Present: The Defragmented Mountains

The sea of digimon parted for the beaten heroes of their war.  Slowly, sadly, both Ankylomon and Angemon approached the rock fragment on which the Digi-Destined stood, waiting.  Some had questions swimming through their minds.  Others were just suddenly struck with sorrow at the sight of two powerful digimon hanging their heads.  But what really tugged at their hearts was a young man who rode on top of Ankylomon.  As the dark-haired boy sat there, a silent tear crept down his face, sliding to his chin where it hung for a moment, until it finally fell.  And that single, solitary tear landed softly on the pale cheek of a sleeping girl laying in his lap.  No one had ever seen Cody this way.

The digital monsters were saddened by what they saw as well.

"No..."

"The Messiah..."

Tai looked around briefly, listening to all the digimon whispering.  "The Messiah?" he raised an eyebrow.

Kari drew her arms into herself, her body beginning to tremble as she watched Angemon and Ankylomon climb onto the hovering rock fragment.  Somberly, the two digital monsters approached the older man and the disguised Internet Guardian who had set themselves apart from the Digi-Destined.  "Suri!" she cried.  The girl broke into a run, tears flying from her watery burgundy eyes.

TK followed quickly after her, his heart beating fast with fear.  "Nezumimon!"  Running up to the angel digimon, he took Tsuriai's Baby-level digital monster from Angemon, cradling the furry creature in his arms.

Weak and depleted of energy, the beaten mouse digimon tried to speak.  "Suri..."

Ankylomon stopped right in front of the blonde man and the Internet Guardian hovering just beside him.  Neither he nor his human partner made a fuss over the Future Guardian's new form.  They were preoccupied with other matters.  Cody scooped Tsuriai's limp form into his arms and slid off his digimon's back.  "Oh, Tsuriai..." Kari sniffled.  For a moment, Cody paused so that she could look at the blonde girl who hung in his hold.  Tsuriai's eyes were closed, her skin pale and cold and stained with blood and dirt.  Slowly, her chest rose and fell, but not by much.

TK, too, was overwhelmed by the sight.  "Cody," he spoke softly.  "Is she...?"

The dark-haired boy didn't even look up at his friends.  Instead, he turned and made his way to a man whose angel-blue eyes were clouded over with tears of sorrow and grief.  Silently, Cody reached his arms out and passed Tsuriai's weak body to the hands of her father.

Matt and Sora hugged each other, tears lining their eyes as well.  "That guy must be her father," Sora guessed from her observations.  She remembered how Tsuriai said she had been taken away from her family when she was brought to the Digital World.  "He must have come looking for her."

Matt just looked on with a bit of curiosity.  "That man reminds me of someone..."

As soon as his daughter was in his arms, the older TK fell to his knees.  "No..." his voice cracked.  His words barely came out, soft like a whisper.  "Suri..."

Cody, Kari, and the younger TK, who held a dying Nezumimon in his arms, all stood around Mr. Takaishi and Tsuriai and the Future Guardian.  So focused on them were they, that none of them noticed the group of Digi-Destined and all the digimon coming in closer, surrounding them.

The green-eyed boy dropped to his knees as well, sitting just in front of Tsuriai's father.  "Suri," he cooed.  He reached a gentle hand up and tucked a stray tendril of hair away.  As he spoke, another single tear made its way down the side of his face.  "You're with your father again," he told her.  "You can go home, now."

Suddenly, the blonde girl's eyes began to flitter.  "Oh!" The Future Guardian gasped.  "Tsuriai!"

Mr. Takaishi pulled his daughter's body into him, hugging her and crying.  "Oh, Suri," he sniffled.  The man held her tightly, rocking her back and forth and kissing her on her forehead.

The girl blinked her eyes open.  She looked tired and defeated, but she didn't care.  She was with her father again.  "Daddy..."

The younger TK stepped forward, bending down and lying a fur ball of a digimon in Tsuriai's lap.  "Someone wanted to see you," the blonde boy tried to give a small smile, but a tear escaped anyway.  He could see that both Tsuriai and Nezumimon were in terrible shape.

Tsuriai turned her eyes down to look at the mouse-like creature resting in her lap.  He looked back up at her with the same weak, exhausted gaze.  "Veric..." she whispered.

Tenderly, affectionately, Cody ran his finger along the side of her face.  "Suri," he looked deep into her burgundy eyes.

Though she was physically too weak to smile, he could see in her eyes that she was happy on the inside.  "Cody..."

"You're going to be alright, now," the green-eyed boy assured her, holding her hand in his.

Tsuriai's wine-colored eyes gave a faint twinkle.  "I told you you could trust me," she tried to joke.  "Everything is...finally...set right,...just like I promised."  The more she spoke, the more trouble she experienced with just breathing.

Cody recalled how Tsuriai had told him to trust her when she left him and her father to fight with Veric.  Those two words she always said when he was uncertain were accompanied by his first kiss.  The green-eyed boy shared Tsuriai's faint smile.  "You were right," he said.  "The Digital World is safe thanks to you and Veric, and now you can go home with your father."

But the girl thought otherwise.  Slightly, she moved her head from side to side, her eyes closed in pain.  Nezumimon turned to look up at the man who was Tsuriai's father.  "I can feel her energy fading away," he squeaked tiredly.  "We're both..."

"No!" Mr. Takaishi suddenly cried out, his head shaking back and forth while tears streamed down his face.  "Suri!" he hugged her tightly to him.  "Please, don't leave me!"

"Daddy..."

"You're all I have left," the man sobbed.  Digi-Destined all around them stood in silence as the scene went on, some crying.  "Your mother and brother," Mr. Takaishi started a list.  "Uncle Matt and Uncle Tai.  Even Joe and Davis are gone."  Then the man's voice suddenly fell to a hush.  "Please don't leave me alone..."

The blonde girl looked up at her father.  "Daddy..." she tried her best to smile, though it hurt.  "You're not going to be alone."  Tsuriai locked her gaze onto his angel-blue eyes.  "You and Mom and Cody know the future, now," she told him.  "They'll make sure..."

Cody bit his lip as he listened to Tsuriai's voice trail off.  She was getting weaker and weaker as the seconds wore on.  "Suri..."

The girl turned her attention at the call of her name.  "Cody..." she said his name tiredly.  The boy still held her cold hand in his.

"Suri...I...I..."  There was so much his heart felt at that moment, but he stumbled to find the words to tell her.  This girl meant so much to him.  She treated him as if he were one of her most important friends.  She made him laugh and enjoy himself.  She always tried her best for him and the others.  "I...uh..."

But the girl just gave a tiny squeeze with her hand.  Cody was startled by this.  He stared at the girl who attempted to smile at him.  "Cody," she spoke softly and compassionately.  "Thank you," she said, "for caring about me."

"Oh!" the boy took in a slight gasp.

The girl closed her eyes.  "I...love you...Dad...-dy..."  Then her hand fell limp, resting in Cody's palm.  In her father's arms, she lay there, her body turning into lavender bits of ember.  The specks drifted on the winds of the morning breeze, mingling with the other colored data of the purged digi-eggs she had saved in her suit that day at Primary Village.  Everyone watched with teary eyes as a rainbow of glittering dust floated through the sky.

Kari turned away, burying her face in TK's shoulder as she sobbed.  "No!" she cried.  "Tsuriai!"  It was all the blonde boy could do just to comfort this young woman he had loved all his life.  This blonde girl who had just given her life for the Digital World was their daughter from many years in the future, and watching her die was the most painful thing he had ever experienced.  Both of them crying, the young TK and Kari held each other in their arms.

"Nooo!!!" Mr. Takaishi wailed.  His daughter disappeared right before his very own eyes once again.  Except, this time, he knew he wasn't going to be able to find her again.  "Suri!!!!"  The man buried his face in his hands.

Cody remained kneeling in front of Tsuriai's father, his head lowered and his eyes sad.  He had just lost someone very special to him.  Then, all of a sudden, he heard a faint squeak.  "Oh!" he took in his breath.  "Veric..."

Mr. Takaishi lifted his head instantly at that name.  "Veric!"  The little mouse digimon was beginning to break apart.  Without Tsuriai's life energy, he was being deleted.

The Future Guardian swooped down in a hurry, laying protective hands around the dying Nezumimon.  "Quick," she instructed the man.  "Allow him to use some of your energy.  There's still a chance that Tsuriai will be there when we return to the future," she explained.  "He can't depend entirely on you forever, but you might be able to keep him alive long enough for us to go home."

Angemon laid a comforting hand on his human partner's shoulder.  "Veric," the angel spoke.  "TK and I will help you."  Then he went straight to work, de-digivolving to Patamon.

Mr. Takaishi hugged the dying mouse digimon in his arms.  "Please," he prayed.  "Use me until we can get home."

Nezumimon opened his beady eyes.  "Will Suri be there?" he squeaked.

Tsuriai's father smiled through falling tears.  But it would be someone else to answer.  "We promise," two voices responded.

Everyone looked up.  Kari and the young TK held each other tightly, smiling down at Nezumimon and TK's future self.  Both of their faces and eyes were red with grief.  "Tsuriai will be there waiting for you," Kari smiled.  Then she looked directly into the older TK's blue eyes.  "And so will I."

The Future Guardian shot up into the sky, casting off her human disguise and returning to her original form.  "Quickly," she encouraged her friends while beckoning her powers.  "We don't know how long Nezumimon can rely on your energy."

Mr. Takaishi stood up, Patamon and Nezumimon both cradled in his arms.  In an instant, the three of them were engulfed in the Internet Guardian's blue-white light.  The sky became like liquid and a hole appeared in the thundering clouds.  As the glowing sphere lifted higher and higher, her companions floated after her, safe in her light.

Armadillomon ran past Cody, stopping right where Mr. Takaishi had been.  "Bye, Nezumimon!" the little yellow digimon called after his friend.

Cody turned his gaze up as well, smiling at his digimon's waving good-bye to a very good friend.  He wanted to do the same.  "Bye, Veric!" Cody called up.  "We'll see you again!"  There was no doubt in his heart that he spoke the truth.

Suddenly, the green-eyed boy felt two pairs of hands rest on his shoulders.  Turning to see who had come, he discovered his friend TK on one side, and Kari on the other.  The blonde boy smiled down at his dark-haired friend.  "We'll make sure of that."

Scene 7

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