NOTE: My brother told me to upload this while he was away. He said not to change it in any way, but HAHA!! I'm going to anyway. Just kidding. A little note shouldn't hurt. Uhh…bye! --- Drew

****

The Digidestined stared fearfully at the monstrous visage before them. Seeing the red-cowled being brought back memories of the frightening night twenty-five years ago, when they had nearly witnessed the end of mankind. This being had been one instrument of the destruction that had nearly obliterated the heroes and their digimon. Thankfully, they had been able to trap him in what seemed an inescapable prison. Obviously, they were wrong.

"Ahh...now I feel like my old self," Daemon said with a sadistic tone. No doubt he was smiling evilly underneath his red hood that shrouded his face in darkness. Looking down at the small, pitiful humans that stood against him, he added "Now...what were you saying about stopping me?"

Tai stood firm, though he knew that this could be the last fight he'd ever be in. He wasn't as spry as he was when he was a kid, and neither were the other Digidestined. Even the digimon were a bit rusty on their fighting skills, and were still feeling the after-effects of the energy drain Naki's seemingly false crest caused. Even though they had reached the highest levels they could (three Megas and several Ultimates), they still might not have the strength to win against this seemingly unstoppable foe.

"I can't believe this...Daemon was behind this the whole time," muttered Ken as he stared angrily at the virus digimon before them. "He dragged that poor girl into his schemes, just to get at us."

"So you think, Ichijouji," the beast responded.

Ken gasped. "You remember me?"

"How could I forget? It was you who trapped me in that dark, empty universe." Daemon's fists clenched tightly beneath his red garments. "The Dark Ocean is no place for an ambitious conqueror to reside when there's so many humans to destroy, and so little time."

"What did you do with Naki?!" shouted Sora. "Let her go!"

Daemon chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Now that my spell has reached it's end, Naki doesn't exist."

"Your...spell?" she said, already fearful of what answer he might give.

"Yes...you didn't think I just picked a random girl to serve as my key to your world, do you? I have been weaving this plan ever since the day I was humiliated by that parlor trick of yours." By 'parlor trick', he was no doubt referring to Ken's use of his dark digivice to open a gate to the Dark Ocean. Even though it nearly cost him his nerve, and possibly his life, it was the only way they could think of to trap Daemon before he destroyed their digimon and their world. It took all six of the younger Digidestined, but they were able to trap the dark being.

Tai backed up slightly so that he and the others could talk quickly. "This isn't good you guys. We've gotta come up with a plan, quick."

"Keep him busy," said Izzy quickly. "I think if I can do a little creative typing, I can get everybody with a digivice to help us. We might be able to take out Daemon just like we did Malomyotismon."

"How long will it take for you to get the message out, especially when most of the world speaks languages other than Japanese?"

Izzy thought for a moment. "I think I can link up the necessary programs in my computer into the D-terminals and digivices within fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?!" Tai exclaimed. "By then, the battle will be over already! Can't you do it faster?!"

"I'll try, but you have to keep him busy," Izzy insisted. "If he catches wind of it, it may not work."

Tai nodded. "We'll do our best."

"Good luck Izzy," said Mimi. The redhead nodded and snuck away to the nearest vidphone terminal, while Tai and the others stood firm before their adversary.

"Are you done with your little chit-chat?" Daemon asked cockily. "Or are you ready to die?"

Metalgarurumon growled angrily. "You're the one whose going down!" As he prepared to charge, Matt called up to him, ordering him to halt. The Mega-digimon looked at him angrily, but saw the look in Matt's eyes- they had a plan. The digimon halted in mid-flight and backed off slowly.

Tiny beads of sweat fell down the side of Tai's face. He didn't let any doubt show on his face, because to doubt would be to give up. "Before we take care of you, I want to know what you did with Naki!"

Daemon seemed amused by his show of bravery. "Well, if you insist on knowing, I'll tell you. It won't save you or your digimon from my wrath."

"We're not worried about that!" shouted TK. "Naki is one of our priorites- she's an innocent that doesn't deserve to be used by monsters like you!"

Daemon chuckled. "Really...even if she is a monster just like me?" The surprise on their faces was music to Daemon's ears. He enjoyed the look of confusion on their faces, because it showed just how small-minded they really were in his eyes. "A simple mind like yours couldn't understand the nature of the connection between Naki and myself."

"Try us," said Tai evenly. "We're not as dumb as you think we are."

The giant red digimon bowed mockingly. "Very well then. If you insist on hearing about this before I destroy you, then so be it." Daemon floated easily into the air, and hovered effortlessly above them all, coming a little closer- close enough to make them tremble. "Naki isn't just any ordinary girl. She's not a pitiful human like you."

"What makes her so special?" Cody asked, his interrogative tone making the question sound like a command.

"The girl was born to a human mother, and a human father. However, the actually seed that she was to be carried a small piece of my essence inside it. A piece so small that even I wouldn't be able to detect it if I hadn't known about it."

"How could you have gotten to her? When she was born you were still in the Dark world," reminded Kari.

"Very true. My seed wasn't directly placed inside of her, mind you. The seed itself was placed in the one who bore her- young Rini."

"Her mother..."

"The same. During our battle, she was watching from the sidelines in the building she lived in. She thought she could get away with catching a quick peak at the fabulous 'monsters' she had heard about when she was a child. Unfortunately for her, she didn't sneak past my notice."

Daemon held up his hand, which started to glow with black and red bolts of lighting that danced along the palm of his hand. "Using my power, I was able to sneak a small piece of my viral data into the girl during the breaks in our battle. I was hoping to use her as a failsafe in case you proved tougher than I expected. Had you not been protected by your digivices, I would have done the same to you."

"Looks like you were right at least once," Matt said icily.

"So you polluted this poor girl with your evil just so that you could survive?" Yolei asked. "You're horrible!"

"I'm just a careful planner," he corrected. "In any case, when I was sent to the Dark Ocean by that 'dark digivice' of yours, I simply bided my time and waited."

"Waited for what?"

"For the seed to grow. It couldn't affect her, much to my dismay, since that pitiful Owikawa managed to make everyone in the world have a digivice, my seed wasn't able to develop in that girl. Fortunately, her child wasn't as safe."

Joe pieced it together in his mind, and said it aloud to himself. "So it was your darkness that prevented Naki from having a digivice and a digimon of her own."

Daemon chuckled. "Indeed. Without them, the only outlet for her inner energy was my seed. It grew within her, slowly gaining strength until one day it called out to me. Her very essence had become strong enough to become one with me again, at least in spirit. However, that was enough to carry my thoughts to her."

"And that's when she came to free you," TK said. "She used your powers to free you, not the power of a crest. Between the two of you, you managed to break free."

"I'm glad to see you simple creatures understand," Daemon replied. "You are correct. Although the task of breaking the barrier cost me my true mega-level form, I was able to break free and re-enter the Digital World. Then, it was child's play to prepare Naki and myself for the final stage of her development."

Mimi looked horrified at what he was implying. "You...took her back into you to make you whole again."

Daemon nodded. "As you can see, Naki is not someone you wish to save. She is a monster like me. So, if I were you, I'd give up this hopeless defiance and I might spare you from the true suffering I intend to give anyone who stands in my way."

Tai seemed about to go over the edge, but he was suppressing his anger with admirable skill. "So... you denied an innocent girl the chance to have a digimon and a normal life... and now you've eaten her like she was a lunch meal?" Tai's teeth became partially exposed as his anger built. "We're not going to let you get away with ANY of this!!" Tai shouted. "Wargreymon, ATTACK!!"

Without saying another word, the Mega-digimon shot forward at lightning speed, and the other digimon joined him as they made a charge for the powerful foe before them. Daemon just smiled and beckoned them forward as his evil laugh filled the air.

****

"Naki!" her mother called out. It seemed futile, as they were pretty sure their daughter would still be in the hands of that gigantic Skullgreymon they saw on the broadcast. However, they were on the street the news had shown, and still nothing. It was a long run, but one they were more than willing to make. Somewhere along that street, their daughter was in danger.

"Naki!" called out Salamon. The two digimon had digivolved to Rookie the instant they reached the street. "Naki, where are you?!"

"Naki!" Patamon and Mr. Yasushi called out as well. Still, no answer came.

"This is making me angry," said Salamon, not the least bit joking. "You'd think a Skullgreymon would just pop out at you or something."

"Just keep going," Patamon answered. "We'll find him and Naki, no matter how long it takes."

After a few minutes of running along the decimated streets of what used to be Odaiba's main street, the group came to a grisly scene. An emergency hospitalization unit had been set up by several members of the local hospital. Many police officers and digimon were in the area. The less injured ones were waiting their turns to be cared for, while those with serious injuries were receiving immediate attention. It was difficult to wade through the rushing doctors and medical personnel, and it wasn't long before one of them questioned the newcomers about their presence there.

"Hey, what are you four doing here?" a nurse asked. "This is a restricted area! You should be evacuated!"

"We're trying to find our daughter," Mr. Yasushi said. "She was the girl shown in the emergency broadcast. We think our son might be with her." He pulled out his wallet and showed tiny pictures of each of them. "Do you know where either of them are?"

The nurse shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't seen either of them."

"Have you seen a black-colored Agumon or a Betamon?" asked Patamon. "They're probably looking for the kids too."

"Sorry, no," the man answered again. "Listen, I've gotta get back to work. I suggest you evacuate as soon as possible. This is a very dangerous area, considering out proximity to the battle."

"Battle...?" said Salamon softly. She looked further down the street, and was able to make out several figures battling in the skies above. They zipped and zagged around the tall buildings and small skyscrapers that lined the streets, and shot powerful attacks back and forth as they fought. Instincts within the tiny digimon rose to the surface, and her blood started pumping. "We've gotta get there! They must be fighting that monster that has Naki!"

"Right!" the others said. They ran off, but the nurse stopped them.

"Wait a sec! You can't go there!"

"Out of our way!" Mrs. Yasushi said angrily. "My daughter is in danger!" She ran off, followed by the other three. The man was about to go after them, but an order from the doctor he assisted forced him to forget the quartet.

****

"RRRAHH!" cried Imperialdramon as a powerful blast from Daemon knocked the wind out of the Ultimate-level digimon and sent him crashing to the ground with a loud slam. When the dust settled, the bodies of Veemon and Wormmon were all that remained, and they looked in worse shape than normal.

"Veemon!" Davis and Ken ran over to where their digimon had crash-landed, and cradled them in their arms as the battle continued to rage above them. Neither one looked ready to get up yet, but they insisted on trying.

"Da...vis," the blue digimon said weakly. "Use...a digi-egg...still...must fight..."

"Veemon, you can barely talk, let alone digivolve. Besides, I don't think Flamedramon or Raidramon will do much good against Daemon." Davis held his weakened partner close. "Just rest and keep your fingers crossed."

Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon landed on two separate skyscrapers, which remained sturdy even under their weight. Japanese structures were built to last, especially in a world where monsters are real and plentiful. Daemon hovered above a third, powering up for a deadly attack.

"I've got something for you two! FLAME INFERNO!!" The powerful attack shot forth from Daemon's hands, causing extremely hot flames to spray all across the horizon. Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon avoided the attack, but the skyscrapers weren't able to do anything but submit to the raging fires.

Flying in a wide circle, the two digimon launched their attacks at 10 and 2 o' clock. The cries of "Metal Wolf Claw!" and "Terra Force!" filled the air, and the respective attacks shot through the skies above Odaiba. Daemon easily swatted the attacks aside like they were so much rubbish, which did nothing for the two mega-digimons' confidence but allowed Lillymon and Sylphimon to get clean shots at Daemon's back.

"He's been taking steroids since our last fight," said Sora, trying to joke to keep the others' spirits high. "Naki must have done more than 'complete' him."

"What's taking Izzy so long?!" growled Tai. "The digimon can't keep this pace up for long!"

"Hit the deck!!" shouted Matt, who grabbed Sora and dove on her to protect her. Tai and the others cleared the area as well, just before Metalgarurumon plummeted like a falling star into the concrete street. The ground shook like a miniature earthquake had hit, and bits of the street showered all over the place. The large digimon wasn't moving.

Matt quickly got up and ran over to his companion. "Metalgarurumon!!" He did his best to shake the digimon's body, which was easily ten times his size. He didn't move, from Matt or otherwise. Sora stood by with worry, and she hoped that Garudamon wouldn't have to suffer that much. Tai looked at Metalgarurumon's lifeless body, as well as Matt and Sora's expressions. This was bad.

"We've gotta do something fast!" said Joe, carefully tracking the fight above. "If this keeps up, our digimon won't be able to last all of Izzy's fifteen minutes."

"How long has it been?!" Tai asked.

"Seven minutes."

Tai sighed inwardly. They couldn't last any longer. Although Tai hated to admit it, there was only one thing they could do. "Then that had better be enough. You guys start retreating. Wargreymon and I will cover your escape."

"What?!" said Davis in reply. "You're crazy if you think we're leaving now!"

"Davis, look at Veemon!" Tai shouted. "Look at all the digimon! They can't take much more of this! There's nothing we can do against Daemon now that he's combined with Naki! He's at least twice as strong as before, maybe even more!"

"So?!" Davis said stubbornly. "He can be ten times as strong, I don't care! We're going to stop him, right here and now, and that's final!" He turned to Veemon, who nodded and zoomed off to re-enter the fight after Davis used the digi-egg of Courage on him.

Tai didn't know how to respond to that. He felt the same way as Davis, but common sense told him that they couldn't last much longer. It wouldn't be much longer until Wargreymon and the others came tumbling down like Metalgarurumon did, and Daemon's sights would be set on them. As a politician, he knew it was the needs of the many that outweighed the needs of the few.

But Davis' eyes reminded him of what the child of Courage believed. The needs of the one outweighed everything. Naki needed them, and their digimon need them. They couldn't run now. He had to give it everything he had until things went the right way.

Tai looked at the others, and smiled the wickedly confident grin that he was known for when he was still eleven and wearing goggles in his big, bushy hair. The others knew what that grin meant. Win, lose, or draw, he was ready to fight to the end. Now, as a team, so were they.

Courage...

"Alright guys!" Tai cheered. "Let's show Daemon what we're made of!"

Friendship...

Matt grinned slyly and nodded. "Yeah. We're not going down without a fight."

"Yeah! Daemon can't beat us if we all do this together!" shouted Davis.

Love...

"We can't give up! There's too many people counting on us!" Sora added.

Sincerity...

"I'm so scared...but I won't let you guys down," said Mimi softly. "Count me in!"

"Me too!" said Yolei. "That thing owes us for what he did twenty-five years ago!"

Knowledge...

Izzy punched away at the vidphone keys as fast as he could. Don't worry guys...I won't let you down. My reputation as a genius is at stake!

Reliability...

"No matter what it takes...I'm with you guys," Joe added.

"You can count on me too," Cody said. "I know this thing has a weakness. We just have to find it."

Hope...

"No matter what the powers of darkness throw at us, we'll always win!" said TK enthusiastically. "Just don't stop believing in yourselves!"

Light...

"We can win if we do this together!" Kari cried. "Not even Daemon can destroy the light inside us! Because we're...

(All:) "The Digidestined!!"

Daemon felt something strange. Down below, something was happening that even he couldn't comprehend. If that weren't enough, something seemed to be happening to the digimon he was fighting. After a powerful swat at Wargreymon that should have sent him tumbling, the Mega-digimon simply turned to look at him again. His icy red eyes hidden deep within his armored head stared at him without fear. It was Daemon's turn to be worried.

*slam!!* Another blow from Daemon. The hit connected with Wargreymon's face full-on, but again the digimon just turned and looked at him.

"It's over, Daemon," he said in his deep voice. The other digimon still fighting flew until they had surrounded the monster.

"You can't scare me, fool!" the evil digimon roared as he brought his hands up and let loose with a powerful Flame Inferno that should have incinerated them all to a crisp. Surprisingly, the attack did nothing. Daemon looked in fear at the digimon slowly surrounding him.

"We're the digimon chosen to help the Digidestined," said a really tattered Lillymon. "You can't beat us Daemon. Naki won't let you... not while she feels the strength of our friends."

"What...? You...you're lying! She has no power over me!"

"Oh no?" Sylphimon said with a smile. "Then how do you explain your much weaker right hook?" the DNA digimon asked teasingly.

Daemon growled angrily and charged straight at Sylphimon. "I'll show YOU a weak right hook!" The digimon swung several times at the smaller, Ultimate-level digimon and connected every time. However, even after five or six hits, Sylphimon was still floating there and smiling at the larger foe.

Daemon seemed to accept the fact that he was weakened, but still he smiled (although this wasn't apparent to the other digimon). "Well... I bet you think you have me beat?"

"You can't even hurt an Ultimate level digimon a forth your size," said Garudamon. "I think it's safe to say you're beaten."

Daemon chuckled evilly. "So long as those 'kids' are weakening me, that's true. So long as..." Before the others could grab him, Daemon zoomed down and made a beeline for the gathering of Digidestined in the street below where MetalGarurumon lay.

"Stop him, quick!" shouted Lillymon. All the digimon pursued Daemon, though it seemed he would still reach the Digidestined before their guardians could. The men and women below weren't sure what to do. They couldn't run or hide from this guy.

"Scatter!" shouted Tai. The others obeyed, except Matt, who remained at Metalgarurumon's side. He didn't care about his own safety at that moment- he wanted to be by his friend's side. Daemon laughed as he came to a halt above Metalgarurumon's body.

"Say goodbye, Digidestined!" Daemon shouted.

"MATT!!" cried Sora, who ran out to her beloved as fast as she could.

"FLAME..."

"SORA, MATT, NO!!!" Tai shouted when he saw what was happening. Sora practically fell into Matt's arms, and they both shut their eyes as their doom approached.

"...INFERNO!!" Daemon's arm shot forward, but instead of the expected attack there came... trembling? The other digimon came to a halt before Matt, Sora, and Metalgarurumon. Daemon stared down at his own arm with disbelief as it continued to tremble.

"What's happening?" Davis said in disbelief as he ran up to where Flamedramon stood.

"My arm...no, it's impossible." Daemon cluched his own head as a high pitched whistle seemed to fill the air. The Digidestined looked down at their digivices as they started to glow with brilliant intensity.

"Our digivices!" Ken held his up as it whistled with energy. "Izzy must have done it!"

"It's about time," Tai said happily.

"Now you're going to get what's coming to ya!" Yolei said. "Now the whole world is going to show you what we think of your 'ambitious conquering'!"

"This can't be...the girl...she's only a-"

"Human?" TK finished for him. "Well, it's about time you learn just what one human can do when the whole world is behind her!"

Daemon's body began to glow as it seemed to crack in various places around his frame. He looked down in horror as his own body seemed to turn against itself. Red light spewed outward from the cracks in his digital body, and he yelled out in pain as he felt every bit in his body separate due to the will of another. Within moments, it became too much to bear.

"NOOOOO!!" With one last cry of pain, Daemon burst into a huge explosion of data that sprayed outword like a super-nova. Every viral bit that was Daemon depixelated into the surrounding environment with a loud roar, before fading into silence. A deep, painful silence.

"Is it over?" asked Sora, breaking the silence.

"It has to be," Cody said. "Everyone has a digivice, so he couldn't infect somebody else. He's gone for good this time."

"Yeah...but where's-"

"Tohru, Naki!!" cried a woman as she and a man stopped just beside the Digidestined. They had two digimon with them, Patamon and Salamon, who seemed amazed at all the huge digimon present. When the woman had caught her breath, she turned to the nearest person (Joe) and asked "Have you seen two children, a boy and a girl, anywhere here? Please tell me you have!"

Joe looked at the woman somberly. "Are you...Naki's mother, miss?"

"We're her parents," said the man. "Do you know her?"

"Uh...yes."

"Well, was she here?"

The Digidestined looked at the spot where Daemon had exploded. The concrete there was still crackling with tiny red and black streaks of lightning, which continued to criss-cross along the shattered remains of the street until finally they disipated. None of them wanted to say what was on their minds, because they knew what would result. The Yasushis were quick to pick up on this, and their faces started to cloud over with pain.

Izzy ran up, panting for breath and cheering at the same time. "Prodigious! We did it, you guys! I can't believe it worked, but we actually did it!" When nobody shared his enthusiasm, Izzy realized that he was missing something. He looked and watched as the two parents started to weep in each other's arms, along with their digimon. It was painful to watch.

"Our Naki...our little girl..." muttered Mrs. Yasushi as she cried into her husband's shoulder.

"No..." Salamon cried softly. "Naki..."

The Yasushi Patamon wasn't as quiet about his emotions. The little digimon did the loudest 'roar' a digimon like him could muster, and fell to the ground once again. Slowly, his tears began to fall, and like the others he started to cry for the girl they lost. Seeing this, Sora and Mimi started to cry as well.

"We...we couldn't save her," Sora whimpered.

Ken too started to feel a heavy sorrow in his chest. He was all to familiar with death, and the powers of darkness to boot. Having both of them in the same situation was not something he looked forward to. "I can't believe...we lost."

Wormmon tried to say something consoling. "But we didn't lose. We stopped Daemon, Ken. We saved the world."

"But we let someone die because of it," said Flamedramon. "That's just as bad as losing."

Tai listened as the others started to cry. He didn't join them in their mourning, because he refused to believe that Naki was dead. There was no way he was going to let an innocent girl die because of an evil monster like Daemon.

*scritch-scratch*

"Wha..." Tai snuck over to where the hole Daemon's explosion made was, and listened carefully for the sound he just heard. Again, the scratching noise reached his ears, and he thought he heard a whimpering noise as well. Tai's eyes widened, and he jumped down into the sewer rubble. The others looked at him in confusion. They heard him moving rocks out of the way. He called out, "Hey, help me out here!"

Flamedramon leaped over, as did Sylphimon and Lillymon (all of whom could comfortably fit into the small sewer confines) and assisted Tai. The stronger of the Digidestined, along with Mr. Yasushi, pried away the rock rubble until finally, they could hear a soft voice from within.

"...Daddy?"

Mr. Yasushi's smiling face told them who they had found. Reaching into the rubble and pulling out the young girl inside, he held her protectively and lovingly as he cried for joy.

"Naki... my dear, sweet Naki... I'm so glad you're safe."

Naki looked up at her father and those around him, but it was difficult to see the others without her glasses. "Daddy...I...I'm sorry for what I've done. I didn't mean to hurt everybody..."

"Shh," he whispered. "Don't apologize for things you didn't do. Save your strength for your mother. She's going to squeeze the life out of you in a moment."

"Huh?"

When the others outside the sewer saw that Naki had been found, they cheered joyously and celebrated. Even the digimon (all of whom had reverted to Rookie now that the fight was over) jumped around happily. Mrs. Yasushi and the two digimon companions of her and her husband leaped down into the hole and glomped Naki with a series of hugs and kisses. A scene that made the entire battle seem like a distant memory in the minds of everyone present.

****

The police took over the scene once they arrived, which allowed the Digidestined the chance to take their tired digimon companions and head for home. Even if they had saved the world, everyone had work to do tomorrow, and lives to live. Before they had a chance to leave, Tai managed to catch Sora and Matt.

"Oh, uh, hi Tai," said Sora unsurely. Now that the battle was over, she wondered if Tai was going to start acting weird around her again.

Tai seemed a bit nervous. He turned to Matt, and asked politely, "Do you mind if I talk to Sora for a moment, please?" Matt seemed suspicious of what he would be telling her if he wasn't allowed to hear it, but he complied with a silent nod. He walked off a few yards with Gabumon, Biyomon, and Agumon and chatted with them for a little while.

Tai ran a hand through his short hair nervously. "I, um... have to apologize to you for something."

"Something?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been myself lately."

Sora smiled. "That's kind of ironic. To me, you were acting like you were eleven again."

Tai's face turned slightly red. "So you noticed, then."

"Of course I did. Everybody noticed...except Matt, anyway. I think he's just trying not to pry."

Tai rubbed his jaw as a memory of one of their previous disagreements came to memory. "Good thing to." Sora laughed softly, while Tai remembered to keep on track. "Anyway, I'm sorry for acting that way."

"Why were you doing it in the first place? I thought you and I were...well, done," she said, unable to find a kinder word for it.

Tai put a hand over his heard and looked down. "I think this whole business of saving the world reminded me of what my...or our childhood was like. Throw in the crests...and maybe a little trouble at home and you have a forty-year-old man remembering a crush he had thirty years ago."

"Trouble at home?"

"Yeah...my wife and I had a fight before we left. It was about Junior."

"Junior?" Sora giggled. "Since when was your son named Junior?"

Tai smiled. "That's what I've started calling him, ever since his hair started growing out. He's started acting a lot like me."

"Heaven forbid, a Tai Jr. is running around!" Sora teased. They both shared a laugh.

"Anyway...he's been doing poorly at school, and his mother thinks it's because of soccer. I, of course, don't believe that. We ended up yelling at each other, and we haven't talked since I left for the UN meeting."

"...Kinda reminds me of when you and I were together."

"Exactly. I think I was afraid of what this could mean, so I remembered what I did for you when we fought. I remembered the letter I 'accidently' sent you. I guess I went a little off track, and this whole thing made it worse."

Sora smiled and nodded slowly. "We had a lot of fun in those days. Sometimes I wish we could have been kids forever."

Tai sighed deeply. "I've wished for that every day of my life." Then, he chuckled and wiped his face with his hands. "Maybe that's why this happened."

"Do you think you'll be okay now?" she asked, showing concern for her friend. "We can't have our leader losing his edge."

Tai shook his head. "I'm not the leader anymore; I saw that today. Today was the last time the Digidestined would be together." The train of thought grew more and more depressing in Tai's mind. "Someday... everything we were... everything we did will be forgotten."

Sora put a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Don't say that. Even if we're too old to be Digidestined, someone else will probably come to take our places. Even if the Digidestined do disappear forever one day, we'll always remember what happened."

Tai looked at her, a soft smile crossing his lips. "You're right. You always were good at cheering people up."

Sora laughed. "Thanks. I'd better start working my magic on Matt; he looks like he's getting anxious." They looked over at Matt, who was trying to ignore the length of their conversation. Tai caught the other man's eyes, and gave him a goofy smile. Matt tried not to smile, and the digimon with him giggled.

"Well, you two take it easy," said Tai. "I have to get home."

"And do what?" Sora asked. "Something good, I hope."

Tai smiled. "I have an apology letter to write," he said. Without saying another word, Tai headed off into the sunset, with Agumon following him and asking what he was so happy about.

****

Tai: So, you can see we're still having adventures. They're just a little different than the ones we used to have when we were kids. The darkness has not been conquered, and it will continue to fight against the light forever.

Tohru was unsure of what Naki was trying to show him, but he was scared as heck. Luckily, Naki showed him something that he was overjoyed to see. A tiny, multi-colored egg that hatched at Tohru's touch...

Tai: But as long as people remember to follow their dreams, evil will be kept at bay. And on days like today, it's hard to see any darkness anywhere. Now it's up to our children, and to children everywhere, to follow their dreams. Who knows where they'll end up...

Elecmon looked over at a small digimon, a tiny Yokomon, who didn't join the other baby digimon in welcoming Naki, her little brother, and Betamon. She looked at Elecmon nervously, who led the shy digimon to the girl. Naki and the baby digimon looked at her curiously. Naki politely bowed to the tiny Yokomon, and the Yokomon surprised Naki with a little token of their new friendship...

Tai: But the only way to find out is to take the first step into adventure...