Hello, all. Welcome to my story. I have been trying (and struggling) to write a Digimon story I could be proud of practically since I first made an account. (An adventure-type story, I mean. If you could kindly ignore the crappy romances that haven't been revised since I was, like, twelve…) Some of you have been with me through both of the first attempts being started, partially written, and then taken down. If that's the case, you may see elements of both of those stories in this one, but the idea behind it is a little different, and I'm excited to write it. This may just be the one, guys… Fingers crossed.

Chapter One: Memories

It was that time of year again. For everyone else, early spring was marked by warmer temperatures and returning greenery. For Kari Kamiya, it meant a silent house—her father logging long hours at the office, her mother spending most of the day in bed.

Today had been no exception. She had not seen a glimpse of either of her parents all morning. And now, as she left for school, Kari closed the door behind her as quietly as possible. The anniversary had snuck up on her this year. But, like a chemical reaction, her parents' moods had changed drastically from one day to the next.

Four years ago, Kari had been a normal, happy little girl with two loving parents and an older brother she adored. And then, one night, everything had come crashing down. The destruction of her old neighborhood would later be blamed on a terrorist cell that fell apart shortly after, but the night would have much longer-lasting effects for Kari.

Tai Kamiya was hardly the only child reported missing that night, but his story did grow to become one of the biggest mysteries. Tai had been spotted helping other kids to safety by a multitude of people, but somewhere amidst the chaos, he had simply… disappeared. As the days passed and Tai didn't show up in any of the displaced victim centers… or as one of the identified deceased, a pervasive gloom began to take over the Kamiya household.

Kari herself had just felt numb for a long time. Having been separated from their parents early on, she had been the first child Tai brought to safety. She didn't waste her time with pointless 'if onlys'. Kari knew there was no use wishing Tai had stayed put when the sounds of the other children screaming had reached their ears. He was going to do what he could to help. It was just who Tai was.

There was a lot she could not remember from that night. And what she did came back to her in bits and pieces. It had been dark—the middle of a moonless night. The crashes and screams and sirens had gradually faded to background noise as she waited with increasing panic for her brother to return. Dust from the debris had covered the city in the following days. And she seemed to recall a total divide that night. Kari would swear she had only seen other children that night.

But she knew that part could not be true. The attack had occurred around one AM. Parents and children alike would have been asleep in bed, would have fled their homes together. Even so, Kari could not remember seeing a single adult before sunrise. Nor could she remember how she and Tai had gotten separated from their own parents in the first place.

For weeks afterward, the media ran stories of Tai's bravery, interviewing all the children and the parents of the children he'd helped to safety. Despite the mass relocation, quite a few grateful letters had made it to the Kamiyas' doorstep. But they were little consolation. Kari's parents didn't want the legacy of raising a hero. They just wanted their son back.

The change in the Kamiya household's 'After' had begun, for Kari, with the arrival of a very different sort of letter. This one was not thanking them or wishing them well. The tone of this letter was decidedly accusatory.

Once she got past the raw pain and anger, Kari had found the contents of the letter to be rather shocking. Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa's daughter was also still missing. They felt that, with the spotlight fixed so firmly on Tai, little was being done to find their Mimi. On the heels of her shock had been shame. Because she hadn't heard of any other kids who were still missing. The attack had garnered a surprisingly low death toll. Apart from the pieces run on Tai, most reports had been overwhelmingly positive. Stories of authorities having less to do than originally anticipated. Families were reunited in record time. Lists of the missing were reduced to half after just the first day. At the end of the first week, only the Kamiya family still seemed to be in turmoil.

That changed within a few days of the Tachikawas' letter's arrival. Clearly, they had gotten through to someone. And then, other reports started getting air time. Almost a month out from the attack, seven children were still missing.

Given the circumstances, seven was still remarkably few. But initially, Kari hadn't been able to wrap her head around it. She had been blown away by how small her world had apparently become, only being able to see her own family's woes. Meeting the other families in person had helped to make it real. There were still times when she forgot that this mystery was bigger than Tai, but slowly, through their families, Kari became acquainted with the other six.

Among the missing were Matt and TK, a pair of brothers whose parents were struggling to hold it together now after a messy divorce years earlier. Mimi, the well-loved only child of the wealthy couple who had first contacted the Kamiyas. Joe's family's primary worry was his ability to take care of himself, wherever he was. (Kari got the impression he'd never been the most stouthearted child.) Izzy's parents were distraught. They'd adopted him after a stillbirth and were having trouble accepting that tragedy had struck them twice. And lastly, Kari had been surprised to see Ms. Takenouchi. Tai had played soccer with her daughter for years. Kari had always liked Sora. It had been another blow to learn she was one of the missing.

It had been a therapeutic get-together, but in truth, the families of the missing were never as close after that first year, slowly falling out of contact.

There would be moments that felt like breakthroughs. Someone reported having seen Tai that night with a girl matching Mimi's description. Nothing ever came of this tip, but Kari suspected Mimi had been the last girl her brother had tried to help. Every child who'd been brought back to the shelter had later been claimed, so perhaps something had happened to them both before they could make it back.

And then, nearly a year later, the youngest of the group was found wandering the woods out by an old summer camp up in the mountains. TK was returned, unharmed, to his parents, and everyone else waited breathlessly to finally get some answers.

Amnesia. The word became the media's new weapon of choice. The boy who'd been so miraculously found couldn't remember a thing. They wouldn't be getting their answers after all. Kari had felt almost transported at the news—left to wander the forest where TK had been found, lost.

Slowly, the families drifted apart. What should have been a happy occasion seemed, to many, like the last straw. To be this close only to fail, yet again… Each family experienced varying stages of acceptance. The public appeared to have reached the conclusion that the subjects of these tragic stories would never see their children again. Because that's what this was to the rest of the world. A tragic tale that could be turned off with the click of a button. For some, escape was not quite so easy.

And now, the four-year anniversary was approaching. Kari Kamiya was trying to get through her days as uneventfully as possible. Little did she know, her life was about to change drastically, yet again.

So… What did you think? I, at least, am confident that this is off to a much better start than the other two, and I'm excited to get this underway.

I don't own Digimon.