Present: Somewhere in the Digital World

Angemon flew low through the sky, carrying his Digi-Destined partner in his arms.  "This looks like a safe place," the angel said, indicating a wooded area near a lake.  Night was falling quickly in the Digital World and Angemon and his companions were weary from the day's events.  The digimon and their human friends were put to quite a challenge against the Viral Agents, but, with teamwork, they were able to escape.

At least, for the moment.

Now they were trapped in the Digital World.  They had spent the entire afternoon traveling from one gate to the next, even from digiport to digiport, but nothing would open.  It was as if all passages to and from the Digital World were locked.  Not even the digivices could open them.

Angemon landed and set his human partner down.  "Let's make camp," TK suggested.  He stood up, stretching his muscles after the long, hard day.  Everyone followed suit, climbing off their digimon partners.

"Vikemon," Cody called up to his furry digimon.  "You should save your strength."

"Right," the giant agreed.  And then, in an instant, the digital monster de-digivolved through all his levels until he finally hit Rookie.  "Aaahhhh," Armadillomon sighed.  "That's much better!"

The other digital monsters took their cue as well, realizing that they should reserve what power they could in preparation for another possible encounter with Viral Agents.  Angemon returned to Patamon, and Angewomon became Gatomon once again.

But Tsuriai's digimon did not change.  "Veric?" the blonde girl looked up at her enormous partner.

"I'd feel safer if I stayed in this form," Momongamon told her of his concern.  "I can protect you better."

Tsuriai stepped up to her flying squirrel digimon, her height barely meeting his stomach.  But she laid her arms on him and hugged him anyway.  "Oh, Veric," she smiled.  Then she looked up into his eyes, his face covered in a dark mask.  "I know how you feel," she said.  "But if you stay at this level too long, you'll lose power anyway.  It's better to save what energy you can now than to waste it before you really need it."  The blonde girl looked lovingly upon her digimon partner and best friend.  "But if you really want to, then you can stay like this.  I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do."

Momongamon gently rested one of his massive paws on Tsuriai's back, hugging her closely to him.  "Thank you, Suri," he said lowly and softly.  "But you're right.  What good am I going to be to you if I don't have enough power when the time comes?"

Tsuriai took a few steps back.  It didn't take long for her digimon to de-digivolve.  Smiling brightly, she opened her arms.  "Veric!"  A raccoon-like creature ran toward her, leaping into her arms for a big hug.

Cody and Armadillomon watched the blonde girl and her digimon partner.  The bond between a digital monster and his Digi-Destined partner was one that was tight and close.  It was built on love for one another.  But Cody had never seen a relationship as close as Tsuriai's and her digimon's.  The girl even gave her partner a single name by which she could call him, no matter what digivolution he was in.  To her, the digital monster was one being who deserved one name. 

Suddenly, a new voice broke through Cody's thoughts.  "I'm so hungry," Kari spoke up.  She grabbed her tummy as it growled at her.

"Me, too!" several of the digimon replied.  And as well they should be.  Battling the Viral Agents took quite a bit of energy from them.

"Hehehe," TK smiled.  "Alright," he said.  "It's settled then."  He walked up to Cody.  "Why don't you girls go find some firewood while Cody and I see what food we can scrounge up."

Gatomon ran ahead.  "Sounds like a plan!"

"Gatomon!" Kari chased after her.  "Wait for us!"

With that, the girls and boys split up, each taking their digimon with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsuriai followed Kari through the woods, her arms filling up with twigs and branches as Kari piled them on.  The blonde girl watched her mother with intent eyes, staring at her and remembering what it was like growing up with her.  For a mother and daughter, Tsuriai and Kari were always very close.  They did everything together, they shared everything together.  It was a hard day when her mother died.  It was like the world had taken away her best friend.  And Tsuriai felt she was partly to blame for it.

"Yoohoo," a voice broke through the blonde girl's musings.  "You alright?"

"Huh?"  Tsuriai shook her head a little bit.

"You okay?" Kari asked worriedly.  "You looked like something was bothering you."

"Oh!" Tsuriai bit her lip.  "I was...just...thinking about..."  She didn't really want to tell her what was going on through her mind.  It would reveal that she was from the future, and who knew what kind of mess that would make?  But she didn't want to lie, either.  "...thinking about...my mother."

Kari stopped walking and looked into a pair of sad burgundy eyes, much like her own.  "It must be so hard to be away from your family," she said softly.  Her heart ached for the friendly girl who trekked beside her.  "You must miss your mother and father terribly."

The blonde girl nodded her head slowly.  A few tears welled up in her eyes as memories of happier years played themselves in her mind.  "Actually," Tsuriai answered.  "My mother is passed away.  But I still miss her.  Very much."

"Oh, Tsuriai," Kari threw her hands up to her mouth, feeling pity for the girl she had just met a few days ago.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't know."

Tsuriai's nose turned a little red as a tear managed to find its way down her cheek.  "It's alright," she assured her.  "It's just that," she continued to explain.  "You remind me a lot of her."

"I'm so sorry, Tsuriai," Kari apologized profusely.

But the blonde girl just smiled through her quiet tears at the younger version of her mother.  "No," she said.  "Don't be sorry.  It's a good thing."

Kari stared a moment at the blonde girl who had entered her life just days ago.  There was something about her.  Something that made her heart fill up with warm feelings every time Tsuriai was around.  This girl seemed so familiar to Kari for some reason.  She was so much like someone else Kari knew, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.  But, most peculiar of all, was how quickly the two of them had become friends.  It was like they clicked with each other from the very first moment they met.  They thought the same way, said the same phrases, demonstrated similar mannerisms.  They even looked like they could be sisters!

"They were best friends," Tsuriai's voice interrupted Kari's thoughts.  "Kinda like you and TK are now."

All of a sudden, Kari gave a silent gasp.  "Me and TK?"

"Yeah," Tsuriai smiled, her eyes twinkling with happy memories and tears.  "My parents.  They were childhood friends growing up."  Then she went on to describe her mother and father.  "Nothing could separate them.  Daddy was so madly in love with Mom," she reminisced.  "He treated her like a princess and he was her prince.  They were meant for each other."  Then Tsuriai looked into her mother's ruby eyes.  "Just like you and TK are."

Kari blushed a crimson red at Tsuriai's last words.  She wanted to say something in response, but she couldn't think of anything, and when she tried, nothing but jumbled words came out.  "I don't...no...we're not..."  Then she froze, her eyes focusing really on nothing as they looked to the ground.  "TK and I are just best friends," she replied with a soft, plaintive tone.

Tsuriai bit her lip.  She had to be careful about what she said around Kari.  "I know," she assured the brown-haired girl.  "It's...I don't know..."  She searched for a way to say something without revealing too much information.  "I've only known you guys for a couple days," she started.  "And it just seems obvious to me that you two belong together.  I don't know," she shook her head.  "That's just my opinion."  Tsuriai waited and watched Kari intently for her reaction.  Her heart beat fast with uncertainty.

Kari started to walk away again, eying the ground for loose pieces of wood.  "Well," she said.  "To tell you the truth, I think we belong together, too."  And it was true.  Lately, there wasn't a moment that went by when she secretly wished that TK could return her feelings toward him.  But what she didn't know was the fact that he wished for the very same thing from her.

Tsuriai could feel her heart skip a bit, her eyes lighting up with hope at Kari's words.

"But I don't think we'll ever go as far as your parents did," the brown-haired girl quickly added.  "As much as I would love to date TK, he's in love with another girl."  Kari ran her and TK's conversation from that morning through her mind.  The pain of finding out that he loved someone else came back.  "And his happiness is all that matters to me.  I won't stand in the way of who he really wants."

Suddenly, Tsuriai could feel a lump form in her throat.  No... she whispered to herself, her breathing practically stopped.  She felt like her hope was shot down.  No, this isn't right.  She shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.  And then, the worst possible thing happened.

*CRASH!*

"Tsuriai!" Kari yelped.  She turned around immediately after hearing the sound of wood pieces falling to the ground.  Kari saw the blonde girl standing there with her raccoon-digimon in her arm, her body shaking.  But something looked odd...

Rakunamon couldn't believe his eyes.  Just after Kari's last words, it happened again.  Not only to Tsuriai, but to him as well.  Parts of their bodies started to disappear, just as they had several times before, even that very morning during their bath.  For Rakunamon, his bushy ringed tail faded in and out.  For Tsuriai, her entire lower arm vanished.  That's why the tree limbs fell out of her hands.  "Suri!" he screamed.  I can't let the others see, he coached himself as he phased out.  In an instant, he reappeared again, this time in Tsuriai's solid arm.  There, he placed his ghostly tail between his body and Tsuriai's so that Gatomon and Kari couldn't see it.  Then he hugged himself to the blonde girl's chest, making it look like he was covering up her other arm.

Kari jogged up to the quivering young girl.  "Tsuriai!" she gasped.  "Are you alright?  What happened?"

"I...I...just..." the girl kept stuttering as she tried to answer.  She couldn't think straight.  Her body was going into shock.

So her digimon spoke for her.  "I think she's not feeling well," Rakunamon spoke up, trying to explain why his human partner would all of a sudden drop the firewood.  "We should get her back to camp so she can eat and get some rest."

"Right," Kari nodded.  Quickly, she knelt down and picked up the wood.  Then she turned around and led the way.

Scene 4

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