Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Author Notes: READ THIS or you will get very confused rather quickly!!!!! This fic tells two stories: one of the kids and one of Ken and Miyako as teenagers. The Ken and Miyako part is told in flashbacks. All flashback scenes will be in italics. The story of the kids goes in chronological order: what you read happens in the order that you read it in. The story of teen-age Ken and Miyako does NOT. Most likely, each flashback will take place before the one in previous chapters. For example, the first flashback is found in this chapter; it is Ken and Miyako once they have returned from the Digital World. Chapter three of 'Generations' will probably include a flashback of Ken and Miyako preparing to leave/leaving the Digital World.
Second, even though I am using Japanese names, I will be using the dub crests. A crest of Purity just won't work in this story.
Generations
"Are you okay, Osamu-chan?" Os nodded, but it Solarmon was not convinced. "You don’t seem very okay," Solarmon ventured.
"You’ve only known me for a few hours," Os reminded the digimon. "You can’t really judge my mood yet."
"I still know an upset person when I see one," Solarmon prodded. "Tell me what’s wrong!"
Os was still silent. Absentmindedly, his brushed his fingers through Rei’s hair. His youngest sibling was snuggled against him, asleep. Moonmon was similarly huddled against her. A few feet away, Dai, Hi and their digimon and Wormmon were asleep in a somewhat haphazardous looking pile. Though it was late, Os found himself unable to sleep, a fact that was not slipping by Solarmon.
"I guess," Os said, "it’s just being here. We should be home. The only other times we’ve ever slept away from home is if we stay with our grandparents, and that doesn’t really count. How tired do you think a kid has to be before being able to fall asleep leaning against a tree?" Os sighed. "I want to go home," he muttered.
"Sorry the Digital World is such a mess," Solarmon said.
"Don’t be," Os told him, "it’s not your fault. Besides, I really do want to help, I just wish we could go home at night. Being in a different world when it’s dark is scary."
"Not to bother you, Osamu-chan, but the Digital World is scary during the day, too. You haven’t seen anything yet. It would be in your best interest to sleep while you can."
"I’ll keep that in mind," Os said, closing his eyes.
**********************
"Actually," Koushiro said, "I did get an e-mail from Gennai today. It always appeared to me that he was the most comfortable with me out of all the Chosen. I suppose that’s why he chooses to contact me."
"What did it say?" Miyako asked, clutching the telephone receiver harder. Koushiro could have the answers she had been looking for.
"Apparently, four children were transported to the Digital World. Something’s very wrong over there."
"Did he say anything about who they were..? What they’re up against..?" Miyako bit her lip to keep herself from breaking down. She couldn’t, she had to stay calm, for her children.
"He called them ‘Integrity,’ ‘Strength,’ ‘Will,’ and ‘Loyalty.’ Nothing about names- I think those might be new crests."
"Are you able to open a Digi-port?"
"I haven’t tried. Give me a minute to check."
"Right." Miyako untangled herself from her curled position on the couch. She peered over the back of the sofa, Ken was still on the floor surrounded by computer components. They had immediately tried calling up a Digi-port, but the computer just wasn’t working. At all. To the absolute surprise of both of them, neither could fix it, nor even find the problem to begin with.
"No." Koushiro’s voice pulled Miyako’s attention away from her very own personal eye candy. "That’s odd. I couldn’t call the program up."
"It’s not so odd," Miyako said, "I can think of another time when Daisuke and the others couldn’t open a port about sixteen years ago or so. I remember because it was about the time Ken and I got together. I think it means no one is meant to travel to and from the Digital World."
"If you’re theory is correct, then when the first seven of us went there, even if the portal technology was available, we wouldn’t have been able to use it."
"Possibly," Miyako agreed.
"If you don’t mind my asking, what made you think of the Digital World at the same time new children were Chosen?"
"My kids are missing." Miyako’s statement was barely above a whisper.
If Koushiro had a response other than stunned silence, Miyako couldn’t hear it; Ken’s declaration of success with their own computer was too loud.
"Gotta go, bye," Miyako said in a rush and clicked the phone off. She dropped the receiver on the floor and was by Ken’s side in a flash. "Weeeell..?"
Ken gestured to the monitor, which told her the computer was finally functioning normally. The moment the operating system was fully booted up, the computer crashed for the second time that day. Ken, exasperated, slapped his palms against his forehead and collapsed on to his back.
"Back to square one," Miyako muttered as her glaring husband sat up.
"I hate it when I run out of options," Ken said, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"You can’t have tried everything," Miyako reminded him.
"Just everything I can think of, it amounts to the same thing." Sighing, Ken lied back down, pillowing his head with his hands. Miyako placed a hand on either side of Ken’s hips and looked down at him.
"They’ll be all right," Miyako said, confidant. "We haven’t lost a Chosen Child yet."
Ken perked up at that. "What did Koushiro-san say?"
"There are four new Chosen Children: Integrity, Strength, Will and Loyalty. To top it off, he couldn’t open a Digi-port."
"Just like the Virus," Ken muttered. Miyako was silent, thinking. She lowered herself down so that her ear was on Ken’s chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart beating.
"Ow! Sorry!" Inoue Miyako, despite the fact that she was rather fond of the position she had fallen into hastily pushed herself off of Ichijouji Ken, blushing and babbling apologies. She rolled to the floor and quickly sat up, forcing herself to her feet from there. Unable to look the blue hair boy in the eye, she busied herself with wiping the dust from the floor off her clothing.
"It’s okay," Ken responded. Miyako knew he wouldn’t get mad at her for falling into him; they had tumbled out of computers going to and from the Digital World enough times to know neither were very good at landing on their feet. Still, this time they had wound up in a rather compromising position...
Once she felt her blushing had lessened to the point where she would have some pride remaining, Miyako ventured to look up. And promptly realized the computer they had tumbled out of was located in Ken’s bedroom. If Ken noticed Miyako’s face darken to shades of red previously thought to be unattainable by human skin- and he would have to have been blind not to- he failed to comment on it, or even let his expression change.
"I-I uh, better go," Miyako stammered, amazed that she could manage coherent speech after these last few minutes. "My parents must be worried sick."
"No doubt they’re frantic," Ken responded. "Disappearing for weeks on end will do that."
"I just wish I had an excuse. I can’t tell them I was drafted by the Digital World."
"If they are anything like my parents, they’ll be so happy to see you that they won’t have the heart to get angry when you avoid their questions," Ken said, trying his best to cheer her up.
Miyako snorted. "I’ve got two sisters and a brother that will be asking questions too. Believe me, they won’t lighten up until they get all the dirt."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Dirt?" he questioned. "It’s more like information, Miyako-chan. Not dirt."
As predicted, Miyako began to blush again when Ken addressed her by ‘-chan.’ She still wasn’t used to him being so... familiar. It was odd, Ken supposed, that Miyako could link their arms, place her head on his shoulder or kiss his cheek and be perfectly fine with it, but would blush like a madwoman the moment he expressed any sort of affection towards her.
Hesitantly, Miyako began to walk towards the open door. She was anxious to get home after so long, but Ken had been her only human company for weeks now. She felt a sharp pang at leaving his side. The two had been trapped in the Digital World, unable to leave and the other Chosen Children unable to enter. Once the Digital World was safe again, it rejected them as well, spitting them out on the floor of Ken’s bedroom.
After taking a few steps, Miyako could see the front door of the Ichijoujis’ apartment. When she reached the threshold of Ken’s room, Miyako stopped abruptly. She turned.
"About yesterday," Miyako said, taking a breath, "did you mean it? Really mean it?"
Ken, who had not moved since standing up, crossed the few feet to Miyako. Delicately, he wove his fingers through her shining lavender hair. His voice came softly, a whisper into her ear. Her cheeks reddened once more when she realized Ken’s mouth was touching her.
"Why do you doubt me?"
Unable to think clearly, Miyako took a step back. This was important, dammit! She stood in the hall now, the rest of the real world only a few steps away. The noises and lights and sounds of the city only a few steps away.
"I don’t doubt you--"
"Just my feelings for you." Ken interrupted, his voice flat. For a moment Miyako thought she had insulted him. Miyako took a step closer to Ken, a step further from the world.
"Gotta admit, you’re not exactly known for feelings," Miyako reminded him. Ken kept everything inside; they both knew that. Could she really have faith in some words?
"And what am I ‘known’ for?" This time, Miyako was sure she had insulted him. She didn’t mean to, she really didn’t. She just wasn’t thinking before speaking. Something she had to work on. Oh, well, at least she hadn’t thrown a fit about him not answering her question. That was progress, right?
Ken, on his part, was sure Miyako would make some silly retort about him being some sort of self-absorbed bastard, something they both knew was far from true.
"Kindness," she answered without hesitation.
They stood in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. Having her fill at just gapping at him, Miyako cupped Ken's face with her hands, leaning in until she softly kissed his parted lips. She only let her mouth linger on his for a moment before she pulled away. Miyako slid her hands down Ken’s neck and to his shoulders and finally let them rest on his chest. Ken laid his hands over Miyako’s, holding her hands against him. After a moment, Ken pulled Miyako’s hands up to his mouth and kissed the tips of her fingers.
"Yes," he whispered. "Miyako-chan, I really do love you."
**********************
Ichijouji Daisuke woke with a crick in his neck. After a moment, he considered the position he had been lying in when he awoke and decided that he most definitely deserved it. A quick survey of the group told him Osamu was the only other one awake. Dai's brother looked horrible. It was obvious he hadn't gotten much sleep.
Dai stood and stretched, waking Checkmon in the process. The digimon yawned but was fully awake before and long and hopped along side his human partner as the boy inspected his older brother.
"Rough night?" Dai asked.
Os blinked sleepily in response. He didn't dare move; Rei was still snug against him. She had fallen asleep nearly immediately and still slumbered peacefully, as did Hi and all the digimon with the exception of Checkmon.
"What's for breakfast?" Dai asked. He meant it to be a joke, an odd sort of joke, but a joke none the less. Unfortunately, his stomach growled, diminishing the jest of the statement.
"I don't know," Os answered honestly. "I guess we ought to wake everyone and see if the Digimon know what's near by." With that he nudged Solarmon with one arm and gave Rei a quick jolt with the other, waking the two and Moonmon in the process.
Rei yawned and wiped her eyes, clearing her vision. She looked upwards at her brothers.
"We're still here?" she asked innocently. The child pouted. A part of her expected falling asleep in the Digital World to be like falling asleep on the couch- when you awoke, you were in your own bed. Os nodded. Rei seemed disappointed for a moment but quickly recovered when she realized for once she was up before Hi.
Before Os could grab her, Rei leapt to her feet and ran the short distance to Hi. She jumped on her sister, waking her up rather unpleasantly. Hi's sudden movement jolted Orangemon and Wormmon into consciousness as well.
"ABA-CHAN!" Hi screeched. She scooped up the offending eight-year-old and dumped her into Os's arms.
Os, holding the squirming Rei, felt the ground shake beneath his feet, before realizing that it was the product of the tree he stood under shaking. A rather large swarm of bug-like Digimon erupted from the tree with more than a little fury.
"Oh, crap," Dai breathed.
"I guess this is what you meant, Solarmon," Os said to the Digimon.
"Yeah, something like that," the creature agreed.
Hi gaped at the oncoming Digimon.
"What do they want?!?" she yelped.
"I think we woke them," Orangemon answered. "And apparently, they are some of those 'bad' Digimon we mentioned yesterday."
"What makes you think that?" Hi asked.
"A good Digimon would just roll over and go back to sleep," Wormmon said from Hi's other side.
Rei screamed and clutched Moonmon against her, trying vainly to protect the Digimon. Somehow, Rei's futile attempts to help Moonmon caused a reaction in the creature. She jumped from Rei's arms.
"MOONMON Digi-volve to… TSUKIMON!!!"
A flash of white light from Rei's Digi-vice met the orb-like Digimon and in a similar flash of red light, a white rabbit looking …thing stood in the place of her In-Training form.
"MOONSHINE!" the rabbit digimon screamed, hurling sparks at the children's attackers.
"Were supposed to fight them?!?" Hi exclaimed, seeing her sister's Digimon make quick work of a small portion of the offending group. "What are you waiting for?!?" she harshly asked her own Digimon.
"ORANGEMON Digi-volve to… YELLOWMON!!!"
A flash of white light from Hi's Digi-vice met the orange Digimon and in a similar flash of pink light, a yellow creature resembling a sort of large wild cat stood in the place of her In-Training form.
"SPECTRUM BLAST!" Yellowmon's attack coupled with another strike from Tsukimon managed to succeed in either deleting or driving away the rest of the group.
"Wh-what just happened?" Dai stuttered.
"We digi-volved," Tsukimon said. "Yellowmon and I are now in our Rookie forms. It's the natural state of a Digimon."
"You're going to stay like that?" Rei asked. Tsukimon nodded. Rei smiled broadly, she thought the Digimon was very cute now. Fluffy, too.
"Now what?" Hi asked. "We met some bad Digimon, so what? We can't just keep beating them up. We've got to figure out what's going on."
"Hi-chan's right," Os said, "We should probably scout around some, get as much info as we can and plan around that." Dai, Hi and the Digimon agreed, but everything was still a bit over Rei's head.
"What do you say we scout out a restaurant?" Solarmon asked.
"You have those here?" Dai asked. "YES!"
"Natives are buying!" Hi declared. She was met with a chorus of 'Yeah's from the humans and groans from the Digimon.
"But I was only hatched yesterday!" Yellowmon protested. "I don't have any money!"
"I don't suppose we could get a credit card…" Os mused.
"Or work off a debt by saving the world."
"Or use our wonderful powers of persuasion."
"Or starve."
"Or eat termites. Do they have termites here?"
"I hope," Os said to all the Digimon regarding the twins banter, "that you're not getting too sick of this. You’re going to be hearing it a lot."
To Be Continued…