Disclaimer:

Comrade Terror: *Sitting in a rocking chair, scratching instant lottery tickets* Damn! Soon I will be rich and own Digimon. *Scratches another* Damn! For now it belongs to Toei, Akiyoshi Hongo and various others. *Scratches* Damn! Any minute now…

Question time.

Q: Why did Beelzebumon have black boxers?

A: To get to the other side. Uhh… no, wait. That wasn't even remotely funny. Seriously though, he had them because, like all clothes wearing digimon, he has no protective sheath. So, unless he enjoys rubbing against his leather pants and zipper, (Ouch ^^;;) he has to wear something underneath.

Q: What is the deal with Cyberdramon and Millenniumon?

A: Cyberdramon is a product of Monodramon and Xeed Millenniumon fused together. Their whole story will be explained later. In a nutshell, they came to be fused during an argument over which of them was Ryo's true partner. They now share body but not mind. This is why Cyberdramon and Monodramon seem like they aren't even the same digimon.

Q: Why does Altimamon keep calling the Tamers by their last name?

A: Altimamon prefers to think of humans on a general scale. He views them more as animals than intelligent beings.

Well, that's it. Fic time:

~*~

To be a Tamer

Chapter 11: Black goes with any color

A small creature sighed as he sat outside Ryo's 'home'. The house was made up to look like a traditional Japanese home. The interior was quite luxurious. It was the Holy Beasts' gift to Ryo for saving them. The creature was a Child dragon digimon. He was purple and gray in skin tone, with golden trim on the knuckles, shoulders and numerous patches on a large mound that sat atop his head. Clawed fingers, forged from some type of steel, glistened in the moonlight. Two crimson streaks ran down opposite sides of his chest.

"You look troubled," a being spoke, although only the young dragon could hear him.

"That's an understatement," Monodramon was usually a playful natured digimon, but his 'other side' didn't respond very well to those types of comments.

"We're doing the right thing. He'll be happy at home."

"What about the Renamon? Didn't you hear Ryo? It has a partner."

"So?"

"We can't just take someone's digimon."

"If it makes Ryo happy, we can do anything."

"But the other Tamer?"

"Ryo is all that matters."

Monodramon sighed and turned. He could never fully describe the ghostly image that floated in the night sky and thanks the gods he was the only one that could see it. It appeared to be a twisted mass of flesh, half red, half blue. Twin dragonheads, one for each color sat atop the shoulder areas. Two foot-like masses were at the bottom, again representing red and blue respectively. Various lines of code and data spiraled around it, like lost souls never to be claimed. Each pair of eyes was black, only tiny glows for pupils occupied the empty space, truly representing the darkness of the creature that was Xeed Millenniumon. Monodramon could never hope to be as powerful as the creature that shared his being, but if that was power, he preferred weakness.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to make some witty remark about me being self-absorbed and obsessed with my Tamer?"

"OUR Tamer," he corrected quickly. "No I'm not. You've heard it all already. It never gets through those thick skulls of yours."

"My, my, aren't we touchy. I still will never understand what he saw in you."

"That's easy. I'm not a psycho who tried to kill thousands of innocent people just to get at Ryo."

"He abandoned me! It had to be done! I had to have him back! That wasn't my fault."

"Obsessing…" the little dragon teased.

"Shut up! You know nothing about that."

"I have all your memories."

"Look, I don't want a history lesson. Let's get back to the matter at hand," Xeed changed the subject.

"There is no 'matter at hand'. Ryo will decide what we'll do when he wakes up."

"Oh, and I suppose you going to just sit back and let him decide by himself."

Monodramon sighed, "We are NOT interfering in this. It's too important."

"You know Ryo will never make the right decision on his own."

"Just because you say something it doesn't mean it's right."

"This IS the right decision. It will make Ryo happy," Xeed insisted.

"Will it? Or will it make him depressed because he stole someone else's digimon?"

"Bah, Ryo needn't worry about that. It's that stupid Tamer's own fault."

"And just how do you figure that?"

"He chose to have that 'savior' as his partner."

Monodramon sweatdropped, "You get more and more demented everyday, don't you?" he smirked. Xeed only growled, "You think the kid actually picked his digimon?"

"Look, I don't really care what the circumstances are. We'll take the digimon from him and bring it to Baihumon. Then Ryo gets to go home and be happy."

The young dragon sighed in frustration, "Let me try to put this into words you can understand. How would you feel if someone tried to steal you from Ryo?"

Xeed's twin eyes flashed, "I'd like to see them try."

"There you see, you're mad. That's how that kid's digimon will feel."

"So?"

Monodramon slapped his forehead, "Never mind! I'm sorry I even tried. Ryo will decide what to do in the morning…on his OWN. We're going to bed."

"We should just stay Cyberdramon all the time."

"You wish."

~*~

The female's body was totally alien to him, especially unclothed. The odd curves, the lack of fur, it was completely different. A part of him said he should look away, but he just couldn't. The towel hit the floor and he stared in awe at her full figure, or at least what he could make out from behind. Her body was lean, like another he knew well.

Peachy white flesh, glistening with traces of water, called to him. He unknowingly walked closer. His eyes were fixed on the lower half of the girl. His nostril flared, tingling with a scent he'd never smelled, but wanted to smell again, a sweet smell, much unlike that of his lover. He was there, less than a meter from her. He noticed the small mounds of developing breasts appear when she bent to gather various articles of clothing from the dresser's drawer.

Again the smell called to him. He ignored all second thoughts and leaned himself forward, taking in a large whiff of the scent that was coming from this human girl. Ruki froze and whirled around, staring down at the probing yellow eyes. Guilmon looked up at her innocently and blushed, "Enjoying the view?" she grumbled.

~*~

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Takato and Seiko looked up from eating breakfast and watched Ruki, now wrapped in a towel, lead Guilmon into the kitchen by his ear. "Ruki, what did I do? I was just looking!" he whined.

"You SNIFFED me!"

"But I wasn't gonna do anything…honest."

Ruki released the fire lizard and turned to his Tamer, "I forgave him when he barged in here and slept on the lawn. I forgave him when he snuck in here yesterday. I forgave him when he blew our whole Tamer secret. I forgave him when he stole my bed last night and we had to sleep in the guest room. Hell, I even FORGAVE him when he told me grand-ma just about every aspect of his sex life. No more forgiving, Taka-chan. I'm sick of him. He can't stay here anymore."

"But Ruki, his old home is gone, remember?"

"I don't care if he lives in a box as long as it isn't around here."

"Ruki…"

"He SNIFFED me," she pointed to Guilmon, who was now sobbing to himself. He wasn't sure what he'd done, but he knew it had gotten him, and his Tamer, into trouble.

"Sniffed you as in…" Takato made a motion.

"No, he was checking to see if my Lady Speed Stick was working," she said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry Ruki. I didn't mean to," Guilmon said. Why does Ruki always hate me so much? I just wanna be her friend. She likes Renamon. Why can't she like me too?

"How could you not mean to?! Is your nose broken?!"

"Enough," Seiko spoke up. "Too much shouting. This isn't getting anywhere."

"But grand-ma, he…"

"I know what he did, but look at him," she pointed. "He honestly doesn't understand what he did. He's probably never seen a human like that before."

"Wait a minute, you're siding with a stupid lizard over your own granddaughter?"

"No, I'm not," Seiko said calmly. "Calm down Ruki, it will be better for you and the baby."

"Ok, ok…you're right" Ruki sighed, still finding it hard to unwind.

"Much better. I told you two I had no problems with him or Ruki's digimon friend staying here. He just needs to understand certain things," she turned to him.

"Are you mad at me too?" the digimon asked the older woman.

She walked over and patted his head, "No. I truly believe you didn't mean any harm. Come on. We can take a walk."

"But…what about the food?"

Seiko giggled, "You could never be an evil creature."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I'll get you some later. I think you should just let Takato and Ruki-chan prepare for school."

"Oh, ok," Guilmon wasn't entirely sure why, but he had totally trusted Seiko from the moment he'd met her. They stepped outside into the Makino garden area.

"Wow," Takato exclaimed as they left. "Makes me wish I'd have told me parents about him months ago."

"I still can't believe he's so stupid."

"He's not stupid. He may not be Renamon but he tries his best. As far as I'm concerned he's the best digimon a Tamer could have," he stopped at look at Ruki's changing expression. "I didn't mean it that way. Renamon's good too."

Ruki looked down, tears forming, "Why does she hate me, Taka-chan?"

"What?"

"Why does Renamon hate me?"

"She doesn't hate you," he said, shocked by Ruki's statement.

"Then doesn't she enjoy my company anymore? Why has she been avoiding me?"

"She was just with you the other night. You two helped us battle that Deva thing."

"No, she did. She was evolved and fighting before I ever got there. I just kind of showed up and occupied space."

"No, both you and I know that isn't true. I heard you calling to her when that dog thing was attacking Megalo Growmon. She came to help you."

"Did she? Or did she come because her lover was being hurt?"

"She came to help all of us," Matsuda smiled. "What brought all this on, anyway?"

"Things," Ruki mumbled.

"Like…"

"After you and I starting seeing each other I began to open up to her more. I had spent so much time as her Tamer, but I never got to be her friend…until then. But then she left. She spent most of her time with Guilmon or alone," Ruki explained.

"Maybe she just thought you wanted some time alone after you learned you were pregnant."

"No, she was there for that. She's always been there when I've had a problem, no matter how big or small it was. But when she was having her own problems, she didn't come to me for help. She was so confused. Why didn't she tell me?"

Takato wasn't to pry, but out of respect and love for Ruki he didn't, "Maybe she didn't want to put any more stress on you. She cares a lot, you know."

"I care too," Ruki grabbed Takato's shirt. "I'm her best friend, damn it! Why didn't she tell me?"

"I…don't know. I don't even know what she was telling, but I know that she cares. Just because she evolved to a virus once doesn't mean things have changed."

"Changed? Come here. Let me show you how much things have changed," she pulled him through the hall and into her bedroom where she released him and walked to the dresser. "Here, does that look changed enough?" she asked as she tossed him her blue D-Arc.

Takato examined the totally black screen. He pushed a button, nothing. Another button, still nothing. He even tried tapping on the screen, "What's wrong with it?"

"It doesn't work. It has no purpose now that I'm not a Tamer anymore."

"Oh, I guess that makes…WHAT?!"

"Renamon left me. She broke our bond somehow."

"But why would she…"

"To deal with something she had to deal with. That's why she's Youkomon now."

"Is this what you two were talking about the other night?" he asked.

She nodded, "It…wasn't so bad then. I guess I didn't really realize what she'd meant. Then, that night, it hit me," she said solemnly.

"You were asleep. I had just made one of my many nightly bathroom runs. I couldn't get back to sleep," she explained. "I noticed my D-Arc wasn't making its normal glow so I went to look at it. I saw what you're now seeing…nothing," she sighed. "I sat there until I fell back to sleep, just looking at it…and thinking."

"Oh," Takato couldn't hope to console her for that. He couldn't even grasp Renamon doing it, "Do you hate her for it?"

"Of course not. With all I've done to her in the past, how could I be upset for this? If anything, I had it coming."

"Don't say that. I may not know Renamon very well, but I do know digimon. Guilmon, Renamon, Terriermon and even Juri's Plotmon, they'd all give up anything for us. Renamon would never EVER deliberately set out to hurt you."

"I…know," she suddenly hugged him tightly, only a towel separating her body from his hands. "Why? Why does life hate me, Taka-chan? Was I really that bad of a person?"

He hugged back, "Never. Life doesn't hate you any more than it hates everyone. You just have to accept it. And, as your grand-ma said, calm down."

"I know, but it's just so much. I can't help it. I didn't mean to totally blow up on Guilmon, but he…"

"Does a lot of weird things, but he means well," Takato said. "I personally think Renamon does some weird stuff too. That's just how they are. Like I said before, I wouldn't want Guilmon any other way."

Makino sighed, "I'd want Renamon another way."

"She'll be your partner again. You'll see."

"How are you always so sure of things?"

"I don't know. I just always say 'it'll work out', and it does."

"What if it doesn't?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. It's never happened."

"What about your mother?"

"She'll forgive me. Dad will help on that," he replied confidently.

"I suppose so. But what if, just once, things don't work out?"

"Shh, you're going to jinx my streak," he joked.

"Taka-chan…"

"Sorry. Seriously, I don't know. All I can say is to just believe things will always work out."

She shook her head, "I don't know if I can anymore."

"Sure you can. Just try it."

"Maybe they will. I'd…better get dressed. We'll be late for school."

He grabbed her arm, "I forgot one more bit of advice."

"And that is…"

"I love you."

"I love you too," she returned. The following exchange of oral passion would end far too soon as the lovers were forced to return to their morning routine.

~*~

Of course! It was a dream. I didn't do that to her. It had to be just a fantasy. It…really happened. Impmon sighed as he eyed his red scarf, the only piece of clothing that didn't vanish when he was stripped of his Ultimate form, lying on the ground. He stood and stretched, careful not to wake Youkomon.

Then, is what he said true? Did she really conceive…from me?! Oh gods, I'm no father. I never even had one myself. I wouldn't know where to start. His thinking was interrupted as Youkomon yawned. She looked around, surveying the scene, "Yes, it really happened," he said in an emotionless tone.

Youkomon sighed, "You…remember it too?"

"Yeah…well sort of. It's kind of like…umm…"

"Remembering a dream," Youkomon finished.

"Yeah. You can't remember if it happened or not."

"But if we both recall it, then it must have occurred."

Impmon nodded. Every bone in his body told him not to ask this next question, but he did, "Do you…regret it?"

"Of course," she answered quickly.

"Oh…"

Youkomon blinked, "No, I did not mean that how it sounded. But…I have a mate. I still love him."

"'Guil who?'" Impmon smirked. Youkomon glared. The imp threw his arms up defensively, "I know. Being an ass again. Sorry. It's just…how I am. I can't change."

"Ruki said that once. Anyone can change."

"But change isn't always a good thing," he gestured to her, but quickly realized what he done. "Damn it! I did it again. I guess I should just keep my mouth shut."

The bewitching fox shook her head, "No, I understand. Only now that I have experienced the viral attribute do I truly understand."

"Go viral types," Impmon quipped.

Youkomon made a small smirk, "I should find Guilmon," Youkomon went to stand up, but was very wobbly. Impmon ran to her side.

"No wait! You should rest," he said, a little too enthusiastically.

"Why?"

"Because…umm…" excuse, Impmon. Think of an excuse, "You are probably pretty tired. Besides, what do you need to see him for?"

Youkomon raised an eyebrow, "To tell him, of course."

"Tell him?"

"Of this."

"What?! Are you insane? You don't just tell him this. We should never tell anyone."

"Lying is wrong, especially to your mate. I must confess to him exactly what happened."

"But won't he just get mad?"

"He has that right. I have been unfaithful," she said sadly.

"Wait just a minute. I seem to recall dino boy having a little fling with a sheep."

"And he told me immediately. Besides, that was against his will. This…was not."

He was right. She WAS willing. Maybe I should…no. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't… "Renamon, what if we were mates?" Damn it, you did it. Impmon scolded himself.

"We are not."

"But that could change."

"No."

"Even if something like this happened again?"

"Something like this will NEVER happen again."

"Oh…" he sighed. "You could at least act disappointed, you know?"

"I am sorry, Impmon. If things had been different…"

"Will you please stop saying that? Things CAN be different. There is a better mate for you out there."

"No. Guilmon is my true love."

"What do you see in him, anyway?"

Youkomon smiled, "Purity."

"Purity?"

"He has so much innocence and honesty. Through his childlike wisdom he can see and understand the world better than anyone I have ever known."

"Oh? All I see is a stupid, naïve, fire lizard that couldn't even begin to understand love."

"You are wrong. I thought the same thing at one time. He understands love better than any of us. He sees it in its purest form. He loves me without even knowing why," Youkomon yawned as she finished.

"Tired?"

"Very, but I am not sure why…"

I know why. The purple imp said to himself, "Dino boy is not the only one that can love you," Impmon said weakly. "I know you have some love for me too."

"I do, but it is just not the same."

"Can I change that?"

"No. My heart is committed. I cannot change that."

"What if…we were to ever have a baby together?" Impmon asked with more worry than hope.

"I told you last night would never happen again."

"It only takes one night," he surrendered to his own conscience.

The blue/black fox eyed him, "What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry Renamon," he replied.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" she said with a hint of viral emotion as she walked closer.

"You're coding, ok?!" he snapped. "That's why you feel weird."

She froze, "I am…coding. With your…"

"I don't know. I think so."

"But how do you know this?"

"The shadow. It reappeared after we mated and told me."

"It…reappeared. Then it was there the…entire time. You set me up!"

"What?! How can you say that when you just said that you were willing too?"

"That was all an act just to court me for your own perverted fantasies!" she pounced, pinning him down with ease. "Now you are saying I am with child because of your sick games."

"What games? What the hell is wrong with you?" he struggled against her grasp. "The shadow tricked us both. Do you think I honestly wanted to be a father? ME, a father?!"

"You thought it would take me from Guilmon…"

"I…never…" Damn it. How do I defend against that? Would I have done that if I thought it would make her mine? I could…no. That's a whole new digimon I'm talking about. That's too low. "Renamon listen. I can't defend what I did, but I did NOT want this to happen."

"I suppose that makes it ok?"

"No, but is deleting me going to make it any more 'ok'?" he asked, not really making much of her threat.

"It is certainly going to make me feel a lot better," she smiled darkly. Her free fore claw glistened in the daylight as she drew it back.

Impmon shivered at the look he saw in her eyes. The same look Guilmon had gotten before, "Wait a minute…you're not…ACTUALLY going to do that…"

"Hold still and see," she said in a viral-fueled, psychotic manner. But, as she prepared for the surely fatal swipe, the image of Impmon under her paw seemed to split into five identical images. Youkomon blinked, "What the?" she stumbled backwards. As she looked on, her other claw now had many mirrored versions of itself too, "What is happening? What are you doing to me?!" she demanded.

"I'm not doing anything," he was on his feet now, but unsure if he should approach her. "Maybe you should just lay…" he trailed off as she toppled onto her side. Down, but still breathing, "R-Renamon?"

"Everything…spinning," she said, her front paws now pressed over her eyes in an attempt to drive the dizziness away…among other things. My gods, what am I doing? I was truly going to delete him. It is more my fault than Impmon's. I should be the one who is deleted, "Impmon, I am…sorry," she hesitated as she noticed he was now at her side.

Impmon, nearly killed by her, would possibly never understand why he was now standing next to her, "I'm sorry too, Renamon. I screwed up. It was my fault. I don't care if you want me dead or not…I love you. That's all I can think about anymore. Every night and day I think about being with you. Then I get my chance, and it's all wrong, and now it's time I quit running and just made it right," He couldn't even believe he said that, but he was glad he did.

Youkomon…was not. Why? Things were so right with Guilmon. We had our problems, but we always made it through them and were more in love than ever. Now I have ruined everything. He can never forgive me if I am coding Impmon's child. And Impmon, how can I just tell him he is not the one. I led him on. If I had just flat out told him no this would never have taken place. This…is still taking place. She observed Impmon sadly as he stroked the behind of one of her pointy ears in an attempt to comfort her, "Impmon, please do not do that. I do not know exactly what is happening, but I know that will not help."

"Oh. I'm just trying to be a caring mate…"

"No!" she scolded. "Until I know for sure that I am coding you are not to use that term for us. I already have a mate that I love dearly," she said. She hated to be like that with him, but knew it had to be done.

The purple imp was struck hard with those words, "Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you this; you love me too, whether you care to admit it or not. We were our viral selves last night. You may not fully understand that, but I do. When I'm like that I do a lot of stuff I've always wanted to do, but never had the guts for. Yeah, it's hardly ever something I'd do otherwise, but it's never something that I hadn't ever WANTED to do!" he ranted, partially viral, partially heartbroken.

"I…know, but those were fantasies. I never intended them to play out like that," she realized what she had said a moment too late.

T-that's it? That's it!? No wonder you always blow me off and go back to Guilmon. I'm just some dark stranger from a wet dream to you!" Impmon yelled.

"I never said that. Please calm down," she replied, nursing a throbbing headache.

"Calm down? Do you have any clue how serious I am about you? Care to take a guess as to how many digimon I've ever said 'I love you' to?"

She sighed, "Only me?"

"You're damn right only you. I don't have humans distracting me with that 'Tamer' stuff anymore. You are the only thing that's important in my life, and now that damn dino ruined that too," he looked away and mumbled. "It figures. Nothing in my life ever works out anymore."

"Impmon, wait," Youkomon tried to stand, but found it too difficult with her immense dizziness. She lay back down and continued, "I will not argue that I enjoyed what happened last night, but it must never, and will never, happen again."

"But…"

"I AM willing to love you, but only as a friend," she interrupted.

"But the kid."

"As I said before, the shadow was probably lying again."

"What if it wasn't?"

"Then we will deal with that problem. Regardless of what happens, Guilmon will remain my mate. I have pledged myself to…"

"No! No more about Guilmon. I'm sick of Guilmon. If we have a digimon together you should be my mate. If I'm the father of it, I should be with the mother."

"Impmon, a child is a life to be loved. It is not a thing to force a digimon into being another's mate."

"I know that. I would…love the little guy. Seriously, I would," he said, not truly believing himself.

She sighed, "Then you should not care if you are with me or not."

"I just don't understand why you can't except that I just might be a better mate than the big red dino."

"Stop. If you care about me as much as you claim then just stop. Stop blaming Guilmon. It is not his fault things turned out this way. I seduced him. I fell in love with him just as much as he did with me."

"Bull! You're just making more excuses for him! Just like that 'purity' crap. Guilmon has been the cause of all our problems, whether you care to admit it or not."

"Impmon…"

He grumbled as he starred into her pleading eyes. Yeah, I got it bad, "Alright, I won't delete dino boy…at least for now. But I AM going to show you how much I care. I just…don't know how I'm going to do that yet." the imp turned and began to walk away.

Youkomon made no further effort to stop him, "Why is he always so stubborn?" she sighed and laid her head back down. So now I am alone. How odd, I always used to like being alone. Youkomon sulked. I suppose this is what I deserve. Now I have truly betrayed everyone I have ever cared for. I never set out to hurt anyone. Where did everything go wrong? Ruki's love with Takato seemed so perfect, but now even they seem to have problems. Still, they do not have these types of conflicts or other humans trying to win Ruki.

Of course they do not, because Ruki would never be so stupid as to willingly betray her mate. She scolded herself. And even if she had, she would have come to me for help. She always has. Why could I not have gone to her? I trust her. I trust her more than I trust myself, but that is gone now. My beloved, I have tested his pure heart far too much. And Impmon, he would be my mate if I would let him, but I could never be his. Not after all this. I set out to find my true love, and I did. I just wish I had known I would lose everything in the process.

There is such a thin line between love and betrayal. Yet…despite all of this, I feel as if it will be worth it in the end. Love seems so easy to acquire, yet so hard to maintain. Perhaps this is why it is truly so special, and why I can never give up. She smiled and closed her eyes, finally succumbing to the fatigue her body was thoroughly bathed in.

~*~

I swear, falling in love is simple. It's keeping that love that's so damned hard. Takato thought as he continued his journey to school. But not after this weekend. No way. She's going to love me forever after I… "Ow!"

"Hey, watch it. Are you THAT desperate to get to school?" Jenrya smirked, rubbing his nose where Takato had turned and ran into him.

"At least I didn't fall off this time," Terriermon said from atop his head.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about this weekend," Matsuda slowed and walked alongside him.

"Oh," Jenrya seemed to quiet down all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I have to find a way to make this the biggest, nicest, absolute best wedding proposal ev…" he trailed off, staring at his best friend. Lee was making a 'cut' sign across his throat.

Takato gasped as arms wrapped around his neck, "Matsuda Takato, that is the most romantic suggestion I've ever heard from you," Juri exclaimed, hugging her friend across the shoulders.

"Oh…well I…" Takato blushed.

"I tried to tell you," Jenrya said.

The gogglehead waved him off, "No. She already knows the whole thing."

"Yeah, I kind of overheard Ruki-san talking, but I never knew about marriage," she said excitedly. "So…where is the ring?"

"Well…I sort of…don't have it yet."

"What?! The ring is the most important part."

"Why do you need a ring?" Terriermon asked.

"You give a special engagement ring to the girl you love when you ask her to marry you," his partner explained.

"Marry?"

"It's like being mates. When you select a digimon to be you mate it's just like a human selecting someone to marry. There's usually a ceremony, just like some digimon have when they become mates," Juri explained. Everyone looked at her with gaping mouths, "What? You think I don't talk to my digimon? Plotmon has given me a ton of knowledge on their culture," she smiled.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" Takato asked.

"She kind of does her own thing. I think she was going to do something with Culumon in the park."

"Why is she spending so much time with Culumon?" Lee's dog-bunny whined.

Juri shrugged, "I don't know. She seems to enjoy having him around though, so I just let her do what she wants."

"I'd do what I want but the old 'ball and chain' here won't let me," Terriermon patted his Tamer on the head.

"I never said you couldn't. I just said not to get in any fights," Jenrya corrected.

"I didn't."

"What about what Juri said about you and Impmon?"

"Ok, so I did one attack. ONE attack."

"I know, but I still don't want any unnecessary trouble."

"No unnecessary trouble? Then you should never have starting going out with me," Juri snuggled up to him. He laughed nervously and she smiled in return, "Lighten up, Jen. I'm just fooling around."

"She calls you Jen too?" Takato snickered.

"What? It's my name," Jenrya defended.

"Besides, you're one to talk…Taka-chan," Juri teased. The goggle wearer blushed.

"Taka-chan?!" Jenrya giggled. "That's hilarious. Where did you get that?"

"It's what Ruki-san calls him."

"And you make fun of him for being Jen?" Terriermon joked.

"Hey, when Ruki calls you something you just keep your mouth shut and accept it," he defended. Besides, I like it when she calls me that.

"I think it's cute. I ought to start calling you Taka-chan."

"No thanks. One Taka-chan user is more than enough."

"Or I could call you Takato-tousan-okii."

"I'D get jealous if you called him that," Lee smirked.

"I didn't think you liked kinky stuff," she retorted.

"Kinky stuff?" Takato questioned.

"Nothing," Jenrya said quickly.

"He got freaked out when I gave him a hand job in the cafeteria," his girlfriend smirked.

"Juri!"

"You did what?!" Takato went bug-eyed.

"Is a hand job what I think it is?" Terriermon asked with a smile.

"I thought we agreed to keep certain things personal."

"We can trust Takato-kun. Besides, we know about Ruki-san being pregnant, so this makes us even."

"I don't like your logic," Lee said with a red face. "Besides, I've already heard more than my fill about sex and secrets last night."

"From who?"

"I'm not going into detail so let's just say little sisters are maturing too fast." he hinted.

"I tried to help him," Terriermon said.

"No you didn't," Jenrya corrected. "You never said anything the entire time."

"Shuichon-san lost her virginity?!" Takato pondered in disbelief.

Jenrya nearly facefaulted, "Good god no! Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Sorry," Takato fidgeted with a blush. "But what DID happen?"

"I'd rather keep it personal."

"C'mon Jen, pleeease," Juri chirped in an annoying tone.

"Fine," he sighed.

~~~It was pretty much just like any night. We were finished brushing our teeth and were getting ready for bed. Shuichon was talking to me.

"Jen-nii-chan, why do people keep secrets?"

Needless to say, that wasn't a very good question for someone to ask me, "I don't know, Shuichon. I guess some people just think some things are better if only you know about them. Like if you had some kind of special toy you didn't want anyone else to play with, you would keep it a secret."~~~

"I'm a 'special toy'," Terriermon said proudly.

"You're getting ahead. Just let me tell it."

~~~She seemed to understand at first. Then she hit me with the first of two bombshells.

"So is that why you don't want anyone to know about Terriermon?"

I think I took the shock rather well, "WHAT?!"

"He is so special to you so you keep him a secret from mommy and daddy, right?"

"Y-yeah…I guess, but how on Earth did you…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she jumped in. She was definitely sincere about it too.

"Mean to what?"

"I wanted to hold him for a little while. I didn't know he was hurt. I…hurt him more and he talked."

"Oh…" Terriermon was really banged up last weekend so I truly couldn't blame him for yelping.~~~

"That was my fault. I'm sorry," Takato interjected.

"Let's just forget it," Jenrya said.

"Trust me, Renamon's kick hurt a hell of a lot more than anything that snake did."

"What kick?" Juri asked.

"You don't want to know."

"Anyway…"

~~~I was caught, but still ok. If there was anyone in my entire family that I could trust with something like this, it was Shuichon. Plus, it really got me to thinking about something. From day one, she seemed fascinated with Terriermon. Sure, she played with some other dolls, but she had kind of out grew the stuffed toy phase. Yet she absolutely adored him. I kind of wonder if a part of her had always known.

"I'm really sorry. Are you mad?"

She has to be the absolute last girl on the planet I could ever get mad at…~~~

"Ahem," Juri cleared her throat.

~~~Ok, second to last, but close. Needless to say, I said, "No."

"He told me you might be and we should keep it a secret but I didn't want to keep secrets from you."

I smiled, "Thanks, Shuichon. I always try not to keep secrets from you, but this was different."

"I know. Mommy and daddy don't know either, do they?"

"No. But…"

"I won't tell them, as long as I get to see Terriermon too."

"Deal," that seemed reasonable enough. Plus, now that she knew he was real, she probably wouldn't dress him up or do anything he didn't want to do. So that took care of the first problem…~~~

"Get to the part where you screw her!" Terriermon yelled suddenly.

"What?!" the other two teens cried.

Jenrya retched and resisted the urge to smack the digimon off his head. "There is NO 'part where I screw her'. She's my sister!"

The dog-bunny shrugged, "Yeah, I know. I've just been waiting for the chance to say 'get to the part where you screw her'," Everyone sweatdropped.

"But where does sex come in?" Juri questioned.

"Like I said, that was the first of TWO bombshells. The second came later," he looked up to see they'd arrived at school. He sighed in relief, "I guess I'll tell you guys later."

"Finally, I get to go get in a huge battle."

"Terriermon."

"Yeesh, I was just kidding. No battles today. I promise," he made a little 'cross my heart' sign with his paw before leaving. Lee was about to head inside when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think we're going to forget about this," Juri teased. "You owe us another story."

"Yeah…of course," he smiled weakly.

~*~

"A what?" Takato, who had ran in ahead of the group, asked.

"A pitcher. He honestly think he's some kind of legend or something," Kenta smirked.

"Has he ever even played before?"

"Search me, but it got him out of coming in early today."

"Seriously?"

"According to what he said it did, but I never talked to Asanuma-sensei."

"So where is Mr. Baseball, anyway?" Matsuda joked.

"He's down talking to Kida-sensei about it right now."

"Heh, I give him a week."

"Probably. He tends to quit anything he's not good at right away. He's lucky he was so good at Digimon cards or he'd have quit that too," Kenta joked. Takato laughed as the two opened their lockers and began to get their books, "Umm…hey Takato. I've been meaning to ask you something," Kenta fidgeted.

"What?"

"Well…I know this might sound a little weird, but I was just wondering if you could tell me…what it feels like."

"What what feels like?"

"You know…sex," Kenta whispered.

"W-what?" Takato yelped.

Kenta took a deep breath, "Hirokazu told me you had sex wi…"

"He told you?!" Takato roared, grabbing Kenta by the shirt.

"Hey, take it easy. I didn't know it was a secret," the glasses-wearing teen whined.

"HE knew," Takato released his friend. Damn him! Why in the world do I ever trust him with anything?

"Look, I'm really sorry. I had no idea."

"Would YOU want people to know?"

"Are you kidding? It's the Digimon Queen we're talking about. You'll be like the most popular guy in school when people find out," Kenta declared, "but they won't find out from me," he added quickly, responding to the glare he was receiving.

Takato sighed, "I suppose that doesn't matter. Hirokazu has probably told all the big gossipers by now. I'm so screwed."

"I don't get it. If I were you, I'd be telling as many people as I could."

"I don't need to do that."

"Why?"

"Because I love Ruki. I don't need a million people to know about this to be happy. I already am."

The green/black haired boy shrugged, "So then why did you tell Hirokazu?"

"I didn't. Well…I guess I did, but I didn't mean to," Matsuda explained.

"Oh," his friend nodded. "Look I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. I'm sorry I even brought it up."

"No, it's all right. Hirokazu is the one I'm worried about anyway."

"Well, people hardly believe a word that come out of his mouth. Heck, I hardly believe a word that comes out of his mouth. At least you've got that," Kenta smirked.

"Yeah," Takato smiled. Kenta was actually on the shy side, but one on one he was pretty outgoing. Moreover he was a loyal friend, "I'd better get going. Maybe I'll see you at lunch."

~*~

"Tsuki…B," the teacher called, laying the girl's paper down on her desk. The students were to recognize the woman who clothed in a Catholic nun's uniform only as Sister, "Kitsuna…A. Good work."

Ruki sighed as the Sister slowly made her way to her. I know I didn't do good one this one. Funny, math was always my best subject, but between Taming, Takato and life I don't even have time to study.

"Makino…C-minus," her thoughts were interrupted as her paper fell in front of her face. She didn't make eye contact with Sister, but could hear the disappointment in her voice.

Yep, how did I ever know? Well, it's still better than I thought I'd do. Hell, who am I kidding? What's the point of even trying? In a few months the semester will end and I'll probably never set foot in here again. Even if grand-ma watches the baby, there's no way they'll allow a teenage mother to attend. That would damage their precious 'prestige'. Ruki snickered as she mocked the ever-arrogant attitude of her academy.

"Suzuki…A. Nice job," the nun called as the class bell rang. "Class dismissed."

"It's about time," Ruki mumbled under her breath.

"Makino, can I see you for a moment?"

Ruki sighed in frustration. Just once I'd like to throttle one of these nuns while screaming 'My name is Ruki, not Makino'. She remarked to herself before speaking, "Yes, Sister."

"Makino, are you feeling all right?" she questioned as her student approached her.

Ruki became slightly nervous, "Yes, fine. Why do you ask, sister?"

"Your grades have been slipping in all courses lately. Why, only a few months ago I had you tutoring some of the other students, and now you have one of the lowest scores in the class for the third test in a row. Is something wrong, dear?"

Ruki shuddered. The motherly nuns are even worse than the arrogant ones. I won't miss this place. That's for sure, "No, Sister. Everything's fine," she lied, staring into her teacher's brown eyes.

"Ok," the nun nodded. "Just remember, if there are things you need to work out you should speak with the Father. He understands."

"Yes, Sister," Ruki said politely. Trying once again to get me to go to the booth I see? Old Father Walker would probably have a heart attack if he heard some of my confessions. She smirked to herself. Father Walker was a very traditional priest. Although he was American by birth, he was very fluent in Japanese.This entire school is just one gigantic scam to convert all people to Christianity. Come to think of it, what religion am I? That's odd, I don't remember having one. Oh well, no god or gods could ever forgive my sins. She moped as she walked to her next class.

~*~

Renamon snapped awake, noting a huge change in her body. She was… "Renamon. I am Renamon again?" she pondered in disbelief. "But…how? And where am I?" she questioned.

The field she was in certainly looked nothing like the forest she had fallen asleep in. In fact, it looked like nothing she had ever seen before, "No, this is not real. It is just a dream. I knew it was too good to be true," she observed, feeling almost like crying.

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. The only thing that is for sure is that you aren't alone," a gentle and very familiar voice spoke.

Renamon's ears perked, "You! You are the cause of all this!" she cried.

"Take it easy. Your child needs plenty of relaxation to code properly."

"How do I know you are not telling more lies? You will not even show yourself."

"Very well. If you wish to see me then you shall see me," the creature materialized in front of Renamon, but not as a shadow. The fox of Tao now found herself face to face with the armor-clad dragon, "Now you see me as I am meant to be."

"You…you are…"

"Altimamon, yes, my reputation always precedes me."

"You are dead," Renamon finally got to finish.

"No, I am quite alive. Well, most of me still is," he flipped his hydraulic tail into view. "Besides, I certainly seem to get around a lot for a 'dead' mon," he made a quick laugh.

"How can you laugh? Is this a game to you?!"

"No, quite the contrary. My business here is very serious. I just find your ignorance quite amusing, Savior."

"Savior? Your dog Deva spoke that too, but what does it mean?"

"Amazing. All the hatred and other emotions you feel toward me and yet curiosity is the emotion you embrace. What's more, you'd probably believe anything I told you. Just like you do with the Impmon."

"You…" she trailed off in thought.

"I'm absolutely right. Aren't I? You are a mighty warrior, yet your own curiosity is your weakness. You MUST know the answers, no matter what it costs you?" he sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, you don't want to know all the answers. You will hate what you find. But…that's not the point. I came here because it appears your curiosity has gotten you into some trouble."

"T-that was only because of you. You cost me everything!"

"You ASKED me to do it. I could never do that to a digimon against its will," he shot back.

"You tricked me. You said you could re-bond me."

"That is half-true. For that I must apologize, but these are strange times. I am a god. I am the TRUE god, yet I am forced to seek the help of the one who is to be the Savior."

"I am not your Savior. I am still Ruki's digimon and Guilmon's mate. No matter what you do, I will be Ruki's digimon and Guilmon's mate. Find another Savior and leave me the hell alone."

Altimamon raised an eyebrow, "You aren't even viral. You must be mad."

"Stop that! I will not be some kind of philosophical game to you," Renamon leapt into the air, assaulting the creature with all her pent up rage, "Fox Leaf Arrowhead!" she cried out, rained diamond-like leaves on the digimon she hated more than anything she had ever hated in her life.

None of the leaves would ever find their mark. They simply stopped, in mid-air, and sailed back at their creator. Renamon was slammed directly in the stomach and fell to the ground in a heap. She writhed in agony for a moment, before a thought struck her. She looked down at her singed abdomen and up at the dark god in horror, "You monster! My child!"

"You attacked me. I simply put it to better use. Besides, as you said before, this IS a dream. You're only as hurt as you think you are," he informed emotionlessly. Renamon looked back at her now unscathed body fur, "It's nice to see you've finally come to terms about the child."

Renamon's eyes narrowed as she nodded, "If this is truly my dream, how are you here?"

"I told you before. I am as far beyond digimon as they are beyond humans."

"Then why would you ever need me?"

"I don't know. Even I don't truly understand the prophecy. It has been around as long as the Digital World. Many legends are foretold in it. Some true, some not."

"Then how do you know the part about me is true?"

"Much of it has come true already."

"Coincidence?"

He smiled, "You are the curious one. Maybe it is coincidence, but I cannot take that chance. I ignored the prophecy once before, and paid the price," he thumped his tail once.

"The Great Battle of Liberation."

"You still remember that? I'm surprised. But yes, the prophecy foretold of that and I ignored it. I was a fool. It would have been so easy to send one of my Devas to Earth and kill Ryo before he ever arrived."

"I do not care about your legends or your past. I just want my life back. The life I had before you came."

"You can never have that back. The prophecy would be ruined and the Digital World would be lost."

"Why should I believe any of this? You have done nothing but hurt not only me, but Ruki, Guilmon and even Impmon," Renamon spat. "If you will not give me my life back then I will give you nothing."

"I ask for nothing. It's the Digital World that needs you."

"I do not believe you."

"Very well, then I will show you, but not today. I have another matter I must attend to," the midnight blue dragon informed. "You are to tell no one of this encounter."

Renamon nearly laughed, "Since when do I take orders from a heartless monster?"

"Since you still care for Makino," he answered coldly. "You've seen how easily I got into your dreams. Think how easily I could get into hers."

"No. You cannot do that."

"I can. I will not be able to harm her there, but I can certainly give her enough horrors to last a lifetime. Unless you keep quiet."

"Very well," Renamon sighed in defeat.

"Good. In time, you will see I am no 'heartless monster'. I am only doing this because matters demand it. As a show of good faith, I will give you this," he touched her forehead. If this is what it takes, then it is what I must do. Damn humans. Their day will come.

Renamon wanted desperately to slash at the reptilian hand, but suppressed her rage. A trait she had become quite proficient at since becoming a viral digimon, "What did you do to me now?"

"For the next twenty-four hours, you are bonded with Makino again."

"Then you truly can re-bond us," Renamon was grateful, but equally upset.

"I never said I couldn't; you did. Continue to cooperate and I will renew this bond each day," he said. She nodded, not truly sure what to do next, "Just tell her you have no idea how you became re-bonded," he answered the question she had yet to ask, before vanishing. Renamon sighed, attempting to relax and return to her normal slumber. Although the anticipation of awaking to find she once again had a partner made that a rather difficult task.

~*~

Ruki gasped and dropped her apple back onto her lunch tray. Her body was suddenly engulfed in a warm sensation. It was very pleasant, almost like someone she loved was hugging her. At this moment, she was grateful that she always preferred to sit alone at lunchtime.

As the feeling faded Ruki relaxed back in her seat. What in the hell was that? I don't remember that pregnancy symptom in the little book the doctor gave me. She looked down at her body, which appeared as normal as it always did. Well, I seem fine now, "You'd better not do that when I'm in class," she whispered, looking at her lower stomach.

~*~

Unlike Ruki, Takato and the others were enjoying a rather uneventful lunch. Well, almost… "Please Jen. You promised you'd tell us."

"Not here," Jenrya whispered to his girlfriend.

"Aww, c'mon. No one will hear," she insisted.

Takato threw a quick glance over to Hirokazu, who was currently trying to flirt with some girls using a baseball Kida had given him to 'Learn the proper grip' with. Good god. He hasn't even gone to his first practice and he thinks he's some kind of legend. He IS a legend, a legend of blabber mouthing.

"Takato-tousan-okii?" Juri waved a hand in front of Takato's face.

"What, what? I'm listening," he said quickly. "And for god's sake stop calling me that."

"Fine," she huffed. "What are you looking at anyway?"

"Hirokazu."

"Why?"

"It turns out Hirokazu-san has told a few people about Takato-kun's…private life," Jenrya explained.

"Oh."

"He's a good friend, but god can he ever be a jerk sometimes," Takato grumbled.

"We know," the other two teens said together.

"Alright," the group looked up as Kenta huffed and puffed while standing besides their table. He turned to Takato, "I think I've got everyone."

"Good," Takato nodded.

"What now?" Juri asked.

"Kenta volunteered to talk to the people Hirokazu had already talked to, and tell them what he said about me was pure crap," said the goggleheaded teen.

"Volunteered to do it or was threatened by Takato-kun into doing it?" she looked at Kenta.

"No, I volunteered. It wasn't that hard to do. Besides, I felt kind of bad after I embarrassed him earlier."

"See, that's a friend," Takato said proudly.

"I'd have helped too if you'd asked," Lee put in.

"I didn't mean that. I meant more compared to Hirokazu."

"You shouldn't hate him too much. Trust me, I've plenty of reason to hate him, but I don't," Juri explained.

"I don't HATE him. I'm just pretty mad. It was technically half my fault for blurting it out."

"And doing it to begin with," Jenrya put in.

"That too," Takato sighed.

"But you still love Ruki-san, right?" Katou questioned.

"Sure."

"Then a baby will just be something to help you love each other even more."

"A baby?!" Kenta's jaw dropped.

"Juri!" Lee scolded.

"You said he knew," she shot back.

"He didn't know EVERYTHING."

"Oh…god I'm sorry Takato-kun. I really didn't know, or I'd have never…"

"Never mind," the gogglehead sighed. "I should just get on the PA and save everyone the trouble."

"Sorry."

"A baby?" Kenta repeated.

"Yes, but that information doesn't leave this table!" Matsuda threatened.

"Ok, ok, not need to shout," the green/black haired teen threw his arms up defensively. "I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise."

"So now we have this private little circle of people. It's like some creepy yakuza movie or something," Jenrya smirked, taking a sib of milk from his tray.

"Hooray, I get to be a private mafia whore. Which one of you yakuza studs wants me first?" Juri joked. Lee literally shot milk from his nose out of shock. Takato and Kenta burst out laughing.

"Darn it Juri, that's not funny," Jenrya held his nose.

"Come on Jen, you know I'm kidding. You really have to lighten up."

"I don't know. I like him this way. Old ironsides," Takato teased.

"I'm not that tense."

"Yes you are. You're like some kind of emotionless samurai or something."

"I am not," the half Chinese boy insisted. "Kenta-san, am I that tense?"

"Well maybe you're a little…"

"Oh I don't believe this. I'm not some kind of cyborg. I have fun too."

"Sure you can. Just not when it involves anything sexual," Takato got up to go take his tray back. Kenta returned to his original table, hoping to remain out of the argument.

Only Juri and Jenrya were left, "Then why did you panic? It was just a joke. Did you think I would actually do something like that?"

"Of course not. I just didn't think it was a very appropriate joke. That's all."

"Appropriate joke?"

"You know. You're always making all these sexual type jokes. It's just kind of…embarrassing."

"Excuse me?" Juri's attitude quickly changed. "I guess I wasn't aware the way I acted didn't meet your 'standards', your majesty."

"Juri, I didn't mean anything like that."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I just don't want people to getting the wrong impression of you."

"Just what do you mean by 'wrong impression'?"

"You know, people might think you're…umm…"

"A slut?"

"That wasn't what I was going to say."

"Then what were you going to say?"

"I…well…I don't know," Lee sighed.

"So I guess I don't meet your standards for 'the perfect girl'."

"I NEVER said that."

"Come to think of it, who DOES meet your standards?"

"Come on Juri, what brought all this on anyway?" Jenrya questioned. "No, never mind. I'm sorry I said…"

"No no, we need to do this," Juri said. "This is going to happen in a relationship. My friend said if ours is going to work, we need to work through all our problems by facing them just like this," she lectured. "You've told me your pet peeves for me so I'm just making it even."

"Oh, I…"

"Let me finish. You don't like my jokes, and I don't like your 'arrogance'."

"Arrogance?"

"You're always telling other people how they should act or what they should have done."

"That's not arrogance. I'm just trying to help them."

"Sometimes yes, but you've been getting on Takato-kun a lot for what he did with Ruki-san."

"I don't mean it like that."

"What he should have done, how you would have said 'no' if it was you in that situation," Juri continued. She poked her finger into his chest, "Well I have news for you, Lee Jenrya. You WERE in that same situation and you didn't say 'no' either."

He sighed, "You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I'll tell you what, you cut down on the criticizing and I'll cut down on the jokes."

"Deal."

"There, that worked out great," she suddenly perked up. "I always expected it to be worse."

"Huh?"

"Our first fight. We worked out our problems just by talking to each other. That's just what she said to do."

"Oh, I guess that is pretty good," he smiled. "By the way, who is this 'friend' anyway?"

Juri smirked, "Plotmon."

"You got romantic advice from your digimon?"

"Hey, it worked didn't it? Well…except for one thing."

"What is tha…" Lee was cut off as his lips became tied to hers. Being in little position to protest, and really not wanting to, he pressed his eyes shut and kissed back.

"You know, it feels better if you use tongue," Takato smirked as he set back down. The two teens quickly broke away and composed themselves, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing. I was just trying some advice Plotmon gave me."

"She gives romantic advice too?"

Juri giggled, "When you're as old as her you'd be quite experienced in a lot of things."

"Huh?"

"How old is she?" Lee questioned.

"Old," Juri said, more emphatically than before. "I don't know exactly how many years. She said digimon live forever so most don't keep track of age. All I know is her parents were two of the original digimon."

"Wow, she looks like a little puppy," Takato exclaimed. "Is she the poster girl for the fountain of youth or just a spokeswoman for Gingko?"

"Jeez, I can't wait to see the look on Terriermon's face when he finds that out," Jenrya sweatdropped. "But why is she still…Plotmon? Shouldn't she naturally evolve or something?"

"What do you mean 'naturally evolve'?" Takato asked.

"In the anime, Hikari's Tailmon had naturally evolved before they even met up. That's why she was always an Adult when the others were Child."

"Otaku," Takato mumbled.

"What? I just paid attention to some of the finer details in the show," Jenrya defended.

"Which makes you an otaku."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"At least I don't have goggles."

"These have nothing to do with digimon."

"I'm so sure."

Juri shook her head at the two arguing Tamers, "Anyway, you're right, Jen. Plotmon isn't sure why she never aged like that. Otherwise, she said she'd probably be a natural Perfect by now."

"Hmm, maybe it's because she was always meant to be your digimon," Jenrya hypothesized. "But I really don't know. Terriermon is definitely young."

"Don't look at me either. Guilmon was born about just a little bit before I met him," Takato smirked.

"I never really thought about digimon age before. The anime never really talked about how old any of the digimon were."

"I wouldn't use the anime too much anyway. Unfortunately a lot of things in that show were made up," Juri said sadly. "The real Digital World is nothing like that one. There's no Chosen, no Gennai, no File Island, no…" she hesitated, "Primary Village."

"Where are all the Baby digimon born?" Takato asked.

"With their parents, silly," Katou giggled. "The anime wasn't all wrong. Digimon DO lay digitamas. They just aren't at any special secret village."

"Oh. So that means if Guilmon and Renamon ever have a Baby digimon, Renamon lays an egg and it hatches into a new digimon."

"I suppose. Plotmon didn't go into much detail on that," Juri shrugged. Takato sat for a moment and snickered, "What is it?"

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking of Guilmon trying to take care of a digitama."

She giggled too, "I'd be more worried about Renamon. She has to LAY it."

"Ouch," Takato grimaced at the thought. Suddenly, the lunch bell rang, "Woohoo, school time again," he said sarcastically as he got up. "See you two later."

Juri waved. She began to get up and took notice of something for the first time. Jenrya was frozen in place. He was just sitting there staring blankly at his tray, "Jen, the bell rang," Juri said softly. Nothing, "Jen, you have to go. You'll be late," she rubbed his shoulder.

"There's no Primary Village," he said solemnly and shook his head.

"It's ok. Remember I said that the babies are born with their parents," she reminded.

"No," he shook his head. "Not that. If there's no Primary Village, how do digimon get reformatted and come back?" he asked, fearing the answer.

"T-they…don't," the brunette pressed her eyes shut and looked at the ground.

"But, what about their data? It can come back if no other digimon loads it, right?" he asked frantically. Juri just shook her head. The color drained from Lee's face, "My god, what have I been doing? What have WE been doing?"

"You had to, Jen. Those Devas are totally evil."

"No, not just them. Gorimon, Devidramon, Musyamon, Ice Devimon, all of them are…dead," he said in heartbreak as he stood up from the table.

Juri immediately thought to various things Takato and Guilmon had told her about some of their past encounters, "But you had to. Innocent people could have been hurt or killed. You didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice!" he snapped. "What if they weren't evil? What if they were just confused?"

"I…"

"It doesn't matter now because they're dead. No second chance. No starting their life over on the right foot. They're NEVER coming back," he half-sobbed. "My dad and tai-chi sensei have always told me that everyone has some good in them. Even the Devas may have good in…"

"No," she said quickly as they walked out of the lunchroom. "The others maybe, but not the Devas. They are truly evil."

"But how can you be sur…"

"They ARE, Jen," she said in a stone-cold tone. "Just trust me, they truly are."

He stared at her for a moment, "What…did they do?"

"Something…something I can't say without betraying my digimon's trust," she informed. "I have to get to class before I'm late. Sorry," she smiled weakly before walking off. Lee nodded understandingly and headed to classes of his own.

~*~

The large yellow quadruped awoke with a start. Immediately she took notice of a change in the attitude she was accustomed. She no longer felt bitter hatred and frustration. In fact, she felt…giddy. I still distrust you, Altimamon. The creature known as Kyuubimon starred at her paw, which was now mainly yellow, not the blue/black she had grown to detest. But for this I am grateful.

"Kyuubimon," she breathed her own name, letting it ring off her ears. That is so much better than Youkomon, but now I must go to Ruki. She has surely realized I am bonded with her again by now. I had practically abandoned her. I have to show her I still care. I have to show her I am still… Kyuubimon trailed off, stumbling dizzily as she stood up. I am still coding…but that does not matter. I am just going to Ruki. She assured herself. However, instead of leaping away, she took smaller, more controlled jumps, lest she risk falling in her dizzy sate and harming the coding process.

~*~

"Having fun?" Terriermon asked as he finally managed to locate Plotmon.

She looked up at the panting dog-bunny, "It's certainly more peaceful than I've been accustomed to. Is something wrong?"

"No no, I just…thought I'd…umm…check and see what you were up to," he fidgeted.

"Telling stories," Culumon said happily. "Plotmon has the best stories, culu."

Plotmon giggled a little, "They aren't THAT good. Besides, I'm just telling about things that really happened."

"I'd like to hear some…if you don't mind," Terriermon smiled nervously.

"I don't think you like that. I'm not a very good story teller."

"Culumon doesn't think so."

"It was really good," Culumon said. "Maybe she'll tell another."

"What was it about?" the dog-bunny asked.

"Super spy stuff," Culumon said.

"Super spy stuff?"

Plotmon giggled, "Well, not SUPER spy stuff. All we did was sabotage a military facility and taken some food from the stockpiles in Midhaven," she explained.

Terriermon blinked in complete confusion. He decided to start at the top, "Midhaven?"

"You know, the big city in Altimamon's mountains. It's probably the second biggest city in his gods forsaken sector," she said. He shrugged, "Just how much time did you spend in the Digital World?"

"Not much. In fact, I had just evolved to Terriermon a few hours before Jen chose me."

"Chose you?"

"Yeah, it's kind of neat and sort of ironic. He was playing what he thought was a game and he chose me as his digimon. Me! Of all the Perfects, Ultimates and whatnot he could have had he chose me."

"And you crossed over and have been partners ever since."

"Yep. That whole choosing thing meant a lot to me. Whenever I find myself mad at Jen, I just think back to that and remember how he chose me. That always makes me feel better."

"Culu, are you going to tell another story?" Culumon asked hopefully.

"Maybe later," Plotmon patted his head. "Why don't you go play? I want to talk to Terriermon for little bit."

"Culu," he nodded.

Terriermon heart fluttered. Ok ok, she wants to talk to you alone. That means something special, right? This is it. She's finally going to open up to me and say…

"Your experience was a lot different from mine. I just kind of got sucked into this world and right to Juri-chan."

Ok, not what I expected…but this is good too. She's just breaking the ice. Yeah, she's starting up a conversation and is going to work up to the important stuff. The digimon assured himself.

"I didn't even know I was her partner. All I knew at first was she was a nice human, and yet she was more. Now that I think about it I DID know she was my partner, in a way. She seemed so special, a person I could trust and relate too."

"Yeah, you have to love Tamers. They are always there for you. Even when they get mad you know they still care. You share lots of things with them through your bond."

The Digi-puppy raised an eyebrow, "Your bond seems so different from the others I've talked to."

"What others?"

"Well, Guilmon's bond seemed pretty close to what you have with Jen. Impmon shows no signs of having a partner, but he must have some kind of bond with a human or he'd have never crossed over."

"Impmon with a Tamer? I'd pay to see that."

Plotmon giggled, "Then there's Monodramon. His bond with his Tamer is more of a partnership than a link."

"Who?"

"Ryo's digimon."

"Again I say 'who'."

"Akiyama Ryo, the hero of the Digital World."

"Uhh…" the long eared digimon scratched his head.

"You don't remember Ryo?!"

"Well, sort of. I've definitely heard that name before, but maybe it was just from Jen. Other than that I'm a blank. Does he live around here?"

"No. He's lived in the Digital World ever since he freed it."

"Freed it from what?"

"Altimamon."

"I know you're probably sick of this word by now, but who?"

Plotmon sighed. She really didn't feel like going through that story again, "He's an evil digimon. Ask your Tamer to show you a picture of him on his D-Arc."

"Ok. Last question, who is 'we'?"

"What 'we'?"

"The 'we' in your story. Who were the other digimon with you?"

The older digimon took a deep breath. This is it. You either tell him or lie. Either way, it's going to bring up more of those damned bad memories. Yet, I feel I need to do this. No, I want to do this. It's time. She looked up at him, "There was just one. I always preferred to work alone, but there was one I could never turn down. One with the kindest and noblest spirit I had ever known. The one that taught me not all things can be judged at first glance. The one I …loved," she faded out, finding difficulty continuing.

"Lopmon?"

She nodded and sighed, "I'm sorry. This is so much easier with a human."

"What do you mean?"

"Ryo and Juri-chan already know, but no other."

"Culumon?"

"No. All he knows is that Lopmon was a friend I had. I've never told any digimon about him…about us."

The dog-bunny was hanging on her every word, "Until me?"

She nodded, "And I want to tell you more, but not now."

Terriermon was snapped back to reality, "Wait a minute. You can tell me now. I don't mind."

"I do. This is too public," she gestured around. "I just want to tell you another time. When we're alone."

"A-alone," Terriermon shuddered at that prospect. Yes! This is absolutely perfect. She wants me alone with her. So many good things happen alone. Wait a minute, damn it Terriermon! What the heck are you thinking? She just opened up a really painful part of her past to you and you're thinking about nailing her. This is where you screwed up with Renamon. You were so obsessed thinking of way to be with her that you never actually took time to even talk to her. Ok, we're doing this one the 'right' way, "That sounds like a good idea. Just let me know whenever you're ready to talk."

"Thank you."

Terriermon smiled proudly. There. I did it. No pick up lines, no attempting to impress her, no sexy lingo, just me. Now that feels good.

~*~

"Hello Ruki-san. Welcome home," Guilmon bowed politely as Ruki stepped out into her yard. Ruki's grandmother stood behind him with an ear-to-ear grin.

Ruki blinked, "Who are you? What have you done with Guilmon?"

"Wha…" the red lizard stared at himself. "I AM Guilmon. Don't you remember me?" he whined.

"Why were you acting like some kind of butler?"

"What's a butler?"

"It's a servant some humans have," Seiko answered. She turned to her granddaughter. "Don't worry. I just taught him some things about manners and being polite."

"And haikus," Guilmon chirped.

"Yes, that too," she smiled.

"You taught him haikus?" Ruki asked.

"I showed him some. He seemed to really like them so I've been teaching him how to write one."

"I'm writing a haiku for Renamon," the fire lizard said proudly.

"I'll bet she'll love it," Ruki sweatdropped.

"I am certain she will," a voice said.

Ruki froze, dropping her schoolbooks on the ground. She didn't need to see the sparkling look in Guilmon's eye to know who was standing behind her. She turned and gasped, expecting the viral fox she had forced herself to accept, but instead being greeted with, "K-Kyuubimon?"

"Renamon!" Guilmon cried, quite literally lassoing Kyuubimon around the neck with a hug she gladly accepted.

"But how are you…you?" Ruki asked in disbelief.

Kyuubimon wanted desperately to tell her Tamer the truth, but knew she would once again lose everything if she did so, "I do not know. Maybe it has something to do with my having a Tamer again."

"You mean we're?" Ruki asked hopefully, receiving a positive nod from the fox. "But how? When did this…oh I don't even care. I'm just happy to have you back," she hugged Kyuubimon across the muzzle.

"Then you forgive me…for what I have done to you?"

Ruki smiled and nodded, "I had forgiven you before I ever knew what you had done. You are the best friend I've ever had. NOTHING will ever change that."

"You'll forgive me for not hugging you as well," Seiko joked as she walked up to Kyuubimon. "Ruki-chan has told me about you."

The fox of Tao bowed her head, "I am pleased to finally meet you."

"Likewise," she smiled, examining Kyuubimon. "You are a kitsune, aren't you?"

"A kitsune?"

"A fox spirit sent to look over my granddaughter."

Kyuubimon pondered that statement before nodding, "Yes. Yes, I suppose I would be."

"I suspected as much," Seiko said proudly. "I just did not expect you to be this large."

"She's not always like this. Renamon is her Child level. This is Kyuubimon, her Adult level," Ruki explained. "We aren't sure why she's been stuck as an Adult though."

Kyuubimon looked at her partner. No, I will keep no more secrets from Ruki. I must tell her, "There IS a reason," she breathed softly into Ruki's ear. Guilmon picked up on this as well, "An important reason that I must speak with both of you about whenever I can," Ruki gave a small nod.

"Ruki-chan, your mother will be home soon," Seiko warned. "I can send her out here if you'd like."

"No. No, I'm still just not ready to share this with her. Especially with Renamon evolved," Ruki admitted.

Her grandmother shook her head, "The longer you wait the more difficult it will become."

"I know," Makino sighed. "I just can't think of a way to tell her. At least admitting my pregnancy and being with Takato was something believable. This…" she gestured to Kyuubimon, who was speaking softly to her mate, "isn't."

"If she comes out here and sees them she will have no choice but to believe, and you will have no choice but to explain."

"I guess I'll just take that chance. She hardly ever comes out here anyway."

"As you wish," Hata was clearly disappointed, but respected her granddaughter's wishes. "Just remember, I won't tell her, but if she questions me I won't lie to her either."

"I understand…thank you," Ruki smiled as her grandmother went inside.

"Unfaithful?" Ruki could hear Guilmon's voice in the now quiet yard. She was shocked, to say the least.

"I am sorry Guilmon. I know no words I could ever say can make up for what I have done."

"But…what is 'unfaithful'?"

"Oh," Kyuubimon sighed. He certainly wasn't making this any easier, "It means I mated…with another."

"Like I did with Pajiramon?"

"No. She tricked you. You were never unfaithful to me. I did this…I was…" Kyuubimon broke down, unable to keep her emotions in check any longer. Guilmon stood in total shock and heartbreak.

"Renamon," Ruki whisper softly, patting her partner's muzzle. "Are you sure you want me to stay for this?"

"Yes, I will keep no secrets from you."

"But who did you mate with?" Guilmon spoke again.

"Impmon," Kyuubimon answered straightforward and honestly.

"Impmon!" Guilmon wailed in a clearly different tone. No! He really wasn't lying. Stupid Impmon. He always lies. Why couldn't he be lying about this? Why does it have to be true? He thought sadly, "But why? Don't you love me anymore?"

"Of course I do. I will always love you, and I swear on my life that this will NEVER happen again."

"Wait, that's it! Impmon did rape on you didn't he? You never mated with him. He made you."

"No," Kyuubimon said in shame. "We did this on ou…"

"He did. He did rape on you!" Guilmon cried. "Stupid Impmon! Stupid…stupid…dumb…damn Impmon! I hate Impmon! I hate him so much!"

Ruki raised an eyebrow, she had intentionally kept quiet to this point, but she had never seen him like this before, "Guilmon, you don't hate anything. You didn't ever hate me when I got mad at you for…"

"I hate you too!" the viral fire lizard roared. "You're a mean, mean person. You're always yelling at Takato and hitting me for things. We say we're sorry and try to be nice, but you keep being mean to us. I don't know why Takato likes you, anyway! You're just…just…just a mean bitch!"

"Why you little!" Ruki clenched her fists. "I let you stay in my house and this is how you…"

"No Ruki, do not blame him," Kyuubimon advised. "He does not want to be like this. He is just very upset and his viral side is trying to take over."

"But he called me…"

"Please Ruki, remember how I was when I was Youkomon. Yelling at him would only make the situation far worse."

"I can't believe Impmon would do that," Guilmon mumbled.

Makino sighed, "Alright, but what do we do to stop him before he goes berserk?"

"The same way he was always able to get to me when I was viral," Kyuubimon said with confidence. She walked in front of Guilmon, "Guilmon, no matter what has happened I still love you with all my heart and soul," she kissed him across the mouth as best she could. The fire lizard seemed almost to float, standing on his tiptoes until they broke the kiss.

Guilmon fell onto his backside and blinking for a moment. He closed his eyes and blushed heavily, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just really mad, and Impmon, and…"

"Guilmon," Ruki said in a semi-loud voice, quieting him. "We forgive you, ok?"

"You do?" he asked in shame. "But I just called you a…really bad name."

"I said it's fine," Ruki tried to feign honesty.

"I've never called anyone that before."

"Actually you did to me once," Kyuubimon quickly scolded herself for saying that.

"He called you that? For what?" Ruki question. She was answered by a stern look, "Never mind. I don't want to know."

"Neither do I. I'm really sorry Ruki. I've tried to be good. I even tried to learn all those nice things your other mom taught me."

"Will you quit apologizing? It's over now," Ruki sweatdropped. "And she's my grandmother, not my 'other mom'."

The nine-tailed fox sighed, "Unfortunately it is not over. There is…another problem."

Ruki looked at her, remembering what she had said, "The reason why you're stuck in the Adult stage?"

"Yes," she nodded and paused. There is absolutely no easy or correct way to say this. I just wish I had had more time to prepare for this. No, I wish I had never been with Impmon to begin with. Then this would be one of the happiest days of my life. If only…

"Renamon, aren't you gonna tell us?" Guilmon asked.

"I am…coding."

"What?" both asked in confusion.

"I am coding. I am with child," Kyuubimon said firmly.

"With child?" Guilmon asked.

"She's going to be a mom," Ruki tried to put it into words he could grasp.

"Really? Wow that's great. You get to be a mom I get to be a dad," Guilmon smiled brightly and started dancing around. His reaction was too much for the distraught fox and caused her to begin sobbing once again, "Renamon? What's wrong?"

"Oh my god," Ruki said under her breath. "Guilmon, can you let me talk to Renamon for a minute?"

"Umm, ok," the digimon shrugged in confusion and stepped over by a tree, still smiling at his thoughts of being a 'daddy'.

"You don't know who the father is, do you?" Ruki whispered to her partner.

Kyuubimon shook her head while continuing to cry, "I have been a horrible, horrible mate to Guilmon."

"No you haven't. I've hardly even seen you together, but I can tell you two are deeply in love. I'd give anything to have the kind of relationship you two do."

"But you do."

"With Takato? No way. I mean, I love him more than anything, but your relationship is even stronger."

"How can you say that? This child may not even be Guilmon's."

"You see? That's just it. You and Guilmon have already been through hell and back for each other and you're still together. That truly says something about you two. In fact, I'm willing to bet that even if this baby isn't Guilmon's he'll love it just as much."

"I thank you for that, but how can you put us above you? You have the absolute perfect relationship."

"Hardly," Ruki sighed. "Takato and I fight a lot now, and we haven't gone through any of the really hard stuff yet. Well, HE hasn't, but when he does I'll truly find out if he loves me as much as he says."

"You do not believe his word?"

"Of course I do. It's just that…Takato is too confident sometimes. He never gets worried when he really should be."

"And you think he does not care?"

"No, he cares. I've never doubted that. I'm just afraid that one day he'll find out that not everything works out perfectly in the end. Then this will become too much for him and he'll…"

"Leave you and the child," Kyuubimon finished.

Ruki smiled weakly, "Yeah, we're definitely bonded again."

"I understand what you are saying, but I believe your concerns are unnecessary."

"Why?"

"I know as little about your mate as you do about mine, but I know this - I chose you for a reason. Not just because I wanted the best tamer, but because I knew we compliment each other. We are so similar that we were easily able to bond to one another, just as the others have done with their digimon. If Takato is as similar to Guilmon as I am to you, he will never leave you."

Ruki smiled and shook her head, "God I missed you."

"I have missed you too. I never meant for you to think I was gone for good."

"I know, but I also knew you had Guilmon now. I couldn't ever be upset at you for you having your own life."

"Be it a chaotic one."

"It'll work out," Makino said with confidence. "First things first, you need to rest."

"What?"

"Look at you. Your eyes are drooping, your legs are wobbling and you've yawned at least four times since we've been talking. You're beat."

"Is it that obvious?"

"It was to me. Didn't sleep very well?"

"Yes, quite well actually," she couldn't help but feel guilty after saying that. "In fact, I can't seem to get enough sleep. Everything physical I do wears me out in no time. I had to stop several times when I was coming here."

"It must be some kind of side effect of your pregnancy."

"That was my assumption. I know very little about coding or motherhood."

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm still trying to figure out what 'coding' means."

"Coding is when the mother codes her child into being."

"Codes into being? But I thought you were more than just data. How can you 'code' something into being?"

Kyuubimon sweatdropped, "I have no clue. I have only heard the term used a few times in my younger stages. It took me a while just to decipher it meant a digimon who was due to have a child."

"Other than that?"

"I know nothing whatsoever."

Ruki sighed, "At least I have a doctor to help me with those questions. There isn't a female digimon for…" she trailed off. Wait a minute, there IS. That Plotmon of Juri's was definitely female, "What about Juri's Plotmon?"

"What about her?"

"She's a female digimon. She can help you with this a lot better than I can," Ruki admitted.

"But…I do not know her at all. It would not be proper to just ask her such intimate questions."

"I felt the same way with my gynecologist. Then I realized I really have no choice. If I wanted to know the answers to my questions, I was going to have to ask her."

"And she was not offended?"

"No, but I suppose it IS her job so she can't really be offended by it."

"But how do you know Plotmon will have the answers to my questions?"

"I never said she would. I just said she would be able to help better than I can."

"Oh," the fox sighed in disappointment. "Then there is truly no way to determine the father."

"I don't know," Ruki shrugged. "You're asking me things I can't possibly hope to answer."

"I am sorry."

"Don't worry. It's not your fault. It's just…"

"It IS my fault. Had I not slept with Impmon, there would have been no question about the father."

"Renamon I know this really isn't any of my business, but, if you don't mind my asking, what do you see in…"

"Impmon is far more caring than he wants you to believe," Kyuubimon began answering before Ruki was finished. "He can be a truly kind and charming digimon when he wants to be. He can love just as much as anyone. He just keeps that side of himself hidden away."

"And Guilmon?"

"Guilmon has his own powerful charm, one that I have little defense against. There is no doubt in my mind I love him the most."

"But you still do love Impmon."

"Yes. There is no denying Impmon was my first love, but I just do not know if I could ever be as happy with him as I am with Guilmon."

"Here," the two females turned to see Guilmon offering a plateful of tempura to Kyuubimon. "You need to eat. You're hungry."

"Thank you," Kyuubimon wasted little time in digging into the meal, "but how did you know I was hungry?"

"I…dunno. I just kinda knew it."

"Wait a minute, where did you get that?" Ruki asked.

"It was in your cold box thing."

"The refrigerator. You went in the house?! If my mother saw you…"

"Renamon was hungry," Guilmon whined. "She needed some food."

"You just don't get it! You can't go inside right now. If my mother finds out about you two she'll…"

"Shhh," Guilmon placed a claw to his lips and pointed to Kyuubimon. "She's sleeping."

"No she's…" Ruki fell silent. Sure enough, Kyuubimon was already done with the food and out like a light, "My god, she must have fell asleep as soon as she finished."

"See. She needed the food really bad."

Ruki blinked, "I don't think she needed it THAT badly. She's just a little worn down."

"Yeah, I'd better get her some more for when she wakes up," the fire lizard started towards the house.

"Guilmon!" Ruki snatched him by his tail. "What did I just say about going inside?"

"But she NEEDS it."

Ruki blinked, "Guilmon, you're acting like…well yourself, but still it's pretty weird."

"Wha…"

"Look, if you feel that strongly, I'll go in and get her some things and you can sit here and give them to her when she wakes back up," Ruki proposed.

"Ok."

Two birds with one stone. Renamon gets to spend time with and get cared for by her mate and I get to be Guilmon-free for the next hour or so. Makino smiled as she headed inside.

~*~

"Do what?" Jenrya asked.

"Help Takato-kun with his proposal."

"Oh, ok. When did he ask us to do this?"

Juri smiled, "He didn't."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute…"

"No no, I know what you're going to say, but trust me. This is a good idea."

"Maybe he wants to do it on his own."

"What?" Juri looked at Lee like he was crazy. "A proposal is the most romantic time in a girl's life. It needs to be special."

"Oh…wait a minute, I thought the wedding itself was the most romantic part."

"Don't get technical with me. Just be supportive."

Jenrya sweatdropped, "Fine, but what exactly are we supposed to do?"

"Can you play violin?"

"No, but why would I…"

"All romantic dinners have violin music."

"Dinner?!"

"Of course, silly. You think Takato-kun is just going to walk you to Ruki-san and say 'will you marry me'?"

"Well…no, but I really think you should let him decide."

"I will. I'm just helping him decide the most romantic options. Now if you can't play violin maybe you can cook. You can cook, right?" Juri asked hopefully.

Lee sighed, "A little, but…"

"Goodie! See, this is going to be great. Ruki-san will be so happy."

"Juri, I'm not that great of a cook."

"Better you than me," she smirked. "I'll just provide the sake."

"Sake?! Why do we need sake?"

"It's romance, Jen. Every romantic dinner needs a nice, sparkling bottle of sake."

"But Ruki-san is pregnant. That wouldn't be the best thing for her."

"Well, maybe not" Juri admitted. "I'll think of something."

Jenrya sweatdropped, "And what if Takato-kun says he wants to do this by himself?"

"He won't. Trust me," Katou winked.

"But…"

"Far be it for me to interrupt anything, but…oh wait, I always interrupt things," Terriermon smirked as he hoped from seemingly nowhere onto his partners head.

"Terriermon! How long have you been eavesdropping?"

"Oh don't worry, we just arrived," both teen looked down to see Plotmon, with Culumon riding horseback. He looked as if he were half-awake. Plotmon smiled at Juri, "Juri-chan."

"Baba," Juri smiled back at her.

"Baba?" Terriermon asked.

"I'll tell you later," Lee whispered to him. "Hey Juri, I'd better get home. Mom and dad will be wondering where I'm at."

"Ok," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Bye Jen."

Phew, finally get to go home to some peace and…

"Oh, by the way, I'll probably drop by your apartment later today. I never met your family before," she smiled.

"Oh…ok," Jenrya said half-heartedly before leaving with Terriermon. Not 'can I come by later', it's 'I AM coming by later'. Oh well, part of being a boyfriend…I guess.

Meanwhile, Juri was giving Plotmon a mini-interrogation session, "No I didn't. We barely talked."

"Then why are you all jittery?" Juri asked.

"I just…well…nothing."

"Come on."

"Oh all right, I asked him to meet me later…alone," she said quietly. Juri made a little whistle, "Not like THAT. I just…wanted to tell him…about my past."

"And about Lopmon?"

"Mostly about Lopmon."

"There you see, telling it to him wasn't that hard to do."

"What do you mean? I haven't done it yet. For all you know I'll get cold feet and change to subject when the time comes."

"You scared? My Baba? Mrs. I-face-life-and-death-for-a-living? Mrs. I'll-risk-anything-to-help-people-I-don't-even-know? Mrs.…"

"I get the point," Plotmon sweatdropped. "Maybe…maybe I can go with you tonight. If that's ok?"

"Sure, you don't have to ask that. You're always welcome to come with me," assured Juri.

"Oh, but I thought you might…want to."

"What?"

"You know. I just figure you two were going to mate."

I wish, "No, no don't worry about that. His parents will be there. I'd never do something like that."

"His parents don't approve of you?" inquired the Digi-puppy, with a twinge of anger.

"No, well I hope not. I've never met them. Besides, it's not just that. Like Jen said before, I could get pregnant."

"Oh," Plotmon nodded. "Sorry, I guess I couldn't smell your heat."

"Excuse me?"

"Your heat. Human girls…do have heats…right?" she was suddenly quite embarrassed.

"Umm…define 'heat'."

"Oh gods," Plotmon's cheeks were much redder than normal. "C-can this wait until we get home?"

"Sure. People are probably staring at my 'talking dog' anyway," the teen smirked. She looked around and, to her astonishment, saw no signs that ANYONE had noticed. About time I had some good luck. Wait, better not jinx it. She thought to herself and she headed home, awaiting a…slightly less known digimon fact from her partner.

~*~

"Ahh my ass! Watch it!" a boy yelled, rubbing his sore end that had just been plunked by a baseball.

"Sorry," Hirokazu sighed.

"Shizue, watch the language!" Coach Kida said firmly as he approached the mound. He then looked at Hirokazu, "What's wrong, kid?"

"I told you. I've never done this before. Heck, I still havened figured out how exactly to work this thing," Hirokazu admitted, fooling with the baseball glove on his right hand.

"But you CAN do it. When you threw that rock, you hit about the same mark both times. A baseball can't be that much different."

"I guess so."

"C'mon, kid. I know you have it in you. I believe in you."

"You…do?" No one's ever said that before. No, don't let it go to your head, Hirokazu. Oh why the hell not. It feels pretty good. He smiled to himself.

"Yeah, I do. Just do what you did yesterday."

"Ok," he nodded. One problem, I AM doing what I did yesterday. What's different? Ok, this is a baseball not a rock. He cited, looking at the ball in his hand. But that can't be that different. Wait…Juri! I was thinking about how mad I was at Juri and Lee. That's what's different. He stared down the catcher, looking where his glove was positioned. But am I still mad at her? Hell yes I am. She left me for that half-Chinese Boy Scout. Damn her. Damn them both. Hirokazu gave a leg kick and hurled the ball straight into the catcher's glove.

"There you go," praised Kida.

"I…did it? Hey, I did it," Hirokazu said proudly.

"Ok Shizue, step back in the batter's box. He's ready," the coach commanded. He turned to his pitcher, "Ok, Shiota, just like you just did."

"Right," Hirokazu said with confidence. Yeah Juri, just look what you missed out on. He smirked, hurling another ball of rage straight across the plate and leaving his teammate Shizue Ken swinging.

"Damn!"

"Shizue!"

"Sorry coach, but that had to be like twice as fast as what he was throwing before," Ken apologized.

"I know," Wakai said proudly, patting a smiling Hirokazu on the shoulder. "I know."

~*~

"Then you know where she is!" Cyberdramon growled, slamming Impmon against a tree.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," he spat.

"We will see about that…"

"No, we won't. Let him go," Ryo said firmly.

"Fine," Cyberdramon released the imp, letting him slide down the tree.

"I think I'm sorry I let you talk me into this."

~I KNOW I'm sorry he let you talk him into it.~ A small voice said into Cyberdramon's mind, "Shut up!" he growled aloud.

"What did you say?" Ryo wondered.

"Not you…'him'."

"I thought you were both in agreement on this?"

"We are," Cyberdramon assured. ~We are? When did that happen?~ Shut the hell up you stupid excuse for a partner. I'm the only one Ryo needs. ~Down boy.~ I don't need your jokes.

Ryo sighed. Remember Ryo; you're doing this for the Digital World. Don't have second thoughts now. He bent down to Impmon, "Mil…err Cyberdramon has his own 'way' of doing things. Trust me, we aren't evil in any way, but it is very important that we find this Renamon," Ryo said gently.

"Look, I don't care who you pretend to be. I see right through your lies, you stupid shadow. I will never ever betray her to you."

Ryo sweatdropped, "Beg pardon?"

"Look, even if you are Akiyama Ryo, I'm not telling you anything."

"Ok," he shrugged. "Look little guy, let me just talk with your Tamer and I can expla…"

"I have no Tamers!" Impmon snapped.

"Then how did you get to Earth?"

"None of your business."

Ryo sighed and turned to his partner, "This is going nowhere."

"I'll delete him."

"No!"

"Why not? Maybe he'll talk to save his life."

"Look, I've been trying and trying and trying to tell you, not everything needs to have killing. We can get just as far talking. Now why don't you just devolve and we can head into town and see what we can find."

"Why should I devolve into that pathetic little Child?" Cyberdramon smirked. "You wish!" he suddenly yelled and shook his fist at seemingly no one.

"Argh, just devolve. Monodramon is much less detectible."

"Bah! Who cares? We just want the Renamon. Blast in, take it, blast back out and return to Baihumon with it," the armored dragon said proudly.

"And just WHERE are we blasting in to?"

"…"

"There you see. There's no strategy whatsoever in your plan. Now can you just devolve?"

"No," he said firmly.

Ryo sighed. Why does it always come to this, "Look, it would make me very happy if you would devolve into Monodramon."

"You'd be very happy?" the dragon's demeanor shifted to cheerful with an almost frightening quickness.

"Yes, now can you please devolve," Ryo faked a happy smile.

"Of course," Cyberdramon shank into Monodramon before he had even finished the sentence.

Monodramon took a moment to orient himself before speaking, "You know Ryo, you are totally leading him on."

"What?"

"Never mind," he snickered. "No he's not. No he's not!" he suddenly shouted at no one in particular. "No he's…"

"Can you please tell me what I'm 'not' doing?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Nothing," he said. "Oh yeah right. I'd like to see you try," he pulled down his eyelid and stuck his tongue out, looking at nothing in the sky.

"Why can't you two just get along? Jogressed digimon are strong because the digimon they're formed from work as one. Look at Omegamon, you don't see Taichi and Yamato's digimon squabbling, do you?" Ryo explained. "Not to mention all of the other Chosen's jogressed partners."

Monodramon had personally never heard of Omegamon, but he shared all of Millenniumon's memories, "You are forgetting one key thing."

"Dare I ask?"

"All of those digimon were friends to begin with," the little dragon smirked.

"Touché, but all the same I really need you to keep a low profile when we're in town. A low profile doesn't include yelling at yourself."

"I wasn't yelling; he was," Monodramon huffed. "You were to! Yes you were! Yes you…oh, I guess I really was yelling too."

Ryo sweatdropped and walked in the direction of a small road he had seen when he'd arrived. Monodramon followed, leaving Impmon sitting alone and blinking in confusion. Those two…defeated a Holy Beast? Those two?! A way to easy going Tamer and a schizophrenic Monodramon? Still, if they are after Renamon I'd better go warn her.

"Indeed, but I believe you'll need to do far more than warn her."

Impmon froze, "You are the absolute LAST person on the face of this planet I want to see right now!" he growled, turning to face the familiar silhouette.

"Too bad, now listen up before you get yourself into trouble again…"

"Will you just shut up? No one wants to hear what you think," spat the imp.

"I don't 'think'. Thinking is just an excuse for those who don't already know the answers. Now do you want to save your mate or not?"

"Who are you trying to fool? If you 'know everything', then you should already know that's over. I have no chance with her."

"You don't seem to believe that. You were going to rush off to 'save her'."

"Just keep the hell out of my thoughts, ok?! You've done enough damage."

"You can still have her," he said, totally ignoring Impmon's rant.

"Yeah right. She's probably having my kid and still doesn't love me. Is there a bigger rejection than that?"

"Ahh, that bring me to my point. It's the child that's in danger," the shadow lied.

"What?"

"Akiyama is after Renamon's child. If you don't wish to save her, then at least do this for him."

"Him?"

"Oh, so sorry. I gave the gender away. I hope you didn't want to be surprised."

"You know the father too, don't you?" Impmon asked intently.

"I might, but you're wasting time with all these questions. Renamon and her child are in danger. Do you want to help them or not?" he asked with well-faked concern.

"I'll do it without your help."

"You are NOTHING without my help! You can't even evolve beyond a puny Child without me," Altimamon's projection said arrogantly. Impmon slinked back, "I can help you. I can allow you to evolve again to stop him from hurting her or her baby."

"And I would save them both…"

"And she would be eternally grateful," he finished.

Impmon's eyes narrowed, "Why are you doing this? And don't you dare say 'because I care'."

"As you would have it. I'm doing to because I want rid of Akiyama, and you can do that for me."

"Bull, you can just send some of your barnyard freaks to do it."

The shadow snickered, "Those 'freaks' are part of me, and bound by the same laws I am. By those laws, I cannot kill Akiyama. But you…you are not bound by any of that."

"So I'm just some sort of stupid legal loophole to you?"

The shadow sighed, "While you protest, Renamon's time draws thinner and thinner. Akiyama is no fool. He WILL find her, and soon."

"Alright," Impmon nodded weakly. "Alright I'll do it, but so help me if you harm her again…"

"What?" the pitch-black silhouette leaned down, right in Impmon's face. "You'll what? Evolve and destroy me? As you saw before, I can strip you of your evolution any time I see fit. But…I can also leave you with it for as long as I see fit."

"You mean…I can STAY Beelzebumon?!"

"Indefinitely, IF you obey my commands. I can make you one of the fiercest fighting machines this world has ever known."

"But how?"

"Again with the poorly timed questions. If you must know, you, as Beelzebumon, are for all rights and purposes as a Deva."

"A Deva?!"

"Technically. You see, when any of the Devas is deleted, a portion of his or her power returns to me. As Beelzebumon, you are that leftover power combined into something useful."

"I get it…I think."

"It doesn't matter. Now you must go. You've wasted far too much time already."

"Ok," Impmon nodded. "I'm ready."

~*~

"Hello, Takato-san. Welcome home."

Takato stared in confusion at what he thought was his partner, "Who are you? What have you done with Guilmon?"

"I AM Guilmon! Why does everybody keep saying that?" Guilmon huffed.

"I'm just kidding, buddy," the gogglehead assured. He looked up to find Ruki doing her best not to laugh out loud, "I thought you didn't like him?" Takato teased.

"Ok, I'll admit it. He's kind of cute and funny, but that's probably just Renamon rubbing off on me."

"Yeah, whatev…did you say 'cute'?"

"No, of course not!"

"Oh," You liar. Takato smiled to himself. "I guess I was just hearing things."

Poking at his Tamer's leg, Guilmon spoke, "Can I go back to Renamon now? She might be awake and hungry."

"Renamon's here?" Takato asked in disbelief.

"Kyuubimon," Ruki said, with a touch of pride. "She came here not long after I got home."

"Did your mom…"

"No, Grand-ma did. I think I'm going to continue to leave mom in the dark for the time being. No sense in worrying her even more."

"Translation, I don't want her to ground me from taming."

"What? I enjoy being a Tamer and so do you. It's what kept me going during those really dark days."

"Yeah, for me it was a dream come true. Being a Tamer was my lifetime fantasy. I'd probably have never even bought the cards if it wasn't."

"Pleeease Takato, I gotta go. She's gonna be hungryyyyyy," Guilmon fidgeted like he had to go to the bathroom really badly.

"Yes yes, go on. Don't let me stop you," Takato waved him away. "What in the world is wrong with him?"

"I don't know, but he's on my last nerve. Every five minutes he's bursting into my room and asking me 'when is she going to wake up', 'did I leave enough food', 'is this what she likes to eat', like I'm supposed to know."

"Weird, even for Guilmon," Matsuda smiled. Ruki looked at him for a moment, "What is it? Did something happen?"

"No, well yes. Here, come into my room," she directed. He obeyed and shut the door behind them, "She's pregnant."

"Who?"

"Rena…err…Kyuubimon. She's going to have a baby."

"Oh, that's great."

"No."

"No? Why 'no'?"

Ruki looked at him seriously, "She doesn't know who the father is."

Takato gave a deadpan laugh, "Very funny."

"I'm not being funny."

"No way. I mean…Renamon?! Who else does she have to chose from?"

"One other, but I won't say any more."

"Oh come on, you can trust me."

"I'm sorry, Taka-chan. I shouldn't have even told you this much without her permission."

"Then why did you say anything at all?"

"I…I don't know," Ruki said as if she just realized that. "I really don't know. I guess I just thought you would like to know that."

"Oh…thanks."

"Taka-chan, what are you hiding?"

"What?!" Takato said much louder than he mean to.

Ruki giggled, "You're keeping something from me. What is it?"

"I'm not keeping anything from you."

"Yes, you are. You have that silly twitch in your voice you get every time you're hiding something."

"I said I'm not keeping anything from you," Takato said firmly.

"Oh…ok... Whatever you say," she grinned. "But I do have one question. It's totally unrelated to this."

"Ask away," Takato sighed, glad to be off the hook.

"It's kind of an odd question, but do know what religion you are?"

"Shinto," Takato said quickly.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I'd better be. I'm ALWAYS getting dragged to that damned temple."

"Really? How often did you have to go?"

"Oh you know, various things: holidays, my aunt's wedding, my great-grandfather dying."

His girlfriend narrowed her eyes, "How many times in the last year?"

"Counting the time I prayed for Guilmon to devolve, three."

Ruki shook her head and sweatdropped, "So you still go?"

"Yeah, every so often. Why do you ask?"

Ruki sighed, "I don't know what religion I am."

"I thought you were Catholic?"

"NO," Ruki shook her head. Then she stopped and thought, "Well, I don't think so."

"You go to a Catholic school. Don't you have to be Catholic to go there?"

"Well…" Ruki was at a blank. "Maybe I am. I've never been to a Catholic Church sermon though."

"Why do you even want to know? Religion is boring. You don't need other people telling you how great the gods are."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ruki didn't believe herself for a minute.

"Umm say Ruki, is your mom still here?"

"Yeah," Makino raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Oh, no real reason. I just wanted to ask her something."

"Ask her what?"

"Something," Takato fidgeted. "Why are you giving me the 'Third Degree'?"

"Because you're acting incredibly…goofy," Ruki smirked.

"I am not," Takato pretended to be deeply offended. "I just wanted to talk to your mom. Maybe get to know her better…that's all. Is that too much to ask?"

Ruki didn't believe a word, but decided to humor him, "She's out in the main living room. Be my guest," she motioned.

"That's better," Takato faked a snobbish attitude and headed out of the room. Ruki couldn't help but laugh.

~*~

"Come on. Spill it," Juri teased.

"Alright already," Plotmon fidgeted. "This isn't exactly the least embarrassing subject in the world, you know?"

"Just think of it as teaching a sex-ed class."

"Dare I ask what a 'sex-ed' class is?"

"Oh right, I forgot. A MATING-ed class."

"I figured," the Digi-puppy said with a sigh. "If you must know, my heat is…well...the time of month when I can conceive."

"The only time?"

"Yeah, it just doesn't work any other time."

"So that's the time of the month when digimon mate?"

"Some couples do…" Plotmon blushed. "Others…purposely avoid mating during that time."

"Wow, that's neat," Juri observed.

"Neat?!"

"In a way it is. I had always thought only humans had sex for pleasure."

"Oh. Is that the way you mate with the Jen human?"

"Actually, it was only once. He doesn't want to do that again."

"Do you?"

"Ye…err…sort of. I don't want children yet. That much I know."

"But you still want the pleasure of mating?"

"I…umm…" Juri stuttered.

"Hey, turnabout is fair play," Plotmon smirked.

"Ok so maybe I do," Juri said. "I know it's wrong to do it for that reason, but I can't help but want it."

"If mating just for pleasure is wrong, then I've done wrong many times," Plotmon said. Both giggled before she continued, "But what about you? Don't humans have heats?"

"No. Well, I can't say that. Human girls have 'periods'," Juri said. Plotmon snickered, "What?"

"Sorry, Juri-chan. That's just a really funny name for it. Period."

"I think 'heat' is pretty weird too, but maybe they really aren't that different."

"What is it like?"

"Now wait a minute. When did this class shift ME to teacher?"

"Forget the class thing. We both want to know. You tell me and I'll tell you."

"Fine. Well, do you get the bleeding and cramping?"

"You bleed during your he…err…period?!"

"Yeah. It's really annoying, but still better than the cramps."

"Cramps?"

"You don't get those either?" Juri said with a twinge of jealousy. "What about the…other stuff?"

"Other stuff?"

"You know the…umm…" Juri tried to think of a way to describe the ever-hated PMS symptoms, "attitude."

"The attitude? OH, the attitude. You mean that overwhelming desire to be with a guy. Yeah, believe me I've had that," Plotmon said with frustration. "You just want grab this totally mysterious mon, push him down and just mate with him over and over and…" she stopped and blushed heavily as she saw the expression on her Tamer's face. "We're talking about totally different things, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah."

"Damn."

Katou giggled, "It's ok. I just mean the moody attitude thing. I hate getting that way."

"Oh, I don't have that, but my whole attitude changes. I usually keep to myself on those days. I don't want to run the risk that I might end up with a guy I don't even know."

"It's THAT bad?"

"Oh it's horrible," Plotmon groaned. "I'd bet even Culumon would look attractive to me during my heat."

"Jeez, I guess it's just part of being a digimon. What about that smell? You said something about having a smell?"

"Yeah, that's another problem. Every time you go in heat you can't help but put off this incredibly attractive smell."

"So if the guy wasn't in the mood…"

"He soon would be," she finished. "But umm…I just wondered if…oh never mind."

"What?"

"Forget it."

"Come on, you know you can trust things with me."

"Alright, do you ever…you know…have to relieve yourself during your 'period'?"

"I use the bathroom anytime. What do you mean?"

"No. The 'other' kind of relieve."

"Oh. Yeah, I do that. Heh, I never though about digimon doing that. Even Renamon?"

"Before she was with Guilmon, probably. It's not a pleasure thing. We females HAVE to. Either that or give in to your desire to be with a male."

"Oh, I never thought of that. I guess it makes sense."

"Most young females are shown that by their mother during their first or second heat. Well, that's the way mine did it."

Juri retched, "Your mothered showed you that. Yuck!"

"Yuck? What's wrong with it?" the Digi-puppy said, truly believing that. "She's only tying to help us from coding before we're ready."

"Oh, but what is 'coding'?"

Plotmon sweatdropped, "Coding is after you conceive with a male. Before the egg laying part I told you about before."

"Oh ok. You know, I think I'm actually making sense of a lot of this. Thanks baba."

"You're welcome," Plotmon smiled. She really didn't mind her new 'old woman' nickname. In fact, she was quite glad someone treated her like the age she was. She had grown quite annoyed by all the digimon who had thought she was merely a young Child level.

~*~

"I'm just making a phone call, stay there," Ryo said to Monodramon in the bushes. He heard a voice on the phone. Wow, I can't believe it. Sometimes I thought I'd never get to hear him again. Guardian or not, he's the closest thing I have to a father in this reality.

"Hello, it's…Ryo. Yeah it's really me. It's great to hear your…" Ryo held the receiver away from his ear, shouting could be head from the other end, "voice again," the teen sweatdropped. "Yeah I know. I've been gone that long? I'm sorry. I really should have told you. I just didn't want you to worry too much. No, I'm serious. Look, if I can I'd like to come home again, but…uhh…can you please come down here. I'm sort of in West Shinjuku Park. Yes, I know it's far away, but it's not my fault. I can't control where I appear. Yeah, yeah I will. Thanks dad."

"He's coming to get us?" Monodramon asked from the bushes.

"Yes."

"But he sounded like he was mad."

"No, he's not too thrilled by the idea of having to drive all that way, but I can tell he's happy to have me back home."

"That's good, but won't you have to leave again as soon as we find the Renamon?"

"Yeah, but that may not be for a while. Plus, it'll feel great to sleep in my real bed again."

"What about Baihumon?"

"He'll wait. He has to. I'm the only one that can do this for him," Ryo explained as he stepped into the shroud to talk with his partner. "Besides, one of the main reasons I agreed to this was to get to see my family again."

"Yeah," Monodramon sighed. "Ryo, can I tell you something?"

"Ok."

Monodramon hesitated, "Millenniumon is yelling at me to shut up, but I have to say this. I…don't think this is right."

"What?"

"This, what we're doing. Don't get me wrong, I really want to see you get to live here again, but…"

"I know I know. I'll be honest with you; I hate this too. The only thing that is keeping me from feeling real guilt is thinking that we really are preventing a disaster by getting this Renamon."

"What if Baihumon was lying?"

"I don't think he was. He's risking a lot for this. There has to be some major significance. Other than that, I trust Baihumon far more than Al, and if Al is trying to get this same power I can't allow that."

"And you'd rather see Baihumon with this 'power'?"

"No I'd rather see Qinglongmon or Xuanwumon with it, but when compared to Al, yes."

"Psycho," Monodramon muttered.

"What did I do?"

"Not you, him," Monodramon pointed to the empty sky, but Ryo understood. "He suggested we just forget the debate altogether and take the Renamon's power for ourselves."

Ryo sighed, looking at the portion of sky the young dragon had pointed at, "Do you EVER change?"

"I'd rather not repeat his response," Monodramon sweatdropped.

~*~

"Well, spit it out already," Rumiko said impatiently as Takato coughed and sputtered.

"Well…umm…you see when a guy is going to…umm marry…he's supposed to ask the girl's…father. But…uhh…Ruki kind of never told me…a-about him, so could I ask you?"

"I have absolutely no clue what you just said."

"Can I ask you for permission?"

"Permission? For what?"

"To marry Ruki," Takato muttered.

"What?"

"To marry Ruki!" he said, increasing the volume a little too much.

"Oh," Rumiko went silent and blushed. "You really are a gentlemen, aren't you? No wonder she likes you so much."

Is that a yes or a no? "Oh, thank you Makino-sama."

"Just Rumiko is fine," she was now practically at his side. "Just what exactly where you planning?"

"Planning?"

"To pop the question to her."

"Oh," Takato was totally floored by her attitude. "Well, I guess I was just going to do it this weekend. Maybe have a small dinner or something."

"No no no," Rumiko sighed. "That won't do at all. But don't worry, we'll take care of those details later."

"W-we?"

"Yes, of course. Now, let's see the ring."

"Well, I kind of…don't… have much money…and I was…"

"My god, you're supposed to be proposing love to my daughter. How on Earth were you planning to do that with a cheap, pawn shop ring?"

"I don't know," Takato actually took a lot of offense from that remark, but remained quiet out of his love for Ruki.

"Ok, I know this is inappropriate, but I'm going to help you. We're going to go out and get her a ring right now."

"No, that's ok. Really, I want to…"

"Nonsense! This is a marriage proposal, the happiest time in a girl's life. I just wish mine had been better," she sighed at past memories. "But I won't allow that to happen with this. I've neglected Ruki too much. It's time I personally saw to it that she has the best life possible, and YOU are going to give her the greatest proposal ever."

"I will? I mean, yes I will, but, seriously, I just want this to be…"

"Come on," she grabbed him by the arm. "I have a commercial to shoot tomorrow so we'll have to do our shopping today. I'll call the caterer later. We haven't a moment to lose."

"But I…oh never mind," Takato felt like crying as he was practically dragged out the door. Well, now I don't have to worry about the ring. In fact, she's probability going to give Ruki that proposal I dreamed of. So why do I fell like hell? I guess I really didn't want that after all. I just want something private and personal. Why doesn't anyone ever listen to what I want?

~*~

"Why doesn't anyone ever listen to what I want?" Matsuda Mie roared.

"I AM listening to what you want," her husband insisted.

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"Because there nothing we can do. At least nothing that would make any difference."

"Then what? We just give up and let him throw his life away?"

"No," Takehiro sighed. "We give up fighting it and start trying to help him deal with it."

"What kind of parenting is that? What do we do next…offer him some illegal drugs to t…" Mie stopped abruptly as a woman walked into the bakery. "Good evening, Asanuma-san," she said, flipping to a professional attitude in an amount of time that left her husband in awe.

Nami smiled, "Hello Matsuda-san. Is…everything ok?"

"Yes, just fine," she said quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just making conversation," Nami defended.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react like that."

"Oh don't worry about it."

"But I was still rude."

"I said it all right," Nami assured with a smile. She began browsing through the displays.

"I guess I've just been under a lot of stress lately."

"Oh?" the sensei raised an eyebrow. You're not going to nib, Nami, even if you already know. You're just going to keep to your business. Well, maybe a quick question, "Is Takato at home?"

"No," Mie said flatly. "He's out."

"Oh," Nami pointed out various pastries to Takehiro, who bagged them up for her. She handed him some Yen and headed toward the door. Just a moment before she was going to exit, she stopped, "I'm sorry, Matsuda-san. I wasn't going to say anything, but…well, I already know about this."

"What?!" Mie said in shock.

"Takato's told you about this?" Takehiro asked.

"Actually he told me first," Nami said in what she believed was honesty. "But I've told no one else. I knew this was a private matter."

"Thank you," Takehiro nodded.

"Who would know it's a private manner with the way that boy behaves," Mie grumbled. She then sighed, "I'm sorry, Asanuma-san. I know it's in no way your fault, and I thank you for keeping it to yourself. It's just the idea of the thing. Not only does Takato get her pregnant, but he decided to tell you before he tells us."

Nami felt her face go cold, "Pregnant?"

"Oh he didn't tell you that much? Well, I guess there no harm in you knowing now. You already knew half the story. Besides, sooner or later everyone will know."

"I didn't know about that…at all," Nami blushed heavily.

"What?! You mean…that wasn't what you…oh my lord!" Mie buried her red face in her hands.

Takehiro cast glances at the two women, "What…were you referring to Asanuma-san?"

Nami sighed, "I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to come right out and say it. Takato is…well…he's doing drugs."

"He is?" asked Takehiro in disbelief. "When did you find this out?"

"He told me. Well, actually I sort of cornered him," Asanuma admitted. "He had been acting quite strangely lately. His grades were dropping, he was forgetting his homework, he was frequently late and he always seemed to be so up tight. All in all very unlike Takato. I knew something had to be wrong."

"I continued to keep a close eye on him. Finally, I came right out and asked him," she continued. "I will say this though, he made no effort to hide it or lie about it. He came right out and admitted it."

"Of course!" Mie exclaimed. "This explains everything. Takato was never with that Makino girl at all. She isn't pregnant, she was just a friend he used to help cover up the truth. He didn't want us to find out about this."

"Actually I'm not sure about that," Takehiro observed, thinking back to the time when Takato had first told them about Ruki. Although she wasn't his daughter, Takehiro knew enough to tell from the look she gave him that she wasn't lying about being pregnant.

"You mean she's pregnant AND he's on drugs?!"

"No," he sighed. "I mean I think it's probably the other way around. He probably made this story up to cover up the one about Ruki."

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Matsuda shrugged. "Maybe he just wanted to protect Ruki."

"You say that like he actually loves the girl."

"He does, dear. I truly believe he does," Takehiro said, hoping those words weren't his last.

Nami really wanted to leave at this point. At least neither one of them had taken notice she was still there. I knew I should never have said anything. I've only made the situation worse, but Mr. Matsuda is right. Takato was definitely keeping something from me. I knew my instincts weren't falling me.

"You!" Mie pointed to her husband, interrupting Nami's thoughts. "You've supported this from the start. For all I know you've probably known about this the entire time it was going on."

"Now that's just crazy talk. I'm not supporting what he did in any way."

"Is that so? Well, you certainly don't seem to be in any hurry to right this wrong."

"I'm…going to go," Nami said quietly while blushing.

"Ok, goodbye," Takehiro tried to give an apologetic smile.

"No wait," Mie interrupted. "Please, tell me exactly what my son told you. It's important."

"Ok," Asanuma sincerely regretted becoming involved in this but proceeded to tell Mie her account of the events that took place.

~*~

"Grape," Guilmon said as he laid an individual grape onto Kyuubimon's tongue, which she soon ate. "Grape," he repeated the process. "Grape."

"I'm not even going to ask," Ruki sweatdropped as she walked out of her room.

Guilmon gasped, "I'm out of grapes. I'll get some more. Wait right here."

"I am not going anywhere," Kyuubimon yawned.

Ruki shook her head as Guilmon ran by her, "He gets weirder each day," she knelt beside her partner. "Have you told him?"

"No," she groaned. "I had truly meant to, but he was right there offering me food and drinks from the moment I awoke. He has been waiting on me hand and foot ever since. He seems so happy doing it. I just, do not know how I could willingly spoil that."

"But you are still going to tell him…"

"Of course. I will never keeps secrets from either one of you," she immediately scolded herself, realizing that that was actually a lie. Why do this Altimamon? You are making me lie to Ruki and Guilmon juts to preserve your anonymity. If it was that important to you, then why did you reveal yourself to me?

"Renamon?" Ruki tapped her partner's furry neck.

"Oh I am sorry, Ruki. I was thinking about something. What did you say?"

"I said I know of a way you could break it to him."

"How?"

"Well, you could tell him after you two…" she made a hand motion.

"Ruki," Kyuubimon scolded.

"What? I'm serious. If he's anything like his Tamer he will be so happy that he could accept something like that pretty easily."

"But that would be wrong. I would be abusing the mating process," she admitted. "Besides, he is Guilmon."

"What does that mean?"

"He is Guilmon I am Kyuubimon. Need I explain more?"

"Oh," Ruki blushed. "I think I can help with that problem."

"How?"

"Simple, when Taka-chan gets back from…where the hell did he go anyway? He just said he had something to tell mom and completely disappeared," she scratched her head. "As I was saying, whenever he gets back I'll just ask him to evolve Guilmon for you."

"No!" Kyuubimon said quickly.

"No? Why not?"

"B-because…" she blushed heavily, "there are no enemies to fight."

"So?"

"So Takato would know EXACTLY why I want him to evolve Guilmon."

"Oh, but even at that he won't mind. He'll understand."

"I am not sure about that. He seemed very upset when he walked in on us in Guilmon's home."

"Well he won't be this time," Ruki patted her partner's head. "I'll see to that."

"I would still rather not."

"Oh…ok," Ruki smiled and stood up.

"Ruki," Kyuubimon's eyes narrowed. "You are going to ask him anyway."

"Me? Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked innocently and she strolled back toward the house.

"Ruki, no. Ruki!" Kyuubimon whined as Ruki entered the home. She stood up wobbly, but quickly decided not to pursue her partner. Argh, the dizziness is much worse now. I cannot believe how quickly it has become so strong. I am finally with child, yet I am so emotionally distraught I have never truly felt the joy this is supposed to bring.

"I have more grapes," Guilmon returned smiling.

"Guilmon…I…have to…" Kyuubimon stared blankly for a moment. "Ok, more grapes sound good."

~*~

"Please, Jen-nii-chan. You never told me," Shuichon begged.

"You're too young," her older brother said.

"I am not," Shuichon huffed. "I'll bet Terriermon knows about it. He's smaller than me."

"I…well I…might…" Terriermon sputtered nervously. A part of him actually missed the times when he got to pretend to be a doll.

"See!"

"Argh…" Jenrya sighed. He thought back to the incident last night that had started this whole mess. The incident he had managed to keep from his friends, despite their pestering.

~~~"Go to bed, Shuichon."

"Aww, come on, just a little longer. I've never gotten to talk to Terriermon like this before."

"I'm sure Terriermon wants to go to bed too."

"No I'm…I mean yeah. I'm kind of tired," Terriermon faked a yawn; reacting to a harsh look his Tamer was giving him.

"Fine," Shuichon huffed. "I know when I'm not wanted."

Lee sighed, "I didn't say that. I've just…had a really hard day."

"Oh, I'm sorry Jen-nii-chan. I didn't mean to get mad."

"Naah, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Ok," Shuichon smiled. Suddenly, she stopped while heading out of the bedroom, "Jen-nii-chan?"

"What?" Jenrya tried not to sound annoyed.

"Can I ask you one tinnie little question? I tried to ask Jaarin, but she just got mad at me and she said 'I shouldn't ask that. I'm too little'."

Jenrya eyed the little girl suspiciously, "Ok…" What on Earth could she have…oh no. Oh god no! That can't happen. Not Shuichon. Please, for all that still good in this universe don't let her ask…

"What is sex?"

That. The teen sighed as a large sweatdrop formed on his head. Terriermon's jaw practically hit the floor. Lee fidgeted, "Well…it is…it's umm…where did you hear that word?"

Shuichon smiled, "MTV says it a lot."

"I thought mom said you couldn't watch MTV anymore."

"Yeah, but sometimes I come in the room and the TV is already on MTV so it's not my fault."

"That doesn't count. I won't tell mom, but you'd better get to bed before I change my mind."

"But you never told me what it is."

"To bed. To bed," Lee chirped in a singsong voice while scooting Shuichon from the room.

"But Jeeeen…"~~~

"Jen? Jen?" Terriermon and Shuichon were saying together.

"Huh? Oh sorry. I was just thinking about things."

"So, what is it?" Shuichon asked again.

"Can't you ever just forget things?" Jenrya smirked.

"Why? Is sex bad?"

"No…yes…well…" Lee fidgeted.

Terriermon bounded over and onto his partner's head, "Just tell her, Jen. If you don't she'll just go somewhere else and find out," he whispered.

"Put that way I suppose it is for the best," he admitted. "Ok, Shuichon."

"You'll tell me?!"

"Yes, but ONLY if you promise to keep this to yourself. If mom or dad find out I told you this I'm dead, understand?"

"I've kept Terriermon's secret," she observed.

"Alright. Sex is…well it's something 'special' older people do when they love each other a lot."

"We love each other. Have we done it?"

"NO! Brothers and sisters don't do that. It's…different."

"Like a boyfriend and girlfriend thing?"

"Yes," Jenrya scowled. You know FAR too much for a ten year old, "but only when they love each other a lot and decide it's time. If you don't do that then it won't be special. Sex should always be special."

"Have you had sex?"

"N-no," Jenrya said. Terriermon snickered and jumped down from atop his head.

"Ok," the young, pink haired girl nodded. "But you never said what sex is?"

"Yes I did."

"No, you just said it was special. What IS it?"

Jenrya sighed, "Fine, it's…well…it's when…"

"Jen, your friend from school is here!" Mayumi, their mother, called.

"Ok, mom. I'll be right there," Lee said, totally relieved.

"But Jen-nii-chan, you never told me…"

"I'll tell you later," he patted her head and went to meet Juri, silently hoping he would never have to keep that promise.

"But…Jen…hmph!" Shuichon huffed and stomped off to her bedroom.

"And then there was one," Terriermon smirked to no one in particular.

"Actually two," Terriermon nearly jumped as he herd a voice from the floor.

"Plotmon! How in the world did you…"

"I can be quite stealthy when I want to be. Actually, I didn't have much of a choice most times. I'm not exactly the strongest fighter in the world, so it was either avoid the enemy or be deleted."

"Oh," Terriermon said flatly.

Plotmon cocked her head, "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, nothing wrong at all…baba," he purposely stressed the last part.

"What?"

"You age. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked me."

Terriermon sighed, "I'm afraid you've made a mistake with me. I'm not as old as you think I am."

"I never thought you were old."

"But…why me? I mean, it's not that I like you any less now, but wouldn't you be happier with a Child digimon closer to your age?"

"There are no Child levels my age!" Terriermon realized he hit a nerve as she jumped in his face. She sighed and turned away, "Don't you see? He was the only one. Lopmon wasn't even his real name. He was really a Perfection level named Antiramon, but he could be like me whenever he wanted."

"How can he control his own evolution? Did he have a Tamer too?"

"No. It was the gift. The gift of…being a Deva."

Terriermon shuddered, "He was a…"

"Yes, but you are to never judge him for that. He was the most kindhearted soul I've ever known. He was a Deva, but he hated everything his kind stood for. He gave his life helping to stop them."

"Oh…I'm sorry. It's just that when I hear the word 'Deva' I immediately think bad things."

"I still do. I'll never truly consider Lopmon a Deva. That's why I have chosen to always know him as Lopmon."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Even bringing this age thing up."

"It's ok. Besides, it gives me the chance to talk about…him," Plotmon heard the growing voices of both of their Tamers' getting close to the bedroom. "First, I think we need to get away."

"Away as in where? Jen's family is all over this apartment."

"I know a place that may work. I saw a way to it when we were outside. I just hope there aren't any humans up there," Plotmon walked away from him.

"What place?" he wondered. He watched her hope up and a desk and walk over to the window, which was currently letting the nice summer evening breeze flow in. "What are you doing? Plotmon?" he questioned as she looked out the window. "Hey Plotmon? Plotmon!" he cried out as she jumped out the open window.

Like a flash, he ran to the windowsill and looked out, "I'm right here," she waved from a fire escape that was positioned near the window.

"What the hell are you doing? You scared me to death!"

"Sorry. I'm just finding a quiet place. Come on, I'll bet the top of this building doesn't have any humans on it," she began to climb up the escape.

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute. You want me to jump to the there?!"

"Oh come on. It's not that far. I made it," she teased.

"But…what if I don't jump that well? What if I fall?" he looked down and gulped.

"You big baby," Plotmon giggled and walked back to the landing. She sat down and opened her arms like she were going to hug someone, "Just open your ears and glide over here. I'll catch you."

"All right, but if I die it's your fault," Terriermon smirked. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He jumped, feeling his ears open up as glided in her direction. By the time he decided to open his eyes, he had practically run into her.

Plotmon hadn't counted on him being as heavy as he was. He toppled her onto her back, and was now lying on top of her. There they stayed, at least for the nest few moments. Terriermon wasn't in any real hurry to climb off of her, but she wasn't exactly pushing him off either. Terriermon came to his senses first, "Plotmon, I…umm…sorry about that," he nervously got to his feet.

"No, it's alright. It was my idea anyway," she admitted. "Come on. Let's see if any humans are up on the roof of this building."

Terriermon sighed and she started up the escape. The things I do for love. He smirked to himself before following her.

~*~

"You didn't have to lie to them," Jenrya scolded as he entered his bedroom with Juri.

"What part did I lie about?"

"You are not over here to get help with your school studies."

"Oh…yeah, that was kind of a little untrue, wasn't it? But what do I tell them, 'I'm here to help Jen plan our friend's wedding proposal'?"

"Well…I guess not, but…"

"Besides, you ARE going to be my tutor," she interrupted.

"Huh? With what?"

She walked over to his desk, "These," she smiled, flashing a deck of Digimon cards. "I have no clue what I'm doing with these things. Can you help me learn?"

He smiled back, "Now THAT, I can do."

"Great. After we finish up with the plans we can get to that."

"Please don't tell me you're still going on about that," he sighed.

"This is important Jen. It's Takato-san's wedding proposal we're talking about."

"Yes it is, which is exactly why WE shouldn't be talking about it. He hasn't asked us to do anything. I think we should leave it at that."

"He just didn't want to impose. Now, here what I have planned out so far. Just stop me when I get to a part you think we should change," she instructed. "Ok, first we should…"

"Stop."

"I haven't even started yet."

"I know. I want to change this part to 'we should stay at home and wish Takato-kun luck'."

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" she huffed.

"I'm not being difficult. I'm just saying we should wait for Takato-kun to ask us for help."

"Jen, I've known him far longer than you. I think I know what he would want," she smirked.

"I still don't think this is right. Terriermon what do you…Terriermon? Terriermon?" Jenrya looked about his room. "Where on Earth did he go?"

"Probably with Plotmon somewhere," Juri said matter-of-factly.

"Plotmon's here?"

"Yeah, she slipped in when you let me in."

"She did?!"

Juri beamed with pride, "Plotmon has a vast array of skills. I just…wish she'd evolve."

"Don't."

"Huh?"

"Don't ever wish that. If you try too hard and force it, she will evolve in the wrong way."

"Wrong way?"

"Yeah, when Terriermon first became Galgomon he was completely out of control and unpredictable. I…pushed him too hard. He wasn't ready."

"Oh," Katou pondered that for a moment. "But hasn't Plotmon technically been ready to evolve for many years?"

"Possibly, but how do you know for sure? Maybe her body has never aged to that point. It would explain why she's still a Child after all this time."

"Yeah…maybe," Juri sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's me. I'm the reason she's never evolved. All this time she's been waiting on me. Why couldn't I have found her sooner? Maybe she wouldn't have been stuck like that for so long."

"Being a Child can't be that bad."

"She hates it," Juri explained. "Well, she never come right out and says it, but you can tell. She wants so badly to evolve. She's more than ready for it. She just doesn't want to put that kind of pressure on me."

"Oh…"

Juri kicked herself for having said that, "No, Jen. I didn't mean it like that at all. You didn't put pressure on me. You had to do that. You just wanted to save people's lives and that was the only way you knew how."

"Yeah, but I still could have been less of a jerk."

"No…really it's ok."

"But I was a jerk," he reminded.

"Well…yeah, but it was actually a good thing. If you hadn't done that I'd have never taken the time to think things out."

"If you say so. I still think I should have handled it better."

"If you spend too much time worrying, you're going to turn into me," Juri teased, poking him in the chest.

"Heaven forbid," Jenrya smirked. Suddenly, Juri kissed him across the lips, just a lips only peck but enough to startle him. Lee froze, but didn't push her away, "W-why did you do that?" he questioned afterwards.

Juri slid her arms around the small of his back, "Because you're my boyfriend and I felt like it," she said matter-of-factly. "And I'm starting to feel like doing it again," and with that she did. Much different this time, a kiss in the true definition of the word. To her surprise, Jenrya gladly accepted it. She actually found his tongue moving to greet hers, before it had even entered his mouth.

Juri gave a small hum. The blue/black haired boy felt her give a few small tugs on his back. He noted the bed behind her and quickly deciphered what she was doing, leading him to break their moment of shared love, "Juri no."

"No what? It's just kissing. It won't hurt you," she said innocently.

"Then what were you doing with your arms?"

"Oh…" she blushed. "I just thought we might be more…comfortable on the bed," she explained coyly.

"I don't think that's a good idea. What if one of my family members walks in…especially Shuichon. I'd have a hard time explaining my way out of that."

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted. "I'm getting carried away again," she reached over to the stand and grabbed Jenrya's deck of Digimon cards. "Why don't you teach me about these now. That ought to get my mind moving on something else."

"Sounds good."

~*~

"What's troubling you, dear?" Seiko questioned her granddaughter as they ate.

"Huh? Oh…it's nothing, really. I just wondered where Taka-chan was," Ruki half-lied.

"I'm not sure. He left with your mother some time ago."

"With mom?! Did they say where they were going?"

"No, I'm don't recall hearing anything like that. They seemed to be in a rush though."

"Oh, I suppose I'll just have to interrogate him myself," Ruki smirked. She then sighed and went back to lightly picking at her meal.

"But that wasn't what was bothering you at all, was it?"

The redhead shrugged, "Maybe. Grand-ma, what…religion are we? Do we even have one?"

Seiko giggled, "Of course we do. The Hatas have always been followers of the Shinto teachings. Although it's been some time since any of us have gone to the temple for worship," she said sadly.

"I went?"

"Not long after you were born."

"But I'm a Makino."

"And will eventually become a Matsuda, but you will still be just as welcome in the temple."

"I suppose."

"What is with all this talk of religion? Did something happen at school?"

"Everything that happens at school is religious," Ruki groaned. "I swear the entire thing is just an elaborate scam to convert Japan's female population to Catholicism."

Hata giggled, "Be that as it may. They are still the most highly regarded educational facility in the area. Besides, not all of the Catholic teachings are wrong."

"Oh yeah? Well, by Catholic standards, mom should be condemned to hell for being a woman who provides for herself. What kind of religion is that?"

"All religions are different, it is meanly up to you to decide which is correct for you."

"I thought you said I was Shinto?"

"No, I said that is your heritage. If you chose to go to the Catholic Church at your school I would have no objections."

"Forget that. I just can't accept that a human man could possibly have the right to forgive my sins. That doesn't make any sense. By that standard I could do anything I want as long as I go to confession and admit my sins. It shouldn't be that easy. That just doesn't make sense."

"Perhaps, but I'm not the best person in the world to have this conversation with," Seiko advised.

"I am NOT talking to Father Walker."

"I was referring to one of your school friends who also attends the Church."

"What school friends?" Ruki sighed.

"Oh," her grandmother drooped. "I've been so out of touch with you I guess I hadn't realized."

"No, it's fine. Those girls are far too smug to make good friends anyway."

Her grandmother nodded understandingly, "What about the digimon? Do they believe in the gods?"

Makino shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. I think Guilmon was mumbling something about god yesterday, but with him you can never be sure."

"And Takato?"

"He's Shinto. I questioned him about it earlier."

"All this religious interest, is this about your wedding?"

"No…well yes, a little. But that's not really why."

"Then why?"

"I…I don't know. I can't really explain it. I just…"

"Want answers and want to find out where you belong."

Ruki jaw dropped, "That's…EXACTLY it. How on Earth did you know that?"

"I didn't know. I made an educated guess. Since I'm your grandmother, I have a rather high education in the subject of 'Ruki'," Seiko joked.

Ruki smiled weakly, "Cute, but that doesn't help me."

"I can't help you with this. As I said before, religion is something you must find for yourself."

"And I can only find that out by seeing for myself," Ruki groaned. "Which means that unless I actually find a Catholic to talk to I have to go to Church."

"You don't HAVE to."

"I know, but I really want to find this out. Don't ask me why, but I think that in some way this may help."

"I don't have to ask to know it will help," Hata said wisely. "Religion can never be 'wrong'. It is just a belief."

"Hmm…" Ruki sat pondering that as she finished her dinner.

~*~

Hirokazu slumped into the recliner, completely exhausted, "So…how was your fist day of practice?" his father asked, still beaming with pride.

"Exhausting. I thought I'd just have to throw the ball around, but then I get there and I have to do all these warm-ups, and defensive drills, and a whole bunch of other conditioning crap."

"It's not crap. That's the fundamentals of baseball."

"That's what Coach Kida said, but I just want to pitch. That's easy," and fun, once I figured out how I did it. He added silently.

"You're a pitcher? Wow, I always wanted to be a pitcher," Mr. Shiota said.

"I thought you said you always wanted to be a shortstop?"

"Well, that too," he sweatdropped.

"Yeah…anyway, once you get through the drills it's great. The coach says I have 'star potential'."

"That's great. I'm very proud of you."

"Yeah I…" Hirokazu trailed off. "What did you just say?"

"I said I'm proud of you. You've found something you're good at and you want to stick to it."

"Oh…oh yeah. Thanks," the teen's face felt so warm he knew he had to be blushing. Wow, no one has ever been proud of me. Now not only does Coach Kida say it, but dad says it too. Man, where the hell was baseball last year? Now if only Juri had…no wait. If Juri had gone out with me this would never have happened. Hmm, I guess I won by losing. There has to be irony there somewhere.

~*~

"Hey Juri-chan it's…OH," Plotmon blushed heavily as she leapt into the bedroom window only to be greeted by the sight of her Tamer and her boyfriend making out of the bed.

"Oh, Plotmon! I was just… I mean we were…umm," Juri stammered. Lee didn't bother to say anything. He was far too embarrassed for failing to keep his hormones in check.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"No, you didn't interrupt anything," Juri assured nervously. "Jen was just showing me about card slashing and…things."

"I see," Plotmon smirked and patted her cheek.

"Huh? Oh…" Juri blushed as she touched her own cheek, finding that a 'White Wings' card had inadvertently stuck there while she was…preoccupied.

"Where's Terriermon?" Jenrya finally spoke up. Well, at least it's only Plotmon. What if it had been one of my family members? Well, it was kind of fun…no! Mustn't think that. Why did I do that after I just promised myself I wouldn't? It's ok, Jen. Just kissing. No harm done. Just make sure you don't repeat it. Live and learn. He assured himself.

"Out here!" Terriermon called from outside the window. "Little help?"

"Oh by all the gods!" Plotmon sighed and went back to the window. "You don't need me. Just glide over here."

"Where is he?" Jenrya asked.

"Out on the ladder thing," Plotmon said. "It's not that far away."

"He's on the fire escape!" Juri exclaimed. "Why?"

"I wanted a quite place with no humans around. We went up to the roof of this building."

"And now I can't get back!" Terriermon whined from outside.

"You did it easily before," Plotmon reminded, looking out the window.

"Yeah, but this is a different angle."

Plotmon narrowed her eyes, "You just want me to catch you again."

"Would you?"

"Oh, all right," the Digi-puppy gave up and open her arms. Truthfully she hadn't minded the first time, but she would never tell him that.

Just as before, Terriermon glided over to her. Only this time, Plotmon was ready and caught him before he knocked her over, "There you go, you big baby," she smirked and ruffed the fur around the horn on his head. Jenrya took immediate notice of this, as did Juri, who just giggled.

"Thanks," Terriermon said, disappointed he hadn't knocked her over again.

"Anyway, I came in here to tell Juri-chan it was getting pretty dark. She should get home or her parents will worry."

"Wow," Juri looked at the clock. "I didn't realize I'd been here that long. She's right. I should go."

"I can walk you home if you want," Jenrya offered as they finally got off of the bed.

"No, that's ok. Plotmon will be with me."

"Oh all right. I guess I'll see you…" they continued to talk as the door to Lee's bedroom shut, leaving only Terriermon.

He hope up on the bed and began to whistle a small tune to himself. In a few minute, his Tamer returned, "So, how'd things go?" the dog-bunny pondered with a sly grin.

"I was about to ask the same thing."

"I asked first."

"Oh, they went good."

"Yeah, looks like I missed some action," he gestured to the cards strewn about the bed.

"NO," Jenrya said quickly. "Nothing like that. We just kissed."

"A lot," Terriermon chirped.

"Yeah, that was irresponsible of me. I got carried away."

"Nah. You're good. Kissing is good. Everything is good," Terriermon sighed, lying back on the bed.

His Tamer sweatdropped, "You didn't…"

"No…not yet. We just talked…and she…kissed me. SHE kissed ME," he sighed. "Life is good."

"I'm happy for you."

"And you know what. Even though I didn't actually get to mate with her, I think I got really close to her and connected on some kind of deep emotional level. Somehow, that's even better than mating with her."

"Better than sex?" Jenrya raised an eyebrow and sweatdropped. "Who are you? What have you done with Terriermon?"

~*~

"And just WHERE have you been?" Ruki questioned. She tapped her foot while standing in the doorway to the backyard.

Takato stammered, he had had a stressful enough day, he really didn't need this too, "I…well I was just…out."

"Out where?"

"With some friends."

His girlfriend's eyes narrowed, "You left with my mother, not any of your friends."

"Yeah well…she uhh…dropped me off at the park."

"Ok, then why did you keep it from me?" Ruki was determined to corner him.

"You never asked."

"Fair enough, but what did you tell my mother?"

"Huh?"

"Before you left, you seemed so insistent about getting to talk to mom. What did you need to talk about?"

"Oh you know…this and that."

"Enlighten me…"

"Umm, just…things. I just wanted to get to know her better," Takato decided to attempt a counteroffensive. "What with the whole interrogation act anyway?"

"You're lying out your ass, Taka-chan," Ruki said in more of a singsong voice than an angry one. "Other people may not, but I always see right through you. Every answer you've given so far is a lie. Would you like to try the truth?"

"Is 'I can't' an option?"

"Why can't you?"

"Because I just can't. You'll find out soon enough," Takato promised.

"Taka-chan, we aren't supposed to have secrets."

"And we don't. This isn't a secret. It's just…something I can't tell you yet."

Makino sweatdropped, "I see," she said flatly and headed out into her backyard.

I see? Takato blinked in confusion, "Ruki, wait. Does 'I see' mean you aren't mad at me?"

"It's means 'I see'."

"But what does that mean?"

"Exactly what it says."

"But…is that good or bad?"

"You'll see."

Takato sighed and sweatdropped. He took immediate notice of the large sleeping fox in Ruki's backyard. Upon closer examination, he noticed his partner sitting in front of her, watching her intently, "What's he doing?" he whispered to Ruki.

"He does this. I think he's just watching to make sure she stays safe while she's asleep," Ruki whispered back.

The nine-tailed fox's ears perked up, "I am awake," she spoke but didn't open her eyes. "I was just napping for a few moments. Coding seems to have given me frequent spells of fatigue."

"Oh," Ruki smiled at her and made a neck gesture in the way of Takato. Kyuubimon looked firm and shook her head. Ruki made another gesture and Kyuubimon countered just as before.

"You two look silly," Guilmon observed.

"Is something wrong with your neck?" Takato asked Ruki.

"No, it's just that…Renamon had a small request."

"Ruki, no," Kyuubimon said firmly.

""It's ok," Ruki waved her off and spoke to Takato again. "Anyway, Renamon was wondering if you'd…"

"Ruki!" Kyuubimon whined and blushed.

The teenage mother-to-be giggled and nodded to Kyuubimon. Ok, if she doesn't want me to tell him I won't, but she needs this. And she's going to get it whether she wants it or not. She grabbed Takato's shoulder. Besides, I love doing this to him, "Taka-chan, evolve Guilmon to Growmon!" she commanded.

"Wha? But why…"

"No!" she moved to within centimeters of his face, intentionally letting her body touch his. "No questions, no explanation of reasons why, no words period. Just evolve him and I'll reward you," she smiled, putting her hands around his hips.

In what was probably record time, a totally confused Growmon was now standing a looking down at his mate. By this time, Kyuubimon was so embarrassed she had thrown her front paws over her head, "Good job," Ruki gave Takato a quick peck on the lips and headed off to her bedroom. "Goodnight, Renamon."

Takato sweatdropped and hurried after her, "That's it? That's my reward?"

"I don't know. Are you ready to tell me what you were doing today?"

"I told you it's nothing."

She shrugged, "Then yes, I guess that is your reward."

"Aww come on Ruki, you know I wouldn't keep things from you."

"Then why are you keeping this from me?"

"Well, because it's…err I mean…no, I meant to say that's it's not really…umm…can I get back to you?"

"Whatever," she said nonchalantly, still determined to crack through his lies.

They continued to argue their way into the bedroom, where Ruki shut the door, "Why do they always argue?" Growmon questioned. "Don't they love each other?"

"Of course they do. Everyone has different ways of expressing love. Ruki and Takato fight, but that actually just makes them love each other even more in the end," Kyuubimon tried to explain.

"Oh…so when we get in a fight you love me even more when it's over?"

"Something like that," the golden fox of Tao said. Now what? He is Growmon, but should I? No, it simply would not be right. I am not going to mate with him for that reason.

"So we should fight more?"

"No," Kyuubimon giggled. "We do not have to fight to love each other. We already do."

"Oh," Growmon sighed in relief. "That's good because I really don't like fighting with you."

"Likewise."

"But…why did Ruki make Takato evolve me?"

Kyuubimon slowly got to her feet, "Because I…asked her to."

"You did? Why?"

"Because I…I wanted to…" I will do it, but I am doing this for Guilmon…and for love. If I happen to tell him about the child afterward then it is sheer coincidence. She assured herself.

"You wanted to what?"

The fox of Tao caressed her entire body across his leg, almost like a cat, "I wanted to be with you."

"Oh," Growmon smiled. "But…are you sure?"

"What?"

"You've been really tired all day long. Are you sure you don't wanna rest?"

"I will be ok."

Growmon suddenly smiled, "Hey, I just remembered I forgot to give you your haiku."

"It is done?"

"I finished it while you were sleeping," he said proudly. "You wanna hear it now?"

"I would like that."

"It's not very good."

"I am sure it will be fine."

"Ok…" he took in a breath:

"Renamon my love,

I swear I'll always be yours,

You're my everything."

Kyuubimon smiled, "Guilmon I…."

"It wasn't good, was it?" Growmon sighed.

"Of course it was. I thought it was very beautiful."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Oh…thanks," he beamed with pride. "Ruki's other mom helped me a lot though."

"It is still very beautiful," she assured. "Now it is time for my gift to you."

"What?"

"Me," she smiled and licked his cheek. "You have done so much for me without ever asking for one thing in return. Tonight I want you to ask."

"Ask? Ask what?"

"Anything you desire," she smiled coyly. "I am completely yours. You can do whatever you please to me. I will do anything you ask of me without question. Tonight, I exist for nothing more than your pleasure. So please, request anything of me."

"Ok," Growmon clearly didn't grasp what she had said. "Umm…let's see. My request is… to mate."

She giggled, "I meant more specific requests."

He nodded, "Ok, I got it. My request is to mate…tonight."

Kyuubimon sighed, "No no no. You do not understand. I want you to tell me what I need to do to make you feel good."

"But mating does feel good."

"I mean SPECIFIC mating things," she said in frustration.

"OH. Ok…umm…what mating thing do you like to do?"

"I am not telling you."

"Wha? Why not?" he whined.

"Because I want this to be something of your own choosing. Something for YOU."

"But what if you don't like it?"

"I will like it," she promised. "Please, this may be the last time we get to do this for a while."

"What do you mean?" Growmon asked with concern.

"The tiredness. It is gone for now, but it is steadily increasing. This is only the second day of my coding. I have no idea how much worse it will get or how long it will last. For all I know this may be the last night for a while that I will have the energy to do something like this for you," she explained. "Do not deny me this."

Growmon was misty eyed, "I love you so much."

"As do I," Kyuubimon licked his nose. "Please, ask me anything. I know you have desires. You must want something."

"Ok," Growmon nodded. This was actually quite difficult for him. He had never truly asked for anything in his life. He had always been content with what he was given, except when he was viral. Growmon shook those thoughts away, "Ok, I…like it when you kiss me."

"That is a start," Kyuubimon smirked. She propped her front paws onto his shoulders and kissed his muzzle. Growmon easily supported her weight and kissed back. This was actually a quite pleasant and new kissing angle for both, pitting Growmon as the taller instead of the shorter role he was accustomed.

"That was fun, but can we do the…different kiss?" he blushed.

"I do not know what you mean," she teased, purposely trying to make him bolder.

"You know, where you use you tongue and…things."

"Oh. We can do that," Kyuubimon reattached their lips, slipping her tongue into the welcoming mouth. She quite enjoyed the feel of Growmon's extremely warm tongue against hers. Growmon wasn't exactly minding it either, and actually found that he was pushing her face against his with his free claws.

The large red dinosaur was clearly panting by the time he pulled from her lip lock, "Thanks."

"Shh, just more requests," Kyuubimon said.

"Umm I…I dunno," he sighed.

"Just relax and think. There are so many things I can do for you," she said soothingly. Hmm, I had never pictured myself as the type that would like games, but this is actually quite exciting. I had always wondered what it would be like to not be in control. "Do you want to lay down?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "That's a good request."

"You want to be on top or bottom?" she teased.

"I get to pick?"

"I said ask ANYTHING. That is a thing."

"Oh," Growmon wasn't sure if he was beginning to like this game more or just giving in to his hormones. Whatever it was, he liked it. "Top is good. I like to be on top."

"Of course," Kyuubimon let herself relax and roll onto her back, pulling him on top. "Like this?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "Now we can umm…"

"Do not be embarrassed. I am having fun," she assured.

Growmon smiled, "Ok," he slid himself down her body; stopping to plant tender kisses on her furry chest and belly.

She shivered when she felt a warm breath against her, "Guilmon, are you…" she gasped at the heated sensation of his tongue against her lower regions. "Yes, you are," she answered for him.

He looked up, "You said I could do anything I wanted to you. This made you feel really good before, and it's what I wanna do."

Kyuubimon wouldn't have argued anyway. Her confirmation came in the form of opening her legs to allow him better access. It didn't take him long to take advantage of this. She was already panting, and he had barely begun. She couldn't help it, his tongue was just so rewarding. As Guilmon it had been quite warm, but as Growmon it practically burned with a very sensual temperature. She guessed that it was because Growmon's Exhaust Flame was far more intense than Guilmon's Fireball.

"Does that hurt?" he questioned her persistent squirming.

"No no, not at all," she beckoned him for more, pushing her hip into his face. At this point she didn't even care if he went inside, his oral snake of passion seemed to be hitting everywhere she needed it to. Her only regret now was that he couldn't feel the sheer ecstasy she was in, but she promised to make it up to him, "Guilmon, just lick right here," she pointed one of her tails her fully aroused nub of pleasure, dropping the submissive act.

"Here?" he gave an experimental slurp.

"Yes…" she half-groaned. "Keep licking there, as fast as you can," she instructed with desperation. He eagerly obeyed, sending her through heaven so many times she lost count. So warm, so intense, she was… she had to be…climaxing. She wasn't entirely sure when she hit her pinnacle, nor did she care. Her bottom was completely off the ground, smashed straight into her lover's snout. She would never be sure when she'd done that either.

"Easy," she sighed, rubbing his cheeks with her bottom legs. "Gently, do not stop," she instructed, responding as her sex suddenly became overly sensitive, as it had after her climax when they had done this before. She found it fascinating that the once furious gestures of pleasure could actually cause her pain during this tender point.

Growmon responded to her changing need, shifting to more of a mouthed slurping. He actually enjoyed her taste quite well. At this point he looked to almost be French kissing her sex very gingerly as she finally came down.

Kyuubimon almost reluctantly slid his head from her crotch, "Did I ever tell you that you are extremely good at that?" she teased.

"I just did what you told me to," he said matter-of-factly.

"But you still did it very well," she blushed, not used to giving that type of compliment. "So…what is you next request?"

"Well…I would like to…umm, that can be anything I want, right?"

"Yes."

He nodded, "Umm…can I do that to you again?"

"Again? But what about you?"

"I'm ok. I just want to make you feel good," he assured.

"As you wish, my love," Kyuubimon chirped. She would have been a fool to argue with that. Even though she was prepared for it, the tongue-lashing she received still made her shudder. She couldn't even thrust this time, having Growmon snout buried in her most sacred area. It didn't take long for his tongue to work inside her, trying to stimulate the area it had not reached before.

Kyuubimon made a squeal from somewhere deep with her chest. A very unnatural sounding noise for her, but a sound Growmon had heard Renamon make before, a sound that she only made when she was in absolute euphoria. Again he experimented, this time taking his upper lip along her mound as his tongue worked its magic within her sex.

"M-more…there…" Kyuubimon panted in sexual desperation. Growmon responded immediately, licking her where she needed it most. The golden fox was quite amazed at how quickly he was able to get her back to this point. Or rather she would have been amazed, had she not been shaking and basking in the sheer passion of her climax.

Her arched back finally fell to the ground with a thud. She barely managed to take in enough air to stay awake, let alone speak, "Was that ok?" Growmon questioned, his nose reflected the moonlight, moist with her excitement. She only nodded, unable to speak, "Want me to do it again?"

"No," she finally managed a word. "I have had…enough, but you have not had any fun at all."

"I have fun making you feel good."

"But you want to feel good too."

"No, I'm ok," he smiled. "I just want you to be happy. I want to be the better mate," he gasped, realizing he'd just said that aloud.

"The…better mate?" Kyuubimon expression changed to one of disappointment. "Oh, Guilmon, is that was this is all about? All that you have done for me, and were willing to do, was to prove that you were a better mate than Impmon?"

"No it wasn't," he lied.

"Guilmon…"

"Ok, m-maybe it was a little," the large dinosaur nodded shamefully. "But I really do like making you feel good!"

"Shhh, I know you do," she smiled softly. Oh gods, I can never tell him about the child's fatherhood issue now. It would destroy him. Maybe…maybe I can help him move past this. If I tell him then he could accept it. But what he has already done for me was quite draining. I just hope I have enough energy left for this, "Guilmon, come lay beside me," she instructed.

Growmon obediently lay next to his mate, "I'm sorry, Renamon. I really did want this mating to be special. Now I messed it up and made you sad."

"You have messed nothing up," she snuggled up to him. "And you have made me feel good. I just wish you would trust me when I say I only love you."

"I do," he promised. "Renamon?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Impmon a better mater than…"

"Guilmon I cannot even remember most of what Impmon and I did," she said honestly. "Even if I could, I would not compare it to what you do. Mating is an expression of love. You could be the best 'mater' in the world, but I would still not enjoy it unless I loved you."

"Oh. I…think I understand. Sorry."

"Do not be sorry. It is not too late," she smiled.

"You still want to?"

"Yes, I do," she rolled away from him. "But I am a little tired. I hope you do not mind being on top," she teased.

He giggled, "No, I think that'll be ok," he climbed on top, careful not to rest very much of his weight on her. With all he had been doing for her, he had been ready for this for what seemed like an eternity. He rubbed himself along her stomach, enjoying the feeling her fur give his sensitive member. His fully erect and aching organ rewarded him with a pleasant sensation as it was finally given some attention.

"Please, just take me," Kyuubimon pleaded, unsure of how much longer she could keep her coding body awake. Growmon penetrated her in a slick motion. Her insides were incredibly slick from his treatment, but the sheer heat of her arousal more than made up for the lack of friction, as did the fact that he was able to slide in and out much quicker.

Kyuubimon doubted she would be able to attain a third climax, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the ride. The digimon pushed back against her mate, doing anything she could think of to make him enjoy it even more. By now she was tired of hiding the fact she enjoyed the submissive role in sex. She had happily given in. She was his now, everything she did was just to please her mighty master.

Her hips locked together as best they could, giving him the tightest, most pleasing passage she could manage. With this he could no longer reach her sensitive g-spot, yet it didn't bother her. She felt a new pleasure. The pleasure Growmon had felt when he had eagerly given her an oral job earlier. It wasn't a sexual pleasure, yet it was so warm and encompassing, additive in its own way. The feeling of giving pleasure, knowing your every gesture is sending your lover closer to release and knowing that it is because of you and you alone that he was about to experience the world's most exquisite experience.

Although he'd only been going for several minutes, Growmon felt as if his release could never come soon enough. And when it came, it was far too soon. He groaned and buried his muzzle in her chest. His body gave its sexual gift to his mate. Kyuubimon began to spasm from the unbelievable sensation his warm fluid provided. She thought she felt her paw smack something, but hormonal bliss made her immune to pain.

Growmon kissed her chest a couple of times, still inside her. He looked her in the face, glistening with sweat, "I love…" he stopped, for Kyuubimon was already out cold, "you, Renamon," he finished softly, pulling out in a gentle form as not to wake her.

Kyuubimon moaned softly in her sleep as the large, red, fire-lizard snuggled up to her. Her secret mission had failed. Growmon still had no clue he might not be the father of the child she was coding. All that was unknown for now. Everything was pure satisfaction.

~*~

Meanwhile, inside Ruki's room she and Takato were in bed and getting ready to go to sleep, "Oh come on, Ruki," Takato whined. "Can't we do it just once?"

"Forget it. I don't have sex with people who lie to me," she said firmly. Truth be known she wanted it too, and the few moans that escaped from Kyuubimon outside certainly weren't helping matters any. But Makino would stand her ground; she wasn't about to allow him to lie to her.

"Come on. I said I wasn't lying to you."

"Then where were you today?"

"Out…with friends."

"Oh ok," Makino shrugged. She rolled over and pulled the covers up over her body, "Goodnight, Taka-chan."

"Rukiiii…"

She rolled back over to face him, "Don't 'Rukiiii' me. You just said you weren't going to lie to me, and then you turned right around and lied again. So now you've lied twice in less than a minute. I can't love a liar."

"But…"

"No buts. Either the truth or goodnight."

"I…I…" Be strong Takato. She'll love you for this in the long run. Just keep telling yourself that. "I can't Ruki."

"Why Taka-chan?" Ruki shook her head in disappointment. "What's so bad about this secret? Are you cheating on me?"

"NO. Hands down, definitely, one-hundred and ten percent no."

"Then what is it?"

"I can't tell you. I just can't. Please forgive me."

Ruki looked as if she would cry. Instead she just turned over and covered up again, trying to get some sleep before her pregnancy would have her running to the bathroom again.

In the end, she'll love you for keeping it a secret in the end. In the end, she'll love you for keeping it a secret. Takato sighed to himself and attempted to get some sleep of his own.

~*~

Ryo made a small snoring sound as he drifted to sleep in the back seat of his father's car. Monodramon, on the other hand, was already well into dreamland. He rested against his Tamer's side. His lips made a small puckering as he continued to kiss his 'dream girl'. Ryo's adoptive father just smiled and shook his head as he glanced into the rear-view mirror.

Monodramon slowly slid his partner's shoulder, a bit of spittle forming at the edge of his 'kissing' lips. Finally, he slumped into his partners lap. Ryo gave a small moan and smiled as he subconsciously felt something pleasant. After a few moments, he began to notice the sensation was actually quite real. He cracked his eyes, looking down to see his partner's muzzle buried in his crotch, still making a kissing motion. He instantly snapped awake.

"Hey!" Ryo cried as he slapped the Child dragon digimon on the back.

"I'm awake, I'm awake! I was just resting my eyes!" Monodramon insisted frantically as he plopped back into his seat. Ryo father burst out in laughter, having witnessed the entire thing, "What happened? What did I miss?" the digimon asked.

"Nothing, but next time, can you just…'rest your eyes' that way?" Ryo pointed.

"Why? What did I do?" ~I believe you were giving my partner some oral passion.~ Monodramon went wide eyed at Millenniumon's statement, "I was not," ~Quite skillfully I might add.~ "Liar!" ~I am no such thing.~ "Are to!" ~Am not.~ "Are to!" Monodramon continued to yell out the car window.

"Who are you talking to?" Ryo's guardian asked.

Monodramon pointed out the car window, "Millen…"

"Himself!" Ryo interrupted, clamping his hand over the small dragon's mouth. "He talks to himself a lot."

"Oh," his guardian nodded. He knew it wasn't the truth, but over time he had learned that when his foster son kept something a secret it was probably best not to ask.

"I told you not to do that in front of people," Ryo whispered to his partner.

"Sorry Ryo, he was egging it on."

"Just try to con…" Akiyama was cut off by what sounded like a gunshot.

"Damn it!" his adoptive father swore as he pulled over to the side of the city street. "I just checked those tires."

"What happened?" Monodramon asked out loud.

"We blew a tire," the gruff looking Chinese man sighed.

Ryo's eyes went wide as a man on a motorcycle whipped in front of the parked car, "No we didn't. Dad duck!" he frantically tugged on his guardian's sleeve as he ducked down himself. His foster father went below the dashboard just in time.

Several shots were sent crashing through the windshield, causing the shatterproof glass to crack. There was total silence for a few seconds after that. Ryo was the first to speak, "Everyone ok?"

"If 'alive' counts as ok," his guardian said from beneath the steering wheel.

"Deva," Monodramon growled as he peered around from behind the seats.

"No. That's not any Deva I've ever saw," Ryo commented on the digimon that sat in front of the car. The creature stepped off his bike, still holding the smoking gun he had used to blast the tire and windshield.

"Or, for that matter, any digimon I've ever saw," Ryo added. He whipped out his D-Arc, "Beelzebumon, Virus type, Ultimate level. Nope, definitely never encountered one of those before."

"But if he isn't a Deva why's he after us?"

"Alright Ryo," Beelzebumon cried, "I know you're in there! You think you're some kind of legend who can do anything he wants! I don't really care if you saved the Digital World or not! I don't owe you anything, and I'll be damned if I sit back and let you delete my only love OR her child!"

"Answer your question?" Ryo smirked to his partner.

"He has to mean the Renamon. I guess we know it's a she."

"Get out here!" Beelzebumon cried as he fired a bullet into the car's hood.

"But we weren't going to kill her."

"Try telling him that," Ryo said as another shot clanks off the car's frame.

"Son, do you know what's going on?"

"Yeah, dad. It's…business."

"You know I hate when you say that."

"I'm sorry. I can't help being who I am or doing what I have to do," Ryo said bravely.

"Which includes going out there to fight that thing?"

The teen sighed, there were benefits and drawback to having a parent who knew one of his most prized secrets, "Yes, it does, and please, don't try to stop me."

"You wouldn't stop even if I told you to," the man smirked.

"No, I wouldn't," Ryo tried to make that sound as gentle as he could. He looked at his D-Arc and then his partner. "I hope this works."

"What?" his foster father questioned.

"I'm going to try something. Something I've only done twice before…never on Earth."

"Fusion?" Monodramon questioned.

"Ok, Justimon is too big. We can't do it in here," Akiyama thought aloud. "So what we're going to have to do is open the car door, jump out, and Matrix Evolve the second we're out. But, if this doesn't work here on Earth…" he let the sentence end.

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Well, we've only done it while we were in the Digital World where I am basically just living data. Here…I'm not."

"Oh…" the gray/purple dragon sighed. "Well you aren't, so you can't," he said to his 'other'.

"What did he say?" Ryo questioned.

"He said that he could easily destroy the digimon as Zeed."

"Well, that's not happening anytime soon," Ryo assured. "Now, are we going to try this or not?"

"Ok."

"Hold on to me."

Monodramon put his arms around Ryo's neck, "Oh Ryo, I want you now," he moaned teasingly.

"Not the time for jokes," his partner grumbled. He took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. "Ready…and…GO!" he cried as they flung themselves out of the car.

"There you are" Beelzebumon smirked. The human and Digimon huddled immediately around Ryo's D-Arc, "Time to pay heartless human! Double…"

"Matrix…"

"Impact!"

"Evolution!"

~*~

Translate-O-Matic:

Taichi=Tai

Yamato=Matt

Omegamon=Omnimon

Ruki=Rika

Juri=Jeri

Hata Seiko=? (If anyone can tell me Ruki's grandmother's name in the US dub, I'd be grateful.)

Rumiko=Makino

Lee=Henry

Hirokazu=Kazu

Wallace=Willis

Asanuma=Asagi

Plotmon=Salamon

Beelzebumon=Beelzemon

Growmon=Growlmon

Kyuubimon=Kyubimon ^^;;;

Megalo Growmon=War Growlmon

Chatsuramon=Caturamon

Child=Rookie

Adult=Champion

Perfection/Perfect=Ultimate

Ultimate=Mega

Sensei=Teacher

San=Mr./Mrs./Miss

Sama=Sir/Ma'am

Chan=Title given to close friend, or family member. Can also be used for young children, regardless of gender.

Kun=Title used between boys who are close friends, or used by a girl to a boy who is a close friend (non-boyfriend). Can also be used by a male superior to a female subordinate.

~*~

Preview: Chapter 12, Loyalty and loss. Family and faith: Justimon and Beelzebumon square off in the middle of the city in a battle that not everyone will escape alive. Terriermon and Plotmon each tell their partners what happened on the roof of the apartment building. Ruki is still determined to find which religion she belonged to, not to mention find out what her boyfriend is hiding. Mie is a desperate parent, but to what length will she go to try to get her son back? Viral or Data, Renamon must decide whether to continue with Altimamon's plans or be forced to live out her coding period as Youkomon. Juri comes to visit Jenrya and his family knowingly leaves them in the apartment alone?! What is Takato up to? What else bad could possibly happen? Why in the hell is there a Starbucks across the street from that Starbucks??????? (I'll shut up now ^_^)

~*~

Author's notes: Ye gods, did that take a while. So many distraction and delays. I've probably wrote this chapter about three times before I finally got it sounding the way I wanted it to. But hey, it 30k words, that should give you something to read.

"Baba" is Japanese for "old woman". "Takato-tousan-okii" is sort of like saying "Big dad(dy) Takato", which is why Takato was so embarrassed when Juri kept using it.

Newhaven is just another large city of Altimamon's empire. It may be mentioned again but probably never featured.

Some lines from the scene where Seiko first encountered Kyuubimon may sound familiar to fans of the original undubbed series. In it, Seiko also thought that Renamon was a kitsune sent to protect her granddaughter.

As many of you already know or have figured out, Monodramon and Millenniumon are permanently jogressed (DNA digivolved) into one being. I didn't make that up, it is a fact from the Wonderswan game "BraveTamer". I'm not entirely sure how this relationship works, so this is how I have personified it. You may have noticed what infamous comic book character I have based it on.

In Japan, student our given classes according to what field they are likely to pursue. This is why Kenta and Jenrya share none of their classes with Takato.

Yes, I said MTV. Surprisingly, MTV is the most widely broadcasted cable network in existence. It can be seen in dozens of languages and countries. Just don't expect Carson Daily hosting any Japanese TRLs. :Þ

No, I'm not telling you who the father of Renamon's baby is. There are clues scattered about the last three chapters. You just have to read closely.

Altimamon gave Beelzebumon the bike. He didn't have it before.

Yes, Ruki's school is a private Catholic school. Although I'd guess Ruki's heritage is not Catholic based on many things. (Her house and Sakuyamon being a holy Shinto digimon top the list)

Thanks to all my pre-readers and my Beta-readers WithoutMorals and BlueDragonus.

I have one serious note, which only concerns a few of you. You guys know who you are. I know I took a while to update, and I have no problem with people who e-mail asking me politely when I'm going to update as a few people did. But don't yell at me, and for god's sake don't threaten me. Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you can get in if I report that to your ISP? Besides, what exactly are you going to do to me, type *Smacks CT upside the head for not updating*? :Þ

On that subject, I am going to try to update quicker. I can't promise anything so I won't, but I can say that I have more time to write during the say now because all of the kids around my area are back in school. So my days are pretty much free for writing.

Thanks for the great reviews. I hope they continue. You see anything you don't like and think I could work on to make the story better, please let me know. And if you have any Qs feel free to e-mail me and I'll see if I can get them answered.

Signed as always,

The §upreme Øverlord of Ðarkness