitting on the plotline for a little while.**

**Trilby1992: Thank you very much, and indeed she was.**

**LILFOC: My thanks. I'm not huge fan of the [new] 02 characters (apart from maybe Ken) and I honestly felt like all the originals were robbed of most if not all of their potential for development and meaningful action within the plot. As to the length of time I spent on Tai, I did that with the intention of setting him up as the central character (though certainly not the only person from whose perspective I intend to write). I am still trying to reach a balance in my writing between description and moving the plot along, so my pacing isn't really stellar. Thanks for the critique and I'll try to keep that in mind as I continue with future chapters.**

The cooling shade and the gentle filtering of sunlight through the tree branches bore a comforting nostalgia for Tai as he sat cross-legged in a familiar corner of Odaiba Park. The rays of the mid Saturday afternoon sun projected a kinder warmth than the city had experienced in the previous few days, and Odaiba's children, as well as their sometimes cheery, sometimes exhausted parents, had seized the opportunity to enjoy the bliss of a kinder summer day than that which everyone knew would soon return with all of the insufferable humidity and heat anyone could stand. Looking out at the carefree playfulness of the park's patrons, the Kamiya boy sighed as he wondered whether the plight of the Digital World would once again threaten the way of life of these people with the least control over such perils.

That morning had been perhaps the most frantic in recent memory. Tai had been mercifully spared the embarrassment of having his parents walk into his room to find a mysterious and, to them he was sure, questionable house guest. He had, however, needed to stop his sister from drawing in any unwanted parental attention, as it was she who had entered his bedroom at a little before nine to find Gennai seated calmly on the bottom bunk, where she herself had once resided. She had held off a shriek of surprise, but her frenzied chatter with their old ally had been loud and shrill enough to wake even Tai up, although his sleep had been far from its usual deepness. He could not remember the last time he had awoken and so swiftly jumped into action, dropping down off of the top bunk to exasperatedly implore his sister to lower her voice. Thankfully she needed little convincing, although she spent the next hour and a half apologising for it, which at once frustrated him but also left him with his own feelings of guilt. Whether he had overreacted in his sleep deprived state, he was left unsure and he was unwilling to trouble his little sister about it further as she had at least now seemingly forgotten all about it.

Tai had considered, over the course of that morning, whether he should introduce Gennai to his parents, as the digital man could need somewhere to stay for a few days yet. In the end, though, he decided it would be best to have everyone together and get to the bottom of whatever this war in the Digital World was all about before any such presentations were to take place. With that in mind, it had been a relief when his mother and father had both left to shop for groceries, ensuring they could move Gennai out without running into trouble.

For his part, the old man seemed largely unperturbed by the discretion demanded of him, or the fact that all he had eaten since he had arrived on Earth was a smuggled piece of toast. The Kamiya children would have offered him something more substantial after their mother and father had departed, but all that remained in the apartment was leftovers from the previous night, and they had been in no mood to subject Gennai to that sort of cruel and unusual treatment. Tai's mother, Yuuko, had cooked that night and she was famous, or rather infamous, for her disastrous culinary experimentation. The teenager missed the days where she would stick to the cookbook, because in his earlier years she had proven that she was capable of preparing some rather delicious meals if she did so. Nowadays, however, for a reason Tai was unable to fathom, she almost always insisted on testing some of the most daring, and ridiculous, recipes anyone had ever heard of. Several occasions where she had attempted horrendously to mix vegetables and dessert were the most traumatic in the Kamiya siblings' memories. There were of course a couple of advantages Tai and Kari had as a result, namely that they could both cook and had become perhaps the least fussy eaters either of them knew.

Following their parents departure, it had been easy for Tai and his sister to arrange a meeting for all the Digidestined that afternoon. They had not managed to get onto Mimi in Germany as of yet, but for now the other five would suffice. Each had been shocked by the news of Gennai's arrival and of the troubles of the Digital World, but all had readily agreed to meet. None had hesitated in the slightest, their answers coming fast and firm over the phone. That enthusiasm had proved infectious, with Tai unusually arriving for the meeting a quarter of an hour early and, even in his sedentary state as he sat in the shade of the park's trees, he showed little sign of his lack of sleep from the night before. Clad simply in a blue t-shirt, grey shorts and his trainers, and with Kari and Gennai beside him, it was only now a matter of waiting for their friends to arrive.

"You're being quiet." came his sister's distinctively kind, silvery voice from his right.

Glancing over to her, he smiled calmly at the girl, dressed casually much as he was though with a lighter yellow and beige colour scheme. Her light brown hair, the same colour as his own, hung short and straight, not quite reaching her shoulders. Kari was shorter than Tai, but of an average height for her age, as he reminded himself that she was still just shy of thirteen. She was a thin girl, but she showed little of the frailty of her youth. Those worrisome days were long behind them. Her hazel eyes shone with a familiar mix of the girl's cheerful gentleness, but also her characteristic concern. Those same eyes would flash crimson in the right light, something that reminded him distinctly of someone else. Right now, though, those eyes were expecting an answer.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just outta things to say." Tai told her nonchalantly, maintaining the upward curvature of his lips.

"That's a first." she quipped with a harmless smirk.

He swatted at her playfully, chuckling to himself. The only other noises besides the laughter of the two were the faded cries of playing children elsewhere in the park and the faint whistle of the breeze through the branches above. Everything else seemed miles away for a brief moment. This suspension of time was to cease with the arrival of the first of their friends.

"Hey guys!"

Upon hearing the even but chirpy voice, the Kamiya siblings looked up to see the Digidestined's resident genius and computer whiz, Izzy Izumi, jogging towards them. The skinny fifteen year old was red faced and was lightly panting, but his cheer and excitement could not be hidden as he came to a halt in front of them and bent over briefly to catch his breath. He wore a green t-shirt, but was also wearing a tan pair of trousers, which he was no doubt regretting even in the more muted heat of that afternoon. His close cropped dark red hair lay flat across his head, slightly damp from a modicum of sweat as a single bead of it trailed down the side of his round face. Nevertheless, when he raised his head his dark eyes glimmered with enthusiasm.

Tai was the first to rise to his feet to greet their friend. Standing a head taller than the new arrival, he greeted Izzy with a one-armed hug and a thump on the back, beaming widely at him. Kari was next, but it was when Gennai stood before him that the redhead finally spoke his next words.

"Gennai, I can't believe you're here in our world." he declared hurriedly, an itching curiosity conveyed clearly in his tone, "How did you make the transition between worlds? Has the gate reopened, or has some new transdimensional pathway been created?"

The old man nodded at the second possibility, unfazed by the youth's rushed speech.

"I have already given Tai and Kari here the most basic account, but if there is a moment I will give you more detailed explanation." Gennai assured the boy.

"Haven't even been here for ten seconds and already there's technobabble." a deep yet smooth male voice said from behind them, causing them all to spin around and come face to face with two more of their number.

The words had come from the tall blond, Matt Ishida, who stood there, hands in his pockets, with a softly confident smirk on his face. He was accompanied by a similar looking but slightly shorter, younger blond boy. Perhaps the most noticeable difference of the pair was their outfits. The older blond, for his part, was clad in darker attire, with a black short sleeved collared shirt and maroon trousers, though unlike Izzy he was seemingly unperturbed by a lack of ventilation for his lower legs. The younger boy, on the other hand wore beige coloured shorts and yellow and green patterned t-shirt. The contrast was almost literally one of night and day. Even so, both surveyed the three other Digidestined and Gennai with the same cerulean coloured eyes, both pairs with the most subtle of twinkles in the filtered light.

"T.K.!" Kari chirped happily and she and the younger blond quickly closed the small gap between them and jumped into a short, but joyous and mirthful embrace.

Matt and Tai both looked on at the pair with familiar grins, both exchanging identical glances.

"One of these days, you two are going to meet and both have heart attacks, I swear." the Ishida boy joked, brushing a lock of his medium length blond hair away from his eyes, "I mean, you only just saw each other two days ago."

"What are you, the fun police or something?" T.K. shot back without missing a beat, sharing his older brother's grin.

"Whatever, little bro." Matt replied nonchalantly.

"Just keep your distance from us next time, OK." Tai pitched in playfully, "We don't wanna look stupid by association."

All he got for a reply was two poked out tongues. Chuckling, he invited the freshly arrived brothers to greet Izzy and, most importantly, Gennai, who had been watching the siblings exchange words from the sidelines with some small amusement.

After Matt had said his hellos, Tai allowed T.K. to take up the others' attention while he talked to his close friend.

"So how's it been, man? I haven't seen you since school broke up." he asked.

"Not too bad, I guess. Boring, though" Matt answered calmly, shrugging his shoulders, "Dad's still working late at the TV station, and I actually hadn't seen T.K. til today; I haven't really had time to go over to Mum's place and I think he's been a bit busy too."

"At least your parents live closer together now so you actually can see each other." Tai commented brightly, hoping to lighten the conversation.

"Yeah, true." the blond mused, looking down at his shoes, but soon raised his head and laughed, "Before he and Mum moved back across the bay I'd always wonder whether it was me or Kari who whined the most about it."

The two older siblings shared a chuckle before the same original question was posed to Tai. His rather mundane answer was capped off by the arrival of the penultimate member of the group.

"Hey Joe." Izzy could be heard calling out to their bespectacled friend.

The tall, blue haired lad walked up to them silently, but waved cheerfully back at the welcoming bunch. A year older than Tai and Matt, Joe Kido had graduated that year and would be moving on to university. No doubt he would be fretting over his applications at that time. He made little fuss with the greetings, which was not to say he was impolite, but he moved on quickly from the brief 'hellos'. Time seemed to be foremost in his mind.

"Where's Sora? Did she say she was going to be late?" Joe questioned evenly, though his lightly nasally voice carried an undertone of urgency.

"Hey, no need to stress, Joe. It's only just gone on three o'clock now." Matt assured casually, waving his left arm back and forth before his own face, displaying the black digital watch to the eldest of the group.

"Yeah, I suppose." Joe sighed, briefly retrieving his mobile phone from the left pocket of his shorts to check the time, "I just promised I'd be home to help with dinner, so I don't want to be late or anything."

"Man, you've got plenty of time. Quit worrying and have a seat." Tai said to him jovially, placing a hand on the blue haired teenager's back and guiding him over to where he, Kari and Gennai had been sitting before Izzy had arrived. Joe hesitated before lowering himself onto the faded green grass, though his reluctance was superficial, Tai thought, as he watched his friend's arms relax and slump and he crossed his legs.

Including Gennai, that made seven of them, and despite how blasé they had acted towards Joe about Sora, Tai could hardly deny his own growing impatience. He had had little else on his mind besides Gennai's vague description of what was happening at that very moment in the Digital World, but he was also getting rather desperate to see his best friend; much like with Matt, he had not seen her since school had ended for the year. He had not given it much thought before that moment, but he was sure that same desire had existed regarding most of the others before they had arrived. After all, he had only seen Izzy during the first week of holidays, and T.K. too if he wanted to count the two minutes he had spent in the Kamiya apartment two days ago, before he and Kari had bolted off to see a movie with some of their other friends.

For the time being, the Digidestined that were there chatted amongst themselves. Gennai and Izzy had joined Joe on the grass, both of the boys inquiring as to the events of the intervening years since the battles they had fought in four years ago. A few metres away, Matt was engrossed in a conversation with the group's youngest two members. From what Tai could overhear it had something to do with one of Kari and T.K.'s friends from school, Davis he thought he heard. Cracking his knuckles absentmindedly, the sound abhorrent to anyone else but him, the teenager wondered if he should go over and join the latter discussion; he had heard about the kid they were talking about before and he was dimly interested in what it was all about. He needed something to kill time before the last person showed up.

"Guess who!" a strong and cheerful, but also feminine voice said suddenly from behind him as his vision cut instantly to black behind a wall of flesh.

Tai grinned widely, the hands holding his face being very familiar and being of no mystery to him. Those same hands had jokingly covered his eyes on more than a few occasions in the past, and the voice he was equally acquainted with.

"The Emperor of Japan." he announced jocularly, unable to hold back a quick, spluttered laugh. He was joined by a rather high pitched chuckle from behind.

"Close…" was the reply, before the light flooded back to his eyes as the hands moved down to his shoulders and spun him around to see the beaming face of the girl who stood there, "but no cigar."

"Hey Sora." Tai greeted his best friend, chuckling heartily, his face feeling a rush of colour for her arrival. She was dressed casually in three quarter length jeans and a faded orange top. Tai could not remember the last time she had worn anything more formal than that outside of school.

"Hey you." she returned the welcome, her tone and expression matching his, "Sorry I'm late; didn't think I'd be the one holding us up."

"First time for everything. I mean, I called the meeting so it's not like I could be late this time." Tai joked, eliciting a small giggle out of the redhead.

"Good point." she agreed, nodding her head and smirking all the while, though she quickly sobered somewhat, "Anyway, I think we should get down to business. I'm sure whatever Gennai has to tell us must be pretty serious."

"Yeah." he agreed simply and took that as the moment to call everyone together.

The Digidestined quickly found a spot in a circle under the shade of the trees, but not before the others had greeted Sora of course. The welcoming was, however, swift and barely a minute had passed before they were all seated, their attentions all fixed on Tai and Gennai. Having all eyes on him felt familiar; the group dynamic had seemingly remained much the same after all these years. The Kamiya boy surveyed his team briefly, taking time to note that Izzy had taken his laptop out of his backpack and had it open in his lap, his fingers curled and ready to strike down on the keys at a moments notice.

Flicking his eyes around, he also saw that T.K. and Kari had Joe sitting between them, though given their twitching frowns and Joe's lack of awareness about their reaction to his choice of seating area, he guessed that was not by their choice. He finally saw Sora talking quietly out of the corner of her mouth to Matt on the other side of the circle, their conversation clearly unfinished following the initial hellos. Tai felt his lips automatically twitch down and to the right, which in turn caused his heart to produce a single, isolated beat that was just barely heavier than the rest. He blinked twice rapidly at this, as though something had flown by his face, but too fast for him to properly see it. As soon as he had felt it, it was gone.

"What the…" he muttered under his breath.

As soon as he had said that, though, he shook his head lightly and pushed that strange instant to the back of his mind. There were more important things to deal with at that moment and he had waited long enough to hear the unabridged version of Gennai's story. Before anyone could question his silence, he began.

"Alright everyone, I told you over the phone that the Digital World needs us again and that Gennai came himself to get us, as you can see." Tai announced to the group, motioning to the digital man when his name arose, "What I didn't say is that the Digital World is in the middle of a war right now and it seems like things are getting desperate for our side."

The circle was rapt by a wave of chatter, overshadowed by an aura of mixed emotions. It was clear to see the excitement and curiosity of the moment, especially in Izzy who was typing away madly on his computer. Others, most noticeably the grimacing Joe, displayed more fear and concern than pure interest, while the likes of Sora and Kari seemed to harbour worries of their own. No doubt, Tai thought, their minds would be with the Digimon themselves.

"Something tells me this war isn't like anything we dealt with last time." T.K. hypothesised sternly, his eyes fixed strongly on Gennai, his tone serious and strangely cynical.

"No, you are correct there, T.K." Gennai confirmed evenly, "While you've fought armies of Digimon in the past, this current problem is, how should I say… something closer to what humans are used to seeing."

Tai flinched at those words. His first thought was the world wars of the twentieth century. History classes had taught him all he could stomach about those conflicts, and there was a painful twinge in his heart at the idea that what was going on in the Digital World was anything close to that.

The battles they had fought before had been destructive and ruthless to be sure, and their enemies equally so. Clashes without quarter, the destruction of innocent Digimon and so many other evils had coloured their struggles against their old foes. But still, some aspects of human warfare, as well as some attendant crimes Tai had only read about, were not features of any war they had seen during their prior journey to that world.

"So what're we talking about here, Gennai?" Matt asked calmly from across the circle, though it was clear in his voice that he was anything but peaceful at heart at that moment.

"It sounds serious…" Joe commented quietly with downcast eyes. Gennai, however, shook his head.

"Perhaps I misled you. Let me explain." he stated, "What I meant when I said that it's closer to what humans are used to is that instead of the armies led by a single powerful Digimon, such as you all fought against four years ago, today there are actually two sides, each with their own army fighting large battles across the Digital World."

While everyone else sat back to let these words sink in, Izzy piped up from the side, approaching the issue head on.

"So can I assume from this that there is a side that you support Gennai? And if so, does that that mean that we're facing off against another 'evil' Digimon like Myotismon or the Dark Masters again? If that's not the case, how are these armies organised? Who or what do they all owe allegiance to?" the boy asked rapid fire, growing more excited and hurried with each question, leaning towards Gennai with wide, energetic eyes.

"Hmm, where should I begin…" the old man mused, looking skyward and stroking his moustache absentmindedly.

"How 'bout you just start with who the 'bad guys' are this time." Matt suggested dryly, laying his right palm out flat at his side as if to say how obvious that was.

"And then whose side we're supposed to be on." Sora added more warmly.

Gennai nodded silently and, seeing that Izzy or anyone else had no objections, he began his long awaited explanation.

"Well the war started about a year or so ago. No one I've spoken to is really all that sure." the digital man recounted, his tone even but grave, "It all started a great distance away from Server, which you're all familiar with, on the continent of Motherboard…"

Tai narrowed his eyes as his train of thought slowed to take in this new information. Server was a continent in the Digital World in which the Digidestined had spent much of their time during their first adventure. It was also where they had fought two major foes; Etemon, a narcissistic, rock and roll obsessed humanoid monkey, had been the first and they had then faced Myotismon before the vampiric lord's invasion of Earth. It was also a land which all the other members had spent months wandering and often splitting up, excluding Tai and Kari who had been back in their world at the time. It was a territory they knew as well as any.

Motherboard, though. Tai supposed that he would have been wrong to think that there were not other continents in the Digital World besides Server, after all that realm was supposed to be a kind of shadow version of their own world, or so Izzy had once said. Even so, it had never really crossed the boy's mind that there was far more to this other dimension, this other planet, than he had ever known. He felt quite stupid coming to that realisation, though, somewhat comfortingly, by some of the looks around the circle he was not the only one to have made such an error. Looking to his right, however, it was clear to see that Izzy had never been so naïve or conceited.

"So you weren't aware of it from the beginning?" Izzy quizzed Gennai, tapping away at his laptop, for what reason Tai could not say.

"No. Despite all of my connections and acquaintances throughout the Digital World, I didn't know what was going on until after Motherboard was conquered and the fighting moved to Folder." he admitted.

Folder must be another continent, Tai presumed. Curiosity was now beginning to grow inside the Kamiya boy. From the standpoint of the Digital World, the more and more new places that Gennai mentioned, the more it seemed that this war was global in scale. The stakes were always the fate of that entire dimension, of course, but the sheer size and scope of the fighting was new in itself. He was not the only one to harbour such questions, however.

"How many places exactly has this war been fought in? Motherboard, Folder… where's the fighting supposed to be now?" Matt queried, his eyes narrowed as he rubbed his temples.

"And what's going on in Server and on File Island? Are our partners OK?" T.K. chimed in for his part, not managing to sound as calm as his older brother, though it seemed as though he was trying to.

"Well apart from Motherboard and Folder, the Link Islands have also been fought over. As for where the fighting is now, I'm sorry to say but Server is the current battleground and File Island looks to be in danger." Gennai described to them grimly, "The good news though, T.K., is that all of your partners are quite safe – they live with me after all and my home is perhaps the safest place in all of Server… except maybe for Piximon's sanctuary."

A collective sigh of relief could be heard around the circle at that. Tai had begun to worry when it was mentioned that Server was now a battleground for whatever was going on. It seemed, though, that the Digidestined's partners had been sheltered from the fighting, and if he had to guess he would say that it was definitely part of Gennai's plan, whatever that was. But still, the vastness of this war dazzled him, and he was at once disturbed and impressed by the grand and terrible visions his mind provided for him.

At that time, Tai felt the growing weight of the groups attentions fall upon him. Since handing over to Gennai, he had remained silent, which was unusual given the leadership role he had taken in the past, at first unofficially and then later more formally. Even Matt seemed to be awaiting his opinion as he sat there, arms resting on his knees and staring across at him with his bold blue eyes. Tai figured his own curiosities would likely be shared by everyone else, so he decided to start there.

"So… it's awesome to hear everyone's OK, but I think we'd all like to know who exactly the two sides are here. Where did these Digimon armies come from?" he posed to the old man, noticing the nodding of a couple of heads around the circle.

Gennai furrowed his brow and grumbled something to himself that no one could hear. He then looked to the sky, staring musingly through the chequered canopy of branches as the Digidestined waited anxiously for his answer.

"The armies are made up of the inhabitants of each continent." he told them, "One of them is the army of Server, which is on the defensive right now…"

"And the other one? Where's this invasion supposed to be coming from?" Tai pressed.

Again there was a pause before Gennai continued. Again there was silence but for the distant sounds of the park's patrons.

"The enemies that Server faces originated from Mainframe." the old man revealed, a grimace perceptible from under his moustache.

"Mainframe? That's another continent, right?" Joe queried as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, his voice soft with the awe of their discoveries.

"Indeed." Gennai confirmed with a nod, "Their numbers have swelled with Digimon from their conquered territories, but it seems that it all started with Mainframes's invasion of Motherboard."

"So these Mainframe Digimon have been forcing others that they've conquered to fight for them? How could they do that?" T.K. opined bitterly from his seat on the grass.

"They use conscripts?" Izzy asked of Gennai at the same time the young blond spoke out.

"If that is what you call it, then yes." the digital man confirmed, "Sometimes they are able to escape or surrender during a battle and in my experience they're often very eager to fight against their captors."

"So how big is the Mainframe army compared to Server's?" Tai jumped in, his mind beginning to feel freer as it kicked into a gear that felt like it had been unused for the longest time.

"Considerably larger." Gennai stated gravely, "If things continue as they are, Server will inevitably fall, as will File Island and possibly whatever is left of the Digital World."

"And that's where we come in, am I right?" Matt called out from across the circle, stretching his right leg out in front of him while leaving his left bent up toward his chest.

Gennai simply nodded back at him; that answer was too obvious to need words.

"So, put simply, our task is to turn the tide in this war – provide a counterbalance to Mainframe's numerical superiority." Izzy stated, looking up from his laptop.

"Indeed." Gennai affirmed, "At this time I can't tell you exactly what you'll be facing. For that, you'll have to speak to Server's leaders. But still, I know that you Digidestined will be up to the task."

"Wait, so Server has, like, generals or something?" Sora jumped in just as soon as Gennai finished.

"I don't know what those are, but if by that you mean commanders, then yes." the old man replied blankly. Clearly there was some human vernacular that did not properly translate into the experiences of those from the Digital World.

Tai's mind was now running at the speed of sound. Ideas and plans, as well as the most miscellaneous and random thoughts spun around through his consciousness like colours in an ever changing kaleidoscope. There was something that seemed to be missing from everything he had been told, however; something crucial.

"Um, Gennai… why is all this happening? Why would these Mainframe Digimon do all this?" came the worried question from his little sister, the very enquiry that he now knew would give him that missing piece of information.

"That, I'm afraid, is something I don't know." Gennai admitted, much to everyone's surprise.

"Wait what? You don't know why they're just invading all these other lands?" Joe queried exasperatedly, his glasses sliding a few millimetres down his nose as his head jerked forward.

"Unfortunately not." the digital man told them while shaking his head, "The Digimon they force to fight with them are never told why and the few of those native to Mainframe that we capture never reveal to us why when they are questioned."

A ripple of unrest went around the circle and quiet conversations sprung up among them. In the past they had always dealt with enemies that simply wanted to control their own lands, or even the Digital World as a whole. There was nothing to say that this was not what the invaders from Mainframe wanted, but, Tai wondered, why would you even bother to hide that? The ambiguity made him more than a little uneasy. If they had not even known about the other continents before Gennai had outright told them, what else did they not know? The teenager wondered whether there could be some other, unknown objects or places that their new enemies might just be after. If so, then it would be difficult to fight them without knowing what it was they were even after in the first place.

"Look that doesn't really matter right now."

Tai and the others jerked in surprise when they heard T.K.'s voice, except for Kari of course who had been talking to him. They blond boy had risen to his feet and had put on a more forceful voice than Tai had ever heard from him. Even his little sister looked somewhat taken aback, though impressed if her expression was any indication.

"At the moment, all we have to worry about is getting ready and going to the Digital World. We can figure everything else out when we're there." the boy declared, resolutely placing his right fist into his left palm as he spoke.

The group was rapt in silence for the first few seconds following T.K.'s declaration. It was fair to say that many of them were at least a little surprised that it had been the young blond who had said it, as opposed to his older brother or Tai. Matt himself was regarding his younger sibling with a rather pensive gaze which Tai found difficult to read, though with the Ishida boy that was hardly new. Further questions were never far away, however.

"Never mind getting to the Digital World. I think you're forgetting our parents; what're they gonna say when we tell them we're going off back to that world we all nearly died in for who knows how long." Joe whined exasperatedly, "I mean, I know we've only just started summer vacation and everything, but… but that's not really the point I guess…"

From across the circle, Tai could see Sora squirm at the mention of parents. No doubt she had her mother foremost in her mind at that moment. Looking around more widely, he could see a similar discomfort on the faces of most of the other Digidestined. With all of their families having lived through Myotismon's invasion and later siege of Odaiba during their first adventures, it was hard to imagine any of their parents taking this news lightly.

His mind was running a blank at that moment. What more could he do than agree with Joe? His blue haired friend was, after all, correct. In the end, nothing would stop him from going, of that he was sure. At the same time, he was positive that the same could be said for the other Digidestined, even Joe who had brought the problem up. Nevertheless, defying their families was something Tai was sure they were all loathe to do, and in the end they would all have to return home sooner or later.

"If I may, perhaps it would help if I could explain things to your families with you."

Gennai's offer caught the group by surprise, but it was no sooner than he had said it that life was restored to the moment.

"That could actually work… or, well, it could help." Joe asserted, though with a rapidly diminishing enthusiasm.

"Hey, it's better than doing it on our own." Sora declared with a touch more optimism.

"Maybe we should get all of our families together and do it all at once." T.K. suggested hopefully, leaning into the circle with beseeching eyes, "We can all back each other up then."

There were nods of agreement from around the circle, the firmest being from Tai. T.K. had been one of the most active members that day and he was happy to see that from the boy. Though, at the same time, Tai could not help but feel a little strange about it. Why, he could not say. Perhaps it was not that important then, he thought.

Pushing this from his mind, the Kamiya boy rose to his feet, garnering the attention of the seven others there.

"Then it's decided; we call all our parents together and try to get them on our side." he announced resolutely, "Though I think we all know that, no matter what, we're going to the Digital World."

There was an uneasy yet still universal wave of consensus at that. Izzy, however, was quick to make his own points.

"I suggest we do this as soon as possible, and we also have to remember to inform Mimi of all we've decided here today."

Tai nodded his head in agreement.

"Right. D'you want to handle Mimi?" he asked, more out of formality than anything else because he already knew the answer would be yes.

Not one to disappoint, Izzy accepted the task without hesitation. The redheaded boy closed his laptop and rose to his feet at that, and Tai sensed there was nothing important left for anyone to say. They all had their own individual tasks to pursue now.

Following suit, the others all clambered to their feet and began to say their goodbyes, the lighter cheer from before having dissipated somewhat now that their mission was known to all. Joe was the first to leave the park, mentioning something about possible train delays and hoping he would not be home late. Izzy was next to go, giving them all a placid wave as he went. The computer whiz also took Gennai with him, saying there were things they needed to discuss and batting away concerns about what his parents might say. They had met his digimon partner, the red beetle-like Tentomon, he said, so they should have no trouble with a little old man.

Matt and T.K. were not far behind in their departure as well.

"Sorry we can't hang out today, Kari; Matt wants to spend some time with me before I go back to Mum's and he goes to Dad's." Tai overheard the young blond say to his sister as they shared a goodbye hug.

"That's alright, you two need to spend more time together." Kari replied understandingly.

T.K.'s response was to chuckle softly, although it was hard to miss its hollowness. Tai frowned but his attention was immediately diverted by an outstretched hand from Matt.

"Guess I'll see you soon, man." the blond said with a soft grin.

"For sure. We'll get this all sorted out, no trouble." Tai assured him, returning the smile and accepting the offered handshake.

"Heh, yeah and then we can sacrifice our hard-earned holidays." Matt quipped with a small, sardonic smirk, "Think we'll get some medals?"

Tai was a little off put by his friend's tone, though he knew the blond could only have been joking. There was silence for the briefest of moments, and Matt held his gaze and expression, his icy blue eyes unwavering. In an effort to avoid any awkwardness, Tai decided to simply go with his gut and laugh it off.

"Yeah, and a fancy heroes' parade, I'm sure." the brown haired teenager retorted, chuckling weakly.

For his part, Matt carried on unconcerned. Calling his little brother, the two offered the remaining three a wave before strolling off out of the park, though there had been a small amount of dragging with T.K. and Kari unwilling to cease their parting conversation on their own.

"And then there were three." Sora said chirpily from behind as he she placed her hands on Tai's shoulders and turned him to face her.

"Which way're you headed?" Tai asked, hoping she would have some overlap with himself and Kari.

"Other way today. I have to go to the flower shop and help Mum for a couple of hours this afternoon." she answered, her disconsolation only barely noticeable.

Repaired relations with her mother or not, Sora hated the family flower shop like the plague. As Tai understood it, it was not so much the flowers that bothered the redhead, but more the customer service aspect. He had never thought to ask why that was, though. A few years before, whenever her mother required her to work shifts at the store, Sora would always complain to him, though now she was far more mute about it. These days it was hard to even tell how she felt aside from the smallest deflation in her tone when she spoke about it.

"Wow, you sure you can survive that?" Tai joked, hoping to pull something out of her.

"Oh… no, it's not that bad. Mum needs me today anyway, so it's not like I can blow it off." she replied blankly.

"Sure you can't make a detour?" Tai asked hopefully. Even five minutes would be fine with him.

"Sorry Tai. Like I said, she really needs my help." Sora answered apologetically, giving him a melancholy smile.

Tai frowned, his momentary hopes bursting like a balloon. He quickly replaced his downturned lips with a smile though.

"That's OK. Talk later, I guess." he said hastily.

"Definitely. Probably see you tomorrow or whenever we get everyone together." she stated lightly, offering a small wave of her hand as she turned to leave.

"Sure thing." Tai responded with a wave of his own.

"Bye Sora." Kari called from beside him as the redhead walked away from them.

Tai was still waving for some time after the Takenouchi girl turned away from them, a fact which drew his sister's keen eye almost immediately.

"Maybe next time, Tai." she remarked, patting him gently on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't you start." Tai mumbled, feeling a sudden pinch of annoyance accompanied by a small rush of blood to the head.

"Wow, that's nice." Kari quipped jovially, though out of the corner of his eye he saw the downward twitch of her lips, which made his heart immediately soften.

"Sorry sis…" he atoned, "It's just… I mean, you know… It's just hard not having my best friend around all the time like I used to."

"Yeah, I know it must be hard. Sora was around so much I always used to see her just as much as I saw you." she empathised, "But hey, it's not like you never see her anymore… and I'm here to help if you want, OK?"

Tai felt his chest swell and he gave his little sister a loose one-armed hug, holding her close to his side before releasing her and ruffling her hair lightly, a move she swiftly batted off with a playful chuckle. At that they both turned to head their own way, back to their apartment and their first job in preparing for their next digital adventure.


End file.
