Hey! I hope you're all doing okay during this crazy time. I'm so glad I get to upload a chapter before my exams start again.

I must admit I was struggling a lot with this one but I gave my best and I hope you'll like it.

As always: I don't own digimon, but I own my OC's. English is not my first language so please excuse some possible grammatical errors.

Chaos

„But mom what if they won't like me?"

My legs feel like jelly and the nearer we get to the field, the faster my heart beats. I can see the kids dressed in red jerseys running on the field; they are having a great time I can tell.

A warm hand on my shoulder makes me look up and face my mother:" You will be fine. I don't know anyone who doesn't like you."

"But they surely will not think much of a girl joining their team." The longer I look at them, the bigger I can feel my doubts grow. I would be the only girl in their team...

"Don't start; I wanted you to join the girls' soccer team but you insisted on coming here. You backing off now is not an option!" Her tone has that certain finality in it that tells me that it'd be foolish from me to keep arguing with her. She forcefully grabs my hand and drags me down the stairs that lead to the soccer field.

The shouting of the boys gets louder and from the distance I spot a boy who just won the ball. He moves like lighting over the pitch towards the opposite goal, leaving the defenders hanging in the air. His wild hair bounces up and down with every movement but he doesn't seem like even acknowledging anything besides the soccer ball on his feet. With skilled moves he sprints down the last meters and kicks the ball with such a force that I wouldn't want to be in the keeper's place right now. Sure enough, the keeper doesn't stand a chance and the ball lands in the right corner.

"That was awesome Taichi!" The coach's voice snaps me out of my daze and I force my gaze away from the boy with that wild hair.

I stare at the middle aged man whose gaze is glued on the players. My mom clears her throat in an attempt to catch his attention. His eyes linger for a moment longer on the pitch before he finally turns towards me and my mother.

"Oh I didn't see you at first Mrs. Takenouchi. I'm sorry", he bows down lightly.

"That is no problem."

He gives her a bright smile before his gaze turns to me. He looks down on me with kind eyes;

"That jersey suits you very well", he says, squatting down on my level and examining the jersey that is an exact copy of the ones the boys are wearing. He turns towards the field again, whistling loudly and catching someone's attention with it. The boy I watched earlier stops in his tracks and looks towards him.

With the sheer mention of his hand the coach makes him run towards us. He comes to a halt, wearing the stupidest, but at the same time cutest lopsided grin I've ever seen. He bows down before my mother and me before he turns towards his coach.

"Taichi, we have a new teammate."

Taichi's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he turns towards me again. His chocolate brown eyes light up in excitement and his grin gets even brighter, if that is even possible.

"Awesome! I'm Taichi, captain of the soccer team", he stretches his hand out and I can't do anything but stare at him, completely stunned by his positive reaction.

I feel my mother nudge me in the back; snapping me out of my daze I fell into again. I take a deep breath and finally shake Taichi's hand. I can feel the warmth on my cheeks and I can tell he sees me blushing because he chuckles lightly.

"And you are?" He asks, the grin never leaving his face.

Oh man... I am making a fool of myself.

"I – I'm Sora."

"Cool! Come on Sor, I'll introduce you to the others!" With that he grabs my hand with his, our fingers intertwining as if it is the most natural thing for us to do. He pulls me towards the center of the soccer field where my future teammates are looking at us expectantly.

I turn my head towards my mother who is standing on the sideline, looking at me and my new friend with a certain expression I've never seen her wear before.

I know now that she was well aware of the fact that this was the day I've me the love of my life.

JESSICA'S POV

I stare at the handprint scanner, unsure of what to do. I've never been in this base without anyone of this time's digidestined accompanying me. Until now.

If I try to enter the base by scanning my hand and the scanner won't recognize me, there will be an alarm going off. For all I know there must be a lot of injured digimons in that base and there is really no need to scare them so much.

The last invasion was only a few days ago. I don't need to cause another fuss.

I groan in frustration before I lean against the wall next to the scanner. My uniform sticks to my body in an awful uncomfortable way, reminding me of the fact that of all the places I could have landed, my friends choose the shore for me, resulting in me walking around like a dripping wet cat.

Completely lost in my own thoughts I don't even realize that I am not alone here any longer. It is only when I feel someone's shoulder press into mine that I jump in surprise and turn towards an all too familiar, old man. Gennai looks at me, uncertainty and an unmistakable glint of sadness visible on his face.

"I didn't expect you to come."

I am too disturbed by the fact that I failed to sense his presence to respond. But when I see his troubled expression worsen I inwardly slap myself and come out with a response, finally.

"I uh, sneaked out. Kind of."

He gulps before nodding lightly:" Your commander will be angry with you."

"My dad is backing me up."

His expression lights up finally and he gives me a small smile:" Matt always supports you, no matter how reckless you are."

I can't help but grin lightly;" he trusts me."

He forces a smile on his face before his thoughts obviously drift off again. I can't help but frown; I've never seen Gennai be like this. My aunt's death sure did a huge number on him. He looks so... old and fragile all of the sudden.

"Gennai", I start, driving him out of his miserable thoughts again because as soon as he lays eyes on me again, his expression brightens.

"Gennai, you have to tell me where they are. I came to help them."

He's clearly unsure of what to tell me because I can see him shifting his weight from one foot on another before he averts his gaze. He stares at the massive steel door in front of us before he sighs and places his hand on the handprint scanner. The color turns green immediately and the doors part in front of us, granting us access to the underground. He enters the base without a word and I silently follow him, giving him the time he apparently needs.

He steps into the elevator and waits for me to follow him before he pushes the right button. I don't have to take a look to know where we are headed. There is only one relevant room in here anyway. We step out of the elevator and walk towards the doors of the command center. Once again the system identifies Gennai as an authenticated person and grants us access to the familiar looking room. The commando center here is still too small if you ask me, but that is probably only because the digidestined reconstructed this part of the base throughout the years. The whole restoration resulted in our command center being at least three times the size of this one here.

Gennai crosses the room and leans over the keyboard of one of the main computers. He types several codes in it before a map appears on the giant screen in front of us. I look up and recognize the city immediately.

"They were in Belphemon's city when – "

He doesn't end the sentence, but I understood him just well. I cross my arms before my chest and try to ignore how wet my uniform still is. Instead I focus my gaze on the screen and by typing another few codes in, the image changes and shows a bigger map of a broader region.

"And where are they headed to now?"

"They're going to meet our troops at the front. I'll install the data in your digivice", he extends his hand and I give him my digivice. He grabs the item and connects it to the computer before he starts to transfer everything that would be useful in any way to the device.

I grab the mobile phone like device I received from my father and notice in surprise that the data Gennai is uploading on my digivice is being copied on this phone too. Dad obviously interlinked them somehow.

As soon as the upload is complete Gennai disconnects my digivice and gives it back to me, the sad glint in his eyes returning all of the sudden. It reminds me of a request I debated whether I should ask for or not. But there is just no way that I will be able to go on in peace if I don't ask him.

"Where is she?"

He looks at me, the sadness intensifying almost immediately. His eyes start to glister suspiciously before he clears his throat:" in her room."

"Okay", I give him a quick nod and start to walk towards the exit when he silently grabs my arm.

"Jess I don't think you –"

"I didn't say goodbye to her", I turn towards him and don't bother to suppress the grief in my voice.

"I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to any of them." I did not only lose my aunt. I lost my best friend I grew up with. And I lost the only person I've ever fell in love with.

"Sh – she just vanished. The last thing she told me was that she's going to the bathroom. And then she just –",

I'm transferred back to the evening when I was working with my aunt in the command center. Our shift was almost over when she excused herself. I thought that she decided to call it a night and just went to sleep or something like that. Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd never see her again.

I sigh deeply and put a lid on my emotions again. I refuse to let the sadness consume me. I'm not helping anyone if I lose my focus right now. I'm not letting Sora get in my way, or Kazumi.

Or Dylan for that matter; the memory of him makes me tremble in pain.

I angrily shake my head, getting rid of these miserable thoughts. If uncle Tai can keep on working then I can too.

"I just want to say goodbye to her Gennai."

He stares at me before I see something shift in his gaze. He nods before he takes a seat in front of the computer.

"You know where her chamber is. Be safe out there Jess." With that he turns towards the screen again, dismissing me.

I gaze at the back of his chair, not sure what I should think about his behavior and if it would be a good idea to let him alone in such a difficult time. But seeing that I am on a mission and the digidestined need help sooner rather than later I turn around and exit the command center, making my way to the different chambers of this time's digidestined.

I walk through the lightly illuminated corridor and pass several doors with different crest symbols on it. My heart skips a beat when I pass the two doors with the crest of sincerity and the crest of friendship. It sure as hell is weird to see these two have separated bedrooms...

The door with the crest of courage and the crest of love comes in my sight and I inwardly slow down. I can feel the lump in my throat and my knees start to shake.

Do I really want to see her?

I come to a halt in front of the door and stare down at the handle.

Am I ready to see her?

I shakily grab the handle with my left hand.

Has the time come to say goodbye now?

I let out the breath I was holding in and push the handle down, stepping into the burgundy colored room.

My gaze immediately sticks to the bed where her corpse is supposed to be.

My heart skips a beat.

I stumble back and feel the heavy door on my back.

I can't do anything than to gape stupidly at the empty bed in front of me. A weird sensation of relief washes over me but at the same time I feel more confused than ever before.

Where the fuck is she?!

An immense heat coming from my back snaps me out of my shock and I grab the bow I indirectly received from my aunt. It is glowing in a bright red light and out of the corner of my eye I can see another red light dancing in the air; Right above the bed where Sora's corpse should be lying on. Judged by the covers there was someone lying on them a while ago.

But what happened?

Maybe they transferred her to the mortuary of the base?

No. Gennai would know about that.

I stare at the red light that slowly moves towards me. I take a step to the side, avoiding coming in touch with it. As soon as the light touches the door it vanishes from my sight, leaving me completely dumbfounded.

Without me even intending to, I grab the handle of the door again and exit the room. There is nothing here for me anyway.

I stop right in my tracks again when I see the light a few meters in front of me, moving towards the elevator.

I knit my brows in confusion but the curiosity gets the best of me. I quickly catch up with the light and follow it throughout the base.

I don't realize how far we've come until the light stops right in front of the giant exit on the west side of the base; the only exit that is over ground. I stare at the light before I look over to the handprint scanner.

"So? What now? I don't know if I can open the doors."

Am I seriously talking to a light? Did I just lose it completely?

What comes next however leaves me completely stunned; the light vanishes inside of the handprint scanner. After several seconds I hear the familiar "bing" sound and the scanner lights up in a green color.

The steel doors slide open and I exit the base, my eyes still wide in surprise. I turn around and watch the doors close again before I slowly take a step forward, the red light already moving again.

From what I can make out in this never ending darkness the light is leading me directly into the forest. I gulp nervously and pray to god that I am not making a huge mistake now.

But Sora's bow on my back glowing brightly tells me that I am not.

No. I'm doing exactly what she wants me to do.

ALEC'S POV

I'm still not sure if the sudden silence in my head is a good thing, or if it just made everything worse. For the first time since I can remember I can actually hear my own thoughts. I can still feel the power of darkness deep inside of me. I didn't expect it to just go away with its core being destroyed; It's a part of me for way too long for that to happen. But something changed nevertheless.

The hold on me is gone. I feel free for the first time.

But what do I do with my freedom? It doesn't mean anything to me if I can't share it with anyone. I can recall all the times Kazumi and I talked about this; she was determined to cut off the hold the demon lords had on me.

She did at last. And then she left me.

My chest tightens painfully and the trident on my back feels heavier all of the sudden, slowing me down. I inhale deeply and give my best to suppress the pain that is invading my mind. It's pointless to wallow in self – pity. It is the risk of the job... if you accept to go on a mission you are well aware of the risks that go with it, and accept them. She knew that there was always the possibility – although it was very small –that she might not come back home in the end. We all knew.

But I can't deny the fact that the pain tears me apart nevertheless.

I unglue my gaze form the ground and check out our surroundings; the clouds intensified in their grey color, indicating that we are nearing our borders. After checking the time on my watch I realize that we've been walking the whole day. I would suggest to camp here if it weren't for the many lights a few meters in front of us.

"Are these our troops?" Tai's low voice makes me jerk and turn towards him. He didn't say a word the whole day; I didn't expect him to break his silence anytime soon.

I give him a quick nod and try to ignore my inner gut feeling. I don't think that our troops will be excited to see me. After all, these digimon grew up hearing stories about me that surely haunted them in their worst nightmares.

I look up again and the nearer we come to the camp, the clearer the picture gets; hundreds of digimon are scattered around the giant field, lying down on the ground. Several tents are set up in rows; torches are stuck at either side of the entrances. The whole area is illuminated by their warm, orange light

"It's the digidestined!" A gladimon shouts enthusiastically so that everyone in a radius of 10 meters can hear him. A murmur goes through the crowd before hell breaks loose.

Within seconds, dozens of digimon run towards us, encircling the digidestined almost immediately. Whereas before I could feel Tai's hand wrapped around my wrist the connection is lost as soon as the digimon reach us. I'm pushed away from them and take this as an opportunity to get away from these fangirling digimon as soon as possible. The picture indeed resembles the one of a rock band being in the middle of their fandom. Names are shouted, and it seems like each of these digimon wants to at least touch one of them.

"You're awesome!"

"Heroes!"

"Lifesavers!"

I can't do anything than gape at them stupidly.

"Alec! Help us!" T.K shouts out and judged by his tone I can tell he doesn't like this much attention, at all.

"Enough! Let them breathe everyone!" Leomon's voice sounds from farer away. I turn around immediately and can't suppress the grin that is forming on my face. Leomon approaches me and returns the smile before he looks to the crowd again.

"I said let go!" This time he's much louder and there's some finality in his tone that causes the digimon to back off finally.

"I like to be the center of attention, but that was too much", Davis mumbles, readjusting his uniform.

"Digidestined, it's good to see you. I am very sorry for your loss", Leomon says glancing at Tai briefly before he looks at me again.

"Oh my god! I – Is that m – master Alec?" A Kiwimon's nervous voice sounds, driving the digimon's attention directly at me. Whereas before there was joy written on their faces, their expressions change immediately at soon as they lay eyes on me.

Hatred fills their eyes, accompanied by fear judged by the way everyone is backing off.

"What on earth are you doing here?! You should rot in hell!" A Meramon shouts angrily. His words feel like I've just been slapped across the face and without me even intending to I take a step back.

"Exactly! Go away. No one wants you here! You're one of them!" Another one shouts. I'm staring down on the ground, not being able to look at them anymore. Therefore I can't make out who addressed me now.

"You're a traitor Alec!"

"You're the devil himself!"

I knew this would be bad, but this honestly exceeds my worst expectations.

"You should have died in master Phoenix' place!"

Oh wow. As if I didn't know that already...

"Yeah you – "

"That is enough!" A loud voice echoes through the whole area, shutting everyone up immediately. I look up to the owner of the voice; Tai's facing the digimon with such an angry expression that if he'd still have the power of darkness, these digimon would have burned down to their core by now.

"How dare you talk to him like that?! He's the main reason we're still alive!" Matt says, not less angry than his leader. I can't help but look at them in surprise. I certainly didn't expect them to stand up for me.

"And bringing his dead brother into this is below the belt guys. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Davis adds.

"Alec is one of us! You should be thankful that he's willing to help!" Cody looks at them, annoyance clear on his face.

"You should apologize", Kari says, taking a step towards them and crossing her arms before her chest. I can't see her face but it obviously works because the digimon look at her in fear before one by one mumbles an apology before they all together leave us alone.

"W – well, I uh... guess I deserved that", I whisper, looking down on the ground again because all of the sudden the shame I should have felt for all my previous actions suddenly breaks down on me.

"No. You deserved none of this. I knew you before all of this happened. Someone who is being controlled by dark powers doesn't deserve to be judged like this", Leomon whispers quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I was doing these things on purpose Leomon I sure as hell deserve their hate – "

"You constantly claim to have done all these things based on your free will. How do you feel about killing innocents now with their hold on you gone?" He asks, although judged by his expression I can tell that he knows the answer already. This is why I stay silent and prefer to look away from him. I hate when someone looks at me like Leomon does. I always feel like he's seeing right through me, no matter how thick of a wall I build up.

"And even if you want to think that you deserve this. You have done so many good things since we met you; that has to count too", Joe says, giving me a small smile which I return as if it was the most natural thing for me to do.

"I agree. You were a mentor all of us needed", Yolei adds quietly.

"Guys I..." I'm at a loss of words.

"Don't say anything. We see you blushing", Tai says, giving me a playful clap on my back that sends an apocalyptic pain through my whole body. How on earth did I forget about all my injuries?!

I grit my teeth and force a smile on my face in an attempt to cover the fact that I am dying right now but I can tell Tai realized his mistake because his grin widens and I can hear a few of the others chuckle too.

Well, at least I can amuse them with my pain.

"How come we're not being bombarded Leomon? It almost looks... peaceful", Ken asks, after glancing over the whole area.

I follow his gaze and take a closer look at our current location. We're on a wide rocky desert, surrounded by hills on either side of us. My blood freezes when I spot the embayment on one of these hills. Images of digimon fighting tirelessly on this battlefield come flooding back at me all at once. I can vividly remember my friends killing these gremlin – like creatures, supporting the digimon as much as they could.

I know exactly where we are, and it's making me sick.

"We called out a truce so everyone has the chance to treat their wounded ones."

"For how long?" Tai asks, his gaze also on the wide field. I can tell he recognizes this place because he's stiff as a board.

"Truce ends tomorrow morning", Ogremon appears suddenly, looking as grumpy as ever. "I'm sorry for your loss. I actually liked that one."

We stare at him in surprise, completely caught off guard by his sudden revelation. Mimi however is the first one to recover because she smiles lightly at him:" Thank you Ogremon, we appreciate it."

The green digimon blushes lightly before he turns away from her. If anyone can abash Ogremon then it's Mimi; she was always his weak spot.

"Could you show me the wounded ones?" Joe asks, stepping forward. "I'd like to help."

The both digimon eye him before Leomon gives his companion a certain look; Ogremon nods and gestures for Joe to follow him.

"Try to get some rest digidestined. I'll go and get you something to eat", Leomon says before he leaves us standing here and vanishes in one of the many tents.

Several digimon approach us and within a very short time, they set up a pavilion. Torches are stuck at each corner of it and with a swift motion of a Meramon's hand they catch fire immediately; engulfing us in the same golden light that is spread over the whole camp.

"Thank you guys", Kari says, giving them a kind smile which they return sheepishly.

"It's our pleasure."

I don't bother to acknowledge them; my pride is standing in my way so I sit down on the ground and place Kazumi's trident and my helmet next to me on the ground. The digidestined quickly follow my example and sit down.

"Man that was a hell of a walk", Yolei says, rubbing her aching legs.

"My mind switched on autopilot around noon, I don't know how long we were walking", T.K says, leaning back on his elbows and grinning lightly.

"Same here. But I remember that it was awful", Mimi says, chuckling lightly.

"Aw come on guys, a little bit of physical activity and you're already whining?" Tai says, his all too familiar lopsided grin visible on his face.

The digidestined eye him for a moment, clearly stunned to see that trademark grin on Tai's face so soon. But they know better than to comment Tai's sudden change in behavior.

"Fooood!" Veemon exclaims as soon as Leomon approaches us again with a tray filled with fruits and snacks. As soon as the tray touches the ground the digimon are already all over it.

I glance at them and allow myself for a moment to relax and appreciate the fact that we all came here in one piece.

"You know this place, don't you?" Tai's whisper snaps me out of it again and I look over to him.

The sad glint in his eyes is still present but he does a good job in trying to hide it. "I do."

"You've been here before too, right?" I ask him, although I know the answer to that question already. After all it was me who showed him this place for the first time.

"In my nightmares, yes."

Yeah... it felt like a nightmare to me too the last time I was here.

I look over the never ending desert again, remembering every second of that damned day when I was fighting against these bastards with my friends and my family. This was the day I not only lost my whole team, but my fiancée. If I really wanted to I'd surely even find the exact spot where their corpses were lying. A shiver goes down my spine by the sheer memory and I shake my head in an attempt to get rid of these images.

"History is not going to repeat itself Alec."

I look over to him again, staring straight into his deep brown eyes:" I certainly hope so Tai."

"Guys... I just wanted to say", Joe starts as soon as he enters the pavilion. Everyone looks up to him in anticipation but he's clearly struggling with his next words.

He readjusts his glasses and sits down on the ground with Gomamon by his side before he takes a deep breath and looks up to us again.

"I don't know how this will turn out tomorrow. For all I've heard from the digimon it usually gets really ugly out there", he stops and readjusts his glasses again.

"W – well what I'm trying to say is. I – it was an honor to fight with your all."

Silence.

Everyone's looking at the blue haired boy with a completely stunned expression, unsure of what to say obviously.

"We'll get through this. We're not saying goodbye to each other now, you heard me?" Tai is the first to react. He rubs his reddened eyes before looking at each of them.

"You're right. We'll go home all together I am sure", Mimi adds.

"You're right. I –I didn't mean to sound it like... I just wanted to, in case – " Joe starts again but T.K interrupts him.

"Joe, have some hope. We'll be fine", T.K says, his hands glowing in a faint yellow light.

Nothing more is said, and if I really think about it, there's not much to say anymore anyway. As I said; it's the risk of the job...

The time goes by and the voices all over the camp die down at some point, leaving me here in complete silence. The digidestined are sleeping peacefully, the stress and agony finally gone from their faces. My gaze is stuck on Tai who took some time to fall asleep but weird enough, as soon as I joined his side, his breathing normalized and he finally drifted off. Matt is on his other side and after taking a closer look at them I can't help but smile lightly; while Mimi is snuggled close to the blonde's left side, he's holding onto Tai's hand with his right one. If the meaning of this gesture wouldn't be so sad, I probably would have teased them about it.

But I can guess Matt's intention and it's beautiful.

I tighten my hold on Kazumi's trident in my hand and close my eyes, falling faster asleep than ever before.

TAI'S POV

"ENERGY BLAST!"

My eyes dart open but before I have the chance to react I'm already thrown into the air. I fully wake up when I crash down on the hard ground. I catch my breath and look up, looking for the source of the attack and catch sight of it immediately; a giant digimon that looks like a black and white copy of Metalseadramon is flying in the air, aiming it's red glowing nose right at us.

"Veemon!" Davis shouts out from farer away and I snap out of my initial shock and look over to my teammates who were all blown away by this weird looking Seadramon's attack. The pavilion we slept under is burning in the distance and after glancing at the whole camp side I realize in shock that not only our pavilion is burning but the whole camp is ablaze.

"Let's digivolve guys! It looks like the truce is over!" Agumon shouts, looking at me for my approval. Although there's nothing I fear more than this upcoming fight I refuse to back off now and grip my digivice harder. An all too familiar warmth spreads through my whole body and I can feel the power of courage run through my veins and my partner, making him digivolve finally.

"Agumon warp digivolution to... WARGREYMON!"

"Let's do this guys!" Matt shouts out, a massive dark blue aura surrounding him.

"Gabumon warp digivolution to... METALGARURUMON!"

"Palmon digivolve to Togemon! – Togemon ultra digivolution to LILLYMON!"

"Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon ultra – digivolution to MEGAKABUTERIMON!"

"Gomamon digivolve to Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon ultra – digivolution to ZUDOMON!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquilamon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Veemon digivolve to ExVeemon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

"ExVeemon... Stingmon, DNA digivolution to, PAILDRAMON!"

"Gatomon... Aquilamon, DNA digivolution to, SILPHYMON!"

"Angemon...Ankylomon, DNA digivolution to, SHAKKOUMON!"

"For the digital world!" A foreign digimon shouts, earning a massive echo from the digimon who are all gathered behind him. Knowing exactly what they're doing they run towards the horizon where – my heart sinks – thousands of dark digimon are running towards our way smaller army. I can only pray for them to be okay.

"Oh hell no...", Alec's voice right next to me snaps me out and I follow his gaze.

Next to the weird Metalseadramon are two very familiar digimon. I inwardly check my left side for the presence of my digimon partner. WarGreymon is looking at the digimon in shock, as Alec is right now.

"Who are they?!" Izzy asks, approaching us while doing so. Within seconds everyone is gathered around us, our digimon right at our side.

"This is impossible", MetalGarurumon whispers.

"I – I didn't even know that they work for the demon lords", Megakabuterimon stammers.

"Well... you could say that the enemy of our enemy is our friend", a digimon I've never seen before but at the same time looks damn familiar speaks out; a black and white BlackWargreymon is standing in front of us, grinning lightly.

"It's our pleasure to finally meet you digidestined. Unfortunately Lucemon could not attend this party today", another black and white copy of an old enemy speaks out. This one is by far the worst; only by looking at him I can feel my blood run cold. A black and white Piedmon is standing on MetalSeadramon's left side.

"Did the printer run out of color or why do you all look so weird?" T.K asks, his brows knitted in confusion.

The three digimon laugh in unison, making the whole ground shake violently.

"Guys... these three are the chaos generals; ChaosBlackWargreymon, ChaosPiedmon and ChaosMetalSeadramon", Alec speaks out, a faint nervous undertone in his voice.

"What does that mean?" Kari asks, the seriousness of Alec's tone sinking in slowly.

"These guys are bad", Paildramon answers her question.

"Very bad", Shakkoumon adds.

Great. Just, great.

"Wow, I didn't know we had such a reputation", ChaosPiedmon says.

"I didn't know either. But we should live up to that reputation, don't you think?" ChaosMetalSeadramon says, his nose already glowing red again.

"We should indeed... TERRA FORCE!" ChaosBlackWargreymon's pitched black attack is thrown right at our group.

"Oh you'd like that huh! – GREY FIRE!" WarGreymon steps forward and sends his fireball at ChaosBlackWargreymon's attack. Although Alec's reacting fast as lighting; building up a bright shield in front of us, we're thrown back several meters by the massive detonation wave the two attacks caused when they clashed against each other.

I slither over the rocky ground and try to ignore the pain that shots through my body. I quickly get back on my feet when a girl's scream catches my attention.

"Get off me you little – ", Mimi's lying on her back, one of these familiar, gremlin like, dark creatures is pinning her down, ready to rip off her face.

Just when I take a step towards her, the creature suddenly dissolves into data, revealing Mimi's cane sword she obviously managed to stick into its head. She gets up immediately, her eyes shimmering in that green light again. She flashes me a reassuring smile before her expression changes suddenly.

"Tai watch out!"

It's like my body takes control over me all over again; I grab both of my swords, causing them to catch fire by my sheer touch and turn around in a heartbeat, driving my spear like sword right into one of these creatures. It literally explodes into data right in front of my eyes.

"JUSTICE BEAM!" Shakkoumon's red laser attack illuminates the whole area in a sick, red light. Fortunately his attack sends ChaosMetalSeadramon right into one of these giant hills. The impact shakes up the whole area and I have trouble to keep by balance.

"TRUMP SWORD!" ChaosPiedmon throws his swords towards Shakkoumon who's still glaring at the dust cloud in which ChaosMetalSeadramon vanished and therefore, completely forgets about his defense. The swords stick into his back, making him wince and fall down on one knee.

"Shakkoumon!" Cody's already running towards his digimon partner.

"Cody watch out on your left!" Izzy shouts across the field. Cody stops right in his tracks and turns around right when one of these creatures launches itself at him.

Oh no. He's completely helpless.

I take off in a run, my hold on my blades tightening and prepare for my next strike when I'm thrown off my feet. I land on my back, the air leaving my lungs in an instant and the next thing I feel, are razor sharp teeth bite into my left shoulder. I scream out in pain, but the anger is already building up inside of me. The heat I've felt when Agumon digivolved returns once again, giving me the ability to block out that awful sensation and focus on my sword in my right hand. Using all my strength I turn both –me and that creature – around so that I'm the one pinning it down on the ground. Its teeth are still stuck in my shoulder and I can feel my uniform being soaked by blood once again.

But my anger is more powerful than any other sensation right now. I slide my blade over its ugly throat, setting it on fire immediately.

As soon as the hold on me is gone I get back on my feet again, ignoring the throbbing pain in my shoulder and look over to Cody who's sitting on the ground, T.K right next to him, holding a spear. Last time I checked he hadn't his weapon yet.

"T.K where – ?"

The blonde just shrugs, looking at the item in his hand:" I – I don't know. I just wanted to help Cody and suddenly that thing appeared in my hand."

"GIGA BLASTER"

"BROWN STINGER!"

"MASK'S SQUARE!"

The three chaos generals send their attacks all at once, causing them to combine in one massive, black energy beam, aimed directly at mine and Matt's digimon partners.

"WarGreymon!"

"MetalGarurumon!"

Both of them are lying on the ground, struggling to get back on their feet obviously. I didn't even realize that they were attacked. They're not going to make it.

I glance over to Matt who gives me a quick nod and we both take off in a run towards our digimon partners. I can see dozens of these dark creatures parting from the giant dark army that is fighting our own several feet away. The creatures come running towards us, launching themselves at my teammates who – much to my surprise – are handling the situation with ease.

The energy beam comes nearer and I realize in shock that we're not fast enough, but my aching legs and the throbbing wound on my shoulder slow me down even more.

They're going to die.

All of the sudden, sparks appear in the sky; the attack bounces off on what looks like a bright bubble, protecting our digimon partners. Matt and I stop in our tracks and look at the person who created the enormous shield and is clearly struggling to hold against the power of the Chaos generals' attack. My heart swells in pride and I join my sister's right side while Matt joins her left; supporting her shield with our own powers.

"DESPERADO BLASTER!"

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

"KACHINA BOMBS!"

Paildramon's, Megakabuterimon's and Shakkoumon's attack each hit one of these damned generals; their previously sent attack at MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon vanishes because the three of them are thrown on the ground.

Silphymon takes advantage of their disoriented state and flies high into the sky:" STATIC FORCE!"

Several energy shots clash down on the ground where all three of them are still lying, dispersing a giant dust cloud while doing so.

"VULCAN'S HAMMER!" Zudomon's shock wave adds to Silphymon's attack.

"Is it over?" Ken asks, his gaze stuck on the dust cloud that is blocking our direct view at the Chaos generals.

"I don't think – ", Alec starts but is interrupted by a gloating chuckle.

"Do you really think it is so easy?" ChaosPiedmon's voice sounds from right behind us, causing us all – I didn't even realize that we gathered again – to turn around and face that ugly clown.

"ENERGY BLAST!" ChaosMetalSeadramon's attack comes out of nowhere. This time WarGreymon is quick to react because he jumps high into the air, blocking the attack easily. Within seconds my partner is flanked by Paildramon and Shakkoumon, the three of them ganging up on ChaosMetalSeadramon all at once. They simultaneously launch themselves at him, fighting him bare – handed.

"TERRA – ", ChaosBlackWargreymon does not get to finish his attack because Zudomon's fist connects with his face before he gets the chance.

"FLOWER WREATH!" Lillymon wraps her vines around ChaosBlackWargreymon, preventing him to send any more attacks at us and make him an easy target at the same time.

"SUPER ELECTRIC STRIKE!" Megakabuterimon spins into a ball and slams itself into the ground, hitting ChaosBlackWargreymon at full force. The whole ground shakes because of the impact and deep cracks are visible on it.

"Impressive. I have to admit that I underestimated you", ChaosPiedmon says, watching the other two generals struggling with a stoic expression.

"You piece of shit almost killed my digimon partner!" Matt shouts angrily, gripping the handle of his kusarigama and taking a step towards him.

"Oh did I? I'm sorry. Next time I'll make sure there will be no 'almost' in your sentence."

He sure as hell knows how to piss Matt of because whereas Matt was surrounded by a calm, dark blue aura before, it suddenly starts to spark violently. He throws his kusarigama at the clown, the sickle like weapon sticking right into his chest; shocking him, literally.

But Matt obviously was too caught off in his wrath and forgot who the fuck is standing in front of him. ChaosPiedmon grits his teeth and pulls the weapon out of his chest all the while staring at my best friend with such a dark expression that I fear the worst.

"TRUMP SWORD!"

ChaosPiedmon throws his swords in such a fast pace that I don't even realize that he moved. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Alec raising his hand in an attempt to create a shield but a dark creature bites into his left arm, catching him completely off guard.

Time literally stands still and I can tell that while my mind is still processing what the hell is happening, my body understood already because I can feel myself going numb and my heart starts to ache.

"Matt no!" MetalGarurumon shouts out. "You will regret this clown! METAL WOLF CLAW!"

"STATIC FORCE!"

Silphymon and MetalGarurumon launch themselves at ChaosPiedmon. But for once, I am not watching the battle. Dark creatures are zeroing in on us; Mimi, Alec, Yolei, Davis and T.K are keeping them at a distance but I can tell by Mimi's heavy breathing that they're nearing the point of absolute exhaustion.

"Joe, help him!" She shouts out, although she's busy keeping one of these creatures from burying its' teeth into her neck, her gaze is stuck on the blonde who's lying on the ground.

"Matt I have to pull them out; this will hurt like a bitch okay?" Joe's soothing voice feels like razor blades and when I finally pull myself together I look down on my best friend who's struggling to breathe properly.

ChaosPiedmon's four swords stick out of the upper part of his body and the sight is enough to drive me over the edge.

I can't take any more losses.

Joe carefully removes each of them, making Matt scream out in pain every time he moves the metal in his chest.

"Tai!" His pained voice is enough to make my heart crack but is at the same time exactly what I needed to finally get a grip. Although I feel sick to my stomach, I kneel down right next to him, grabbing his hand while doing so. His deep blue eyes bore into me and I feel like I'm suffocating although he is the one who can't breathe.

"That motherfucker hit me good", he whispers, his chest raising and falling way faster than it should.

"You'll be alright", I look at Joe who's pressing absorbent cotton on my best friend's wounds. The cottons turn red immediately, fueling my nausea even more.

"BROWN STINGER!" ChaosMetalSeadramon's attack hits Megakabuterimon at full force, leaving him lying on the ground motionless. In an instant Zudomon is by his side, trying to get him back on his feet.

"TERRA FORCE!" ChaosBlackWargreymon kicks Lillymon out of his way easily, sending his Terra Force at Izzy's and Joe's partner.

"Oh no", Izzy watches the scene with horror filled eyes before he darts up from his spot on Matt's left side and runs towards the two digimon, his arms raised. He reaches them just in time; creating a purple shining shield over both of the digimon. However ChaosBlackWargreymon's attack is powerful enough to push the redhead back, causing him to lose his balance.

"He's not going to make it", Cody says, getting up himself but my sister is faster. She shots me a reassuring smile before she takes off too.

But rather than to waste time and approach Izzy and the digimon she stops several meters away from them. She hauls off, looking like she'll throw a baseball any minute. But when she finally throws whatever was gathering in her palm a massive light illuminates the area, sending ChaosBlackWargreymon flying over the field.

"Man, your sissy is a badass", Matt says before he chuckles lightly. My gaze immediately falls down on his face again before I look at Joe.

"I – I can't stop the bleeding", while there was a nervous undertone in Joe's speech before it is replaced by panic now.

"I – I don't know what to do Matt I – "

"Joe!" Alec appears out of nowhere, several cuts and bruises are all over his face and his hair sticks out in every direction.

"Joe you can help him. You don't need all of this", Alec grabs all the cotton balls and throws them away, taking Joe's hands in his and placing them over Matt's chest.

I can feel my best friend's grip on my hand loosening lightly and that only pisses me off. I look down on him and realize that his eyelids are fluttering; he's clearly struggling to stay conscious. Without thinking too much I slap him across his face, causing his eyes to snap open immediately.

"Motherfucker."

"Don't play these moves on me", I growl, earning a grin from him.

"Good, very good Joe, focus", Alec's reassuring voice sounds again and I look up to them again. While Joe's hands are lying motionlessly on Matt's chest, painting Joe's hands redder with any minute passing, Alec is holding onto the blue – head's elbows, supporting him the best way he can.

Joe's breathing normalizes and all of the sudden a greyish light appears under his palms, engulfing Matt's whole chest in it. My eyes are glued on the light until I feel Matt's hold on me tightening. The light dies down and I look into my best friend's eyes that are wide in shock. He slowly straightens up; supporting himself on his elbows.

"Joe... what did you do?" He asks, his breathing still going heavy but at least he's not suffocating anymore. Matt slowly places one of his hands over his chest, the disbelief in his face growing when he doesn't feel his injuries anymore.

Joe slowly lifts his hands and examines his palms, his eyes still wide in surprise:" I – I don't know Matt I just – "

"This is your power Joe", Alec says out loud what probably everyone around here was thinking all along.

Joe looks away from his hands and gapes stupidly at Alec.

"You have the power to heal the ones in need Joe – " Alec seems like he wanted to add something but gets interrupted by an angry digimon whose roar echoes through the night.

"I am sick of you all! GIGA BLASTER!" I can only hear how ChaosBlackWargreymon shots his next attack before I see Shakkoumon crash down on the ground, dedigivolving into Angemon and Ankylomon.

"Guys are you okay?!" Cody shouts, already beginning to run onto the battlefield again but his way is blocked almost immediately by several dark creatures that somehow managed to approach us without any of us to notice.

"Matt, will you be okay?" I ask him, since he is still clutching onto my hand. He looks at the creatures around us before his gaze jumps back to me.

"Yeah, you go. I'll stay here for a while", he lets go of me and lies back down on the ground. I hastily check his injuries but find none. Joe obviously made them vanish somehow but nevertheless ChaosPiedmon's attack sure did a number on him.

"We'll stay by his side Tai don't worry", Joe says, mentioning to him and Cody. I give both of them a nod before I join Alec's right side.

"Show no mercy Taichi", Alec's voice switched again; the soft undertone he used with Joe is long gone.

"You never called me by my full name before."

I can hear him chuckle:" There's a good chance there won't be another opportunity to call you that."

I don't get the chance to respond to that because he draws his dagger and launches himself at one of the nearest creatures, killing it in an instant.

I follow his example and grab the handles of my blades, but rather then approaching them I let one of them make its first move; and I don't have to wait too long for that. One jumps high into the air, making this way too easy. I simply lift my hand with the spear – like blade and pierce it right into its stomach. However the pain I feel in my abdomen makes it clear that I just underestimated the intelligence of these damned creatures. The previous one was obviously only trying to distract me.

I crash down on the ground, the creature still biting into my wound I have left from my fight against Daemon. I'm too busy being in pain so I completely forget about my defense because within seconds I feel another one of them bite into my already injured left shoulder, causing my grip on my sword to loosen.

"Tai!" Alec shouts out. "Tai, try to get up on your feet! I can't help you right now!" Judged from the sounds coming from his direction I can tell he's busy sending these things to hell.

As much as I want to move I can't. They don't seem like letting me go so soon and the pain is paralyzing me. I feel like I can't get enough air anymore.

"Let go of him you poor copy of gremlins!" A girly voice sounds and only a second later I can feel the pressure on my abdomen gone, followed by a release of my left shoulder. I wince in pain before turning around on one side.

"Here Tai", Yolei squats down in front of me, holding my sword in her hand. I'm still trying to catch my breath somehow; this is why I can't do anything but stare at her, showing her how thankful I am without actually saying anything.

"Oh don't mention it; you would've done the same – AH!" A black shadow appears out of nowhere. I quickly grab the sword Yolei dropped and jump on my feet, ready to slash this thing in two halves but someone is faster than me.

The dark creature dissolves into data, revealing Ken who's holding a giant axe in his hands. Wordlessly he grabs Yolei by her arm and helps her get to her feet again.

"Thank you. Where did you get this?" She mentions to his weapon but the boy only shrugs.

"I saw that thing attack you and took off in a run to help you. It just appeared in my hand while I was running."

"Same thing happened to T.K", I say before looking over to Alec who's standing a few meters away from us, his gaze wandering over the whole battle field. While masses of digimon are still fighting tirelessly against each other, our digimon partners are busy with the Chaos generals. Thankfully there is no trace of these creatures anymore.

"GREAT TORNADO!" WarGreymon spins around, hitting ChaosMetalSeadramon at full force with his attack. The snake like digimon falls down on the ground but recovers almost immediately.

"BROWN STINGER!" It shots up from the ground, ready to poison WarGreymon with its attack but MetalGarurumon stands in his way.

"GRACE CROSS FREEZER!" His freezing missiles hit ChaosMetalSeadramon before he can get to WarGreymon, sending him off flying away again.

"Good Job MetalGarurumon!" Silphymon shouts before turning towards her own enemy again.

"STATIC FORCE!" She sends her energy shots towards ChaosBlackWargreymon who simply blocks the attack with a swift motion of one of his giant claws.

"You are so pathetic. TERRA FORCE!"

"I won't let you hurt her! POSITRON LASER!" Paildramon interferes with his own attack but ChaosBlackWargreymon's anger obviously gave him some sort of power – up because instead of Paildramon's attack deviate his Terra Force, it is being absorbed by the dark energy ball, making it twice the size than before.

"Silphymon watch out!" Kari shouts out but it's too late.

The attack hits not only her, but also Paildramon who somehow tried to get her out of the way. Both of the digimon crash down on the ground, dedigivolving into their rookie forms. Yolei, Kari, Davis and Ken run towards their respective partners, bringing them back to us immediately. Cody and T.K are sitting next to their partner digimon who, although they are still on the champion level, didn't gain consciousness again after they were hit.

"Man... he is so powerful", Davis whispers, looking down on DemiVeemon's sleeping form.

"Don't worry Davis, we'll beat them", Lillymon shouts. "FLOWER CANON!"

Lillymon's attack catches ChaosBlackWargreymon completely off guard, knocking him off once again.

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

Both, MetalGarurumon and Megakabuterimon aim their attack at ChaosMetalSeadramon who himself is busy aiming its nose at Lillymon and therefore forgets about the rest of our digimon. Both of the attacks hit him at full force.

"Finish him off WarGreymon!" I shout, not keeping a lid on my anger anymore. I can feel my chest glowing again and after locking eyes with my digimon partner I know that he can feel it too. He gives me a quick nod before flying further into the air.

He raises his arms over his head, canalizing the energy I am more than willing to give him.

"TERRA FORCE!" The orange energy ball flies through the air, directly at the lying form of ChaosMetalSeadramon.

"AAARGH!" ChaosMetalSeadramon's scream makes me shiver but as soon as the dust is gone I realize that they actually managed to kill him off with their last attack.

"Awesome guys!" Izzy cheers, earning some smiles from our partners.

"Oh don't get ahead of yourself now children. TRUMP SWORD!" More than the usual four swords are thrown at the digimon. I can tell by the surprised gasps of our partners that they didn't expect something like this to happen.

Two of the swords strike Lillymon and Megakabuterimon causing them to fall down on the ground, dedigivolving almost immediately. Mimi and Izzy are quick to retrieve them.

"Mimi, I'm sorry", Tanemon whispers, her consciousness fading away already.

"Their attacks are different than before. They weren't showing us their real strength until now", Motimon adds, looking up at Izzy with fear widened eyes.

Oh damn.

"You will regret this ChaosPiedmon! VULCAN'S HAMMER!" Zudomon's electric sparks travel through the air, directly at ChaosPiedmon who doesn't even tries to cover.

"GIGA BLASTER!" ChaosBlackWargreymon's missiles hit Zudomon's electric beam, deviating it.

The electricity hits MetalGarurumon at full force, causing him to crash down on the ground right in front of us. The wolf like digimon trembles heavily before he's engulfed in a bright light and an unconscious Tsunomon is left behind.

"Tsunomon!" Matt shouts out, trying to get back on his feet but it's of no use.

"Matt! Don't move, I still don't know how bad your injuries are", Joe pushes him down on the ground again but Matt is not having it.

"Joe I have to get to him!"

I quickly squat down and grab Tsunomon, walking over to my best friend who's struggling against Joe's grip on his arms.

"Matt"

He looks up to me and relaxes almost immediately. He slowly raises his arms and I hand him his digimon partner silently.

"Looks like that won't occupy much of our time anymore what do you think ChaosBlackWargreymon?" ChaosPiedmon speaks out, grinning evilly not only at WarGreymon and Zudomon but also at us.

"This was a waste of time from the very beginning", ChaosBlackWargreymon says, eyeing my digimon partner with hatred filled eyes.

"Waste of time?! I'll show you waste of time!" WarGreymon shouts, launching himself at the black and white copy of himself. The two dragon digimon crash into one of the hills that is surrounding us.

ChaosPiedmon looks at both of them, laughing hysterically:" Lovely. You are so entertaining!"

"And you make me so sick", Zudomon whispers without the clown noticing it. He hauls of his giant hammer before sending it flying across the field.

"VULCAN'S HAMMER!"

ChaosPiedmon's laugh stops suddenly. The hammer is stuck in his forehead and I can tell he is visibly stunned. Blood flows out of the gash, painting his black and white face completely red. His eyes are wide and he's gaping at is opponent.

"Huh. I guess you got me." And with that, he dissolves into data.

"That was great Zudomon!" Joe cheers.

"Heh, thank you Joe."

A loud crash makes all of us twitch in unison and look at the two WarGreymon's facing each other. Zudomon is by WarGreymon's side in an instant, ready to end this finally.

"Zudomon, go and protect the others! I have everything under control", WarGreymon says, his gaze never leaving ChaosBlackWargreymon.

"But WarGreymon you – "

"Do what I said Zudomon I mean it!" The urgency in WarGreymon makes me kind of uneasy. For a swift second he unglues his gaze on his opponent and looks over to me; determination clear in his face.

I know what he wants to tell me and I don't like it one bit. I have lost Sora already, I could not bear to lose him too and he knows that. But he wants to make sure I support him on this, even if it might destroy him. I swallow the lump in my throat and instead of saying anything I simply raise my hands, creating a giant shield over us. Zudomon joins our side, ready for whatever digimon might try and attack us in any way.

My teammates stare at me for a moment before one by one, raises their arms; creating a beautiful rainbow colored shield all over us.

I just wished I could make the same thing for my digimon partner.

"Sweet how you try and protect them", ChaosBlackWargreymon spits.

"They are my family. And I will always protect them." WarGreymon says, slowly raising his arms again, creating one of his most powerful attacks.

ChaosBlackWargreymon takes several steps back before he mirrors WarGreymon's gesture, creating his own terra force.

I once again, focus on WarGreymon like I did before, lending him as much power as I can. I can tell only by seeing WarGreymon's terra force turning from orange to what resembles the color of our shield, that the others are doing the same. Zudomon suddenly dedigivolves, a bright light leaving his body and going right into WarGreymon's next attack.

"TERRA FORCE!"

"TERRA FORCE!"

The both giant energy shots clash against each other. The whole are is suddenly as bright as what I assume will be heaven before the massive detonation wave kicks in and we all are thrown back several meters.

I lose my orientation completely. The only things I can see are dark clouds on the ground and a rocky desert in the sky. I crash down on what I realize is in fact the rocky ground and not the sky. An annoying ringing in my ear sounds all of the sudden and my sight is a blur. Black dots appear in my sight and I can feel the nausea I've felt before worsen again. My head feels like it's going to explode any minute.

I try to somehow turn around on my stomach but my whole body feels numb all of the sudden. I can feel a warm liquid flow down my temple, painting my sight slightly reddish. It's like some heavy weight is pressing me down on the ground, making me completely immobile. Every movement hurts like a bitch and my lungs are filled with the dust that was dispersed by the giant explosion, making it hard to breathe properly.

I force my head to turn to one side and regret it immediately. Although I can barely see, it is enough to spot my teammates lying on the ground, not moving. If my mind isn't playing games on me I can spot my sister lying several meters next to me on her back. Her eyes are closed and from what I can see the left side of her face is painted red. I'm transported back into one of my worst nightmares and although my mind can't process everything that is happening right now I can feel the wetness on my cheeks, and that is surely not from any injury on my head.

"T – Tai", a raspy voice calls out for me and although the ringing in my head drowns everything else I somehow managed to hear Alec. I turn my head on the other side, realizing that Alec is not even half a meter next to me.

He's lying on his stomach, blood dripping out of his forehead too and where once his left eye was is nothing but a black hole.

"Tai you'll be okay. Stay with me!" He reaches out for me, causing me to do the same although I can't actually feel myself doing it.

"Stay with me Tai!" His voice is suddenly farer away than before and the ringing intensifies. I extend my arm further but it seems like he's just too far.

So far...

"Tai! Don't close your eyes now!"

What?

What the fuck are you talking about? I'm trying to reach out for you!

"Stay with me!"

I am...

I am staying with you.

Right?

The images get blurrier and the ringing in my ear takes over all of my thoughts when I feel myself falling into the depths of the darkness.

SORA'S POV!

The sound of the waves crashing down on the shore calms down my nerves. The wind carries the unique scent of the sea. I take a deep breath and continue to stare into the depths of the horizon. Although the whole area is engulfed in a thick mist, the beauty of this place is not lessened by that.

If this is heaven I don't mind to stay here.

I don't know how much time passed since I came here. And if I'm being honest, I'm not sure if I care.

"Wow, you are a pretty lady!" A voice sounds, making me jerk in surprise. I turn around, expecting to see someone but my surprise only grows when I don't.

"Uh I'm sorry, I'm not that tall!" The same voice sounds again and I look down on the boy who is grinning at me. I blush lightly, scolding myself for my awkwardness.

"No I – I'm sorry I – ", I stop in mid – sentence when I lock eyes with this kid. Bright, crystal blueish grey eyes stare at me and I feel like I just fell into ice cold water.

I've seen this eyes countless of times before.

The boy has messy, dark brown hair and looks not older than five. He smiles lightly but it doesn't quite reach his eyes – it's the same smile he is wearing all the time.

"Akira!" A women calls out and the boy in front of me turns around immediately.

"Mom! Look at her! She's so pretty", he runs towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards me but as soon as her gaze falls on me she stops right in her tracks.

Brown locks fall down on either side of her face. She is dressed in a white, tight dress. Her emerald green eyes widen in shock and I can't help but stare back at her in equal surprise. I look down on the boy again who is holding onto her hand, looking at her in confusion. The realization that this kid called her 'mom' leaves me speechless.

She regains control over her facial expression after several minutes and clears her throat:" Surprised?"

"To say that I am surprised would be the understatement of the year."

She smiles lightly, tightening the grip on her son's hand.

"Is this Alec's – "

"Yeah. He's ours." She answers dryly, not meeting my gaze.

"I – I don't know what – ", I start but another, new voice interrupts me.

"Sora?"

I turn around and nearly have a heart attack when I spot the person who just called out for me. Although it hasn't been that long ago I've last seen him, I can't ignore how much I have actually missed him. He's dressed in white track pants and a matching white, tight t shirt. His brown hair is styled perfectly and he's wearing one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen.

"Phoenix?"

He stares at me, blinking a few times but as soon as he comes to the realization that he is not dreaming he's already wrapping his arms around me. I return his embrace and try to suppress my tears. Although we didn't know each other that well, I still cared for him. And I can tell the feeling is mutual. He breaks apart from me and gives me a small smile.

"Let's take a walk."

I don't even have the time to protest because he takes my hand and pulls me towards the city, away from the shore.

"Wait Phoenix! Nadia I – ", I turn around to bid her farewell but she's already walking away, Akira never letting go of her hand.

As soon as we're standing on solid ground Phoenix, let's go of me and starts walking into the city that is covered by an even thicker mist than the shore. I can't help but feel confused by the way he rushed me off from Nadia and his nephew but choose to not ask any questions. He surely had his reasons.

We walk in silence next to each other for the next ten minutes before I finally decide to break it.

"I died didn't I?" I whisper quietly. Although I have no clue where I am and how I got here, I know for a fact that something happened to me.

"You did. But I'm not letting you stay here Sora", Phoenix responds, his face a thoughtful mask.

"What do you mean?"

He takes some time to answer my question. But I'm just glad he does.

"Joe has the power to heal people. He obviously tried to help you somehow and he injected the cure into your system. Unfortunately your heart stopped beating before the cure could actually work out. But Joe still managed to save you somehow."

I try to process everything that Phoenix is saying in high speed and much to my surprise I have no trouble following his train of thoughts. For once.

"He saved me by sending me here?"

Phoenix grins lightly before he nods:" You've learned a lot I see."

I don't respond to that since I don't know how. Instead I just follow him around the city. I recognized it the moment we left the beach although I can barely see further than five meters. I've walked through these streets countless of times. I grew up here.

"Phoenix, if Joe saved me. Does that mean that I can get back?" I ask quietly, not really sure if I want to hear the answer to that or not.

"Oh of course. And you will", he answers, his smile never leaving his face.

"How?"

"You'll see Sora. I am not allowed to tell you; you have to find it out on your own."

I huff in frustration and spend the next half an hour walking in silence again. Phoenix doesn't really seem like he has anything else to say and to be honest it somehow feels weird walking through a completely empty city with him.

How on earth didn't I realize that there is no one around here?

"I like Odaiba, it is a beautiful city", Phoenix breaks the silence, while rounding a corner.

"I do too", I whisper quietly. We keep on walking until the streets get more familiar and without me even realizing it we reached a neighborhood I would recognize even in complete darkness. The mist cleared lightly, allowing me to take in my surroundings.

Tai's apartment building is giant and without even intending to, I look up to the windows that belong to his apartment he grew up in. The memories of us two playing here on the streets or meeting up before soccer practice come flooding back at me and I can't help but grin.

My eyes scan the area and I frown when I see two hunched down figures on the ground.

"Phoenix who are they?" I ask, my gaze never leaving what looks like two children.

But the silence I'm met with makes me kind of uneasy. I turn towards him –

With the only difference that there is no one I could turn to.

"Phoenix?!" I call out, looking around frantically. But it stays absolutely silent.

What the fuck? Did I dream this?!

A whining snaps me out of it again and I turn towards the two kids who didn't move an inch. I slowly approach them, in fear that I might scare them or something. The nearer I get, the faster I can feel my heart beating. My palms are sweaty and I can't help but wonder why on earth I am this nervous.

I come to a halt in front of them; it's a boy and a girl. Both of them have messy, reddish – brown hair. While the girl is dressed in a yellow, sleeveless shirt and dark washed jeans, the boy is wearing a blue t – shirt and brown shorts. For a moment I feel like I'm looking at me and Tai but that thought fades away as soon as both of them look up to me.

Two pairs of teary, chocolate brown eyes stare up at me. Call it mother's instinct but I recognize the two of them immediately.

"What happened? Why are you two crying?"

The two of them share a look before the boy wipes over his eyes and answers:" W – we lost our mom."

I feel a sting in the corner of my eye but refuse to let my emotions get the best of me now.

"Okay. Come on you two, I'm sure we'll find your mom together", I extend both of my hands for them to take.

The twins look at me, unsure of what to do but it's the girl who takes the decision in her hand and accepts my help. The boy quickly follows her example. My heart swells in my chest when I feel their tiny hands hold onto me as if I was the lost mother they were talking about. I give both of them a reassuring smile and continue to walk through the streets, leaving Tai's neighborhood behind us.

I don't know why but I have a feeling I know exactly where we'll get out of this.

I keep on walking the familiar road I've walked alongside my best friend a million times until I reach the field I was longing for for so long. I can still remember the first time my mom dragged me down to the sidelines of the soccer field. I still remember being nervous as hell and fearing that my teammates wouldn't like me. Little did I know that this team I feared so much would become my second family. That is, before I met the digidestined.

I walk down the steps towards the sidelines where I was standing all these years ago, watching Tai play before he ran towards us, introducing himself to me. My gaze wanders over the field, remembering his every move before he scored.

My breath hitches when I spot a familiar mess of brown hair. I let go of the kids and rub my eyes, not believing what I see.

"Tai?" I whisper more to me than to anyone else.

How on earth is he here?!

He's dressed in a red soccer uniform, resembling the one we had when we were in the same soccer club. His back is turned towards me and he's just standing there, staring straight ahead.

"Who is Tai?" The girl asks, grabbing my hand again.

I look down at her big, brown eyes and my confusion only grows.

How on earth can she ask me such a question and have his eyes at the same time?!

"Y – you don't know Tai?"

Both of them just shake their heads.

"What is your father's name?" I ask, my voice shaking lightly.

The twins look at each other in confusion before the girl tears up again.

"W – we don't know!"

"A – And your mom?" How on earth is that possible?

"I d – don't know that either", the girl starts crying, grabbing her brother's arm with one and covering her eyes with the other hand.

"Why can't I remember their names? What happened?!"

"I – I don't know. I – I can't remember them myself!" The boy answers, tears falling down his cheeks.

The sight is too much for me to bear.

I squat down in front of them and grab both at their arms:" Listen to me guys. I'm sure you'll remember eventually."

Both of them look at me in surprise:" How do you know?"

"I – I just do. Trust me okay?"

I extend my hands again, waiting for them to take my offer again. There is no way I leave this place without them.

The twins eye me, suspiciousness clear in their eyes.

I nervously scan Tai who's still standing there, he didn't move an inch.

"Come on. Trust me", I try to hide the urgency in my voice but I can tell both of them heard it anyway because they share another look with each other before they synchronically grab my hands again. I sigh in relief and literally drag them over the soccer field towards the one person I am dying to see.

"Tai?" I whisper, being only inches away from him now.

He doesn't move.

The twins both let go of my hands suddenly and close the distance between themselves and Tai. Both of them embrace him by his waist on either side, causing him to finally set in motion. He slowly lifts both of his hands, placing his left one on the girl's and his right one on the boy's head.

Both of them are smiling brightly at him before they turn towards me in unison.

"Do you trust us?" The boy asks.

"I uh ..."

"Because you can. Have faith!" The girl adds, a lopsided grin on her face.

I can feel my heart beating in my throat. I extend my shaking hand, approaching the three of them. I can feel the soft fabric of the soccer jersey on my palm and the hard muscle that is hid beneath it. His head slowly turns towards me but before I can get a look at his eyes I feel my consciousness fading away.

And of course, I black out.

END OF CHAPTER 20.

Any idea of who these children were? I certainly hope you do! :D

This chapter was one of the hardest ones to write for me. I am being completely honest with you all, I doubted for a while that I could finish all of this because I had no idea how to write this one...

But it makes me happy that I did. And I didn't give up this time, I couldn't give up on all this and it wouldn't have been fair to leave you all hanging.

So here's the promise; I am going to finish this story. And I'll keep this promise!

Anyway... I'd LOVE to know what you think? Especially since I struggled with this one I am highly unsure of how it turned out. Please let me know!

See you soon! Stay healthy everyone!

11.05.20

PS; I am not sure when I will be able to upload chapter 21 since I have some exams in three weeks and some papers due by the end of may. So please forgive me if I won't be able to upload within a month.