LOSS AND GAIN

By milesprower06

Prologue

Takato stood on a street corner in busy downtown Tokyo. He had his regular everyday clothes on – blue short-sleeve hoody, khaki pants rolled up at the ankles; but he didn't bring his goggles with him – he didn't really know why he left them at home. Standing in front of a door to a psychologist's office, he wondered how it had all led to this. At first glance, it all seemed so fast. His mind couldn't make sense of it; he didn't understand. Then again, that's why he was here; to try and unravel everything. He turned the doorknob, and walked inside. He walked to the front desk and told the receptionist he had an appointment. She checked the books, confirmed, and led him to a medium sized room. There was a fine oak desk in front of the small window, and the paint and fixtures gave it a relaxing atmosphere. At the desk, sat Dr. Morgan, the psychologist that Henry had recommended to him. She wore silver glasses, had long, graying hair, and was in her 50s. Various diplomas and framed qualifications hung on the wall behind her. She looked up at him, and greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Takato. I'm Dr. Morgan. Please, make yourself comfortable" she said, making a light hand gesture toward the couch. He nodded, smiling lightly at her. Smiling…something he hadn't done genuinely in awhile. He was a wreck, and he knew he needed to get himself some help. So here he was. He lay out on the black leather couch, resting his head on a pillow on the armrest. Dr. Morgan took her place in a chair a few feet away. "So, what's troubling you?" she asked in a soothing manner.

"I – I don't even know where to start" Takato replied. "Take your time. How about at the beginning?" she suggested. Takato thought deeply. The beginning…where everything started to go wrong…

The beginning of this mess would have to be shortly after the D-Reaper crisis. It started with Jeri…

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Takato still had trouble thinking about it. She seemed to be on the road to recovery – she even forgave Impmon for what he had done. But…when the digital pathways opened again and the tamers' Digimon returned, and when Leomon didn't, she began to fall back into despair again…knowing that he was gone for good…that last fleeting hope defeated. Three days later, her dad found her pale in her bed. She had died in her sleep, overdosed on some street drug. The autopsy revealed that she had taken over three times the largest suggested dose; they reported it as intentional suicide. Takato had a hard time believing that. He didn't go to the funeral, but he eventually got up the courage to visit her grave, and did so several times.

But a Tamer never stays still for long. With the digital gates open again, wild Digimon began to appear around the world. Kazu and Kenta moved to North America, so they did their job over there. Ryo returned to the Digital World with Cyberdramon, and Suzie wasn't much for fighting with Lopmon, so it had returned to just Takato, Henry, and Rika, with Guilmon, Terriermon, and Renamon at their sides. There were several hundred Tamers all over the world, and their D-Arcs had limited range, so up until then, the three of them just traveled around Tokyo. But, several weeks later, Rika's D-Arc picked up a signal from Egypt…a signal that would change everything…