Author's Notes: Shalom means "peace" in Hebrew. Sora, as I seem to recall, means sky in Japanese.

There are some very blatant religious overtones in this chapter, namely towards my own Christian heritage. Sora, I assume, would have more Shinto leanings, and the reader (you!) is free to insert whatever God he/she feels appropriate, or none at all (the Force could easily work as well). For those who choose not to use the Judeo-Christian God, simply ignore the poem at the end.

Sora opened her eyes, her gaze meeting the darkened expanse of the night sky. She smiled at it, her chin cupped in her hand, with her arm propped up on the armrest. Beneath her, the bus hummed as it raced across the highway.

Sora enjoyed the rides home. She was alone, in the fullest sense of the word. Whether there were a hundred people or one person on the bus, Sora was alone. It scared some people, she knew. Taichi for one couldn't stand being alone. All silences between them were awkward for him, though for Sora, the awkward part was when he started saying random things to ward away the silence. Silence reminded Taichi of being alone too much. Yamato too, hated being alone, though he hid it much better than the other. He would always fidget, or look around to see if there was someone he knew. Sora learned that after she arrived late for more than one date.

But Sora revelled in being alone. She had nothing to hide, because there was no one to see her faults. She was free. Free from expectations from her family, her friends – even herself. Sora was amazed at how much pressure existed in the world. It would have driven her insane had she not found this respite.

Above, the purplish heavens hugged her. A sense of peace always overcame Sora during these times; though her father was more often than not away at a conference or a research talk, she felt as if there was an omnipresent father above her, manifesting himself in the embrace of the night sky. The light pollution Tokyo produced masked the stars, but that was okay. The street lights somewhat made up for that, beckoning to her like brothers and sisters in some universal family. She smiled at them, silently thanking them for the light they provided.

Taichi would probably laugh at her if he could hear her thoughts right now. But, as Sora realized, when she was alone, she could really feel all that was around her – perhaps it meant that she wasn't alone to begin with, merely accompanied by someone other than human or digimon. Sora shrugged inwardly. It didn't matter, who it was the she shared her time of being alone with.

Beside her, Biyomon cracked open an eye. The bird knew the look that had come across Sora's face; it was the look of utmost contentment. It was a face, Biyomon thought sadly, that was being seen less and less around the world.

"Sora," Biyomon asked, softly as to not interrupt her friend. "Who are you thinking about?"

"I don't know," Sora replied. "He's somewhere in the sky. I feel like he's looking out for us."

"Up in the sky?" Biyomon asked. "If we flew up there, would we find him?"

Sora laughed. "Maybe. I don't know. But at the same time, it feels like he's all around us too. Maybe we don't have to go up into the sky. Maybe we could just reach out and touch him..."

Biyomon's wings met only empty air, but she seemed to understand what Sora was saying. The bird closed her eyes, taking in the peaceful atmosphere that suddenly seemed to materialize in front of her. Sora turned to Biyomon and draped her coat over her friend.

"Sweet dreams, Biyomon. I'll wake you up when we arrive."

Biyomon didn't reply; she was already asleep. Sora turned back to the night sky, and continued to watch as the bus rolled on towards home.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Author's Note: I apologize if the story seems slightly "disjointed". In its defense, I suppose this story is supposed to be somewhat mystical (and since when has something mystical ever made sense?).