Originally, they had the gall to claim that this wasn't an intervention.

Yamato had barely managed to roll out of bed the next morning when he heard a knock coming from the front of the Ishida apartment. He groaned, one hand coming up to run through his hair. He hoped that whoever was at the door--whoever had come over unannounced, for that matter--didn't mind the fact that he was still in his pajamas and hadn't been given the chance to run a brush through his hair. His expression was shadowy, and he looked up at the people that were standing before him. 

Sora and Takeru were both wide awake, their smiles gentle but their intentions clear. Piyomon stood at Sora's side while Patamon was gathered against Takeru's chest in the blonde's arms. "Hello, Yamato," Sora had greeted with a light smile. "I think that we should talk." 

Yamato invited them inside, and as the group settled down on the couch, Gabumon shuffling out of Yamato's room, the blonde let out a sigh. He looked at Sora and Takeru, studying them for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed. He could see exactly what it was that they were trying to do. They weren't exactly doing a good job of hiding what they were there to do, though Yamato supposed that wasn't the point. They were here to get the job done, and that involved talking about Omegamon and Taichi as soon as possible. 

In other words, it was most certainly an intervention regardless of what they said.

"I think that we should talk," Sora began to say, her smile carefully constructed on her face. "We... We know that you've been through a lot lately, but you have to talk to somebody about all of this. It's eating you up inside whether you admit it or not, and... We just want to help."

Yamato sighed, leaning forward so that his elbows were positioned on his legs. "What do you want me to say?" he questioned. He didn't know what he thought on the matter, if he was being honest. There was just a mass of complicated, unhappy emotions gathered up in his chest, and the last thing that Yamato wanted was to accidentally strike something wrong in that large tangle of everything that he didn't understand. He knew that he was upset with Taichi, but that was such a broad concept. He had been upset with Taichi a dozen times over the years, but nothing had been quite like this. 

"Why do you think that the Jogress evolution to form Omegamon has been failing?" Piyomon questioned, getting right down to business without a beat of hesitation. Sora paused for a moment before she nodded, seemingly not finding any reason to dance around their intentions any longer than necessary. 

Yamato sighed and leaned back, his eyes finding the ceiling. "Taichi is being reckless. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's charging into danger and putting himself at risk because he's trying to compensate for what he thinks was a failure when Daisuke got hurt. He's taking all of the responsibility onto himself but won't acknowledge it. I think that he needs to tone things back before he gets hurt, but he's too stubborn and worked up to realize that he's going to charge into something that he can't take on one of these days if he isn't careful," he said. The words were all hard as rocks, and they grated across Yamato's nerves when they pushed free of his lips. 

Takeru frowned and glanced down to the ground for a long moment before he looked back up to Yamato. "Do you think that there's anything on your mind that's making it harder for you to handle all of this?" he questioned. "Anything at all."

That was a harder question to answer. Yamato opened his mouth before clamping it shut again a moment later. He didn't know what he was supposed to say. His eyes fell on the window that was obscured by a pile of old VHS tapes in the corner of the room. The sky outside was bright, almost too blue for his liking despite it being the color of his Crest. He was glad that he could only see the sky though; if the window was positioned any differently, he would have been forced to stare at the city outside. 

"Everything is happening so fast," Yamato finally decided to say. "Ever since these attacks started, people have been getting hurt, and... It's overwhelming, I guess. Each time that you go outside, you can still see the smaller traces of destruction from the large invasion back in May. Even if everything has mostly been repaired, the fact that it happened remains the truth, and we aren't going to be able to change that. There are so many people who got hurt along the way, and we don't have a way to fix any of that. People are still suffering because of what happened. We... We're still suffering. Look at us. We're a mess, aren't we?"

Yamato's words had cut deeper than he expected, and he found himself wincing at the very sentences that he had spoken just a few moments prior. Sora and Takeru shared a long look before Takeru spoke up next. "It's too much for you to see," he murmured. "You were always the empathetic sort... You never wanted anything to happen to people if it could be avoided."

Yamato nodded vaguely, not wanting to fully attach himself to the word. Empathy was something that he most certainly possessed, but it was also overwhelming and too much to deal with at once, especially given how much everyone else was hurting. It seemed like he could feel everyone's residual pain without even realizing it. Perhaps that was one reason that Taichi's swings of emotions were bothering him so much; Yamato may have felt the same way deep down--desperate to defend that which he had failed to look after--and simply not wanted to recognize it. He wouldn't put it past himself, and that was the worst part. 

Yamato sighed after a long moment of silence. "I don't want anybody to get hurt anymore if it can be avoided. We've seen more than enough in terms of harm up to this point, and... Taichi is only going to get himself hurt if he keeps this up. This isn't his price to pay because he thinks that he failed to look after Daisuke, Odaiba, or anyone else, for that matter. He... He's taking on too much, and he's forgetting that the rest of us are there for him."

"You've been isolating yourself lately as well, Yamato," Gabumon, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started. Yamato looked over at his partner and saw that Gabumon had managed to banish the residual traces of sleep from his body since coming out of the room that they shared. "You haven't been talking to anyone about how much this is bothering you. It's okay to admit that all of this is a lot for you to deal with. You don't have to handle it alone. Taichi isn't the only one handling the issue that took place with Daisuke getting hurt by Daemon. You're struggling too, but you don't want to admit it."

Yamato's shoulders went tense. He would have been lying if he said that all of this had been easy since Daisuke got hurt. If one wanted to get technical, things had been difficult since long before then too. Yamato was tired of seeing people suffer. He knew that fighting was the only way to fix that, but he was tired of seeing innocents caught up in the battlefield, whether it be Odaiba or the Digital World. He had been hiding away over the past few days because he was trying to numb himself to the promise that Piemon had made to conquer the Digital World. They all knew that the conquest was still going on, and none of them would be able to stop it until they had as much power on their side as possible. Piemon wasn't like Dagomon; he wasn't going to hang back and let his underlings handle something that he knew he could do himself, and unfortunately, that was by far one of his most dangerous traits. 

"I don't..." Yamato murmured, and something in the back of his mind reminded him of the blood that had spilled onto the ground at the time of Daisuke being attacked. He swallowed dryly. "I don't want to see anyone get hurt. I don't want Taichi to..." He didn't finish the sentence, unsure of how he would even punctuate it. He ultimately decided that he didn't want to bother with it. Yamato, whether he chose to admit it or not, could tell easily what the problem was behind his recent temper issues; he was upset with himself because he didn't know how to handle any of this. If he was snappish and agitated, then that meant that he was feeling something other than the silent sense of grief that seemed to follow him wherever he went. 

"You should talk to him," Sora said when she realized that Yamato needed someone else to talk to. "I know that you're nervous about how this is going to turn out, but... He's your friend. We all care about both of you, and we know that you're going to be able to work this out. But you have to reach out to him and try to make an attempt to fix things first. We know that you can do it. Just... Go out there and handle things. We know that if anyone can do it, then it would be you two."

Yamato was shocked at how honest she was being for a long moment, and he continued to stare down at his hands numbly, unsure of what could even be said next. He was touched beyond words at how much faith Sora had in him, and he wished that he could say something that would fill the silence until somebody else was willing to speak. Instead, he was ultimately met with a gentle nudge from Gabumon, and Yamato glanced over at his partner to see that the Digimon was smiling up at him carefully. He was trying to encourage Yamato to do what they both knew was best, and as far as Yamato was concerned, it was working. 

The blonde rose to his feet, something new burning in his stomach that felt a lot like some renewed resolve. "Alright," he declared firmly, unsure of what he was going to be doing from here in full but knowing that he had to do something to try. He looked down at his hands and let out a sigh before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, glad that he had managed to grab it before he went to answer the door for Takeru and Sora that morning. "I'll go and talk to him."

Yamato was quick to move into his bedroom, and he surprised himself with the sense of purpose that pushed him forward. It didn't take long for him to swap out his pajamas for something suited for the streets. He didn't put much effort into his appearance this morning the way that he would most other days, knowing that it didn't matter all that much. He was going out for something much more important than any outward appearance could ever articulate, and all that mattered was that he was able to face it somehow. 

When Yamato emerged from his room, he could see that all five occupants of the apartment's main area were smiling up at him. Yamato flushed at the sudden attention, knowing that their pride was another thing that was bound to overwhelm him just like everything else seemed to those days. He shook his head and decided to pull out his phone, concentrating on sending a quick message out to Taichi so that they would be able to meet up before the other boy went out to do something on his own to brood over their recent failures. 

"We're proud of you, Yamato," Takeru said simply, stating the words that had become obvious since Yamato emerged from his room. There was a wide grin on his face like he was the sun offering light to those that had been suffering in the darkness up to that point. Yamato couldn't help but wonder if that was closer to the truth than he had previously been willing to admit. 

Yamato wished that he had a way to respond to that, but instead, his shyness overtook him as he made his way to the door and slid into a pair of shoes. Sora and Takeru were quick to follow him, all of their partner Digimon in tow, and Yamato looked at the door before reaching for the knob. He didn't know how this conversation with Taichi was going to end, but he was sure that he had to at least try to reach out. Everyone was counting on them, and Yamato wasn't going to let them down. 

After all, he wouldn't be able to end the war if he didn't do something to push it closer to the finale, and if that involved talking to Taichi through perhaps the most awkward conversation of their lives, then so be it. That was simply a price that both of them were going to have to pay. 

~~~~~

Koushiro was glad that he had managed to get the smell of smoke and ash out of his hair after the battle the day before. The scent had stuck to him much more than originally expected, and it took a lot more time in the shower to eliminate the odor than he was willing to admit openly. Still, he supposed that such a thing ultimately mattered little in the face of what he was about to do. 

Koushiro had called the previous Chosen Children together to speak about what had happened with Piemon's forces during the previous battle. They had ultimately opted to gather at Koushiro's office for the time being, something that had become commonplace ever since the initial large invasion of Odaiba a few months prior. It was more private there, and on top of that, they didn't have to see the small ways that the data bureau was still trying to put itself back together. As far as Koushiro was concerned, that was a small bonus that nobody was willing to acknowledge openly, but he most certainly appreciated it. 

The only three that were ultimately available for the meeting had been Daigo, Maki, and Hiraku. Atsuo had been pushed into meeting with the other members of his band for a practice so that he could unwind in light of recent events. Chisane and Kaya, on the other hand, had been left tired after a late night of researching the attack patterns of Piemon's forces. They had certainly been putting in quite a bit of effort since their arrival to make up for the fact that they hadn't been present for so long, but Koushiro wished that they would be a bit more careful with themselves. Then again, he supposed that his senses had grown sharper in respect to exhaustion since the Chosen Children started to struggle within the last few months. He hoped that they would be alright soon, but for the time being, he chose to be grateful that they were resting as he closed the door to the office behind him, the trio of Chosen Children already gathered in the space centered around the computer at the room's rear. 

"Good. You're here," Maki said simply. She gestured for him to come over and stand behind the computer, and Koushiro was more than happy to comply. Tentomon flew in the path of his partner before ultimately deciding to hover somewhere over everybody's shoulders as they continued to look at the screen carefully. 

It didn't take Koushiro long to figure out what he was looking at on the screen. His eyes went wide immediately. "This is a map of the Digital World, isn't it?" he questioned. He had looked at this very diagram countless times over the years. It had been helpful when trying to work with the other Chosen Children to find the truth behind what the Kaiser was doing when attacks were surging three years prior. At present, it was proving itself to be notably helpful when it came to tracking Piemon's actions as well, and Koushiro could see that clearly. 

Daigo nodded. "The red are represents the spots that we know have been attacked by Piemon. The areas have been left heavily burned by Piemon's charge. Our partners have been trying to evacuate Digimon from those areas to make sure that nobody gets hurt, but that's much easier said than done, I'm afraid," he explained. "Each time that one of them just so happens to find Piemon, he always runs away. I think that he knows that he wouldn't be able to win a fight if he had to engage in combat against them, so he's opting for what he thinks to be the best option... Run so that he can survive to fight another day."

Koushiro nodded vaguely as he took in just how much red there was on the map. It was overpowering in some areas, and while the red hadn't reached too far from its origin points, it was still prominent enough for Koushiro to wince. He didn't think that Piemon would be able to make so much progress so quickly, but he supposed that the clown was nothing if not efficient. If anyone was going to be able to figure out how to take the Digital World down quickly, it was going to be Piemon. He and the other Dark Masters had been able to seal away the Harmonious Ones all that time ago, and Koushiro knew that if Piemon had the means to do so, he would have done it again. He was running because he knew that he didn't have enough of an advantage yet to fight back against the Harmonious Ones, but as soon as that fact changed, he would take them by storm. That was just the type of fighter that he was. 

"If you'll look right here, you can see the area that you were attacked by the Singed Ones yesterday," Hiraku said. He zoomed in the screen's focus and pointed to the location that marked the battlefield from the day prior. "It's so notably far away from all of the other taken locations... It isn't possible for Piemon to have made that much progress in such a short period of time. Besides, our investigations showed that he didn't do anything to take over those areas. Instead, all he did was sent forces to that location specifically."

"Do you think that he could have figured out a way to track when we enter the Digital World?" Tentomon questioned. He was still hovering in the air nearby, and all of the other occupants of the room turned to glance at him briefly. 

Hiraku shook his head. "He hasn't had enough time to work something like that out, and I'm willing to assume that he wouldn't have been able to learn so much in such a short span of time, especially given that he only saw the gate in action once. I don't think that he knows how to track your arrivals in the Digital World... There must have been some other reason that he attacked that area specifically."

"It wouldn't have posed a tactical advantage to him in the slightest... That's the problem here. No matter how you look at it, something like that doesn't make sense. He shouldn't have known that you were meeting there. He sent out a few forces under him to take over the area that was far from his current path of conquest when it would have been safer to stick to the main route. Nothing that he's done has really come together to make sense when it comes to this matter," Daigo frowned. 

"But he must have had a reason for all of this," Maki pointed out. "Figuring out that reason isn't going to be easy, but we have to do something to try and find the answer... Do you think that he could have realized that Gennai was going to be visiting the Chosen Children in that area?"

"How could he have gotten his hands on precious information like that? Besides, he didn't seem to have any interests in sending his forces to pursue Gennai. In fact, it seems like Gennai was able to get away without anybody bothering to come after him, almost like they didn't care about him to begin with," Hiraku replied. "I feel like there has to be something else going on here... There must be a reason behind the Singed Ones attacking in this out of the ordinary pattern... I just wish that I knew where we were even meant to start when it came to looking for that answer."

"At the very least, nobody was hurt in that battle," Koushiro said. "There weren't any battles in the immediate area being led by the Singed Ones, so the innocent Digimon around there were left out of the conflict. On top of that, we were able to yield results in the form of Olegmon appearing. That means that we now have an extra Jogress Digimon on our side."

"That's true... I'm glad that you guys are getting stronger. That's certainly going to help when it comes to the final battle against Piemon. After all, it's easy enough to assume that this fight isn't going to be easy when you do finally take it directly to him. The more prepared that you are, the better all of this is going to turn out," Daigo said with a firm nod. 

"On the note of Jogress Digimon though... The more that I think about it, the more sure I am that they shouldn't really fall under the umbrella of being Ultimate Digimon," Koushiro pointed out. "They're much stronger than an Ultimate Digimon. They combine the powers of two incredibly powerful Digimon to make something almost unbeatable. I think that they're simply too strong to fall under the Ultimate umbrella."

Hiraku nodded. "As a matter of fact, I was thinking the same thing. They're so powerful that they deserve a new title, so yesterday, when I was in the Digital World, I talked to Qinglongmon about it. He suggested that we coin a new term for Digimon that are above the Ultimate level. These Jogress Digimon are the first ones we've seen that could truly apply to this name, but... We're calling them Supreme Digimon," he explained. 

"Supreme Digimon..." Koushiro murmured under his breath. That title most certainly did seem fitting given how overwhelmingly powerful the Digimon had already proven themselves to be. They most certainly were superior to nearly every other Digimon in the Digital World, and their title did a strong job of reflecting as much. 

"Of course, the Harmonious Ones could likely fall under this title as well. Given how strong they are, they could have reached levels of Supreme power after spending so much time at the Ultimate level. After all, they've been defending the Digital World for centuries within the Digital World's timeframe, so I don't think that it would be a stretch to refer to them as such," Hiraku continued. "They're technically at the Ultimate level since they didn't really have a separate Ultimate form, but their power levels are so high that they might as well go by the new Supreme title that we've coined to match this new strength."

"You would expect that having so many Digimon at the Supreme level would be enough to keep Piemon in line, but I guess that's a bit of a vain hope at the moment," Maki muttered under her breath. "Then again, I suppose that's the point of why he's doing all this. He knows that he's going to be left at a disadvantage in some ways if he goes out and tries to take the Digital World over by himself. So, he's using the Singed Ones as an army to wear out his foes before he swoops in and asserts his strength."

"His current strategy has already given him the chance to claim roughly four percent of the Digital World," Hiraku explained. "That's only counting landmass, by the way, so the ocean is left out of such a calculation for now. The fact that he was able to take over so much land in such a short span of time... It truly is unheard of, and it's yet another reason that we're going to have to be as careful as possible from here on out."

"He's been using strategies that will yield him the best results since he knows that just going out and trying to take over the Digital World by himself isn't going to work out as well as he might have wanted," Daigo agreed with a small nod. "But that doesn't mean that he's going to get away with it. He's going to see soon enough that he can't just go around doing these sorts of things and expect there to not be any consequences."

"Well, I suppose that we should direct our attention now to coming up with a plan that will allow us to defeat him to begin with," Maki pointed out. "Our best bet is likely to split up the team in some way so that some members can focus almost entirely on defeating Piemon while the others fend off the Singed Ones. It will be an endurance battle on both sides, but if Piemon is outnumbered by enough Supreme Digimon, then he's bound to fall sooner or later."

"Figuring out who takes care of what half of the battle is going to be the hard part," Tentomon pointed out. "There are advantages and problems to moving around everybody to fight against the Singed Ones or Piemon, so we'll have to think this through carefully before we come to any solid decisions."

Koushiro nodded his agreement. "I think that we can start off by saying that Olegmon should be on the defensive side of things. He's too strong of a defensive fighter to send in against Piemon. Given how small Piemon is, he could evade most of the larger attacks that Olegmon would be able to deal, and Olegmon's strength would be better served trying to make sure that nobody reached the innermost battle thanks to his size," he pointed out.

"Meicrackmon is going to have to go in the Singed Ones fight too. She just isn't strong enough to stand up against Piemon's strength, and I think it would be for the best if we didn't push something like that any more than we had to. We'll let Meicrackmon help out Olegmon along with perhaps Imperialdramon. The point about size and speed coming together is once again an issue when it comes to Imperialdramon, so he might be best served fighting off the Singed Ones," Maki pointed out. 

Koushiro nodded once again. "Holydramon would have an inherent advantage against Piemon since he's an evil Digimon. That means that she would be able to deal increased damage solely based on the fact that she's a holy Digimon. We can send her into the Piemon fight as well. Ceresmon would be strong defensively, and her attacks are generally accurate. Despite her size, she's rather fast and would be able to keep up with Piemon," he said. 

"If Taichi and Yamato are able to find a way to bring out Omegamon, then we can have him take care of Piemon as well," Daigo interjected. "SlashAngemon and HolyAngemon would be best off against Piemon as well for the same reason that Holydramon should fight Piemon. Since they're holy Digimon, this would be where their strengths would best serve everyone."

"HolyAngemon was the one to defeat Piemon the first time around as well. He knows what he's dealing with, and that should offer us at least something in terms of an advantage," Koushiro agreed. "If we can't get Omegamon on our side in time for that though, then we'll recalibrate our strategy accordingly so that everything is as even as possible."

"As of now, I think that we have a solid plan," Hiraku said. He pulled up a tab on his computer and began to type out as much of the plan as possible. His fingers moved remarkably quickly thanks to his renewed sense of vigor, and he smiled in Koushiro's direction once he was finished. "It's not perfect, but no plan ever really is. This is a good starting point for defeating Piemon though, and I think that's exactly what we need right now."

Koushiro smiled to himself, and he had to admit that he was happy with how the situation was turning out as well. Omegamon once again remained the largest question mark in terms of this battle, and Koushiro hoped that they would be able to see the Supreme Digimon on the battlefield for the first time in ages. He trusted that Taichi and Yamato would be able to take care of the issue when the time was right, but he was still wondering when exactly that would wind up being. 

Maki let out a sigh as she leaned her head back. She stared up at the ceiling as she next spoke. "We're going to figure this out one way or another, and when we do, that damn clown will be able to go to hell for real this time. I don't know about the rest of you, but I know that I am more than looking forward to that."

Koushiro couldn't help but laugh at her words even though he knew that it was hardly the most appropriate thing to do. All he could do was hope that their plan worked, and beneath that, hope that Taichi and Yamato were able to work out the issues that had been plaguing them as of late. 

~~~~~

Perhaps it was instinct that brought Taichi to the bridge. 

It was one of the many structures that had been decimated in the mass invasion during Golden Week, and while it had been put back together, Taichi couldn't help but wonder if there were still some cracks left behind from the destruction. His arms were draped over the edge of the railing as he looked up at the ceiling, Agumon at his side. Something just told him that he had to get out of the house, to try and break through his recent depressive episode, and in the end, he wound up wandering here for reasons that he couldn't even begin to articulate.

Taichi and Agumon weren't the only ones in the area for long though. Yamato and Gabumon came into view soon after the original pair of Chosen Children and Digimon arrived on the bridge. Yamato was wearing a jacket that was much too heavy for the warm weather, but he didn't seem to mind. He draped his arms over the edge of the railing as well, and both he and Taichi just watched the activity of the city below for a long moment. 

Silence fell over them for what felt like an eternity before Taichi finally forced himself to speak. "I don't know what to do," he confessed. That was something that was undoubtedly plain as day, but he felt the need to vocalize it regardless. "None of this... I don't know how we're supposed to solve any of it."

Yamato didn't respond, and Taichi knew that was his cue to continue. "I feel like I've already failed before we can even start the next fight. Hell, I failed back before we started the fight against the Dark Ocean's enemies. Daisuke... When Daisuke got hurt, it seemed like everything started to fall down around us. What are we supposed to do to push through something like that? He got hurt, and I... I should have looked after him. You have all said in the past that you think of me as your leader. What kind of leader am I if I let somebody that I care about get hurt without doing anything to intervene? That doesn't sound like a good person to look up to in the slightest," Taichi muttered with a light snort. "I should have done something more to help him."

"Daisuke's injury was not a failure on your accord, Taichi," Yamato told him immediately. "We were overwhelmed, and... All of us should have done something to look after both Daisuke and Ken at the time of the attack. That isn't on your shoulders; all of us should have been more careful. We all made a mistake that day, and that's something that we're all going to have to live with. Daemon was the one responsible, but we're never going to be able to forget what took place that day."

Taichi nodded vaguely. He knew that he was never going to let it slip away from his mind. No matter what, he was going to remember everything that happened when Daisuke got hurt, and that might have been one of the worst parts of this whole situation from start to finish. "I still feel like I should have done a little bit more to look after him and everyone else," he muttered. "It's my fault that we haven't been able to call upon Omegamon. I know that it's on my shoulders. I've been too stubborn and reckless, and if I just took a step back like you told me to, we wouldn't be here."

"We're both to blame for this. It isn't something that you can pull onto your shoulders alone," Yamato cut in, his eyes narrowed in Taichi's direction. "I should have just been upfront with you about all of this. I've been too secretive, and that's on me. We both have to own up to everything if we want to ever see Omegamon again in the battle against Piemon or any other enemy that waits beyond him."

Taichi sighed as he looked down at the ground. "I've been taking on too much," he muttered to himself. Admitting it was both liberating and a sign of failure in his department. That was how he viewed it at the very least even if it wasn't entirely the truth. "I've been trying to defend everybody from danger, but... I can't just hide you all from the world. That's not how this works. There's too much happening around all of us, and I can't keep you all out of risk. We're going to have to fight together. That's what it means to be in our position."

"That's true," Yamato agreed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about all of this either. Seeing everybody falling apart... Seeing the city break under the force of the invasion... I don't know how to handle that. The only way to make it all stop is to end the fighting, but the only way to do that is to have as much power at our disposal as possible. And I don't... I don't know how we're supposed to fix all of this."

Taichi looked up to the sky from there, the sun splashing on his features. "Yeah... Me neither," he confessed quietly. "I don't think that there was ever going to be an easy way to get out of this though. It seems like nothing that's ever worth doing ever really has an easy answer. Just look at everything else that we've done up to this point."

Yamato let out a small snort of agreement before nodding. "Yeah," he murmured to himself before he fell silent once again. "So much is happening all at once. There are so many people out there that are getting hurt, and they... They have to be afraid. I remember that there was fear in the air in the aftermath of the large invasion a few months ago. They knew that there were people who could look after the situation, but that didn't change the fact that they were afraid of what might be waiting for them in the near future."

Taichi hesitated before he nodded. "Yeah... Then again, haven't all of us been afraid ever since that attack took place?" he questioned. Yamato looked over to him curiously, and Taichi went on. "Afraid of seeing people get hurt. Afraid of getting too close to our soft spots. Afraid of admitting everything that we're so scared of. We've been terrified out of our damn minds ever since that attack took place, and none of us have known how we were going to handle it. How are we supposed to face something like that?"

Yamato looked down at the rest of the city below, bustling and unaware of the emotional weight being pressed onto it from atop the bridge. "There isn't an answer, and I think that's the hardest part about all of this," he said quietly, his voice only just barely loud enough for Taichi to hear him. "There isn't an easy way to get out of all this. No matter what we do, there are still going to be people out there who get hurt. We're still going to have to look after those who are unable to defend themselves. We chose that job years ago, and we aren't going to be giving it up any time soon."

"You're right," Taichi agreed after a long moment of quiet. "There isn't a way for us to fix all of this. I don't think that there was ever meant to be an easy solution to this problem. How could there be? It's just... I don't know. I want to look after as many people as possible. I don't... I don't like to see the other members of our team in pain. I'm the leader. I have to look after them and make sure that nothing bad happens. That's my position, and I'm not going to take it lightly. I can't see them fall apart under the weight of everything that we're doing."

Yamato shook his head. "Here's your problem right now, Taichi... You're forgetting that you're part of a team to begin with," he said. Taichi's eyes went wide, and he looked to Yamato a moment later as he waited for a response. Yamato offered it as his eyes fell shut, his head lulling downwards slightly. "You've been doing all of this because you feel an obligation to look after us as the leader of this team, but you forget that you're part of a team in the first place. We're all here to help one another through difficult times. This isn't something that you're shouldering on your own. We're all here to help each other, and you're forgetting that we can help you to carry the weight easier too. You don't have to lift us up without getting anything in return."

Taichi was surprised by those words, he had to confess, and he was left to sit with them for a long moment. In a few more ways than he originally anticipated, Yamato had a point. He had been trying to take on the weight of the world without recognizing that there were others who could help him. He had blamed himself alone for Daisuke getting hurt instead of acknowledging that all of them had to look out for one another. Daemon was the one to blame, but they were all able to defend each other as members of the team. Originally, Taichi had told Ken that everyone was responsible not because he believed it, but because he was so intent on blaming himself that he wasn't seeing the situation for what he claimed it to be. That realization hit him like an arrow to the ribcage, and all he could do was stand there and breathe with the words for a long moment, turning them over in his mind like that would somehow change their meanings. 

Yamato sighed before he went on. "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't doing the same thing though," he confessed carefully. "Everyone in the city... They were left in a difficult position when the gate opened and Digimon came storming out. Seeing the destruction everywhere and knowing that so many people had gotten hurt... It was too much for me to handle. I knew that I had to defend them, but I didn't know how to help them. I thought that it was something that I was going to have to take care of on my own, but everybody else is here to help us both in times like these. That's the reason that we've got an entire team instead of just having one person take care of this."

Taichi let out a small chuckle, but the sound was humorless and lacked vitality. "I guess that we're a lot more similar than we ever gave ourselves credit for, huh?" he muttered. "Just as stubborn as the other and not realizing just how much trouble it could get us into."

"But we're just different enough, and that's what matters most in a moment like this," Yamato pointed out. He didn't look over in Taichi's direction, and the brown-haired boy offered him a nod that he was sure Yamato could sense even if he didn't directly see it. 

Taichi was quiet for a long moment and so was everyone else. He wound up reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Digivice, looking at it gently. He could see his reflection in the screen, not wearing the goggles that he had come to think of as synonymous with leadership whether he realized it or not. He couldn't help but smile at the face that was staring back at him though even though he was missing out on that which he had once thought to be so critical. 

Taichi looked up cautiously after a few moments of silence. "You know... I think that the goggles are best with Daisuke," he confessed. Yamato looked at him in curiosity as Taichi went on. "I guess I was thinking of them as the symbol of everything that I should have been for the team. Daisuke couldn't wear them, so I took up that job for him, but... They aren't the emblem of leadership. All of us are leaders in our own rights. It was diminishing of me to think that I was the only one who could lead this charge."

Yamato offered a light nod of agreement as Taichi went on. "Daisuke is the emotional heart of this team. I feel like that's what the goggles should mean, and right now... That's what he is. We fell apart without him, and look at how we turned out when he got hurt. Everybody became a complete wreck, and that was the start of everything truly crumbling to pieces. He's the heart and soul of everything that we are. We might work as a unit where everyone plays an equal role, but... He's been keeping us together in more ways than we realize. I think that the goggles belong on his head."

Yamato smiled to himself. "If I recall correctly, I believe that we fell apart when you were gone from our team as well," he pointed out. "Back when we were first in the Digital World... You disappeared after the battle with Etemon, and we completely splintered. Without you to hold us together, we had nothing to bind us. I would say that you're just as much the heart and soul of this team as Daisuke."

Taichi was caught by surprise at those words, and he smiled to himself. "Thanks," he wound up saying softly, unsure of what he was supposed to say aside from that. He looked down at the city that moved beneath them, and Yamato did the same. Agumon and Gabumon were on either side of them, staring through the bars of the railing at the world that unfolded below, unaware of everything that was taking place nearby. It was strange how people could live on in such blissful ignorance while still being at the heart of such a critical handful of moments. 

Taichi wasn't sure when he and Yamato both decided that it was time to leave, but they ultimately went their separate ways without saying another word to one another. Taichi felt Agumon at his side, and when he looked down, he could see that his partner was smiling up at him. Taichi couldn't help but grin as well, and he looked at his Digivice after a long moment of silence. He couldn't help but feel as if they had accomplished everything that they had set out to do, that those precious minutes on the bridge had changed everything that had been plaguing him for what felt like the last eternity. 

Taichi examined his reflection in the Digivice's screen once again, and he allowed himself the chance to sigh in relief. He didn't think that he would ever have the words to articulate what just took place, but something inside of him had changed. A weight had been pulled away from his shoulders, and that mattered much more than he could ever hope to say. Everything had changed, and he wouldn't ever dream of going back to the way that things once had been.

The next time that they went to the Digital World, Omegamon would be reborn. Taichi was sure of it, and nothing could even hope to shake his resolve.

~~~~~

Chisane and Kaya were doing everything they could to make up for the time that they had missed out on. Luckily, that wouldn't be an issue in the future given the fact that Hiraku had been kind enough to upgrade their Digivices and allow them the ability to go back to the Digital World whenever they so pleased. The process was simple enough, and they had already given it a test run to make sure that they could handle it. Everything was seemingly in perfect order, or at the very least, as fine as it could be given the dreadful circumstances of the situation. 

They had stayed up late the night before desperately trying to gather any tidbit of information that they could get their hands on. Anything that they could find was helpful, and Chisane was glad that they were able to finally contribute a little something when it came to finding the truth behind what was going on. After all the time that they had spent isolated, it was the least that they could do. Kaya had been inclined to agree, but unfortunately, their wish to help had ultimately ended up keeping them from being able to meet with Koushiro earlier in the day. It was a tragedy, most certainly, but Chisane was just glad that things weren't any worse. 

That night, Chisane sat down on the couch that she and Kaya had taken to sharing while they crashed at Atsuo's apartment. The man himself was still off practicing with his band the way that he hadn't been able to in a long time, so it was just the two of them in the apartment. "I'm glad that the Dark Ocean is gone," Chisane told Kaya simply, mostly trying to fill the silence but wanting to be able to get her feelings out into the open at the same time. 

"Me too," Kaya agreed with a nod. She leaned her head back against the backrest of the couch, a sigh escaping her lips. "It seems like everything's just been complicated for ages. I wish that there was something that would make this a little bit easier for us, but I think that we all know that it isn't going to be quite that simple. It seems like nothing ever is anymore."

"Was it ever simple in the first place?" Chisane pointed out, and Kaya was forced to sit with the question for a long moment. Chisane most certainly had a point; things hadn't ever been easy when the Digital World was involved. The six of them were swept up in the Digital World on a school trip and ultimately returned later the same day with the memories of months of battles in their minds. It had been a difficult situation from the outset, but they managed to survive in spite of everything weighing heavily on their shoulders. 

Kaya let out a small snort once she finally got a grasp on herself once again. "It's kind of hard for anything to be simple when it comes to giant monster battles. Those Digimon that we fought against all that time ago most certainly were intent on making sure that everything was hard for us," she pointed out. She shrugged and shook her head. "But I guess that's just sort of how everything unfolds. The Digital World has never been simple, but that's something that we just kind of have to deal with. It's the way that it's always been for us Chosen Children, and I doubt that's ever going to change."

Chisane nodded and looked down at her hands. "You know... It feels weird to think that the Dark Ocean truly is out of the picture," she murmured. "That was one of the worst things that ever happened to our team during our adventures in the Digital World. When Maki got pulled in after..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to forget what happened that day. None of us will be able to, truth be told. I still dream about it sometimes, and while I'm glad that it's out of our lives... I don't think that any of us are ever going to be able to escape its shadow."

Kaya nodded her understanding. "It was hard for all of us," she agreed. "But we're going to find a way to push through it all. That's what we've always done. Sometimes, life is hard, and you just wind up having to brute force your way through what gets in your way. The Digital World got in our way countless times, and we were just trying our best to save it from danger."

Chisane's eyes fell shut. "We wanted to help everyone that we could in a world where you had to fight and kill to survive. We wanted that to end, and... I think that we did it," she muttered. "But I still feel like I'm in danger all the time. I know that it's ridiculous since we're here on Earth and not in the Digital World anymore, but... I don't know. Sometimes I just feel the need to look over my shoulder just to make sure that nobody is chasing after us. It's not an issue, and... I know that. I know that everything is fine, but that doesn't change how scared I get sometimes."

"The Digital World messed all of us up," Kaya told her bluntly. "I feel like we knew from the beginning. We weren't the same after we went there. Nothing was the same when we came home. We missed the Digimon, but beyond that... We knew what it was like to fear for our lives. We were children, and we still knew what it felt like to be sure that you were going to die and never get back home."

Chisane looked up to Kaya slowly, every action sluggish and lagging. "I... I still don't know if I feel safe," she confessed. "I don't know if I'm ever going to feel safe, and... I don't think that's something that children should have to deal with. Even if we're older now and know how to handle ourselves, we... We still went through all of that when we were young. Atsuo was only ten, and it's not like you being twelve made it all that much better. It was awful, and I don't... I don't think that anybody should ever have to go through that."

"Apparently, the Digital World has been seeing much more peace than chaos in the times since we were last there, but I don't think that's going to really change my opinion," Kaya confessed. "Maybe if we were able to see the Digital World at peace, I wouldn't be quite so upset with it... But the fact of the matter is that I'm mad at it. I'm upset that it dragged us into something like this, and I'm upset that we're still feeling the sting of it so many years later. Maki still has nightmares about the Dark Ocean. I can see it in her eyes. She still has nightmares about the day everything fell apart too. Daigo... He looks like he never sleeps. Atsuo's been traveling all over the country because he doesn't want to stay in any one place for too long. Hiraku's drowned himself in work because he doesn't know how to deal with everything that made him into the person that he is today. We ran away as soon as we could because we couldn't handle the weight of it. Even more than fifteen years after our adventure, we're still left trapped in the same old cycle of the Digital World that we always were."

Chisane's head came to rest on Kaya's shoulder a moment later, and she swallowed dryly. "I don't think that we're ever going to be able to get away from the Digital World in full," she confessed. "As long as we still remember the past, it's going to impact our present and future."

Kaya nodded. "You're right. The fact that all of this is happening to begin with is more than proof of that," she agreed. "Everybody else is living evidence of this crap too. We're never going to be the kids that we once were. Something shattered the glass boxes we were living in, and we're never going to be able to put the pieces back together."

Chisane was quiet for a long moment, digesting the words carefully even though she had known them to be true for years. She remained silent until she looked up to Kaya, still not moving her head away from the other woman's shoulder. "I think that Inferno will make everything slightly easier," she said carefully. "It'll do at least something to repair the worlds' barriers, and that's a good thing... Plus, maybe we'll never have to deal with that fire again after it's been pushed away through Piemon."

"I sure hope so," Kaya snorted. "I think that I had seen more than enough of that fire during our final battle with Apocalymon. That was when we had to push him behind the barrier, and I guess the fire leaked through when the worlds were weaker and starting to blend together. That was how the Dark Ocean was formed according to Hiraku, after all... But I hope that you're right about Inferno going away like I said. I don't want anything to do with it. I want to get the Digital World back to its peaceful state so that maybe it'll stop haunting all of us... Though I think we all know nothing is going to be that easy."

"Just like we already said, nothing is ever easy," Chisane told her with a faint trace of a smile that almost died away as soon as it was formed. "I think that we deserve to be able to see the Digital World at peace though... To see our partners in a setting where we aren't constantly running for our lives. Maybe we can visit the other world whenever we just need a break from regular life too. I think that would help us out a lot... We deserve the chance to be able to bond with them after all that we've been through... And maybe you can stop hating the Digital World when we're able to see it in its regular state."

"I don't think I'm ever going to stop hating the Digital World," Kaya admitted. "I mean, I'm glad that it gave us the chance to meet our partners. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for that much. Still, I'm mad at it for everything else that it did to us. You saw what happened to our team. We completely splintered because we didn't know how to handle what the Digital World did to us, and even now, we aren't back to the way that we once were. Everybody's still afraid of talking about the Digital World in full. Why do you think we just retreat into ourselves instead of actually saying anything when something goes wrong? We don't know how to take care of this, and as far as I'm aware, we never have known how to figure it out. That's the way that it's been since the instant we set foot in the Digital World, and it isn't going to change any time soon."

Chisane once again fell into a lull of silence at those words, nodding to herself but not saying anything to fill the quiet. She looked up to Kaya once more before she shifted back to her previous position, eyes falling shut. "I think that the Digital World would be a nice location for a date," she admitted softly. "And that way, we won't have to worry about anybody seeing us."

Kaya nodded slowly. "Yeah... You're right," she murmured under her breath. Chisane and Kaya had never allowed themselves to be affectionate with one another in public because of the way that their nation functioned. People like them would never be able to operate the way that others did because it wasn't yet legal for them to be paired together for life. The Digital World, on the other hand, had no such restrictions, and for all they knew, it was going to be the perfect place for them to get closer. Nobody would be able to hold them back in a place like that. 

The two were quiet for another long handful of moments after that, and Chisane let out a small laugh as she moved a bit closer to Kaya. "I get the feeling that Atsuo already knows about this though. He never said anything, and neither did anybody else in our group, but they have to have figured something out about this," she said quietly. 

Kaya nodded gently as Chisane continued. "We can go to the Digital World on a little date like we already suggested, and from there, we can try to ease your hatred of the place. After all, how are you supposed to hate it there as long as you're able to spend time with me? That way, you'll have something to be happy about beyond our partners there. I'm sure that they would want to hear all about the details of our relationship too. Even if they weren't around as we got this close, even if they're Harmonious Ones now, they still want to hear about our lives. I think that this is a perfect way for us all to get closer after all this time," she smiled. 

Kaya allowed herself the chance to smile as well, and she nodded once again. "Yeah... We'll give it a shot," she murmured. Neither one of them mentioned anything about how uncertain they were about the future. They chose deliberately to walk around the matters that came with potentially having their lives shattered by the Digital World all over again the same way that they had been changed as children. Everything was messy outside the apartment, but for a few brief moments, they were able to pretend that everything was normal. 

It was ironic, Chisane had to admit. They were doing the same thing that they had been for years, hiding their emotions from the world because they didn't know how to handle it. At least they were doing it together though. That had to count for something.

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This chapter was a lot more fun to work on than I ever could have expected. Wow. 

I feel like the real kicker in this chapter was definitely the scene with Taichi and Yamato. Yes, all of the other segments are important (whether it be for character or plot reasons), but that one just stuck out to me as being particularly great. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it's certainly set me up for a great scene that I have planned within the next few chapters. You'll know it when you see it, I can assure you.

The plot scene was important too like I said, that being the segment with Koushiro, Daigo, Maki, and Hiraku. It's setting up some greater reveals that will be taking place between now and the story's conclusion because the plot of this story is kind of a kicker near the end. The same applies to the scene with Chisane and Kaya. There's one thing in particular that everybody has been kind of dancing around mentioning, but the truth is going to come out within the next few chapters once again. There's a lot going on behind the scenes of all these little snapshots, and I'm happy with how they all turned out. 

Next time that a chapter goes up, we'll be exploring something else important: another battle sequence and its consequences. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital