Author's Notes: Well, all good things must come to an end, I suppose. And here's the ending of this way too long tale. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's probably the longest fic I've ever written, and certainly the one I'm most proud of. I thank you all for taking time out of your lives to spend in my strange world.

Epilogue: Wrapping Up

After the destruction of Trikmon, and the return of the adults, life didn't go back to normal in Odaiba. Well, not after a while. Any celebration that might have started was quickly squelched when some parents returned home to find empty homes. Some children didn't make it out of the ordeal alive. A strange, surreal mass funeral was held for the lost ones, that was attended by almost all of Odaiba.

Then, after two weeks of murmured questions between neighbors, and glitzy articles in the newspaper, it all seemed to vanish. People went on with their lives as if it never happened. Any mention of a mass disappearance and monsters was regulated to tacky tabloids and lunatics who walked the streets preaching the end of the world.

It wasn't that anyone forgot what happened. They just chose to ignore it. Better to feign ignorance of the madness, than try to live in it. Monsters were for movies, and scary books.

Of course, there were some who knew quite well that monsters were for real... Even if they didn't quite look like monsters anymore.

***

"It's odd," Biyomon said, glancing at her pink hand. "I'm not a bird anymore. Am I really going to stay this way?" she asked.

"It seems so," Gennai nodded, tapping his cane. It would be a while before he could walk without it, but at least he was back in the Digital World, and it was safe and sound. The Digidestined had sent their digimon back with Gennai, to see if maybe a trip to their world would somehow trigger a transformation back to their old selves. No such luck. "Apparently, this state that Trikmon has put you all in is irreversible."

"So, we're human for the rest of our lives?" Patamon asked, trying to come to terms with never flying again.

"I... " Gennai sighed, nodding. He already knew their mixed feelings on the subject.

"I'm stuck with just two legs?" murmured Wormmon. His shook his two feet with a small frown.

"It looks good on you," Gatomon encouraged, softly. She seemed to be taking to her new, now-permament form rather well.

"So, what'll happen to us?" Tentomon asked. "We will grow old like humans? Or something else?"

"Something else?" Hawkmon repeated, blinking.

"Digivolving!" Armadimon perked, running a hand through his fly-by hair. "Can we digivolve?"

"I'm... I'm not really sure," Gennai admitted, curious himself about the idea. "It's a possibility, I suppose."

"I bet I'd look really cool as ExVeemon," Veemon said, a grin spreading on his face. "We'd be even bigger than we are now!"

"Maybe," cautioned Gennai. "Remember, we're not even sure you can digivolve in your new forms."

"Lillymon... " Palmon clasped her hands together, dreamily. "I wonder if my Lillymon form would be much different."

"You'd probably have a nose," Agumon pointed out.

"A nose?" Palmon placed a finger to her lips, wondering. Then she turned to Agumon with big eyes. "Do you think I'd be cute?"

"Uh, well... " he stuttered, flustered and blushing. "I-I think you l-look fine the way you are now."

"Really?" she grinned. "That's sweet, Agu! You know what?" Palmon whispered, leaning in close to him, her lips merely centimeters away from his ear. "I think you'd look really good as WarGreymon."

"Really?" Agumon squeaked, his face burning.

"Do you two need a room?" Gomamon snorted at the couple, making the two back away from each other, embarrassed.

"Oh, you're such a big mouthed jerk," Biyomon reprimanded. "Can't you appreciate a little romance?"

"Why, of course, Biyomon!" Gomamon declared with a wide smile. With a quick movement of his arm, he swept Biyomon up, just to tilt her back, so he could lean over her with his best bedroom eyes. "I am, after all, a romantic at heart. Moonlit strolls, candlelight dinners, stolen kisses, kinky beach scenes... I'm well versed in them all. Shall I show you?" he wriggled his eyebrows, suggestively.

Biyomon rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Idiot."

"Hmph!" Gomamon huffed, putting her back on her feet. "Now who's unromantic? Itai! Gabumon!" Now rubbing the back of his skull, he turned to the red eyed boy. "You're so mean!"

"So I've been told," Gabumon nodded, nonchalant. A movement caught his eye, and he called out, "Gennai! Where are you going?"

"Uh, home," muttered the old man. "I've got things to do, problems to fix, and all that."

"Wait!" Tentomon yelled. "I need to go back to the Real World. Izzy's-"

"Find a TV set," Gennai said. "I'll have someone waiting to open a portal for you."

"Thank you," replied Tentomon.

"Yes, yes," Gennai murmured. "Away to home I go, now. I'll see you all soon. To check up on you, naturally."

"Of course," Hawkmon agreed. Then, curious, he asked, "Gennai, what should we call ourselves now?"

That made Gennai turn, confused. "Pardon?"

"What should we call ourselves?" Hawkmon repeated. "What type are we? I'm certainly not a bird digimon anymore, neither is Biyomon. So, what are we?"

"That's a good question," admitted Gennai. He hummed for a few minutes, tapping his cane along with the beat of his own music, head tilted up as if he was smelling something.

"Catchy tune," muttered Gomamon, before yelling out in pain from another whack on the head. "So mean, Gabumon... "

Finally, Gennai stopped both his humming and his cane tapping. "I guess," he said, with a slight shrug, "that you're all Gijinka digimon now."

"Gijinka," Hawkmon repeated. "Personified. Yes," he nodded. "That does make sense, doesn't it?"

"Isn't Gijinka some sort of snack?" Patamon asked, making a face.

"Gijinka Pocky!" Gomamon exclaimed, this time dodging Gabumon's hand. "Now with almonds! Itai!" He clutched his throbbing shoulder, glaring at his assailant. "Biyomon!"

"Idiot," Biyomon stated, deadpan.

"Well, I like it," proclaimed Gatomon, with a satisfied smile. "I think it sounds nice. What about you, Wormmie-kun?"

"I... I don't know," Wormmon said, softly, looking at his arms and legs with renewed wonder. To think, he would stay like this. He turned to Gatomon, and looked into her aqua eyes. "I guess... I could get used to it."

"It's odd sounding," commented Armadimon. "But I guess it could be worse. Right?"

"Worse?" Hawkmon questioned.

"Well, we could be called Glitch digimon," Armadimon pointed out. "After all, we're kinda like glitches in the system, aren't we?"

"In a way, maybe," Palmon bit her lip. "You think?"

"Of course, not!" Agumon exclaimed, giving Palmon a reassuring one-armed hug. "We're not glitches. We're supposed to be here, and like this. Everything happens for a reason. Tai always says that."

During their discussion, no one noticed Gennai leaving, a wistful smile on his face.

Davis covered his ears, trying in vain to somehow mute the squealing. That horrible, high pitched, two-toned squealing from his parents that he had to listen to every Thursday night because their favorite comedy was on. Every Thursday Davis would wish they'd move the TV into their room. When they had disappeared, he had actually missed the usual, obnoxiously loud Thursdays in his house. He had thought when they returned that it wouldn't bother him so much anymore.

He quickly learned that was not the case.

Another loud chortle, whistle-high to indicate his mother, resounded inside the apartment. Desperate, Davis ducked his head under his pillow. Therefore, he didn't hear his sister walk into the room. Nor was he prepared for her to tap him on his shoulder.

"Gah!" he jerked, pulling the pillow off his head to smack his sister with it, more out of reflex than anything else.

"Hey!" Jun cried, taking the offending object out of his hands, and bonking him upside the head with it.

"Sorry," Davis muttered, sheepishly. "I didn't hear you come in."

"How could you hear anything?" she snorted. "Well, besides them, anyway."

Davis sighed in disgruntled agreement.

"Daisuke," Jun began, sitting on his bed, and handing him back his pillow, "they're home."

"Yeah, I know," he moaned, flinching as his father's guffaw filled the place.

"But... they're home," she repeated, her tone strange. "It's just... so weird."

"Really?" he asked, focusing on his sister more. "How so?"

"It's just that, it seemed like they were gone forever," Jun whispered. "I mean, I know they weren't. But, I was always wondering whether we'd get them back," she admitted. "I was always worried we'd never see them again. And now, here they are!"

"Well, you should never had worried about that, Jun," Davis told her with a smile. "I knew we'd get them back."

"You did?" she queried.

"We wanted them back," he said, simply, resting his head on his rumpled pillow. "And us Motomiyas always pull through when we want something bad enough! Especially me. So, we were bound to get them back. You know I'd never let ya down!" he laughed, patting his sister's arm.

"Daisuke, you are so weird," Jun giggled.

"Yup," he grinned.

Two high pitched peals of laughter bounced off the walls, causing the two siblings to wince.

"Out of curiosity," Davis said, shaking his head to clear it, "just why did we want them back?"

"I... " Jun sighed, rubbing her hurt ears. "I'm not really sure."

The perfume of flowers was the first thing to hit him. Then, the brightness of the sun stung his eyelids. Finally, the soft sound of breathing caught his ears. With a tired moan, he opened his eyes.

The sight of his digimon partner hiding himself deep within the hood of a blue sweatshirt was the first thing he saw.

"T-Tentomon?" he choked between cracked lips.

"Izzy!" the green-eyed Gijinka smiled. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Like my side's on fire," the redhead mumbled, placing a weak hand on his bandaged wound. "What happened?"

"Well, after you... passed out," Tentomon began, hesitantly, "we managed to defeat Trikmon. Actually, Wormmon did."

Izzy blinked. "Wormmon?"

"Apparently so," Tentomon informed him. "Impressive. Anyway, it seems that as soon as Trikmon was destroyed, all his Ghastlymon couldn't function without him, and dissolved away. Also, you'll be glad to know all the missing people are back, including your parents."

"That's good," Izzy closed his eyes for a moment, relieved at the news.

"It also seems," Tentomon continued, scraping his finger nail along the bed railing, "that the rest of the digimon and I are rather stuck in our present forms."

"What?" Izzy's black eyes snapped open.

"You see," Tentomon pulled the hood more over his maroon face, "Trikmon's been gone for a couple weeks now."

"Weeks... " Izzy repeated. "I've been out for a couple weeks?"

Tentomon nodded. "I'm afraid so. We all went to the Digital World with Gennai yesterday, hoping that it would somehow have an effect on us. It didn't, though," he sighed. "So, it looks like this is how I'll be from now on."

Izzy narrowed his vision on his friend, worriedly. "Are you okay with that?"

"I guess. In a way," Tentomon replied. "It's strange knowing I'll have hands now, and no wings. No flying." He shuddered. "That, and it'll be more difficult to hide us in the Real World. You can't very well carry us around like stuffed animals anymore.
"But this is me," he said. "Another challenge to overcome. And now that you're awake, I'm sure I'm up to it. Also, it's kind of nice to have a conventional mouth," Tentomon smiled.

Izzy laughed a bit, just to wince in agony from stabbing pains stemming from his wound.

"Careful there," Tentomon cautioned. "You don't want to hurt yourself more than you already have."

"Yeah, I know... " Izzy's voice trailed for a moment. After a minute of silence, he asked, quietly, "How's Yolei?"

"Yolei?" Tentomon repeated, a bit uncomfortable. "She's okay. She didn't get hurt much. Just a few bruises. Sh-she sent you flowers." He pointed to a bouquet of yellow tulips and white carnations.

"She's with him," Izzy said, flatly. "Right?"

Tentomon sighed, letting his head fall forward. "I don't really know. I'm not her partner, Izzy. Maybe."

"Probably," the redhead mumbled, closing his eyes, sleepily. "I think I need some more rest."

"Okay, Izzy," Tentomon whispered, reaching over to fix the blankets covering his friend. Knowing Izzy couldn't see it, he gave his partner's tired face a sad, understanding smile. "Sleep well."

School. It seemed to just jump out at them. When the missing adults came back and people reacquainted themselves with their lives, they realized that they were already a few weeks into the school year. Kids had been shoved back into classrooms as quick as possible.

Including Ken, who was now slowly walking back home after far too long a day in a stuffy building filled with frazzled teachers and tired students. He tugged on the gray sleeve of his school uniform, sighing in relief that the day was over. Usually, school was okay with him, but recently he had gotten anxious. Maybe it was because Wormmon still wasn't back.

"Ken! Ken, wait up!"

Surprised, he stopped and turned to the person calling him. "Miyako?"

Panting, the purple haired girl ran up to him, skidding to a halt. "Sheesh, you walk fast!" she gasped for breath.

"Miyako, what are you doing here?" he asked, confused. "You live in the other direction than me."

"I know," she said, after getting her breathing level. "I just thought I'd walk you home. We haven't seen you much since... " She twirled her hand a bit, "You know."

"Oh," he nodded, slowly. With a small shrug, he turned and began walking. "Okay, then."

Yolei beamed, falling easily into step with him. Happily strolling, she found herself constantly taking quick side glances at Ken. He didn't seem the least bit interested in doing the same, his face and eyes always forward, expression never changing. He never even altered his stride. It was as if she were walking with a robot. After about ten minutes of agonizing silence, Yolei decided that she had made a huge and embarrassing mistake. Maybe he just didn't want to be around them, or her, anymore.

"Are you going to keep doing that?"

Yolei turned to him. "Huh?"

He didn't look back. "Are you going to keep staring at me? You've been doing it the whole time."

"I-I have?" she stuttered, her face growing warm.

"Yes, you have," he informed her, still not even offering a glance. "Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? No, no, it' not that." Yolei bit her lip, grunting softly. "Well, maybe there is something wrong. Not a big something," she hastily promised. "But, well, maybe it's a medium sized something. Or not even! It's... " she shook her head. " It's not even worth mentioning."

"Why don't you let me decide that?" Ken offered.

"Uh, well, okay," she blushed harder, turning away. With a haggard sigh, she started, "It's just that you've disappeared on us! It's like you don't want to be anywhere near us. Like you've got what you wanted, and that's the end of that. 'Hey, thanks for saving my butt from that Trikmon guy!'" she mimicked to the best of her ability. "'Have a good life now. Bye!'
"Is that it?" Yolei demanded, facing him, only to see his profile as he continued to walk. "We've saved the world, and now you're done? Huh?"

"What would you prefer, Miyako?" Ken asked, calmly.

"I'd like to see you sometime! Ah, I'd like us all to see you sometime," she amended, stutteringly. "I just don't see why you have to cut yourself off from us. Are we that difficult to deal with?"

"No, you're not," he answered, simply. Then, he abruptly stopped walking, making Yolei trip a bit, halting. "This is my apartment building."

"Oh," Yolei said, her brain freezing for a moment. He was going to disappear again! "Hey, Ken? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Ken answered, his back towards her, face to his building.

She groaned softly. He wasn't going to make this easy. "Mimi is throwing a party this Saturday. Tomorrow. To make up for the one that, uh, didn't quite go as planned," Yolei sugar coated it. "I'm sure our digimon will be back tonight, so Wormmon can come, too. If you'd like to come, that is. Oh, and it is a pool party, so you'd have to bring a bathing suit. If you want," she added, turning a shade of bright pink. "Would you... Would you like to come?"

"Would you want me to be there?" he ping-ponged.

"Apparently, you're not listening to me very well," Yolei retorted, exasperated. "Of course, we want you there! Mimi invited you herself. Honestly, we'd really like to see you and Wormmon there."

"Fine, then," Ken shrugged. "I'll be there."

"Really? Well, uh, good!" she exclaimed, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and turned to head home. "I'll see you there, then."

"Miyako?"

She stopped. "Yes?"

Yolei wasn't quite sure what happened after that. She was standing facing away from Ken one moment, and in the next moment he was right beside her, his hands reaching up to tilt her face towards his. And suddenly the whole world seemed to stop on a dime, as he placed his lips on hers. If Yolei had been holding her bookbag, instead of having it slung on her shoulders, it probably would've fallen out of her numb hands. After her brain began to work out the shock it was in, she tentatively kissed him back, only to have him pull away a second afterward.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Miyako," Ken murmured, blue-violet gaze sweeping over her blushing face, before turning to his apartment.

"See ya," she squeaked, her hands flying up, one to grip a strap of her bookbag, the other to touch her tingling lips.

With shaky legs, Yolei watched Ken walk into his apartment complex, until he disappeared from sight. And still, she continued to watch the building doors, trying to digest just what happened to her. After a full two minutes, Yolei finally giggled gleefully, and broke into a run back to her home, nearly stumbling in her excited haste.

Night had fallen in the Digital World, but an old man by the name of Gennai would get no sleep this starry time. The Digidestined's partners had all gone back to the Real World hours ago, which he supposed would be good for a while. It would indeed be interesting to see how they got along in that world in their new forms. He hoped it was for the best.

Rubbing his tired, squinted eyes, Gennai checked over his computer again. There seemed to be no irreversible damage to any area in the Digital World, for which he was greatly relieved. Besides the viral digimon that Trikmon's primary form had devoured, it looked as if everything was in order. In fact, a few of the digimon that had been deleted had already reappeared in Primary Village, according to Elecmon when Gennai had made a quick visit. That was highly promising, indeed.

As he rechecked his screen, a small gurgling sound alerted Gennai to the other presence in the room. With a slight smile, he hopped out of his chair and hobbled over to the small occupant. The tiny creature, resembling a human baby, cooed again, a couple fangs sticking out of his mouth. Urgently, he lifted his pale hands up to the old man, long fingers reaching out. The small thing sighed happily when Gennai picked him up, settling into the man's arms.

While in Primary Village, Elecmon had shown the strange looking baby to Gennai in absolute puzzlement. He had recently arrived in a DigiEgg, along with a group newborns from a usual DigiEgg Shower. However, upon hatching from his silver and black egg, he looked nothing like any digital baby Elecmon had ever seen. The caretaker of Primary Village had done his best to look after the odd new arrival, but the infant's habits were different than the babies Elecmon usually raised.

Gennai had surprisingly offered to take the newborn off Elecmon's hands, as it were. After asking Gennai multiple times if he was sure, a stunned Elecmon gave him permission to do so, provided that Elecmon himself was allowed monthly visits to make sure the baby was doing all right. Gennai readily agreed.

"Strange how fate works, hm?" the old man asked the little creature, rocking him a bit to help him slip off to sleep. "Maybe this was how it was supposed to work out. Maybe, in a strange way, you were right. The two worlds aren't meant to be completely separate. Why else would the Digidestined be from the other world? And why else would you come back? I just think your views on it were... flawed.
"But now's a fresh start, huh?" He gave the boy a small, fond hug. "Better late than never. This time around, oh, this time around, my boy, you are going to live up to your potential! You'll do such good."

The tiny baby yawned in response. Then, with a few content murmurs, he closed his almost-white blue eyes, and fell asleep.

End...