A/N: Okay so as a new writer, I don't have much to say but I hope you will all enjoy my story. I also want to thank Broken Angel01 for the idea of Tai as a firefighter which I saw mentioned in her next gen fic, despite having not read it. So I'm not too proud of the Sorato scene but they're both a little subtle so I feel that's how it would be. Any tips are welcome though. Ages of the DigiDestined in my story are:

Tai, Matt and Sora: 23

Mimi and Izzy: 22

Joe: 24

Davis, Ken, TK and Kari: 19

Cody: 16

Yolei: 20

Chapter 01: Faded Crests

It had been seven years since the defeat of MaloMyotismon and the gang had mostly remained close and everyone had decided to come together for Tai's soccer finale. If he won, he would be able to play in the International finale, something which he very much hoped for even if soccer was a side passion to his firefighting course. The group had been busy in their own lives because Matt had quit the band and was now working as a solo artist, Sora had begun a fashion designing course, Mimi was in America despite them keeping in touch with her regularly, Izzy had started a computer engineering course and Joe was well on his way to becoming a doctor. The younger group wasn't much different.

Yolei was doing a psychology course because she wanted to help people with their darkness, much like she had helped Kari in their adventure. Kari had followed her dream and started a teaching course where she had reunited with Noriko, the two having become good friends since they were doing the same course. TK was doing short writing courses and writing smaller stuff at home, publishing it on blogs, no matter how much everyone said he was wasting his life away by not doing something proper. Davis, on the other hand, as boring as it was had started a Bachelor in Business Administration so he could make the marks to start his noodle cart business eventually. Ken was in his first year of Policing because in order to be Detective, he'd need to be a police officer first. Cody was still in his second last year of high school which was getting even more stressful because he was about to graduate in a year or two.

Needless to say, Tai had hassled everyone a few times to make time to come to this soccer match and everyone had promised they would try. Tai was just changing into his soccer gear when he took out his phone to check the time on his phone, his Crest of Courage falling out accidentally. A couple of months after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, Gennai had contacted Izzy and told them that the material crests had been able to be recovered. The Original DigiDestined had been glad at this and instantly gone to the digital world to retrieve them.

Unfortunately, as soon as they returned back from retrieving the crests, the ports had closed without warning and even the D-3s could not open them. Izzy had attempted to get the ports open but seven years had passed since then and no such luck. The DigiDestined had attempted to move forward with their lives but it wasn't so easy and even though no one outright said anything they all missed the digimon deeply which was why the original DigiDestined kept their crests close while the younger ones did the same with their D-Terminals.

However, today when Tai's Crest fell out of his bag, his eyes widened as his normally bright shining orange crest was a dull black right now. He didn't understand why and what could have gone wrong now but the dull Crest made a chill run down his spine. They hadn't been able to find a way into the Digital World for awhile – could something have gone wrong already? Before he could think much member, one of his team members Nori came inside.

"Hey Tai you ready to come out yet?" He asked softly.

Tai nodded. "Yeah I'll be right out." He shoved his Crest back in his bag and put in the corner of the locker room. He'd have to ask Izzy about it after the game. Agumon, please be alright. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you.

Kari had been finishing off some work for University but decided to leave it for tomorrow since she had a day off. Besides, she had promised her brother to attend his soccer match. Her hair had grown slightly longer and now touched her shoulders somewhat. She decided to wear her beautiful crest as a necklace as it was always a reminder of the special moments she shared with her best Digital Friend seven years ago.

As she reached to take it out though, a gasp left her lips as she saw the darkened crest. Something inside her heart clenched as it began beating way too fast for it to be considered normal. What could have gone wrong? Even through all her adventures, Gatomon had never lost her light – did that mean she had lost it? Kari knew she had been a little depressed lately but didn't think it was enough to get her Crest to stop shining altogether.

Looking at the time again, she tugged her Crest under her shirt and headed out. That was a mistake though because as soon as she stepped out, her Crest tightened against her throat and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Coughing to try and get her breath back, her fingers clasped around the string of the Crest which she tugged at causing it to break and fall to the floor. The brunette coughed into her hand, clutching at her chest and wondered what on earth was going on.

The Crest is acting kind of strange…maybe I shouldn't take it with me after all.

Kari wrapped it in some tissues and shoved it into her handbag and once she was stable enough, she began to head to the soccer game, hoping against hope that something wasn't terribly wrong.

Mimi was happy to be back in Japan. She had arrived last night and could not wait to surprise Tai at his soccer game. She had heard the whole team would be there so she'd really surprise them all. She wondered how much everyone had changed. She was still tired from the flight but she wanted to be there for the game as she had a rather soft spot for the goggleheaded boy since their first adventure but he had never seemed interest so she didn't make it obvious. Touching up her make-up slightly, she headed to the field, seeing Tai and the others warming up. "Tai! Hey!"

Tai's teammates all looked at each other.

"Tai, that your girlfriend man?" Teruo, a teammate of Tai's said. "She's hot."

Mimi giggled at this especially since Tai flushed at the comment and this made her curious. Had she changed that much that she had made him speechless? She didn't know but either way, she shook her head. Tai would never just go for her because she was pretty…he had more depth than that or she would have never fallen for him.

"No, she's just a friend," Tai finally replied before approaching her. "Hey Mimi I didn't expect you to be here." A small smile appeared on his face and his eyes brightened slightly.

Mimi smiled. "I wanted to surprise you! Are you ready for the match?"

Tai nodded and shrugged. "Yeah I guess…"

Mimi searched his face and realized he didn't seem his usual upbeat self. She could tell he was happy she was here but something seemed to be bothering him. "Tai what is it? What's wrong?"

Tai shook his head. "Nothing Mimi…sorry about Teruo. He's a bit of an idiot."

Mimi giggled at the apology. "Are you flustered at me being called your girlfriend?"

Tai turned slightly pink and raised an eyebrow, leaning close to her, so close that Mimi could feel his breath trickle her ear. "Should I be?"

Mimi's own face flushed slightly pink and her heart skipped a beat. Okay, so her friend was sending her…some signals possibly or was he just flirting? He was a jock now, so either could be possible when it came to him. But two could play that game. "Well…" She twirled a lock of her brown hair, gazing innocently into his beautiful brown eyes. "I am irresistible…"

"Is that it, Princess?" Tai said coyly, pressing a soft kiss to her neck causing the brunette to gasp. He heard wolf-whistles behind him and suddenly pulled away, turning red and rubbing the back of his head. "Guys! Focus on the game! The match is about to start!"

"You two make a cute couple," Nori teased.

Mimi was a little confused at Tai's sudden pulling away. What did these signals mean? Did Tai like her or was he just messing around with her? She decided to push away those thoughts since he was her friend so he would never hurt her no matter what happened. She observed him trying to get his teammates away. "Tai? Are you sure something isn't bothering you?"

Tai turned to him, rubbing the back of his head. "Well actually…" He didn't have the chance to say just what was bothering him though as the game starting signal signed then. "I have to go! We'll talk later!"

The brunette sighed and wished she could be more sincere with herself. She had always kept her feelings to herself since the first adventure because she felt Tai liked Sora. But now with Sora and Matt dating, she didn't know how Tai felt about it. Given the fact that he seemed pretty normal around Matt, she guessed it didn't bother him. Why can't I just be honest with my own feelings? She wished she knew but all she knew was that when Tai pressed that kiss to her neck, her heart felt as if it would burst and she knew Tai had probably heard how fast her heart was beating. And he was clearly enjoying flirting with her…or maybe he was just teasing her. Gosh, this was too much thinking and she decided she'd talk to Sora about it.

Matt placed a flower in Sora's hair, one he had actually gotten from her flower shop and took her hand in his own. He had never been an expert on love and for a long time, he hadn't realized his feelings for Sora had grown. They had always been friends but as she grew into a beautiful young woman with a heart of gold, he realized his feelings for her had surpassed friendship ages ago.

Sora blushed, a small smile gracing her features. "It's beautiful, Matt." Her heart skipped a beat at how much he always did for her.

"Not more than you," The blond whispered in response, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear causing her to smile.

"Matt…you're amazing," Sora said softly. "I'm so lucky." She wrapped her arms around him, leaning a bit to rest her head on his shoulder, since he was slightly taller than her.

"I'm the lucky one," Matt replied, kissing her just below the earlobe causing her to shiver in slight pleasure. He knew they had to go to Tai's soccer match as they had both promised him they'd be there but he'd risk being late because right now being in the arms of the woman he loved was a lot more beautiful than anything in the world. Everything else seemed insignificant. No one and nothing else mattered but the woman in his arms who could light up the whole world with her amazing smile.

Izzy, being the smart one and the definite keeper of Knowledge as many would call him had noticed his Crest a few days ago and had immediately called Ken and Yolei over a bit before Tai's soccer game was due to start. They were both smart as well, so he figured discussing this with them before anyone else would be the best idea so he had called them over.

"So Izzy what's the big emergency?" Yolei asked as she sat down.

"My Crest has died," Izzy told them both, showing it to them for confirmation sakes. "Ken, do you still have your Crest?"

Ken shook his head. "I gave it up to stop the reactor remember? But I don't understand why the original crests have died. Your Crest was the Crest of Knowledge after all and you haven't stopped trying to learn new things. In fact with your course, you've only learnt more and more things to be honest. I don't really understand why the Crests have died to be honest."

Izzy sighed. He didn't understand it either. "I wish I could answer that…my only theory is something has gone wrong with the digital world but I can't get a gate to open even with the D-3 so I'm not sure what to do. I was hoping you guys had some ideas to be honest because I've tried everything I can." He didn't like sounding so hopeless but he had tried everything he could, hacking, changing data, you name it and still had come with nothing. It was as if the digital world had been cut out from their lives, as if it were never there in the first place.

Ken and Yolei exchanged a glance, before the former quickly flushed and looked away.

"Do you feel that someone manipulated the data of the digital world itself?" Yolei asked curiously unsure of what to think about things right now.

"Is that even possible?" Ken said quietly. "I mean even when I built the Control Spires, it didn't lock the gates and that changed the data of the digital world too remember?"

Izzy and Yolei both nodded, the former pondering this.

"I say we discuss this with the others and see if their crests have faded away as well," Izzy said before checking the time. "Besides, Tai's soccer game has already started and we should at least be there for some of it."

Ken laughed at that. "I told Davis I'd be a little late anyway."

Yolei huffed. "Davis is always late anyway! I have no idea how Kari is going to deal with that when they get married."

Ken appeared puzzled at this and glanced at Yolei in confusion who flushed and turned away. Izzy hid a smile at this. He may act clueless but he did know Ken and Yolei felt something for one another even if the two didn't realise it yet themselves.

"Come on," Izzy said, packing his computer and burying his Crest somewhere in his computer bag. "Tai's going to be disappointed if we don't show up. And Ken? Can you make sure Davis does get there? I know Tai was really looking forward to him being there."

Ken finally looked away from Yolei (who wasn't looking at him after her slip of tongue) and nodded at Izzy, texting Davis. "I'll make sure he gets there. Let's head out."

Davis on the other hand was rushing to get to Tai's soccer game because he was late as usual. It wasn't his fault – it was Jun's! Honestly, why did that stupid girl always needed to start an argument at the wrong time when he had other things to worry about? He managed to just make it though at the same time as Kari who was sitting in the bleachers, looking worried about something.

"Hey what's up?" Davis said, going and sitting next to her.

Kari looked up at him with a small smile. "You're late."

Davis huffed. "It was Jun's fault! She started arguing with me about how her hair looked cause she was going on a date with Jim! I swear, that girl…sometimes I wish I was an only child!"

Kari laughed a small bit. "Jun cares about you a lot and I know you care about her too. Can't you two try and get along?"

"She's the one who always starts the fights!" Davis retorted and flushed as Kari raised her eyebrow at that. "Ok fine maybe I start some of them too…but only some of them."

Kari sighed. "Oh Davis..."

Davis shrugged. He knew he and Jun got into a lot of fights but it was just the way they were. When the battle of MaloMyotismon had been ongoing, he knew Jun was worrying over him from what his Mom and Dad had told him but now that things were okay, anyway Kari seemed worried about something and why was her neck red? "Kari, what happened to your neck?"

Kari tensed a bit, averting her gaze to the floor. "Nothing."

"Kari…" Davis said, crossing his arms. "Look, we've been friends for a long time and I know when something's wrong and something's wrong so what's wrong?"

Kari shivered a bit, biting her lower lip. "My Crest…it won't shine anymore, Davis. And I tried to put it around my neck since I always wear it as a necklace and it tightened around it trying to choke me. It's in my bag right now but I had to cut apart the strings…" A tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what to think. I…I haven't lost my light have I?"

Davis listened to her and pulled her into a hug. In many ways, Kari reminded him of Ken. Both of them were way too hard on themselves and took too much responsibility of things that weren't really their fault ultimately. "I don't buy it for a minute that you've lost your light. When the darkness is at it's peak, Kari, your light shines through the darkness. You're the light that wards off the darkness and I know…you can still brighten me up and bring a smile to my face no matter what mood I'm in and I'm sure the others feel the same."

Kari buried her face in Davis's shoulder, a few tears rolling down her cheek even though his words brought her comfort. Did she really make him feel like that? "Thank you Davis…I just wish I knew what was wrong."

Davis stroked her hair, his cheeks turning slightly pink as he comforted her and was glad Kari's face was hidden in his shoulder so she couldn't see his face. Why was he feeling like this? Why was his heart beating so fast all of a sudden? He had told himself he had gotten over the beautiful woman in his arms – she liked T.K. so he didn't stand a chance and he had come to terms with that awhile ago and stopped being so jealous of his two friends. Then why was his heart skipping a beat now? Ignoring this, he focused on Kari's words. "We'll talk to Izzy about it, maybe he knows something." He then quickly pulled away from her. "Anyway, we should get back to the game."

"Davis?" Kari said puzzled. "Are you…?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Davis quickly cut her off. "We'll focus on this after the game ok?" He moved to sit down just as Izzy, Ken and Yolei came in, leaving Kari staring at him in surprise.

Cody and TK were walking towards Tai's soccer match together and Cody appeared puzzled by the information his DNA partner had told him.

"And your Crest stopped shining?" Cody confirmed.

TK nodded quickly. "Yeah I looked at it this morning and it was completely dull." Something which made his heart sink in his chest. Losing Patamon was a wound that had never really healed to be honest and it probably never would and the fact that his amazing partner might have lost hope sent shivers down his spine. Mainly because Patamon was more optimistic than he was. It was Patamon who believed they'd see each other again after the first adventure when he had been crying his eyes out at the fact that they had to separate.

"That is odd," Cody mused. "Sure, you've grown up TK but you still always encourage all of us to follow our dreams so I don't think there's anything wrong with your hope…I wish I could say this with the same certainty for our digimon though."

"Me too," TK agreed with a sigh. "I really don't want to lose Patamon again." They had finally arrived at the soccer game which had already started. His brother and Sora weren't there yet, neither was Joe but Davis, Kari, Ken, Izzy and Yolei were there already. So was…wow was that Mimi? She sure had changed from the second adventure. Her hair now went down to her waist, curly and brown and she had grown taller and definitely yes…more attractive, but not moreso than Kari.

He wasn't sure what his feelings for Kari were. He cared about her and thought the two of them definitely had something between them but Kari so silent about her feelings that he could never tell what she was really thinking unless she told him what she was feeling. However, pushing that aside, he went to join his friends and sat with them. "Hey guys."

"Hey TK," Yolei said smiling a bit. "Looks like we all got a little late huh? Hey Kari, is Noriko coming?"

Kari shook her head. "She's still a bit uncomfortable with the whole group considering everything that happened and all. Besides, we all made it to the match. TK, isn't Matt coming?"

TK sighed. "He had a date with Sora so the two of them will probably come together." He glanced at Mimi who was having some conversation with Izzy in a serious tone and wondered what the two of them were talking about. Maybe they had noticed about the crests too? Izzy probably had, knowing him and was telling Mimi about it. He sighed, leaning back into his seat and turning to watch the game. Somehow, his gut feeling said something wasn't right in the digital world and that he would be seeing Patamon again real soon. I just hope he's alright when I do see him again…

Joe knew Tai would be disappointed. He had missed all his friend's calls and only sent a text that he wasn't coming. He did feel a little guilty considering Tai had really wanted him to be there but he couldn't. Medical School was getting tougher and if he ever wanted to really be a doctor, he had to work hard. Not that I'll be able to become one…my scores are never even close to the top ten. Of course he had never told his friends this because they'd just encourage him that he could do it even if deep inside they knew otherwise. Gomamon would probably do that too.

His thoughts drifted to his partner as he put his pencil down and wished the little guy was here. He always knew what to say to make him feel better and Gomamon was a horrible liar. He knew if the digimon said he could do it, he'd honestly believe it too. But he knew, right now even Gomamon would think he was in over his head. His phone rang again and he almost was ready to press the cancel button when he saw it was Sora calling and sighed. He answered it.

"Yes, Sora?" Joe said softly.

"Matt and I are almost at Tai's game," Sora spoke into the phone. "Are you sure you can't come? Not even for a few minutes?"

"I'm sorry Sora," Joe said sighing a bit. "I wish I could but I have an exam tomorrow and really can't focus on taking a break right now."

There was a pause before he heard Sora sigh a small bit. "Alright, well you know we're all rooting for you to become a doctor but please don't push yourself too hard. You are eating and sleeping aren't you?"

Joe couldn't help but laugh at that. It was so like Sora to make sure he wasn't overworking himself, they didn't call her the Team Mom for nothing. "Yes, Sora, I'm making sure I eat and sleep." For the most part…He had been neglecting his health a bit but Sora didn't need to know that part since he hadn't crashed…yet. Plus she would just worry, tell Tai and gather a team confrontation like the last time he had gotten too depressed. They had even brought Mimi on video call from America! Honestly, he loved how much his friends cared but even they couldn't do anything about the failure he'd become.

"That's good then," Sora said, sighing in relief. "Take care of yourself ok Joe?"

"I will," Joe promised. "Thanks Sora. You and Matt have fun at Tai's game. Bye." He hung up and put his head on the table. I'm sorry Tai. You deserve a better friend than me.