And so begins the Epilogue... one chapter left! Enjoy, and as per usual, I own nothin.

One Year Later

Sora stretched her arms and turned her face to the warm sun. Next to her Kari, Yolei and Mimi were on the hunt for a place to eat. They had just finished a morning at the beach and were starving. She still couldn't believe how lucky it was that that Izzy and Yolei's tech conference, Mimi's fashion collaboration, Matt's battle of the band's performance and Tai's job interview all occurred within a week. Even better, they were able to meet up on Oahu after, where Mimi's parents had purchased a HUGE house for their anticipated retirement in a few years, for a vacation/reunion.

The past year had been rough on everyone, especially Tai. After they figured out that Stella was MIA, a giant search had commenced. She had asked Biyomon to get in touch with Feymon, only she had apparently already hooked up with Stella and no one had seen her since. They had scoured address books, but no one they found was their target. Izzy had tried to find her through the license records, and still nothing.

Tai remained hopeful that once soccer season started, she would catch his name or a picture in the paper, and would come find him, but no such luck. Right around Halloween, he gave up, saying he needed to move on. He would never admit it, but it was breaking his heart that she was gone, and he hadn't given up hope, and definitely hadn't moved on. Sora, Kari and Matt all knew this because anytime he saw someone with long brown hair he looked like someone told him Christmas came early.

He also had stopped going to parties, forgot about any girl besides Stella, and had focused on his classwork and soccer. Thanks to Stella's unintended influence, he had graduated with just below a 4.0 and had been offered a job in Santa Monica, California working in the diplomatic relations area. Kari, TK and Davis had all graduated high school, and were attending college in the coming fall. Kari and TK were lucky to attend the same school, both were off to Berkeley to study writing and photography, while Davis was attending the same school as Tai had on a soccer scholarship (major undecided). Yolei and Ken were happily attending Tokyo University and living together, Yolei interning with Izzy. Cody was in his senior year of high school, hoping to go to America to study medicine: he was hoping to be a physical therapist.

Sora had also graduated, and was currently working with Mimi in Los Angeles, where she was spearheading a collaboration between some American clothing brands and the company in Tokyo she was working for. Matt's band had just finished their Battle of the Bands round, and had come out on top, winning a chance to audition for a local producer, which had gone spectacular. They had just signed a two album contract. Sora and Matt were still engaged, and in the process of planning the wedding, which was extremely tiring. Sora wished they would just elope, and was considering doing it while on vacation. Joe and Mimi had just gotten engaged, and Joe was also in America, finishing his studies, working under one of the surgeons at UCLA.

Izzy's company had taken flight, and "Prodigious Tech" was all over Japan. He had been attending a tech conference in Oahu and had been the one to suggest the group meet up. Mimi had immediately agreed, offering up her parent's home in Kailua as a place for the gang to stay. It wasn't hard to convince the rest, considering all they had to pay for was a flight.

They had all been there for a few days and it had been marvelous. Their Digimon were joining them in two days for the tail end of the vacation, and all the tourist excursions were completed. Now they were lazing it up at the beach. The boys were on their way back from surfing, and the girls had taken a girls day. Kari pointed out a small little surfer bar called 'Tidals' and Sora messaged Matt the name so he could come meet them and grab the spare set of keys for Mimi's house.

Walking in, Jack Johnson was playing softly in the background. Kari slipped a pink tank over her pale pink bikini top, and Yolei pulled her still wet hair into a bun. Mimi walked up to the bartender, dressed in denim cutoffs, a white tank and an unbuttoned blue flannel with rolled sleeves and her long brown hair in a braid, and asked her for some menus. The girl froze, and holding a jug of olives turned around slowly. Her hazel eyes held the same surprise as the first time the girls saw them, and she still had that moon tattoo below her collarbone along with a wave tattooed on her inner left wrist. Her neck was home to a small orange crest bearing the sun, hanging by a silver chain.

Dropping the jug of olives, she screamed and hurdled the bar, wrapping Mimi in a hug, who returned it tenfold. The other three gawked, their brains not processing the girl in front of them. Releasing Mimi, the girl threw herself at Sora, crying out "No. Fucking. Way."

Kari and Yolei jumped in to form a four-way hug, all of them screaming. When they emerged, Kari was first to speak. "Stella! But… how? We spent weeks trying to track you down, how did you end up here?"

Stella grinned, and gestured at them to have a seat. She walked back behind the bar, and poured a round of tequila shots, waving off Kari and Yolei's protests that they were underage. "Dude, no one will know. Just sit and take the damn shot! This is a reunion here!" Once shots were taken and the girls were all settled, Stella began her tale.

"So, i got dropped in some random market," she began, taking a shot of tequila before continuing, "because apparently my continuous comings and goings had whatever controlled the transport between the two worlds all fucked up. I freaked out, worried I was in a random world, or halfway across Earth, but realized pretty quickly I was in some Tokyo mini-mart. After I bargained my way back to Odaiba and my small apartment, I obviously tried to find all of you. And I succeeded, right around Halloween."

"Wait! If you found us, why didn't we ever hear from you again?" Yolei questioned.

Stella shifted, looking embarrassed. "Well, after reading about Tai's soccer team winning, I decided I would surprise him. After he told me that he was falling in love with me I stupidly assumed he would wait for me. But a few days before Halloween, I went to the soccer pitch to see him after practice, when I saw him hugging some girl with long black hair streaked with silver and blue. He kissed her on the cheek, and they walked away with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. I left, and while I wanted to see all of you, couldn't stand seeing Tai. I had come into my inheritance, and used it to pay off my degree and yoga teacher training. After Tai unknowingly stuck a million pins into my heart, I donated a shitton to charity, and stuck all but three grand of what was left of my money into an American savings account. Then, I took the last three and headed out. I traveled around Asia, South Africa, spent a few weeks living in the mountains in Costa Rica, and eventually got a part time job teaching yoga, and bartending here. It's not much, but it's peaceful."

"Wait, you said you saw him with that girl right before Halloween?" Kari asked suspiciously.

"Well, yeah, three days before. Why?"

Kari paused. "Well… the funny thing is… you saw me with Tai." Ignoring Stella's face, she continued. "I had been trying on wigs for my halloween costume- I was going as a witch- and decided to spook Tai."

Stella's face fell. "Oh. Well I guess I should be happy he wasn't with a girl, although by now I bet he's found someone better than me."

Yolei opened her mouth, but Sora elbowed her and answered in her place. "Well, actually, we aren't sure. He hasn't filled us in, and he isn't on this trip because of work. It sucks because everyone else made it, but he couldn't."

Yolei, Mimi, and Kari all turned to look at Sora like she grew an extra head while Stella sighed. "Well… that's… whatever I guess." She brightened up a second later. "Hey! All of you should come to the beach bonfire party tonight! I'm actually off any minute, and then I'm going to get ready and I'm heading over! Why don't you girls come with me and the boys can meet us there? It's going to be a party you won't want to miss! You can borrow clothes and everything!"

Mimi pulled Sora aside while Kari and Yolei worked out the details with Stella and messaged the boys the new plan, only telling them that they had made a new friend. Meanwhile, Mimi glared at Sora. "Why did you tell Stella TWO lies? We both know that boy is still pining for her, and that he's here, on Oahu with the boys."

"Because Mimi I want to see the look on both of their faces when they realize they are together again." Sora hissed. "And it'll be an awesome surprise." Mimi thought for a moment, and then grinned, and whipping out her D-Terminal, messaged the other two girls, who quickly turned around and winked.

"So Matt still needs to pick up the set of keys so they can get into the house, but the others are meeting him at the surfboard rental shop. He should be here any minute." Sora announced over Ke$ha 40 minutes later. Stella was off work, and was sitting in an olive colored jeep missing it's top, wearing aviators and a dark blue hat over her now unbraided hair. The other three were also in the Jeep, and Sora was sitting on the hood, keeping an eye out for Matt.

Soon, a familiar blonde head was spotted, accompanied by an almost identical one. TK waved at Kari while Matt waved at Sora, who tossed him the key before swinging into the front seat. "See you guys in a while!" she yelled, then the mystery brunette driving wolf whistled at the confused brothers before peeling out of the parking lot.

TK blinked. "Dude, what just happened?"

"Well bro, I'd say we got ditched for our lunch date. At least we've got a party to go to!" Matt responded. His D-Terminal flashed, and he read the latest message. "Hmm…. looks like we need to bring alcohol…. Preferably Tequila, Corona, or both, with lots of limes. Well, let's meet the guys and go shopping."

"So do you still have feelings for Tai?" Mimi pulled the pink, flowing, cut out dress over her head. The girls were in Stella's house, which in truth was more of a small shack. It was one large area with a small white table with two chairs pushed up against the wall. It was bright, with pale blue curtains hanging on the windows and a big bed with a white quilt covering it in one corner. A pile of books was next to a small night stand was the resting place for a picture of Stella with her parents. There was a yoga mat rolled up in another corner next to a small altar covered in stones, and a laptop was sitting on the table. She had a makeshift closet made from a long silver pipe hanging from the ceiling and a small dresser. The stove and refrigerator were across the house from the bed, and a surfboard, skateboard, and bike were outside in a small shed Stella had haggled from a local along with snorkel gear.

The girls were picking things to wear to the party Stella's had told them about. Stella lived on the beach north of Kailua on the outskirts of the North Shore, and her friends lived 10 minutes up the beach. Since the area was inhabited mostly by surfers, Stella explained, they were usually the location of any wild bonfires or celebrations thrown.

"Well, if by feelings you mean I haven't met any guy that remotely compares to him then yeah. I do." Stella said bluntly. "But what does it matter? I'm here, and he's in Japan."

The girls exchanged looks, and Yolei picked up a pair of black shorts, holding them up. Stella nodded her approval, and tossed a grey tank with a dark blue wave on the front her way. Sora was keeping her red shorts on, but had snagged a black tank top with fringe down the sides from Stella. Kari had found a pair of white cutoffs and kept her pink tank top, stealing a silver necklace with a crescent moon on it.

"You all look fabulous! Now, let's get going, don't want to miss anything!" Stella said with a wink. She was wearing pale blue denim cutoffs with silver and blue feathers embroidered on the front, and a flowy silver tank over teal bikini bottoms and top.. She also wore Tai's crest. Her hair fell wild down her back, along with all the other girls.

They started walking down the beach, Stella carrying a bag with everyone's bikinis. Sora and Kari carried bags containing towels and water, while Yolei, holding two bottles of some concoction of Stella's, checked her D-Terminal, and announced that the boys were on their way. "They should be parking at Stella's house and heading up in 15 minutes." she said, balancing the bottles in one arm.

"Hey! Don't drop those, they're my own special recipe." Stella said frowning. Ahead of them a large bonfire was sighted, and the sounds of Ignition by R. Kelly could be heard.

"Stells! Wassup my moon goddess?" A tall surfer with a hawaiian tribal tattoo down his arm swept Stella into a hug as she laughed. Setting her down, he turned to the other three. "And who are these Wahine?"

"Ollie, these are my friends from Japan: Sora, Kari, Mimi and Yolei. And before you try out your slick moves, they're taken. Spread the word around, especially to Zeke and Harry. I don't need jealous boyfriends and idiots messing with the party" Ollie shook the girl's hands, took the alcohol from Yolei, and guided them over to the group. People were gathered by the bonfire dancing, drinking, and there was a pop up soccer game going on.

"Yo!" Stella yelled, and in turn the crowd all paused to yell greetings back. She introduced the girls, and told everyone to keep an eye out for a group of guys including two tall blondes. Nodding, the guy in charge of music turned it back up, and the girls all grabbed drinks. Stella dragged Sora and Kari to dance while Yolie kept an eye out for Ken and the others.